Doilie M Wall Hanging

A couple months back I scored a great deal at a garage sale - a paper grocery sack over half full with doilies of different sizes for only $5.  A lot of them were really small and I had a vision in of putting them on canvas in the shape of an M for Baby Whimsy's room.  Then about a month ago, I found a framed piece of canvas artwork that was the perfect size to re-purpose for my needs (don't worry, I googled the art before painted over it to make sure it was not a masterpiece.  It wasn't - in fact it was just printed on the canvas, not even really painted.). Even better, it cost the whopping total of $1.

My goal was to have the background to be pink but not to look perfectly painted.  I wanted different shades of pink and white to kind of streak through the piece (if that makes any sense).  I am not an artist and I do not paint so this was a foreign venture for me but I went into it with the mindset that there was not a right or wrong way to create art (plus it cost only $1 and I knew if I messed up I could have my sweet sister paint something for me).  

Supplies needed: 

old canvas

white craft paint

pink craft paint (different shades)

paint brush

The first step in the project was the paint over the existing art.  I first did a plain white coat because the piece was originally pretty dark and I did not want the dark colors to show through in the end.  

Once that dried I literally just randomly squirted out paint in shades of pink and white along the canvas.  I wanted the end product to be less bright pink and more baby pink so I adjusted my colors accordingly.  Then I just used a foam brush and painted in the same direction from top to bottom, until the piece was covered in paint.  At the top (my starting point), there were a few areas that were lacking paint so I went back and re-coated them.  I also added more white (and painted it in using the same direction)  where I thought it looked too pink and vice versa until I was satisfied.  It was really a super easy project and I am sure you guys did not need the above description on! 

(Side note, Mr. Whimsy was very impressed with the end result of just the painted canvas and has encouraged me to look for and buy (shocker) more framed canvases if I see them at garage sales to decorate other areas of the house on the cheap.  I love request to buy more when they come from the hubster!)

Then I just needed to add my doilies but again, I didn't so the project sat and waited another REALLY long time, until I made my nursery to do list.  For the doilie portion, I placed the doilies in a way I thought made the M look the prettiest, then starched them and glued them on the canvas.  The hardest part of the project was getting the M laid out so I was happy with it and the most time consuming was ironing the doilies.  

Overall I am really happy with the result, it was an easy breezy project (once I finally got started) and I think it will look nice in the nursery. 

Fun Garage Sale Find!

I feel like a 7 year old posting this... but I had such an exciting garage sale find this weekend!  

A Play and Freeze Ice Cream Maker!  Its the shape of a ball, you fill it with ingredients and shake it, toss it, roll it, then eat the yumminess in it!  Best of all, it was totally brand new, still in the box, and cost $1.00!  

It makes 1 pint and although we have not tried it yet, it came with some pretty great recipes that I am pretty sure will be tasty and enjoyed on the back porch.

Do you have any yummy homemade ice cream recipes to share?  Have you every used one of these balls?

Thrifty Bathroom Makeover

For a while now Joe and I have been wanting to redo (re would imply doing it again... we just need to do it for the first time!) our master bathroom.  We painted our cabinets white at the same time we redid our kitchen cabinets.  The lighter color helps the bathroom seem bigger but the rest of the bathroom has pretty much been just... there.  

I hooked up a small chandelier over the bathtub but its kind of out of place because the rest of the room is SO plain.  Finally, a while back we replaced the standard wall mounted mirror with a framed one.

I had an idea of how I wanted it to look but just hadn't done anything about it.  We have chocolate brown towels and I was think a really light blue with brown and bronze accents would be nice. Again, this was all in my head and nothing has been to it.

Two weeks ago, thanks to garage sales I FINALLY made a positive step in getting the bathroom in order.  First, I went to an apartment garage sale and got a brand new, full roll of painters tape for $0.25.   At another sale, I got the small roller for $0.25 and 10 bronze knobs for $1 (they were supposed to be $2 but what garage saler pays full price on everything?!?!?).  Then, at my last garage sale of the day I found a full can of light blue never used paint for $1!  The finish is flat and I wish it was a least eggshell, but for $1 in a color I want, I'll take it!  

