DIY Marker Storage

Aren't these awesome!? These was a great DIY that only cost $1.50 and about 30 minutes of my time. 

I had been looking online at pre-made shelves (exactly like this one) and they were upwards of $50.00 US, plus shipping, plus the Canadian exchange rate (which is out of control by the way). This was never going to happen for me. So I took to Pinterest in search of a DIY version. 

I found this one here  from a lady named Karen Church. She has prepared the dimensions and instructions on her blog. I'll admit they weren't in an ideal format but after reading it a few times I figured everything out easily enough. 

Her design is quite smart, with the front and back of the shelves off-set by 1/2 inch, keeping them from falling out. The markers are easy to grab because the shelves sit back 1/2 inch as well. I love that is has clean lines and is white. My Dollarama had black and bright coloured foam board,  so you could customize it however you like.

I'm so excited about it, I think I will follow her instructions for the Ink Pad Shelf as well. I know it is not perfect and may not last forever, but it will do for my needs. (And if I need to make it again, it was only $1.50)  but you would be surprised at how sturdy it actually is. 

I previously stored my Alcohol markers in some buckets on a cart, which was fine, but too in-efficient for me. I love having them organized and right at my finger-tips now. 

Is this something you would try out? 

I'm happy to answer any questions in the comments as well!

Have an awesome day!

Fall Garlands - Part Two



Yesterday I showed you how I made my simple Pinecone Garland and promised 2 more tutorials for today.

My AUTUMN Banner & String of Leaves.

Go get:

Felt, in colors of your choosing.

I picked a fall green & red then decided to add black & orange to throw some Halloween in there!

Paper, Pen & Scissors

Jute string

Buttons

Needle & Thread

Fabric, in colors of your choosing

Fabric glue OR Sewing Machine

Embroidery Floss, in a color of your choosing



We will start with the AUTUMN Banner.



 First draw yourself a template for the Banners. Mine are 3” x 5” and I drew a upside down V at the bottom. Cut it out.

Trace onto your felt & cut them out.

Freehand your letters on the fabric. They don’t have to be perfect! Cut them out as well.

Now you can either use fabric glue to stick them to your felt OR I opted to do a zig-zag stitch with my sewing machine. I felt like this gave them some texture & interest.

Sew your buttons in the top corners of each.

Take your string and tie knots around the buttons to connect each piece. The spacing will depend on how large your mantle is!

Make sure to leave enough string on the ends to tie them up.

I attached mine by tying a bow with the hanging string from my Pinecone garland.

Now the String of Leaves!

Take you’r left-over felt and half-hazardly cut out ‘leaf’ like shapes. I didn’t want mine to look ‘cookie cutter’ but you could make a template and trace it out. It would take a lot more time and energy though too. Once I felt I had enough I took my embroidery floss and started stitching them.

You’ll end up with a long string of leaves! Very cute & very simple!

All together, they have huge impact!

I am also going to be making a new wreath for above the fireplace to go with my fall décor and will post about that soon.

 I’m so pleased for nothing more than $5 and some things on hand I have a new beautiful fall mantle.


Becuase we have our TV above our fireplace *not by choice* it makes it extremely hard to decorate our mantle. Do you have the same issue? Do you have any tips you can share?

Fall Garlands - Part One

I’ve been really inspired lately by all these beautiful garlands on Pinterest and have decided I heart groupings.

I chose my favorite ones then put my own spin on them.

I also figured ya’ll would want to know how I made them so I’ll have to do this in a 2 part series!



Today we start with a simple Pinecone Garland.

Go get:

Your scissors

Some Large Pinecones

Burlap

Jute string

Gold wire (or any wire will do)

Scotch tape

First twist your wire around the top of the pinecone, leaving a generous tail.

Hang your string across your mantle and decide how long it needs to be.

I could fit 7 pinecones without it looking to cramped.

Twist your wire around the string leaving a gap (for later) and tape the top to your mantle.

I tested the scotch tape on my mantle to make sure it wouldn’t ruin it. I didn’t want anything to be seen and it really doesn’t have to hold much weight; so it worked well for me.

Once you have all your pinecones hung you need to cut your burlap. I cut mine 2 1/2’ long and in four strips about 1” wide. Cut enough for each pinecone. Tie your bows gently around the wire, above the pinecone, that you left earlier.



The lovely thing about this garland is that it’s imperfectly rustic and can last through until the winter season. I figure when I start to decorate for Christmas I will add a string of lights.

Stay tuned because tomorrow I will show you how to make my AUTUMN Banner &String of Leaves!

