My New Headboard and Master Bedroom Reveal! {DIY Project - Before and After}

We have been without a headboard since our last one broke when I tried to move it myself several years ago. The old one was a great Ikea wood bed frame that honestly lasted much longer than expected considering how many times it had been moved, taken apart, and put back together.

When my husband asked me what I wanted for my birthday back in January, I showed him the plans for the King farmhouse headboard online and he totally came through, as he always does! Of course it took a few more months and some teamwork to actually get it finished, but all the best projects do:)

He got all the materials at our hardware store. Here is a picture of all the wood cut and laid together on my birthday:

I couldn't decide whether to paint or stain it. Or what color. After we put it together and I sanded it, we put it in the bedroom to see how it would look and think about what finish we wanted to give it.

So here is the BEFORE of our bedroom: 

And here is the AFTER!

We LOVE how it turned out. I ended up painting it white and spray painting the lamps black.

At first I was thinking of painting it black because I love contrast and it would look great against the white bedding but he didn't want to hide all of the beautiful wood.
Then I was thinking of staining it but there's nothing that would look good with my wood nighstands or hope chest. And I love my nightstands and hope chest even if they are a little dated. The nightstands are very high quality and solid wood Ethan Allens that belonged to my parents. The hope chest is a Lane cedar chest that I got from my parents for my high school graduation. Yes, even as a youth I wanted furniture for gifts, haha! Interior decor and design has always been my passion from a young age!
I love how our bedroom is full of meaningful pieces that bring me joy. Even the bedding that has been put together over the years and not bought in a bed-in-a-bag type set, makes me happy :) The quilt was a wedding gift from my husbands grandmother and he will never let me replace it, even though I have tried just because I've had to sew a few rips and tears! The king and standard pillows have pillowcases from my favorite super soft and affordable Target Threshold sheet sets. The throw pillows are my favorite color and I love my homemade Pottery Barn napkin accent pillow.
All together it has the perfect look and feel I was going for and is so "us!"

I'm so glad to be finished with this project, and on to the next!

MASTER BEDROOM SOURCE LIST:
(Click on the links below to be directed to the product page)
Ana White Farmhouse King Headboard
Headboard paint color Sherwin Williams Alabaster
White quilt is Laura Ashley from 15 years ago
Threshold Organic Cotton Solid Sheet Set in White
Threshold Printed Flannel Sheet Set in Gray Stripe
H&M Home similar Canvas Pillow Cover and Insert
Pottery Barn Block Print Blue Floral Napkin (can buy in store individually) and Napkin Pillow Cover Tutorial
Threshold Yarn Dye Stripe Ringspun Cotton Blanket Metallic Blue (not pictured)
Vintage Ethan Allen nightstands
Ikea Barometer Lamp (spray painted black)
Hobby Lobby Gray Diamond Patterned Cement Pot
Plants, similiar
Magnolia Art Print Set from here (no longer sold)
Majgull Blackout Curtains
Vintage Lane Cedar Chest

Handmade Wood Peg Dolls: A Cute 3 Year Old Girl Gift

Did you know I have a love for peg dolls? I don't know why, but when they are done well I think they are so adorable. A couple years ago I made a few superhero peg doll sets for my son and nephews and now that my baby is turning three soon, I've been dying to make her a little set. I decided to make her a set of three, and they are going to be the cake toppers on her birthday cake, each holding a candle. 

They started from this unfinished wood:

To THIS cuteness:

Bow and scalloped sock detail:

I loosely followed the tutorial from HERE.

DIY Wood Ruler Growth Chart (A Pottery Barn inspired no cost to me project!)

I have wanted one of these for awhile. Last week my 8 year old Ikea bed frame kinda fell apart (oops) so we had several large wood boards that we didn't want to throw away. My husband actually came up with the idea of repurposing one of them for the growth chart I've been wanting. Not only was it already the perfect size, but it was already stained. Woot! (They sell them for $100 here). This project was going to cost me $0! So I got to work.

I started by getting out a large ruler and figuring out where I wanted to mark the lines, how big to make them, and what font I wanted to use for my numbers.



I marked it every inch the entire length.

Then I drew a line with a sharpie about 1 inch long with every third line being 2 inches long and every foot mark 3 inches long.

For the numbers, I decided on one of my favorite fonts, Century Graphic in size 200. I printed and cut the numbers and used them as stencils, tracing onto the wood with a pencil, then filling in with the sharpie.

123

456

And then.... I hung it up! LOVE IT! Can't wait to measure and mark my kids' growth on it and keep it forever ;)

Have a GREAT week.
~Rebecca

The Coffee Table Project. {Before and After DIY}

The thing about blogs and pinterest and all these online DIYers, is that when you read them, you tend to get big ideas. Ideas that are so big that when you are in the middle of them you think, "why the heck did I think this was a good idea? Now I know why they just painted this thing black. This is a big headache and it's probably going to only be a week before my kids scratch it, knick it, and chip it." Well, either way, I did it. I love the way it looks now. But I think next time, I'll just wait till I'm rich and have money to buy exactly what I want! Sorry, if you were looking for DIY inspiration, this probably isn't the best post :) But I don't like to paint or stain furniture in the first place, so I don't know why I thought stripping and refinishing would be any better. So hopefully you are better at this stuff than me!

We got this coffee table second hand from some friends. It went to my husband's office, then we inherited it when his office closed. Which I was really excited about since we haven't had a coffee table for 5 years and this one is solid wood and substantial. The black paint they had done over the original finish was chipping and peeling so I figured it was time for this table to get a new life. After I saw someone do this on a blog, then read about it on ehow, it sounded easy peasy. So I read all the instructions and got some stripper from the hardware store. 

