Category Archives: DIY Club

14 Days of Love…Blue Valentine {ribbon wreath tutorial}

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I don’t normally really decorate for Valentine’s Day but when Ashley from Cherished Bliss asked if I wanted to join 14 Days of Love, I just couldn’t resist! Visit the link below to follow all 14 days of fabulous Valentine projects…she did a fantastic job organizing this fun blog event! {Thanks, Ashley!}

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You can see my “14” tutorial and X’s and O’s how-to over at the DIY Club today where I used some Deco Art Americana acrylic craft paint, Stencils and Glamour Dust.  

Ribbon Wreath Tutorial  

Pin It {key to my heart wreath}

I used:

  • Styrofoam heart
  • 2 spools of organza ribbon {you can choose different types/all one type – up to you!}
  • 2 spools of glittery wired ribbon
  • 1 spool of toile
  • Deco Art Americana craft paint (Desert Turquoise)
  • Embellishments (I used a decorative key)
  • hot glue
  • paper clip
1.  Since I’m doing a non traditional Valentine turquoise, I painted my wreath form {Desert Turquoise by Deco Art). The wreath will show through in a few spots as a finished project, this camouflages the white foam form. Let. dry.
2. I cut ribbon into approx. 12″ pieces and cut the toile into approx. 8″ pieces.
{Tip: fold ribbon in half lengthwise, snip ends at an angle to create an inverted “v” on the ends.}
3. I alternated organza, wired ribbon and toile, tying it around the wreath form, experimenting with different ways of tying (regular knot, looping around, adding 2-3 pieces of ribbon at a time) but I kept a consistent pattern.
4. I attached a paper clip to the back/top/center for use as a ‘hanger’ with hot glue.
5. Trim ribbon as needed and ‘fluff’.
6. Embellish as desired. I added a decorative key.
Ta-da! Key to my heart {ribbon} wreath.
The thing about this wreath is I can leave it up a little longer since it shares my March birthstone color. 🙂

What do you think? {yes, that’s my fancy/schmancy DIY photo backdrop…but for all you know, it could be a wall in my home, right? These accessories are really displayed on my mantel in real life.} Want more Valentine inspiration?  Visit the creative blog friends shown on the button for more fun ideas!

Cherished Bliss

See Aimee’s SUPER cute MR.&MRS. {in the bedroom – G rated, I promise} at It’s Overflowing shared yesterday and tomorrow ~ check out the sweets at See Kate Sew then get ready for an awesome HUGE giveaway at My Cherished Bliss on February 7th!

DIYClub

Other news:

The Lucky Linky Follower Giveaway has added a $50 cash prize to the pot!

Project Pinterest at The DIY Club
Starts today! Blogging not required.
Partying here:
The DIY Show Off
    its so very cheri


One Project Closer: http://networkedblogs.com/tNKWi

DIY Project Parade ~ Dining Room, Faux Fireplace Fix and Banner

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It’s been a busy week but I managed something small. We found this old fireplace mantel/surround in the barn when we moved in. I love that it’s original to the house and new I wanted to add it to a wall in our dining room.  I love the flexibility of moving things around, so I boxed it in so it is ‘freestanding’ and not attached permanently to the wall.

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Small DIY – adding useful color to the kitchen.

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This isn’t much to share today, but it’s a start to the new year.  Starting small and working my way up to bigger and something awesome. In the meantime, this works for me and maybe you haven’t thought to do the same and I’ll start a new trend and everyone will have mugs hanging around under cabinets. So here goes.  It doesn’t take much DIY to make this girl smile.  🙂 Santa brought me these turquoise Fiesta mugs for Christmas…

Ooohhh!  So pretty!  Our kitchen has a lot going on but not much color.  I think displaying these is a good idea. Easy convenient reach, pretty pop of color and not using valuable real estate in the already crowded cupboards…the cave where ugly mugs (you know you have a couple!!) go to live.
Upper cabinets before:  I do love the new granite, the marble backsplash and painted cabinets (which are actually a light grey)…but it could use something more. I’m not one for NOT decorating almost every nook, as you know.  Minor addiction. But look…it needs something happy, right?
Using Rockler’s Screw Lube on the screw part of each cup hook made for super easy screw-in. Who knew?  I mean – SUPER easy. Like good hold and smooth turning into the wood. Have you ever tried it?  Made me feel like I had big muscles – little effort!
After…

I love the colorful accent to an otherwise neutral area, don’t you? Easy reach for tea time too.

See the full but small and EXCITING tutorial (that might be exaggerating a little, but there’s TONS more really fun stuff there to see too!) at the DIY Club.  🙂 DIY doesn’t always mean having to break a nail or destroy a room to make a small accomplishment feel rewarding. One small step to get the motivation going.  What have you completed this first week of the new year?  Baby steps or DIY super hero feats?  Come back to link to the DIY Project Parade tomorrow to ‘show off’.

While on the subject of First Project of the Year – have you seen what our friend, Amy, is up to? This IS exciting! Get ready!

I know once I finish a bigger DIY project this month, I’ll be joining the party. What an awesome dream come true prize!  Cool, huh?

Enjoy the weekend!
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DIY Triple Clipboard

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We’re working on a special area for Mr. DIY.  Here’s one of the things we made for the area:

DIY Triple Clipboard Tutorial
Materials:
Board (I used a pre-cut unfinished wooden shelf base, approx. 4′ x 12′ x 1″)
Vinyl Chalkboard Tags from Ten23 Designs
Screws to secure to wall (or Dischangers)
1.  I used the Rockler TransTint Dye to stain my piece of wood which will be the back of my clipboard. (Mix according to instructions – add more for darker/less for lighter color).
2.  Allow to dry.
3.  Measure and divide board into 3 equal sections (I used a Sharpie – I don’t mind the line showing to separate the clipboard areas).

