You heard right... painted curtains!

I had this vision in mind for the nursery curtains. I wanted pink and white thick horizontal stripes. I could not find them anywhere in the perfect color so I planned to make them one way or another. My first thought was sewing the stripes. But seeing as how I can't really sew a straight line, I kept looking. Then while flipping through BHG one day I found them! Exactly what I was looking for. The solution -- painted curtains. Not to mention a step by step tutorial (find it here). After gathering up the supplies, I was ready to tackle them.  

Measuring and taping off the lines really was the hardest part. I think the entire project took about 3 hours! 

 So excited to get these up! Just what the room needed!

Did I forget to mention it cost less than $40 for the pair? What a steal! 

I might just have to go show this picture to the paint man. He was shocked to hear that I was painting curtains and even discouraged me from purchasing the paint! Can you believe it? More pics of the nursery to come soon! 

Burlap Signs

I have a new favorite craft project! I recently bought something like this for a gift for a friend on etsy. She actually registered for it! Who even knew you could register on etsy.com? Love it! Anyway, I was trying to think of a gift for some dear friends of mine hosting a baby shower for us and couldn't get the burlap sign out of my head. You know where this is going!

So.... here is out final product! Love how they turned out! I found the tutorial on pinterest somewhere and modified it with different designs!

Guest Bathroom #1

You may remember this hideous preview of our guest bathroom. This is a guest bathroom located upstairs and is used frequently when people come over. Looking at this picture I can't believe I let anyone go in there! Yikes! Luckily, it is no longer quite the eyesore. 

 Before: Where to begin? Dark, two layers of wallpaper. just plain gross!

 This pattern is horrendous!

 After: It's amazing what a fresh coat of paint can do! Really 3 coats of primer and 2 coats of paint but who's counting? Removed the border, new shower curtain, hardware and shelf over the toilet.

So much lighter and even seems bigger! Now whenever you come over I won't make you hold it anymore!

Drop Cloth Curtains

Our dining room, like the rest of the house, has been a work in progress. Baby steps! While in search of some furniture the first little project I was able to tackle was curtains. Our ceilings are atad high so we need long curtains. Somewhere in between the standard and the long length. I stumbled across various drop cloth curtains on none other then pinterest as a solution to any length curtains. For just $25 plus a curtain rod and rings, I could have some brand new beautiful curtains at the perfect height. Not to mention this took all of half an hour and did not involve any sewing.

I purchased 2 canvas drop cloths from Home Depot and used a bottle of craft glue. First I ironed both drop cloths. Then I laid them out and measured the length I wanted.

 Knox loves to help!

  I folded over the remainder of the fabric to create a lip at the top of the curtains. 

I used clip rings to hang the curtains from the top. It's a little hard to see the lip from this picture but I promise it looks good! Overall, another super easy and inexpensive project I would recommend!

DIY Farmhouse Headboard

Well, Santa got all the subtle (and not so subtle) hints that we'd be wanting some power tools. Seth's parents got us a circular saw, power sander and jigsaw for Christmas. And boy have I been coming up with plenty of projects to keep us occupied. The first one we tackled was a headboard for our bedroom. I found this tutorial on Ana White's website for an attractive and seemingly easy Farmhouse headboard. Seth made the headboard and I stained it, the perfect team. Here's how it turned out...

All put together, ready to be stained! Looks like our garage door could use a coat of paint, too!

 After a coat of stain. We used a dark walnut oil-based stain.

The final product! 

It makes such a difference in the room. Looking forward to sharing our next project after a few finishing touches!

Master Bathroom Reveal

Small changes really do make a big difference. Our first big project was the master bathroom. We are not completely done but a lot closer. I'll let the pictures do the talking on this one..

Here's what one vanity looked like the day we moved in. 

We started taking down the wallpaper to discover another layer underneath. What a mess! 

Here's what she looks like today with a coat of paint and new mirror.  New countertops one day but worlds better for now. 

