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.

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!  ;) 

Make Your Own: Ladder Shelf

Last Saturday my mom and I went to buy tomato plants and I couldn't help but admire all the beautiful flowers.  There were so many to choose from, but French Marigolds were the ones that made it to the register with me!  I knew these vibrant colors would illuminate our living room space.  Also these flowers remind me of my childhood.  So special.  (Just so we are clear, I am not French.  I am European though.)  Today, I want to share where my beautiful flowers are hanging out.

My mister found this old ladder on Craigslist for just a few dollars.  I was so happy.  I've been on a hunt for one for a long time.  He picked it up for me and I got to work right away. 

After about an hour of using air-powered sander, and let me just tell you how thankful I am that it was a POWERED sander!  If it wasn't, the ladder would've probably went out the window!  I don't have a lot of patience, and once I have an idea for something, I want to make it right away!  Using a sander without power would have probably taken a few months to sand this ladder!  It was in a rough condition and needed some love! While I was sanding the ladder, I asked the husband to cut out extra boards to add to the ladder.  I wanted the steps to be wider!    

Just like that!  Perfect!

He used a nail gun to add the boards to the ladder.

I used special walnut stain and the ladder shelf is now ready to use!  (After about 24 hours of drying!)

Tell me, would you use a ladder as a shelf?  What about  vintage tin cans as planters?  I was so lucky to find them at our local Goodwill after dreaming of some for a while.  Score!  I am loving this rustic addition in our living room along with our DIY crate table.  My husband and I love making furniture together for our home, and currently there is something else in the works and I can't wait until it's complete!  Thank you for letting me share my happy space with you!  Every time I walk through the front door and see this ladder it makes my heart leap with joy!  Happy Tuesday! M. 

Magazine Collage

There is something so nostalgic about collages. I remember when O and I would sit on the floor for hours flipping through stacks of magazines, choosing photos and words that stood out to us, and make wall collages.
I needed something unique to keep some of my sparkly things in. My rings needed a little small space that was designed just for them. I whipped up this small project in just about half an hour.
I found a plate that's been sitting somewhere in the kitchen and not being used. Brought out a stack of magazines and cut out a bunch of color, hearts and circles. Used Mod Podge to adhere the cut outs to my plate and sealed it with triple thick glaze. I let it dry overnight and in the morning I had myself a pretty decorative plate ready to use. (I wouldn't use it for food, just an FYI.) It now sits on my night stand. I didn't want to spend a lot of time on this, so I didn't cut out a lot of shapes, but I can definitely see some polka dot action going on, letters, triangles, patterns, meaningful words or whatever your little heart desires!
O suggested to use newspaper! I think I will do that next! :) Pages from an old book also sound great to me :)
What do you think about collages? Thanks for letting me share my lil project!
xox, m.

Mirror Restyle For Our Home

My mom gave us a gold mirror. Made out of real gold! Okay, just kidding. You fell for it, didn't you?! Probably not. Gold painted mirror. We needed a mirror for the entry way of our house (O even said so!) Our entry way is empty. We are brainstorming for now. Gold accessories are lovely and quite trendy right now, but my husband and I just couldn't see any gold decor in our home. It doesn't feel like us. It's important for us to display only what we really love. We don't want to crowd our house with things we only like, like this mirror.  We like it, but I think I really wanted to make a project out of it... So we did!  We had red and brown spray paint left over from spray painting picture frames.  Husband taped up the mirror and I took the mirror outside, scrubbed the gold off and spray painted it with red paint. Stepped away from the newly painted mirror and wasn't content.  It still wasn't right!  I wanted it to have a distressed look.  Hubby went over the mirror with brown paint, and still my heart wasn't satisfied.  Picky, picky me.  While the paint was drying, I looked up ways online to distress furniture. Some people go all the way out and beat the furniture with a hammer.  I also read that wood stain helps the furniture look more old and distressed.   I started to scrub the paint off. I also used some wood stain. And scrubbed some more. Now my mirror has that distressed feel to it and has a fitting color for our home. I am satisfied with the finished look. It was definitely an easy project that didn't take long at all. I got to spend some time outside and soak in the sun. I find myself looking for any reason at all to spend time outside. Gardening, riding my bike, taking walks with hubby, and working on projects! Excited to start a few more bigger projects here soon. Tomorrow if the weather permits, I'll be digging in the garden and planting the rest of the vegetables! Can't wait! Today is rainy here, which is perfect. Rain is good! Do you love spending time outside? What are your favorite outdoor activities/hobbies? :) I would love to hear them! Thank you for stopping by and happy Monday! Blessings, M.

