DIY: Seahorse Wall Art

So remember how much I fell head over heels in love with the Aidan Gray Seahorse Wall Art?


Seahorse Wall Art: $306



Well….here’s my version I finished last night. Costing me a whopping $8.00 in printer ink to make.





I already had the MDF Planked Board that I cut to size. Then using an editing program on my computer, I made the seahorse graphic and filled it in with the names of beaches my family and I have vacationed at, along with that great saying, “Follow the River and You Will Find the Sea.”





I painted the board in a weathered gray and then dry brushed it in cream. Then I cut out my seahorse and Mod Podged him to the board. This morning I hung him up and love how he has become the focal point of my dining room!


I found the Driftwood Runner at T.J. Maxx last week. I had been wanting one from Crate and Barrel, but they were so expensive. I paid $15 for the T.J. Maxx version.





Happy Monday!!!

Weathered Wood Buffet Transformation

After a week in the Texas Hill Country (and another week trying to get back on track with life!), I’ve taken on some more painting projects. I timed it perfectly to coincide with the record-breaking 110 degree heat wave! One of these days, I’ll spring for a portable AC Unit, but until then, it’s late nights and early mornings!
Here’s a piece I finished for a client last week. I love the way the driftwood finish compliments the lines of this stately piece. It changes the entire look and brings it into modern day!

(of course, it will look so much better in the room, accessorized and out of my garage!)
 
If you have a piece you would like refinished, send me an email with a picture of the piece and some idea of what you’d like done to it. I’ll send you a quote back shortly!
And….just for fun…thought I’d share some pictures of our incredible stay at the J.W. Marriott Hill Country Resort and Spa in San Antonio. It was so beautiful and peaceful that it was hard to come back! (also very eco-friendly…so impressed!)



 


 

Updating Sentimental Pieces

I have a pair of leather chairs in my front sitting room that I can’t part with. These were my dad’s chairs and having them in my house makes me feel a little closer to him now that he’s gone. The only problem is that, while I love having them with me, they don’t blend so well with my furniture.
So, after a lot of internal struggle I decided to go for it! They got a little make-under I guess you could say.
Before: I covered and taped off the distressed leather before tackling the wood.

With some paint and glaze, they look much more like the French Provincial look I have going on in this room and not so dark and heavy anymore.
After
 
I was really nervous to refinish these chairs or any of his furniture I’ve inherited because of the sentiment they hold for me… but I absolutely love the results. It was kind of a therapeutic moment for me…keeping the memory of my dad alive but also making them my own in a way.

Loving Restoration Hardware Lately!

If you haven’t flipped through a Restoration Hardware catalog in a few months, it’s worth a peek! Of course you’ll still find the beautiful Swedish-style weathered wood furniture, but there are some new arrivals that got my creative juices flowing!
I’m a little obsessed with what I like to call “the egg chair”. I have absolutely no place for this in my house, but I just love the opulence of it!

Inspired by World War II fighter planes, the Aviator Collection was what really caught my eye. It’s borderline “too masculine” for me, but I’m kind of fascinated by it at the same time!

check out the Aviator desk! Love how it looks like the wing of a fighter plane! The bookcase is pretty cool, too.

I love this rusty metal media console. It screams…”get a tetanus shot before coming near me!”

Cupcake Flower Pot Tutorial

So I guess I’m on this Teacher Gift kick this week even though its summertime! I found all of these pictures I had uploaded from the school year and forgot to blog about. Maybe some of these ideas will come in handy for Back to School gift ideas. It’s kind of around the corner!
I was watching a show sometime last spring called D.C. Cupcakes, about a bakery, well, in Washington D.C…. anyhoo, they were doing a wedding with these really cute flowerpot cupcake  centerpieces.
Fast forward to the last day of school this year….and I needed 4 preschool teacher gifts plus an office staff gift, pronto! I’m a Mama on a budget, so this is where I have to get creative. I thought back to those flower pots and knew they’d be a hit with the teachers.

