Jewelry Chest Redo-Trash to Vintage Chic

I found this little chest abandoned by the trash. I’m assuming it was a jewelry chest but all the drawers were missing.

Elegant Winter Wreath Using Coffee Filters

I’ve heard of using coffee filters for different projects and really wanted to try since they are so cheap. Plus, the white color is great for winter decorating.

Make Your Own Glitter Knobs

Every time I go to Anthropologie or World Market, I always have to check out their dresser knobs. They have some of the coolest hardware.

Since this dresser in my kids’ room is a cheap, older one that I’ve had forever, I wasn’t afraid to play around with it. I wanted to see if I could give it a little face lift without spending $100 on knobs.

Here is the dresser before.

Decorate With Your Kid’s Favorite Book

When your kid decides that a particular book is his all-time favorite, you can expect it to get destroyed pretty quickly.

Easy Way To Brighten Up Dark Decor

I have always liked a natural, earth-tone look in my home, and I still do. But lately, I’m getting really sick of all the browns and darker colors. I know the transition is going to be gradual, so I’ll share it in stages.

My first area to tackle is the entryway.

Easy Way to Display Kids’ Art

In February, I made a Love Wall to display in Starbucks. To make it, I had to use up frames from around our house which left our living room wall sad and bare.

Since this room is currently in transition (i’m trying to slowly replace all the browns and dark with bright and colorful), I wasn’t ready to buy any artwork for this area. In fact, I had no idea what I wanted to do here.

All I knew is that I was sick of looking at a blank wall.

I decided to let my kids handle the decorating until I figured out what to do.

There are a lot of great ways to display kids’ art, but I decided on using open frames to hang them. It is easy to swap out the pictures and it’s lightweight to hang.

I’d been looking around for the right frames but was having a hard time. Then I stumbled across a garage sale that had these three frames which were perfect. I love when that happens!

I removed the glass and backing and measured out jute roping to fit across the back. I tied the end in a knot to hold better to the hot glue, which held it down.

Depending on the size of your frame, you can have one or more art hanging lines.

I just hung them on the wall.

And then I put my kids to work.

Using a clothes pin, I hung their artwork and that was it.

I like that this designates a spot for their art instead of getting randomly taped around the house.

I realize I fell into my old habit of using earth tones (jute) for this project. Rethinking this, these frames might look cute with a bright, decorative ribbon instead. Or if you hang them in a child’s room, a pastel, satiny ribbon would be pretty.

Lots of options. Have fun!

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How to Make a Kids’ Activity Corner

I’ve been looking for a way to buy myself a few minutes to get dinner ready when the little people in our house need dinner NOW.

We have this little corner in our dining room that I can see from the kitchen and I thought it might be a perfect place to make an activity corner to keep kids entertained while they wait.

I’ve been thinking about this for a while but hadn’t come across exactly what I was looking for to make this happen.

Until I saw this little organizing shelf. It was perfect.

This rack actually was the perfect size to hold my yogurt tubs that I have an insane collection of. I just covered them in a fabric that matched the room using my DIY Mod Podge mixture.

I just cut the fabric to size and covered the tub in the glue, then the fabric and then painted another (liberal) layer of glue on top of the fabric.

Once that dried completely, I filled the tubs with game pieces and other items they would need in their corner.

We have a little table that we put in the corner and hung our new rack as low as possible so kids could reach the shelves.

Then we filled the shelves with the decorated tubs, markers, puzzles, activity books, and paper.

Then we hung the “Corner Rules” and that was it.

I think they are excited to have a little place of their own.

And I’m excited to have a few extra minutes to myself!

So, if you are like us and don’t have a ton of space, this activity corner is a great way to give your kids their own little area.

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Make Your Own Mod Podge

Anyone who likes to decoupage or do crafts that involve sealing images onto furniture, bottles, and other objects, you’ve most likely come across Mod Podge. It’s a great glue/sealant and can be used on all kinds of projects.

The only problem with it is that at around $8.00 for a small jar, it can get expensive if you use it a lot or have a larger project.

I’d heard of making your own and thought I would give it a try.

All you need is:
1 clean, dry jar with a lid
1 bottle of white glue
Water

Pour your glue into your jar and add water. Many of the recipes out there called for a 50/50 mixture of glue to water but I found that to be a little too runny. I preferred a ratio more like 2 parts glue to 1 part water.

Shake Well.

That’s it!

Apply just as you would your Mod Podge.

I wanted to test my new concoction out on a simple project. For this decorative jar, I just put a layer of glue right on the jar and then placed a strip of pretty paper over it. Then I just applied more glue on top of the paper and along the edges to seal it down.

I wiped off any excess glue left on the glass and let it dry.

This formula makes a matte finish, which I really love.

I’m used to the glossy look of Mod Podge, but I thought the matte looked great. You can’t even tell there is a sealant there.

If you want to try this and get started right away, here are some ideas of different ways to use your new mixture.

I’d probably stick with real Mod Podge if you’re doing a special project that might involve family photos or sentimental items. I’m sure it has ingredients that produce a longer lasting finish. But for fun little projects like the jar above, this DIY alternative is great!

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Fun Way to Display Your Favorite Quote or Verse

In the past month, I’ve come across this Bible passage (1 Corinthians 13: 4-7) five times from five different sources!

I realize this is a popular verse, but I always take notice when something starts showing up over and over. I like to think it’s God’s way of communicating with me and asking me to pay attention to something.

So, I’m not sure what the message is here. Maybe I’m supposed to be loving more? Better? Differently?

Or maybe I’m just supposed to enjoy the love that I already have.

Since I was feeling such a strong connection to this verse, I thought it would be nice to find a way to display it in our home.

This would be cute with any favorite quote or saying.

To start, I bought a frame from the thrift store.

Then I measured the area that shows through the glass so  I’d know what size to print my text.

Using a computer, I typed out the text, changing the font with each verse. Then I printed it and cut it to fit inside the frame.

With a pencil, I hand wrote the word love in the center of the page.

Then using a small brush and acrylic paint, I painted over my penciled text.

After it dried, I just put the paper into the frame and hung it in our bedroom where I could see it every day.

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Love Wall Using Thrift Store Frames

I shared this on Maggie May’s Facebook page, but I thought I would share it here since you still have time to make a Love Wall.

I guess the first thing you should do is go to Facebook and “like” Maggie May’s. That way you don’t ever miss anything 🙂

Next, gather some frames you may have around your house or in storage and dust them off. This project is a great example of why it’s a good idea to hang onto frames even if the glass is broken.

Here is where you can just get creative. Leave the glass in or out depending on what you are putting inside.

For three dimensional pieces, take the glass out and you can do whatever you want. For this XO piece I made the X out of cardboard and the O out of buttons.

For this one I attached card stock letters (one glittery one) with fishing line so it would hang flat.

This heart was made with the leaves of a Eucalyptus branch. I recently shared a more detailed tutorial on this one here.

If you have any leftover holiday ornaments, you may find one that you can use this way. Just hang inside a glass-less frame with fishing line.

This one is nice if you want to keep the glass in because it’s flat.

You can insert sticker or cut-out letters into the windows of frames like this one…

Once you get all your frames done, play around with the layout and hang them on a lonely wall in your home.

These are on display at Starbucks right now, so here is the display there.

Have Fun!

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