Hammer Time.

Where has the summer gone??  I know I've been MIA for quite awhile- lots of weddings and visits to get in while the weather's nice!  Couple that with a crazy work schedule the past few weeks, and like sands through the hourglass, so are the nonexistent DIY sessions of my life.  (Days of Our Lives reference, anyone?) 

Annnnyway, here's a quick little DIY to do with little ones (because they can), or by yourself (because you can).  Either way, it'll turn out pretty!

Ooh la la...it's art!!

I found this little gem of a summer DIY somewhere online, and thought I'd give it a go.  Of course I had a hammer, watercolor paper, and blue painter's tape hanging around- staples of a DIY'er, really.

Supplies.  Yeah, it's upside down.  Live with it.
If you can't tell that it's a pad of watercolor paper, you're blind.

Here's what you do:

Pick some fancy flowers and leaves.  Try to pick ones that aren't super thick and watery- they might just burst when you try to hammer them.  Or, pick exactly that, if you want to create a messy explosion of plant juices.  Your choice.

SPLAT.

Yeah, that was kind of a mess.

Arrange your flowers artfully on your watercolor paper.  It's important to use watercolor paper and not just any old regular printer paper- the watercolor texture and absorbency is what you need for this project.

Or, arrange your one flower artfully.
These dang petals tend to stick in a clump!

Next, cover your flowers with painter's tape.  Make sure to cover the perimeter of the flower securely for best results.

Tape it down now!

Then, hammer away!  If you want to take a few quick hits and then pull the tape up a bit to check your progress, feel free!  The painter's tape comes up  easily, so you can see if additional hammering is necessary.

Looking good!

Use some fun stamps and a ribbon, and you've got a pretty little door hanger!
Too cute, right?

After you've done all this, mail the hammer and supplies to your sister for her 5 year old's birthday.  She'll really love you for it.  Promise.

Finally! My Very Own Gallery Wall.

I spend a lot of time in my living room.  Especially this winter, with the crazy weather we've had...the couch, a quilt, and Netflix have become dear, dear friends of mine.  When I spend a lot of time in one room, my DIY wheels start turning and churning on what I can do to make it better.  Couple that with a trip to Europe and some fantastic art finds, and you're looking at a girl who wanted to create a super amazing gallery wall above her couch.

Yes siree bob, I caught the gallery wall bug.  For months, I've been typing in "gallery walls" into the Pinterest search box just to sigh and yearn over the beautiful walls pictured, hoping for one of my own.  You know what those sites don't tell you about gallery walls, though?  Unless you've got some serious DIY to do, they are E.X.P.E.N.S.I.V.E.  You really need a lot of art to occupy even a smallish wall if you want to have any type of dramatic impact.

You, dear readers, all know by this point that I'm going to create a gallery wall if I decide that I want one.  And I wanted one.  I won't make you read through my step by step process before showing you the finished product.  I'm too excited to wait.  Here it is!!!

BEFORE

AFTER!!!!!

WOW, right?  I'm so in love.  I keep standing in the doorway to the living room, just sighing with love.  If I could hug this wall, I would.  Yay!!

Ok, now for the deets.  Here's how I got this party started:

First, I gathered all of the art I was going to put on the wall.  Several pieces were ones I had just bought at a small antique book/map shop while in Amsterdam.  I had them framed, knowing they would be hung together on my living room wall.  I decided not to frame them in the same frames, as I wanted a look that said, "I've been gathered lovingly over time".  So, I chose frames and mats that complimented each other without matching each other.  

Once I got these home, I began the hunt for other pieces to include on the wall.  I pilfered a piece from the dining room, and replaced it with a new piece of art that deserved its own spot not on the gallery wall.  I also printed off a few snapshots from our travels to Napa Valley and South Korea, and chose one that complimented the rest of the art once it was all grouped together.  I had a plain wooden frame in the basement that got a quick coat of gold paint, and it was ready to go.

Painted gold with charcoal grey underneath.
Pretty much the same process that I did for my travel boxes.

At this point, I only had 6 pieces- I still needed more art.  Off to JoAnn's I went.  Not to buy ready-art, but to buy some canvasses.  All canvasses were already 50% off, and coupled with my 20% off the total coupon, AND the $20 discount I asked for because one canvas was slightly frayed on the edge- I got three deep mount canvasses for less than $20.  The 2'X3' canvas alone was $60 full price!  I don't play when it comes to craft discounts- that's serious business.

