DIY Toy Planter

I made these little guys for my husbands office. I just bought toy plastic dinosaurs from the thrift store, cut a whole in the top (actually a little but difficult), spray painted, put in dirt and plant and done!

I used hens and chicks type of plants (or succulents) because they thrive on little water.

Renos Revealed!

Here is my three week bathroom reno! (I think 2 of those weeks was spent on taking down the wallpaper)

A few before pictures

This renovation cost me 85$... but that is pretty misleading since I used alot of supplies I already had in my house. Let me brake it down for you:

Martha Stewart Living beadboard paintable wallpaper 24.99$
Wood trim on top of wallpaper (we already had one piece) 10$
Silver mirror from Homesense 30$
Glass knobs, found on ebay, 20$

Taking down the wallpaper

Stuff we already had.... wallpaper paste, paint, baseboards, spray paint, vintage wood frames and all the other decorations.

So here is a list of what I did... painted the room a beachy weathered grey color, put up beadboard wallpaper and wood trim on top of it. Painted the baseboards, wallpaper and wood trim the same white color. Spray painted the existing lighting fixture white, spray painted some old frames white, put new glass knobs on the vanity and white cupboard, and bought a new mirror.

The new knobs

The frames, before and after

I love the bathroom now. I can't believe I left it for so long! When I pass by sometimes I just walk in and look around. It's so fresh and bright!

Finished Project!

A Birthday Present

Here is my latest project... a birthday present for my sister who is soon planning on moving out. It was my first time using spray paint of furniture. I think the finished project looked great... but it took 4 cans of paint, so a more expensive option then buying a can of paint.

Feature Wall Panels

I have had this idea in my head for a long time... then the other day I decided TODAY IS THE DAY! I got out the primer and primed three panels.

I mixed the first color with the green paint in the room already, a little bit of grey paint and white paint. The top color I used the same paint with more white and a little gloss paint. I stenciled the wall using a Martha Stewart stencil. The trim was 20$ on sale at Home Depot. On a personal note, I cut the trim by myself! Usually I would get my husband to do this part... but not this time! I took a picture to prove it! : )


I put my metal circle wall art in the middle square and I am planing on finding two candle sconces for the outer squares.

The Small Bathroom Reveal

I realized the other day that I never posted the final pictures of our little bathroom. I gave so much lead up... click here and here to see a few of these posts.

We added a sliding door, pot lights and a fan to this little bathroom. I kept the walls a bright white so make it feel airy. The wallpaper I found at a garage sale for 1$. It was just enough to do that one wall... I love it! Originally we were going to do tile behind the mirror. We were in home depot and had all of our tile, grout, tile glue, those little spacers, and tile trim picked out and then we realized this project would cost well over 100$ and take a lot of time, so we nixed the idea. Instead we bought a piece of plywood, stained it and varnished it many times. I still used the tile trim on the sides... It gave this project such a finished look. ... well, without further ado...

Painted Curtains!

It's time for my true heritage to shine through... guess how much these curtains cost me! Oh bah, my Mennonite family will be proud. Did you guess? ... and I don't Derek guess. (Side note= Derek is my brother, and whenever I think I found a good deal on something I would ask him to guess the price, he always guesses a ridiculously low price just to wipe the proud smile of my face) Answer: 4 dollars! All I had to buy was a 4$ flat sheet from the thrift store.


I first cut it in two then sewed it along the cut and a seem at the top for the curtain rod to fit through. Next I penciled on a stencil, then I painted it on. Super easy. My only regret is that I should have bought fabric medium to add to the latex paint I used. (I used the same paint as on the dresser) Honestly, I was too lazy to go to the store and too excited to start painting. ... yes, I was excited and lazy at the same time.... it happens. But all in all, totally pumped at how they turned out!

Beautiful Blue

I finished Max's dresser... and I am so in love with the color. I think this is one of my favorite projects.

Sadly, this is the only before picture I have, I have almost finished sanding it here.


I bought this dresser of kijiji for 100$.... that plus 16$ worth of paint, 10$ shelf liner and lots of hours of love =

Max's Room ... take 1

I did the tree mural from my last post and I love it! I have been finding it a little challenging to decorate Max's room, but I feel that things are on a roll now. I am currently working on painting a dresser for his room and modifying a crib bedding set that I bought... hopefully pictures will be up soon.

One Sleepless Night

Last night i couldn't sleep... because of this I think it will lead to many more long nights. I spent my time looking at amazing projects... so now I have been inspired to do about 30 new projects. Check them out...

These three pieces of furniture are made from old doors and windows... of which I have an abundance of! I really want to do the red shelf project... but make two and paint them white. They are from http://www.myrepurposedlife.net/


I am thinking of doing this project for my bedroom.



I love love love this mirror... its made with paint stirring sticks. The wall stencils and the mirror are from http://www.centsationalgirl.com/


I have been struggling with what to to with Max's room... and then I saw this birch forest from http://prissthis.blogspot.com/

Painting Again

I am so happy to be able to paint again! (I stopped painting while I was pregnant) So I broke out the white paint and touched up these two pieces. I am so pleased with both of them!

Cacoon

My livingroom is always changing... and I think it never will stop. A constant cacoon of change with the ever lasting hope of emerging a beautiful space. The latest change has been painting the walls. The flat color really makes the dark wood pop. (Maybe a little too much?)

I am seeing blue and green!!

I am painting my living room! I have taken down a layer of wallpaper and prepped two of the walls already... I actually finished cutting a wall (that's when you use a brush to get to the place the roller won't reach) when I realized my paint color was the same as my carpet! So I have been mixing paints, as my picture shows. I am planing to do three green walls and one blue accent wall. It's going to look so good when it is done! (Hopefully!)

Went For It

So on Valentines day I got fed up with my dinningroom walls. (As you maybe will have forscene this from my last post) So me and my husband broke out the paint and start priming the walls... over the wallpaper. It didn't take us long to realize that one of the layers of wallpaper peeled off when it was painted... so we put down our brushes and spent about three hours preping the walls. We didn't take off all the paper, but we made sure the one layer was off. It tooks us two days of work... but the change is amazing. It's so nice.... it feels like my eyes can finally relax.

above: after photos
below: before photos

Kitchen Paint Job

My mini kitchen reno consisted of paint, new drawer knobs and hinges. I am still working on taking down the layers of wallpaper, so try to ignore the floral picture dictionary on the walls.
I laid out my plans for this kitchen in an old post. (see here) I think the final product is pretty close to my original ideas. This is the before picture: