Meet: Anu from Nalle’s House.
Anu is sharing a few links to a two part DIY modern art project she created for her living room today.
Part 1: DIY framed merrimeko art
Part 2: DIY Number Art
These projects were super simple and the black and white make a big impact in her lovely living rooms…
What’s on display in your living room?
There is a lot more DIY to see over at Nalle’s House. Go ahead, stop by and check out all of her DIY projects and home tour.
It’s March! And that means spring is right around the corner I hope. Even though I’m looking at snow flurries, a little spring decorating is in order. I’m impatiently waiting and well, why not prepare to welcome spring when it arrives? A new DIY spring sign always gets motivated to decorate and a catchy spring phrase reminds me it’s almost time to celebrate warmer weather and longer days!
Spring Flight
-Eileen Granfors
For this project, I gathered
Since I had messed up the canvas with a previous DIY fail (yes, it happens!), I gave it a coat of soft blue acrylic paint to cover up my error to create a blank slate. The texture of the failed project shows through a bit, but imperfection is charm and a little texture isn’t such a bad thing. 
I created my spring stencil using the Silhouette Studio Designer Edition software which allows me to select fonts, sizes and shapes to create a stencil template. Then simply ‘send’ to cut…
Since I’m using my vinyl as a stencil, I removed all of the letters (these can also be saved to use in the same was as stickers or transferred directly to wood or glass as a vinyl transfer).
Use transfer paper over top of the stencil to transfer the vinyl stencil to the canvas. Rub into place and peel away the transfer paper.
It’s not quite that simple. Vinyl doesn’t stick so well to canvas, so it takes a lot of patience. Go slow.
The stencil is all ready to go.
I filled in my lettering with white acrylic craft paint. Since the vinyl does not have a great seal, I’m using my stencil as a guide and filling in the letters with a little bit of paint on the brush, pressing down the vinyl as I work on each individual letter. Slopping it on, will get under the vinyl.
Next, I carefully removed the vinyl stencil as soon as I finished painting and let my canvas dry.
Then just collected some of my favorite spring-y decor and created a vignette around my DIY spring sign as a focal point. Good bye winter blues!
Hello spring!
Silhouette America is running a crazy spring special you won’t want to miss! Just use the code “SHOWOFF” at checkout {affiliate link} now through March 8th to take advantage of the discount prices.
I’m ready for spring, all ready! How about you? Open up those drapes, let the light in and decorate!
Looking for more spring ideas?
Joining the Easter Crafts & Spring Link Party at HoneyBearLane.
The Countdown to Spring party is underway.
and being hosted by MaryAnn from Domestically Speaking this week with her gorgeous spring-inspiring mantel. Here’s a sneak peek…
Check it out!
DIY Chevron Reindeer Games Sign
It’s officially time for Christmas decorating in our home! I know! By blogging standards, I’m late to the game. With a family room makeover in progress, it’s at a point where plans for completion can be put on hold until after the holidays and I can still decorate that room to be pretty once I put away the ladder and some tools. I really loved the chevron garden sign I made for summer {here}. I decided I wanted to create a fun colorful Christmas sign incorporating some of the fun colors in the fabric I chose for the curtains.
Remember the tabletop I replaced on the kitchen bar for the apartment? {If not, you can see my post on my DIY wood plank kitchen bar top.} Time to recycle it! I knew it’d be a great material for a DIY sign one of these days. Tabletop to holiday decoration. Why not? To prep for making a sign, I scuffed up the finish with sandpaper and gave it a coat of left over teal paint and let it dry. I’ll call it my “canvas”.
This is what the top looked like before:
Tips for creating a chevron pattern using FrogTape:
It’s hard to explain how to create a chevron pattern words/pictures {next time I’ll do a video} but some tips:
My first row is measured. 5″ strips of FrogTape.
Depending on how it would line up, I creased the edges of the tape (non-sticky side) to create a line for cutting.
Cut on fold.
I placed the angled side on my center pencil line and cut the bottom flush with the bottom of the canvas and smoothed it into place.
I drew vertical lines with my pencil from the peaks and “v’s” of my first chevron row.
Once my first line was in place, I used a piece of FrogTape for spacing, I worked from the center out by placing another longer piece of tape angled from the center pencil line down to the right pencil line.
Then I pulled up a corner and folded it on the pencil line so I would know where to cut. Most of the time, the pencil transferred to the sticky side of the tape, creating a cutting guide.
I repeated those steps until I reached the top and finished.
I used pink and white craft paint to add more color.
My plan was to paint the blue area showing green and peel away the FrogTape, but I decided to keep the FrogTape in place. {Paint colors: Benjamin Moore Pacific, DecoArt Pretty in Pink “Hope Pink” and Americana Warm White, Green is FrogTape}
Using my Silhouette Cameo, I chose a reindeer from the online store and my Cameo cut it out {brown vinyl}. I created my letters for “Reindeer Games December 25th” using the software and chose the premium dark red vinyl and LDI Fancy Font. I peeled away the negative vinyl (the parts that are not the design) and applied my transfer paper. I made sure the transfer paper was secure by rubbing with a credit card.
Peel away the backing {the vinyl is transferred to the tacky transfer paper} and place on canvas. Rub the design with a credit card to get it to stick and peel away the transfer paper. In my case, all of the design wasn’t transferring, so I had to be careful and some of my reindeer was applied just as I would a sticker.
I followed the same steps for my lettering, however, knowing that the transfer paper was tricky for my project, I chose to use Delicate Surface FrogTape (the yellow tape) to help transfer my letters. This worked a little easier than applying by hand like stickers and kept my lettering evenly spaced and level.
I haven’t had time yet, but since I have FrogTape and vinyl on my sign, I’m going to seal everything with a coat or two of ModPodge. Ta-da!
Non-traditional. Colorful. Fun. I love it. It fits in perfectly with my eclectic colorful family room.
What do you think? I just sort of quickly staged for photos so I could share this today. I’ll be re-arranging, re-decorating. In fact, this mantel is even moving to another wall. More on the family room renovation and Christmas decorating coming soon.
I will attach a saw tooth hanger to the back and hang and rearrange but…I wanted to get this done to share and to tell you something important:
*I was not compensated for my review but I did receive vinyl and I participate in the Silhouette America affiliate program and will earn a percentage of sales when you use the code “SHOWOFF” for your purchase. This is a sponsored post brought to you by FrogTape. The opinions are completely my own based on my experience. Results may vary.
Party time:
We don’t host Thanksgiving dinner. We’re lucky to be guests. So, Thanksgiving decor is minimal at the DIY Show Off home but I did want to share how I turned a $4 print called “Nostalgic Autumn” by Eric Sloane into something I love hanging in our home this time of the year. Our thrift stores have huge framed outdated prints in “fair” condition on occasion. It’s not something I’d normally choose, but the the colors and autumn farm theme is perfect for our dining room. I decided that adding the words “Give Thanks” ensures that once a year, I will hang this print. And every time I look at the words “give thanks”, I take a moment to thank God for our many blessings.
What I did:
I love the every day reminder to “give Thanks”, especially this time of year. What do you think? Have you seen large art prints at the thrift store or yard sales that with a little DIY touch or accent would work for your seasonal decor?
This is a sponsored post brought to you by FrogTape. The opinions are completely my own based on my own experience.
Welcome back to the week DIY Fall Festival! You’re invited to share your fall craftiness and autumn decorating or browse the links to visit our festive blog friends already all decked out for fall! There were so many great links last week. Here are a few fall favorites:
5 Minute Fall Crafts
Super cute canning lid pumpkin tutorial at Simply Klassic Home.
Looking for an easy autumn decorating or fall gift idea? Check out the cute vintage Halloween (or any season) candle tutorial over at Confessions of a Plate Addict.
Fall plates craft by Dear Emmeline.
Last week I shared my DIY yarn pumpkins, a super easy and quick fall project:
Fall Mantels
The fabulous fall mantel at Mom4Real has the perfect combination of texture, fall colors and a fun pop of whimsy in that polka dotted pitcher.
Remodelando la Casa has a fall mantel full of DIY goodies. Love the burlap fall blocks and her awesome painted tree with falling flying leaves is perfect for the autumn season!