Never hurts to ask for a discount!  The most they'll do is say no!

Now, OF COURSE I already had acrylic paints at home- what DIY'er doesn't?  Using a few online pieces as inspiration, I got to work.  At this point, I am willing to straight up admit that I did not just dream up these pieces of art.  I'm creative, but sometimes starting a whole art piece from scratch is too tedious, even for me. There's sketches that have to be done, mock-ups, etc.  I just don't have time for that.  I was on a gallery wall mission. So, I used my inspiration pieces, my paints, and got to work on those canvasses.

Layers...

And layers...

And layers.  Here's where I put down the camera and really got to work.
No more pictures til the finished product.

Sorry, no step by step DIY instructions for this.  If you want some, go to a Painting with a Twist or Paint Party event. They'll let you sip wine and paint a canvas in the adult version of paint by numbers.  This isn't that:)

While my canvasses were in the process of being painted, I began to lay out my frames to see where I wanted them to be hung.  Before doing this, I measured the wall space that they would fill.  Several sites told me that nothing should be hung less than 10" from the top of the couch, so that was my starting point.

In order to keep my frames out of harm's/feets way, I used what little floor space I had in the guest room to lay out my pattern.  I used a few stand-ins for my big canvas, and began moving things around.  It probably took me two hours of moving pieces, walking away, coming back into the room with fresh eyes, moving things around again, etc, before I got everything where I thought I wanted it. 

Now, I needed a way to transfer this jigsaw puzzle of frames onto the wall.  I took a shower curtain and put it under the frames (with some cutting and taping to adjust it to the right gallery wall size).

Frames with a few stand-ins for sizing.

Next, I took a black marker, and traced the outline of each piece onto the plastic, and then hung the plastic on the wall with painters tape.

Be CAREFUL...don't get that marker on the frames!!
If you're wondering, this piece is a child's textbook map insert from Holland.
 It shows, in small picture form, the natural resources of the country:)

Using the black outlines as a guide, I was then able to make nailholes in the appropriate spots in order to hang each piece with minimal fuss.  Even with this step, I still ended up making one or two small changes once everything was up on the wall.  The plastic and outline tarp definitely made things MUCH easier, though.

Can you (barely) see those outlines?

So, here's my wall again.  Isn't it lovely??  I just can't stop staring at it.

Margot is becoming quite the little camera diva.

Sending a special shoutout to my "took five minutes to paint this" canvas of the Detroit skyline!

All of this art were less than $100 total.  The framing I didn't DIY?
Shh...we won't talk about that, alright?  My love for oddly sized pieces apparently knows no bounds.

A little lamp light romantic glow for you...I'm going to go blind from reading in this room in low light!

This is becoming a bad habit to leave you with a picture of Margot, but I'm going to do it anyway...she's my fur baby and I love her!  While she may appear to be giving you, dear readers, a disapproving look, she's actually beaming inside with pride for having had her picture taken in front of such a pretty gallery wall.  Seriously.

Yep, that's a piece of rawhide stuck on her nose.  Not classy, Margot, not classy.

Valentine's Day for a Dollar!

I'm not a big fan of Valentine's Day.  Never have been.  Here's what I compare it to:  Have you ever seen a movie trailer that looks spectacular, so much so that you ABSOLUTELY CANNOT WAIT to see it?  You read the articles about it, you watch the online clips, you bug your friends to go with you opening night.  The anticipation is palpable.  Then, the moment happens.  You sit back, ready to soak in the best movie you've ever seen, and...Hmph.  It falls flat.  It wasn't bad, there wasn't really anything to complain about, but it just wasn't what you'd built up in your mind. 

That's the way I feel about Valentine's Day (and romantic movies- aren't they the best/worst?!).  I'm not bitter, and it's not for a lack of a loving partner.  I have a perfectly wonderful husband who loves to take me out to dinner, puts the toilet seat down without ever being asked, and likes to do laundry.  Now THAT'S romance.  Plus, we've got an anniversary that rolls around every year that isn't being celebrated at the same time as every other googly-eyed couple in America.  I'd rather be wined and dined then.  In addition to that, reds and pinks are my least favorite colors.  Pretty sure that alone is reason enough to forgo the holiday.

But then....kiddos that you love start to get older that get excited for holidays.  Therefore, it becomes fun to do something for Valentine's Day again.  Behold, this year's Valentine's DIY Project that can be done for a DOLLAR and a half hour of your time- The Loooooooove Picture Puzzle:

My two favorite kids!

