Visitor disguised in pink.

What up with constant visiting viruses to our house this season?

Pink Eye 101:
Warm compresses spell relief.

Being on house arrest (so not to infect other unsuspecting eyes) really bites.
We have, however, built a four-foot marble tower in our spare time.
In our other spare time we're really loosin' our marbles.

I always thought I'd like to try using pink somewhere in the house.
My verdict...it ain't so pretty.

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Frame it.

I just love old frames. I guess you could say I collect them. The possibilities are endless.

This time I actually used this frame for its intended purpose (with the addition of a little white spray...of course).

Did you know you can purchase and have cut glass from ACE hardware?
They sell it in several widths that can be used for picture frames or to place on a desk top.


Later this week I'll post what I did with these frames.

P.S. Check out the little guest spot feature I did on 6th Street Design School today.

P.S.S. Hi Kristen, It was fun to meet you at Home Goods yesterday! May the next 9 weeks treat you well.

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Fly away-Giveaway.

Tonia over at Chic, Modern, Vintage has been doing some major spring cleaning and is going to part with these vintage butterfly's. At the widest part the large is 10", medium - 7", small - 6". I'm thinking these would look really chic topped upon a stack of books on an end table.

You could even do something like John and Sherry did at YHL.

Or even what Joi did at Nuestra Vida. Just a little white spray paint and viola!

To enter:

1. You must be a follower on Tonia's blog here.

2. Leave a comment on this post.

3. What creative thing would you do if won these lovelies?

4. Make sure to leave a way for us to contact you (email preferred).

Giveaway ends Friday, April 30th at midnight. Winner will be announced on Saturday, April, 24th. No anonymous entries please. International entries welcomed.

Good luck!

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Spring yellows.

Spring is in the air (my sinuses are well aware).
Time for some spring yellow.

You'll remember I found this thrift store lamp for $5.00 along with this other lamp.

The shade is all wrong, I know. I'm having a hard time bringing myself to buy a new one. Lamp shades are expensive! I'm considering cutting this one down a few inches and adding ribbon to the top and bottom to hide any flaws.

I finally put this other thrift store lamp out for display as well.

Couldn't stop there.

I picked up these yellow pillow cases on clearance at Crate and Barrel last season!
Then on a recent browsing trip I noticed they are selling them again at full price.

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Danielle is the lucky winner of the framed cork board from Little Bit Creations!

Congratulations!

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DIY Upholstered Headboard w/ "damn-it" tacks..

Catchy title, huh? Let me explain.
My dad is an avid sailor. Preparing the boat to sail includes hoisting the mast. While my dad was standing there using all his strength to hold the mast my job was to thread the awkward pin that held everything up. I would often drop it while my dad was sweating bullets trying to hold the mast. Later my dad told me that sailors named it the "damn-it" pin because it was such a pain. Uphostery tacks are much the same.

I started with a piece of pressboard from Home Depot which they cut for free to your dimensions. Mine is 59 in X 40 in.

I then borrowed this saw from a neighbor to cut out my design on the two corners.

I normally like to use a thick piece of foam but because I knew I would be nailing tacks in it I wanted it to be thin. Instead I purchased this 3/4 X 1-1/2 wood and cut it down with a hand saw to my dimensions. I simply glued it to the back of my headboard with wood glue so when I wrapped the material around it, it looked more substantial and thick.

I don't have any fancy clamps to secure the glued boards in place but I discovered that food storage cans full of wheat and rice do the same job nicely.



I started by adhering foam to the front of my headboard cut to size.

Found it at Hancock Fabric (don't forget your 40% off coupon).





Here's the spray adhesive I used (because I know 15 people will ask).




Cut it to the same size as your board.

After the foam is secure wrap the entire front of foam and board with batting.

Secure it with staples on the other side.

Should look like this.

Here's the back side with staples.

This in not the same headboard but I've had so many questions about how I attached the headboard to the wall I thought I'd show you an example of a different headboard I've done before.

I attached two 1X2's to the back of the head board as legs. It leans against the wall sandwiched between the wall and the bed.

Now for the "damn-it" tacks.

This is tricky. I know there are tack strips that you can use but I like the look of these better (and I like to torture myself).

It took me about 50 tacks before I started to get the hang of it.

Start in an area that people won't see (I learned this the hard way).

This is about 1/4th of my mistakes.

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Spray paint = good.

Continuing on with my DIY guest room... Next up, SPRAY PAINT, my B.F.F.
I spied this lamp at a thrift store for $5.00 a while ago. I kept thinking about it and to my suprise it was still there a couple weeks later (that NEVER happens to me).

I first gave it a quick (and sloppy), light sanding.
Next a coat of spray primer.
To tie in with my brown, white and green color scheme I sprayed it green.
It tied in nicely but not "pop"-y enough.

Then I thought a brighter green might give it the "pop" I was after.
My husband took one look at it, picked it up, set it on top of the garbage can and said, "looks great it your going for the Waste Management look."

I finally decided if I wanted a "pop" of color then fire engine red would hit the mark.
Third time's a charm.
Red it is.

Next, re-purpose the changing table from IKEA in to a bedside table.
This required taking the legs off to reduce the height and removing the top rails.
Light sanding, coat of spray primer, 3 coats of white spray paint.




Last to get a new coat of paint was this shelf I found at an estate sale months ago.
(My husband has hated this thing ever since it came to live with us).
Light sanding, coat of spray primer, couple coats of white spray paint, yadi, yadi.

Spray paint, I love you.

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DIY Canvas Art.

When I set out to decorate my guest room my most pressing stipulation was that it cost next to nothing. That forced me to shop in my closets and look for things around the house for things I could re-purpose. I've had these canvases under a bed for 2 1/2 years that I used in my last home. With a little paint and tape I realized I could make them work with the new color scheme for the new room.

I first painted them all brown (Clinton Brown by Benjamin Moore).
Notice one canvas is missing?
Dear Michelle, Do not leave things to dry in the garage next to the boys' bikes...they will run right over them without a second thought.Thank you conscience, noted.

You know I'm a tried and true fan of Frog Tape but for some reason it just didn't want to stick to my painted canvases. So I went with the blue tape which stuck much better...and of course...bled under the tape.

To remedy that I applied the tape, then painted the same base color on top of the paint to seal it. In theory, the paint will bleed under the tape as normal but it won't matter because it's the same color so you don't notice. It wasn't 100% fool proof. I used a foam straight edge brush to do minor touch up.

After I applied the brown, I applied my next color (Ultra White by Behr in Egg Shell).
I always do at least two coats then let dry until just tacky. If you let it fully dry it will become one with the tape and pull off when you pull of the tape.

Repeat the steps with as many colors as you plan on using. My last color was green.

There you have it.



Custom art on a shoe-string budget.

*This post sponsored by Online Poster Printing,
a company that provides high quality canvas prints.*

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