Paper Rose Garland

Hey everyone! I'm back with another installment of

Today's project is DIY Paper Rose Garland

You'll need: 1) Paper 2) Twine 3) Scissors 4) Glue

• Start by drawing a spiral on your paper. If you have a good eye, you can skip this step and head right for your scissors to cut the spirals like I did. I'm using pages from an old books & dictionaries.

 

• Now sit in front of the TV or turn on some good music as you do this repeatedly. Make as many as you want. More spirals = more roses = longer garland. So go to town!

        

• Once you've cut all your spirals, start rolling! Take one sheet. Begin from the outside of the spiral and tightly coil until you get to the end. Now release it. Don't be afraid to do this part - this is how your paper will expand & allow your rose to look more realistic. Using a glue gun, add a dollop of glue and press the flower part into it - once dry, this is how your rose will be held secure. 

    
• As you go along, realize that these are meant to be imperfect. Don't be alarmed to notice that your roses are turning out differently each time. No two are the same, just like real flowers. Another tip? Sometimes to speed things up I wind all of my flowers, then get out the glue and secure them all at once. You really can't go wrong with whatever system you adopt.

• Once you have a pile of roses, unwind a length of twine. Add your roses by turning them upside down, putting another dollop of glue on the backside, then pressing the twine into place. Hold each one for a few seconds before moving on to the next to ensure a snug bond.

            

You can make your garland as long as you wish. And now that you are an expert at paper rose making, get creative with adding flowers to other projects - picture frames, present toppers, or even a bunch wired to sticks in a vase. I put my garland on a Christmas tree in our dining room, but I like it so much I might keep it out all year long :) Thanks for stopping over today. If you try this project, I wish you success!

Keep creating, DIYers!

Breakfast Nook

I really like the farmhouse style/JoAnna Gaines type kitchens. You know what I mean? Think wooden floors, white subway tile, farmhouse tables and lots of beadboard. But making a breakfast nook of our own was one thing that kept getting placed on the back burner. Probably because we're amateurs who have real day jobs and do not have ton of money to just toss around! But at a slow steady pace, Andrew & I have been working on transforming our house, and in a lot of ways we are getting closer to the "look" we like want… 

• The kitchen cabinets were painted white. Check. 
• We added breadboard to them. Check. 
• The dining room got board & batten. Check. 
• The fireplace got a facelift. Check. 
• Flooring is done. Check. 

It seemed that all we had remaining was to figure out how to make our nook bench. 

Well folks, we finally made it & here's how it all went down.

There are several ways to get the bench. Build it from scratch, turn an Ikea bookshelf on its side, use old church pews, etc. I decided we would make ours out of kitchen cabinets. {What can I say, I wanted the extra storage!} So I bought two builder-grade oak cabinets from Lowe's. For a long time, they just sat in our basement and we doubted if this was a project we would ever accomplish.  Then earlier this month, Andrew had a night where he was REALLY inspired, and he just started going to town on it. Turns out this one wasn't the headache we feared it would be. We had everything built in 2 nights, I took 3 days to paint it, and then all we had to do was order cushions & charrs for the other side of the farmhouse table.

We removed the baseboards and measured where we wanted the bench to be on the wall. Then we added a frame to the back {between the wall & cabinets} so the bench wouldn't be so narrow. Next Andrew devised a way to attach the bench to the wall using L-brackets cleverly hidden under the baseboards. He's a gem! The last part of construction was securing a large piece of plywood to the top with the air nailer & putting the beadboard on the sides to match the kitchen cabinetry. Things were looking good!

Then I painted. I used my old stand-by Valspar Bonding Primer. Things were now looking super good! The end was in sight! After everything dried, I caulked the cracks and we accessorized.

A sidenote about our "accessories"… The cushion is from Pottery Barn. Andrew found it online and we were jazzed because it had the same dimensions of our bench. Weirdly, the thing came and it was 2.5 inches narrower (is that a word?) than advertised. So PB sent me another just to be sure mine wasn't a defect… replacement cushion was wrong too. We decided to just keep it & added the board & batten to the back of our bench to compensate the missing inches. We're both in love with this detail now, so evidently it was all a blessing in disguise. Next fun challenge - the chairs are from Restoration Hardware, and we had to send several back because they kept arriving broken. So who even knows if they will be durable enough to stand the test of time. For now they look cute and hey, they were on sale. So whatta ya gonna do! 

So with the bench built, board and batten add-on, cushion/pillows, table/chairs in place…we are ready to use this bad boy! Icing on the cake will be to find a cool silver lantern to hang instead of the current light. We're in no rush. Thanks so much for checking in to see what's new with us. I've been a bad blogger. I would say you should check back soon for more frequent posts, but who are we kidding!

Keep creating out there, people!

Office Reveal

This room is dedicated to our "outdoorsy" side // Decorated with maps, globes & knick knacks from our travels, we keep Andrew's fishing poles and fly tying supplies in here along with our books & laptops. If you stopped by Old Elm and found us in the office, you'd probably see Andrew sitting at the desk paying bills and me curled up on the arm chair in the corner chatting with him.

"Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished" - Lao Tzu

Dining Room Reveal

This room is dedicated to gathering around the table // When Andrew first moved in, all I could talk about is how the dining room needed wooden floors and white board & batten. Fast forward 3 years and my dream is finally a reality. He thinks it's pretty neat, too. If you stopped by our house in the evening, you'd find us in here eating dinner or fixing ourselves some mixed drinks. We've also been known to host the occasional game night with friends in here.

"The fondest memories are made gathered around a table" - Anonymous

It's Done!

The Pergo is totally installed! Hallelujah! With help from Andrew's dad, we were able to rip out the rest of the carpet, prime & paint the trim, and lay the final floor boards. It was a long project, and there are still finishing touches to accomplish. But here are some pictures of our handiwork. Once things are back in their proper places and all decorated again I want to post some dramatic "Before & After" side-by-side comparisons. But for now enjoy these!

Things were off to a great start once the guys were able to remove the ceramic tile from the foyer. It took them about 3 hours and made A TON of dust.

After that, we were able to lay more boards in the dining room and remove the carpet {and staples!} in the office. 

The displaced furniture situation was REAL. Our entire home library made it's way to the steps, while all other tables, chairs, lamps, jars, flowers, fishing poles, world globes & extra tools {I see you in that photo, bottom left corner junk table!} got a temporary new home in the living room.

Next, Andrew continued with the flooring while I primed the trim. Then he went outside to mow the lawn while I continued on with the painting inside. We had the windows open and music blaring - it was a good Saturday!

When Sunday rolled around, we went to church, came home & immediately got to work finishing things. As previously stated, the rooms aren't quite put back together 100%. But the floor sure does look amazing! 

L-to-R pictured is the Dining Room, Foyer, Office. 

HUGE sigh of relief! Once we install quarter round, the project will be complete. Though it was trying at times and often stressful, we're pretty proud of the job. Plus, we saved ourselves a boatload of money by DIYing. Stay tuned for our final reveal of how everything looks!

Keep creating, DIYers!