Little Things

So by now you might have noticed I've taken a bit of a hiatus from the blog. That's mostly b/c I've taken a hiatus from free time, and the little I have needs to be spent on other things.

That being said, I have managed to accomplish some smaller projects over the last couples of months that I've enjoyed being able to do. Since they're super easy and I can direct you to the blogs I used as tutorials, I thought I'd share a few of them in case it sparks anyone else's interest.

I'll start with something I did several months ago now. I had several old odds and ends coffee tables sitting around and was looking for a use for them.

I found this tutorial on how to make your own no-sew bench cushion. The no sew part was important since my sewing stuff is all still packed. I didn't have a bench, but I did have a coffee table and I'd been thinking about something for the end of our bed, particularly so I could have a place to store books.

You basically need:

-A couple of yds of fabric
-a piece of foam long enough for your "bench" (I also threw an old body pillow insert in there)
-a piece of plywood/OSB board or a thin board cut to fit the length of your bench
-staple gun

For the full tutorial, visit: http://honeywerehome.blogspot.com/2010/09/mudroom-in-progress-no-sew-bench-seat.html

Here's how mine turned out:

Notice the baskets beneath-those are the books.

The pillow in the middle goes with our bed set. The other two came from Goodwill. 

 

 

 

 

Another thing I did in our bedroom was to come up with a sort of work space for me. It basically consists of a table and a chair, but it's perfect for setting my laptop up and being able to have a place of my own to study or check my email etc. The table is from my Grandma, who got it from her Mom. I put the shelves above it and added my $1 branches from Gordmans that I got on clearance while we were still at the condo. Here's my little guy enjoying it:

 My poor floor. It's scratching to pieces. I have to go back and fix all the "scuffed" spots and then polyurethane it so it quits coming off every time someone walks on it wrong. If you're thinking about painting a floor, definitely plan on putting a clear topcoat on it!

Another project for the bedroom was a sunburst mirror. I had the wall in the middle that was wallpapered. The fireplace is on the bed side, but the other side is just the dresser and there was too much empty space on the wall. I found a round mirror I had used for an art project once and decided to repurpose it.

All you need for this one is:

-a round mirror (whatever size you want)
-wood skewers (mine were $.98 at Wal-mart in the cooking utensils section)
-spray paint
-glue gun

Tutorial: http://www.honeybeevintage.com/2011/03/diy-sunburst-mirror.html

I actually had to buy a glue gun. I'd actually never used one before, so this was a learning experience for me. The first time I used it I put glue everywhere not realizing that the whole point of heating it up is that it dries instantaneously. Duh. Anyway, here's how mine turned out:

Please ignore the mess, my husband is trying to "fix" something.

If you do this and wonder how to hang it by the way, I decided to just put a few nails around it to hold it in place. No way was I risking it falling off the wall.

The last thing I've got is pretty cool I think. I have glass cabinet doors in the kitchen that I finally got painted and put back up, but they still just were a little too boring. I did some research on etching and was just not totally comfortable with the whole permanent thing. I finally happened across an idea for using contact paper to achieve the etched look. I love the way it turned out-and the best part, I can take it off at any time.

All you need is clear contact paper (mine came from Menards, about $5 a roll) and a pattern. I used this one, tailored to fit my doors:

http://7thhouseontheleft.com/2011/08/window/#.UVXxb1eVZk0

You can see some bubbling and stuff if you look at it at the right angle, but otherwise, I think it looks pretty good considering it's just contact paper on glass:

My next thing will probably be fixing the floor, so no big excitement there. We are in progress on one of the guest bedrooms though, so will hopefully have more to post when that is finished!