Tag: quick

Craft Projects, Quick and Easy Crafts

Impromptu wood “frame”

Jessica Smith

My daughter is a lucky girl. She is so loved by our family and our friends and you can feel it in her nursery. Her walls are adorned with pieces of art that loved ones have made for her. It warms my soul.

flamingo-painting

Our friend Kate just painted a sweet flamingo painting for her, so I made an impromptu frame for it (if you can call it that).

wood

I found a piece of scrap wood in our basement and cut it down to size with a jigsaw. Then, I sanded down the edges.

tacks

After centering the painting on the wood, I tacked it down with, yes, tacks.

drillmarks

Then I drilled two holes for twine so I could hang the frame on the wall. It was a quick and easy way to display her beautiful new piece of art.

flamingoframe

Check out some of Kate’s other beautiful artwork.

 

Furniture

Console Table Magic

Jessica Smith

It’s been a couple of weeks since I’ve posted on the blog and I’m happy to share that my tomato tally has crossed the 100 tomato threshold! Yes, this weekend we hit aĀ Tomato Tally of 102.Ā I probably have a dozen more needing to get picked, too. Craziness.

Anyway, this isn’tĀ actually a post about tomatoes. Shocker, I know.

Ever since we rearranged our living room to accommodate my slipper chairs, I’ve wanted to get a console table for our living room.

Slipper chairs

The room is starting to really come together. New chairs, new pillows… and now, new table!

Console before

I found this console table on Craigslist for $25 and an office building 4 minutes from my house. I emailed and was super pleased to hear that I was the first person to reach out and the table was mine if I was interested.

I left work in a hurry to make it to the office complex before they closed at 5, bargained them down to $20 and left with a new table!

The table was wobbly and a bit dated with the gray glass, so I took the glass out and tightened all of the bolts with a ratchet set. Then, I whisked myself off to Home Depot to buy some wood to replace the glass.

IMG_0434

I roped in this kind gentleman to help me cut the wood down to size since we don’t have a table saw (and 51″ is too long to cut even remotely straight with a circular saw). Twenty minutes later, I walked out with two new shelves and some scraps.

IMG_0435

I set up shop on our patio, sanding and staining the wood. I mixed a walnut brown with a light gray stain to lighten the brown color a lot. I ended up with a light brown with hints of gray in the knots of the wood. Two coats of stain, two coats of poly, one light sanding and voila!

Console After

Love love loveeee. It fits perfectly against the wall opposite our bay window where the couch used to sit.

Console In the room

It even matches the style of our coffee table (You can see the style better below when we used them as end tables).

End Table

I waited a day to let everything dry and cure completely before staging it.

Console2

I’m still working on that, but this is stuff I had all around the room just waiting for a home on a nice console table like this one.

Console3I just love having a spot to put out pictures and flowers šŸ™‚

All in all, this project cost a little less than $70 — not too bad for a new console table, especially when it’s twin at Ballard goes for $350!

Next up, a mirror for right above the table, which is centered with our bay window. The mirror will bounce the natural light around the room and really anchor the table with the wall. Now I just gotta find one I like!

Hope you all had a great weekend! Between the console table (I did thisĀ whole project in one night after work last week), a BBQ and a river walk, my weekend was a blast.

RemRiv

Rem had a pretty good weekend, too.

Happy Monday!

Christmas, Craft Projects, DIY GIFT GUIDE, Holiday, Quick and Easy Crafts

DIY GIFT GUIDE: Spool Ornament

Jessica Smith

Spool Ornament Cover

Today’s DIY GIFT GUIDE post is even easier than yesterday’sĀ and would look super cute on your Christmas tree!

Know someone who sews? Then this would be the perfect gift for them! Turn an old wooden spool into a Christmas ornament in just a few steps.

Supplies:

  • Wooden spool
  • Wire
  • Ribbon
  • Beads
  • Wire Cutter
  • Scissors

Steps:

  • The worst part of this project is the first part. Remove any old thread from your spools so they are completely bare. I did the by unraveling each spool, but if you don’t have the patience (not sure how I did) you could score yours off with an exacto knife.

Spools

  • Once your spools are naked (hehe), cut a long pice of wire and fold it in half. Thread a seed bead onto the end and let it rest in the bend of the wire. This will stop your larger beads and spool from falling off of the wire.
  • Thread your beads onto the wire — thread through both ends of the wire.
  • Thread your wire through the spool, then add beads on top. I liked my ornament simple and just added one bright red bead below and above my spool. You can add as many as you’d like.
  • Create a loop in the wire after you add your last bead, then secure the wire by wrapping the long ends around the base of the loop until your wire runs out.
  • Tie a piece of ribbon through the loop to make a hook for the tree.
  • Embellish your spool with a large ribbon.
  • Ta da! Hang on your tree!

spool

If you want to get fancy, seal the ends of your ribbon with a no-fray fabric treatment. I haven’t done that to mine, but I probably will before I gift them.

spool ornamentCheck back tomorrow for another gift idea!