I actually pinned this project from another blogger, and I'd hate to take full credit for someone else's project, so please visit her site (and much prettier pictures) here.  She made little fabric drawstring bags to go along with this project, but if you don't sew, want to be cheap, and want to take very little time to make a thoughtful gift, stick with me.  We're going no frills here.

Supply List:
Popsicle Sticks (package of 100 from the Dollar Store!)
Inkjet or Toner Printer
Modge Podge or other craft glue
Small paintbrush
Sharp knife or craft knifeblade
Ziplock bag
Red Sharpie

Most people probably have the majority of these supplies in their house, which is why this is the dollar project- the only thing I needed was popsicle sticks!

First things first:  Find and print pictures that you'd like to make into puzzles.  Print them on regular printer paper on your home printer.  Make sure the pictures are slightly smaller than the width of your popsicle sticks.  My popsicle sticks were just over 4 inches, so I made sure my pictures were only 4 inches when I printed them out.

This is going to be fun.

Side note- I printed in B/W because my printer doesn't have color.  You can do color if you'd like.

After printing, paint the back of your picture with Modge Podge.  Arrange popsicle sticks on the picture, leaving a tiny gap between each stick.  Let them dry.

So easy, a 5 year old could do it.  Seriously.  We're not breaking the bank on
dexterity capabilities here.

When they're dry, write out a nice little message to your gift recipient on the back of the sticks.  Then, use your knife to score a line between each stick to separate them.

Anybody ever visit the Human Body exhibit that traveled around the country?
I feel like the body they sliced into hundreds of pieces and stretched out for 30 feet.

Once separated, coat each individual stick with another coat of Modge Podge.

Got smart for this round.  Glue sticks to paper towels.  Duh.

While you're waiting for that to dry, get your ziplock bag and your red Sharpie, and decorate the bag.

When everything's dry, pop the sticks into the bags, and send to your favorite Valentine.

Happy Valentine's Day, kids!

Quick, cheap, and easy!  And your littlest Valentines will love you for it!  (And then probably use the popsicle sticks to stab each other.  Ehh, that's their mom's problem;)

Boxes O' Fun.

After Dave and I take trips, I like to create photo books with some of our best pictures.  For our bigger trips, I try to document each day's excursions, knowing that 5 years from now (heck, 5 weeks from now), I won't remember some of the great details of our day to day experiences.  Those descriptions get added in to the photo books, as well.  Snapfish, Shutterfly, Costco, Apple's iphoto...it doesn't matter which one you use- they all offer page options in your photo books for straight up full page text (diary style).  

The Adirondacks, Alaska, Amsterdam.  We are moving our way through the A's, apparently.
Next up, Azerbaijan?

While I love my photo books, I am left after every trip with a variety of postcards, plane tickets, event ticket stubs, receipts, and small trinkets that I want to keep, but don't necessarily want to display on a day to day basis.  Please don't tell me to scrapbook it.  I may do a lot of crafty things, but scrapbooking is NOT one of them.  I feel like scrapbooking is one of those things where you're either all in, or all out.  You can't half-ass a scrapbook, and the doodads and embellishments needed to really make it work can start to add up...CHA-CHING!

I saw a few interesting things on Pinterest that seemed like potential projects to solve my travel paraphernalia dilemma.  This, for example, was kind of neat, but it's not something that goes with the decor of my house.  Dave took one look at it while glancing at my computer screen, and scoffed at it.  

Fancy idea, just not my style.

On to the next idea:

Gotta give credit where it's due.  This one came from my girl Martha.

This one, I thought, was do-able and practical.  All I needed was some paint and wooden boxes.  JoAnn's, Michael's, and Hobby Lobby all have similar boxes to this,  so take your pick of where you'll go.  

I bought gold, brown, and dark grey paint.  I wasn't sure which of the dark colors I might use...
at a dollar a pop, they'll get used at some point!

First things first:  I unscrewed the latches on the boxes- they weren't going to work for this project.  I could have bought similar boxes without latches, but they would have been almost triple the price.  

The hardest part?  Hunting down that super small phillips head screwdriver...grr.

After taking off the latches, I filled the holes with some wood glue, waited for it to dry, and sanded.  I did this process twice.  Because the holes are so small, it only takes a few minutes for the glue to set, so this is a quick step.  You could also use wood filler, but mine had dried out- time to buy a new pot!

Fill 'er up.

Next, I took some charcoal grey paint, watered it down til it was the consistency of heavy cream, and did a dark wash on the boxes, both inside and out.

