DIY Projects — A Cultivated Nest

A Pretty & Frugal August Fireplace Mantle

August 15, 2012 By Manuela

I recently tweaked my fireplace mantle with some really easy DIY projects and re-using items that I already had. Must say I’m really happy with it!

I already showed you how I made my Faux Barnwood Letters here.

I also took an old glass jar and spray painted the outside with some Rust-Oleum aqua spray paint in a satin finish.

I know some people paint the inside of the jar and it does give it a different look but I just think it must be hard to get an even coat since you have to spray inside the jar mouth? Anyway, I opted to spray the outside and it was really easy – a few light coats of spray and you’re done! I filled it with some fake flowers (that you’ve seen a million times but they’re my favorite colors).

I made my own hoop art. I spray painted a wooden embroidery hoop (just the top hoop) and used a piece I cut from an old embroidered table runner. So easy and it looks like I hand embroidered it.

My awesome husband was driving by a house in the neighborhood a few months ago, that was being renovated and spotted some windows at the curb. So he brought home a bunch! He didn’t even come home and ask if I wanted them he just knew that I would! I painted this one with some yellow craft paint and taped a map to the back of it. FYI the paint looks a little odd because I wanted it to have a crackle finish. I read that you could use regular Elmer’s glue to get a crackle finish – all I can say is - it didn’t work for me!

I also just re-used all those colorful books that I used in July’s fireplace mantle makeover. Books make great lifts for objects! That’s my one vintage globe sitting on the stack.

A couple of easy projects and using what I had on hand and I have a whole new look for my fireplace mantle for August.

Hope this has given you a few ideas for easy things that you can do in your own home!

Filed Under: Budget Decorating, DIY Projects, Fluffing my nest Tagged With: DIY, Fireplace Mantle

Faux Barnwood Letters

August 4, 2012 By Manuela

I finally did something with the unfinished chipboard letters I got from Hobby Lobby a long time ago. I made them look like letters sawn from old barnwood! Faux barnwood letters!!

The regular price of this size letter is $1.99 and I got them at 40% off. If you wait eventually everything in that store goes on sale. I haven’t tried tracking their sales cycle but I’m sure their sales are on some kind of rotating schedule. So unless it’s something you’ve gotta have now – wait! Why spend more when you don’t need to.

At first I thought I’d just paint them with some aqua spray paint. Very easy and they look quite pretty. So you could stop there.

Then one day I went Hobby Lobby to look at fabric and wandered into the scrapbook aisle and saw these wonderful chippy faux barnwood scrapbook papers. Aren’t they fabulous!

They also have other images like pebbles, straw, bricks, rocks – very cool and different from the usual scrapbook paper patterns. Again, they were 40% off but even if they weren’t, the regular price is only 49 cents each.

How to Decoupage Letters

To cover the chipboard letters with the scrapbook paper – I layed the letters on the paper and traced around each letter and then cut them out. I wasn’t too particular about the cutting since I planned on using some sandpaper at the end to distress the letters.

*** TIP: I would recommend painting the edges of your chipboard first because otherwise you’ll see the unfinished board unless you wrap the paper around the edges (and to me that’s just a hassle). I had already painted mine aqua.****

Then I used some Mod Podge and lightly covered a letter and pressed the scrapbook paper I had cut out on top. You could also use spray adhesive. I smoothed out any bubbles and wrinkles. Then I did each of the other letters the same way.

I then sanded the edges of each chipboard letter. That takes care of any extra paper and gives them a nice clean edge.

Covering chipboard with paper or fabric is a really easy and inexpensive way to decorate them and make them reflect your style.

I think they look pretty cool!

Crafting with alphabet letters is an easy inexpensive project that gives you a lot of bang for you buck!

Filed Under: DIY Projects, DIY Projects, Fluffing my nest, Tutorials Tagged With: Crafts, decopauge, DIY projects, mod podge

My China Cabinet Makeover

March 7, 2012 By Manuela

I painted my china cabinet! I totally forgot to take a picture of it before but here’s one from Easter 2009.

Out of all the china cabinet inspiration photos I shared with you the other day, the ones I like the best were the two toned ones.

The paint I used is Sherwin Williams Halcyon Green. It’s a strange color. It totally looks green in the can but when you put it on it’s a grayed down robin’s egg blue (which is exactly what I wanted). I didn’t want a bright robin’s egg blue – I wanted a dirty robin’s egg blue.

