DIY Oversized Swiss Cross Wall Art

A few days ago, I scored two oversized metal poster frames (I'm talking 3'x 4') at a consignment shop for $10 each. I wasn't sure what I was going to do with them, but I knew that just the sheer size of these babies would make an impact in any room. 

I ended up deciding to paint the foam board (that was included with the frames) a light mint green, and gild a huge swiss cross smack dab in the middle. I've been loving swiss cross decor plastered all over Pinterest lately, so I figured now was the time to get my fix. :)

Supplies: foam board, paint color of your choice, gold leaf, size (gilding glue) foam brushes, frog tape, pencil, measuring tape

1. I painted the entire foam board with the mint green paint. 

2. I measured and marked everything to make sure the cross squares were all the same size and that it    was centered in the middle of the board. (This was the most time consuming part.) 

3. I outlined my cross with frog tape to make  the gilding process much easier. 

4. I gilded the cross. (Great instructions on how to gild here.)

5. Put everything back together & voila! 

Oversized Pom Pom Christmas Wreath

Well, the Christmas season is upon us again...I kid, I kid. It's still August!! Sheesh...
I don't know what has gotten into me lately, but I've been in a wreath making mood. Something about wreaths just make me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. Yeah, I'm a weirdo. What's it to ya? :)

A few months ago, I stumbled across this massive, dusty, old wreath hanging out at my local thrift shop. This thing measures around 28" in diameter! Since it was a mere $4, I scooped it up and threw it in my basement. I knew someday I could do something with it.

A few days ago, as I sifted through old Pinterest pins, I ran across this J.Crew catalog photo and remembered how much I absolutely LOVED that wreath! Well, since I wanted an indoor wreath, have a crawling baby who loves cords, and didn't want to burn my house down, I opted for a non-electrical version.

Supplies needed:

• Massive wreath - I believe they sell these at Michael's
• Clover Pom Pom Maker - you can get these cheaper at Joann's with a coupon (I used the smaller sized one)
• Tons of different colored yarn - the more colors, the merrier!
• Patience

Basically, I followed this easy tutorial to make the pom poms and made about 32 total - 2 of each color.

Just a tip when you're making the pom poms: don't cut the string too short that wraps around and pulls the pom together. You need to make sure you have some string left over to knot each pom to the wreath branches. 

Once you tie all of the pom poms to the wreath, trim the excess yarn, and voila! You have a massive, festive wreath for the holidays! 

Enjoy!

Impatiently Waiting for Fall

I've been in Fall mode since yesterday, so what better way to celebrate than with a new fall wreath! :)

Supplies needed:
Foam wreath
Yarn in your color choices
Gold thumbtacks
Hot glue gun

Yarn wreaths are all over the Pinterest world so the instructions are pretty self explanatory. Just wrap and glue the yarn in any pattern you desire, then embellish with your tacks. Easy peasy!

(The first photo shows the true colors of the yarn...the second is much brighter for some reason.)

Now, if Fall could just actually get here...

Vintage Cabinet Score!

Vintage, industrial furniture pieces have always had a place in my heart when it comes to interior design. For as long as I can remember, I've been searching online for an affordable metal doctor's type cabinet to use as a storage piece in our dining/living room. The only problem was that if I did come across one, it was either way too expensive or in not-so-good condition. So, the search continued...

Well, I hit the Craig's List jackpot about a month ago when someone posted a "metal cabinet" for $60. Apparently, this person didn't know what this cabinet was worth, or just didn't care as he wanted it out of his basement asap. I did my research and it turns out to be a 1940's Hamilton Cabinet Co. American metal hospital examination room supply cabinet. It was in pristine condition for it's age, just one of the legs was broken off and it was missing the glass shelves, totally fixable.


This is what the cabinet looked like when we got her home:

I knew I wanted to maintain the vintage look of the cabinet, so I decided to have it professionally painted a light, minty green color. I love the way it turned out!

With the cost of the cabinet, professional paint job, and new glass shelves (which I still need to buy), I maybe spent $350 total. The crazy thing is that I found my exact same cabinet, in so-so condition on an architectural salvage website for $995!!! It pays to be patient...I'm one happy gal. :)

Clutter Control

Here lately, I've been looking around my house and feeling the need to purge things. A few weeks ago, I ran across an awesome blog, www.theminimalistmom.com, and it has completely changed the way I look at "stuff."  The creator of the blog, Karen, discusses how living with less can actually give you more time, money and space. It sounds simple, but it's a little more complex than that. Every time I read one of her posts, it gives me even more motivation to purge things that are just taking up space in our lives. You see, I've never had a problem letting go of things. I've never really felt an attachment to material possessions like books, or a doll from when I was little, etc. My husband on the other hand, is the exact opposite and it can get very frustrating for me at times to get my point across as to why we don't have to keep every little trinket from our past. After all, we are in the military and have to haul this stuff around every four years until Mat retires. At the end of the day, experiences are what we often remember, not material things.

