Sunday, December 18, 2016

The Christmas Light (a Story for all Ages)


Although I haven't posted anything in awhile, I have been busy making Christmas gifts (ideas & tutorials coming soon) as well as working on a few projects in our new home that I will also write about soon. 

However, in honor of Christmas so quickly approaching, I wanted to share a Christmas story with you all that I wrote earlier this year.

Friday, November 18, 2016

10 Tips for Removing Popcorn Ceilings

Popcorn is normally attributed to happy things such as the movies, or even decorations on a Christmas tree back in the day, but popcorn has come to mean one of the biggest projects I have ever undertaken or ever hope to undertake. Most people don't decide to remove almost 2000 sq ft of popcorn ceilings all at once though like we did, and because of all of that removal I have some tips to share with you for when you tackle this project big or small. Even though the project took dreadfully long, I am SOOOOO glad we did it. It is worth it people, it is worth it. 

Thursday, August 25, 2016

How to Make Simple Frames for Mirrors of almost any Size

 Before I get to why it has been so long since I have posted a project, I want to share a simple tutorial that a wonderful Home Depot employee taught me. I planned on buying a ton of materials and spending countless hours framing 3 basic mirrors a friend gave to me after taking apart a mirrored cabinet. Fortunately I happened to ask this employee where to find all of these materials and he simply asked, "Well do you have a table saw?" I said yes. Then he responded, "Then here is how you do it..." In less than a minute he explained how to more simply construct these frames, so let's see if I can do it as simply and as quickly as he did...


Tuesday, July 19, 2016

How to Easily Build a Rustic Corner TV Stand AND How to make Homemade Liming Wax for a RH Finish

Today you get a "two fer one" post, lucky you! Rather than redo an already built piece of furniture, I decided to build a brand new simple rustic TV stand using scrap 2x4s we had on hand. And thanks to building it with plain pine, I had a "blank canvas" to mimic Restoration Hardware's unique, natural finish, and try out a new homemade liming wax recipe. So without further ado, I'll let you in on a few tips, tricks and secrets on how to build your own TV stand and make your own liming wax....



Thursday, June 23, 2016

How to Fix Hanging and Wiggly Drawers in 3 Steps

Today's post will be a shorty but a goody. A few weeks ago I totally transformed a dresser from awful to awesome, and at first couldn't figure out how to fix the drawers and their wiggle and their droop. When a potential buyer came to look at the dresser/bookshelf they loved the look, but when they opened the drawers they were turned off from the sale. After she left I had an "aha" moment as to how to fix this problem. Let me show you how a few dollars can totally fix this aggravating drawer problem...


Wednesday, June 15, 2016

10 Things I've Learned from our Foreclosure


Today I want to write about something that has been nagging me, that in a round about way belongs on this DIY crafty blog. If my family and I hadn't gone through our foreclosure, this blog would most likely not exist. If it wasn't for foreclosure I would have never realized how much I love giving new life to things. If it wasn't for foreclosure I would never have discovered how much happiness and fulfillment I get from creating. So because of one of the most awful things our family has gone through, we have learned some amazing lessons about life, the real estate market, and ourselves. So whether or not you have gone through a foreclosure, or will go through one, I promise there is something for you to learn from this post too...

Tuesday, June 7, 2016

Dud to Stud: DIY Dresser Makeover

Do you ever get an item for free that isn't free enough? This dresser makeover at first felt like a bad idea. Broken drawers, broken frame, trash, mold and even a spider egg sac tempted me to throw it out for trash pickup, but I am glad I didn't. Today let's talk about how to make almost any dresser get a second chance, as well as how to paint some pretty rad racing stripes... 

Friday, June 3, 2016

Craigslist Gold--How to Find & Flip Patio Sets for Fast Cash


Today I want to let you in on a little secret I have learned about Craigslist shoppers (and all other local "for sale" shoppers)....they are searching for patio sets. Now don't go telling everyone about this secret because it will make finding these hidden gems to flip even harder; but when I find something out that makes my life easier, I like to pass on that info to my blog followers...

Wednesday, May 18, 2016

How to Graywash the Right Way (and get the Restoration Hardware look)



Although whitewashing and graywashing is very easy, (& SUPER cheap), I learned (the hard way) that there is a wrong way. Today I would like to share what I have learned so that you can bypass all of the extra work that I had to undergo, and get the awesome beach, natural, somewhat Restoration Hardware look the easy way.