For this makeover I bought a quart of the paint (Halcyon Green) in an eggshell finish ( and still have plenty left). No priming or sanding was needed since it was painted with a flat white paint to begin with. I just got all the dirt and dust off. Then I applied the paint with a foam roller and good brush. I don’t think I’m going to put a top coat of glaze or distress it anymore than it already is. I like it the way it is – it looks very Swedish Country to me.

I really l-0-v-e how the red toile looks with this color! This may just be my new favorite color combination.

The back is cardboard wrapped in toile fabric for easy removal. Behind the toile is the original beadboard. Just makes it easier to change out the look without damage to the cabinet.

I think keeping some areas white highlights the architectural pieces on this cabinet. Although, there’s usually a chair or a couch in front of it so you don’t normally see the bottom (that’s where I store my china I’m not using).

I just really love it this color! As you can see, I haven’t gotten around to painting that new wall. Like I said earlier, I’d much rather paint furniture than walls !

The power of paint! Give it a try if you haven’t already. You’ll be hooked on how easy and inexpensive it is to transform a piece you’re tired of !

Filed Under: DIY Projects, Fluffing my nest

Easy Cottage Style Table Runner

February 20, 2012 By Manuela

Friday night is family movie night at our house and the movie was “Contagion”. Saturday morning I woke up with a slight sore throat and I didn’t feel particularly energetic. Of course my husband thought it was all in my head. Mmmmm…. I had planned on painting my foyer. That would involve climbing up and down a ladder – not happening. Plus it was raining.

So I decided to do an easy sewing project. I’ve been wanting a new table runner and I have lots of burlap & fabric so I decided on a burlap and gingham tablerunner.

Let me tell you, I think there are about a bajillion table runner tutorials out there! Here’s another one………………..Not really!

This is the tutorial I used. I did have to hem my ruffle and stitch the sides of my burlap but basically followed her very good directions.

I’d never made a ruffle before so I learned something new making this.

It’s all just straight line sewing and I’m sure you could use Stitch Witchery and make it without sewing.

It was very easy to make! I think it looks very country cottage style with the addition of the gingham.

By the way, I was fine by Sunday morning !

Filed Under: DIY Projects, Fluffing my nest, Tutorials

Changes To My Foyer = Typography Wall

February 17, 2012 By Manuela

There are a few little things that bug me about my house and when I decided that this was the “Year of the Home Makeover”, I also decided to tackle a few of those things. The not too involved- not too expensive things!

One thing that always bugged me was this knee wall we built (photo below) when we first moved in. It originally had your typical 1960′s split-foyer railing when we bought the house (plus faded orange wool carpeting in the living room that we were told was easy to dye ). We replaced it with a half wall. Of course we didn’t really know what we were doing back then and it turned out alright but….

it was crooked
we built the wall on top of the floor edging so the new wall wasn’t flush with the wall below it
did I mention it was crooked?

Every time I went down the stairs I saw the crooked wall and that rounded piece of molding sticking out and it bothered me. Maybe other people didn’t see it but I did.

Do you have a little something like that in your house too?

So since we’re much better with home improvement stuff now, we rebuilt the wall and we built it a bit taller too…and straight!

I showed you this Katie Daisy piece last month. It was destined for the foyer.

I loved it so much I bought another one of her prints. I just love typography and her prints are so colorful. You know I love that!

This one is from Fay Street Studio on etsy.

Now I have a typography art wall! I have room for one more

I think when you come into my foyer you’ll know that we like color! …not that it was ever a secret!

I wanted white frames but couldn’t find any in the sizes I need. Not sure about them. I might paint them. Only…….

…I have plans for my stairs. So the frames might just work out as they are. (This is the new yellow on the wall btw and it’s photographing a pinky beige. They are a lighter yellow than the old color)

We’ll talk stairs next week

***You have until tomorrow 10 PM EST to enter the Gardening Book Giveaway***

Filed Under: Budget Decorating, DIY Projects, Fluffing my nest

How to Make a Faux Fireplace

January 24, 2012 By Manuela

Hi everyone! I already had a faux fireplace, but as part of my all over home makeover I wanted to make it more functional.

When we first made it I had purchased a mantel at the Lakewood Flea Market in Atlanta and we just added a back to it so it would be freestanding (so we wouldn’t have to attach just a mantel to the wall). But it wasn’t deep enough to put candles in and it was hard to decorate as it was basically just a narrow ledge.

I love how it turned out! If you’re not interested in the process, just scroll down to the bottom of this post where the decorated mantel photos are

I’m not going to tell you where to nail everything and what kind of wood to get etc. This is more of a pictorial how to make a faux fireplace so you can get an idea of how to do it yourself.

