Make Your Own: Chalkboard Wall Calendar

I have been wanting a chalkboard SOMEWHERE in our house for the longest time ever.  I thought about covering a whole wall with chalkboard paint, I thought about buying a chalkboard, and then I stumbled upon this! I have immediate fallen in love with chalkboard wall calendar and I thought we could make it, too! 

My loving husband did all the taping.  I will admit it took a little longer than we expected.  A lot of measuring was involved.  Then all I did was applied four coats of Valspar chalkboard paint that I've bought from Lowe's.  After a day of drying I covered the whole calendar with chalk and it erased well with a damp paper towel.  The fun part was the decorating and personalizing my calendar! :)  

The only thing I wish I did differently, was paint the whole wall first and THEN do the calendar.  I had to repaint the wall and it took me a while to go around the calendar... Oops! But now I have a fresh wall with a fresh piece of art! ;) I love it! Are you into chalkboard as much as I am?! 

Thanks for stopping by, and be sure to stop by Jen Loves Ken to get more inspiration for home decor projects! :) I am off to work on a shed! (WHAT?) :)  Yup,  last Saturday we started working on it and I can't wait to share our progress with you! Happy Friday! xox, m.

Rustic Coasters

I've talked about how much I love rustic home decor.  What I love more than rustic is handmade.  My husband and I've combined our love for rustic and handmade and started to decorate our home. It's kind of the theme around our whole house.  My hubby build a beautiful coffee table from old pallets for me and it is one of my favorite pieces in our home.  Little by little we've been adding more handcrafted items to our home. Like this ladder shelf  along with this necklace holder. After living in our house for a little over a year, we learned that our favorite furniture is handmade.  Our favorite thing to do in our "free time" is design, build and create!  We are loving every minute of it!  When I look around our house, the items that we've worked hard on make me smile big. They bring back memories of the time my husband and I spent bonding, while working on a certain project together.  We have so much fun doing this! I would choose working on projects together over many other things!  I really do feel like it's a great way for us to spend our time.
Anyway, this blog post is about coasters... somehow I got carried away talking about my husband and our love for working together...  It's hard for me to write a blog post and not to mention my husband, if you haven't picked up on that little detail yet.  He is simply the greatest, he is my life.  (Oh, and he helps with almost all of my DIY projects...) :-}

I blogged about my camping trip in the beginning of June, if you haven't read it yet, check it out!  Camping is SO.MUCH.FUN! While we were camping, we picked up a few tree logs... For coasters! I've been seeing coasters made out of tree stumps ALL over the internet.  Of course being a fan of rustic home decor, I really wanted to add some to our home.  They were really easy to make.  Says me, because I didn't even make them... :( My husband used a saw to cut them out and all I did was smooth them out with a sander. I've been using them a lot, hot tea lover I am! We made a ton, these will make great gifts! I hope next time you're in the woods, you will find yourself a fun little project as well! If you already have wooden coasters, (I feel like everyone has them) please share the link in the comments below, I would love to see! :) Thank you for stopping by! I'm off to drink some tea! Happy Wednesday! M.

Succulents + Vintage Tin Cans

You might remember when I shared my DIY ladder shelf and also how I've obsessed about my vintage tin cans.  I'm in love with vintage things. I was giddy when I stumbled upon some vintage cans while treasure hunting at our local Goodwill. 

My tin cans started out with Marigolds.  I loved it, but I had to water them almost daily and to admit, I am not so good with keeping indoor plants alive.  I decided to move them outside and fill the tin cans with succulents!  Best decision ever!  (I wanted to plant succulents in them from the start, but it was flower season and I couldn't pass up on colorful flowers!) I added some rocks to my succulents from Lowe's to cover up the soil.  My ladder couldn't look any prettier, in my opinion! ;) 

Happy Tuesday! M.

Paint The Front Door

My husband and I love to take walks around neighborhoods and look at the different houses and yards people have.  Front doors say a lot about a person's personality. Front door is the first impression you receive about the homeowner and the house. Today, I want to share a few tips and tricks on how I painted our front door.