Wednesday, April 27, 2016

Bye bye Golden Oak--Say Hello to Gray Stain (and Paint)


So if you follow me you probably feel like seeing this table is deja vu, because I finished another similar table a month  ago. This table set was so much easier because it was built solidly and still in great condition--for the 1990's. Time for the miracle power of paint and stain to enter the picture and bring an outdated, unwanted piece to today's world.

Monday, April 25, 2016

How to get Free Fonts (Easily)

Feel free to go directly to dafont.com, or read on for pointers on how to make this wonderful site extra wonderful...

If you have heard that "the best things in life aren't free?" or, "If it sounds too good to be true, it probably isn't" then you've been lied to. I am about to let you in on one of the best life hacks you have ever discovered. Ok, not true, but this site really is monumentally awesome. If you are like me, you remember the main fonts everyone used back in the 90's when computers were barely getting good, and you had very limited options to make greeting cards, write reports or letters with, etc. Comic Sans, Times New Roman, Papyrus, and there is this one that starts with a "J" that I remember using a ton, but the name is slipping my mind. Anyway, say goodbye to these boring choices. Dafont.com is about to rock your world (and it is totally, honestly FREE).

Wednesday, April 20, 2016

Leftover Drawers into Bench


Thanks for coming to check out how to either make a dress up station, (as I covered a couple weeks ago), or a mud room bench, or maybe both! Both of these projects are fairly simple and easy enough for any DIY'er. And if you are like me, you hate throwing away things, and get a high when you discover a way to repurpose something that looks like trash to everyone else. If you are like that, then most likely you have some drawers that need a purpose (or you will find some in no time).

Wednesday, April 13, 2016

DIY Chic Farmhouse Table


I don't know about you, but with drool-worthy shows like Fixer Upper,  I was on the hunt to for my own farmhouse table. Having grown up in California not far from the Santa Cruz beaches, but at the same time always loving the mountains in Lake Tahoe, I am torn between a love for the beach and the rustic. This table is a combo of the beach, the rustic, and Joanna Gaines. Let me tell you how it was done...

Friday, March 18, 2016

DIY Dress Up Station


 Yay for nice enough weather to start furniture redos again! 
This little dresser conversion project has been a long time coming. 

A good friend of mine has a very different life than mine. She has four girls vs my four boys. Back last Fall she asked if I would be up for finding something to convert into a dress up station. With the weather being too cold to paint, and the holidays coming up, the project had to wait. Then the weather turned into the 60's and the perfect dresser was up for sale on VarageSale (an awesome app you should get). I only had to drive 3 minutes and spend $25 for this cute, little, four drawer dresser. Missing a knob? No problem! Seen better days? (Totally dirty underneath and inside the drawers) No problem!

Monday, February 29, 2016

Chronicle Books, Here Comes the Boo Boo Builders


Do you have the dream of writing a children's book? Or maybe a novel? Or do you just have the dream of seeing your name in print? Well that has been my goal for a long time too. In fact when I was little I wanted to be an illustrator and especially loved illustrations similar to Felicia Bond's of "If you give a mouse a cookie" books. Unfortunately I decided against this path because I felt like my talent wasn't good enough. 

Thankfully, being married to a really supportive husband, as well as being surrounded by other encouraging family members, I have decided to pursue my long time goal and turn a story I ell to my children to help them face their fear of boo boos, into something that could be told to others' children. Plus there's something about being in your 30's. All the insecurities of childhood and teenagehood and even 20s-hood goes away, and now I feel more comfortable being me and trying new things.

What I find encouraging is reading about how another mom, who also had the dream of writing a children's book, became a best-selling author with Goodnight, Goodnight Construction Site. Read on to hear how she did just that, as well as how Chronicle Books (my top choice for a publishing company) recognized her talent and made it a well-loved book in our home and many others.

Monday, February 8, 2016

Love Sign Craft How-To


Read on to get the simple, step-by-step how-to, as well as the free printable stencil...

Sunday, January 3, 2016

How to do a LARGE Fall Festival for less than $300!

So pay no attention to the date I posted this.....ok, I bet you just checked the date I posted this huh? Yeah, yeah life has been busy and I am just now posting about a "Fall" Festival in January. I have been out of commission working on a children's book, a logo for a plumbing company, and putting together almost 60 pallet signs for a church craft night. Needless to say I am a bit behind. However, I had wished for a posting like this back in September when I was first asked to put on this activity, so I am hoping this run down will help some of you who have been given the same task. I am going to share what activities we did, what supplies you need, and even share the invitation we made. And we did this all on the cheap. So read on...