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Tuesday, August 21, 2012

DIY Curtain Valance

I am writing from the NC coast this morning! We are FINALLY on vacation! This is the first time since our honeymoon that the hubs and I have gotten away for a whole week, just the two of us! We are loving it! Yesterday was our first day here and we spent most of our time on the beach and polished off the day with a long bike ride.

Today is a rainier day, so we are planning to do some shopping!

Before we left for the beach, I managed to squeeze in a quick project while packing.

When we moved in, the previous homeowners left a curtain valance up in the living room. That was over two years ago, and I am somewhat embarrassed to say that it has been there every since. The other day, I finally made a change! I took down the previous valance and used it as a guide to make a new valance.


I cut two pieces of fabric, one piece of the main patterned fabric (purchased from fabric.com) and another of plain white fabric.

I sewed the two pieces, right sides together....along 3 sides (the bottom of the valance and the two short sides)....leaving the top open completely.

I then flipped it right sides out and folded the open side down to make a pocket for the curtain rod.

Once this measurement was pinned in place, I sewed the pocket to contain the curtain rod.

Sorry I don't have pictures of the whole process....since I was flying by the seat of my pants...I was making up the process as I went (with some guidance from Taylor!)







I am really happy with the final look of my new valance!

Monday, August 13, 2012

Old door...New rug

I wanted to share a few new decor items with you! I have had this old door for a month or so now and this weekend, Taylor helped me decide where to put it. I am really loving the texture and rustic look this door adds to our dining area!





Taylor also picked up an Ikea rug for me that I have been wanting! It found a home at the foot of our bed!






I love having new things to change up the look of our home and make it even cozier! What do you think of our additions!?

Sunday, August 12, 2012

DIY Fridge Frames

This weekend we had some of our very favorite visitors come to town! My best friend, Taylor, and I LOVE to craft! When we get together, we always make something....you may remember our previous get togethers....here, here, and here.

This weekend was no different! We quickly made a list of everything we wanted to make and went shopping! I want to share one of our crafts with you now...

We were inspired by this post that we found through Pinterest!

What you need:
  • Frames (we bought wooden 8X10 frames at Wal-Mart for $4 each)
  • Spray Paint (we got Jade in Krylon)
  • Magnets
  • Glue gun and glue sticks
First, you need to take the glass and backing off of the frames and spray paint them....


Once the paint is dry, you can hot glue the magnets on to the back of the frame. One should be placed in each corner of the frame.

At this point, they can go on the fridge as is, to frame things on the fridge.

You could also put something in the frame and replace the glass and backing to hold it altogether. This is what I did with my menu....and then I can just write on the frame with a dry erase marker!

Taylor put her's on her fridge as soon as she got home!


Before you go....check out this awesome owl pillow that Taylor made for me! I am in LOVE with it! We both have a thing for owls!

Monday, August 6, 2012

DIY Canvas Verse Art


One of my closest friends, Sarah, is back with a guest post on an awesome DIY project she just completed! I can't wait to try it out myself!

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I am excited to get to do another guest blog post for my dear friend Katie! I hope you will all enjoy it and maybe give this project a shot! I am pregnant with my first child and have been in quite the nesting mode lately! Which is why I have a project to share with you! I have wanted something to hang on a wall behind our kitchen table in our breakfast room when I finally found this idea and had to try it out! I am calling this project canvas verse art…its basically just that!

Ok, so I cannot take all the credit for this because I found the idea from Southern Belle Soul, Mountain Bride Heart.

What you will need for this project:

  • A canvas…you can use any size you want!
  • Modge podge
  • Acrylic paint
  • Foam brush and a paintbrush
  • Old magazines
  • Vinyl letters

1. First you need to decide what you want your background to be (what will show up behind your letters). I used old magazines that I tore into different shapes and used lots of different colors. You could also use pages from an old book, song sheets, or an old painting or picture.

2. After you decide what you want to use, cover your canvas with modge podge and lay the pieces of whatever you decide for a background on the canvas. It dries pretty fast so if you are using a large canvas maybe just do small sections at a time. Once you have laid everything down where you want it then add a layer of modge podge on top as well.

3. Let the modge podge dry before you go on to the next step…it doesn’t take long to dry though.

4. Hopefully you have decided before hand what you want your canvas to say. I used Joshua 24:15 for mine. You could use your favorite quote, a verse or even just a name. You can buy vinyl letters at craft stores or even Wal-Mart. Make sure you buy the right amount of each letter though! Katie has a silhouette as you probably all know so she was kind enough to let me borrow hers to cut my letters.

5. Once you have decided what you want your canvas to say lay the letters on the canvas wherever you’d like!

6. Now for the painting! Remember when you are picking what color/colors you want this will be the majority of your canvas. I chose to do three different colors…blue, green and grey. I decided to give mine a blended almost cloudy look. But you can even do just one color and have your strokes be all in one directions for a cleaner look. It’s your artwork so whatever style you like! Make sure you cover the whole canvas…painting over the letters and don’t forget the sides of the canvas.

7. Almost done!! Let your paint dry completely before you peel your vinyl letters off. I took a blow dryer to mine to help speed the process up because I was excited to see the final product. Once it’s dry carefully peel your vinyl letters off. If you see that it is pulling paint up as well…that means you have not let the paint dry enough.


8. Because I used all different colors in my background and used three different colors of paint my letters were a little abstract looking and hard to read so I decided to outline them with a black sharpie to make them stand out a little more. 

And there you have it, your own piece of artwork!! I hope you all enjoy and try your own canvas art! The possibilities are really endless for the project so you can get really creative!

Thanks ya’ll!




Thursday, August 2, 2012

Chevron Dish Cloth

A few months ago I had a total brain lapse while embroidering a dish cloth. I was planning to use the embroidered dish cloth as a hostess gift but chose the wrong letter when embroidering! I don't know where my head was! Instead of ripping the thread out, I made them something else and threw the dish cloth in my scrap pile.

Yesterday while I was looking through Pinterest, I found a tutorial on customizing plain dish cloths with fabric....check out the original post here.

This post gave me an idea...

I grabbed the dish cloth out of the scrap pile and picked out some chevron fabric from my fabric bin.

I cut the fabric to cover the bottom portion of the dish cloth and cover the stitching. I pinned the fabric in place....


And sewed around all four sides...

I am so happy with how it turned out! It was so simple and easy! This would make a great hostess gift and an easy way to make your own seasonal dish cloths!