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This week, I’ll be working on some fall decorating {finally!}. In the meantime, here is our fall decorated dining room last year…
Distressed Wood Sign Tutorial
One busy day last week, when I wasn’t renovating an apartment, Bri and her friends {Amber and Megan} joined me for a morning of thrifting and in the afternoon while I was working on a wood plank DIY project {can’t wait to show you!}, they scooped up the wood scraps and created personalized signs. They did also give me a hand on a couple of projects I was working on so a barter of wood scraps for a little creativity was the perfect “thank you”. It was a super fun and productive day! Here is a tutorial for creating a DIY wood plank sign by Megan, Amber & Bri:
They each grabbed a board, my Dremel Multi-Max and sanded the edges. These girls are DIY divas! Affiliate link: Dremel 6300-05 120-Volt Multi-Max Oscillating Kit
Each girl chose a quote (or in Amber’s case the name of her upcoming Etsy shop – exciting and I’ll share more when she’s ready) and I used my Silhouette Cameo to create and cut out vinyl stencils. Affiliate link: Silhouette Cameo Starter Kit Bundle Cutter
They each went for a classic distressed/antiqued look.
Bri chose a dry brush technique with black and a brown glaze.
Amber chose to distress with a stain.
Megan did a white wash (dry brush technique) with a brown glaze.
Silhouette vinyl was used as a stencil and applied to the painted/glazed boards once they were dry…
The vinyl was rubbed down with a plastic card to secure the vinyl to the board.
They each painted the letters for their quotes using craft paint…
and promptly removed the stencil.
It didn’t take long for their signs to dry. I love them all lined up. They look awesome!
And they each took home a sign to display in their homes…
So easy. So pretty! (the signs are cute too! lol!)
Have an amazing weekend! I’ve been working on details to help out with a family reunion for Saturday so I won’t be around but hope to see you Sunday at the DIY Project Parade!
More DIY sign tips:
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I wanted something bold to add to our summer mantel and decided a large distressed wooden chevron garden sign was the perfect focal point. 
Materials:
Tools:
Distressed Chevron Sign Tutorial: 1. I cut my scrap wood planks to measure 32 inches each. 
2. Using Gorilla wood glue, I glued my planks together, clamped and let dry. 
3. I glued two furring strips to the back for extra protection and added weights while they dried. You could also screw the furring strips into each plank.
4. Once all of the glue was dried, I sanded the edges of my boards. 
5. Next I gave my sign a coat of white paint all over using a dry brush technique. 
6. Once the paint was dry, I chose FrogTape Delicate (for freshly painted surfaces) and created a chevron pattern. I used a small piece of the tape to create spaces. 
7. Once my FrogTape design was set, I rubbed down the edges and gave the untaped areas a coat of green paint. 
8. Then a coat of glaze, brushed on, wiped off. I love that it gives it a summer grass/garden dirt feel. 
9. As soon as I finished applying the glaze, I removed my tape and let the sign dry.
10. I love having a Silhouette Cameo (affiliate link below for a great deal) because I can create my own custom vinyl stencils, decals or lettering as needed. I created an cut out a garden quote with my Cameo and using transfer paper, applied the stencil to my sign (I also saved the letters as stickers to make another sign). 
11. Using my brown craft paint, I gave each letter a couple of coats of paint. 
12. As soon as I applied the last coat of paint to each letter, I removed my vinyl stencil and let the sign dry. 
13. Attach saw tooth picture hangers to the back and it’s all done! I love how it turned out. Just the right amount of bold for my summer mantel! 
{pallet shelving in faux mantel} 
A little inspiration for canning tomatoes this weekend… 
Summer is just about over (but you’ll be seeing this sign show up somewhere else very soon) and I’ll be working on putting together my fall mantel. And guess where I’ll be sharing? At the Countdown to Fall party coming up soon! Time to get your autumn projects ready and join in the fun!
The DIY Fall Festival will also be starting soon! Get a head start on inspiration for your fall DIY projects from previous years’ DIY Fall Festival parties. 
I received vinyl to share this tutorial and will receive a percentage of sales from this SILHOUETTE end of summer PROMOTION: This promotion runs from August 23 through the 31st. Using the discount code “SHOWOFF” will get you a nearly $75 discount when you visit this affiliate link:http://www.silhouetteamerica.
This is a sponsored post brought to you by FrogTape. The opinions and instructions are completely based on my own experience.
We repurposed an old headboard with just a little work to use it as a decorative door pediment. I shared this a couple of weeks ago at the DIY Club but wanted to share here as well, plus I’m so exhausted. My back and knees are reminding me that I’m not in my 20s anymore and renovating alone is hard work! While working on the apartment renovation for our daughter, our own projects at home have been put on hold but I did manage to squeeze in an easy DIY decorative accent project!
Materials:
Headboard Pediment Tutorial
I started with removing the legs from a broken headboard. The headboard was beautiful but in very poor condition.
