Curtain Rods: The Inspiration

I recently got some curtains for the master bedroom, which meant taking down the stylin' blankets we had hanging in the windows before.  Nice.  However, now we have thin tension rods fitted into the window frame and bowing under the weight of the new curtains.  Not the best look.  So my boyfriend and I went to our local home improvement store (Menards!  If you live in the midwest and you're not shopping there, it's time to start!) and looked for some curtain rods.  Here are the ones we found that we liked:

So much classier than the current look.  For sale here.

The only problem is that they didn't have the color we wanted, oil rubbed bronze, to match the rest of our fixtures and such.  Black was the best option, and I think it would've looked okay because our curtains have some black in them.  Otherwise we'd have to paint them to get the oil rubbed bronze look.  The regular price is $24.99 and the online sale price is $20.74.  I realize that this is actually a pretty decent price for curtain rods, but it seemed like a waste to drop almost $50 to hang curtains on two windows.  So, I did a google search for ideas and some bargain shopping and figured out how to make them in a similar look for about half the price.  And with this approach, I can paint them oil rubbed bronze (or whatever color I want!).

They're still a work in progress, so no promises yet, but I'm hoping to have a finished product to share within a week or so!  Fingers crossed!

Pillow Cases

I  haven't been blogging much lately.  I always feel like I have to have some big project completed and awesome pictures to accompany it, and that just never seems to happen.  However, I've decided to commit to blogging at least once a week, even if I don't have any awesome pictures to share or any projects finished.  Just to say hello and maybe to share something that made me smile!  So here's what made me smile this weekend:

PILLOW CASES!

We acquired a couple sets of sheets recently from a family friend, but they didn't come with pillow cases.  We did a little shopping around and discovered that buying pillow cases separately is kind of expensive.  That's why I was thrilled when I find these king-size cases on clearance for $8.08 a set.  WIN!  They're different from the sheet colors, but a nice complement.  And they're super-soft.

I also found some clothes on clearance at Target too!  I'm hoping to do a fashion post in the near future, so I'll share then!  I've found great deals at Old Navy, Target, AND JC Penney in the past month or so.

That's all I've got.  Wish me luck on my goal to write at least once a week!

Challenge x2! Wine Cork Heart!

A good challenge is apparently the only thing that gets me to write a new blog!  Luckily I've been wanting to make a wine cork heart for awhile and I had two challenges to enter with my completed project!  (Also, I was determined to complete it in time for Valentine's Day!

Challenge 1: Upcyclers' Creativity Challenge!  One of my faves, of course.  Last time I entered was back in September, here.  This entry is for the January/February challenge, as described by The Wooden Bee: "The medium is.... WINE CORKS! :) I bet many of you are not surprised. I am a HUGE wine cork upcycler. Champagne corks, synthetic corks, or any cork material will be expected!!!"  Check out our team here and the pinterest board for all entries here.

Challenge 2: Pinstrosiversary Challenge!  Pinstrosity is an awesome blog - kind of like snopes for pinterest.  Or maybe mythbusters for pinterest.  People send in stories problems that they have with pinned projects and the authors often make comments or try to help figure out what went wrong and if it's even possible to make it right.  Very entertaining!  I wish I could be friends with the two girls that run it.  They are coming up on the first anniversary of their blog and decided to do something fun: "We've been putting our heads together to try and figure out just what we wanted to do in celebration of the "big day". We're always encouraging you to get out there and to actually do what you have pinned...so we thought we'd give you extra incentive. How about this...you actually do something you have pinned and that enters you in a drawing for a cool prize? I like that idea. Don't you?"  Why YES, I do!  Check out the full description and all entries here.
So, I'm double-dipping on the challenge entries!  Here we go:

The inspiration: Ombre Cork Heart

So, first I had to collect corks.  Lots and lots of corks.  A few people helped save them for me and luckily I have a few people in my life who love wine.  So, I was pretty positive I had enough corks, and again, I wanted to get this done in time.  I cut out a heart out of thin wood in the shop - it took a few tries to get the right size and I was still short a few corks.  That's when I broke an upcyclers' rule: I used some new corks.  My boyfriend's lovely father bottles wine as a hobby and supplied me with some corks.  I justified it by remembering that I needed some plain ones for the top (lightest ombre shade) of the heart.  Another issue was that I didn't have nearly enough of the wine-stained corks.  Obviously I drink too much white wine.  So I used some food coloring to give them more color.  However, they turned out a little bright-ish, so I toned them down with a brown stamp pad.  The gluing wasn't too bad - I used a tacky wood glue which worked great and is holding up awesome so far!  Here are some pictures of my process:

Fake wine-staining the corks.

 

Making it look a little more realistic with a stamp pad.

Oops - out of focus.  But I just globbed some tacky wood glue on the bottom
and where it would be touching the other corks.  Very scientific.

 

I had to trim some down with a razor blade so they would lay flat.

Getting started with my dark-red section.

 

And here it is!  The first thing I see as I come up the stairs into my house!

Close up of my favorite cork in the bunch!  A campagne cork from a bottle
of Dom Perignon - my boyfriend and I won this from our "Locals Card"
from our favorite pizza place!  We cashed it in on the day we closed on
our house. <3

Not quite the same ombre effect as the original, but I still love it!

Whoops, forgot to rotate this one.  So cool of me.  Cork heart love.

Oil-Rubbed Bronze Outlet Covers!

I BOUGHT A HOUSE at the end of October!  Incidentally, that's about the same time I stopped blogging.  We've been busy cleaning, painting, replacing flooring, and packing to move - all DIY (mostly by my boyfriend and his dad) so it was pretty time consuming.  We're hoping to actually move this weekend!

