Thrift Store Upcycle

Check out my latest thrift store upcycle:

One thing I often find on my thrift store hunts is vintage cross-stitching. Usually these are slightly "grandma-ish" in subject matter, but when I found one that spoke to me I knew I had to do something with it! 

Here is how I bought my cross so the titch:

Yea, I know pretty ugly frame and equally ugly mat. So I  86-ed both! Then I had to decide how to re-frame it in a more modern fashion! Since embroidery hoops are hot in interior design I thought it would be perfect to frame my cross-stitch in a hoop just like how it was originally made. 

I hung my new thrifty art in a corner by my work area that needed a little something. And this was the perfect something! This cross-stitch spoke to me for a number of reasons: 

1. I love owls!

2. I do NOT love mornings!

3. I am allergic to just about everything you can be allergic to!

So this piece was pretty much made for me and i just couldn't resist. 

Next time your at the thrift store dont just past by those grandma looking cross-stitches, some of them are kind of cool!!

Thanks for stopping by!

-Liz :)

Upcycled Necklace Holder

This necklace holder is my latest upcycle project! And can you guess what it's made out of?...

Yup! It's a Utensil Holder! I got this one at Goodwill, but it was originally from Walmart. 

1. First I sprayed the whole tray with flat "Lagoon" spray paint from Rustoleum. 

2. Then to add some interest I decided to line the backs of each "cubby" with pages from some old Life Nature Encyclopedias that I have had for awhile: 

I used strips cut from different pages (on the side of each page were vertical, "info boxes" that were the perfect size to fit into each cubby): 

This book page shows habitats of big cats like lions, tigers, and panthers :)

This page discusses the symbiotic (cooperative) relationship between a flower and a moth.

This page talks about Mendel's Theory of genetics (I know  I am such a nerd!) But that's what I love about this project, I was able to incorporate my interest in science into the design! 

3. After my tray was completely decorated it was time to give it some function! I attached 7 small cup hooks (Target), 1 in each cubby and 3 on the bottom for long necklaces. :)

To attach each hook, I first used a screw of about the same size to make a starter hole. Once I had this initial hole I went back with my hook and using a wrench to hold it screwed in each hook. 

4. Last I attached to picture hooks to the back so I could attach my necklace holder to the wall!

All done! I even use the top of the holder to display some of my trinkets :) 

Here are the 3 hooks I added to the bottom to accommodate all of  my long necklaces that did not fit into the cubbies.

Some of my necklaces hanging in the cubbies. :)

I decided to use the bottom horizontal cubby as a shelf to hold some of my stud earrings.

I hung my necklace holder in the corner of my bedroom right next to the bathroom door (which has a full length mirror hanging on it). 

I love how this turned out! And I LOVE the extra jewelry storage!

Thanks for stopping by!!

-Liz :)

Flower Box Upcycle

As promised, I wanted to share this before and after of a vintage flower box I picked up at an antique store for $8!

The columns are what attracted me to this planter, but unfortunately they were in terrible shape with pieces literally crumbling off :(

So I had to get creative when restoring it! As you can see in the before picture, the red paint was falling off, so my first task was getting all the old paint off. I removed all of the columns (which were each attached by just 1 giant nail!) and then took a hand sander to the box. After a considerable amount of sanding I finally had all the paint off.

I went through a couple ideas of how to refinish this box. Originally I was going to spray the whole thing, but I didn't want to give up the vintage feel completely. Then I decided to try staining it since I had already done the work to get all of the old finish off :). So I brushed on a coat of red mahogany! It didn't look bad but it didn't "Pop" like I wanted it too.

Thats when I decided to try a technique I had used before to give it a rustic "weathered" look. This is so simple to do! I brushed on a coat of paint and then used a sanding block to "rough it up". I used a white paint with a hint of blue (I know you can't really seen the blue!) and then I sprayed the only intact columns with a dark gray to contrast the white box.

More Pics!!

I planted Zinnias, Aster, and Mexican Heather  :)

To label my flowers I used pieces of clear and green sea glass I bought at Micheals and wrote the flower names on with a sharpie :)

I love giving old items new life, like this planter! 

Thanks for stopping by!

Liz :)

Simple Stone Plant Labels

Last week I posted about my new container gardens, which are growing great by the way! Yayy! But in my herb garden I still had the herb labels that come with the plants, which although informative are not super aesthetically pleasing! So, the obvious answer of course was to d.i.y. some! I have seen a number of these done before on other blogs and pinterest, using everything from popsicle sticks to spoons, but I wanted to keep mine more natural so I decided to use...

Rocks!!!

It doesn't get much simpler than this! And in terms of $$, well rocks are free!!!

All you need besides your rocks is a paint pen of any color. I like the look of dark rocks with white lettering but you could do any color you want!

If you are worried about the paint washing off from watering, just give them a quick spray with clear sealant or brush a little outdoor Mod Podge over the writing once dry.

Rosemary :)

I used a larger rock I found right outside my door to make a cute label for my succulent garden as well :)

Even collecting the rocks was fun! Would be a great activity for children as well, take them on a nature walk/scavenger hunt and have them help you find some pretty, smooth rocks! :) Or just take a leisurely walk yourself and don't forget to smell those roses!!

Thanks for stopping by

-Liz :)

My Inspiration Board

Hi again!

