Wall Sconces with Love

I'm finally putting a dent in my spray painting hit list.  First was the metal grate (see more on that HERE) and next up were these 2 wall sconces.  They were a whopping $3 for the pair from Gardendale Flea Mall.  I love the shape, but wasn't in love with the colour.

I thought about painting them black.  Then I thought about painting them white.  Then the March issue of BHG Magazine arrived with all the bright spring colours, and so I decided on something completely different.  

I wouldn't describe myself as a lavender person, but I really like how they turned out.  I originally planned to hang them in the dining room, but shifted them to the master when my wonderwall began to take shape.

You can see my Dollar Store Ampersand art made it onto the wall too (see how it was made HERE).

In other cheapo art news:

Step 1 - buy cheap Big Lots sticker

Step 2 - stick to paper

Step 3 - put in frame

Hope to see you Friday for the big wonderwall reveal.  I couldn't be happier that our big grey wall has been transformed into a little pocket of loveliness.

 

Kate

xxx

Grate to GREAT!

Despite the weird snow in March weather, this weekend was surprisingly productive.

First up were these strange grate thingys.  I bought them from a thrift shop a couple of weeks ago for I think 20c each.  I'm not entirely sure what they are - maybe a BBQ rack or a grill rack?  Whatever they are, they had something funky stuck to them.  Nothing a good soak and scrub with a wire brush couldn't fix.

I really liked the pattern so in the cart they went.  Yep, I'm the type of person who needs a cart when I shop at a thrift store, ha!

I decided that after cleaning a coat of spray paint was definitely in order.  I thought the zig zag pattern would be perfect for holding postcards and notes.

This is how it was looking after a couple of coats (I wanted to try just one first to see how it turned out).

Luckily there were a number of small holes down each side, the perfect size for running a rope through to hang my upcycled note holder.  I picked some up at Hobby Lobby for a little over $1.

Here is my new note holder hanging in the master.  Can you believe that this used to be a scabby old grate?  Sometimes I wonder where I get these ideas from, I really do.

I added this sweet little origami dog to the top (it was a West Elm Christmas clearance buy).  He was looking up so I needed to give him something to look at....a funny little rabbit keyring (no clue where it came from).

 

You can see that's it not just the note holder that made its was onto the wall in the master.  Oh yes, I was hammer happy this weekend.

 

 

I hope you all had a productive weekend.  Be sure to check back on Wednesday for more wonderwall updates.

 

Kate

xxx

Magnetic

Some of you (ok, one person) asked what I was going to do with the rest of the dollar store magnetic sheet (check out the first project HERE).  Good point, what was I going to do with it?!

I racked my brain for a creative way to use the magnetic sheet, and came up with a groundbreaking idea.  I would make magnets, ha!  Sometimes the most obvious ideas are the best.  I picked up these little wooden squares from Hobby Lobby for a couple of dollars.

I decided to tape each of the squares at a variety of different angles and paint them with some paint leftover from a couple of other projects.  I love using the retro egg cups for small paint projects.  You can put the water in the egg bit and the paint around the outside.  It reminds me so much of craft time when I was little.

Then is was just a matter of decided which colours to use.

I like the nautical/flag like way they turned out.

Now I need to decide what to do with the rest of the little wooden squares.  Help!  I'm caught in a vicious cycle of leftover craft crap!

 Kate

xxx

 

Thrifting Success

This weekend I made the trek out to Gardendale to a fantastic flea mall - 2 floors jam packed with treasures.  I snagged a mid-century-ish orange chair for only $15.  We originally had this dusty green chair in the corner of the guest room.

I love the shape, but the green did get lost against the wall colour, so its nice to add a pop of contrast.  Mo seems to like it too.  The green chair now has a new home in the other guest room - also known as home of the lost furniture.  It's such a mish mash in there that at some point I'm going to have to put some serious time and effort into bringing together.

Next up was this magazine rack for a crisp $18. 

 

You can see the great shape better from the side.

 

 

How could I not love the top with its geometric pattern.  It reminded me of something you'd find in Urban Outfitters.

I also picked up a couple of glass bottles and some wall sconces that have made the spray painting list. 

 

Kate

xxx

Super Size Cross Stitch

Do you ever start a project and fall in love with it immediately?  That's exactly how I felt throughout my latest project.  Something about it was just so therapeutic.