Now, I’m a lot of things, but a Baker is NOT one of them. So I called up Sam’s Club and ordered 30 cupcakes decorated like flowers. Only $12.00 (averaging $3 per pot).
You have to be very specific when ordering from Sam’s. I wanted them to look like roses (as seen above), but they decorated them like big cartoony flowers. Oh well they were still cute!

Then I scored on 50% off terra cotta pots at Hobby Lobby for $0.75 a pot. I got one large pot for $1.00 for the office staff gift.
To start, you will need a flower pot, floral foam half circle form, and toothpicks.

If you’re using regular sized cupcakes, you’ll need mini cups (you know the ones you used to make jello shots in college ….not that I ever made these of course!) As I learned the hard way, the big cupcakes need more than toothpicks to hold them on the floral foam without falling off.

Pierce your plastic cups with 2 toothpicks, aligning them in the center and then placing them a few inches apart around the floral foam.

Then go back with some green tissue paper squares and fill in between the cups, piercing the tissue with toothpicks to secure in place.

*NOTE: Make sure before adding your cupcakes that you pierce little holes in the cupcake wrappers so that they slide onto the toothpicks easily.

After doing this little project with big cupcakes, I found that the mini cupcakes looked better and were a lot easier to work with since they didn’t need the jello shot cups…just toothpicks to hold them in place.

I found these lemon mini cupcakes at Walmart for $2.00 a package and I used 2 packages to cover the large flowerpot for the office staff.

I believe I spent $6.00 total on this large pot, including the cost of the premade cupcakes.
I know this isn’t my usual blog post, but thought it would be fun to share some crafty gift ideas this week! I’d love to see some of your ideas, so send them my way if you get a chance!

Happy Friday!!!!

Sunshine on a Stem

It always seems to sneak up on me….Teacher Appreciation Week that is! Now that my son is in Preschool, I have to remember these things. I was a teacher before having Nikolas, so I know how important it is to recognize all that they do for my child.
With that said, I also know how awful interesting some of the teacher gifts can be! No more soap on a rope, please!
While it isn’t that time of year, I thought it might be nice to post an idea that I did in the spring for Nikolas’ teachers. It was super easy and made a big hit at the school!
I found these cute Sunflowers in the garden section at Walmart for $2.00 a plant.

They needed a little charm, so I layered yellow and white polka dot tissue paper, $1 at Walmart, with a square of burlap fabric at the base of the pot and tied it secure with a piece of twine.

I happened to be walking through Hobby Lobby one afternoon and saw these cute little tags in the garden section for $0.49 each. PERFECT!
So I tied them to the stems with a little twine and then instead of a card, I used my Cricut machine to make little tags that read, “You are my Sunshine.”

Nikolas had 4 teachers last school year, so I couldn’t spend a fortune on gifts, but I wanted to do something really special. I think these averaged me about $3.50 per pot once I added the embellishments.
Not too shabby, considering the soap on a rope alternative!

Vintage Dresser Turned Media Console

It’s never a sure bet I’ll find what I’m looking for when I’m out thrifting. One thing’s for sure though, there never seems to be a shortage of old dressers!

 



Okay, so you get the point!


One thing I’ve noticed about these dressers (other than people don’t clean their drawers out before donating)…is that they’re all long and much shorter than the standard dresser made today. I guess to most people that means they’re useless.


To me, that means they are PERFECT FOR MEDIA CONSOLES!!!



Sometimes I like ’em just like the one above, but it does make it difficult to change channels when the box is hidden behind solid wood doors.


So, with a little tweaking…



I added shelving where the drawers used to be and some dental molding for instant charm and VOILA, this dresser became a perfect living room console.
Here’s a few more I did for my showroom last fall…





….and they were all SAVED yet again from the Dreaded Landfill!!!!

I just LOVE a Happy Ending!