So here’s what it looked like. As you can see it’s quite narrow.

The first thing we did was remove the backing we had attached years ago. I also had a mirror attached which I removed. But if you just have a mantel you of course wouldn’t need to do this step.

The second thing thing we did was to add to the top. I could have chosen to build a new top so that it would be one piece but I liked the one I had. So you have to find a piece of wood that’s the same thickness as the original mantel top.

Then we extended the sides.

This is the how the new piece was added. You could also use metal brackets to attach the two pieces to each other.

That’s all for the sides. Then we started working on the inside or what would be tthe firebox.

We boxed in the opening by adding sides a top and re-attaching the back ((which we cut down to just fit the inside opening).

The firebox from the front. It took us about 2 hours to do all of this.

Here it is all painted! I threw this little display together just to see how much more space I have to work with.

I have to buy some more white candles. I didn’t have to fill the firebox area!

I’m not totally done with it.

I’m going to move it and I’m going to sit it on some tile so it’ll look more like a hearth. I’m also going to do something with the back so it won’t be just solid black. I’ll probably re-attach a mirror and tile around it or something like that.

My living room is such a mess!

I hope to be able to move furniture around this weekend! I’m so excited! I haven’t moved anything around in about 6 years.

But first I have to prime and paint that wall!

Filed Under: DIY Projects Tagged With: DIY projects, fireplace mantle/mantel

DIY Pretty Magazine Storage Boxes

January 19, 2012 By Manuela

There are some magazines that I want to keep intact because they have so much good info that my usual filing system wouldn’t work. In an effort to be more organized, I decided to group all the gardening type magazines I’m keeping in one place with my gardening books. I have issues of Hobby Farm/Urban Farm, Mother Earth News, Countryside, Country Garden and other various gardening magazines that I keep for reference (I don’t keep every issue just ones that I know I’ll want to look at in the future). I decided to make some pretty magazine storage boxes from some inexpensive cardboard magazine holders from my favorite store….. IKEA, so they would look nice on my bookcase in the living room.

There’s no reason why practical can’t be pretty!

How To Make Pretty Magazine Holders

These are only $1.99 for a package of 5 but there are plenty of tutorials on the internet on how to make them out of cereal boxes and shipping cartons.

You know I like color, so I played with some scrapbook paper until I got a combination that made me happy. Although keeping them plain white is always nice too.

Once I had my paper patterns picked out, I traced the face of the magazine file onto the back of the scrapbook paper. Be sure to center your design the way you want it to look on the magazine holder. I forgot and had to redo the first two.

mod podge

To attach the paper I used my favorite, Mod Podge, but I imagine a glue stick or spray adhesive would work also.

I chose not to cover the sides since, except for one side, they wouldn’t be seen in the way I have it set up. I did cover the outside of the last one because it is visible (but I could arrange my books so it wasn’t). It’s up to you. I was feeling lazy and didn’t feel like tracing and cutting out sides

I’m not going to label them right now. I don’t think I need to since I know what’s in them. Of course if I had done a whole long row of magazine holders I would label them. I’d be confused as to what was where. But these four I think I can manage without a label.

Voila!

Inexpensive, personalized magazine storage (you can put other things in them besides magazines you know). Also, if you decide to change color schemes… well… easy peasy, they can be changed since all you need to do is change out the fronts.

Filed Under: DIY Projects, Organized Home Tagged With: DIY projects, mod podge, organizing ideas

DIY Cupcake Liner Heart Wreath

January 12, 2012 By Manuela

Hi everyone!

I decided I wanted a new wreath for Valentine’s Day and really couldn’t see spending any money on one as I have a small plastic bin of Valentine decorations already (it’s one day – how many decorations do you need !

So I decided to remake that wreath above which I made last year. I had a bunch of cupcake liners that I got from Michael’s and decided to incorporate them somehow.

The red and white polka dot Mary Engelbreit liners were 30 cents! The rest are from the dollar spot at Michael’s.

Go ( here ) for the tutorial on the burlap Valentine wreath which is the basis for this cupcake liner Valentine wreath.

It’s not complicated! Basically it’s just heart shape cut out of foam core (or you could use a cereal box etc). I took the center coffee filter flower off for this year’s wreath.

I just pinched the liners on the bottom and put a dab of hot glue on the heart where you want to place your cupcake liner. Then press your liner down. I worked my way around the outside first. I thought it looked pretty cute like this and was tempted to leave it. But I wanted to see what it would look like filled in so I marched on!

