"The Great Wall" {Molding Makes Everything Pretty}

Finally...finally...finally! I'm done with the big wall project in Levi's and Jaxon's room. I love the way it turned out. It was a lot of hard work and took way longer than I expected it would. Without further adieu I present to you "The Great Wall" of Dallas.

click on picture to see bigger version

So how did I create this wall? I did it as inexpensively as possible. I had the idea to save money that for the panels I would use old fence pickets. Matt drove around a few neighborhoods and found old pickets that people were throwing out. I needed 35-36 pickets for the whole wall.

I sanded each picket down and filled in all holes and gaps in the wood. Let me just say though that the new fence pickets sold at Lowes/Home Depot are thicker than the old pickets we found on the curb. But that's ok.

The pickets are sitting on top of another fence picket that Matt put on top of the baseboards. The longest part was all the sanding and filling in the holes. Because I would get so dusty sanding I could only work on the pickets on Saturday when Matt was home to help with the boys. But alas I finished them all and Matt nailed them up for me. He also cut off the dog eared edges on the pickets so they would be straight.

After all the pickets were nailed up Matt added 4 pieces of wood to divide the wall into 3 boxes. This wood was the most expensive part of the project. The wood is thin pieces of pre cut Aspen wood. For the 4 pieces it was $25.

At this point I filled in all the gaps between the pickets with caulk. Then I primed and painted all the wood that was up on the wall. After I was finished painting Matt added an "x" to each box.

I painted each "x" and caulked all around them. The original plan was to put just another piece of 3 inch wide wood on top to make a ledge. But we had extra crown molding in the garage and so Matt added that to the ledge. It gives the ledge more of a finished look.

After the ledge was complete the wall was finally finished. Take a look again.

Now I have a place in their room to put their art and any other pictures or trophies or just whatever on. I need to finish up the rest of the trim in the room and Levi and Jax will finally have a room that I'm happy with.

What do you think?

Fun summer wreath

I found this idea on Pinterest so this is not my idea at all. I purchased a swimming noodle at the Dollar Tree and the umbrellas were from Hobby Lobby. I taped the noodle together and just stuck the umbrellas in the noodle.





I like the way the colors pop against the black door (which will hopefully be getting a new paint job soon).

Cool huh?!?

I think so!

A Summer Mantel

Spring has come and gone here in Texas. It's hot and that means it's time for summer. So I took down my Spring stuff and threw together something on the mantel for summer. This took all of about 10 minutes to put up. I think it's simple and has my favorite color...blue!

I'm trying to incorporate more color in the house and since blue is my fav I figured I would start with that. Everyting on the mantel I already had except the candles in the lanterns. Those are from the Dollar Tree and I painted them blue. About 10 years ago I went to Mexico and I purchased the crazy sun there. And of course my $1 This Is The Life sign had to go somewhere.

I hope you like it.

Ceiling Medallion Wreath for Spring

A year ago I scored a ceiling medallion on Freecycle for FREE! I wanted to use it for a Spring wreath and now I have my chance. This is super easy to do.


I spray painted my wreath a light green color from Valspar. Then I bought the stones from the Dollar Tree and hot glued them on. Since I hung this outside several of the stones have fallen off. I would use super glue instead. I already had the ribbon and just tied a bow to accent the wreath.



Easy and cute! The longest part was waiting for the spray paint to dry. Happy Spring!

Linking up here:
House of Hepworths
Christina's Adventures
The Shabby Creek Cottage
Cheap Crafty Mama
Someday Crafts
Savy Southern Style
Domestically Speaking

A big boy bed complete!

Since baby #3 will be here soon (very soon) Matt built Levi and Jax a bed for when we put them in the same room. This was Matt's first time actually building furniture and I must say how proud I am of him. Matt did an amazing job and the bed turned out perfect!

We found the plans to build the bed over at Ana White's website. She has TONS of plans for different types of furniture. The room Levi is in currently is a bit small so we knew we needed a twin bed with a trundle to maximize the space we have.

The plan we chose was the Michael Collection Twin Platform Bed. This bed does have the option to either be a daybed or a regular twin bed with a headboard. Matt didn't build the headboard since we are still undecided how we want the bed to be permanently. So that will come later.

The first thing Matt built was the trundle bed part (no pictures sorry!). The plan we used for the trundle is also from Ana's site. He did that first in case he had to adjust any of the measurements on the other bed (which he did have to do). So it was a good thing to build the trundle part first. On the platform bed he made it a bit taller to allow for the bedding on the trundle to go underneath. Then he made the platform bed a bit longer too so when we push the trundle under it doesn't scratch the platform bed.

*Note* Double check the measurements of your mattress you will be putting on the trundle. The measurements on the plans for the trundle were not accurate for our size of twin mattress so those were adjusted as well.

Then Matt built "headboard" and footboard first to the platform bed.


Then he built the rest of the bed. Sorry! No pictures of all the in between steps but they are pretty simple to follow.


