Junked trunk to coffee table {apartment storage}

Posted on November 9, 2012 by Roeshel

Remember this past summer when I scored a lot of a LOT of steamer trunks?

Before…

With furnishing the small apartment on a SUPER tight budget, we decided that one of these trunks would make a great coffee table since it would also provide a storage solution for the tiny apartment space.

We started out by cleaning up the trunk. It’s not in mint condition, but my daughter appreciates imperfection and character too or well, the fact that it was a “free” solution helped.

We gave it a basecoat of white spray paint and let it dry…

We used two strips of FrogTape to preserve stripes of the white spray paint underneath two coats of aqua spray paint. Be sure to press down the edges of FrogTape before spraying!

More spray paint…

Then peel off the FrogTape while it is still wet {yes, you will get paint on your hands}. I don’t remember the first aqua-color we tried, but it was too swimming pool blue. DIY is sometimes a trial and error. So, we used the yellow FrogTape Delicate surface for the second try and Rustoleum Painter’s Touch Ultra x2 in Satin Lagoon. Much better…

And I always get so excited and want to keep embellishing and stenciling when it’s so easy and fun to do, but Ali liked the simple “Tiffany & Co.” look of white stripes on lagoon blue and who am I to argue with that because I have to agree…it’s pretty darn cute.

Painted steamer trunk cost:Great price for dual purpose, first apartment furniture. And the pop of color? Love it!

See all things related to the apartment renovation here!

This is a sponsored post brought to you by FrogTape. The opinions are completely my own based on my own experience.

Partying here:

Sunburst Mirror Tutorial ~ Catie's Corner

Posted on November 5, 2011 by Roeshel

Meet: Catie, a wife and mom and DIY girl who blogs about her DIY, cooking, decorating and whatever else she feels like talking about. My favorite type of blog! Variety!

Even with our farmhouse style, a fun DIY sunburst mirror makes me smile. Besides, our home is a design mutt…we just do what we love and I’d love to make one for our home. Anyway, here’s Catie…

Ok, so I did it. After months of drooling over other’s DIY sunburst mirrors I finally decided to make one myself. Fortunately for me I had the perfect little round mirror to start with. I’ve seen other blogs where they used a mirror and embroidery hoop as the “base” of the project, but I didn’t have to worry about that. My mirror was gold to begin with and the back is just like a frame, it comes off and the mirror comes right out. (I was too anxious to get started and didn’t even think to take before pictures. heehee)

I started with a package of 100 kabob skewers and a hot glue gun. First I glued on the N, S, E, W sticks and then I went from there. With a pink marker I’d mark the length on a bunch of sticks to make sure they were going on at the same length. After a while I found I was repositioning them and it didn’t really matter if they were marked or not, but it did help at the beginning, so I would recommend doing it. For the shorter sticks, I had to break a couple inches or more off so they weren’t overlapping. I was amazed how the sticks kept adding up and adding up. After using the entire package I had to dip into an already opened one I had already. There are over 100 hundred skewers on there!! To hang it I doubled up a piece of wire and glued it on the back. Lastly I spray painted it with Krylon’s silver.

She ain’t pretty from the back!!

See the pink marks?

And the big revel. Drum roll please…..


LOVE!!!!!

Isn’t she gorgeous??? I’m in love, for real. Is it wrong to love a mirror? In this case, I think no. I can’t believe how well it turned out. Our bedroom is slowly coming together and this baby just made the biggest impact on the overall look. I thought I’d add, this mirror only cost me $6 to make. That’s right! I had the mirror, so that cost nada. The sticks were a buck and $5 for the spray paint. Now that’s what I c
all DIY on the cheap. The side tables in this room have been changed. If you’d like a peek at the new cuties click here and here.

Beautiful job, Catie and your bedroom is looking so pretty!

Visit Catie at Catie’s Corner.

One of my favorite features is her new:

It’s where I love getting wardrobe ideas like this one…you can see me in this, right? Keeping warm and stylish!

Now excuse me while I head over to visit her. She has a fabulous giveaway going on and I want to enter!

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HAPPY BELATED {21st!!! lol} BIRTHDAY, CATIE!!!

Celebrate all weekend long! Eat lots of cake!

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DIY Sunburst Mirrors

Posted on February 22, 2011 by Roeshel

–noun

1.

a burst of sunlight; a sudden shining of the sun throughrifted clouds.

We’re in the midst of a winter weather warning (AGAIN), an unexpected snow storm (AGAIN). Last week it was near 60 degrees then BAM (teaser!) – yesterday afternoon at least 6 inches of snow fell within a few hours. It took Mr. DIY an extra hour and 15 minutes to get home weaving in and out of fender benders, dodging stopped vehicles and sliding around on the icy un-treated roads in the blizzard. All while I waited nervously at home, biting my nails, praying for his safe return dodging a bat flying around my living room (he must of thought it was spring too – where is that darn ground hog? Last week I wanted to hug the little guy, this week … well, no hugs!).

So, I’m in the mood for something warm and DIY sunbursts feel HOT to me. Sunny = smiley. Here are some great ideas and tutorials to help you thaw. Click the links for more pictures, details and the full tutorial from some very talented DIY divas!

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