Archive for the ‘The Daily Pin’ Category

The tutu table I did a couple of weeks ago was bugging me. Every time I looked at it the ribbon Georgie picked out just didn’t look right to me. So I decided to fix it up a bit. I started by backing the tutu with a little white fabric to bring out the pink of the tulle. Next I took off the old ribbon edge and added a ribbon that matches tulle. I had a floral strand leftover from when I did Georgie’s headboard and it turned out to be the perfect size to go around the table. A few minutes work and we have a new and improved tutu table.

We are going to redo the kitchen at some stage so I’ve been trying not to spend our life savings making it tolerable. The handles on the cabinets were hideous, cheap brass plated that have probably been in use since the late 80′s. I have tried multiple times over the past two years to clean and polish them but they were beyond help. The brass plating was wearing off, they were suffering from years of neglect and screaming to be replaced.

Our home was built in the 1890′s and the current kitchen was put in by previous owners in the early 70′s. I have to give them credit, they put in nice wood cabinets and they do not look their age. It is very impressive considering they were added in the 1970′s!  The only problem with the cabinets is the old pulls, they might have been a standard size back then but now they are nearly impossible to find. I found some custom made that are gorgeous but they are a whopping $22 each. I have 52 handles in my kitchen so that is $1144 plus shipping just for handles, no thanks! I am not willing to pay that much for a kitchen we plan on gutting in the future. I decided to tackle the handles the same way I do everything else in this house, paint and polyurethane.

I spray painted the handles with  Rustoleum Oil Rubbed Bronze, once dry I brought them inside and gave them a couple of coats of a semi gloss polyurethane. I love the transformation a cheap little can of spray paint can make. This was a quick little project, especially for me. I had the handles off, painted and back on all in the same day. All I have to do now is find something else to paint!

I sat down with my little guy in his tent last week and we discussed things you would have when camping and made a list of things we could add to his room. His list consisted of campfire, chairs, tent, trees, thing that keeps the juice boxes cold, fishing poles and bears. I decided to tackle chairs and a campfire first. I picked up the chairs from Academy Sports. Ethan being his opinionated little self said he didn’t want them in his room because “I only like orange”. I of course bought green chairs anyway, they match and now that they are in his room he hasn’t complained.

The campfire was very simple and was made from leftover materials. I started by cutting a cardboard circle out of a box from the recycling pile in the garage. I painted a medium brown base, let it dry and finished it up by swirling a dark brown around the edges and a reddish brown towards the center. I worked those in until I achieved the look I was going for. While that was drying I gave the limbs we picked up from the yard a coat of polyurethane. The polyurethane makes a HUGE difference in the look of the branch. I left the branches to dry and using my hot glue gun glued the river rocks around the edge of the cardboard. I followed that up by hot gluing the branches into place and then cutting flames out of tissue paper and putting them in. The campfire turned out cute, last night the kids were upstairs “roasting” mini marshmallows on chop sticks. It is perfect for imaginative playtime on cold winter days.

The next thing I am going to tackle for his room is a little greenery. I’ve been playing around with an idea on how to make my own trees.

Last week I made a tent for my son’s room so in fairness this week I had to make something for my daughters. When I found out I was having a daughter the first thought that came to my mind was what will I do if I get a girly girl. I am not very girly and prefer mud and dirt to pink and frilly. Thankfully she turned out only 50% girly. When she is in the house she is all princess but the minute she walks out the door her need to get covered in dirt kicks in. I asked her how she wanted her room decorated when we moved into this house and my three year old princess with an obsession for butterflies was quick to say she wanted a butterfly garden. I don’t half do anything so I quickly hatched a plan to turn the entire room into a garden for her fourth birthday present. The room has seen a few minor changes since it was first completed but according to my daughter as of today it is perfect.

I made this cute little tutu table for under $20. I spent $10 on tulle, $2 on ribbon and $5 on a cheap dollar store table. I had some white paint laying around so I painted the table. I then cut the tulle into 3″ wide strips and looped it over a ribbon, same method used for a no sew tutu. Once it was large enough I used my hot glue gun to glue it under the edge of the table, and glued the ribbon on. It is extremely easy and much cheaper than they sell on Etsy.

I stayed up last night after the kids went to bed to finish this and nearly burned off a few fingerprints in the process. It was all worth it this morning to see my daughters face light up when she saw it. It was short lived when five seconds later she asked when I was going to make a tutu for her to wear. Now that I know how easy it is she is likely to have quite a few.

My husband has way too many toys, the one that drives me nuts is a big massive wheel he attaches to his desk for online racing. It is huge and bulky and to see his monitors over it he had placed them all on books. His office/playroom is right inside the front door so when you walk in you see his messy desk and mass of books holding up his three monitors. The sight of them always made me cringe and feel like I had stepped back in time to my college days.

I recently rearranged and cleaned his room; when I started putting his computer back together I decided it was time to do something about it. My first trip was to Lowes where I bought the shelf, which happens to be a perfect match for the desk, for $9.00. I then headed off to Hobby Lobby to the wood craft aisle knowing that I would find something to use for a base. I bought two square shelves that are the perfect height for $12.00. I painted the wood boxes with  Rustoleum Oil Rubbed Bronze spray paint, I am going to find so many uses for that stuff. The color is pretty much perfect to go with the Espresso shelf.

Once the shelves were dry I attached them with a little liquid nail and the monitor stand was done. My husband is happy with the results and I am happy his desk is a little bit less of an eyesore.