Made it for Free Monogrammed Picture

Monogrammed stuff is everywhere these days, so I decided to jump on the Monogramming band wagon and get branded! I am making a gallery wall for over the sofa and I wanted to add something different. I was thinking a Monogrammed letter would be cool. Ok, first I have a confession,  I originally had a cool letter N from Hobby Lobby that I was going to paint black and put on the wall but in a horrible moment of anger I threw it on the ground and it broke. Sigh. I know. Bad me. I'm working on that and also just trying to keep it real around here.  So after I broke the letter I figured I better find a cheap and easy way to make the N.   I opened up Google Docs because we don't have Microsoft word and Google Docs is free.  I did it as a drawing instead of a document and I found the font I wanted and made a big letter N to print out. It didn't print out all nice and colored in, darn.

In a light bulb moment, I grabbed a black Sharpie marker and colored in the N and then cut it out.  It actually doesn't look half bad.  

My husband is a big music kind of guy, he plays about 70 different instruments and also plays by ear.  You know the person that everyone is jealous of their musical ear?  That's my husband!  I love listening to him play and hope that some of our children inherit his musical talent!  I found a great printable at Graphics Fairy Queen . 

So here's my monogrammed picture for the gallery wall, one 8x10 frame that I already had at home, a printed off sheet of music and a sharpie colored black N.  Can't wait to get the wall done!  Not bad, huh?

I'm linking up here:




http://frugalfabulousdesign.com/fab-friday-38/

Cloffice Wall

Well if you recall, a few weeks ago the hall closet looked like this:

We decided to make it into a "cloffice" and now it's turned into a giant playroom, cloffice, flooring project, which happens with every project, it grows bigger and bigger!
A few weeks ago I came across Emily's post over at Jones design company and fell in love with her "painted walllpaper." I instantly knew what the back of my cloffice would look like. Head over here for the tutorial! Here is my wall, just waiting for the shelves to be installed, hopefully tonight! It took me forever to trace the stencil on the wall, I think I used an entire pink pearl eraser before I had it just right. The easy part was painting it! Stay tuned for the finished project!

Coffee filter wreath and vinyl lettering

In addition to painting the doors, I also added some vinyl lettering to the mudroom entry area. I originally bought the vinyl for my glass door piece but it wasn't quite big enough. I think it helps blend the door and the kitchen table with the rest of the house. Here it is....

Last week The Nester featured a wreath and a tree made out of coffee filters. I loved them and knew right away I was going to have to make at least 6 of these! Here is the link for the wreath and trees: http://www.thenester.com/2010/11/making-a-coffee-filter-wreath-and-tree-and-things-of-that-nature.html


And here is my first wreath which was made on a weird foam wreath shape that I won't be using again. I searched my Wal-mart, Hancock Fabrics and Dollar Store but no one had a normal wreath shape that I could use. I finally found the one I used at Hobby Lobby this weekend while I was away with Mr.A.
Of course I didn't take a before picture but you've come to expect that of me, right? I did take a picture of the back of the finished wreath.

I think if I make another one, I will not use quite as many filters. I still need to make a ribbon so I can hang it. If anyone has any blog posts about using ribbon to hang things, I'd love to read it. I also think my next wreath will be white. This was so simple and cheap, I'm sure I will make at least a few more. Stay tuned for my latest finds, I'll be blogging about soon!

Catching Up!

The weeks have been flying by around here lately and I've been working on a lot of little projects around the house. Winter will soon be here so my spray painting days have come to an end for now but I'll be back at it in the spring! This past Monday through Wednesday we were in the 60's here which is unseasonably warm for this time of year. I had Mr.A install our new front door with the help of my dad and so when the nice temps were here I decided to quick throw some paint on the door before winter. Trying to pick a paint color was too much stress so I just grabbed a color and regreted the decision as soon as he started mixing it. Oh well, at least the door has some paint on it and I can repaint it in the spring. What's the old saying, Haste makes waste? So true.
I also purchased some black paint so I could paint a coffee table I found on Craigslist for a mere $10. I don't have a before picture but it was a reddish brown with a big old red circle on the top where some nailpolish spilled and they tried to take it off with nail polish remover. Nothing a little paint couldn't fix and I like that the legs have a little character to them. Here it is how it looks now.

I also used the black paint to paint the back of my entry doors. Here are the doors and of course I don't have a before. sigh. I also need to purchase some more trim paint so I can paint the pieces that need to go around the front door and touch up the spots on the back door that I somehow managed to get black paint on. I even used painters tape this time! I usually like to play it dangerous and see if I can paint without taping.

The front door which Mr.A just installed.

This is the side/back door which has our little mud room area.

I'll post some more stuff in the next few days. I'm off to bed soon, had a busy but refreshing weekend away with Mr.A and no children!!!

New Project in the works

My next door neighbor came over the other day and asked me if I wanted his front storm door. It was wood, classic and cute but unfortunately it was the wrong size for our door. He was going to throw it out so I asked him if he'd take the top glass and top frame piece off for me. This is what I found in my garage the next day.......

I think I'm going to hang it in my dining room and I really want to put a big monogrammed letter on it, like the ones featured at Trey and Lucy , Notes From the Heartland,

What do you think?  Anyone have any other ideas for this window?  Or did you do a similiar project, if so, I'd love to see it! 