Remember- when a bit of water is added, the paint wash will dry in a lighter shade than it looks when wet.

As the dark wash dried and the clock tick tock tick tocked, I probably did something fun like washed the dishes or changed the oil in my car.  

Ding!  Drying is done!  See that super clever thing I did there?  Pushpins in the bottom to keep the box off of the table- makes it dry all the way around without drip puddles forming on the bottom.  SO SMART.

For the next step, I watered down my gold paint (slightly thicker than heavy cream this time), and painted just the outside of the box.  I let each box sit for a minute before using a few scrunched up paper towels to slightly wipe off the gold, allowing the dark grey to show through- I was going for a distressed, old gold, not really gold but kind of, you can still tell it's wood, but not stained wood, kind of look.  Did I succeed?

That's really neat.

After the boxes were completely dry, it was time to do some lettering.  I had an alphabet stencil, but decided against using it- I just didn't like the font enough.  I found a few ideas on how to transfer lettering, and decided to try one out.  

I printed my lettering backwards on a sheet of paper and placed it on my box.  I then wet down the paper, and used the cap of a marker to rub the backside of the letters, hoping to transfer the ink off of the paper and onto the wood.

I don't remember what font this is, or I'd share it with you.  Sorry.

No dice.  I read back through the instructions, and noticed that the website stipulated that I use an inkjet printer.  Damn it...I have a printer that uses toner.  Across the street neighbor Kristin to the rescue!  (Yes, we recycle names on our block- it's just too much trouble to learn new names.).  Kristin printed off my backwards letters on her inkjet printer, and I repeated the same process.

Not trying to pull a Rodman here.  Just visited south of the border.

This time, partial success.  I could see the lettering, but it wasn't very dark.  Ugh.  Looked like my "easy" project was acquiring additional steps.

The lettering was only visible in bright light.
The boxes are being put on a shelf with low lighting in front of it.  No dice.

Next, I tried to just trace my faint letters with a paint marker.  Utter failure.  I didn't even take a picture of this step- it was that horrible.  I do NOT have a steady hand, and my letters looked like a kindergartener did them.  I slightly sanded out the trace job, and wiped some new gold paint across my mess.  Good as new to start again.

I didn't want to give up on the font lettering I had printed out- I liked it too much to give in and use the stencil.  For my next try, I printed off my letters on heavy cardstock, and took the time to use a sharp knife to make my own stencil.  Yeah, this was starting to border on madness, wasn't it?  I used a foam brush to slightly tap some paint onto the box using my handmade stencil.  Success!!  (Mostly, anyway).

Oh man,  I should have dusted the shelf before taking a picture.  Yikes.
I'm not going back and photoshopping that out, though.  We keep it real at The Regular House.
And regular houses have dusty shelves.  Live with it.

It's not super crisp, but the more I look at the slightly wobbly lettering, the more I like it.  Gives it character (at least, that's what I'm telling myself).

While waiting for the lettering to dry, I found one more way of transferring this lettering that I thought I'd give a shot.  I glued a piece of wax paper to a regular piece of printer paper (waxy side out), and ran that through the printer.  Then, I used the cap of a marker to rub this onto the box, hoping the ink would transfer off of the slippery wax paper and onto the box.  No dice.  The entire internet lies.  This does not work.  Don't let anyone tell you it does.  Again, I didn't even bother taking a picture.  Just know that it failed.

So, there you go.  Some failures, and a "pretty good" success.  Now to fill my travel boxes with my leftover paper scraps so they're off of the dining room table.  Project complete, and the house has less mess.  Everyone wins.

Next up, it's a whole new shelf redo.  I mean, I can't leave the shelves untouched when they've got shiny new travel boxes sitting on them, right?  Right???

Wine Corks, Chalk Boards and Publisher, Oh My!

Last weekend, my dear friend Ally got married.  Before the wedding, we had several crafting sessions to DIY some wedding pieces.  Let's take a look:

Months ago, Ally gave me a handkerchief that had belonged to her grandmother.  She wanted to use it as her "something old, and something blue", but knew that she'd probably cry at the wedding and need a lot more than this delicate fabric could handle.  She asked me to sew some soft fabric to the back to help sop up her impending tears of joy.  I bought a small piece of white knit (t-shirt like) fabric, but before sewing, needed to clean the handkerchief- it was slightly yellow with age.  