Boys Sport Themed Bedroom

Yesterday I showed you our Daughters new bedroom and so today i'll show you our Sons.

Right now he is really into sports *and so is my husband* so we thought we would decorate the room 'generically' and add sport themed accents so when or if he changes his mind it is easily changable. Very important, becuase he is still so little.

I painted white stripes on this one grey (Martha's Grey Wolf) wall, mainly for interest.

We were also given this bed & frame from D's grandfathers house that was in great shape but it was white with pink flowers. I fixed that with navy blue spray paint and now it looks great.

The Bedding is from Homesense as well as the Baseball lamp.

I made the art on the wall for his last bedroom and we also replaced all the old trim as well.

This is what you see when you walk in. I didn't intentionally buy these curtains short, that was a happy accident. Once I had them up I realized it was a good thing. I feel like it just suits the room.

This dresser was also a grandfather hand-me-down. Solid wood and excellent shape, but I spruced it up with green paint *Lucas chose* and new modern hardware.

The 'art' in the frames are sport pictures actually from a large coloring book. I colored them and made them easily interchangable.

I made the hanging banner from cardstock & some fabric remnants and it is my favorite part of the room!



This nook is behind his bedroom door. Eventually as he gets older we will build a desk he can use for homework, but right now it is more useful to have a reading corner.

I found this little sofa chair at a garage sale for $5 and put a little cushion on the floor so his sister can join him!

Last but not least, I wanted to show you this star with frames. They are supposed to have his name in the frames but alas I haven't found time to pull out my cricket and make them, YET!

We are really happy with how his room turned out and think he will love it for years to come!

A Little Princess Room

We recently decided to move our 'Baby' girl, who is no longer a baby downstairs!

This was a hard decision but was worth it in the end. Our basement isn't really a basement at all but actually half above ground in our bi-level bungalow. So everyone who thinks we are crazy, she is actually only a few stairs away. We moved our son down when we first had Brooklynn and it only made sense to move her as well before we have another... one day. 

Anyhow, I wanted to show everyone her new room that we just love. I chose to go with a color scheme I thought she could easily grow with.

Blue, Light Pink, Dark Pink, Orange and of course White

It still isn't quite finished, but done enough to show. We painted the walls light blue and replaced the old trim with new modern 3" white ones.

She officially graduated to a toddler bed *which she loves and stays in! yay!* But we did end up moving our nursery rocking chair down, because she still likes to be held before bed, but thats not permanent.

I placed 2 large pink boxes at the end of the bed as a sort of toy box for all her stuffies.

I made these tissue pom-poms that used to be a craze on Pinterest, because well,  I still love the look. I also made some floating butterflys to hang in them for interest.

I had this old metal piece from upstairs and decided to spray paint it pink and hang her name from it.

I'm still not sure how I feel about it, so it may or may not stay. But for now it gets the job done!

I bought this old chandelier from a neighbors garage sale for $1, well technically I got it free but thats a long story, so it was an awesome score. I spray painted it pink and added back only a few of the gems, but with the little daisies, I think it is perfect for her little room.

The mirror and vanity were mine from when I was young but were a dark metal. We chose to spray them White to look more current. Obviously the dresser isn't done yet, I will be painting that white as well and have some new cute hardware.



This hanging curtain is from my mother-in-law who ordered it from an antique store and it is made from vintage lace. Eventually when we put her in a normal size bed I will hang it above that, but for now, it hangs around the mirror giving it a very princess'y' feel.

So this is our daughters 'toddler' size princess room and I hope you enjoyed the little tour. I have a few updates I will make soon and post about later! Also stay tuned for the tour of Lucas' new sport themed room which is adorable.







DIY Children's Table

I’ve always felt we needed something to fill this void space in the corner of our living room. This child’s table was the perfect solution for us. It doubles from a place for the kiddo’s to color, play with playdough, etc. TO extra seating when we have family over with their kids.

This table is so cute I don’t mind having it in my nice upstairs. For the most part we have a ‘no toy policy’ upstairs, just to keep our sanity. I’ve made an exception for this table because I feel it just adds to our space.

Cozy.Cottage.Cute's Mini-table Before & After

After months of searching for the perfect child size table, I came across this table that Sarah @ Cozy.Cottage.Cute had painted stripes on and I fell in love. Its killer cute! Anything like this would be mucho moula to buy pre-made and that’s just not my style! I knew I could buy a table at IKEA with 2 chairs for $24. Its style was lacking but the price was right and I knew with a little muscle I could make it what I want.

