Stenciled Bathroom Wall

This is what friends and family fondly refer to as the "awkward" bathroom. It's not-so-conveniently placed right between the kitchen and front room, so it doesn't feel all that private. It's a small bathroom that doesn't get much love-so I figured I'd try to dress it up a little with a cute stencil from cuttingedge stencils. This one is the "Marrakech Trellis Stencil". This exact stencil can be found  here.

 

The above is my unsuccessful attempt at adding a little "bathroom humor" straight from the lyrical stylings of OutKast. To see how to make this bathroom sign, just click the link! 

Here is the bathroom (before). To the right (behind the open door) is our kitchen, and to the left of the bathroom is our front/living room.

  Cute and quaint, but just too BLAH.

I measured out the middle of the wall and marked this with a pencil. I started stenciling at the bottom of the wall in the middle. I moved the stencil from the middle, to the right, and then to the far left to avoid smudging anything that hadn't dried yet. 

You can either use stencil adhesive spray or painters tape to readjust your stencil.  I prefer to use painters tape for transitioning the stencil. Less clean up, and no gunk on the walls :) I waited to do the edges (as shown below) so I could keep my flow. 

You can either use a small roller brush or a stipple brush to lay on the paint on the stencil. I first tried using the mini roller I bought from Hobby Lobby (specifically made for stencils) and felt that it was too messy. I decided on a round foam brush and used it like I would with a stipple brush and dabbed over, over, and OVER again. I think this probably took more time, but feel like the lines looked much more crisp.

It's important to remember to have a small level with you. Even though the stencils can interlock in design and flow from one panel to the next, its easy to drop a corner without a level. 

But feel free to drop it like it's hot-

you're going to need some good tunes to get you through the next 5 hOuRs!

Time for the corners. I did my best to line up with the next stencil (while using my trusty level) and bend the stencil as tight as I could around the corners. I taped in place and began stenciling.

I started this project on a Thursday night after work around 6:30. I finished at 12:00 (with clean up time). It took a lot longer than I had expected but I LOVE the results. Just wished I hadn't started this project on a work night! 

All in all, I really loved the quality of the stencil from cutting edge stencils and felt that it was easy to clean off the stencil when finished. They include one full stencil piece and two corner pieces (one horizontal and one vertical) to help with the hard to paint edges. I wish I could order another one but I just might go stencil CRAZY!

A smart clean up stencil trick is found here at the stencil cleaning and storage at the cuttingedge stencil website. Placing the stencil on a flat cookie sheet was GENIUS and helped me a TON to cut down on cleaning frustration! 

Anthropologie-esque lampshades

Anthropologie-esque lampshades

I saw some lampshades made by my friend Andi (she is crazy amazing) and I wanted to try to mimic them because I loved them so much! Mine didn't turn out quite as awesome, but they were fun and I still liked how they turned out.

 *I wish she had a blog I could direct you to--ANDI, GET ON IT*

These lamps are now in the master bedroom and I love the softer light they put off now. 

I redid some lampshades that I already had (I think these ones were originally bought from WalMart for $7 each)...

I used a natural burlap and LOTS of glue sticks! It also helps to have a rotary blade and mat because you end up cutting out a lot of strips. 

My strips were 18" long, and 1 1/2" wide. I probably used a yard and a half of burlap.

Here is a great tutorial on how to make the rosettes using the same idea as the CSI Project--burlap rosettes

 

UofU Trike Re-do

Found this vintage Radio Flyer at the D.I. for $5.00 with my friend Bridgette. I knew immediately that I would want to fix it up for my nephew, Cale. It was in need of some serious TLC, it had rust spots, dents and even a cobweb or two. 

But too cute to pass up, right?!

 I ain't afraid of a little elbow grease!

Supplies: Originally I thought that I would be doing the same colors and pattern as on the original bike. But as I got going, I decided I didn't love the look of the silver paint and got some black paint (made specifically for metal) instead.

The bike license plate and frame were found at Walmart for $1.50 each.

The white paint is primer made for metal. It goes on so well that I used it by itself for everywhere the color was white on the bike (and didn't need to cover with a white paint on top of the primer).

Sander/sand block to buff out the rust (wear a mask!) and standard tools to take apart the bike and put back together.

I also ended up making my own stencil for the "U" logo made out of paper. Used my Cricut to center the "utes" wording in the middle of a page and used that on top of the logo once it dried.

