decorating
Jewelry Organizer From an Old Door
When you move, all of your organization systems are magically *poof* gone. Then you find yourself untangling necklaces day after day that you’ve been storing in a sandwich baggie in the bottom of your carry-on luggage. It’s a quick way to go mad. So I decided not to go mad. At least that day anyway. My favorite salvage item from our house in Oregon are these doors. They were in our basement and when we remodeled, I didn’t want to get rid of them. It’s not often that you find doors with cool details that have not had a circle drilled through them for a doorknob. It’s like winning the…
Boy Room Vignette
On Friday I showed you the display shelf I made from a silverware tray. Ready to see the rest of the wall? Your wish is granted. Other than the dresser, which is from IKEA, all of the items on this wall are things we already owned. The wood arrow was made with scrap wood. The “T” is one of those cardboard letters from JoAnn’s. It has been painted and repainted over the last 5 years. The step stool was made in high school shop class one million years ago and we finally gave it a makeover. The bookshelf was a found object left in the trash. That painting was made by a…
Display Shelf from a Silverware Tray
Our kitchen in Ireland has no shallow drawer to hold a silverware tray. It’s a conundrum. Instead of throwing the silverware tray away, it was still sturdy and useable, I decided to put it in a box and wait for a silverware drawer to magically appear inspiration. Most of my good ideas, like this one, came to me in the shower. We’ll just stop there because I don’t want to scar your mind. My idea? I could turn that silverware tray on its end and make it into a shelf. SHAZAM! Then I did a little dance and almost slipped in the shower. The first thing I did was notice how truly…
Shovel Head Owl Art
It’s hard to find an appropriate title for “she took a rusty old shovel head and a bunch of random metal scraps and made something cool.” But that’s what happened. As you might have guessed, this is a Junk Whisperer project. Who else do I know that would turn a shovel head into a funky, awesome piece of outdoor art? No one. The Junk Whisperer had the vision for this shovel art project, but she used the mad welding skills of my uncle to make her vision come to life. Interestingly enough, my uncle is quite the talented guy, as are many of my relatives. He made my first car –…
Our Foyer – Come On In
When we lived in the Atlanta, Georgia area, I finally had the spacious foyer I’d always dreamed about having in a home. Always. The irony is not lost on me that while I finally had the spacious foyer, no one used it because the house was a ‘come in the back door right into my kitchen’ sort of home. *sigh* Our home in Ireland is definitely a ‘come in the front door’ type of home. The foyer is actually of decent size and is its own designated space, so people aren’t walking immediately into our living areas. Assuming that we’ve actually had people over. We haven’t. Note to self: need to…
Matchbox Car Magnet
Guys! I did some crafting! First time since we moved to Ireland. It felt good. So good. Plus, it was a 2-minute project, which is my favorite kind of craft project. Do you remember the sheet metal United States map I made for my son? It’s still one of my favorite projects. At the time, I thought it would be cool to make tiny magnets that my son could put on the map to show all the states he had visited. I just wasn’t sure how I was going to execute on that idea. Then we moved to Ireland. I should have made a world map. Ah, hindsight. It’s always there when…
Burl Wood Table
I grew up on a farm. Now, I can’t speak for all farms, but I can speak to my experience. When you have a lot of barns and outbuildings on the family farm, it’s easy to put stuff in these buildings because you might need it someday. That’s not hoarding. That’s, uh, that’s being practical. Waste not, want not. That sort of thing. I can also fix almost anything with baling twine, but that’s a farm story for another day. When the Junk Whisperer (aka my stepmom) came into the picture, she started unearthing these long forgotten treasures while cleaning out the farm’s outbuildings. Thanks to her hard work and ingenuity, I…
Clothespin Holder
I know this is no way to start a Monday, but I have laundry on my brain. I trust yours is all done, folded and put away. Mine is hanging on the line. For the first time in my life, I bought clothespins to use for their intended purpose: hanging clothes. What a novel concept! (These are just like my clothespins.) It got me to thinking about the Junk Whisperer’s (aka my stepmom) laundry room. She has a super cute vintage clothespin holder made to look like a dress. It’s darling, right? When I visited her home earlier this summer, I mentioned off-hand that it would be fun to make a clothespin holder like…
Bowling Ball Lawn Orb
What do you do when your local bowling alley is getting rid of old bowling balls for free? Uh, jump for joy? Not while holding the bowling balls though. I’ve heard bowling alleys often end up with cracked or damaged bowling balls and they’d rather give them away to DIYers than fill up their garbage cans. I imagine the garbage man likes it a lot better too. I’d like to know if this is true in places other than my small hometown. Let me know! One thing you can do with an old bowling ball is make a decorative lawn orb. It’s easy to make one, but it does require a…