I haven't done a lot of DIY projects myself yet, but I did buy four cans of oil-rubbed bronze spray paint with plans to repaint all of the shiny brass fixtures that came came with the house.  When we were taking down all of the outlet covers and light switch covers in prep to paint, we realized that they were all a little grimy and mismatched.  So I decided to spray those too - love how they turned out.  They make the house look much richer.

A quick "after" shot of my outlet covers.
I hope to share better pictures in the future!

A few tips if you're going to do this yourself:
- remove any dirt or grime, then lightly sand and wipe down with a cloth before spraying.
- spray sparingly!  Several light coats are better than one heavy coat.  I have a horrible relationship with spray paint and often end up overspraying.  This causes the paint to crackle - then you have to let it dry, resand, and start over.  Not fun.
- spray the screws too or they won't match.  I poked them all through a sheet of newspaper and gave them all a couple coats.
- I've never done this before, so no promises on how these hold up.  So far so good, but I haven't even lived in the house yet, so who knows.

My next DIY project is finding a way to use up the scraps remaining from our laminate floor installation.  I hope the next update comes in less than two months this time!

No-Sew Upcycled Denim Bracelet

This month's upcyclers' creativity challenge item was simple: "OLD PAIR OF JEANS!"

Interested in more info and my entries for other month's challenges?  Click away!
September 2012
August 2012
July 2012
June 2012
May 2012

 

Inspiration: This awesome book given to me by a dear friend - 99 ideas for upcycling jeans!  Amazing!  I pretty much picked the easiest one because I was feeling lazy, but I plan to try out many more in the future.

 

Here's the idea I picked.  I altered it a little.  They recommended cutting an empty water bottle to get your bracelet form.

 

I found a pair of old, raggedy, dirty, too-small jeans, and the cardboard center ring from a roll of tape that I had been conveniently saving for bracelet-making!

 

I superglued one end down with gel superglue and then started wrapping my denim strip around the cardboard ring.  I glued down the other end when I got to it.  You could also probably use hot glue.

 

It looked a little bland when I finished, so I cut some strips from this old t-shirt that I was originally planning to use for a scarf.  I glued and wrapped those too, and added a red button.

 

Done!  Chunky, fun bracelet.

 

I'm planning to wear it over sweaters this fall/winter.

 



Wrapping it up with a senior picture style pose.

I just love these challenges, not only because it forces me to think outside of my usual comfort zone, but because I get to see everyone else's awesome ideas too!  Check out Team Upcyclers and check out everyone's entries (which will be posted around the end of the month) on the Upcyclers Creative Challenge Board. 

DIY Washer Necklace

This project isn't actually complete yet, but it appears to be in the pictures, so I'm going to share it now!  I found this pin about making a washer necklace.  Really cute.  I followed the instructions, using a mustard yellow nail polish that I got at the dollar store to paint the washers.  Then I connected all the washers with jump rings, in the same configuration as the tutorial.  Very proud of my work, I picked up the necklace to find all of the washers folding in on each other and flipping over to reveal the unpainted side.  I don't have a picture of the pinstrosity, but it was not cute.  So, I took it apart and connected the rings in a long row instead.  Not quite the look I was originally going for, but it still turned out to be a fun necklace:

After I wore it, I realized that the washers still tend to flip themselves over, so I'm going to have to take it apart again and paint the backs of the washers.  I hope I get to it soon because this was intended to be a fall necklace!

Stitch Fix: Box #2!

I shared briefly about my first Stitch Fix experience here.

Well, I decided that I could plan for one Stitch Fix per season, so here's what I got in my fall fix!

Even though I'm frowning in the picture, I actually loved this top.  It was very comfy and fit well, and I loved the colorblocking.  However, it was $88.  Way too much for me to spend on one top.  I'm hoping I can DIY something similar, using strategies similar to my t-shirt dress, perhaps.

The sleeves were way long, but I kind of liked the scrunched look.

The sweet necklace that came in my box.  I absolutely love it - so cute!

I decided to keep the necklace ($33) and have been wearing it often already!

Next up - this weird blouse for $70.  I wasn't sure about it at first.

It's a hi-lo style, so it's long in the back.  The longer I had it on, the more I liked it.  Not my typical style, but part of the point of Stitch Fix is to help you break out of your style shell!

I wore my next two items together - this bright blouse and blue cardigan.  I loved how they looked together.  The cardigan would've been a great piece for my wardrobe, but since it was $64, I figured I could get something similar much cheaper at a local store.

Here's the blouse by itself.  It was way too big and flowy untucked, but I'm not sure it looks great tucked in, either.  I'm still learning how to tuck in shirts properly without feeling like I'm in the 80s or 90s.

Here it is untucked.  Simply too big - I needed a smaller size.  So, although I loved the style and colors of the shirt, I did not buy it for $65.  Also, since this is my fall fix, I didn't really feel like investing in a springy blouse.

I belted the blouse later and liked it even more.  However, I still didn't think it was worth the investment.  It did open my eyes to this style that I wouldn't have tried before.

So, lesson learned: Stitch Fix may be too expensive for me.  This is where you can help!  If you click here (or any of my other Stitch Fix links), you will be using my referral ID to sign up and I will get a $25 credit!  (Then you'll get your own link to give out to family and friends so you can get your own credits.  Win/win!)

On the other hand, I have found one item in each of my fixes that I've been able to keep, so I may try it again this winter, even if I don't manage to collect any credit.  We'll see!  If nothing else, it's fun to try on expensive, stylish clothes that I wouldn't have picked out myself!