Shell Art

One thing I love doing is finding framed pictures at thrift stores and painting over them.  That probably breaks some rule of artist etiquette.  I usually just paint over cheesy prints that are outdated.  It's a lot cheaper than purchasing a canvas and you are already have a frame that's the perfect size for your artwork.  I picked up this frame for around $3.  I thought it was a steal considering the size and the nice, chunky frame.  The print?  Not my cup of tea.  So, I spray painted the frame gold.  Yes, it was already gold but it was the gold with the small black flecks in it, do you know what I'm talking about?  

So after I painted it gold, I just turned the existing print over to give me a plain white canvas to work with.

I knew I was going to use this in our powder room so I wanted to continue with the subtle beachy them I have going on in there.  I started with this large vase of shells we have collected from all of our coastal trips.  We started collecting them on our honeymoon and have picked up some on our walks on the beach ever since.  It's a nice, free souvenir.

I played around with the arrangement of the shells and even thought about a heart shape.  I liked the look but realized it wasn't really me.  

So I went with something a little more simple and streamlined.  I just attached the shells using some hot glue.

I'm really happy with the way it turned out, and it only cost me around $3 because I already had the spraypaint.  I love that it has sentimental value too because those shells represent our family vacations.

Switch Plates

Most of the rooms in my house have ordinary builder's grade switch plate covers so I decided to step it up in our half bathroom.  My goal was to create something that had a lucite/glass tile look to it.  I started with these switch plate covers that are intended to be used with wallpaper.  I thought about using scrapbook paper or wrapping paper to line the back (which I think would look nice too), but I decided to go with painting them.

I taped them off using some frog tape so I would eliminate getting paint on the front of the plate.

I sprayed them with a few thin, even coats of spraypaint (Rustoleum Seaside Green, I had it leftover from the mirror makeover)

Then, since I have an obsession with gold, I sprayed the screws with a few coats of gold spraypaint.

It has a glass tile vibe to it and looks a lot better than the builder's bland one.  You can't beat it for only a few dollars.

Even though it's a very small detail, I think the gold screw really makes a big difference.

I think I'll try it with some wrapping paper next.

DIY lucite tray

I first saw this idea on Effortless Style and thought it was genius.  I love the way she painted the back of hers, but I wanted to try something a little different.  I'd been searching for an affordable lucite tray for a while, but didn't have much luck.  So I was happy to give this idea a try.  The best part is it's super affordable.  It's technically a shadow box frame, but you turn it upside and you have a tray.  I found my frame at Michaels and ended up getting it for around $2 with a coupon.  I chose the 8 x 10 size because I wanted something small to use on my night stand, but they have a variety of sizes.

Then, I picked up this leopard print placemat at the dollar tree.  Actually they call it jaguar print, those dollar store people are fancy.

I traced the shape of frame on the back side of the placemat and cut it out.  Then, I applied some modge podge to the back side of the frame or technically it would be the front of the frame but the bottom of the tray, did that confuse you enough?

Then, I just adhered my cut placemat to it.  You may want to rub it with a credit card to make sure you get all the air bubbles out.  You could use any sort of paper for this project, wallpaper scraps, scrapbook paper, wrapping paper, etc.  It also wouldn't be hard to change out the paper when you get tired of it.  It may get a little messy but you could just run it under some warm water and scrub with a little soap to remove the old paper and then follow the same steps to adhere new paper.  When I turned it over I found it to wobble a bit so I just added some of these little rubber stoppers to the four corners and now it sits perfectly level.

I love having it on my nightstand because sometimes you just need a place to put something and to keep it all corralled.  Since it's plastic I can even set a glass of water on it without worrying about it ruining the finish of my nightstand.

My Target watch is still going strong, can't beat it for the price.

Popcorn Bouquet

Girls get pretty bouquet flowers for special holidays and boys who love popcorn get popcorn seasoning bouquets.  At least that's what happened for Valentine's day in my house this year.   My hubby is a popcorn connoisseur.  He can't cook anything else, but he makes up for that with his skills at making popcorn.  It's a special treat in our house and we love to try out different seasonings.  So I thought it would be a perfect valentine's day gift for him.  I ordered several different seasonings from here.  (Check out their section of special deals for better prices and free shipping)  You can usually find these at your local grocery store too, but the selection isn't as great.  I wanted to display it in a fun way instead of just in a box, which I'm sure would have been totally fine with him.  So I started out with this plastic popcorn container that I found in the dollar section at Target.  They actually come in a two pack.  Then I just put a few river rocks in the bottom to give it some weight.  You can use pretty much anything for this, you just don't want it to get top heavy.

Then, I cut down a square foam block like this one to fit inside my popcorn container.

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Then, I attached these balloon sticks from Hobby Lobby to my seasonings with a little hot glue.  The sticks were way too long so I just bent them to break them into smaller pieces.

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Then, just stick your seasonings into the styrofoam block and cover with some unpopped popcorn kernels.

