DIY in LaLa Land

This blogger has me so inspired by her creativity and giggling and laughing out loud at her comedic way of blog-posting.  I can’t help but smile when I’m reading along about her describing a DIY project and an unexpected little joke is thrown in there.  Love that!  You can read her posts for yourself at 
LA LA land
and I’ll share some sneak peeks from some of her amazing before/after and DIY. 
(Yes, despite what seems like our never ending kitchen remodel, I still looooove looking at real DIY kitchen makeovers.)

WOW!
Can you tell what’s different? 
  • Appliances. Check. 
  • Open Shelving. Check. 
  • New cabinet hardware. Check. 
  • Beadboard backsplash. Check. 
  • New paint. Check. 
  • New floor – using 4 different types of wood. Risky. Clever. Beautiful!

BEFORE                                      AFTER

You know I’m a sucker for horizontal striped painted walls (proof).
Her hallway before…
Hallway after…
There’s more you might want to check out too!
and a house tour. 
Go ahead…just click over and introduce yourself.  DIY friends are the best. 🙂
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GIVEAWAY ALERT!
There’s a $300 shopping spree from The Tile Shop
going on at
Sign up and enter to win!  You better believe I did – I have a laundry room makeover to do this summer!

Storm Cloud Nine

Amy from Storm Cloud Nine is ‘working on a house to make it her home’ and I love that simple sentence.  It’s what inspires us to DIY.  Amy is doing a beautiful job at it too!  Here are some of her amazing DIY projects.

DIY + mirror + wood pallets and she has this fabulous HUGE leaning mirror!  DIY <3!

The best part?  She found mirrors like the ones shown below on Craig’s List for $25. Thrifty!

 

Get the full details on her post titled (cute!) “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobed Mirror”.

magical powers of paint!  This was her bedroom before:

and this dresser too (mismatched to start)

Now, everything is a fresh new beautiful matching set and her bedroom is a whole new magazine-worthy happily ever after place to show off… (Best Dressed)

I never get tired of seeing a boring old wall architecturally transformed with some gorgeous DIY board and batten…let me finish our kitchen and you’ll be seeing this in my home too!

Amy, you’re a DIY Diva! These are all awesome inspiring projects!  Thank you so much for sharing your creativity!
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What do you guys think? DIY talent, that girl, right?  
Last week I discovered a very helpful Craig’s List tool.  Want to browse your local Craig’s List ads by pictures?  Find out how at CraigsEasy.com.  It makes searching so much easier, faster and more fun!  

DIY Project Parade

Valentine’s Day is nearly here.  Do you celebrate? We do in the way that I get spoiled with chocolate and flowers and gifts. 🙂
My sweetheart daughter wants a Valentine’s Day t-shirt, something cute to wear this week.  But, I’m still in my pajamas and not motivated to run out and buy something.  So, I take an hour of my time today and using my Silhouette machine and white heat transfer paper, I cut out a white doily design and whip up a cute Valentine t-shirt using an old red long sleeved tee. (My daughter ran out the door for an Ichiban Valentine dinner date with her boyfriend, so I’m modeling her t-shirt today.) This is the first time I’ve used it and I’m pleasantly surprised that it was so easy!

What is a Silhouette?

The Silhouette SD is an electronic cutting tool that connects to your computer allowing you to cut fonts and images in cardstock, vinyl, heat transfer material, etc.
I downloaded a design from the Silhouette online store. My daughter wanted a doily and this heart doily was perfect.
Click the “send to Silhouette” button on the left upper hand side.
Amazing – it cuts out the intricate design!
Change the settings according to the instructions on the heat transfer box.  
Install the blue cutting tip. 
Feed the heat transfer paper (shiny side down) using the “enter” button.
Click “cut page”.
Now peel off the negative space (in my case it’s white rubbery paper) from around the design, from off of the clear vinyl.The design will still be on the clear vinyl. Some of the hearts came completely out (white transfer + clear vinyl but this didn’t affect the finished project).
Place the design sticky side down onto the t-shirt in desired position. 
Heat iron to cotton setting.  Cover vinyl transfer with a cloth – I used a pillow case. Apply pressure all over, recommended 45-60 seconds covering the entire transfer.
Peel off the clear vinyl. If the transfer comes with it, put vinyl back in  place and iron again.
Peel off the entire clear vinyl.  All done!
Super quick and easy, so cute!
The Silhouette can be used to create scrapbooks, cards, home decor, custom apparel, school projects, glass etched projects, stencils, etc.

If you have a DIY Valentine project – feel free to share it at the DIY Valentine linky party or visit the DIY Valentine party for some last minute creative ideas.
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Do you have a DIY project to show off this week?  I’d LOVE to see it!  Or please visit the links to get inspired!



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, 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.

I received my machines from SilhouetteAmerica in exchange for reviews, to share tutorials and participate in future giveaways. YEP – giveaway!  Coming soon!  🙂