DIY Drink Coasters

Drink Coasters made from tiles! These are so fun to make and at less than a $1 a piece, they're a great gift to give anytime! They're so versatile and a cinch to personalize for any decor or personality.

I purchased the tiles from Menards for $0.11 a piece. I believe they were on sale, but are still less than $0.20 a piece when full price. Menards also has a basic supply of different colors to choose from.

I ran home, elated with the supplies for my next project and set to work. I gathered patterned paper(scrapbook paper), Mod Podge, scrapbook letter stickers, scissors, and glitter acrylic glaze paint. These were a gift for a friend, so they were appropriately Eiffel Tower themed. Thus, after a few trial and error towers, I managed to cut these four to a respectable shape, Mod Podged them on, placed the stickers, threw on a coat of acrylic glitter glaze, and then polished them off with two coats of Mod Podge over the entire surface of all four tiles. I let them dry over night and was pleased as punch the following morning. I stacked them and then tied them together with embossing floss and they made an elegant homemade gift! Now, I need a reason to make several more sets...

DIY Trash to Treasure

Recycling, Upcycling, Going Green -- they all mean the same thing; finding a use for your trash. No one wants to say it, because "trash" seems to be a no-no word in the recycling world. But let's face it, where would that lovely soup can organizer (a.k.a. 12 pack pop box) be if you had not rescued it from it's untimely demise?! 

Thus, it's our duty to save as many of these poor unfortunate objects as possible. Give them new life, give us organization, decorations, and practical application possibilities. And give Mother Nature a little bit of a break!

To be honest, I pay attention to what packaging items come in and will occasionally, purchase the item with the packaging that I know I can do something with once its contents are gone. Remember that you're not only buying the contents, but consider that once it's gone, can you also turn its wrapper into a candle holder, storage container, or wall art? I find it's easier to accept today's prices if you're able to picture the item as a "Two for the Price of One" deal.

Without further adieu, my latest trash turned terrific!

These three beauties were originally glum, empty wine bottles. A simple makeover landed them a spot in our living room rather than the recycling bin. All you need is two different shades of acrylic paint and some Elmer's School Glue. Start by removing the labels and giving them a good scrub down. When dry, simply paint a solid color all over the bottle. Give it a few hours to set and brush on a layer of Elmer's glue. Wait until the glue is still wet, but reaching the tacky stage and then apply your second color of acrylic paint. Within minutes, you'll start to see the top coat of paint crack. Let dry for 24 hours and then use as you please! I chose to place dollar store artificial flowers in them and use them as vases. They only cost me a dollar and I created a new decor piece for our home, with the added bonus of recycling what would have been trash.

Trash to Treasure!

Saving Lives Daily!

DIY Family Sign

I had an empty shelf. That seems to be how a lot of my projects are inspired. Which meant, as soon as my little angels' heads hit their pillows, I was off and running to fill the unnatural void! I gathered foam board, acrylic paint, paper, glue, artificial flowers, an X-Acto knife, scissors, a paint brush, and a large cup o' coffee.

To begin, I designed and cut the desired shapes from foam board with my X-Acto knife to form the letters for FAMILY. **TIP: When cutting foam board, be sure to use a very sharp knife or your cuts will leave jagged edges** After the letters were cut, I glued the pieces together and then covered them in standard paper to produce an absolutely smooth surface on all of the letters. Time to refill the coffee cup! Once the paper was in place, I painted them all in two coats of solid white acrylic paint. While they dried, I cut a 24" long piece of foam board for a base and painted that with a basic black acrylic paint. I then glued the letters in place on the black foam board piece and then secured the flowers with superglue.

This process can be used to produce any word you wish to display and will look very similar to the wooden designs that you find in department stores! Get creative!

Dimensions:

Letters- 6" tall, 1.5" deep
Platform- 24" long, 2.5" wide

Cost:

$0. Made with scrap materials that I had on hand.

DIY Furniture Restoration

                                                                               BEFORE RESTORATION


New furniture can cost a bundle and may simply not be in the cards, or the budget! Why not change the rules of the game? By restoring an old piece of furniture, you can create the look of "new" without emptying your pocket. Whether you choose to restore a piece you already own or scour Craigslist, flea markets, garage sales, and local newspaper ads to find the piece that beckons to you, the cost will be substantially less than what you'll find in the name brand furniture stores.

I was in need of a dresser for our nursery. Luckily, I already owned this lovely hunk of wood. It was my dad's dresser ever since I can remember, so it also held sentimental value. I phoned him to make sure he was okay with my revamping it and he said, "Sure! I'd love knowing that my grandkids are able to use it!" (Insert "awww" here.) So, I set out on the task at hand. As you can see, it was a drab walnut shade with MANY nicks and scars in the finish. It was also missing one of the drawer pulls, but the dresser was very structurally sound.


                                                                                 AFTER RESTORATION
  The first step was sanding the old finish off and smoothing out the surface. I used 30 grit sandpaper on my belt sander to remove the finish and then went back and re-sanded the dresser with 80 grit paper to make it perfectly smooth, as the 30 grit is great for removing layers but leaves the wood feeling rough.

After I'd completed that task I chose a cherry shade of wood stain made by Minwax and applied three coats using a synthetic 2" brush, to the entire dresser. As soon as that was dry, I used a finishing block to quickly buff it. I used three coats of polyurethane on top of the stain, making sure to use the finishing block prior to my last coat of poly to ensure a smooth finish. The final touch was to replace the old drawer pulls with a simple modern silver set.

The dresser turned out amazing! It looks brand new and beautiful. Even my dad was surprised it was the same dresser when he saw it. So there you have it, a brand new piece of furniture and the added pride of knowing your elbow grease accomplished it. The entire project, including hardware, only cost about $40. This piece can now be handed down to yet another generation.

So, get out there, find that piece, and give it a new life! It will cost you little more than time.

And yes, a woman can handle a belt sander.  ;)