A Dad is...DIY Wood Quote/Magnetic Photo Holder

As I previously mentioned, I set a goal of making most of my Christmas gifts from scratch this past Christmas; however, I really struggled with the gifts for my husband and my brothers.

I had Pinned something similar to this ages ago (here) that I liked but I didn't know how to create the exact look I wanted.

I was talking with my sister and we came up with the idea of using a piece of old barn board flooring from her barn (built over 120 years ago) to make this. My sister found a piece of wood that was approximately 12 inches wide and lightly planed it to get a smoother surface.

If you, like me, don't have access to old wood, you can buy freshly cut 12 inch wide planks from a local hardware store and distress it to get a similar look. Take a hammer to it, scratch it up, sand it a bit here and there. It is quite easy to do.

We cut 12 inch squares and lightly sanded the rough edges. We loved the imperfections, so we did not sand the top and once we were happy with the look, we sealed it using the same sealant I had laying around and used for the tree stump coasters.

Isn't the color gorgeous!? That is without staining it!

I designed and cut the saying out of black vinyl on my Cricut.  The metal circle was something I had laying around from the Dollar Store (it was used to hold 5 magnets that I purchased). It was originally bright silver, so I spray painted it Oil Rubbed Bronze. Once it was dry, I hot glued it to the wood.

I found pictures I liked of my husband with each of our children. He didn't like how I picked photos of him with his glasses on but we can always change them!

I put metal hangers on the back of the wood so we could hang it, but I prefer standing behind my couch on the table using a plate stand. Either way I display it, I love it!

Since we found all the materials for this project around the house, we were able to make these for nothing. If I didn't have all the materials, I think I could do this for around $10 each (if making a few).

What do you think? I know need to find something equally great for Father's Day!

Stephanie

Light up my life - Master Closet Light on a Budget

Work has officially started on my one major household annoyance...my master walk-in closet. By walk-in, I mean a closet that I can step into and turn around. It is not grand by any means, but it is bigger than I have had in the past.

I have dreamed about having beautiful built-ins though out the closet along with hanging a lovely chandelier from the ceiling. Until I, out of curiosity, priced how much it would cost for us to install the built-ins; I mean with us doing the work and buying them from a big box hardware store. Well that bubble of a dream was popped really quickly. Then I realized the idea of a chandelier hanging from our ceiling, where the is no room to get around and in a room where we get dressed (hence lifting our hands above our heads on a daily basis), wasn't really practical either.

Well my beauty desiring subconscious has been beat up and kicked to the curb by its evil nemesis, my practical subconscious.   So my plans for my walk-in have changed and gone to the dark side, practical!

The first thing I have finished in our walk-in closet is replacing the horrible light. When we moved in we had, what I called, upside down mushrooms in almost every room. Here is one for you to admire:

Nice huh!

I had Pinned a few ideas that I thought would be beautiful since I can't do a chandelier. These two images were my inspiration:
Embarcadero Mount sells for the extremely reasonable price of $278! It is nice isn't it but come on $278!?

Source Amazon

Then there was the Lithonia Lighting Linon Black Bronze Flush for the more acceptable price of $100.

Source Amazon

I loved the brown/black trim, the linen and woven texture of the fabric and the metal medallion in the bottom. However, I still could not justify $100 for my small, not grand walk-in closet. Who really could?

So one day when my husband and I were at Ikea picking up something else for the walk-in (more on that tomorrow), I saw this ceiling light for $30. I have seen it before and walked right past it thinking nothing of it. It is a great size at 14 inches diameter and 6 inches deep.

Source Ikea - Alang Ceiling Light

Well this time I saw it, I knew there was huge potential! A little grosgrain ribbon, a wooden disk spray painted and you have a close duplicate of the much more expensive ceiling lights.

 Materials:

Alang ceiling light - Ikea ($30)

5/8 inch Brown Grosgrain ribbon

2 x 1/2 inch disk -  painted Brown

Method:

I had the grosgrain ribbon on hand so I do know what it cost (I think I bought it for around $3 at Michaels). It was 5/8 inches wide and 8 yards long. I did not use the entire package to do the ceiling light. This is what it looked like.

I melted the one edge of the ribbon to prevent fraying. Be careful when doing this. I always do it next to a sink in case I need to run it under water.

 Here is what it looks like after you carefully put a flame to the edge of it.

I fired up my fancy hot glue gun, and started gluing the ribbon at the seam on the light. I could have used permanent fabric glue, but I worried if it didn't work then I would be out $30. But of course since I am sharing this, it did work well. Once I got the entire way around, I overlapped the ribbon slightly. Be sure to melt the other end of the ribbon too.

