Category: DIY


Aug
2017

Adding Whimsy To My Yard

categories: DIY, Flea Market Finds/Thrifting, Home Projects, Summer

Whimsy is defined as, “playfully quaint or fanciful behavior or humor”.

Add whimsy to your life when you can, it’s happy stuff!

That is what I did this past Saturday, I added some whimsy to my yard!

No need to go into much detail for this fun project.

I purchased two unfinished decorative dowels at Home Depot, sanded and painted.

Selected a small birdhouse from my garage stash of unfinished wood items, and again sanded and painted. Small birdhouses can be found at Michael’s or Hobby Lobby.

Added extra whimsy to the birdhouse by attaching an old knob.

Nestled the birdhouse in my vinca vines for just the perfect spot.

For the birdbath, I simply added a rescued tin pan from the thrift store to the top of one of the dowels.

I pounded the dowels into the ground first, and then using E6000 glue attached the birdhouse and tin pan.

Love the color of the birdbath dowel and the contrast with the old tin pan.

This was just a simple, one day project, that has added a colorful, delightfully friendly, and of course, whimsical touch to my yard that I will enjoy the rest of the summer.

They make my heart smile.

As the week goes on add some “whimsy” to your days, giggle, laugh at yourself and by yourself, wear some color, be yourself when no one else is looking, let your heart smile.

Love and “whimsy” thoughts to all!

 


Jul
2017

Splish Splash!

categories: DIY, Flea Market Finds/Thrifting, Home Projects

We recently painted our upstairs bathroom and vanity in shades of gray.

Gray seems to be a popular neutral color these days.

I have been looking for wall items for months.  Surprisingly, it has been very difficult for me to find something I like that doesn’t say “flush, brush, floss”.

Just not for me, so I made a pretty cute one myself!

It is words from an “old school” song,“Splish Splash”, recorded by Bobby Darin, from years ago when I was a teenager.

Lots of folks use “old school”, so I suppose using those words with music, reflects your age.  Yikes!

It cost me next to nothing to put this together.  I used a thrift store frame that I cleaned, painted black, and finished up by printing out the words, using a “whimsy” font.

Pretty simple!

Fits great between the towel rack and mirror, perfect size.

What’s so fun is that when you read the sign, and know the song, you can’t stop humming it!

Fun for guests to read too!

Hope the week ahead is a blessed one for all!

For those of you who aren’t from my “old school” era, the song is below!


Jul
2017

Frames to Trays

categories: DIY, Flea Market Finds/Thrifting, Home Projects

Hello, happy Monday!

Today I want to share a really easy, creative, DIY, thrift store flip, turning old picture frames into trays for your home and entertaining.

This first tray, was a beat-up wood frame that I sanded, painted black, added some cute watermelon wrapping paper under the glass, and some simple handles.

Really cute for summer, so colorful, so whimsy.

I love whimsy!

The second tray is quite different.

Forgot to take a before photo, but it was all wood, with a picture decoupaged on one side.

Removed the picture, cleaned up the wood, and sanded both sides.

I stained one side of the wood insert, and I decided to paint the other side with chalkboard paint.

Added some really nice handles, and I was finished.

This frame was a really unique thrift store find, that was turned into a one of a kind tray.

The fact that it now has a reversible insert is amazing.

Turning frames into trays is so simple.

Next visit, or maybe your first thrift store visit, take a look at all the inexpensive frames, some are new, and try creating a tray.

Endless possibilities using paper, fabric, or even photos under the glass, a little paint, and some wonderful handles.  Hobby Lobby has an entire row of handles and knobs.

Gifts?

Have a creative week, love to everyone!


Jul
2017

Creating a Cleaning Bucket

categories: DIY, Home Projects

When my home is a mess, I’m stressed!

I love a clean home, but the truth is, I would rather take a beating than clean.

It never ends, the same thing over and over again.

Having my products all over the house made my everyday cleanups worse, so I created a cleaning bucket.

Bought a simple white, 5 gallon bucket, at Walmart for less than $3.00, but of course, it was too plain for me.

I put some fun into the project by adding a little black paint to the handle, a strip of black at the bottom, and at the top.  Love it, if you can love a cleaning bucket!

Looked around for a bucket to buy at the usual stores, but they were either too small, or way too expensive.