Now, down to business! You will need:

1 IKEA LATT child’s table set with 2 chairs - ASSEMBLED

5/8” plywood cut into:

1 - 31” x 21”, Table top

2 – 11 ¼” x 11 ¼”, Chair tops

12 - 1/2” wood screws

1 glass or circular object for tracing

Jigsaw, sandpaper/power sander, painters tape

Paint in color of choice (I used Benjamin Moore Cloud White & Martha Stewart Rootbeer Float craft paint)

Cut your 3 pieces of plywood. (HINT: Re-measure your assembled chair tops before cutting to have the exact measurement. Each one may be out 1/8” OR so because it is after all from IKEA.) You can measure at home and have the pieces cut right in the store, but we used our table saw at home.

(OPTION: Measure your chair tops to be another 1” wide and long, leaving an overhang on all sides but the back. When you get to cutting the corner notches you will have to adjust your measurements to match, BUT this leaves you with the surface area to add rounded corners on the chairs as well. Something I would have done in hind sight.)

You will now need to cut the corner notches on the chair tops so they fit properly. Measure 1 1/8” across by 1” down in the two bottom corners of each piece. (HINT: Another good time to re-measure your chair backs.) My husband used the table saw for this as well, but unless you are SUPER skilled I would recommend using a jigsaw. Slide into place and make sure they fit!

Don’t worry if your cuts are off, you can always use sandable, paintable wood filler. I used Elmers brand, just to touch things up.

The table top and chair tops are now ready to be screwed into place. Turn your table upside down and lay on top of your table top. Measure each side so that it is centered. Screw your ½” screws in each corner through the white board. REPEAT for each chair. (HINT: Make life easy by setting the chair upside down on the table to screw the chair top on!)

Place your circular object (We used a pop can because it was convenient in the garage) in each corner and trace a semi-circle.

You will now need to use a Jigsaw to cut your round corners. We tried to cut on the outside of the line, so we didn’t take away from the surface area of the table top.

Now sand all the edges until smooth. We also had to sand down the top because our plywood had lots of knots and nicks to smooth out. Don’t forget your chair edges either!

We’re almost done! It’s painting time! I did 3 coats of my white paint everywhere including the legs and let it dry completely for a day before moving on to the next step.

I taped out my stripes every 2” on the table top and chair tops. Paint in your stripes. I did 2 coats. (HINT: Let it dry for 1 hour then take of the painter’s tape! The longer you leave it, more chance of it peeling off your paint. Oh no! )

Time to admire your handy work! It’s pretty fabulous if I do say so myself! Please leave your comments if you heart this as much as I did?!

Re-visit to an old project

Let's take a trip back on memory lane... to the time we finished thought we finished our entrance way. My hubs tore out the front hall closet and built an awesome bench. We even covered up the old linoleum with new pretty tile. I decorated a little and thought, this is great. DONE!

Almost a year later, after completing one whole room start to finish (our office/craft room that I'll post soon), exactly how we want it, I've realized the error of my ways. Although I do love what we did still, it can use some new touches.

I made some simple art with frames I got in clearance at Home Outfitters. My butterfly specemin art was inspired by Sarah @ Cozy.Cottage.Cute Love her ideas and country chic style!

Anyhow these are NOT an issue. Still love them and can easily change the inners whenever I want.

My clock was from Home Outfitters as well, (It doesn't actually work. SHHHH don't tell anyone) I got a discount because it was broken. I bought it anyway becuase it had the look I wanted and I loved it. Telling time is over-rated anyhow!

First and foremost, we must change the trim. We've chosen a 3" simple flat white board for the whole house. I have to, have to, have to, get rid of all the dated Oak in my home!

Next is painting the front door and getting new door hardware. Then replacing the ugly art behind the door. What was I thinking? Hubs didn't even stop me, this ones on him! We also want to put up a pretty country looking screen door this summer. Air conditioning just isn't feasible for us Calgarians but lets be honest, it does get hot for 2 weeks a year and some air flow would be nice.

Step three will be painting out the railing. White or dark brown...that remains to be seen. But I can't wait for the change! Long term I will replace my giant flower picture, hopefullly with something more light and airy. Finally, and in my opinion the most important thing... the chandelier. You can only see a snippet of it here, but I can assure you, it is horrendous. Straight from the mid-90's. Not a good time for design, in my opinion.

 I'm a list maker and sometimes I have to just make a list for myself to motivate Darren me to get things done. I'll post the new pictures when we're done and Happy Monday!