If you do this, please be careful with the hot glue gun! The liners are thin and even though I had popsicle stick that I was using to press the liners onto the heart, I forgot one time and used my finger. OUCH!!!!

2011 Valentine Wreath

I have one more new Valentine project that I’m going to hopefully work on this weekend.

Filed Under: DIY Projects, Seasonal Decorating Tagged With: valentines day, Wreaths

My First Chair Slipcover is Done!

September 15, 2011 By Manuela

I finally finished my slipcover for my wing chair that I started back in the beginning of summer!

I am not a sewer. I have rarely used my sewing machine since I got it about 10 years ago. As a matter of fact I had to get my manual out every time I wanted to wind a bobbin or thread my machine. I’ve been able to do little things that required just straight line sewing like a basic pillow or once, I added some material to some curtains. But never anything complicated like dress making or this.

I want to give a big thank you to Marian @ Miss Mustard Seed. Without her video tutorials I would have never had the courage to even try making a slipcover!

She has a series on How To Make A Slipcover - and best of all it’s free. Isn’t that lovely of her! Anyway, I watched all the videos many many…many many many times. I suggest watching from start to finish the first time and then you can just do the one that corresponds to what you’re working on.

I think it looks pretty darn good! It’s by no stretch of the imagination “perfect”. But it’s definitely good enough for a first effort and now I understand the process.

It’s made out of drop cloths from Lowe’s which are very inexpensive. So there’s not a lot of money invested just a lot of time!

A word about using drop cloths, apparently drop cloth manufacturers don’t know that people use them as they would fabric so there’s little consistency in quality. I got one package and when I opened it there were dark spots every few inches. I worked around the spots. I had one package that was exactly the same weight and manufacturer as another package and the color was completely different! One package had a sewn seam down the middle.

Open your packages and look at your “material” before you leave the parking lot. Other wise you’ll be making lots of trips back to the store!

Aren’t the bows on the back cute! I have to add two more – ran out of ribbon!

If I can do it, so can you!

Just take your time and don’t give up. I wanted to many times!! But I kept telling myself that even if it turned out badly I was still learning a lot. Don’t be afraid to tackle a new project because you think it might not turn out right. As long as you learn something it can never be a failure. I shared on the my facebook page how I pinned the entire pleated skirt to the body only to realize that I had pinned it on the wrong side. I had to take it all out and re-do it. It’s still not right – it’s a bit longer on one side than the other but it doesn’t bother me. It really doesn’t have to be perfect! I had to do the seat several times also. I think that was really the hardest part just because it was difficult working with all that material and cording.

It was such a hard project for me since I wasn’t comfortable with sewing but now I’m very familiar with my sewing machine and to top it off….I feel like I can tackle any sewing project now!

Filed Under: DIY Projects, DIY Projects Tagged With: Budget Decorating, sewing, slipcovers

UPrinting Rolled Canvas Winner

September 10, 2011 By Manuela

The winner of the UPrinting rolled canvas is…….

Sharon who said -

“How wonderful! I have just the print to use for a rolled canvas picture. Thank you so much.”

Congratulations Sharon!

I’ve sent you an email. Please respond by Sunday.

Filed Under: DIY Projects, DIY Projects

The Patio in the Vegetable Garden

September 2, 2011 By Manuela

My daughter and I finished building our patio in the veggie garden. Finally, one large project completed and it’s our last project for the summer since she has to go back to school in a week. I’ve so enjoyed having my girl work with me this summer!

To install the pavers we first laid down some landscaping fabric to try to keep the are as weed free as possible and then a layer of paver base that was crushed stone.

Then we laid our pavers. Installing the pavers wasn’t easy. We tried to keep them level but that area is on a slope so it’s “sort of level” and then we brushed some paver sand in between. Now mind you, we’ve never built a patio before. So there may be another way to go about it. But this was what we did and we’re very happy with the results.

We were lucky to be able to get the last two of these chairs and the table on clearance at Target.

I made a little tablecloth from an old vintage one that had holes. So I won’t mind keeping it outside.

I now have a place to sit and rest when gardening or just when I want to enjoy the veggie garden. Since I plant flowers with the vegetables it really looks so pretty in the spring and summer. Lots of butterflies and bees flying around!

I placed my two columnar apples trees (which I purchased from Stark Bros. catalog) on one side of the patio area to enclose it and separate it from the compost area. These are only two year old trees so I haven’t gotten any fruit yet. The one close to the picket fence is Emerald Spire and the other is Scarlet Spire.