Tutorials

Nobody Wanted Constance…Except Me

Nobody Wanted Constance…Except Me This Was One of Those I walk through estate sales and grab tickets before anyone else grabs up the good stuff. This one didn’t look like the good stuff, per se. Old, damaged and out of date, this one was a challenge. Not were the innerds a mess, but it just didn’t speak to me. I named her Constance, because of her colonial feel, and she talks to me now that she’s beautiful again. Here is her old self: The drawer glides were damaged and someone had tried using some sort of goop to try to glue them up. And of course I didn’t see this until I got it home and started prepping it. Fortunately, after a few attempts DH got it fixed up by making new glides. It is a very strange set up – the drawer glides are up under the top, slanted … Read more

DIY Pumpkin Floral Centerpiece

They say the third time is the charm. So, here is my third flower arrangement I’ve shared with you – a DIY floral centerpiece. By showing you my first three attempts at flower arranging I’m hoping you’ll get the idea that you can do this too. HONESTLY…it really is quite easy. My little ceramic pumpkin turned floral centerpiece is the best yet. Here’s how I did it…     I started with leaves around the bottom and then added a candle.     It only took a few more flowers to make it fuller. I just kept moving them around until I was happy with it. The leaves were too big. I just didn’t like it and it didn’t really match the picture I had in my head. It was OK, but “OK” wasn’t good enough.     So I took the leaves out and I knew it was done … Read more

Fall Floral Arrangement DIY Tutorial

I found this pot out in my mom’s a storage shed covered in dirt. It had sat in there many years and traveled here to Wisconsin from Michigan a few years ago unprotected in that little plastic shed. Here’s that little pot – it’s amazing the treasures you find sitting in a little plastic shed covered in dirt. Since Michaels had fall silk flowers at 80% off yesterday, I bought a bunch for that little pot along with a little ceramic pumpkin I bought from a consignment shop for $2.00. I started with flowers, two pots, some foam and a few picks. The only tool I used was a pair of tin snips that I used to cut the stems. I stuck one of the smaller flower bushes in the center of the foam and spread them out. Normally you would just cut them apart and arrange them, but I thought … Read more

Darbi the Guest Master Night Stand – I Got to Keep This One!

A Night Stand Named Darbi Occasionally I get to keep one of my projects. It’s super hard for me to watch my pieces go out the door when I sell them, but I comfort myself when I look down at my hand holding the cash! LOL This one came from a consignment shop we visit every couple of months. I thought it perfectly fit my daughter’s description of a side table she was looking for and the $12 price tag fit the bill too. But of course, “Best laid plans of mice and men,” as it turned out it was too tall. So sad for them, yay for me! It now sits next to our guest master king size bed. Find out more here which bed you can also use in order to have a great night’s sleep.   Here it is before:   White is a Fave of Mine … Read more

Can Furniture Become a Piece of Art?

  #sponsored ART– noun plural noun: arts; plural noun: the arts 1. The expression or application of human creative skill and imagination, typically in a visual form such as painting or sculpture, producing works to be works produced by human creative skill and imagination. creative activity resulting in the production of paintings, drawings, or sculpture. 2. The various branches of creative activity, such as painting, music, literature, and dance.   The 10 Foot Amish Table Had to Go For years we ate as a family of 17 at a 10 foot Amish made oak table with 4 leaves and claw feet. It suited our purpose, but when we went from a huge brood to an empty nest, that table became obsolete. We bought it in Shipshewana, an Amish town in Indiana for half the price anywhere else. Isn’t it funny how a treasure can turn into an albarross when it … Read more

DIY Tomato Cages and Gardening Tips {Love My DIY Home}

DIY Tomato Cages – Save the Maters!

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. If you want to hire mailbox posts, you can check it out here!  So we made our own…out of concrete reinforcing mesh. We cut up a big roll of the mesh and made about 35 of them.   … Read more

A Furniture Artisan and Videographer in the Making – 12 Year Old Isaac

A Furniture Artisan in the Making – 12 Year Old Isaac Does that sound like a title full of hype? It's all true and I'm as amazed as I promise you will be. Just keep reading…   My 12 year old grandson, Isaac, helped me put together a furniture re-design video course for kids, Creative Kids Furniture Art, by demonstrating each step – all by himself – and he did a mighty fine job to boot.   Let's Start at the Very Beginning, a Very Nice Place to Start… We set up my tripod, added my IPhone to record, and I told him what to do and he did it – start to finish.   What did he do? I had a set of matching accent tables that we bought off a FB BST site. I told him how to prep, paint and create art on the top to flip … Read more

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 upcycled for – it’s a perfect fit for a hall tree. I cleaned and sanded it, then white washed it with Snow White Old … Read more

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 White Old Fashioned Milk Paint Marigold Yellow Old Fashioned Milk Paint Salem Red Scotts Rags Polyvine Wax Finish Flat Varnish Robe … Read more

A Shiny New Dresser for our Master

Sponsored Post   Some would correct my title and say I should use the term “chest of drawers” but I’ll stick with how I was raised and use the word “dresser” – since that is what I’ve always heard and said. I still say “pop” instead of “soda” much to the chagrin of my grandsons too. We transplanted from Michigan to Wisconsin but I still proudly carry my roots to this new soil without regret. (No mixed metaphors here) So “dresser” it is. I discovered a new product recently – Retique It. Michele, the owner of Retique It, had mentioned the product a couple of times on our Facebook Forum, Furniture Flipping Forum, so I struck up a conversation with her to find out more. She ended up sending me a whole kit to try out. I looked around my stash of furniture for just the right project on which … Read more

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