After countless discussions, Mat and I have made excellent de-cluttering progress over the last week and here is my car, packed to the gills to prove it.

My old prom dress that I let go. Why on earth was I keeping this thing??? haha

This was just the start of our pile, believe it or not. It more than doubled at the end. Oh, and this didn't include the donation pile I had dropped off a week earlier...a whole car load as well. Yikes!

More on the tedious process of going digital with our filing cabinet soon...

Boring Bench Redo

I've had this little wooden bench sitting in my basement collecting dust for about three years now. I bought it from the Christmas Tree Shops for $25 and originally used it for a coffee table at some point back in the day.

(Before shot: Please ignore the green painters tape :)

I wasn't too happy with the ikea shoe rack we had in our front entry, so I decided I would spruce this bench up a bit and use it instead.

With some spray paint (grey primer, white & glossy black) painters tape, and patience. I came up with this:

Now we have a cute little spot to place our junk as we come and go. :)

Spray Paint Magic

I picked up this lovely floral painting a few weeks ago at a local consignment shop for $30. It's a pretty large, original painting on canvas that measures 28" x 34". I wasn't thrilled with the gold frame so I spray painted a glossy white.

Before:

(You can ignore the blue painter's tape.)

After!

I think the white frame actually accentuates the picture even more than the gold. Love it!

Our Nursery Featured!

This is a few months overdue but I still had to post it. My daughter's nursery was featured on Ohdeedoh.com (now Apartment Therapy) back in November! I was so excited when I received the news because it's one of my favorite home decor/inspiration websites.

Here is the link if you want to check it out:
http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/my-room-felicityhanscom-afb-ma-160650

A little peek.

Simple, Swanky Memo Board

I needed a cute place for reminders and such, so I decided to make my own memo board using an old wooden frame I already had.

The supplies you will need: picture frame, 1 foam board, cork roll, spray glue, fabric of your choice

The first step is to find a cute frame that suits your style and the size you want your memo board to be. I found an ugly picture a while back for $15 at a local consignment shop but the frame was amazing. It was originally just a boring wood color so I jazzed it up with some gold metallic spray paint.

Next, I cut the foam board, cork roll, and fabric to fit the picture frame. I bought the foam board for $1 at Dollar Tree. The cork roll was bought at Michael's for about $4 and the fabric I found online.

I then sprayed the foam board with spray glue and attached the pre-cut cork and let it dry for about 30 minutes. Then I spray glued the cork and attached my fabric and again let it dry for a bit.

Of course the next step is to put the foam/fabric/cork board back into your frame. To secure the board to the frame, I hammered small nails into the frame itself.

Easy as pie.

Shiny, Pretty Things

Who doesn't love the glam factor of mirrored furniture? Just one piece can add a sophisticated elegance to any room. The downfall is that it can be quite pricey...even at big box stores. It's also not very practical for people who tend to move a lot like we do in the military.

So, another alternative to mirrored furniture is silver leafed furniture, also known as gilded furniture.

I decided to try this technique when we were in need of an entertainment console for the living room. I didn't want to spend a ton of money and I wasn't thrilled with the selection of consoles at our local furniture stores. So, who do I turn to for help? Craig and his list of course! That's when I found this little one for $60 in need of some TLC.

I chose to gild with aluminum because it was cheaper and shinier than silver leaf. A box of 500 sheets cost around $50 but is more than enough to do about 2 large dressers.

I removed the hardware, sanded the dresser, and applied the size (glue) using a small paint brush. Then it was time to burnish (apply) the aluminum leaf sheets to the dresser.

It was a very tedious, time consuming project but well worth the effort. Of course I had to choose a very large piece of furniture for my first gilding project. It took about 20 hours over a 5 day period to finish the gilding. I then applied 2 coats of polyurethane to protect the finish and replaced the hardware to give it a more contemporary, streamlined look.

And here is the finished product:

Drab to Fab Campaign Dresser

I've been obsessed with campaign furniture lately. There's just something about the clean lines and brass hardware that make my heart flutter. So, after countless weeks of searching Craigslist, I finally struck gold. I found not one, but two campaign dressers for $40. Score! Of course when the hubs and I picked them up, he gave me the crazy "why are you buying these" look. They were pretty nasty looking and had definitely seen better days, but all I could see was potential.

Here is the inspiration from Lonny magazine that got me started on my search.

Here are the not so great before shots.

Check out that grimy hardware!

I used trusty Bar Keeper's Friend to scrub off the layers of filth. Worked like a charm.

So, after 1 coat of oil-based primer, 3 coats of semi-gloss latex paint, and 2 coats of clear gloss poly, I got this:

Hardware shot:

Now, where to put these beauties?