Some of these tips will probably be very obvious and others might be more helpful, I have learned a lot while painting our door.

1. Pick out a color that speaks YOU. My husband suggested red, since he knows I love red. I have a lot of things that are red in/around our house already and also I've seen a ton of red front doors. I wanted something different, yet a color that I love. I picked out mint! Mint is a lovely color, it's right there with red for me.  The type of paint that we used was exterior satin enamel.

2. You want to pick a nice day. Duh. You don't want rain and you don't want it to be super cold. The door will have to stay open the whole time you're painting and after while it's drying.

3. You want to use a brush. The effect is so much prettier than a roller. 

4. You want to tape up everything you don't want paint on. Another obvious, but so important!!! My husband was kind to prep everything for me. He also laid out plastic for my work surface. You could use cardboard or big trash bags. Whatever you have handy. I also suggest keeping paper towels with a little bit of water near by, just in case! ;) Also, if you want to hang something on the doors to keep the flies and bugs away, you may. I didn't, because I didn't want to block out the light.

5. A friend of ours, an experienced painter, suggested to add two teaspoons of water to our paint so it will be a little thinner and easier to apply. Now I don't know if that works for all the paint out there, but it worked for us and it was helpful. 

6. Start painting!!! :) After you're done, make sure to let the paint dry before you start peeling the tape off. Very important step! We let our doors dry for about 3 hours before my husband started to take the tape off. The doors stayed open all day. We didn't want to risk closing them while the paint might not be dry all the way.

Before

After

It's a subtle change but we love it and it makes us happy! By now, you should be in the mood to change up your front door! :)  Thank you for letting me share a few tips with you! 

Happy Tuesday! M. 

Featured On Roadkill Rescue!

Woo hoo!  We had another feature on Roadkill Rescue. Oksana's barn-inspired table  was featured! We are so excited!  If you haven't done so yet, check out Roadkill Rescue! :) This blog is one of our daily reads!
Oh and happy, happy Monday! xox m+o!

DIY: Shiny Red Shoes

I recently thrifted a comfortable pair of leather sandals. Immediately when I tried them on and they fit, I knew I wanted to give them a fun little face lift. They had some years of wear on them, for certain, but they were also super cute! I love DIY projects that involve shoes! Growing up, along with million other dreams, I had a dream of becoming a shoe designer. Buying a pair of shoes and making them my own is sort of like being a shoe designer. No? Let's pretend it is. Let me live my dreams!

So here is what I did. For this little make over I used a thin paint brush and red acrylic paint along with a little bit of water. I diluted a little bit of paint with the same amount of water and started to paint my sandals. I didn't tape around the shoes, so I painted carefully not to get the sides. When an accident occurred, I just wiped the paint off with a damp paper towel. No biggie! Also, I used a big trash bag for my work surface! After the first round of paint diluted in water, I gave about three coats of just paint on the shoes with no drying in between! Then after they dried, I gave two more coats!

When hubs saw the shoes, his exact words were "Wow they are hot! I am so proud of you."  Nothing makes me happier than making my husby proud! ;) It is the most rewarding feeling ever! Yes, this project is no big deal, easy peasy, but in my husband's eyes I'm the world's best shoe designer. Heehee. 

I'll cut myself some slack and let you all know that I put in my best effort and worked on these babies for a couple of days! There! 

Oh and I even water-proofed them with triple thick glaze after I made sure the paint was dry, because you just never know when lets-jump-in-a-puddle-moment would come! ;)

The glaze made them shiny. Shiny shoes bring back memories of me being five years old. I don't remember this but my mom told me a story of a time when her friend took me shopping for a pair of shoes and we came back home after a long day of searching, empty handed!  Apparently my five old self was not satisfied with any of the choices.  Today when I am not satisfied with a shoe 100% I turn it into a project! ;) So these shiny red shoes cost me $4! I thrifted them for $3 and the paint was just a buck.  I had triple thick glaze left over from sandals makeover project. I had so much fun creating these cheerful sandals.  I will be wearing them a lot this summer!  Red is my favorite color and anything that's comfortable is always a win in my book! ;)  What is your favorite DIY project?  Thank you for reading!  Happy weekend!  xo, m.