Let me start by saying, I have never cross stitched before.  Ever.  I haven't let that stop me in any of my other projects (thank goodness for YouTube) and I wasn't about to start now.

All of the funky/retro cross stitch I have seen on Etsy and Pinterest got me thinking about creating my own version.  This one by Glitter and Wit really caught my eye. 

But I wanted something bigger.  No, make that BIGGER!

I started thinking about what type of canvas I could use to create my super sized cross stitch and came up with the idea of a pegboard.  It is cheap, can be cut to size and has the holes pre drilled.  My next stop was Home Depot where I picked up this 2' by 4' board for only $6.

By this point my imagination was in overdrive. I had a million different ideas about what image to create, and still might splash out on another peg board just so I can try some more options:

spell out Love
or Guest (to go above the bed in the guest room)
or Wash for the laundry room
an arrow with Exit below it for the hallway
an allover pattern - maybe a chevron (could also be used as a headboard)
paint the board a dark colour and use a white yarn (this would better disguise the remaining holes)

I initially decided to go with "Guest" and I started out by trying to sketch the letters onto the back of the board. 

Mistake number one.  I quickly learned that a grid was the way to go to work out what I was going to cross stitch.  I counted out the holes on my pegboard and made a grid by resizing an Excel sheet with the same number of squares.  I really wanted it to look like script, so changed my plan to "hello".  I had bought some brown fuzzy yarn about 6 months ago from Big Lots for only $1 a ball.  As with most things I end up buying, I had no idea at the time what I was going to use it for, but the thickness and texture were perfect for my over sized cross stitch.

Like a giant fuzzy caterpillar.

After the first night it was beginning to take shape.  I'm sure someone who was an accomplished cross-stitcherererer could knock this out in a night.  The fuzz on the carpet when I was finished was crazy, it looked like little Murph had been shaved! I'm amazed there was an fuzziness left! 

It took me 2 nights in total to complete it - luckily it was easy to pull out any mistakes or areas that didn't look quite right and correct them.  Had I had more yarn I would have made the Ls a little taller and had planned to do an extended loop into the H and out of the O. 

I do love how it turned out, especially as the whole thing came in under $10.

A super sized canvas called for an extra thick yarn.

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Kate

xxx



Red or Dead

In an effort to get a few more things checked off the "To Do List" (more on that HERE) I splashed out a whole $6.99 on this West Elm pendent light (bargain of the week!).  They had a free shipping event a couple of weeks ago, and today it finally arrived.  They still have some left in black, but it would be so easy to spray paint in whatever colour you wanted.

The plan is to switch our the strip light above the sink and hang this in its place.  At 8 x 8.25 its the perfect size for the space.

Now all we need is someone to wire it in!

Kate

xxx

Mustache Hanger

I mustache you a question (I promise that's the first and last mustache pun) - What do you do with the gazillion wire hangers that have built up in your closet?  If you're me, make them into giant mustaches of course!

I'm not sure why, but I could not stop laughing the whole time I was making this.  Apparently there is something inherently funny about a giant metal mustache.  Who would have thought it!

If you want a good chuckle and to recreate the mustache hanger, you will need:

I made the first one with just my hands and it hurt.  A lot.  So I would definitely recommend starting with the pliers.

First bend the hanger in half upwards, like this:

Pull both ends back to their original position, and press the hook part of the hanger downwards.

Next you want to turn the ends upwards to create the flick at the end of the mustache.  Don't worry if it looks a little wonky at this stage, the wire is very pliable and will soon begin to take shape.

Then you can use the can of soup to mould the top curve of the mustache around (please note, no chicken noodles were hurt in the making of this!).

Then it's just a case of playing with your proportions and smoothing out the lumps and bumps until you are happy with the shape.

The great thing about the mustache hanger is that they are still completely usable, and are especially good for strappy tops because the little flick at the end of the mustache helps to hold the straps in place (even better than the regular wire hanger).

Plus they are free - who doesn't have some old wire hangers lurking in their wardrobe.

New here, thanks for stopping by. You can stay connected with me through Bloglovin:

Google Friend Connect (check bottom right in the side bar)

Or see my likes and loves on Pinterest

Kate

xxx