In this post I want to share my super-quick upcycled thrift store cork board that I am now calling, My Inspiration Board! lol. Which is basically, well... a board of inspiration! If you are anything like me (which I am assuming you are since you are reading crafting blogs :) ) then you probably also love thumbing through the latest issues of design/crafting magazines, like HGTV magazine, DIY magazine, BH&G, etc! And again like me, you probably see an awesome project that you know you want to try one day, but when that day comes, low & behold you seem to have conveniently misplaced the article :(! If this is sounding familiar than an inspiration board is the answer to your problem. Check out how I transformed a $2 cork board from Goodwill into my Inspiration board:

First of all, I would like to apologize that I do not have a before picture for this project! I just got a new phone (Galaxy S4, yesss!) and although all of my pics from my previous phone were backed up on google + it seems like a couple were lost somehow :(

Anyways!!! All I did to transform this board was to simply make a random geometric pattern with a ruler and a gold paint pen! I told you it was simple, but cool nonetheless! I also added an embellishment to the top:

My Mom found this eagle at a rummage sale along with some other old decorative pieces! Thanks Mom!! I did have to do a little work on it tho, it originally looked like this:

Kind of an off-white, taupey color, and it still had a lot of extra plastic around it that had to be broken off (along with a few pieces of the eagle itself, which had to be glued back on, oops!) But then after a quick coat of flat black spray paint it makes the perfect topper to my Inspiration Board! And how did I attach it you ask? Well, I didn't! It simply sits on top of the board leaning against the wall, that way if I ever want to use it for something else, no problemo! 

So last step obviously is to tack up some clippings from my fav magazines:

I also tried to group similar clippings together, for example this section is all ideas for how to display large groups of like items 

Love it! Now all my ideas are organized and I know right where to find them :)

Liz :)

Washi Tape Medicine Cabinet

Hey!

So the only room left in my apartment that is still pretty much untouched save for a couple small projects that I have already featured on this blog, (DIY Decals and Canvas Quote Tutorial) is my master bathroom (pretty much a standard size bathroom but it is "en suite" so thats pretty fancy!). Lately, I have been kind of obsessed with washi tape so this morning while brushing my teeth (inspiration strikes at the strangest times, am I right?) I got and idea!

To the right of the mirror above the sink in my bathroom is a medicine cabinet that isn't too bad on a scale from horrible to normal medicine cabinets. Instead of the awful mirror or laminate door it has a white shutter looking door, and this is what got me thinking! Why not add just a little something to take this medicine cabinet from standard to greatness, as far as medicine cabinets are concerned!

So here it is:

:)!

Wider angle for the full effect! And sweet reflection!

So as you can see I took advantage of the "shutter-like" door and striped it with this awesome craft tape from recollections that looks like black lace :). Sorry I forgot to take a before picture, but I promise this is a great improvement!!

If you are wondering how I did it, its so simple!!

First I just ripped off strips of tape slightly bigger than my slats and adhered them:

Then after I got all the pieces on, I got my Xacto knife and trimmed the edges like so:

And then Voila!! Super easy!! And great for renters like me, it will stay put but when its time to take it off, the tape isn't so adhesive that it will remove the finish!

Close-up of this awesome washi tape! Recollections brand, I got it at Michaels :)

Hope you enjoy!! Go and see what you can washi-fy! 

-Liz :)

Telephone Table Update

Hi again,

Here's an update on the telephone table I mentioned a couple weeks ago, Telephone Table Upcycle.

So the other day I began the upcycling process which begins of course with disassembling! I love this first step where you get rid of all the old worn down fabric and finish and begin to see the real potential!

So with my telephone table I first unscrewed the seat, then removed the two shelfs. After the seat was off a got a glimpse at what this table looked like in a past life. Check out the cool bright baby blue paint:

Maybe this color will make a reappearance??

After the seat was removed, I decided to remove the old fabric and batting (if these are in good condition I like just upholster over, to save time and materials, but in this case the fabric was kind of smelly so it had to go!). After a good struggle removing upholstery tacks with a screwdriver I managed to remove all the old fabric and got another surprise! Check out what was used for the base of the seat:

It's a piece of old laminate countertop! 

Close-up of the glittery countertop

It's kind of hard to tell in the picture, but the top of the board that was used to make the seat is covered in old gold glittery laminate! So it looks like someone already beat me to the punch and this table has been repurposed before, using a piece of countertop for the seat! Kind of cool to see how this table has evolved through the years! And what's the next step in its evolution? Well, I have some ideas but I'm not revealing anything yet, you'll just have to wait and see :)

-Liz

Telephone Table Upcycle!

This post is to introduce my latest potential project! I am at home for the month (Yayyyyy Wisconsin!!) and just the other day I went to the local Salvation Army (at which the prices are SOOO much more reasonable than in Florida!) and picked up this adorable telephone table for just 10$!

Cute detail on the back!

This one is kind of unique because of the two shelves, I have never seen one like this before. Its almost more like a sideways school desk, the top shelf even has a cut out for your pencil! 

For anyone who doesn't know what a telephone table is it pretty much just that, a table with a chair/bench attached that the telephone was placed on back in the day! They are definitely finding their way back to popularity for design and repurposing because of their compact size and shear cuteness! So needless to say I have been dying to get my hands on one of these to repurpose, and when I saw this one for only 10$ it was a no brainer!!

So with a little TLC and some DIY I'm going to bring this telephone table back to life! Stay tuned!


-Liz :)



P.S. My Mom also got this awesome ladder back chair in that same trip for only 5$!