Paysen's Room

Sorry it's been so long since I've posted last. I can't even say I haven't been working on projects. My husband is deployed to Iraq so I started a couple really big projects in December hoping to keep my mind off the fact that he was on the other side of the world. I don't know if it worked because lets face it, the holidays still sucked, but at least I wasn't bored.

I revamped a boring lamp shade for my daughters room. I spent 1.00 on it at Ikea and then just cut strips of an old sheet I had. I sewed one line down the middle of the strip and then held on to one end of the thread and pushed the fabric up for the bunched up look.
Before

After


I also put up crown molding and repainted with pink scallops as a border. I found two old pink windows from my Mom's antique shop to hang on the wall. You guys should seriously check it out if you're ever in the Verde Valley. She's so cheap and has lots of hidden treasures (the store, not my mom) I found some fabric from Hobby Lobby and put it behind them.


I just need help with one thing. I found a vintage "Cinderella" giant golden book at Merchant Square and I made copies of them. I want to Modge Podge them onto mdf boards or foam board or something but it needs to be thicker for that 3D look. I thought about canvas but that's really expensive and I'm not sure if they come in exactly 9 1/2" by 13" I want them to last long but if I use boards they'll be super heavy. Then there's the pain of mounting them. Should I use claw hooks, or use finishing nails to attach them directly to the wall? Here's a picture of them just taped up where I want them to go. What's the cheapest, lightest, most durable way to do this?


I also almost finished my sons room, I'm just waiting for a few pictures I ordered online to show up and I'll post that.

Picket fence

Before

So I didn't have to do a darn thing to make this old picket fence I got off craigslist adorable. It might be against HOA policy, but it's well worth "accidentally" throwing away a warning letter if I get one. We also put in sod as a surprise for my husband. He is deployed and was home for 4 days of leave for thanksgiving. He actually drove by our house because he was so used to the dirt yard. I LOVE laying sod. It's so easy and looks SO good when it's done. I would do it again by myself in a heartbeat.

Door bookshelf

Before

I got this old door from Tara, cut it up and made a shelf for my boys overwhelming pile of books they don't know how to read yet. When I was cutting it up a guy drove by my house and asked if I knew what I was doing with the saw. I said "No... why, is knowing what you're doing a requirement with power tools?". He just laughed and drove away. The thing I don't get is why men always seem to think I don't know my way around a garage? I'm not out there in my heels. I don't close my eyes and look away when I use a saw. What's the deal?
After

Carley's desk

Before

I went over to my friend Carley's house and saw this desk in her bedroom. I immediately fell in love with it. Well, what it could be anyways. I love the little carving details in it. Her husband and I created an evil plan to make it pretty and loaded it up into the back of my car while she was gone. Turns out our evil plan didn't include a 4 year old eavesdropper who ruined it 5 minutes after she got home by saying "sister grandy took it!".
My bestie Katie and I refinished it in about 2 hours. Now I don't want to give it back. Sad.
After

Wingback chairs

Before

I decided reupholstering is a LOT like childbirth. It sucks and is really hard. But then you have this beautiful thing to look at afterwards and you forget all about the pain and it makes you want to do it again. After my last chair with the no.1 on it, I swore it off for good. But then I found these beauts on craigslist for $10 for two of them. I should have walked away. But it was such a good deal and the chairs were in really good shape. So, like an idiot, I bought them, got some fabric, and called my sister Dawn in for reinforcements. I absolutely love how they turned out but I'm dreading finishing the other one. Everything's all ready for it, I just have to bite the bullet.
After

Geeze Tara...

Ok so I haven't been as busy as Tara, but I have been working on my yard the past week. We planted flowers next to the sidewalk and I had extra because that's just how my life is. So I made a planter box out of an old school desk I bought for a buck in Alabama. I can't even imagine what my husband was thinking when I told him he had to drag this piece of crap 2000 miles across the country when we were done with flight school. But I knew I had big plans for it. I just can't wait for the grass to be delivered on Saturday.
Before

After

Ammo Cans

Before

Do your husbands ever complain that you never decorate with anything manly? Well, being the sarcastic person that I am, I took one of his ammo cans out of the garage and dolled it up. If they didn't weigh about 40 pounds I would use them as toy organizers in the kids rooms.
after

Old Door

Before

Honestly, decorating with old doors never gets old at my house. And I would like to thank my second love, craigslist. I picked up two doors from a lady in AJ for 10 bucks. I cut one in half at 45's to make this corner shelf and used the other one to spice up my kitchen island.
after

Chairs

Before...

I went yard sale-ing with my mom and found two of these chairs for 5 bucks each. I did a slipcover for one and reupholstered the other one. I wish I had slipcovered both because lets face it, I have kids.
And after...

Flat paint

One of the nice things about buying a new house is starting with a clean slate. I've had a bunch of people ask how I did the wall in my living room. I didn't want to say because for a little while, people thought I was brilliant. Now you will all know the truth. It's not brilliance. It's just spray paint. Which is, in fact, the worlds best invention since walkman and tab. I heart spray paint.

I started with a FLAT blue paint on the wall. Then I got a stencil from Michaels. It was only about 8"x12". If there was one thing I could do differently, I would not be so cheap and buy a bigger stencil from a place like mystencils.com. Learn from my mistake. Next, I got a HIGH GLOSS lacquer spray paint and just sprayed over the stencil. The one I used was from Walmart in the craft section but any high gloss CLEAR paint will work. I thought about doing a frosty lacquer but changed my mind. If anyone does it with frost, e-mail us so I can see the end result.

I know, so easy a caveman could do it.

p.s. the clock above the mantle..... this is what it used to look like. Black and white paint and my favorite stain later and voila.

Door bed

I found these doors at my new favorite antique store in Phoenix called Not Too Shabby. I had been looking for matching doors to make a bed out of for a while and finally lucked out. I added some bun feet and old table legs, used L bracketed to attach two 2x6's, and here is the end result.

Chandelier

This is a before and after of a chandelier I put up in Paysen's room. Tara found it at a yard sale for $5 and I rewired it and spray painted it pink. I put an old frame around it on the ceiling and I want to put old sheet music behind it.
Before

After