4.  Peel and stick vinyl chalkboard tags into place. I placed mine above the area I intend to secure the clip.
5.  Layout clips and mark where pilot holes need to be drilled.
6.  Drill pilot holes.
7.  Attach clips using screws provided.

(Oh – I wasn’t fond of the brassy color so I gave mine a coat of antique gold spray paint and splattered with a darker brown for an ‘old’ look).

8.  All done and ready to hang (we secured to the wall using drywall screws into studs but using Dischangers will allow your clipboard to be more mobile for moving).

More on this clipboard’s specific purpose coming up! You’ll never guess.  🙂

Ps. Still working on the subscription issues…I’m keeping my fingers crossed that the full post shows in the feed today!  EDIT:  It looks like the full post is in the feed but images are not.  Back to the drawing board! Thank you so much for your patience!

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 Project Parade ~ Sitting Room Before and After

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My love of DIY is sometimes madness! We have an empty nest this year. We planned a vacation in December because it sounded good at the time to get away while it’s cold and snowy here and escape to somewhere warm and toasty.  However, it’s a busy time of year. I’m in a bit of a holiday panic.  Since we have so much going on, I thought I’d only put up our smaller pre-lit tree in the living room instead of our monster not pre-lit.  I rearranged furniture, vacuumed all over, set up and fluffed the little tree.  I didn’t realize it was so little – it looked lost.  Sad, really. I don’t think I even needed to rearrange furniture. It just wasn’t going to work. I had to bring up the monster.
So…time to move the little tree to our little sitting room. Only the walls were dingy. A DIY girl cannot decorate and just add Christmas to a blah sitting room! Of course not! So, 4 days before our trip (I hadn’t even packed yet)…I decided to freshen up the walls in our sitting room so that the tree would be happy there.
Sitting room before: I loved the color…it was just scuffed up and scratched and even dirty.
(prepping the room to paint)
Armed with Dutch Boy‘s Refresh paint and my Purdy paintbrush…I had this room repainted in no time flat! One coat. No taping.
You can see the difference here in progress. New wet paint…
Pretty new color is Dutch Boy’s Ypsilanti Skies (yes, I had to go look that up to spell it right only to discover that spell check already knew)….
 
Now it’s a lot fresher and brighter. I love the light blue/gray with the cherry furniture and green from the Christmas tree.
before
after

before

after

before

after

I even made a sign for our coat closet…

More after pictures:

DIY Ornament Wreath tutorial by Mommy is Coo Coo
Mine is a gift. Thanks, Amanda!

I‘ll be sharing a tutorial for the DIY curtain rod and DIY script dropcloth curtains and more coming soon!  🙂

The DIY Show Off
Let’s see what you’ve been up to!
1. You must use the button above (ADD BUTTON HTML CODE FROM SIDE BAR TO YOUR POST) and link to this post to share the linky love. You post must be recent, shared at one DIY Project Parade only (not continuously) and be DIY related.

2.Include your name or blog name and project title. Add your permalink (not your blog url, but your DIY project post url). Feel free to link a Past Post, just invite your readers in a current post with a quick note.

3.Or email your link to thediyshowoff@gmail.com and I will add it for you.

4.If you notice your link has disappeared -please add the link back to The DIY Show Off to your post today, a button or a quick note to your readers about the party and try again! I love when everyone participates and readers check out everyone’s links, but I think the return favor of linking back is the nice thing to do so everyone plays fair and enjoys all of the projects and links. Also – this blog party is for DIY projects only. Links not related to DIY will be deleted. Please share your link one week only. 
5.  If reading this in an email, pop over to http://thediyshowoff.blogspot.com to see the inspiring DIY projects linked up!
6. If you have a Holiday link to share, feel free to link up to here too!

7.  NOW you can “like” the links!  What a fun idea!  Most liked links may be included in a post of DIY Project Parade highlights later in the week.
8.  Visit a few other links to make some new friends, get some creative ideas and feel free to leave me a comment. I’m likely sitting here on the computer and could use a happy distraction! 

Sharing here this week:

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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 Styrofoam Wood Chip Tree Tutorial

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Wood Chip Tree Tutorial


 

Materials:

  • 2 Styrofoam Cones, two different sizes
  • Hot Glue
  • Wood Chips (Grilling section at True Value)
  • PVC pipe fittings, 2 different sizes
  • Krylon Fusion for Plastic spray paint (sparkly brown)
  • Paint, stain or dye
  • Small Star (holiday pick from craft store)
Tutorial:

1. Spray PVC pipe fittings. Let dry.

2. Attach pipe fittings to bottom of styrofoam cones with hot glue.

3. Using hot glue and starting at the bottom, glue wood chips around the Styrofoam cone.

 

4. Continue working upwards in layers.  Find the right pieces is like putting together a puzzle. I liked using pieces with bark for texture.

 
Note:  The Weber wood chips were cut on an angle. Gluing the angle and attaching to the cone, made the chip stand out a little.
 
Note: Thin wood chips can be snapped which is helpful for placing on curved surface.
 
5. Paint or stain the wood chips and let dry.
 
 

6. Add star to top by poking wire into Styrofoam or secure with hot glue. Embellish if desired.

 

My inspiration was the West Elm seagrass tree but due to a shortage of sea grass in western PA, mine turned out different but not in a bad way…

 

 
Simple. Pretty. Natural.
 
 
 
 
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I was one of the bloggers selected by True Value to work on the DIY Squad. I have been compensated for my time commitment to the program as well as my writing about my experience. I have also been compensated for the materials needed for my DIY project. However, my opinions are entirely my own and I have not been paid to publish positive comments.
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