I first had to dismantle the bike, and wipe off the dirt and cobwebs. I sanded out the rust spots and pushed out a few dents.

*Remember to take plenty of pics of the bike when you are taking it apart so you can put it back together!

I've found that its easier to control paint overspray when you spray an item within a box. I first primed everything with the white spray paint and then once that dried, went back with painters "Frog Tape" and taped off the designs to spray paint with another color.

I originally taped off the main body of the trike to be alternating in white and red. Seemed like it might look like a candy cane-so I decided to add black to every other non taped area. This is where I suggest having a "plan" for a project before starting it--I'm sure I would've saved myself a lot of hours and frustration.

Once all the painting was done, I had to find replacement handles for the Trike. 

I looked everywhere. 

Online, Walmart, specialty bike stores, etc. 

This was easily the most frustrating part of the process. Any stores that did carry replacement handles, only carried adult ones for upwards of $10 that would have to be cut down anyways! The Radio Flyer ones could only be found online direct from manufacturer.

I decided to go to the Dollar Store to see if we could find a jumprope handle that would work. The jumpropes were too small, but we found these plastic golf clubs instead. We had the one (that had been chewed up by dogs) to bring as a match. It seemed as if it would be a match. We bought two golf clubs and cut off the handles to each. 

Perfect fit! 

Primed, painted, and super glued on. Voila! 

And here is the final product!

 Happy 1st Birthday to my little studly nephew! Obviously, I have no idea about kids and age ranges for toys (his feet don't even come close to touching the pedals!) But in six months-I'm sure he'll be a speed demon! And if you haven't already noticed, he's already been spoken for. 

GO UTES!  

Thrifty Finds!

This space is reserved to show off all my thrifty finds found at yard sales, garage sales and antique stores in their original beauty! 

These planter boxes I found at a Yard Sale for $5.00 each. I made a sad attempt at growing flowers in them (after they were fixed up of course) but didn't work out as well as I hoped. FAIL.

This cute iron rod bird bath was found at a Antique Store in American Fork.

I found this chair at my community yard sale for only $5.00! Click the link to see the before and after.

Thrift chair DIY-before and after

My sister and mom were with me when I found this cute vintage blue fan at the same community yard sale as the $5 thrifted chair. I paid $15.00 for it, my mom and sis swear that I got ripped off! I tell them that you can't put a price on love!

Always remember--when thrifting, it is important to bring a best bud with you. My nephew Cale made a great Yard Sale buddy!

Indoor Herb Garden

Indoor Herb Garden

This year I truly RACKED my brain on what to get my mom. Something that was meaningful and important to her, but also something that made her realize how special and important she is to me. She is the type of woman that does everything for everyone else, fulfills all of her (many) responsibilities, opens her heart and home to anyone in need, and is able to do all this and more flawlessly. I commonly refer to her as "Superwoman" or SuperMom" because that's truly what she is. I'm constantly amazed by her. 

She had briefly mentioned that she had wanted to do a herb garden, but wasn't sure if she wanted to start one outside due to harsh winters and her inability to use the herbs during those months. One night while walking through Ikea, the heavens parted and I ran into a cute white green house sitting all by its lonesome on a long shelf. I scored when I found out that it was the last one they were carrying and because it was the floor model-they gave it to me for half off! 

I ran by the dollar section at my local Target and found a couple brown flower pots, and lime green metal buckets. I made sure to drill holes in the bottom of each pot/bucket and decided to decorate the brown pots with jute and added letters. The buckets were wrapped with scrap fabric and extra buttons from my craft stash.

Went to my local nursery and found the herbs that I assumed my parents would use the most. Plenty of Oregano, basil and garlic in Greek cooking!

No herb garden can be complete or helpful without the use of herb markers! I bought a few knives at the D.I. for 50 cents each and stamped them with metal stamps. When they say to buy vintage silverware-that's not a lie. It is much easier to stamp those, but is usually more expensive than the local DI. These were extremely hard to imprint but were worth it. This is a good site to learn how to make 

these- http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/10-diy-seed-markers-for-your-garden-169269

I added a few decorative items including a cute birdhouse and a saying especially for Mother's Day in a vintage listerine bottle.

The look on my mom's face was priceless! I was so excited that she loved it so much, and being the big boobs that we are, she even shed a tear or two. I would put that in the win column!