How Tuesday: Super Cheap Baby Name Nursery Wall Art

A couple of months ago I posted about my plans for wall art in the nursery. I've been meaning to post about this one for a while. It's one of my favorites AND I made for less than $2.

Yep. I said TWO dollars. I really wish I'd taken pictures throughout the process, but it just really didn't take that long or involve that many steps.

I picked the frame up off my mom's driveway several years ago. It's been waiting for me to put something in the middle ever since. My mom painted it with ASCP in Provence while she was here for Hibbs House Project Week back in March. That paint is super expensive, but it didn't take much. I'm figuring a dollar and I'm sure that's high.

I bought the cardboard letters at Hobby Lobby when they were 50% off. The whole alphabet was originally $4.99, so I got it for $2.50 and I only used 5 of the 26 letters, $0.48.

I glued a fancy sheet of polka dot scrapbooking paper I got for a quarter at a second hand store (it was a leftover from the Dream Dollhouse) to them. Then I remembered I should take a picture, a blurry one with my phone.

I wasn't sure what kind of ribbon to hang them from. Thank goodness for picture messages to my mom.

She was totally right about the yellow.

I hung the letters from the frame's wire with about two yards of ribbon I bought at Wal-Mart. Ten yards for $0.48. Let's call it 10 cents.

Total Cost: 1.00+0.48+0.25+0.10 = $1.77

Super easy. Super cheap. Super cute.

I really like it next to the piece I got from my sister for Christmas. :)

DIY Chalkboard Upcycled Mirror

Hey kids! It's (How)Tuesday. I haven't done a how-to post in a while but felt inspired to bust one out today even though on this project what I really learned was what not to do. Don't worry. Doing it right it's not super elaborate or time consuming, but I think it made a big improvement. I had everything on hand so it was free to do which was an extra bonus, especially since I think I'll need to do it right one more time if I want it to be perfect.

I started with this fabulous mirror a mirror with a similar vibe to this one that my mom pulled out of someone's dumpster or off their curb or something. I forgot to include the picture and it's on my laptop which is in intensive care at the moment.

Interesting note: I had to image search "etched mirror goose" to find that image. If you image search "duck mirror" you get a TON of pictures of this

Anyway, she left the mirror on my porch and I poached it. I figure if I make use of it becomes mine. Adverse possession and whatnot. 

I gave it a quick coat of chalkboard paint (no primer, no nothing) and sent this text.



I gave it a couple more coats and left it on the porch for a month or so before I got back to it. Hence the date of that text relative to now. I have a baby, okay?

When I did I noticed that it had some serious brushstrokes.


See those little lines? They looked worse in person and something told me they might be a little problematic for writing. I did some internet research and found this helpful tutorial.

Turns out you should, at least theoretically, use primer and a foam brush and apply the coats are right angles to each other. Not exactly earth shattering, but potentially important. I sanded the surface in a circular motion with a sanding block to smooth out the lines until it felt smooth and gave it another coat with a foam brush and perpendicular to the previous ones. in case you're curious I didn't have any issues with the paint standing up to sanding even without primer so I'd just skip it out of laziness. It probably really still needs another coat of paint to be totally smooth, but I decided to hang it up instead. Perfect is the enemy of done and done is pretty important to me at the moment.

Here it is above my mantel.

Stay tuned for my fall mantel reveal next week. I'm going to join a link party on Centsational Girl on the 25th.

DIY Home Recycling Center

Hey Kiddos.  Guess what?

I actually completed the project I said I was going to complete in Friday's post.

It's okay if you're shocked. I'm a little shocked myself.

And the best part? I made it entirely out of stuff I already had on hand. Most people probably don't have a 4'x8' sheet of plywood on their porch so if you wanted to make one too you'd have to buy some materials.

I didn't actually have a 4'x8' sheet of 3/4" plywood either. I had a 4'x8' sheet of 1/2" and a 4'x8' sheet of 1/4" plywood that I laminated together to make a 3/4" plywood. You should just buy a piece that's already the correct thickness, but I somehow ended up with these and I can't remember what my original plan for them was so I made what I needed.

I started on Friday after work by ripping both sheets down into 15 1/2" widths so I could pick them up by myself (if you're new here I'm seven months pregnant and I've finally realized that I can't do all the things I used to be able to do easily AND make a baby. I work slower, I take more breaks, and I ask for help a lot more than I'm used to). Then I glued them together into 1x16s, a brilliant invention of the lovely and talented Ana White, with regular wood glue making sure I glued the rough sides together. I stacked all three in a pile and added some other wood I had lying on the porch on top to help make sure they dried flat.