I had initially thought I would only do the top of the light with the grosgrain ribbon like my first inspiration photo, but when it was done and installed, I really thought it needed a second band like the second inspiration photo. Here it is with only one band of ribbon.

 

So back to the hot glue gun I went. I glued another row of grosgrain ribbon around the bottom.

I then had my husband cut a small disc of wood off a dowel we had laying around. It was approximately 2 inches in diameter and we cut it about 1/2 an inch in depth. 

 

 I then spray painted it dark brown to match the ribbon.

We located the middle of the base of the ceiling light and put a small dot with pencil. I again hot glued the disk to base of the light.

 

That was it! 10 minutes of work (plus drying time for spray paint) and I have a new beautiful light. 

 

I tried to do one of those fancy slip shots with the before and after images with my inspirational photo (left) with my end result photo (right) but it didn't work very well. You get the idea though that I did a pretty good job at getting them to look similar.

What do you think? Not bad for $30 and 10 minutes of work. I think this is my favorite DIY light so far...and I have done many. Click here for all my other DIY lights.

I hope everyone has a Happy Easter tomorrow and if I can find a few minutes, I will share with you what we are working on today.

Stephanie.

Nail polish stand and stamping tool - Preteen/Teen gift idea

My beautiful and amazing niece had a big birthday this year...she turned thirteen. I know this isn't monumental as far as things that change as a result of her age (i.e. driving, drinking, etc.) but it was big for her mom and I. How can she be 13 already!?

Well for her birthday, I knew she was at an unusual stage and I would have a tough time finding something she would love. I didn't want to get her something to mature because she is still is a child and I don't want her to grow up too fast. So I did what any good aunt would do...bought her something her mom probably would not love but I know she would, nail polish. Isn't that the best thing about being an aunt!

I made her a nail polish holder/stand and filled it with some really amazing things. I started with an old spice rack that I got at a local thrift store for $1.99. I wish I had taken a picture of it. It was oak with some hideous flowers and leaves painted on it. After removing an inch of grease, covering it with a few coats of white spray and gluing a piece of scrapbook paper, that matches her bedroom, to the back of the spice rack it was transformed into a pretty little nail polish rack.

To fill the rack, I bought some dollar store nail polish remover, Q-tips (to clean up nail edges), makeup pads and bright color nail polish. I then added an amazing nail polish tool called Konad Nail Art. I am not one to do product reviews or encourage you to buy something, but I needed to share this because it is so amazing for teens and any woman who likes images on her nails. I am personally a clear nail polish type of girl...but that might be because my nails just never grow nicely.

If you have not seen Konad nail art , please take a minute (but come back) and see how cool this system is. Here is a great video on Anna's Nail Art on how this stamping tool works.

I did two of my nails just to show you how well it works. No, I did not use the gift before I gave it, I also bought my daughter a set :) You start with a plate that has designs on it.

You then paint nail polish over the design and scrap off (with the Konad tool see below for image) the excess polish. Using the Konad stamper (see below for image), you remove the image from the template by pushing the rubber edge of the stamper over the design and place it on your nails. The image is transferred to your nail. It really is that easy.  Sorry my nails are horrible...just remember to look at the stamp and not the nail :) The stamps are really cute when you have a colored nail polish on the nail to start out with. You can get any type of image you can image, entire nail patterns, french manicures, flowers, seasonal, etc.

You can use both Konad nail polish or any thicker type of nail polish you can find. Honestly, some of the dollar store stuff works just as well for my daughter and I really prefer the price.
 
I purchased the started kit from Anna's Nail Art at a craft show, but for those of you in the US, here is where you can find the Konad stamping/scrapping tool on Amazon for Under $6:

Source Amazon.com

I did order a bundle of stamping plates (Monster brand) from Amazon and I find they work just as well as the pricier Konad. You get 21 plates (a total of 139 images) for under $18.

Source Amazon

I made a box with my Cricut to hold the plates and added a small piece of the matching paper to the flap of the box.

I secured all the items on the nail polish rack with glue dots and wrapped the entire gift it in cellophane.

This gift was a huge hit! So for any of you struggling for a gift for a preteen or teen gift (or even younger- my 9 year old loves it) this is a great option and it really does not cost too much if you order it off amazon and buy the other items from the dollar store. I would say you could probably make almost this exact gift for under $30.

Have any of you seen or used nail stampers before? What do you think?

