Chalk Art {Spring Edition}

Spring is here although I think last week's weather was way more springlike than this week's. With the small changes I've been making in my house for Spring {and the constant reminder from my 2nd child that when she's a mommy, she's going to decorate her house for every holiday and every season - Thanks, Aunt Julie!} I decided it was high time to change the chalkboard art in my kitchen. About a year or so ago, I found the very best wooden frame to use for a chalkboard. I had been looking around for the perfect size frame to fit a specific wall in my kitchen. Then, one day I went to a local thrift store that I often visit and noticed certain tag colors were 75% off. So, I went through the art and found THE ONE! I ended up paying only $4.75 and didn't even have to paint or distress it. I only had to tear the macrame 'art' from the 1960s out of it and used very thin particle board that Hubs had in our garage to make the chalkboard section. I just sprayed several coats of chalkboard paint onto the smooth side and then hot glued it into the frame. Best thrift find I've ever found!

 Did you know that sidewalk chalk works like a charm for chalk art?! It's not just for sidewalks anymore.

 I used this method of making a chalkboard to do this little framed pic.

 My little sweetheart and assistant {aka. Shadow} decided to do her own chalk art! I think she did a great job!

I'm sharing this with a few of these parties.

15 Minute Dropcloth Table Runner {Tutorial} + Centerpiece

My kitchen table is the most used table in the house. It gets eaten on, drawn on, colored on, crafted on, etc etc. It was the first table I ever bought and I've had it for 11 1/2 years. So, it's starting to look a little worn. I normally leave it plain or just with a vase of flowers on it because it gets used constantly, but after making my dropcloth curtains for the door behind it, I felt like it looked mighty plain. I started thinking about what to do and decided that since I happened to still have the dropcloth left out from these projects, I'd make a table runner out of it! It literally took about 15 minutes start to finish. It's as simple as sewing a straight line. Everyone can do it! So, if you need to brighten up an old table consider using this durable and washable dropcloth.

 If you want to make a quick and cheap centerpiece for Spring or Easter, this is what I made. My girls love it. It's simple and I think they just like having something Eastery on the table.

I spent $20 on two 4'x15' dropcloths at Big Lots and so far I've made these curtains, this kitchen curtain, this pillow cover, a tote bag {soon to come} and the table runner out of them. I still have quite a bit left to make many more projects! I'd say that's pretty thrifty.

What dropcloth projects do you want to make?

I'm sharing with these parties. Happy Spring!!

Bunny Silhouette Pillow Cover {Tutorial}

This is a two for the price of one kind of tutorial! I love throw pillows because they can change the look of the room in just a matter of minutes and usually for just a few dollars {if you make your own!}. This post will show you how to make a pillow cover with a velcro closure AND how to personalize it. I love the idea of using throw pillows for seasonal decoration, but I really wanted to be able to use the down pillow insert for more than just a few weeks during the year. With the velcro closure on this pillow cover, I can use this pillow insert all year and just change the covers with the season. It's a win-win situation!!
I made this pillow cover out of ... dropcloth! I told you to stay tuned for more dropcloth projects, right?? Here's how...

Now, you can leave it like that or you can personalize it. I chose to do a bunny silhouette in honor of Spring and Easter.

I love how this turned out! And I love even more that I can take the cover off and store it until next year and still use my pillow insert for another DIY pillow in the future! I'll definitely be making more. To see more of my dropcloth projects, click here.

I'm sharing this with some of these parties!
Follow me on Pinterest here where I post all the projects from this blog.

Art as a Window Treatment {Before & After}

Spring is here {as far as I'm concerned} and I'm ready to give my whole house a makeover. For 6 years, we've endured a darker color palette and although I loved it at first, I really don't love it anymore. The browns are really bothering me lately. So, my downstairs has been slowly getting a facelift with brighter, more current colors and I love it! The biggest problem on my first floor {besides a big brown accent wall that will be changing soon} was my sliding door window treatment. I've googled, checked out Pinterest, etc. and no one has any good ideas for dressing up a sliding door. I had to dig way down deep into the creative recesses of my mind to find something I now really love to look at. Here's the before.

While I loved it in the beginning, the big overbearing brown burlap valance just had to go. And the curtains...well, they were dirty and I shrunk them in the dryer so they were about 3 inches above the floor before I finally took them down for good.

Here's the after.

I posted here about how to make these no-sew 30 minute dropcloth curtains. I absolutely love them and honestly, it didn't even take 30 minutes to make them. However, I wasn't sure what to put in the blank space between the door trim and the curtain rod. We have 9 ft ceilings and the space just felt too empty. Here's where the digging down into the recesses of the creative mind comes in. My talented brother made me this art of one of my favorite verses {Jeremiah 29:11} for Christmas a year ago and it just hit me that they would fit perfectly in that space. Not only that, but I would be able to see them and enjoy them every single day, multiple times a day. Serves as a great reminder and a perfect way to accessorize my sliding glass door. I only wish I had thought of it sooner!

This is probably my most favorite window treatment in the house right now! I can't wait to show you more. I've been taking down all the dusty old curtains and making new ones. Stay tuned for more!

 

I'm sharing this with some of these parties.

Monogram Picks {Tutorial}

Last week I bought some cute tin buckets at Old Time Pottery and had planned to make mini Easter baskets for my girls' teachers. I didn't want to load them up with candy and we have already given them handmade necklaces for Christmas and I am pretty sure we gave them silk flower pins earlier this year, so I decided to use the buckets for flowers. While I was at Hobby Lobby this morning, I saw that the chipboard letters were 50% off, making the small ones, only .50 cents each. That's when it hit me that I could make monogram picks to put in the flowers. They can always use the picks some other way when the plant dies, but with all the cheery, bright-colored scrapbook paper options, I couldn't pass this up. I hope they like them!

Linking to some of these parties!