Matt filled in all the gaps with putty and caulk and then sanded and painted. The color of paint we used was color matched at Sherwin Williams. The color is Benjamin Moore Aura's Black Beauty. It was much cheaper to go to Sherwin Williams than to buy directly from Benjamin Moore.


The bedding was purchased from Walmart for $45 for each set. That's not a bad price since each set came with a fitted sheet, flat sheet, pillow case, pillow sham and comforter.

Now I just need to add a few details to the room and Levi and Jax will have a train room they will love!

This is The Life {$1 Wooden Sign}

About a month ago I was over at Nester's blog and I saw her post she did about the sign she had on her mantel. I loved it! I wanted it! I must have it!

Nester found out that the sign is made by an Etsy shop called Go Jump in the Lake. I was excited and went right over but to my shock the sign is $125! I don't have an extra $125 to spend on this sign. Plus, there is no way I could convince Matt that this was a logical expense. Sad!

Fast forward a few weeks and Matt started working on Levi's bed. He bought a huge piece of mdf wood for the trundle bed and there were some pieces left over. My excitement returned as my wheels started turning. The pieces that were left over would make the perfect sized sign.

So here's how I made my sign.

Click on each picture to see closer

First, I had to glue the two pieces of mdf together to get the size I wanted. I wanted a 30 x 30 sign.


In the above picture the two pieces of wood are already glued together and I covered the line with wood putty and some other junk my husband had in the garage.

Step one and two complete!


I then painted two coats of white semi-gloss paint on the board and let that dry for a few hours. I skipped the primer because we didn't have any and I knew I was going to be painting over the white with black. I wanted the words to all line up so I measured a two inch border around the whole piece. That is what the arrows are pointing to.

Step 3 and 4 done!


I then went to the computer and played around with the sizing of the letters I wanted. Once I got the size I wanted I printed them out on cardstock and cut the out. I then traced the letters on to contact paper and cut them out. The contact paper letters are the ones I used.

*Note* If you do have some sort of vinyl cutting machine then you can make this so much easier. But I don't have one so I have to do this the long way.

Step 5 done!

I put the letters on the board exactly where I wanted them using my border as a guide.


I then painted two coats of white semi-gloss paint over the letters. Why? Because I wanted the letters to be stuck to the board so that when I painted the board black there wasn't any paint that seeped through. The white paint "glued" the letters down for me.


Once the white paint was dry I painted two coats of black over the letters. This is one paint project that I didn't care if the paint was perfect since I wanted some of the white to show through the black.



Steps 6 7 8 done!

After the black paint dried for a long time I used a knife to pry up the contact paper letters. Now the white lettering shows through. Perfect!


But it was a little too perfect for what I wanted. So I took some sandpaper to the sign. Let me tell you, I've never intentionally destroyed a project so I was very nervous about this part.

But overall I'm pleased with how it turned out. I may take some more sandpaper to it to bring out the white under the black. I want it to have a worn look to it. You can't tell in the pictures probably but the letters are more "roughed up" than what they look.




Steps 9 and 10 done!

I think this will be part of my summer mantel in a few months. And this only cost me $1 for the contact paper from Dollar Tree. I love it!!

*Please visit Go Jump in the Lake. They have great signs available for purchase. I just couldn't afford the one I wanted.*

Linking up to:
Christina's Adventures
The Shabby Creek Cottage
Cheap Crafty Mama
Someday Crafts
Savy Southern Style
Domestically Speaking

Spring has Sprung! {My Spring mantel}

After I took down our Christmas decorations (the day after Christmas) I needed green in my life. Even though it was still December I was ready for Spring. Here in Texas our winter has been really crappy. We've had maybe just a few snow flakes. Wimpy wimpy!!

So I skipped winter and went straight to Spring. Here is my Spring mantel that has been up since December.

Click on each picture to see closer.






You want details? Ok!

All of the pitchers I found at Goodwill in one single trip. Lucky day I guess! I spray painted them white.

The plate with the number 5 on it is from Dollar Tree which I already had. I printed out the number 5 on my laser printer and cut it out. A little bit of tape later and it was done. I chose the number 5 because there will be 5 people in our family soon enough.

The flowers in the pitchers are from Dollar Tree as well. I think I spent about $10 total for the flowers. That's not bad since at Hobby Lobby it would have cost me twice that probably for flowers.

The placemats are from Ikea. I have really come to have a love for Ikea lately. The store is right by my doctor's office and the last few appointments I've been stopping in to explore. I think it would be dangerous if that store was any closer.

The candlestick holders and "nests" are from Hobby Lobby. I painted the candlesticks white as well. The "nests" are the grapevine wreaths stacked on top of each other with some reindeer moss shoved in there.

I would still like to find two tiny pitchers to fill in the blank space in the center but I haven't had any luck yet at Goodwill.

So there you have it! Spring has sprung here!!

Ironing board storage

I'm so glad that the holidays are over. It's my favorite time of the year but after it's all said and done I'm just wiped out! We had a busy month between Matt and Levi's birthday, our 7th wedding anniversary and Christmas. In between it all I did have time to find a way to hang our ironing board in the laundry room.