Here is the table BEFORE:

After I put the first coat of stripper on, I forgot to read the part that said "do not do in direct sunlight." OOps. It dried right up and didn't strip. So then I moved it to the shade and tried again. It worked, a little. So then I applied it again, and again. And then again in certain stubborn spots, using almost the whole can. Then I took it into the garage because I realized this was not going to happen in one day. In the garage I added some more stripper to certain spots again. Then I sanded the top. Originally I wanted to stain the entire thing a lovely brown. After stripping the top I realized it was going to be near impossible to get it all off the legs and curves and lines and grooves, so I gave up on that. So I sanded what I could of the rest to paint over.

Here it is DURING:

I used some leftover stain we had from a dresser then bought a little can of paint mixed "Wedding Cake" from True Value. It's a lovely delicious white with a hint of buttercream. (haha. Cake? Buttercream?) A n y w a y s..... I put 3 coats of stain and 4 coats of paint on it, followed by a can of glossy polyeurethane I found in our garage. I love the way it turned out (after several weeks!) and I have no idea how long the finish will hold out, but it's good enough. The total cost for this project was about $12, $8 for the stripper and $4 for the paint, the stripping knife, sander, sandpaper, sponge brushes and poly I already had.

Here she is AFTER:

What do you think? I like it so much I thought it might look cute to paint another one of our tables all white on the bottom.... BUT, let's not get any more crazy ideas.

Have a great weekend :)

Adding link to http://www.lizmarieblog.com/2014/05/inspire-please-linky-party-9/
http://thriftydecorchick.blogspot.com/2014/06/june-before-and-after.html

DIY Wood NOEL Letters with Berry Wreath {Quick, No Cost Project}

Last week while I was checking out some Christmas home tours through blogland, I came across these cute NOEL letters and I thought "hey I could do that with some old ones I have!" So this was my inspiration which you can see by going HERE:

Now my letters are small but it was fun to make them "new" again.

BEFORE:

AFTER:

I used dark and light burlap and scrapbook paper, white paint, elmers glue and the berry stem all things I had on hand so I spent zero money (woot!)

Have a great week!

Uncle Sam Hat {Wood Blocks Craft} and Happy 4th of July 2012!

Do you remember the Leprechaun Hat I made here?

Well now you finally get to see what I did for the other side!

Here is a picture tutorial for the Uncle Sam Hat. If needed, first check out this post to learn how to prep the wood blocks and use Mod Podge.

Then sit back and admire your super cute decoration and have a Happy Independence Day!

Thrifted Wood Blocks - Quick Fix

I bought these fun wood countdown blocks at a thrift store for $1.50. I had been wanting some and this was more than worth it for the price of cut wood alone. 

 Since they already had vinyl numbers and lettering on them that I liked, I decided to just get a small craft brush and paint around them. It worked great!

I decided to go with neutral colors so they could be used for anything - vacation, birthdays, holidays, whatever we want. I already had the paint and brushes so the total cost for this project was $1.50 for the blocks set.

And there you have it. I love my "new" countdown blocks!

More St Patricks day blocks: Leprechaun Hat

This one's easy! Just cut your wood into a square and thin rectangle. Follow the same steps you used for the blocks (see previous post) and use coordinating scrapbook paper if desired. Cut a "buckle" out of black vinyl and attach.

Spring Blocks {part two of Reversible Lucky Blocks Tutorial}

To see the tutorial for these blocks, just check out my previous post! If you've already done the other sides, then just finish by adding your paper, mod podge, and Spring vinyl to the reverse side and your done!
I absolutely love how these turned out! I cant wait to display them with some nice green topiaries and a jar of lemons or a sweet little bird and coordinating eggs.
You could also do the word "Easter." We chose "spring" because it works all season long. And since the papers coordinate on both sides, it wont be difficult to switch them within our decor for March and April.
Check back soon for one more St. Patty's day wood project, because I just can't get enough of these cute blocks!

Lucky Blocks {DIY St Pattys Day Decor}

I saw some "lucky" St Patricks Day blocks a long time ago and kept it in mind for a future project. Thanks to my SIL, this project became possible! And I love how they turned out!
For this project you will need: wood blocks, scrapbook paper, paper corner rounder punch, paint, mod podge, brushes, vinyl lettering.
First cut your wood to the desired sizes. We did 6 blocks so that we could make them reversible (other side revealed in near future post!) but you could also do 5 blocks with one wood shamrock cut out.
Then find whatever green scrapbook paper you'd like to use. Thicker is better when working with modge podge. Tip: look for reversible papers which make it easier to color coordinate. Cut to size to match blocks, deciding which order you'd like them in. Punch corners with rounder if desired.
Paint the sides and edges of blocks, the rest will be covered with paper. If you dont do reversible blocks and the backs are blank, I would paint the backs also. I chose to paint them an off-white because I wanted a very light, Springy look. My SIL painted them brown which looked great too. Let dry 15 - 20 minutes.
Apply a very thin coat of mod podge to block faces and let dry 15 - 20 minutes.
Apply another thin coat of mod podge this time to both the blocks and the back sides of the paper, making sure you coat the edges well, working quickly. Apply paper to blocks and rub down, making sure it is smooth, even, and there are no bubbles. I used a popsicle stick for this then went over it again with my fingers, especially for the edges of the paper. Let dry for 15 - 20 minutes.
Apply a thin-ish coat of mod podge to top of blocks, over paper and let dry 15 - 20 minutes.
When completely dry, apply vinyl letters and shamrock. Stand back and admire your finished project!