Show and Tell

Some of these have been done for a while and some have been in the works for a while...

Jewelry Dish

A year ago, I saw this Pottery Barn jewelry dish online with only the best Mr. Darcy quote.  I would have bought it then and there if it wasn't already sold out.  What!?  So I immediately planned to make one of my own.  I couldn't figure out how to make it look exactly the same, but I like how my version turned out.  I used my mom's cricut design program to arrange all the text, which was a pain in the rear end.  Then I cut a stencil out of vinyl and placed it on a $1.50 plastic salad plate from Target, which was also a pain in the rear end.  Then I sprayed the plate with white primer, then black, then red for the word "love."  Then after drying, I peeled off all the vinyl with tweezers, which was another pain in the rear end (lots of small pieces).  Then I gave the whole thing a coat of a finishing spray. Et voila!  A perfectly Pride & Prejudiced dish.  That I will NEVER attempt again.  But I like it so much I couldn't stop looking at it for two days.

PB version:

Vinyl-ized:

My version:

Knife Block Makeover

I've seen this done many times on blogs and pinterest.  My knife block was a blah blond color.  In a jiffy, I sanded, sprayed it black, distressed the edges, sprayed a protectant coat, and then cut an "L" out of vinyl on my mom's cricut for the front.  I love it lots.  Even Daniel likes it.  And that's saying a lot.

Shoe Bag

I made this easy star drawstring bag for Emersen to carry her ballet shoes back and forth to dance class.  I lined it with coordinating fabric, all of which I already had in my stash.  It's the perfect way to keep her shoes from getting lost in the jumble.

Clock Makeover

This clock came from my in-laws' DI pile.  It was pretty boring, so I just put green scrapbook paper behind the glass which prettied it up a bit.  Easy!  It hangs in our bathroom now.  You can't see the pattern on the paper very well in this picture, but it's pretty subtle anyway.

Entryway

Daniel has been wanting a no-shoes house for a long time.  I was never too fond of the idea until recently when I really started thinking about all the stuff that gets tracked in with our shoes.  Yuck!  Don't think about it.  We decided we needed a bench and place to store shoes if we were going to do it.  Daniel wanted to build something, so I gave him some inspiration pictures, and then he went for it, adding his own unique, modern design.  He used wood from his stash, so it was all free!  He banned me from painting or staining it.  He liked the wood grain showing through.  Good job, Daniel!

We also needed a sign asking people to take off their shoes.  Again, we raided Daniel's wood stash and he cut a board to size for me.  My dad used his router to make a fancier edge.  Then I painted it, distressed the edges, and used antiquing medium to add some age and character.  I got this vinyl quote for $5 at the Oak City Days boutique a couple summers ago.  It all turned out just as I envisioned.  I found the black metal scroll key hanger at DI for $1.

Now we have a nice addition to the entryway which isn't as boring as . . . having nothing there, I guess!  Please remove your shoes!