Then Saturday morning after we put together the crib (photos coming soon), I cut my 1x16s and built my recycling center according to Ana's Laundry Basket Dresser plan. I didn't have any metal angle and had some leftover particle board from the closet organizer I built over a year ago, so I ripped it to 1 1/2" widths and fashioned 2x2s by layering two of them. The particle board was already 15" or so wide so I just ripped in the direction that meant I didn't have to cut them. I finished off the afternoon by applying wood filler.

Sunday morning I sanded them down and gave them two coats or Glidden's Parchment White (leftover from the board and batten in the bedroom).

I let them dry while I helped Austin with yard work. Later, I moved them into the laundry room and slid in the baskets I bought back in December or so when I originally planned this project. I even sorted our recyclables into them.

It almost gives you the impression we're organized, huh? We'll go ahead and call this the original "Before" for the laundry room. I can't handle you knowing what this corner looked like prior to this weekend.

How to Make Throw Pillows from Target Placemats

I made that. From a placemat. I'm VERY proud of myself.

While I was out shopping Saturday afternoon I found these placemats. I've been looking at them for months, maybe even a year or so. I don't really need placemats, but I really like the stitching pattern.

At $1.18 on clearance I just couldn't pass them up.

I used on old pillow as the stuffing. The pillow was about twice the size of the placemats so I cut it in half.

I measured it and marked the center line.

Yep, that's a bump shot. I swear it grew substantially this weekend.

Then I cut the pillow in half.

and pinned the open edges together.
 

I just did a straight seam since I don't have a serger and it's going on the inside of the pillow so it really doesn't matter if the edges were to fray. Austin got an action sewing shot for me.

Then I ripped one of the side seams in both placemats most of the way

and jammed the pillow forms I made into them. Then I pinned them back together and sewed another straight seam along the edge. TIP: if you add a couple extra pins to hold the fabric flat and the stuffing away from the seam it's a heck of a lot easier to sew this seam straight.

That's it. Done. I made both in about a half an hour including dragging out my sewing machine. I'm not sure where they will eventually end up, but I bet at least one will find a home in the nursery.

Beer Bottle Lamp How-To and a Color Choice

I've been spending all my free time busting my butt to finish up projects around the house lately. I had the day off yesterday and I seriously considered spending the whole thing working on the house, but reason kicked in and I decided a mental health day was a much better idea. I went to lunch with a friend, ate some frozen yogurt, and did a couple of easy little projects instead of trying to conquer any massive ones.

The lamp was actually my husband's idea. He thought the pink would be perfect for the nursery. I couldn't argue. I love the color and it meets the sentimental value criteria for nursery decor. We visited Rogue's Portland Brewpub and Voodoo Doughnut on our honeymoon. I recommend them both if you're planning a trip to Portland. It's probably not the memento most people would use in their nursery, but it's perfect for us and I think Bump will love it.

Making the lamp was a pretty easy project. I cheated a bit on the hardest part. My how-to for that goes something like, "find a friend who knows what they're doing and ask them to drill a hole in the bottle for you." I'll see what I can do about getting her to provide a how-to on just that part. You can also just leave the cord hanging down from the top if that doesn't bug the crap out of you.

Once the hole is drilled it's a cake walk. Head down to your local hardware/home store and ask where the lamp repair section is. Someone in an apron will probably point you toward an endcap full of packages that look about like this.

There are several options that would work, but I chose the Make-A-Lamp Kit that comes with several adapters to turn a bottle into a lamp. Then you just follow the directions on the back. Since you're dealing with electricity here, I recommend you read and follow them.

When I got done it looked like this.

 

Add a lamp shade and voila.

After I finished the lamp off I picked the color for the nursery. I was originally thinking a very pale yellow. I even spent a good half hour trying to decide between four shades that most people (including Austin) would argue were the same color.  After I picked my inspiration piece I had a change of heart (it was those little giraffes).

I wanted a really pale color, but I still want color. I'm going with True Turquoise from Glidden mixed at 25%. Thanks Miss Mustard Seed for the tip!

Did you notice that timer in the first picture? It's counting down to my due date. I got it from Santa and it's kind of like a cross between the timer on a bomb and an Advent calendar. Nothing motivates a pregnant woman like a reminder to "Make Every Minute Count" and a reminder of roughly how many she has left to nest.