Then, I had a $10 off $10 coupon to use a Kohl's.  I found a bathroom themed wall vinyl on clearance for $12.79.  I had spotted this vinyl almost a year ago at Hobby Lobby and liked it but never got it... with my $10 coupon I paid $2.79 plus tax for this vinyl.

When I got home Saturday afternoon I was ready to get to work and make a big change... then I went to get the paint roller and we had run out.  So frustrating!  The project was once again put on hold because I did not feel like going to the store.  All the project pieces have been sitting in a corner ever since.

Finally this past Saturday, I saw a new roller at a garage sale for $0.50 (I would have bought it at the store but I kept forgetting).  Now I have no excuse to get to work!  

This bathroom makeover is the ultimate thrifty project.  Total project cost include:

Painters Tape : $0.25

Mini Roller : $0.25

Knobs: $1.00

Gallon of Paint: $1.00

Roller: $0.50

Vinyl Quote: $2.79+tax

TOTAL: $5.79

I am hoping this blog post will shame myself into actually getting to work and painting this bathroom!  Unfortunately I will be out of town for the majority of this week so I have a feeling that this never ending (or frankly starting) project will get put off a little bit longer.  

What projects do you have waiting in the wings?  Feel free to shame yourself into action here!

New flower bed!

After my wedding I had a left over metal box spring, some small wooden fence pickets and plants that needed a new home. A new flower bed was in my future.

I planned to put it essentially where the metal flowers are in this picture (I (I as in Joe) moved the metal flowers to the opposite side of the gate).

The box spring came from an old business/house that was being torn down. The owner said I could take anything I wanted and I fell in love when I found this cool piece. At the wedding, it leaned against a tree and was used to hold some of the rose petal cones

The fence pickets came from a garage sale. My wonderful Uncle Carson painted and made the pickets stand up on their own. They were on the stage in Welcome Hall. I took apart the fence pieces, added some metal stakes to them and used them to surround the flower bed.

I then placed the box spring against a T-post (and connected it to the fence with wire), and planted a $3 Lowes clearance Jasmine vine in front of it. With a azela on both sides, society garlic in the front, some small clearance plants and mulch, the bed was almost complete but missing... something.
This bird bath was the missing piece. I got this at an estate sale a year ago and it had been sitting by my garden, in my "need to do something with it" section. A bit of paint later and it was the perfect addition to my new flower bed. Its amazing what some paint can do to something!
I am really loving how the bed turned out and can totally envision the plants grown up and blooming in it. I am especially happy I was able to repurpose some goodies from my wedding to make this bed complete. What type of things have you repurposed and put in your flower beds?

(Almost) New Dresser

A couple weekends ago, I found this old dresser at a garage sale for $20.

I have been looking for a piece like this will all the design and carvings to try out my new glazing process. I got this technique from All Things Thrifty and tried it out with good success on my kitchen cabinets.

A couple days after I got this dresser, I found an awesome spray paint deal - cans were only $1. That pretty much picked my color for me and it was time to get to work.

First step was giving it a dusting and removing the drawers and hardware. Next up, I spray painted it with primer. The change was already amazing.

After spray painting it green I was already loving it. One thing to keep in mind when spray painting something this detailed is to be sure to spray paint from all angles, otherwise the underside of the curves and carving will not get the necessary color.


I gave the paint a couple days to dry hard (only because I was too busy to do it the next day), and I started glazing. For the drawers I used a smaller artist brush so that I could get into all the crevices. On the big, flat areas I used a much bigger brush of course.

I split it up into sections because it took a while to cover all the areas and to wipe it off. Again, you just wipe it with a damp, clean cloth. I rinsed mine a bunch so that I didn't have to go through a billion rags.

On the above picture, you can see the bottom portion is unglazed, the semi circle at the top has the glazed mostly wiped off and the rest of the top has the glaze painted on. The glaze makes it look black and can be a bit concerning but it wipes off easy as long as you have a clean, damp, rag.

Because this piece will not get tons of contact on the painted parts (like my cabinets will) I did NOT use a polycrylic - I just chose not to and so far I haven't had any problems.

I love the finished piece and the extra cabinet space was REALLY needed. Now I am on the lookout for more furniture to glaze! What do you think?