Rustic Necklace Holder

Ever had your necklaces tangled up?! I did... not so fun, especially if you're anything like me and only have ten minutes to get ready, which includes blow drying your hair. How about a tree branch to display all your pretties and have a hassle free time getting ready?! If you like, like trees, branches and anything rustic... ;)) It's no secret O and I are huge fans of rustic decor... If you haven't noticed from some of our previous posts! ;)

Hubby was the one that would sit and untangle my twisted necklaces (he is way more patient than me)...
One evening I  had a light bulb moment!!!  An idea came to me to hang my necklaces on a tree branch.  I would hammer some nails, and I'd be set.... I told my mister the lovely idea, and he found an old branch laying in the woods while we were having tea at O's house. (My friend lives out in the country ya'll and I reckon she enjoys a Moonshine once in a while.)  I'm just picking on O, I love country a whole lot myself! :-) So my husband didn't waste any time looking for an answer to tangled problems. ;) He was also so kind to remove the bark and to smooth out the branch!  Due to this piece being super fragile, I couldn't hammer nails, instead we used small hooks.  Even though we had some stain left over from a previous fun project, I decided not to have the branch stained, wanted it to have the straight-out-of-the-woods feel.  Told ya, love me some country! ;) 

My beautiful rustic necklace holder hangs right next to my closet!  What do you think of this idea?  Yay or nay?  Would you use a twig or a branch to display necklaces or hair accessories?  I now need something for my belts and scarves!  Next DIY project?  I have a lot of ideas for the near future, now just to find some time to work on them!  Any tips on time management? :) Life is busy, but good! As always, thank you for letting me share a little piece of my home it was fun!  xox, m.

Patience = Beautiful Coffee Table!

Since we are all friends here, let me just start out with the fact that I am not a patient person! I wasn't blessed with patience. It's not my strong suit. I thought since you are here, and reading this blog, it's kind of important to know! Whew, I'm glad I got this load off of my chest. What helps me at times, is of course to read the Bible, and this quote by Joyce Meyer, "Patience is not the ability to wait, but how you act while you're waiting." This helps, but it doesn't mean that I act appropriately all the time when I'm waiting for something that my little heart wants!
Enter, coffee table.
As I was searching the World Wide Web, I stumbled a upon a beautiful coffee table made out of crates! (Check it out here) It was love from first sight. I immediately knew I needed one of those in our living room, and I needed it like, now! I showed the table to my mister, and he approved. He said it will be easy to make! Hooray! I wanted to make it right away, but we didn't have the extra money. To get the supplies you needed the money. Imagine that. So I kept talking about it and dreaming about it! And talking about. You get the point. It was on my mind a lot! Christmas was right around the corner, and I thought maybe, just maybe, Elijah would make me that table and surprise me with it! Well it wouldn't be a surprise if I was hoping for it... But he kind of flushed my dream down the drain when he informed me that he was too busy with other projects and didn't have the supplies for coffee table. I was (kind of) a grump.
Long story short, Christmas Eve day arrives and my husband's friend brings the coffee table to our house! (My husband worked on the table outside of our home so I wouldn't know about it, and his friend has a truck, which was needed to bring the table.) It was the most beautiful coffee table I have ever seen. So rustic and still so delicate! It was handcrafted with love!! He made the crates out of shipping pallets and carefully put them all together and stained them. It definitely put lots of hearts in my eyes when I saw it and it made my heart leap with joy! I did happy dances and tightly hugged the husband. (Not the friend, just so we are clear. Although, I was so happy I could've hugged everyone and anyone at that moment. I politely shook the friend's hand, and thanked him.)
I felt bad for being so impatient! The perfect time came and I had the perfect gift! Elijah's idea was to fill the empty spot in the middle of the table with wine corks, and I wanted succulents. We filled it with both! I think it's a lovely combination.  I don't have to worry about watering the succulents often, and they get plenty of sun and I absolutely love the look! It's a win win!  The coffee table is my favorite piece of furniture in our home.  I cannot wait to work on other projects in the near future, together with my hubby! What would you fill the middle of the table with?  Any ideas?  I would love to hear them!  As always, thank you for reading, and be sure to check out Vintage Chic to see where our inspiration came from!
xox, m.