Staircase revealed!! It's done, finally!

Before                                    After

Just in case you missed parts I and  II, check them out Part I and Part II.

They're done! They're finally done!  Ah ha ha ha ha! I mean every little nook and cranny is caulked, every staple removed, every piece of trim is up, every wall I messed up in the process is sanded and painted and dry!  Hallelujah!  
Next year, for lent, I'm giving up home projects.

Cheap - Cheap Bird Lamp

Knockoff Sarah Lamp from Rosenberry Rooms

Sarah Lamp Rosenberry Rooms

 

I had a little table lamp base from Target, it was plain white, and free, so for the "experiment" it would be perfect.  (I always start these projects as trial runs, and end up just using them as the real deal.  Lazy or Lucky? ) 

 

I used real twigs from outside, hot glue, fake leaves from some fake flowers I already had on hand. 

 

I hot glued the twigs on and the leaves.

 

Then, I coated the whole thing in Modge Podge to harden up the leaves.

 

While that was sitting to dry, I made a little bird out of newspaper and masking tape, and Modge Podged him together.

 

The next day, I hot glued Bird Man onto a branch, and spray painted the whole thing with a cream paint.

 

I added the crystal pull from Lowes'.

 

The shade was the most expensive, $10 at Target and I trimmed it up with Ric Rac hot glued around the shade. 

 

Now, I know the Sarah Lamp is way bigger and grander, but I don't need all that, this rustic little cutie works great in the space and only cost $15!!!

Staircase Transformation (Part II)

I feel like this is part 200 because, have I mentioned before how impatient I am????!!!!  This is taking way too long!  I hit a point where I stood back and literally said, "What did I do?"  But then it seemed that it all came back around to my original vision, and so far I really love it!

This post has a lot of pictures, I tried to capture each stikin' step, (not step as in step you walk on kind of  step, but a cute pun for this project right?)  Anyway, here's how it looks so far.....

The wood trim on the "triangular" wall was inspired by a picture I came across on Pinterest, what else is knew... it can be found at the bottom of the post
Staircase Transformation Part 1. 

Now, I've also mentioned before, how the spouse isn't always on board with my ideas.  O.K. that's being nice, he hates pretty much any idea I come up with.  Hater.  But, I trudge on, not being swayed by his negative decorating attitude.  It fuels my fire and I sit back and wait for the, "Wow Babe, it looks great!  You never fail to amaze me."....on and on.  I didn't get that half way throughout this project.  I think he even gave it a look.  You know what look I mean.

Even the kids don't get it.  They were all "What's it for?"  "What are you putting in the squares?"  "Does it help the wall stay up?" 

 

What is wrong with them???  Does not one of my kids have my love for character and charm?!!!  The one who asked what color I'm painting each square, I'm pretty sure was swapped with my real kid in the newborn nursery 7 years ago.

Whatever.

The 1X3 boards were put up with liquid nails and some small real nails

(Here's two of the traitors helping me paint)

First coat of paint and yeah, I hated it, you can't really see in the picture how much it just looked like a cross on the wall.  Not that I'm opposed to huge crosses (we already have one above the basement door you can see it in the full shot)

So, back to the home improvement store for some more wood and low and behold, they have a better selection than before- so I'm a happy hunter and headed back home to try to salvage my stairway.

Now in between all of this, I bought the base cap I wanted to use for the trim under each riser.  You can see it in the picture above, under each step.  It was pre-primed and that's a plus.  After cutting them to size with the good old miter box, I used Liquid Nails and coated the back pretty good, if it squeezed out, I just wiped it off.  I held it up a few minutes and used Frog Tape to keep it in place.  Some of my steps were not level, so I did have to tack those up with a little finishing nail.  I haven't finished them, they need caulk and paint, but I can see the light.

The base cap from Lowes

Liquid Nails on the back

Adhered then held up with Frog Tape

The outside edge (to be caulked still)

without trim

With trim!

So the saga continues... but I'm making headway.  Oh, and the spouse... yeah, he said it looks like a sample home.  I'm cool with that.

Simple Silhouette Tutorial

I wanted the look of those cute silhouettes and I am too impatient to follow any of the tutorials I found online, involving photo shop, etc.  I decided to improvise. I'm always trying to cut corners on projects and sometimes it doesn't work ...this one did.!  I mean, how long are these going to stay up anyway, ( so I thought..  they've been up almost 2 years now!)

Supplies:

 5 old frames

black matte spray paint

black construction paper

camera

printer

double sided tape

scissors

card stock

and printer paper


Directions:

1.  Snap your picture

2.  Print on plain paper

3.  Align it on construction paper

4.  Cut out profile on top of black paper, now you have a black silhouette on not so black construction paper

5.  Lightly mist with black matte spray paint, very fine or it will curl up, I taped it down onto newspaper

6.  Allow to dry and double side tape it to card stock

7.  Frame it!

All done and so darn cute!