I went to Pinterest and found my inspiration from The House of Smiths. She has a Silhouette but I don't.

If you aren't lucky enough to have the Silhouette vinyl machine then I'm going to show you how to make this the old fashioned way. Maybe someday I will buy a Silhouette!

I made this out of an old pallet that I grabbed on the curb. I had Matt pull off the pieces that I wanted to save for future projects. So here's what I started out with.


I read online to wipe the board down with bleach to kill any bacteria so I did just that.


Once the bleach was dry I filled in the cracks with white wood putty.


I let the wood putty sit for a few hours to dry really well and then I sanded it down to make it smooth. Here's the part that doesn't require a Silhouette. I went to Hobby Lobby and purchased the stick on letters for about $1.50. They have tons of choices so pick out what you like. I cut out each letter and placed it on the board to get an idea of where I wanted them to go. I did draw a line across the top in pencil to make sure I put the letters on level.

Once I had an idea of where I wanted the words to be I painted 2 coats of primer and then 2 coats of semi-gloss white paint. After the paint dried I carefully pealed my letters off and placed each one on.

*Tip* If you have a letter that starts to come up put a light coat of glue on the back of the letter and glue it down. Some of the corners of the letters started to peel up but after a little glue they're perfect again.


Before I show you the finished product I added picture hooks to the back of the board. But I didn't have any picture hooks so I used soda can tabs instead. I used pliers to bend the top of the tab out a bit and then put a huge glob of hot glue on top.


Here it is all finished. I purchased the two hooks from Walmart for $3 each. I did have Matt cut the extra wood off. This measures 18 inches long.

Now I just need to find an ironing board cover that I like and I will almost be done with the laundry room re-do.


Linking up to:
Craft-O-Maniac
Chic on a Shoestring
Beneath My Heart
Thrifty Decor Chick
Tutus & Tea Parties
Home Stories A to Z
House of Hepworths

Jute Christmas Trees {Tutorial}

Hello! Hello!

I hope your weekend was awesome. We had fun with our family this weekend. We celebrated Levi's and Matt's birthday. Tons of fun! The pictures will come soon.

Last week I posted pictures of my Christmas vignette. I showed you the picture of my Christmas trees that I made. They were pretty simple to make and I thought I would give you a tutorial on how I did it.

I wanted the look of the trees that you find now in Target or Pier 1 that are made of twigs. I couldn't find a picture of what I'm talking about but I know what I wanted in my head. Anyway, I wanted the look and texture of those trees but didn't want the cost.

I purchased 2 pieces of poster board from Dollar Tree for $1. I followed the instructions at The Creativity Exchange for making my cone.

Once I had my cone made it looked like this. The cone is about 23 inches tall.

You can click on each picture to see closer.


I purchased jute from Walmart in the hardware section. I think it cost about $1.50 for a roll. Depending on the size of tree you make you may need more than one roll. At 23 inches one tree took one whole roll of jute.


I poured glue in a bowl and used a paint brush to brush the glue on the tree. I only did a little section at a time because the glue will dry quickly.

Starting at the top of the cone I twisted the jute around the cone.


I didn't want the tree to look too perfect but I made sure to cover up as much of the poster board as possible. So I just worked my way down the cone.


Once I was finished wrapping the jute around the cone this is what it looked like.


I let the glue dry for a few hours before I did anything else to the trees. I didn't want to keep it this color so I spray painted it with gold spray paint I used on a different project.


I absolutely love the way they look on the buffet. They have the texture I was going for and it was super cheap to make. At a cost of around $3-$4 depending on the size of your tree it is a better option than spending $30-$40 on the same look.


This picture makes me smile! Have a good week!

A Christmas Vignette

When I bought my buffet off craigslist last year not only did I want it for more storage but I already envisioned a beautiful Christmas display on it. Since I wasn't finished with the buffet in time for Christmas last year I have been collecting items for this year.

I can't stop staring at it. It sparkles at night when the tree is on. When I walk by it during the day I can't help but smile! What can I say...sparkles make me happy!

You can click on each picture to see closer.


The green tree and presents are from Walmart and I paid $.50 each on the after Christmas clearance last year. These are ornaments and I just cut off the strings. Walmart has a huge selection of cheap and sparkly ornaments in several colors. The balls were clearance as well. I paid $5.00 total for 2 boxes of green and brown balls. The silver star was a miniature tree topper that I already had that I spray painted silver.


This is a look at the other side of the buffet. There is another Walmart $.50 tree and a silver snow flake I spray painted. The glass cover I found at Goodwill (of course) earlier this year for $3. The gold tree in the back I made. A tutorial for that will come soon.



I love the wine decanter that I found for $1 at...you guessed it...Goodwill! I put a strand of green beaded garland in there. Simple!



This is the whole buffet. I'm in love! This is exactly how I wanted everything to look. I love the green, gold, silver and brown all together.

Have a great weekend!

Linking up here:
Christina's Adventures
Just a Girl
Chic on a Shoestring Decorating
Remodelaholic