I removed the warped veneer and pulled out staples that were trying to hold it in place to reveal the unfinished wood.
To repair the few cracks int he wood, I filled them with Gorilla Wood Glue. I love it’s water-based formula (easy clean up) and “tough” holding power. It only takes about 20-30 minutes of clamp time to move forward with the project and 24 hours to cure.
I love these awesome HUGE Bessy ESZ clamps! They were super easy to use one-handed with their pistol style handles. No problems with increasing the grip and super easy to release when done.
After the glue was dry, I applied my vinyl stencil which wouldn’t stick so I traced the letters using a pencil.
Next I hand painted my words tracing the pencil marks with a paint pen and filling in with craft paint and let it dry.
Then, I lightly sanded the entire headboard (even the painted lettering) and gave it a coat of TransTint dye (dark mission brown) to age it.
Once everything was dry, we drilled pilot holes into the studs above the French doors in our family room and into the headboard. We secured it to the wall using drywall screws.
Pardon this mess! Room renovation on hold but in progress {actually it looks a lot messier than the photos at this moment – yikes!}…
Tada! After…
I love how it fills the empty space above the French doors? What do you think?
You can see more plans for the family room here:
ATTENTION! I am judging the Before/After contest at OPC’s Better Half this week and going through the links now. You have 4 weeks to enter and a couple of days before I get through 100+ links for me to see your DIY room makeover. 
Hello, DIY friends! There are so many amazing links each week. I’m trying to figure out how to include the highlights (please bear with me). I think some weeks, a few different Highlight posts throughout the week will be a great idea to get your creativity and inspiration noticed even more! This week, the features are random but I think starting next week, I’ll categorize the highlights. Thanks for your patience!
See Highlights Part 1 and check out these awesome DIY projects you may have missed last week:
One area that is really neglected in our home this year is the porch. With a summer passing by as we renovate the apartment, I’m longing to relax on this beautiful southern porch over at Dixie Delights. Dreamy!
Couldn’t you just run to the next yard sale to see if you can find something this amazing? I love Amy’s {Blissful Bee} vision and the before/after transformation is stunning. What a beautiful settee makeover!
I love that Miss Charming painted the wood on her chairs and the impact was instant updating and WOW! They look fabulous with her new chalkboard wall and pretty white frames. See more at Charming Zebra.
An organized and pretty welcoming entryway is something I’ve always longed for. Jenn at Clean and Scentsible shares her inspiring tips and beautiful styling:
I love old windows. We have a few more around here somewhere and this idea from Number Fifty Three is a great way to create wall old window wall art.
Debbie at Visual Eye Candy shares tips and a tutorial for a herringbone tiled floor. It looks amazing!
How to Tile a Herringbone Patterned Floor Part 1
How to Tile a Herringbone Floor Part 2
Bridgett at Osie Moats shows you how to build a DIY farmhouse table. It is gorgeous and they make it look sooooo easy! Check it out!
Great idea for a small or virtually non existent entry space. Love this mini mudroom creation at How 2 Home…
Let’s see what you’ve been up to. I’ll be visiting, pinning, tweeting and sharing links on Facebook this week!
Leave a link, visit a link and stop back to see more links as they’re added in. Thanks for sharing your creativity!
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Thanks!Yesterday I shared a link to Kate’s DIY hoop art…
{Kate & Kuby}
and in the recent past, Amanda’s DIY hoop art…
{Mommy is CooCoo}
and when I needed a really inexpensive, super easy, quick idea for adding color to the eat-in-kitchen area of my sister’s rental before she arrived, I was inspired to give it a try.
We always find embroidery hoops at the thrift store from 39 to 59 cents + fabric scraps or thrift store pillow cases, even a pretty shirt =
There’s room to grow and expand, to add more color and sizes…
I love this one…
{Country Living}
Kristi from Addicted2Decorating just shared hoop wall art with organizing pocket! Brilliant!
See more inspiration on Pinterest…
Is this a trend you’ve tried? Show off with a link in the comments!
Are you working on a DIY project this weekend?
Going thrifting?
Meet: Kate from Kate & Kuby. Kate is a DIY’er with a recently new-to-her home and a goal to decorate the entire house (including nursery) before the arrival of their sweet little bundle of joy in October – all on a small budget. She’s been doing an amazing job. Her favorite project so far (and mine too) is her DIY chicken wire wall…
Materials:
Wall before:
Chicken wire wall after:
Genius! Now it’s a reusable gallery wall!
