Sunday, March 15, 2015

Switching It Up


Happy Sunday, readers! This morning we tried out a new church and had a really nice time. Now we're home and back at DIYing! Andrew's dad came over to help him work on the Pergo. It's coming along so great! They work well together & I've been staying out of the way. I have some priming left to do in the half bathroom {but I don't want to kill them with fumes}. The paint I got is definitely not low-VOC. Whoops.

So what did I do?

I walked around our house and made a list of the types of electrical outlets & switch plates in each room. Yep. I realize this sounds incredibly lame - but hear me out!

Outlets are often an overlooked detail along the reno process.
In my opinion, if you spend time & money re-doing a space, you shouldn't forget to update your switch plates. Ours are sort of a creamy almond color, and they are looking pretty dingy. Some are even cracked, so it's time to replace them….no rush. Just room-by-room, over time. I made a list in Notes on my iPhone & organized it by room. Now the next time we're out an about and see some we like, we can knock one out!

How do you guys keep yourselves organized during a renovation? 
Andrew is usually our details man & I have a better idea of "the big picture." Feel free to share your tips with us!

Keep creating, DIYers!

Tuesday, March 10, 2015

Floral Pallet Art

Hi everyone! Last month's contest ended - thanks to everyone who participated!
The "Mystery Project" was revealed to be pallet art, so our winner received a mini pallet of her own:


I'm here today to teach you how to make it! You'll need:


  • wood planks
  • floral paper napkins
  • modpodge & brushes
  • sand paper or a power hand-sander


{First} Take your napkin. Carefully pull the back 2 layers off, leaving a thin sheet with the floral design on it. The middle layer might be tricky to get off, but I swear it does - so be patient.

{Second} Brush modpodge on the wood plank, and lay your napkin on top. Gently pat and smooth it with the pads of your fingers to remove air bubbles and wrinkles. It can tear really easily here so don't get crazy. This step takes the longest because now you need to let it dry completely. At this step, this is how your wood should appear:


{Third} Now that things are all dried up, you will be sanding to distress your wood to perfection! This makes the floral design sort of "melt" into the grain of the wood and produces the look we want. After sanding, the floral images will be dulled with softer edges, and some of the wood may peek through. Here are some side-by-side comparisons of the same napkins before & after sanding:


And that's it! The possibilities with this are endless. Picture frames, furniture, recipe boxes, wall art… you name it. I'm on the hunt for a bunch of old picture frames {without the glass} so I can cut a series of my planks to size & frame them. What would you do with yours?

Thanks for tuning in, and have a great Tuesday!