Filled my bucket with the products I use each day for my everyday quick cleanups, and those weekly more involved jobs.

Everything is now all together in one spot, I just grab my bucket and move room to room.  It really does save me a bunch of time.

I have quoted before, from a sweet little book I found at a thrift store some time ago, Being Home, by Gunilla Norris.  Meditations on everyday living.

Love this little book, that is now falling apart!  It is filled with really wonderful simple, black and white photos.

Gunilla writes, “if I leave a mess, I will find what I left sooner or later”, I must try to remember this!

To end this post, Gunilla writes, “When we clean and order our homes, we are somehow also cleaning and ordering ourselves”….”How we hold the simplest of our tasks speaks loudly about how we hold life itself.”

“Buckets” of love to all today!

 


Jul
2017

DIY Chic Desk Organizer

categories: DIY, Flea Market Finds/Thrifting, Home Projects

Yesterday I gathered together several items from my thrift store, dollar store stash, to make a chic desk organizer.

It was a fun, easy project, that I was able to finish in one day!

The wood tray and the file box are from the thrift store, and the jars from the dollar store.

I love that the inner section of the jar lids can be removed, but the jar rings can stay, allowing the jars to be open at the top for scissors and such.

Cleaned the file box, sprayed painted it and the jar lids with my favorite gold paint.

Sanded the rough spots on the wood tray and spray painted white.

To tie the items together I added angle brackets to the corners of the tray and painted the same gold.

The set looks great on my desk.  I love the way it all turned out!

Right now in my life I really feel the need to create and accomplish little things every single day.

Makes me happy!

I have a sweet little book written by Gunilla Norris, Being Home, in it she writes, “As I age, each and every day appears more and more as a gift. I want to live every one of them.”

That’s me!  Every one of them!

Have a wonderful weekend!

Live!

 

 

 


Jun
2017

Filling My $2 Basket

categories: DIY, Flea Market Finds/Thrifting, Home Projects

Every morning before the sun is too hot I have been working in my yard, potting, planting, weeding, just enjoying the alone time.

So much yet to do, but no complaining.  My home is my happy place, my place just “to be”!

I found this twiggy basket at the thrift store and immediately knew what it could “be”!

The $2 tag was hard to pass up.

I lined the inside with an inexpensive foil pan, poked holes in the bottom for drainage, and filled it with garden soil, geraniums, and vinca vines.

To finish up I added more soil to cover the foil pan.

The thick twig handle is what I noticed first and sold me on this basket.

The pink and white geraniums are so beautiful and I knew that this basket would be just a lovely welcome on my tiny front porch. On my trips to visit my brother in New York City, I loved all the small shops that sold flowers, the ones that lined the fronts of their stores with pots and baskets of plants and flowers.  No doubt my $2 basket could be displayed perfectly in front of any lovely, sweet, flower shop.

New York, NY: flower shop

Have a lovely Friday, hope you “fill” your day with joy and love!

 


Jun
2017

Creating a Recipe Binder

categories: DIY, Home Projects

Last week my dear husband ask me to make his favorite chicken recipe.

As it turned out, it took me longer to find the recipe than to make it!

My recipes are here, there, and everywhere!  Enough!

It is simply crazy that at my age my recipes are not organized, so I decided to put together a recipe binder to end the chaos.

I chose some colorful binders that provide a clear front insert area for a cover page.

Making one for myself, and a couple extras as gifts.

Pinterest helped to make this a really simple and fun project with all the free printables offered by so many talented people.

I decided on these clean, classic, black and white binder printables.

I love the font used and the extra sweet comment under each category page heading.  There are eleven category pages.

After I printed out the pages on white card stock paper, I inserted each one into sheet protectors and all my recipes as well.

Using sheet protectors allows recipes to be kept clean during preparation. Simply wipe off any spills or finger prints and put pages back into the binder for next time.

Click here to download your FREE recipe binder printables!

Offered by Lauren McKinsey (http://laurenmckinsey.com/).

Thank you Lauren!

Just a quick way to get organized and so very easy to put together.

Christmas might be lean this year so making a few extra binders would be a gift most folks would love to receive.

Oh, my husband’s favorite chicken recipe, Santa Fe Baked Chicken, yummy!

Grateful for all of you every single day!


