Monthly Archives: April 2011

Word Whipped Giveaway!

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This giveaway is now closed.
We are excited to have a wonderful giveaway today! Word Whipped is a fabulous etsy shop full of solid wood, hand painted and vinyl typography signs! You can find everything from classic subway art, to family rules signs, “keep calm” signs, and they even make CUSTOM signs! The gal making these signs is Holly – a stay at home mom with a passion for WORDS!

 
Lucky for you, Holly is offering not one, but 
TWO(2!) $30 gift certificates 
to ANYTHING in her shop to two lucky DIY Show Off readers!!! You’ll want to tell your friends about this one.

Here are just a few of the signs to choose from at Word Whipped:



Here’s how to Enter: Leave a comment for each of the following!
FIRST ENTRY (mandatory) – First visit her shop and leave a comment letting me know which sign is your favorite!
  
SECOND ENTRY– Visit her Facebook page and become a fan, don’t forget to say Hello and let her know where you’re from!
THIRD ENTRY– Facebook, Tweet, Blog about the giveaway.
Giveaway starts Wed., 4/27 and ends Monday, 5/2 at midnight EST.  Winner will be drawn randomly and announced shortly after.  Winning comment must be an entry as listed above.  Please remember to include your email address in your entry if you cannot be reached via your blog. Open to US residents only.

If you’re reading in your reader or email…click WORD WHIPPED GIVEAWAY to enter!

Coming soon – in order to fix the feed, the DIY Show Off will soon have a new look. Unsuccessful attempts have pushed me to switch to my own domain. Thanks for your patience and sticking with it while I work out the bugs. 🙂

DIY with Blue Velvet Chair

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I’m a big fan of Roeshel and her work over here at The DIY Showoff – and I regularly crash her link parties – so I’m thrilled to be visiting as a guest blogger today and showcasing my latest before/after DIY project. My name is Mike, short for Michael, and I love to recycle, repurpose, and relove.

A few weeks ago I posted a Sneak Peek of several junk pieces treasures that I had picked up over the weekend – with plans swirling around in my head. I’ve since used the hubcaps to start my outside Happy Hubcap Wall Garden, the old planks of wood are waiting patiently to see what new life I have in store for them, and I finally finished a DIY refurbish for the funky little chandelier of my dreams.

We moved into our “1970s and I need a total renovation to bring me into this century” house nearly 3 years ago – and our first attempt at a dining room light was simply to use the small pink glass chandelier that came with the house. It just didn’t fit the space, so that little cutie was moved to my daughter’s room and you’ll get peek at that in a future showoff of her redesigned little space. Then, I picked up a “I need a lot of work” 12-armed brass lamp fixture with “great potential” at the thrift store…which then hung in our dining room for the past 2 years…untouched and without lamp shades. When my hubby started to express his concern that our 12-armed lamp was not environmentally friendly (bless the Swedes for their green living), I officially started the hunt for the ideal lamp to hang over our family meals and fill the central hub of our home with light. That’s when I stumbled across my funky little glass bauble diva online and was hoping-hoping-hoping that it hadn’t been sold yet. Thank you Lady Luck!

So, here she is in all her before and after glory.  I call her Lulu (and I hope that I’m not the only one that names my projects).

Look at how a little paint and TLC helps her shine!

If you would like to see the full deconstruct-reconstruct for Lulu, hop on over to my place at Blue Velvet Chair for more images that document a new life for this little diva.

Hope to see you soon!
Michael
Blue Velvet Chair

Coming soon – in order to fix the feed, the DIY Show Off will soon have a new look. Unsuccessful attempts have pushed me to switch to my own domain. Thanks for your patience and sticking with it while I work out the bugs. 🙂

Additional Kitchen Workspace?

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I’m painting the kitchen this week! More on that soon but we’re also ready to think about our kitchen island.  Our kitchen doesn’t currently have one, but there’s enough room and I can seem myself sitting in there talking to Mr. DIY while he cooks dinner, listening to the details of his day.  He’d also like to have a kitchen work table to provide more workspace and storage.  My morning multi-tasking of eating breakfast and checking emails would certainly be more easily balanced at a kitchen island than in the living room on the love seat.  Ever try to eat with one hand, hold a steady hot cup of tea with one hand, click and type with one or two hands and play mug guard with one hand (safe from kitten jumps)?  Wait, how many hands is that?  I’ve mastered the multi-tasking with only 2 hands but sitting in the kitchen where the sun comes in through the French doors would be more motivating not to mention, easier.
Being DIY’ers, building our own is an option although we’ve never built anything ‘substantial’ in the way of furniture yet but buying might be a option. Here is my favorite kitchen island inspiration. I’d love to build it ourselves using reclaimed wood. 
Looking at ‘inspiration’ and ‘window shopping’ is dangerous! How many kitchen carts are too many? (Looking around at the foot stool/ottoman/bench addiction…no such thing AFD (accent furniture disorder), right?)
This kitchen island is a perfect match for our dining room chairs…
Hillsdale Wilshire Kitchen Island with 2 Stools in Antique White
How cute is this one for a small kitchen?
Home Styles Woodbridge Two Tier Kitchen Island and Stools Set in White and Oak

While looking for inspiration, I came across this kitchen cart which would be awesome on the patio for beside Mr. DIY’s Big Green Egg (his other love of his life).  Pretty and functional! Great Father’s Day gift idea. 🙂

John Boos Cucina Culinarte Butcher Block Kitchen Island Cart
Do you have a kitchen island? Is it a huge built-in permanent fixture or a movable cart?  Do you love having an open floor space or are you happy with the extra work space and the seating that an island provides? Inquiring minds (of two specific DIY kitchen renovators) want to know! 🙂 
Coming soon – in order to fix the feed, the DIY Show Off will soon have a new look. Unsuccessful attempts have pushed me to switch to my own domain. Thanks for your patience and sticking with it while I work out the bugs. 🙂