Bathroom on a Budget

Hello and happy new year! I made it through the holidays without losing my mind- hooray! Our holiday this year involved hosting in-laws for Christmas Eve dinner and then traveling (with dogs) to visit the other two sets of in-laws for about a week! It was crazy- as always- but so much fun! Before we left and before our company came to stay with us, I was determined to make a few updates to the boring guest bathroom upstairs- without spending a lot of money. Here is what it looked like before: 

Just a lot of blah and white. So I figured I could make a few changes (quickly) before our guests arrived. 

Step 1: I painted the walls with some leftover paint we had- the blue-gray color that we had originally painted our dining room. Cost= $0

Step 2: Updated the artwork using the existing frames. To do this, I googled "black and white bird picture" and "black and white tree picture", found pictures I liked, and printed them on regular printer paper. I spray painted the mats black, ripped open the back of the existing frames, and added the new photos- so simple! Cost= $0

Step 3: Paint the storage cabinet above the toilet. I had originally taken it down but realized that we truly need all the storage space we can get in this room!! It is tiny! I used leftover spray paint for this project. Cost= $0

Step 4: Frame the mirror. I used molding pieces found at Lowe's to create the frame. It makes such a huge difference! This project cost ~$35 and was the most expensive thing I did in this room. 

Here are the after pictures:

We would eventually like to replace the countertop and the floor (see below):

But these changes will do for now!! Thanks for reading! 

Vase Update

I bought this big vase a few years ago and it's been hanging around ever since. I haven't loved it... until now. Well... I may have loved it when I bought it but I think I just loved the price- it was $8.99! It just didn't have much personality until now. I bought it at Old Time Pottery-- I am so sad that we don't have one of these in town. I can only go when I go home to visit my family! That may actually be a good thing now that I think about it. 

Here is the before and after:

I spray painted it with flat black spray paint first:

Next, I sprayed some Krylon Looking Glass spray paint onto a Tupperware lid (fancy, right?) and mixed in a little metallic silver spray paint with it. 

I used a q-tip to paint each diamond with the silver mixture.

 Then I let it dry! That was all- quick and easy. And now I love this piece much much more! It has currently found a home on our bathroom shelves:

:)

DIY $4 (plus tax) Christmas Mantel Decor

I am so excited about this little project for three main reasons:

1. It took about an hour altogether- that is my kind of project. I can start and finish without losing motivation... which may or may not be the reason our staircase still looks the same as the last time I posted about it! 

2. It only cost me $4 plus tax- doesn't get much cheaper than that for a DIY project! Keep in mind, a few of the things I used were items I already had on hand. But I also think they are things that most people have on hand- I mean most people have an entire cabinet full of paint and spray paint, right??

3. Lastly, I think it's pretty :) and that is a good enough reason to love it!

Supplies Needed:

-4 picture frames

-spray paint in a color of choice

-long piece of scrap wood or other base material 

-computer with printer 

-tea bag 

-hot glue gun

A few weekends ago, I was shopping with my wonderful mother in law. We were in TJ Maxx while the staff members were putting out all of the Christmas decorations. I honestly felt like we should've waited a little while in order to get a first peek at all the goodies. They were rolling things out by the cart- I'm sure we missed some good pieces! Anyway, sometimes when I am shopping I have a hard time buying things due to the simple fact that I feel like I can make it myself. Now, don't get me wrong, at times I can be a little over-confident. Other times, however, it works in my favor! Here is the inspiration piece for this project:

Four picture frames mounted on a piece of wood. With framed letters printed on burlap. I mean, how hard could that be to replicate?! I've already printed on burlap for a project in the past. And painting frames? Easy! 

In the end, mine looks a lot different than the inspiration piece- and I'm okay with that. That's why I'm calling it the inspiration piece. It inspired me to create my very own version. I chose not to use burlap because in the end, I was going to have to waste a lot more burlap than I was going to use. In order to have enough space to cut out each letter to fit in the frame, I would basically have to print one letter on each page. Meaning I would have to cut four 8.5x11" pieces of burlap (the size of a sheet of printer paper). That just seemed wasteful. An alternative option would be to write your own letters on burlap with a Sharpie/paint. I decided to try it on regular paper first because there wasn't much to lose. I also chose frames that were a little less detailed. The only reason for this is the limited choices at the Dollar Tree! Here are the steps I followed to create this masterpiece:

1. Go to the Dollar Tree and pick out four small frames. You could choose larger frames as well, just remember the amount of clearance space needed if you have your TV mounted above the fireplace like we do. I had planned on spraying my frames with a metallic spray paint but I found some that were already painted!!! Bonus!!! 