Unexpected lamp source

I wasn't really in the market for lamps, the ones we had in our bedroom before were fine, but I made them for next to nothing so it's not like I'd be out a lot of money if I had to replace them.  As I was perusing the hobby lobby sale aisle a few weeks ago, these gorgeous lamps caught my eye.  The shades were all wrong, disproportionate, the wrong color, etc. but the bases were perfect.  I figured they would still be more than I wanted to pay, because to be honest some things on the hobby lobby sale aisle are just marked down to what they should be priced at in the first place, am I right?  Anyways, I checked the tag and they were 80% off, making them $20.  I quickly put them in my cart while I walked around and thought about it.  In my head I was already envisioning them in our room and thinking of where the old ones could go and what lamp shades I could use on them.  I called my hubby and he gave me the go ahead.  I couldn't wait to get them home and see how they looked.

I love them, the lucite base is one of my favorite parts.  Another nice thing is that they are heavy and you can tell they are well made.

See that little purple orchid peeking out?  It was an early Valentine's day gift from my hubby.  I think it's so cute, I'm just hoping I don't kill it like I do pretty much any plant I come into contact with.  I'm going to try the ice cube method and hope it works.  Speaking of purple, I'm starting to add plum/purple accents into our bedroom.  I've lived with the gray/yellow for a long time (5 years!) and I'm over it.  We can't afford to do a major overhaul but I'm hoping introducing a new color, along with these new lamps, will make it feel fresh again.  More updates on that to come.

Have you found any lamps you love at Hobby Lobby?  It has never been my go to source for lamps, but after finding these and perusing their lighting section I think I might start taking a second look when I'm there.

Tissue Tassels

There's just something about tissue paper tassels that have I've always liked.  They're just so pretty and fun.  I knew that I would have to make them for the next party we had and that just so happens to be my daughters.  We are just going with a light pink, gold, white, and touch of black theme for her party and mixing it up with a few patterns and sparkle, because I'm sure when she gets older she'll want plenty of themed parties.  You can find lots of tutorials for these banners, but I pretty much followed this one.  These are so easy and inexpensive to make.  One sheet of tissue paper makes two tassels and I paid $1 for 10 sheets, so that's 20 tassels for a dollar, not too bad.

Start with your supplies.  Pardon the poor pictures.  I had someone wanting to help and by help I mean crumple up the tissue paper and run away with it, so I had to work quickly.

I used a 20 x 20 piece of tissue paper

Fold it in half

 

and in half again, you should have a square.

Then just start cutting strips and leave about 1 inch at the top.  I cut toward the fold.

You should have something like this.

Then cut it in half so you will have two tassels.

unfold it and start rolling 

Once you have it rolled, twist it up nice and tight

Then keep twisting and form a loop at the top. 

You could stop there and it would probably stay pretty well, but I added a piece of tape to make sure it didn't unroll and you don't even notice it.

Then you just string them on your twine, ribbon, or whatever you choose.  I have them hanging in my office on my hutch so they don't get messed up before the party.

Decorating around electronics

The cords behind our TV have driven me nuts for a while now.  It seems no matter how many zip ties we used they would still creep down over time.  Not to mention our electronics didn't quite fit on the mantle and hung over the edge a few inches.  It was a disaster waiting to happen.  In an ideal situation we wouldn't have the TV above the fireplace, but in this room it makes the most sense due to lack of space.  We went back and forth as to how to deal with this issue.   We thought about building something custom or having an electrician come out and see if we could do some sort of remote control extender and store the electronics in a closet, but everything was more than we wanted to pay since we don't really plan on being in this house forever.  So after researching a lot of options, we settled on the Hemnes bookcase from Ikea.  The dimensions were right on and the color blended nicely with our white trim work.  It's also solid wood unlike most items at IKEA and most importantly the price was right.  

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I forgot to take a good before shot so I found this one from Christmas.  Speaking of Christmas, I'm really looking forward to not having to decorate around our electronics on the mantle next year!

The bookcase was pretty easy to put together.  I wanted to make it seem a little more custom so I painted the back black.  It makes it look more dramatic and was so easy to do.  I just rolled some black paint on the back piece before I attached it.  I think it would also look great stenciled or with some graphic contact paper.

As for those pesky wires, we just used cord covers like these from Lowes.  You just peel back the adhesive and mount them to the wall.  Then, I just painted it the same color as the wall to make it blend in.  If you look closely, you'll notice ours right to the left of the WWII books.

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If you had the space, I think one of these flanking either side of the fireplace would create some nice symmetry and provide extra storage.  Unfortunately our fireplace is on an angled wall and there is a window too close to the other side.

We just used a basic l bracket to secure it to the wall and make sure it doesn't come toppling over.

I added a wire basket from Amazon on the bottom shelf and filled it with my daughter's books.  She pulls them out every morning and "reads" them.  

On another note, I've also successfully gotten rid of all the orange in my living room.  It was fine for a time, but I just got tired of it.  I'm going with a more neutral vibe with tans, blacks, creams, and maybe a pop or two of emerald green.  The last things to be updated were these previously orange lamps.  A few coats of black spraypaint totally updates them.