Fan it up

This has got to be the easiest update I've done - mainly because all I had to do was buy the fan.  I had absolutely nothing to do with wiring it in, so no tutorial here I'm afraid.  Me and anything electrical is probably not a good combination.  Luckily my father in law is super handy and had it installed in record time.  Here's the good old before and after.

Before - fugly.  Ok, so you can't really see much of the original fan, but you get the idea.

After - ooooh, swit swoo, that is one sleek looking fan.

Kate

xxx

Aye aye Capt'n

I knew these trays would come in handy, I just knew it.  Well, I knew they were cheap (on clearance at Target for a measly $4 each) so I snapped them up.

They've been hanging around in a box in the basement ever since then, just waiting for their big transformation.  Oh yes, they knew their time would come.

Now for the plan: I've seen lots of variations of the Captain Mirror.  From Ballard Designs, ringing in at a whopping $449:

 

To Horchow at a budget busting $725

The first thing I needed was a mirror to insert into the center of the tray.  I measured the tray and it was an awkward 13.5" across.  Michaels had a craft mirror at 12" and Hobby Lobby had a candle mirror at 13".  Ideally I would have gone for the 13" to leave as little a gap around the outside as possible but it was so heavy I didn't want to put any extra strain on the straps or bamboo tray (notorious for splitting).

The 12" turned out great, and I kind of like the extra border around the outside.  It was as simple as hot gluing it into the center of the tray.

Now for the straps/belts.  I measured the height of the tray and around the bottom half to make sure the buckles would meet the tray at the right point.  With tape measure in hand I hit up J&J Junk (more on that here) and found these 2 belts for only 50c.  That's right, just 25c each and unbelievably both are real leather (one is even Tommy Hilfiger).

 

 

See - I told you so.

 

 

I hot glued one belt around the bottom of the tray, then attached the second belt to loop around the top so the buckles were level on each side.

Here is my version of the Captain Mirror for under $10.

 

I used a chunky acrylic hook I bought, for I think $1 at a flea mall, to hang the mirror.

 

 

I love how the worn leather belts look.

 

 

Here's the captain in pride of place in our master.

 

 

Kate

xxx

 

Macklemore Challenge

This weekend I took a trip out to Pinson to visit Mission Possible thrift shop as part of Young House Love's Macklemore challenge (as if I ever needed an excuse to go to a Thrift shop).

The challenge was to see what goodies you could find with just $20.  You didn't have to spend the whole $20 but you shouldn't go over (Price is Right styleeee).  Then we'd have a good ole link party to share our spoils over on YHL today.

I immediately snapped up these two black candle holders.  They look like black glass but are only plastic (shhh, don't tell!).  That was a whopping $1.78 of the budget spent.  You've got to love Thrift Stores that just write the price on the item.

They had a couple of side tables that would have looked great refinished in a bright colour, but I couldn't resist these 2 lamps.  Ok, so the gold is terrible and they're not an exact pair, but I think when spray painted the same colour they will look great.  Now all I need is to decide what colour to paint them - any suggestions?

I only spent a total of just over $10 ($10.76 to be exact, the lamps were $3.99 and $4.99 each) and managed to pick up a pair of candle holders and a pair (ish) of lamps.  You can't beat that!

While I was in Pinson, I thought I may as well pop into Sonya's Stuff (think thrift store meets junk shop meets flea mall) .  I mean I was in the area so it'd be rude not too!  They had posted a pair of mid-century nightstands on Craigslist about a month ago.  I was sure they would have been snapped up, but thought I'd see what other goodies they had.

I couldn't believe it when I walked in and they were still available.  Clearly I grabbed them and ran. Here they are at home in the Master:

 

 

 

 

Lots more Master Bedroom updates to come next week.

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Kate

xxx

Old Stool

A few months ago I picked up this little stool for only $10 from Sonyas Stuff out in Pinson.  They do house clearances and have some amazing finds for cheaper than cheap. They never try and paint or fix up what they find so it's a great place to go if you're looking for a project. 

 

I wouldn't dream of painting the wood, but the beige top needed a bit of a makeover.  I hit up Joanns fabrics this weekend and picked out a striped fabric.  This was my first venture into upholstery and it went surprisingly well. It was as simple as measuring round the outside of the cushion, cutting the fabric about 2" wider around all sides, and stapling away.

 

 

 

A little Paul Smith-esque, perhaps??

 

 

Source

 

I love how it turned out.

 

 

 

 Kate

xxx

 

Valentines

In the spirit of all things valentines, I thought I'd try something I've seen on Pinterest about a million times - met, married, live.

The idea is to cut out a map heart of the place you met, where you married and where you live.  I picked up this old school map from J&J Junk on my last visit, and printed out the silhouette of a heart.

 

The tricky thing was we met in London, so a road map of US, Canada and Mexico wasn't exactly going to reach that far.  I decided to get creative and used London Ontario instead.  Perfect!

 

 

I rummaged around my frame stash and found an old Aris frame I bought from Michaels when they were on clearance.  They are exactly like the Ikea Ribba frames but about a quarter of the price.  I must have bought about 20 of those frames, so annoying they don't stock them anymore.

 

The only thing was there were 4 spaces instead of the 3 I needed.  I decided to cut out a red heart to fill in the extra space.

 

 

Here it is up on the wall just inside the front door.

 

 

Kate

xxx

 

Scottish Is

Happy Burns Night to all my friends and family back home in Bonnie Scotland!  Robert Burns was a famous Scottish Poet (he wrote Auld Lang Syne) and his birthday (Jan 25th) is usually celebrated with a traditional Burns Supper of haggis, neeps and tatties, and usually too much to drink!

The Selkirk Grace always starts off the meal:

Some hae meat and canna eat,
And some wad eat that want it;
But we hae meat, and we can eat,
And sae let the Lord be thankit.

And while we're on a Scottish kick, I couldn't resist posting this clip:



In honour of Burns Night I'll be sitting down to a glass or two of overpriced Irn Bru!  If you're ever in Publix, keep an eye out for the fluorescent orange glow of Irn Bru (its usually in the teeny tiny Brit food section).  I won't even try and describe the flavour - you'll just have to try it.

 

Kate

xxx

Feature

Today my DIY desk is being featured over at Knock Off Decor.  Beckie's site is jam packed with cheap ways to recreate expensive projects, you can't get much better than that!

Thanks Beckie!

 

Kate

xxx