2. Find a piece of scrap wood or other suitable material to use as the base for the project. Cut it to the length you need. Spray paint it the desired color and let it dry while you complete the remaining steps! Side note: if you use garland on your mantel, you don't necessarily need to do this step because the garland would most likely be covering the base! Just make sure your frames are pretty :) 

3. Get on your computer. Open a Microsoft Word document and type the following letters: N-O-E-L. Are you still with me?! You could also spell anything you'd like at this stage.Type one letter per page. Center the letter in the middle of the page in order to allow room for cutting. Choose a font that you like. Choose a size that looks like it will fit in the frame you chose. Keep in mind, sometimes what is on the computer screen prints a little larger than it appears. I chose the font "Edwardian Script" and the size was 160 pt. And it only took me two tries to get the size right!  

4. Press print. 

5. Lay the awkward family photo that comes in the frame on top of your letter. I chose to hold it up to the light at this point to ensure that I was centering the letter. Once centered, trace the outline of the template onto your computer paper. 

6. After tracing each template, cut out the letters. 

**The following steps are optional. I wanted my letters to look old and have some texture. 

7. Wrinkle up each letter individually. 

8. Put a tea bag into a small pot of boiling water (just enough to cover the bag). Let it boil for 3-4 minutes. While it is boiling, lay a few paper towels onto a cookie sheet and place the letter sheets on top. 

9. Take the tea bag out of the boiling water and let it cool enough that you can handle it. 

10. Once it cools, use the tea bag to "paint" the sheets of paper. I tried to avoid dragging it across the letters just in case the ink decided to bleed. I used more of a "blotting" method. 

11. Let the tea sit for a few minutes on the paper and then blot off the excess with a paper towel. I tried to get mine looking a little uneven- it gives it some character! 

12. Try to be patient while the sheets of paper dry. I put mine on a drying rack- like you use for baking- and it seemed to really speed up the process!

13. Go get the base that you spray painted along with your hot glue gun. 

14. Put the letter sheets in the frames once they are dry!

15. Hot glue the frames to your base. At this point you can be creative. You can overlap them, you can vary the heights of the frames (see inspiration photo). I chose to keep mine all in a line. 

                       (Top view) 

What do you think?? So easy and so cheap!!!! Not to mention that the possibilities are endless! 

I can't wait to put it on the mantel with the rest of our Christmas decor! I think it will look great with our burlap stockings :)

Update- here it is along with some of our other Christmas decorations:

(Just ignore that white cord to the left... it will be disappearing soon!)

 

Staircase Makeover Part 2

One more weekend down and here is how our staircase has progressed:

(If you want to see Part 1 of our staircase makeover, go here)

We had to sand all of that white overspray off of the stair treads. That was not an easy task. I ended up having to buy an additional sander (a detail sander) so that I could get in those cracks and corners. I sanded the steps as much as I could with my regular sander and here is how they looked:

See the white paint still on the edges? Now you see it, now you don't: (thanks detail sander!)

So after all of that sanding, we vacuumed each step. I used a tack cloth to wipe off all of the dust and then I got to staining!! I couldn't wait for this part but I really wanted to make sure I did a thorough job with the prep work. I used Minwax stain in Red Oak to match our current flooring downstairs. 

The next step was adding a second coat of stain. 

The bottom step in the picture above doesn't have the second coat yet- big difference, right?!

Next steps:

-Adding polyurethane to the steps. I'm thinking this will take at least two to three coats. 

-Painting the risers and trim along the side of the steps with a fresh coat of white! 

Just a reminder, here is how the steps looked before:

And now:

What do you think so far?!! I'm so excited to see the end result!!! 

PS- I will also be painting the hand rail white. It looks so out of place now!