Sidelight Solution

We had a little privacy problem and I decided to solve it with Gallery Glass. This stuff has been around for a while and is hard to find in stores. I actually had some on hand from years ago and ordered the faux lead strips from Amazon.

I don't have a before, because I never intended to blog, but I do have an in-progress and a finished pic.

I used a white board marker to try out different designs until I came up with one I liked.

Here I started to add the "lead" lines

Above, you can see how I drew the pattern I wanted with the marker.

I just stretched and curved the lead lines to create the curls for the design.

After I finished "leading" I filled it in with the clear Gallery Glass and used different paintbrushes to create texture or smooth depending on which panel I was working in.

A new front door is on the "want" list, but for now this is my solution to needing light in the foyer and stopping those visitors from peeking in!

Thanks for looking!

Copycat Hallway Signs

Over at aplaceforusblog.com , Destiny features her hallway with hanging signs, I (and probably everyone with a hallway) fell in love with what she did!

 

http://aplaceforusblog.com/hallways-bringing-the-outside-in/

 

The detailed tutorial is available on the link above, I followed it and ordered my decals from The House of Smiths, where they are actually available in a 3 pack at their shop, but I wanted mine in Italian, so I emailed and requested. 

http://www.thehouseofsmithsdesigns.com/

 

I chose mine to say bath, kitchen, and cinema (for above the basement door)

I have yet to hang that one up!

 

Not as cute as Destiny's, but a neat conversation piece!

 

 

 



 

Scrabble Letter Wall Decor

I love, love, love these scrapbook Scrabble-like letters I found at the craft store, but I don't scrapbook....  Besides they are too stinkin' adorable to be shut in a book! 

So, over my second cup of coffee one morning this past weekend, I heated up the glue gun, and created a little cuteness for my family room "clutter wall."
 

 

 

 

• Thickers from Joanne's
• Burlap leftover from the Burlap Wreath
• Ruler
• Scissors
• Hot Glue (to keep the Thickers on)
• Frame 

 

 

Kids and clutter, everywhere as usual! 

 

 

There it is!  Top right corner of the clutter wall! 

 

Want to see what the dog was doing the whole time...?

 

Chow Hound

 



Staircase update

I realized that I left some suspense about what the landing looks like on my stairs!  I also have gotten around to adding the polyurethane, to every other step.  I know, I know, but with all the foot traffic, I have to do this at night because the Minwax takes 4-5 hours to cure!  But it already looks so much better.  Check out the reflection on the the first tread! 

Here's the carpet on the landing, and that mirror is waiting for a home, I scored that at Target on the clearance shelf for $15.00!!!!  I know, right?

Thanks for checking in!

Burlap Bandwagon

It's taking Blog Land by Storm...Burlap.  I like just a touch of it, so I jumped on the bandwagon.  I made two little projects this weekend using a role of burlap and just a few other supplies.  Here is the first one..

I snuck into Joanne's Fabric on my way home from work last week, (only popped in there for a replacement frame and came out with that little giddy feeling of project ideas brewing in the brain... you know what I mean!)

Quick Burlap Wreath

I grabbed the burlap in the floral section, it was about 7" wide, a role of it for around $9.00. I bought the initial and painted it cream and already had some hydrangeas on hand along with the grapevine wreath.  I just hot glued it all and it adds a little rustic touch to the basement door.



Copycat Cherry Blossom Wall Art

Once upon a time I decided to redo my daughter's nursery to a "toddler" room and I fell in love with this Winborg Sisters painting when it was featured in PBK .  I wanted it so bad but could not justify $249.00 for it, when I know how I get... I change decor too often to commit to something so expensive.  But it was so perfect for my girl's room.  It was girly, but nature-ish (new word) like she is.

I searched for a copycat, or for a used one on Ebay, and came up empty - until on HGTV's rate my space, I saw a nursery where the homeowner painted a small one herself. She created an adorable space for her daughter with some great ideas, check it out here: 

http://www.roomzaar.com/rate-my-space/Nurseries/Fionas-Grace/detail.esi?oid=23494244

So, challenge accepted- I could paint my own as well!  (Sorry Sisters.)

I ordered the canvas from Amazon - 30" X 40" and bought a few large bottles of acrylic craft paint in bright pink, aqua, and a dark teal, and I used the ones I had already for all the other colors. My daughter's room had some lavender in it at the time, so I chose to vary my colors to meet my decor. 

I free-handed it, just by looking at the image on my lap top.  After one night of painting and a kitchen that looked like a frat house, it was done and I just love the way it turned out for only $40.00!

flash off

flash on!

Here you can get  an idea of it's size

Details of the birds..Aren't they cute?

 



I think I'm gonna name them

And when we are done with the birds and blue, it can go in the playroom. 

Thanks for looking!