Pinterest and Craigslist TV Project

I found the perfect size TV cabinet unit on Craigslist for $50.  The seller said it had previously been a light pine color and she stained it dark walnut.  I was so happy that it was no longer light pine AND that it would fit in the recessed area of the wall that I quickly snagged it up! Hubby and sons help to load it up and haul it home.  It came with some glass doors, but I eliminated those right away...they had a tint to them that I didn't care for.

After living with it for a while I knew I had to do something to brighten it up.  The natural light in the room is fairly non existent and this massive dark piece of furniture needed something...

That was when I recalled a pin I had seen on Pinterest.  The pin involved using fabric to cover foam board, then placing the foam board in the back of the shelves of a bookcase. So I rooted around in my studio and came up with several leftover (from who knows what) pieces of foam board and a large quantity of burlap.  I had to piece some of the sections of foam board together as they were remnants and most were not large enough for the shelves.  I just used masking tape to hold them together.  I then hot glued the burlap to the foam board and since I cut the pieces pretty darn close to size I just forced wedged placed the covered foam boards in the backs and they hold themselves in place.  Not too many people notice the fabric as it surprisingly matches my wall paint color, but I know it's there AND I notice the difference.  I call this a Pinterest success!

I told you so!

"I told you they'd be incredible!!!" I gloat

"Wow! You're right honey, they did turn out good" 

(I may have added in the you're right honey part) ;)

And the best part: They're completely solar, they work and cost under $30 for both!!!

What to do with old barn wood?

Make signs of course!!
A friend of mine gave me a piece of the siding off one her family's old barns that was torn down. I debated forever on what to make with it! I knew it had to be a sign.... my original plans were to make a "welcome" sign. Then I saw the Paris sign in the Ballard Designs catalog and thought "A-Ha"! Wouldn't directional signs be a cool use?
The signs are 24" in length and approximately 7" high. I used the CraftRobo to cut out the stencil (I used shelf liner) and painted with acrylic white craft paint. I put two sawtooth hangers on the back and a piece of felt (to protect the wall). The first name is the town we live in, Casnovia, and the other two are the nearest cities.

Ballard Knock Off Components

Materials to make cube:
Stool ($1.00 from local thrift store)
Drop Cloth (under $10.00 from Home Depot)
Foam (left over from other project)
Batting (left overs)
Staple gun & staples
Acrylic paint & fabric medium
Craft Robo
Vinyl
2 yards of cording ($0.58 from Joann's)
Thread
Sewing Machine

Ballard Cube Knock Off

I completed my Ballard Designs "knock off"! Mine is not an exact replica as I wanted something I could throw in the washer if when it got dirty. Living with three males and two dogs....well, it's bound to happen! :)

Bin re-do

Ok, let's face it...this may be a digital world but we all have "stuff" especially lots of paper in homes that we keep for various reasons. You know the stuff I'm talking about...greeting cards, envelopes, kids school papers, tax receipts, etc. Well, years ago I discovered I'm more of a piler than a filer. To help me contain myself, and have some room on the kitchen counter I decided to purchase these handy little plastic bins.

I've had them for years in my office/mudroom/laundry room all neatly contained on shelves with paper labels announcing their contents. They worked wonderfully for me. But this summer as we embarked upon a fairly major home renovation, I decided that the purple (walls) and lime green color combo was just a little too much for me. Especially, if we are going to place the house up for sale (still not 100% sure). So it was time to begin the neutralizing of the room. I have selected a soft pale green for the walls and wanted the bins to blend and I also wanted to get rid of the plastic look. Instead of replacing the bins (which fit perfectly on the shelves), I decided to spray paint them with this:


A word of caution about this paint! I've used other colors of this paint with no problems, but this particular color (Rosemary) was awful! Let me clarify...the color itself was GREAT but for some reason the trigger was horrifically hard to squeeze! I used 3 cans of the paint in total, and all were equally difficult until they were about 2/3 empty-then no problem. I can't explain! Anyhow, the result is this:


I LOVE the way they turned out!! I have larger bins on the top shelf that still need paint, but I really think I'll go back to my Krylon spray paint for those and do something a little different.

Stay tuned for the new tags!