Antique Window Picture Frame

Let's be honest... I'm in love with the shabby chic, antique look. Incorporating that style into my living room has been difficult because my husband and I are still renting so we don't have control over the walls, flooring, etc. However, I have managed to add a few furniture pieces and decor elements that help me at least start to create the desired look.

My most recent DIY project has been a homemade antique window that I converted into a picture frame. I searched craigslist for a free one but finally ended up looking through the window sashes at Second Use near Seattle. I wanted one that was inexpensive, white, light weight, and had more than one window pane. I decided on a 22x22 window sash with 2 panes, for $10, that had white paint on one side and was unpainted on the back. Because it had lead paint on it, I brought it outside, wiped the thing down to clean it, covered the window panes with tape and plastic, and then sprayed the whole thing down with a clear sealant that I got at Walmart. In the picture below you can see the back of the window.

To turn this antique window into a picture frame, I got a D-Ring hanger set from Home Depot (included 2 D-rings, 2 screws, hanging wire, and the picture hanger with nail). I connected this to the back of the window sash following their directions. At Costco, I printed a large 24x36 poster sized print of one of my favorite pictures from our wedding. I then cut the poster to the right dimensions and secured it to the back. Below is the finished product!

You can't tell from the pictures (I use my dinky phone camera) but it is a pretty large statement piece and works great with the light and dark contrasts we have throughout our living room. It has been my favorite DIY project so far!

Owl Themed Baby Shower

My good friend is having a baby girl soon so of course a baby shower was in order! Her nursery has an owl theme with mainly pink, purple, and green colors so we decided to incorporate those themes into the baby shower.

Here is a little owl cake that I made for her. 

It's a 3 layer cake (the layers are bright pink, purple, and green).

Because the room was so large, I focused the decorations on the food table and then hung some  banners from above. One of the banners had paper triangles and tied fabric while the other banner had little washcloths, onesies, and socks clothes-pined on.

 As always, I had to coordinate the food with the color scheme. I had some wonderful friends help me out with the green veggies and the purple owl cookies over milk.

And to top it off, my friend made some cute party favors for the guests... little chocolate owl nests in these cute boxes. (Look here for the recipe: http://partiescraftsandholidays.blogspot.com/2013/03/diy-easter-bird-nests.html)

It was a very fun evening with friends and a chance to celebrate a happy occasion! :)

Bed & Bath Themed Bridal Shower on a Budget

My friend is getting married this month, and I offered to throw her a bridal shower. She wanted to have a Bed & Bath themed bridal shower! Therefore, as the host, I asked guests to bring a present for her that she could put/use in her new bedroom or bathroom (gifts ranged from fancy candles to soft bath towels to lingerie). To incorporate the theme (and because I was on a budget!) I used decor from around my bedroom and bathroom. In the pictures you will see a bathroom basket (with soap, lotion, hand towel, etc.), vintage wooden hangers, a curtain, picture frames, candles, etc.

Her wedding colors are blush pink, champagne, and light grey so I tried to incorporate those colors into the decor and food. :) It was a low-cost, simple shower in a church building but it was a lot of fun!

DIY Fall Decor

Fall is so fun to decorate for. I'm not a huge fan of the scary Halloween decorations so I much prefer the autumn themed route. Below are just a few ideas for decorating. My main items: mini pumpkins, bottles/jars, and dried flowers/grasses...

...and of course fall décor is not complete without a pumpkin spice candle. I got the mini pumpkins from Costco of all places. They had a bag for $6 with all of the pumpkins in this post. Not bad considering that they are the only thing I bought for all this décor. The basket is deceiving... I put some cardboard padding on the bottom to prop my pumpkin up and covered the cardboard with some dark gray fabric.

 

I think it's kind of cute that my pumpkin doesn't fit all the way inside of my little vase. It mirrors the top-heavy flowers in a unique way and the bow dangling down the second half of the vase fills in the empty space. It is also nice to have a "floating" pumpkin when my other pumpkins are flat on the surface or nestled into something.

 

 I've left this little "Happy Fall" banner hanging up in the corner which I made for a little party we had. The colors are fall appropriate and the way the triangles are hanging in that downward slope remind me of jack-o'-
lantern smiles :)

 

Here I am making more use of my bottles and dried flowers/grasses. I prefer collecting dark colored bottles because you can hide things better. If you look closely you can see that my arrangement only goes into the bottle just past the neck of the bottle. At a glance you'd never be able to tell.

 

And last but not least, a simple piece with mini pumpkins and tissue paper in a little dish.

I hope I've given you a couple of simple, cheap ways to spice up a corner, table, mantle, or window sill with some easy DIY fall décor. Happy fall!

DIY Vintage Soap Jar

My mom wanted a little bathroom decoration so I decided to make a cute soap jar. It's simple! Just use different white and cream colored soaps. (We collected them from different stores and even from hotels we had stayed at.)

4th of July Food Ideas

The 4th of July is secretly my favorite holiday! I love summer time, the fireworks, and the food that come with the holiday :) Because my dad will be gone over the 4th on business, we did a mini early celebration. Below is some food that I made to help celebrate the holiday.

American Flag 7 Layer Bean Dip
Not seven layers but still. Refried beans, cheese, guacamole, sour cream, salsa, and olives. Quick and easy!

Americana Fruit Kebabs
I used a cookie cuter to cut out my watermelon stars and then just slid the blueberries, raspberries, and star onto the kebab. These took like five seconds to make and look really cute.

Patriotic Fruit Salad
If you can't tell, my family loves fruit. And the 4th is a great day to use pretty blueberries and different red fruit to show patriotism. I used a little watermelon scooper (don't even know the right name for it) to make little balls of watermelon that I mixed with blueberries. This made a cute, little appetizer.

 

Dinner: Classic BBQ
Below is what we had for dinner. It's was a simple, classic 4th of July dinner... high q
uality sausages instead of hot dogs, corn on the cob, homemade potato logs, tomatoes, and an Americana fruit kebab.

Dessert: American Flag Shortcake
For dessert, I cut the pound cake into squares, layered them with whipped cream, and used blueberries and strawberries to make an American Flag. It is also fun to let people make their own.

Breakfast: Red, White, and Blue French Toast
This was a yummy breakfast... Need I say more?...cinnamon bread French toast, whipped cream, red and blue berries, and syrup.

DIY Old Page Wall

My mom has wanted a wall of old pages for a while. (She got her inspiration from Marissa, a lady in our neighborhood.) So, I took on the project to cover our music room walls in old hymn book pages. My mom loves her music room now! The walls add so much character to the room and helps create an antique, magical feel.

My Process:

I took the old hymn books and cut the pages from their spines. To create a nice variety, the books varied in the coloration of its pages. As you can see, the colors differed from off-white to brownish-yellow.

After making stacks of pages, I started to staples these to the walls of my mom’s music room. (Side note: if you are thinking to put up an old page wall only temporarily, then think again. It would be hard to cover up all of the staple holes if you took down the pages.) I used regular paper staples and a regular stapler for the job. Just make sure that you have a stapler that can open so you can staple the pages to the wall.

Along the edges of the wall (wherever it met the ceiling, floor, corner, a window, etc.), I lined it with pages—overlapping them here and there for an un-patterned look. Then, I moved towards the center until I had covered the whole wall. It is important to make sure that you use the different covered pages in a random fashion so that not too many of the same color are together. In addition, I made sure to scatter where and which pages I overlapped for the scattered, random look.

There are different looks you can use when putting up old pages. I liked keeping the pages all standing up straight. This way, I kept it neat and tidy because pages weren’t tilted, but I was still able to create randomness with layering and coloring.