Our Gallery Wall

It was time to fill one of the walls in our living room.  I've been collecting picture frames, clocks and DIY picture art.  I spray painted most of the picture frames the colors that would fit our style.  I chose red and brown.  It would be boring to stay with just two colors, so I mixed in silver along with other shades of red and brown.  My Instagram canvases have a lot of shades of red in them as well, so I thought they would be a perfect fit in our gallery wall!  Don't be afraid to mix things up a bit! ;)  Throw different shapes and sizes in the mix as well!  You'll appreciate it later, promise!  

First I laid everything down on the floor to see how I wanted them to be hung.  We tried to get the spacing as even as possible and mixed bigger frames with smaller ones.  I really wanted to create a square or a rectangle with the frames on the wall. I took a picture of my layout and my kind husband offered to hang everything up.  Things don't always go as planned.  Right?  Good thing we love being spontaneous.

I think we changed the order of our pictures 22135795 times and added and took away frames before we were actually happy with the final result!  This wall will always be a work in progress.  I can see us adding more pretty things as we go...
What items do you love to collect?  Thank you for taking a peek at our living room wall! Happy day!  xo. m. 

Bottles and Twigs-Photo Display

 

Today I am going to share another way to display photos around your home.

I printed my Instagram pictures from Foxgram  and they arrived super quickly right to my doorstep!  I am extremely pleased with the quality.  I bought pretty clothes pins at Michael's.  I can never leave that store with just one item.  I am sure most of my DIYer friends would agree with me on this one.  We saved curly willow twigs from our brother's wedding last October.  We had similar twigs at our wedding, too, but unfortunately we did not save them then.  I like twigs in general, but these are extra special since they remind me of a fun time we had at our brother's wedding!  Oh and the bottles... let me tell you about bottles... I pick my wine by the prettiest wine bottles! ;)  I have quite a collection of different glass bottles.  

It was pretty simple and easy to do, but I really do love the look!  The bottles are standing on a dresser in our bedroom.  I shared a simple necklace holder DIY project that goes well with my twigs and bottles.  I shared an Instagram canvas  back in April and I can't wait to think of other fun ideas to display our memories around the home, other than just in picture frames!
Thank you for reading!  Have a lovely day!  xox, M.
P.S. If you shared ideas of displaying photos, please leave a link in the comments and I will head over to take a peek!  ;) 

A Fresh Coat of Paint

I am so eager to be jumping back into blogging.  I am finally over my finals (all but one) and I am ready for new challenges to come my way!  Anywho... today at work I was not feeling very peachy so during my lunch break I decided to do a bit of therapy shopping at Goodwill down the street.  So what did I buy? I bought a old worn wooden coffee table (for 6 bucks!) a candle and an old clock (to add to my clock collection).  So this $6 table may have been an impulse buy but I do not regret it! As soon as I went home after work, I got busy and painted it using and off-white paint left over from my last project ( my insticts did tell me to buy a whole gallon!).  I love the antique-shabby chic look that transpired.  I enjoyed painting the  I'm so happy to be back and thanks for reading! -O

I won't even feel bad about my husband not using a coaster for his coffee... You can always apply a fresh coat of paint :)

The candle I purchased smelled so good while I painted the table!

I liked the wood underneath but I wanted a piece to go with my barn-inspired table (click on the link here :)

I love neutrals! You can never go wrong!

I missed you wonderful readers!

Keepsake Journal

Are you thinking, Oh, no!  Stamping again?
I did warn you about my obsession with stamping, didn't I?  :)  Today I want to share a small memory journal that I'm working on.  Oksana got me a pretty blue journal, but it was plain and she suggested I decorate it.  I couldn't pass up the cute bird cage stamp I found at Michael's along with hearts and birds.  I hand wrote lyrics from a song and this handy notebook will be a place to treasure all our keepsakes.  I will take it with me on all our trips!