My new old kitchen chairs

I have disliked our kitchen table and chairs for a few years now. They are the ugly honey oak color that I think almost every table and chair that was made in the early to mid 2000's was stained. Ok, well not every table and chair but every table and chair that we could afford at that time. I decided on a whim the other day that I was going to paint the chairs and table black. I really thought about doing white but with white kitchen cabinets and white beadboard, I thought the table might get lost or make it look like a snow storm hit my kitchen. I also debated doing an espresso color but I chose black. I thought for sure Mr.A would not like this idea so I sort of started the project before I told him what I was doing. He doesn't always like my project ideas when I explain them to him but if I do it first and don't tell him beforehand he usually really likes my projects. Well was I surprised when he said, "I actually thought of that the other weekend when you were gone. I thought it would be cool if I could do it for you and surprise you when you came home but taking care of the kids was enough for one weekend." That was so sweet of him!
I kind of went blindly into this project like I do so many others. I bought some primer and paint and a sponge roller. I sanded the table down with the palm sander first to get the polyurethane coating off the top. I didn't do the legs of the table or the chairs though. I then primed it all with the roller and then changed my mind on the paint and went back and bought spray paint instead. The first two chairs I didn't sand down the primer and I wish I would have but instead I just started spraying them. I did sand the primer off the rest of the chairs before spraying them with the black. In between the fist and second coat of spray paint I also sanded some spots that were a little rough. I didn't take any before pictures but I found this kitchen picture that shows the table and chairs in their oakiness.

Here are a few after pics of the chairs.  I am not done with the table but will post that soon (hopefully).

This is the spray paint I used on the chairs, I so far have used 8 cans and I need probably at least 2 more to finish the legs and apron of the table.  This picture didn't turn out the best but it's all I got for now!

I'm linking up my chairs here:

Remodelaholic 

Fall Decorating

The air has been quite a bit cooler here for the past two weeks and I've really been hoping that it was just a fluke and some nice 78 degree days were still coming our way.  I've finally resigned myself to the fact that it's time to decorate for fall.  Don't get me wrong, it's not that I dislike fall, in fact  I  like LOVE fall, it is my favorite season!!!  I went down into my dungeon and pulled out a small bag of fall decorations.  Ok, well the only thing in it was a few pine cones and a small string of leave garland.  Boo.  I swear I had more, maybe I threw them out during one of my purging stages.  Anyways, I made my way over to the dollar store because fall decorations were not in the budget this paycheck.  This is what I found, obviously they were each $1.

The pot color is ugly but besides that, not bad for $1 each.  I was hoping I had enough chalkboard spray paint left and maybe I could spray the pots with chalkboard paint.  No go on the paint.  Next option, use my terra cot planters that I have and never know what to do with.  Just like that, I had some cute, simple and cheap fall decorations.

Now where to put them?  Here is what I came with for my mantle, not the best but it works for now!  Although I am open to ideas and suggestions!!!  I also included a picture of my garage sale find, my 50 cent white bird, I really liked it and that was the only thing I found at that sale but it was worth it. 

New Project - Chalkboard for the playroom

I am so excited to share with you my very inexpensive project that I've been working on today.  We are working on making the playroom for the kids and one of the things I've been wanting to add is a chalkboard.  I mentioned this to a friend the other day and she said, "Wait here, I'll be right back."  She came back and had a can of black chalkboard spray paint in her can, brand new, never used.  She said, take it, I'll never use it.
When I first thought of what I would use for the board, I was envisioning some sort of plywood or hardboard with trim around it.  While at a garage sale yesterday I came across this picture for $4 and decided it would make a great chalkboard!  Mr. A wanted me to make sure the picture wasn't a priceless painting but by looking at it, I'm sure it's not. 

So I hauled this beauty off to the garage, sprayed some primer on it and also managed to get the first coat of chalkboard paint on while baby J was napping.  I am thinking of painting the frame a reddish color that is leftover in the basement from our front porch but we'll see what I do.  I can't wait to put this on the wall!

Sue, just for you I had Mr.A take a picture of the back of the chalkboard and here it is:

The chalkboard is done and my children have used it a lot in the past few days!  I tried to clean off all the chalk writing but we don't have an eraser so papertowel was my substitute.   This was a cheap and super easy project!  My kids love it and I loved making it for them.  I couldn't get the can of red paint open so for now it's green but that could change!
Garage Sale Picture:  $4
Spray Paint Primer:  $3
Total cost of project:  $7.00     The chalkboard spray paint was free but even if I had to purchase a can, I think it was also $3 at Wal-mart.  I also could've knocked a $1 off the picture but I was so excited I just bought it for the asking price.

My Recipe Book

I have a collection of recipes handwritten on lined index cards that I keep in a wooden box. Many of my recipe cards are stained with food and are starting to look horrible. I am emberassed to take them out when someone wants to copy my recipe. I also have a bad habit of printing off recipes from websites or e-mail and then they get messy and I throw them away only to reprint the same recipe the next time I need it. If I happen to keep the printed off recipe it ends up in my recipe area all smashed and ripped because I didn't have a safe place to keep it.

So I came up with a solution to my recipe dilemma, a binder with page protectors for my recipes. I purchased a binder along with some sheet protectors and divider tabs for around $8.00 total. I bought a simple white binder but when I got home I just cut some leftover scrapbook paper I had and placed it in the front, side and back of the binder to give it some color. I am using just one binder for now but eventually I may start another binder that is for desserts. I have included these photos of my new binder.

 

Another idea would be to use a photo book and place index cards in the slots to keep them free from mess. I have one that my friend made for me so you can see that as well.

Do you have another idea for keeping your recipes clean and safe?