DIY Project Parade


Question.  Have you ever nearly finished a DIY project only to realize at the last minute that you did something wrong in the process?  Do you start completely over or just live with it? 
On occasion, despite my prep and research and the ‘vision’ in my head, this happens to me.  And it just happened.  I’ll tell you about it but first, I finally finished painting my daughter’s room.  
Not a mistake:  We’re Benjamin Moore fans, but for her room I used Mythic paint .  I was so impressed and not disappointed!  The quality was just as awesome!  The consistency was just the way I like it and I do a lot of painting!
Here is her room before.  When we bought our house, I gave the girls permission to pick out their own paint color (after all – it’s only paint) and they painted the rooms themselves (mistake!  What a messy job!).  She chose a pretty bold turquoise color and we paired it with hot pink and black accessories.  It didn’t take long for her to outgrow it and my eye would twitch (DIY OCD) when I went in there because of the teen-paint-job which you can’t see in pictures…but there are accidental turquoise brush strokes on the white trim and door and drips on the floor and…you get the idea. I managed to snap a quick picture before painting.
She has pretty French Provincial furniture.

This chandelier (free):

got a makeover:
In the guest room, we have this Pinecone Hill Genevieve bedding (celery):

I want to give the guest bedroom more of a farmhouse look or maybe even move it downstairs and use the existing guest room as a dressing room (future DIY!), anyway – this pretty bedding goes to her.
I chose wall color to match the bedding. It’s called ‘Lamorna’. The Mythic paint covered the turquoise in two coats! It was pretty bright and when painting over the turquoise, I kept thinking it was the same color as that “glow in the dark” color.  I was scared! After all of the walls were painted, it still seemed a little bold, but with drying and the bedding and creamy white accessories, she loves it.  Feminine but still a little crazy for her teenage taste.  (Seriously – if you saw the picture I took with my cell phone – the name of the color would be ghost/plasma!) I used the color ‘Sweet Silence’ to freshen up the trim. It’s a nice creamy white. I’m considering painting her furniture with it too…but we’ll see if that works out.  So many projects, so little time!
So, now my error.  I have a damask stencil from Cutting Edge Stencils.  It is amazing!  It was so easy to use and my plan was to give the wall with the two windows a damask wallpaper-look.  I used the same ‘Sweet Silence’ colored Mythic paint that I used on the trim.The damask stencil is almost identical to the damask pattern in the bedding and curtains. Here is a close up of the bedding:

Frog tape kept the stencil in place.  
I just dipped my foam roller into the paint then used an empty paint tray lined with foil to get the paint on the roller evenly and applied it to the stencil.  Easy!

A lot of measuring/centering and leveling and I got the base of 3 vertical lines on the wall. THEN I discovered that the stencil has a “built in” guide for overlapping a finished stenciled area in order to create a wallpaper-look easily.  Oops! WHY didn’t it click before I was to this point?! I swear I read the tutorial!  Perhaps just too much on my mind. So, I painted over and started again for the center part of the wall and did it properly.  I painted the ‘guides’ on the stencil for the vertical lines towards the corners of the wall to give it more detail.

See here how the top of the stencil overlaps a finished stencil area?  It keeps things lined up!  How cool!

If you’re looking for a stencil – I highly recommend Cutting Edge Stencils.  It’s a really nice size and so easy to use (learn from my mistake!).  I will be using it again. I love it and it made the entire project less overwhelming. I’m going to use it in another upcoming project too!

So here is the back wall of her room.  My little DIY helper is going to Germany for a few weeks (foreign exchange program) and I’ll be working to get the rest of the room done before her return so more to come!

Love the free chandelier in here…

Pillow on clearance at TJMaxx..

Frame from estate sale – future project.  🙂


What do you think?  We still have to get lamps, wall art, frame a mirror, pick up a thrift store chair she likes, work on the estate sale frame project and turn the bifold closet doors  into French doors for the side of the room you don’t see in pictures. 

  

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So...that’s what I’ve been up to.  What about you?  Feel free to link up!

The DIY Show Off

If you’d like to link YOUR DIY project post to The DIY Show Off Project Parade:
  1. You must use the button above and link to this post to share the linky love.
  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 with 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.

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DIY Project Parade, Thrifty Treasures and a Giveaway!

Repurpose

First I want to share a repurposing project.  Repurposed Christmas tree fencing (from Ballard).  