I looked up a few methods online, and ultimately settled on using a small bit of Dawn dishsoap to soak it in for a little while.  It did the trick- the fabric was gleaming white again.  To sew the handkerchief, I just cut the knit fabric the same size as the handkerchief, and pinned the two together (inside out).  I did pin a layer of tissue paper under the knit while sewing to help keep it stable and not allow it to stretch.  It definitely helped!!  After sewing it inside out, I flipped it right side out and sewed a tiny seam along the outside edge to keep it pressed flat.  

Another craft we did during our marathon crafting session was to create the seating card holders.  Ally had saved the corks from many of the bottles of wine she and her husband-to-be, Ryan, had consumed, and she was Pinterest-inspired to use them for the wedding.  We started out by boiling water, dumping the corks in, and letting them sit for a few minutes.  This allowed us to use a sharp knife to cut the corks in half without them crumbling.  We then waited for them to dry out a bit, and dipped them halfway into some purple RIT dye.  Ally wanted a more organic feel to the corks, so we didn't try to be neat and even with our dipping...some dye ran in rivulets down the sides of the corks, and it made them look even nicer.   After letting that dry, we used a sharp knife to cut a slit in the corks, slid in a paperclip, and PRESTO!  Pretty place card holders!  Note to self:  Use gloves next time.  Purple RIT dye does not make for beautiful hands.

The names and table numbers were printed on table cards from Michaels, and the gems were meal indicators.  

Ally also bought a number of cheap frames from Ikea, and we turned those into chalkboards.  We spray painted the cardboard from the backs of the frames, and used that as our base for chalk sayings.  

Yes, I know this sounds weird- the HAVE is missing from this photo.

Ally had previously printed off the lettering she wanted to use, and we played around arranging where the words would go.  Next, I took the lettering, flipped it over, and traced the backwards letters with regular white chalk.  We repositioned the words face up on the chalk board and rubbed over the pieces of paper, leaving the chalk residue right side out in order to trace over it with a chalk pen.

Can you see the light chalk outline she's drawing over?

After this, the board was done and ready for the wedding site!!

Beautiful, no?

Ally also did some great DIY projects on her own.  She is a whiz with Microsoft Publisher, and used it to make these great things:

Hotel door hangers!

After making these, Ally used a circle punch to cut the door knob holes.  The thickness of the paper left some jagged and feathery edges on the circle, though, so we recut them using a Fiskars adjustable circle cutter.  It has a sharp blade on it that cut through the thick paper much more nicely.  

Ally also made the table menu cards that were part of the centerpieces.  The cards were printed on pearlized 8.5x11 sized paper, and then cut using an office paper cutter which we did NOT take home over the weekend from someone's place of employment.  Ahem.

The vase that the card is sitting in were from CB2...great find!!

Publisher was also used to create these cute "tickets" for the photo booth.  They were placed at everyone's seats, and ensured that some very memorable photos were taken!

Dear work, please do not recognize your paper cutter.  

It is grossly apparent by the bottom right photo that I have no idea what sexy is by the face given when Jenny shouts, "Make a sexy face!!".

Our second crafting session had us working on a few things.  We took a large frame (again, from IKEA), drilled holes in it, attached hook screws, and ran wire through the screws.  The purpose of this frame was to hang cards with all the wedding guests' names on it.  Upon entering the reception, guests were asked to place their cards in one of two glass jars.  Each name in the jars represented a monetary amount that Ally and Ryan would donate to the charities of their choice.  What a nice idea!!

Girls using power tools, yeah!

Mini clips and names.  Ready for a charity competition!

Ryan's charity:  Global Volunteers: Tanzania Program

Ally's charity: The Crohns and Colitis Foundation of America

Next up: letters!!  Ally bought these block letters at one of the local craft stores, and we painted them with a hammered silver spray paint.  I then took a skinny piece of wood, painted it white, and glued it to the back of the letters to help them stand up on the table.  Ally had a pillow made that she set at the bride and groom table, as well.  The vase painted with the white ampersand held the bridal bouquet after the ceremony.  I think it's a good sign that I never got a picture of it- too busy dancing and having actual fun!!

Weddings are such fun, aren't they?  As much as I love the crafty prep that goes into them, I'm even more of a sucker for the wedding itself.  The googly eyes, the hand holding, the WEDDING NIGHT...and I'm not even talking about the bride and groom (insert rim shot here.)  It's probably best I end here before making any more inappropriate jokes.

Wishing you both a lifetime of love and happiness together!!

xoxo, everyone.