Total cost $25. Easy and affordable. I love the look. I love it’s functionality. See the full post at Kate & Kuby – DIY Chicken Wire Wall.
Here is a sneak peek of a few more fun DIY from Kate:
DIY newspaper trashcan makeover
Time to change out the dining room mantel for the new summer season.
Something green, something fresh and pretty…
and I needed a break from the not so fun cleaning routine.
Decorating and DIY is my reward. {And placing part of my stencil crooked is my mistake…oops! Imperfection – fits with our home’s theme!}
Fresh flowers are a gift to myself and a new DIY sign is a gift to our home {tutorial coming right up}.
Summer is my favorite time of the year. In my garden, sunshine makes my soul happy.
Enjoy a beautiful summer weekend!
Sharing at these parties:
*Don’t forget to enter to win*
Granite Gold cleaning kit & $50 Bed, Bath & Beyond gift card
A mid week DIY treat: I recently had the pleasure of meeting two talented DIY’ers, Ashley & Jourdan from
Today they’re sharing a little of their inspiring DIY candy…
Not only is their painted furniture gorgeous, the photos look like something out of a home decor magazine, don’t they? Beautiful styling.
If Little Yellow Barn was a catalog, I’d add one of everything to my wish list.
So many fun DIY ideas…
Beautiful furniture makeovers…
DIY inspiration…
Makes you want to go restyle a vignette or paint a piece of furniture, doesn’t it?
Gorgeous!
Pop over to say ‘hi’ to Ashley & Jourdan, follow along and see more DIY at Little Yellow Barn.
The long weekend here means catching up on some little projects that kept getting put off. Remember when I painted a foam playmat, thinking it’d be a great kitchen/cooking mat?
before…
after…
{painted foam playmat tutorial}
It looks great there, doesn’t it?
It really does. But, Mr. DIY is the cook and he’s not always neat, if you know what I mean. Food flies everywhere. And you guys – it was just so pretty. I’ve never painted anything so large that came out so well and I just couldn’t let it get covered with food and smashed down by grown up weight and feet and ruined. I’m so proud of that painted playmat. I’ll make another for this area with a farmhouse theme, I promise.
In the meantime, we have this huge blank wall at the barn patio…
Know where I’m going with this? It can be affordable huge DIY wall art too and looks awesome here…
and just for fun, here is what this covered barn area looked like when we bought our house…
and now…
And there will be more projects here on this covered patio area {with better lighting and pictures} as I update this space. It’s great for entertaining: cook outs, picnics and bon fires. It’s a cozy comfortable place to relax and get away from the house too, to curl up with a good book with some privacy, even in the rain.
I love the way the playmat fills up the huge empty wall. What do you think?
My friend Amanda from
created a wall of beautiful art using embroidery hoops and pretty fabrics. Super easy and affordable do-it-yourself to fill up an empty wall space. So many options for making a design for a custom color palette and space.
Materials:
Tutorial:
Wall before:{naked!}
Wall after:
Fun, colorful, affordable, super quick and easy wall art that makes a big beautiful statement!
See more creative DIY (and more!) from Amanda at Mommy is CooCoo!
I personally haven’t had a chance to read the series (or see the movie) but it is on my reading list (I’m just starting the 3rd in the Bronze Horseman series) but I do love to read and I do love DIY and rustic charm. Our talented DIY friend, Angie from
has combined all of that to create a beautifully inspiring piece for her master bedroom…
Every once in a while, I meet a blog friend who not only shares my passion for do-it-yourself, but we share the same style and design ideas as well. Meet: Beth from
I recently shared a tutorial for peacock feather triptych canvas art at the DIY Club and wanted to share with you here too.
My daughter, Ali, recently scored three canvases at the thrift store for about .79/each. Then, after seeing a peacock triptych here, we decided to try our own peacock feather silhouette using the colors for her planned dining room.
dining room color palette
THIS GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED.
Your 1 winners on “DIY bath sign and $50 Wallums Giveaway” is:
1) Tara
I recently had the opportunity to try my choice of vinyl from Wallums. Wall’ums is a San Francisco based company specializing in 100% removable, unique and custom wall decals.
There are some awesome creative links in this week’s DIY Project Parade. One of my favorites is this DIY Eye Chart by Becca from Gardners 2 Bergers…
I love her version.
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