I wanted to keep it pretty simple.  For the page above I simply stamped xoxo and glued a picture of us from a very special date.  (I think it will be a good idea to write the dates!)

I've kept pictures and receipts from different dates, road trips and vacations.  I will preserve them in my keepsake journal. 

La Maison du Chocolat = LOVE from the first sip of the chocolate drink!  Délicieux!

I saved almost all of the receipts from our trip to NYC last August.  I am so glad I did.  We did so much sight seeing and exploring it's hard to remember everything.  Looking back at the receipts I can revive those fun adventures.  (And of course we took a ton of pictures!)

If you decide to decorate a journal all you need is some paint, paint brush and stamps!  Oh and song lyrics! Very important.  Or you can make up your own song.  Whatever floats your boat.  I cheated and used a sharpie for the writing... I couldn't get any of my paint brushes to form thin and small lines!  (I practiced with a brush and paint and my wording was huge... that's not what I wanted on this small journal - maybe on a bigger project I will use a brush like normal people would.)  I got the effect I was shooting for with a sharpie.  Good enough for me! You might want to seal the journal after the paint dries.  I haven't sealed mine yet.  

Happy journaling and happy Friday!  xo. m  

P.S. In a mood for stamping?  Check out anchors stamped pants, polka dot stamped summer dress and another stamped book that O shared with us!

First Two Features!

We are so thrilled that Oksana's stump tables were featured on  Knock Off Decor!  Mika's old ladder transformation into a ladder shelf  was featured on Roadkill Rescue. Working with Beckie Farrant was a breeze and such a pleasure!  She is quite a busy lady working on three different blogs, yet she replied to our emails so promptly!  She is so kind and we are so glad we stumbled upon her blog(s).  They are awesome!  You can find Beckie at Knock Off Decor as well as at RoadKill Rescue AND at Infarrantly Creative.  She shares a lot of inspirations along with her own creative work!  Please head on over and check out her blogs and say hello!  If you're interested in getting your DIY project featured, just shoot Beckie an email! :)
Beckie, thank you so much for your prompt responses and for featuring the tables and the ladder shelf.  We are quite smitten!

 We are honored!!  Happy Thursday! :) xox m+o


        
        
            
            
        


        
        
            
            
        

Our Favorite Posts!

Wow!  We've been blogging for (almost) two months!  Today we want to share some of our favorite posts! We said bye to April and are ready to begin a fresh, new month!  We hope May will be just as inspiring, and filled with lots of projects and a lot of fun like April was!

Oksana shared her happy nook, a beautiful stump table, a vintage trunk refurbish and barn-inspired table that we absolutely love.  If you need ideas for home decor, definitely check these out and let us know what you think!

I shared a DIY crate coffee table that my hubby handcrafted inspired by Vintage Chick.  I highly recommend checking out her blog, she makes beautiful things and inspires a lot of DIYers!  I am so glad I found her crate coffee table idea, it sure is a lovely addition to our home! 

Along with bigger projects, we shared a few smaller ones like this rustic jewelry holder, buttons + twine frame, mirror restyle and a magazine collage plate.  I had a lot of  fun making a photo book for my hubsy, he definitely deserves a little gift for all his hard work!  He makes my life happy!  With his help I was able to create a ladder shelf for our living space and I'm loving it!

O shared her BEAUTIFUL painting! She is an INCREDIBLE artist, and I hope she will share more of her work with us!  I also simply can't wait until she starts selling her work on Etsy!  (eeeek) 

We went stamp-crazy stamping notebooks, a dress with POLKA DOTS (I'm a fan), and skinnies with anchors!  So much fun!  

We thank our readers for being here and sharing our adventures in the DIY land :) Happy May! xox, mika + oksana!