May
2017

Note Cards For Moms

categories: Crafts, DIY, Mother's Day

Yesterday was a beautiful Mother’s Day, I was so blessed to be able to spend most of my day with my son.

My son is my special gift from God, the one thing in my crazy up and down life that I got right.  He is special, a good and decent human being, and oh I love him so.  Jim is so very good to me, unconditional love.

Since my mother has gone to be with the Lord, my sister plays a huge part in my life.  I was thankful to be able to spend some time with her as well on this beautiful day.

Also received Mother’s Day wishes, with love, from my nieces, and to end my wonderful day, a call from my sweet brother.

Every Mother’s Day I try to reach out to friends to let them know they are appreciated, especially single moms, what an unbelievably difficult job they have!

Many times I have mentioned my lack of extra money, so I try to make simple gifts, costing very little, whenever I can.

This year I decided on note cards with a personal touch.

My cards were made from photos I have taken over the years.  Photos from vacations, family gatherings, special visits, or celebrations.

The cards were so very easy to make.  Simply select the photos you like, tweak if necessary, lightening them up or cropping, and print out on white card stock.

I cut them down to a 4 x 6 note card size and folded.  Purchased envelopes, and finished up by tying with ribbon or twine.

The note cards were just so fun to make.  Looking through all the photos I have saved over the years gave me endless ideas. A personal gift for so many occasions, for so many people in my life.

What fun around the Christmas season tied up in a bright red ribbon!

Maybe I am old-fashioned, but in this tech world we have lost something by not actually writing and sending letters and notes.  Love going to the mailbox and finding a card or a note from folks in my life.  Too busy, everyone is just too busy!

I love when a gift comes back, I just received a warm call from one of those single moms who received her cards, a former co-worker.  She loved them!

Hope your Mother’s Day was as special as mine, filled with love.

 


May
2017

Repurposed Plant Stands

categories: DIY, Flea Market Finds/Thrifting, Home Projects

I’m “loving my new simple” passion of repurposing discarded items.

Breathing new life into old, forgotten objects.

It is amazing how fun and rewarding it can be to turn something someone no longer wanted into an amazing repurposed or the word I really like to use is reloved item.  Yes, there is such a word!

Found these old, dirty, rusted, plant stands at the thrift store for $2 each.  My thought at the time was to use them on my back porch.  They have been stored in my garage for months.

When planning my niece’s bridal shower I was concerned about side tables for drinks during lunch and playing games.  Buying new tables was out of the question, I simply could not afford anything new.  I searched online but any I found, goldtone, were at least $100.  Too much!

I thought of my plant stands in the garage.  Cleaned and sanded both, spray painted with my favorite gold paint, and I was so pleased with the outcome.

The gold paint added a bit of formal to the stands and the hairpin legs are so popular right now on many tables.

To complete the stands, I purchased two clear glass plates which fit perfectly into the top.

When not using as side tables, I will use for my plants in the living room area.

Hope you all have a great weekend, why not find something to relove!

Enjoy everything fun and loving in your life!

 

 


Feb
2017

Flea Market Flips

categories: DIY, Flea Market Finds/Thrifting, Home Projects

My new must watch TV is a show on HG TV called “Flea Market Flip”.

Two teams shop flea markets to find three items to fix up and flip (resell) for profit.  The team with the most net profit at the end wins $5000.  The flips are amazing!

I started to visit my local flea markets and thrift stores just to see what was possible for me as a beginner.

Today I am sharing my first find, and simple fix up!

A candle sconce, with simple lines, that is now a gold and beautiful addition to my home.

This is how it looked when I purchased it for 50 cents. Dust and dirt in every corner with slight scratches here and there.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I cleaned it up and simply spray painted with my favorite gold paint.

I added a battery operated candle to complete, adding some warmth to the item.

A bunch of options for this 50 cent find, hang it in a corner, place on my dining room table, or on my desk.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Allowing myself to be a beginner I started small, but small flips first, building on each project.

I found this light fixture for sale on Overstock.com, maybe as I grow as a flipper I would have this vision for my candle sconce!

La Pedriza Antique Black Finish Glass Chandelier

Turn it upside down and add the lighting works!

Somewhere I read that for a happy life you need three things, someone to love, something to do, and something to look forward to!

I have folks to love, and now finding and fixing up items is my new something to do and to look forward to!

Have a happy day!