Here is the next project. And guess what, double wallpaper again!

Yard Sale Bench and DIY Shelf Coat Rack

It's hard to believe we moved into our house a month ago today! Slowly but surely everything is starting to come together. Last night we completed our entryway. 

 I discovered this antique bench at a yard sale one Saturday for $50. Our entry is the perfect place for it! After some pinterest digging I knew I needed a coat rack shelf to accompany it! I found the perfect tutorial online and put the men in my life to work. 

And here are the two beauties together. Now all I need is pictures in the frames and some new bench pillows.

Gotta love Spray Paint

Spray paint seems to be my best friend lately! I have been spray painting everything in sight and have loved all the results...

Knobs on our bedroom closets. Originally a lovely brass, now an oil rubbed bronze (despite my poor picture taking ability which makes it look black).

 Before and after of 48 outlets and light switches (only a few rooms left). Makes all the difference in the world. 

Rocky Top Wreath

So I realize it's been Football Time in Tennessee for nearly 3 weeks now. But I am just getting around to sharing my UT wreath. Very similar to one of my Christmas wreaths found here. Stocked up on everything to make this at an after Christmas sale last winter. Still in search of some orange and white checkered or gingham ribbon. Now let's go get a W at the swamp this weekend! GO VOLS!

 

Fabric and Feather Boutonneires

Some of you may remember the fabric flower bouquet I recently completed (if you call May recently). I finally finished the boutonnieres to match! The flowers are the same process and the feather and burlap were inspired from some wedding crafts she did herself. I think they turned out quite nicely!

 All of them together!

 Close up! I hope she likes them :)

DIY Coaster

I told my sister about this craft and that I thought it would make a cute little gift. She laughed and said, who wants coasters as a gift? Note to self, never give B coasters! Anyway, I love to keep small gifts on hand and may whip up a few of these for backup despite her advice.

 

 All you need for this is:

• some tiles from the hardware store
• mod podge
• scrapbook paper 
• some sort of felt for the back as grippers
• clear coat spray paint

I had everything on hand except for the tile, which cost me a whopping 52 cents!

 Cut squares out of the scrapbook paper, just a little bit smaller than the tile. 

 Use the mod podge to glue and coat the paper to the tile. Let dry then spray with clear coat! Finally, stick four felt stickers to the back corners of each tile.

All done. Quick, easy but most of all inexpensive!

Fabric Flower Bouquet Finished!

I finally finished the fabric flower wedding bouquet I've been working on for a friend! Yes, it was the one I posted about back in February. I won't go into detail about the process because it was a lot of trial and error (if you want to know, just ask). But I wanted to reveal the final product!

 

(Bride-to-be took these photos for me, isn't she wonderful?)

DIY Rice Bag

A dear friend of mine is a nurse and was recently describing the DIY heating pad they use at the hospital. I'll spare you the disgusting details. Obviously I told her, "let me just make you a rice bag." a.k.a heating pad. It truly is just as simple as it sounds.

I grabbed a sample square of fabric and a 16oz. bag of long grain rice from the grocery. Making this a whopping $2 project! In the process of making these, Seth said he'd like one too. So I salvaged the only semi-masculine fabric in the house and whipped up two.

I first made the rice bag then a pillowcase of sorts for the bag that can be washed if necessary. The rice bag is 14"x4". The case is just a half inch longer/wider on each side. I made the bag just like my outdoor pillows then funneled the rice inside and sewed it up. The case is probably not necessary for all purposes BUT in case you were wondering - for the case, I cut one rectangle at 15"x5" and two smaller ones at 8"x5". I pinned the two smaller ones to the larger rectangle while overlapping at the center. After sewing the outermost edges, flip the case inside out and stuff in the rice bag.

All done! Heat it for 1-2 minutes. Almost instant comfort! Next time I think I'll try to add some fragrance to the rice, like lavender. But they are fine for now!