This is an oldie but goodie and thought this would be a good time to revive it since it'S TOMATO GROWING TIME! We made our own tomato cages ...because those tomato cages you buy at Menards are so stinkin' expensive! We started out with the skinny wire ones that were left in the garden by the previous owners. FAIL. Then we graduated on to the heavy duty ones - but only bought two - $8 each is crazy, don't you think? In my uber-frugal mind that is a FAIL. When you have 50+ tomato plants there is no way you can justify $400 for cages. No way. We'd already put a grand into our new garden so there was no way we would put out another $400 for cages. So we made our own...out of concrete reinforcing mesh. We cut Continue reading
Antique Door Hall Tree Part 2 – The Seat
#sponsored The Second Part of My Upcycled Hall Tree Project. First I painted a door for the back drop of my hall tree. See it here: Antique Door Hall Tree Part 1. Now I'm showing you the seat part I've attached. It was an antique radio base that I found at an antiques estate sale. The Before MATERIALS (RED indicates affiliate links for your convenience) Old Fashioned Milk Paint Snow White Old Fashioned Milk Paint Marigold Yellow Old Fashioned Milk Paint Salem Red Scotts Rags General Finishes Gray Gel Stain General Finishes Gel Top Coat - Wipe On Polyvine Wax Finish Flat Varnish Renaissance Innovations Paint Brush Thinking Outside the Box Since it has a flat back, there are few uses it could be Continue reading
Antique Door Hall Tree Part 1 – THE DOOR
#sponsored post About 4 years ago... We bought several doors at an auction house that had been stripped off a house that was being torn down. The house was over 100 years old and falling apart. Here is one, How to Upcycle an Antique Door Part One and How to Upcycle an Antique Door Part Two that I upcycled a while ago with spray paint and regular paint, making it into a hall tree that now sits in my entry way. It's one of my favorite project to date. Today I show you another project with another door from that house, but upcycled differently - different paint, different techniques, different colors. THE BEFORE MATERIALS (RED indicates affiliate links for your convenience) Old Fashioned Milk Paint Snow Continue reading
Steam Punk Mixed Media Nightstand for DH
#sponsored While shopping at a Restore in MI We happened upon their 50% off furniture day. I found a three drawer nightstand that would be perfect for my DH's (darling hubby) side of the bed. I already had one that I had repainted for my side of the bed and he had my mom's little antique table that wasn't nearly big enough for him and all his junk...all his precious posessions. He needed drawers to hide all his stuff, so this at $20 fit the bill. And of course I have to start with the before: There is so much to tell about about this one. Lot's of improvisation, creativity, and experimentation was called for, and I'm glad it turned out well because it was for my DH's Christmas gift. I used a ton of resources for this project - Continue reading
Mission Beautify Ivy by Saltwash and Pure & Original
#sponsored Have you tried Saltwash yet? While at the General Finishes Conference, we met the Salt Wash originator, Carol Hunter, and she gave us a 10 oz. can of Saltwash to try. Pure & Original had already given me two of their classic colors, Poetic Blue and Steel Blue, so we chose them to combine with the Saltwash. The combination was stellar. The Saltwash gave it a unique look - one that will fit into any home from a classically traditional to Coastal, to Farmhouse. Not many designs can pull that off, but this one can. "The Before" "Ivy" was sitting in an abandoned house amidst piles of trash. We almost missed her. We brought her home, cleaned her up, sanded and got her ready to try out a new look. She had great bones. Continue reading
Barn Door Hardware Transforms an UGLY Hallway
#sponsored OUTDATED Doesn't Begin to Describe It Yes. I admit it. My hallway was boring, ugly, dark, uninviting - you get the picture. Before we bought the house, the one wall across from the closet had a type of salt wash that made it very rough. I sanded it down and painted before we moved in, but never liked the hallway partly because it was dark and partly due to the bifold doors. Or should I say "bifold door." The one was off and the other had a doggie door in it. I have no idea why other than I know they had lots of animals, so the animal "stuff" must have been in the closet. For the past 5 years I've waited to update that hallway and get new doors, but I've been holding out, wanting the barn door look. Every day I just ignored that area because it hurt my eyes. Really. Continue reading
Old Tissue Box Revived – Spray Paint Season is Here!
I first wrote this in the beginning of 2015, and the technique has become quite popular, so I'm playing it again, Sam... Another consignment shop find has found itself at the end of my spray paint can. I do enjoy spray painting - it's quick and requires no top coat. It doesn't fit every scenario, but once in a while it's the best choice. Spray paint season is once upon us and so let the games begin... While dropping off STUFF...you know that STUFF that sat in your basement for years wondering if they'd ever turn into a "real piece of decor," I found this cool little tissue box holder slathered in hand painted foofy flowers. Not really my style, but I could picture it painted. E.A.S.I.L.Y. I had Continue reading
Let’s Keep it Simple DIY Christmas Gift Wrap
An Oldie But Goodie from 2013 Three of years ago I was looking for something different than the usual gift wrap. Scouring the Internet for ideas turned out some great options. I settled on this: I wanted to had to keep it simple. Life was just too busy to be Christmas fancy. Most people just go out and buy a bunch of rolls of coordinating paper. But instead of going traditional, I decided to embrace - the KISS principal (keep it simple, stupid). The couple of rolls from last year wasn't enough to work with, so a thrifty minimalist type of outlook was in order. Enter: builder's paper - a plain brown roll paper. This one is from Amazon for $11.30 and it's PRIME! It kinda looks like a brown paper bag, but quite a bit thicker and easy to work with. There is a ton of it on a roll and it will last for a Continue reading
An Old China Cabinet Gets a Split Personality – with Country Chic Paint
We picked up this china cabinet at an estate sale in town. Everyone wondered why I would buy ANOTHER china cabinet. I already have three. I had plans for this one - but not for china. Nor am I keeping it. As I said last week, nobody collects or wants china anymore. But they do want buffets AND book shelves. Yep, a buffet and book shelf out of one china cabinet. One unwanted, outdated china cabinet into two highly desirable pieces. Because the china cabinet was all wood with dovetailed drawers plus a top of the line name brand piece from the 60's made by ETHAN ALLEN by BAUMRITTER (a VERY big name back in my mom's day), I knew right away I wanted it and what I would do with it. Ethan Allen by Baumritter People may not have Continue reading
Brick Fireplace Update by Leslie Stocker
Does no one know what bricks are? We were looking for bricks at the local home improvement stores and none of the clerks knew what bricks were. They kept sending me to their pile of pavers. Apparently the newest generation of home improvers doesn't use brick any more. As a matter of fact, if you do an online search for bricks, this is what you come up with: pavers, concrete blocks, bullnoses...Bullnoses? What's bullnose? I finally found a clerk at Home Depot that knew what an actual brick was (without me having to describe them and getting the blank deer caught in your headlights kind of look). She said you have to order them because no one carries them any more. Um, OK. I guess the world is changing in many ways, including the most basic ways. A brick? I just can't believe someone wouldn't know what a brick is... Did Continue reading