Mr. DIY and I both trip over the dog gate in an attempt to climb over it.  We have a dachshund who isn’t allowed on the wool area rug in the living room (allergies) unless we’re there to supervise “no rolling around”.  She has short legs and she’s a big chicken.  So, now these iron cast fence pieces act as our new dog gate.  
They are only 4.5 inches high.  She can jump up on the couch but she won’t even attempt to hurdle these. Perfect!  No more spilling my cup of tea or falling face forward (quite a sight) while trying to maneuver a gate with my arms full! BUT now until we remember there is a tiny cast iron fence, we’re soothing stubbed toes.  Ouch!  So, almost perfect!
Thrifty Treasures
Here is a glass lamp I grabbed for $5 also at a yard sale!  Woo hoo! Open bottom so I can swap out decorative accessories.  I love it!
DIY
Update from last week.  The bistro set has been relocated to the patio.  More seating required and I love it here (of course I’m always rearranging).  And now I will have to come up with something else for under the grape arbor.  🙂

 

 Now about my DIY project this week (besides painting walls).  My daughter picked out  this thrifty treasure – little camp chair at a yard sale for $1.  Very dirty but with a new seat, it’s good as new.  I love how it folds up real easy and requires little space to store it.
BEFORE- old and dirty!
I just removed the staples and old fabric. 
I used the old seat as a guide to making a new one, cutting the same shape/size and sewing the raw edges using left over fabric from another project.  The old seat had a seam in the middle and I’m not sure why but just in case it helped make it less likely to tear, I sewed a seam down the middle of the new one too.

Then, I chose a beautiful French inspired transfer from Olive Rue to complete the look.  So easy!   So pretty!  So affordable! Print (mirror image) and iron-on.  

I stapled the fabric back into place.  
And here is the new little fold up camp chair.  Love it!
< b>AFTER

  

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So...that’s what I’ve been up to.  What about you?  Feel free to link up!

The DIY Show Off

If you’d like to link YOUR DIY project post to The DIY Show Off Project Parade:
  1. You must use the button above and link to this post to share the linky love.
  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 with 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.


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This post is brought to you by

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DIY Project Parade

Time to show off what you’ve been working on!  It has been raining all week, but I was able to get some pictures (with long grass because it’s been rainy) and of course, it was windy when it’s not raining.  Oh well.  I get too excited to hold off for perfect weather and for perfectly complete (that could be a few years).

As you know from last week, I’ve been working on fixing up the bistro set I scored for $15 at a yard sale. It’s painted to match our existing patio furniture for extra seating under the grape arbor.
The cushions we have are brown for the most part except for the swing which has sage/tan and gold stripes so I felt limited by that.  🙁  But, I was able to find a fabric that looks good with everything!

It’s called Magic Carpet (walnut) by Waverly.

I wanted round extra-poofy cushions for the chairs.  Goal achieved and then some. Oops! It’s cushion overkill.  But, it is what it is.  No pattern and my first attempt at round, 3D cushions with piping.  Not too bad but definitely  Poofy. Tall. Unique.  🙂

I did document my DIY steps in pictures so if anyone is interested in some helpful round cushion tips, I will create a tutorial. 

I sewed ribbon to sheers that I got here to tie to the grape arbor to disguise the imperfections…I mean create a romantic atmosphere.  CHEAP source for sheers! $2.99/panel!

Before I continue, I have to point out what’s not done (because that’s usually what I see).  🙂

Don’t mind the “floor” of the grape arbor.  It’s weeds and a mess right now but we have DIY plans for that when the budget allows.  And next year I will be staining the wood structure..so please overlook that right now too. Oh – and Mr. DIY says the weed-wacker needs blades, so pretend you don’t notice the overgrowth at this time too, please.  Plus rain every single day = long grass that needs mowed.  🙂  Now that I have that out of the way…

First, here was the grape arbor when we bought the house.  Quite a rustic eyesore but potential beauty in those old vines regardless and a 50 foot mostly shaded area not to mention tons of grapes! 

 Here’s a close up.  “Hello Chippy!”


Even at it’s ugliest, it was a beautiful space for my brother’s small wedding in 2008.

And a great space for shaded seating for my sister’s baby shower last year.

 
Mr. DIY (and family friend) built up the new wood structure around the old rusty iron skeleton, lifting and shifting the grapes in the process before removing the old iron poles.  It’s about 7’x7’x50′ (except for the gazebo area).  The grapes survived the stress!




Here are the after pictures with the new bistro set and sheers.

Too windy for candles in the candelier but we do have white lights at night that follow the lines of the gazebo.

And the grape arbor now ‘in progress’

Here are some pictures of the grape arbor and gazebo at night.  So pretty! 

Still a little work with the pavers or flagstone path underneath.  It’ll look so much better after staining the wood structure, but what do you think so far?   Care to join me for a glass of wine and relaxing under the rotunda?  Perhaps with Keanu Reeves from a Walk in the Clouds?  🙂

And some new pillow covers for the existing patio furniture (and the swing fabric that I had to consider with the new fabric).

And my window boxes this year:

So...that’s what I’ve been up to.  What about you?  Feel free to link up!

The DIY Show Off

If you’d like to link YOUR DIY project post to The DIY Show Off Project Parade:
  1. You must use the button above and link to this post to share the linky love.
  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 with 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.
This post is brought to you by 
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