decorating
Display a Souvenir Pin Collection in a Shadowbox Frame
Did you catch last week’s furniture makeover? It was a fun one! We turned a hutch into a freestanding bookcase for my tween daughter’s room. Now there is plenty of room for her books, sketch pads and ceramic animals. There’s also a spot for her souvenir pin collection. Do you see the collection on the shelf below? You’re dying to learn more about it, aren’t you? I figured. We do a fair amount of traveling and at some point (thank goodness) my daughter outgrew the souvenir stuffed animal. Instead, she recently started collecting souvenir pins. They are small, inexpensive and relatively easy to find at souvenir shops. She also has…
Turn a Hutch Into a Freestanding Bookcase
Who loves a good furniture makeover? *raises both my hands…and feet* You’ve come to the right place because I have a fun makeover to show you today! We were able to turn a hutch into a freestanding bookcase and it’s been a game-changer in my tween daughter’s room. If you’ve been a long-time follower, you might remember that when I bought this dresser with brass details at the Habitat Restore it came with a hutch. I never could figure out the hutch part of the dresser. Not only was it not quite the right size, I couldn’t tell where it had ever attached to the dresser. It was a mystery. I…
Framing Art With Scrap Leather Instead of Using a Mat
Why, yes! I did use leather in another crafty home decor project. Give me some scrap leather and I will come up with a host of ways to use it. And in case you are wondering (you’re not, but let’s pretend), someone DID give me a stack of leather and said, “Maybe you can use this for a project or two.” Challenge accepted! This time I used a piece of leather instead of a picture frame mat for framing a piece of art. Let’s not discuss the fact that I have scrap leather, but I don’t have an appropriately sized picture frame mat. Nor am I willing to buy one,…
How to Mount Antlers on an Acrylic Base
I’m not a hunter. I’ve never hunted. I don’t own anything camouflage. I’ve never worn anything in a hue resembling hunter orange. Although, I did have a pair of fluorescent yellow leg warmers in 4th grade. I do own a set of deer antlers though. My brother gave them to me years ago. I don’t know where they came from. Or how old they are. I have no answers on that front. I just liked the antlers. If you’re an antler purist (is that a thing?) then stop reading now because it will definitely seem blasphemous that I painted the antlers gold at some point. What can I say? I…
Items I Should Have Bought on Facebook Marketplace, but Didn’t
I thought it would be fun to show you my gallery of thrifting regrets today. Nothing says a “fun read” like the word regret. Ha! Do not even get me started on how much I loathe Facebook, but I do find its Marketplace to be quite useful when I’m thrifting for something in particular. It’s where I found my quirky rattan swivel chair. I still am over-the-moon about that chair, by the way. I like to ‘save’ items I’m interested in buying, but not motivated enough to leave my house that day to collect. Sometimes I watch the items to see if the price drops, but often the items are…
How We Like Our Amazon Rivet Leather Sofa
Spending a ton of money on a sofa is worrisome. Spending a ton of money on a sofa you bought online and NEVER SAT ON is the stuff of nightmares. So, of course, that’s what we did. We purchased Amazon’s Rivet Andrews Leather Sofa in July 2018 and have lived with it long enough (over 6 months) to feel comfortable sharing our experience. This is not a sponsored post, but I do participate in the Amazon Associates program. If you use one of my affiliate links to make a purchase, I get credit but it doesn’t cost you anything extra. How We Over-Thought Made Our Purchase Decision The Amazon Rivet Andrews Leather…
Wrapped String Art Using a Frame, String and Glue
What do you do when your child comes home with ANOTHER special piece of artwork and wants that artwork framed? You could punt the request until they forget and then mysteriously lose that artwork on garbage day. Ahem. Not that I would know anything about that. Or, you could IMPROVISE. Improvise is my middle name means to make something out of whatever is available. That certainly is a recurring theme around this slice of the internet and what brings us to today’s project. The art in question is bright, happy and not at all symmetrically cut. It had definitely experienced a rough ride home in a backpack. My daughter loved the…
$60 Thrifted Dresser
Sometime last year I crowed about a thrifting haul. I scored multiple thrifted items in the course of one week – something that rarely happens to me. In fact, it hasn’t happened since. But not for lack of trying! One of the items I didn’t tell you about was the $60 thrifted dresser with killer legs. See what I mean? Look at those little wooden wheels… I found this dresser at my local Habitat Restore. It has become my go-to place for inexpensive furniture partly because it’s located only a few miles from my house, but mainly because of the ‘inexpensive’ part. I would have bought the dresser on-the-spot, but…
The Painting I Rescued From the Trash
Here’s some advice to live by: always go for a walk around the neighborhood the night before garbage day. Trust me! You never know what treasures you might find just sitting on the curb waiting for the garbage truck to be discovered. Earlier this fall I took one of these walks. It was late afternoon. The air was crisp. The leaves were still glorious. There wasn’t a soul in sight. That’s when I spotted it. Do you see it? A painting sitting with a pile of trash at the end of someone’s driveway. They’d left it there to be collected by the garbage truck. Or me. Their intent could have gone either…
Halloween Mantel That Will Transition Into Thanksgiving
Last week I briefly explained that I enjoy the festivities of Halloween, but I’m not super into decorating for the holiday. However, I do a little to keep my kids happy. I do like decorating with pumpkins, mums and other items that give me all the fall feelings and a big bang for the buck by easily transitioning from Halloween into Thanksgiving. This fireplace is in our piano room and it’s hard to tell from the pictures, but it is a big one! The mantel is about 5-feet off the ground. The piano is directly to the right of the fireplace. I used black card stock – again – on my…