Have a great day,
Stephanie

1982 called and it wants its Bookends back

I found a set of A and Z faux wood bookends at a local thrift store last year for the extremely reasonable price of $1.99. Nothing at my thrift store seems to be reasonably priced anymore, so you know they were bad and no one wanted them.

So here are the two beauties before.

Isn't the faux wood grain pretty.

They are even signed! Look at the date, November 1982. They will be celebrating their 30th Birthday soon. Wow I am old..it is scary when you realize you have something that is 'retro' (aka old but we want to charge you too much money for it so we will call it retro) and you could have made it.

My husband again rolled his eyes when I walked in the front door with this gorgeous set. Can't you see the potential? I could. And for $2 who could go wrong?

They each got a good dusting, because they were filthy, and a few coats of white gloss spray paint. Everything looks better with white gloss spray paint!

Here is the A now. Isn't it cute!

I intended to put them in our office but they have found a home on the shelves in my family room.

I am trying to put more white on these bookcases. As you can see the wood dice and recovered photo albums I created last year have also been relocated here.

I have never been happy with how these shelves are decorated but I think it has more to do with the selves. They look really red in the picture but they aren't really. I am seriously debating painting or wallpapering the back of each shelving unit. But there are so many other things to do around the house before that happens.

Not bad for $1.99 plus a little spray paint!

What deals have you found lately? Have you found your thrift stores are raising their prices too?

Have a great day and happy thrifting.
Stephanie

Handmade 3D Butterfly Art on a $0 Budget

Do you remember one of last year's favorite crafts, specimen art? You know, where you cut out a hundred butterflies and beautifully arrange them in a frame. I had intended to create one for my daughter's room but just never got around to it. With an electronic cutter (i.e. Silhouette or Cricut) or a paper punch in the correct shape, the project would have only taken 30 minutes but 30 minutes I just didn't seem to find. Until now.

I wanted to make something a little more unique than the specimen art so I hunted around Pinterest and Etsy, two of my major suppliers of inspiration, and found these two items that I love:

Source Ikea - $15

Source Etsy - approx. $40

 These can be made with a Silhouette, a Cricut if you have Sure Cuts a Lot or by hand. So for those of you who do not have an electronic cutter, don't worry, this is a simple project that anyone can do.

The first thing I did was found a few free jpeg images of butterflies online that I liked. I saved them to my computer and opened them in Picasa. Since I did not want the entire butterfly cut out and wanted the wings to pop out of the page, I cropped the image so I had two separate halves. 

 If you have Sure Cuts a Lot (sorry this software is no longer available for the Cricut), insert both halves of the butterflies and line then up. Group them and then you can resize, rotate etc. You can see, that the Cricut will only cut where there are lines. The middle of the butterfly will not be cut.

If you do not have a Cricut or Silhouette, design the page in Microsoft Word. Using an 8.5x11 blank page, insert the jpegs one at a time to create the design you like. Reformat the page to be grey scale making the lines a really light grey. Print the design on a nice card stock and cut the grey lines carefully with an Exacto knife. A little more time is needed for this, but it will still produce the same amazing end product.

I did this one..sorry it is hard to see but you can get the idea.

After I cut the card stock using my Cricut it looked like this.

 I have a pointy tool that came with my craft knife set that I use to score things. I placed my metal rule between the two points of the butterfly and gently scored where I wanted the butterfly wings to pop up.

 Sorry the photos are dark. I was too lazy to go get my good camera so these are from my horrible little point a shoot.

 After each butterfly is scored twice, carefully bend the wings back.

I had a DollarStore frame on hand for this. I had to remove the glass because there is no depth to the frame. Ideally I will eventually do this with a shadow box style of frame so the paper will be behind glass..

My daughter selected a bright pink piece of scrapbook paper to put behind the butterflies since her room is pink.

 Isn't it pretty?

It was my neice's birthday yesterday, so my daughter wanted to give her one too. We used the same DollarStore frame but spray painted it with glossy purple and a piece of purple scrapbook paper. To be honest, I like this one better because of the contast between the paper and the frame. My daughter's one might have to venture into the garage for a little spray paint.

 I love this!

I might be pulling this downstairs soon for my Easter decorations.

Grand total for this was $0..I had the frames, scrapbook paper and card stock all on hand. If I had to buy everything, I think it would be under $2!

I think I will design a dragon fly one next or maybe hearts.  I will share those when/if I finish them.

What do you think?  I am really happy with how they turned out.

Stephanie

Linking to some great parties including: Story of A2Z, Thrifty Home