Joss & Main Curator’s Collection is LIVE!

Posted on October 18, 2012 by Roeshel

Joss & Main recently invited me to curate a collection (dream-come-true!). You’ve likely seen several blogger’s collections this year…it’s such a fun sales event!

I worked hard to create a collection of items I have in my own home or that reflect my style, even items on my wish list. {dear Santa….}

On occasion I’m asked where I found a certain item. Today, I share some of my favorite decorative items in my Eclectic farmhouse Elegance collection.

If you’re not familiar with Joss & Main, they’re a member’s only online shopping site offering top brand and designer merchandise for your home well below retail prices. Up to 70% off! Membership is FREE and you can join Joss & Main here.

I look at the collections and sales and find something I love nearly every day. It’s a great source for inspiration for decorating too! And every time you refer a friend who makes a purchase, you earn credit for shopping! I know! That’s awesome, right?

For a limited time at Joss & Main, I’m sharing some great decorative accents and furnishings {some that you’ll actually see in our home!}. To achieve a similar look, my eclectic farmhouse style, you’ll find items like our dining room chairs and a lot more…

See if you can spot some of the accents I’m going to be using in the apartment reveal that’s coming up too! Yep, they have some amazing prices and irresistible deals.

You’re invited! Head over and take advantage of the FREE membership so you can shop for some amazing discounted home decor for your next room makeover and I’d love for you to take a look at the DIY Show Off Joss & Main Curator’s Collection for a limited time. Thanks, friends!

I’m in the {HomeTalk} Bloglight today!

Posted on October 18, 2012 by Roeshel

Hello friends! I am SUPER excited! Guess what? I’m in the HomeTalk Bloglight today! If you’re new to DIY Show Off, welcome! {I’m Roeshel, blog author of DIY Show Off. It’s nice to e-meet you!} You may want to visit the DIY Show Off home page to catch up on all of the awesome things going on this week. I don’t usually talk much about myself and in person, I’m usually at a loss for words but warning – writing comes A LOT easier for me so this is a long one {see * below}! You can usually find me wearing paint covered cloths, no make up and working on a DIY project…

and if we’re already friends…thanks for sharing my excitement today {and all week}! You’ve already seen me at my worst and you’re still here! Blogging = true friendships, I tell ya.

I’ve actually been a long time member at HomeTalk (since May 2011) and love the community that supports everything “home” related. If you’re not familiar, HomeTalk is a site dedicated to DIY, home improvement, home repair, home maintenance, gardening, decorating – with so many ideas, inspiration and a place to ask for advice, collect inspiration and pretty much just talk about home {“Home+Talk”}! Oh and a place to share and ‘show off’ – my kind of hangout! You can find DIY Show Off on HomeTalk.

I had the pleasure of meeting this super sweet woman from HomeTalk at the Haven Conference this past summer. Miriam is such a supportive and encouraging friend to many HomeTalk members and DIY/home bloggers. {Thanks, Miriam!}

Being in the Bloglight means I get a virtual trophy, cash prize and tiara, I think. Just kidding! It means I get to share a few things about my blogging experience. I always feel shy about doing so. I’m not an expert, but here’s my story:

About me…

How did you first get into blogging? While I still feel like a new blogger a lot of the time, I wrote my first blog post in 2007. Yep, five years ago. I’m still loving every minute of it. {Well, minus crashed blog pages, html coding or those types of things…enough to drive a technically challenged blogger mad!}. My blog was actually a diary, a journal of what was going on in our lives. No introduction, no “hello world”, no grand launch – I didn’t really think anyone would actually read it. Back before the days of social media, it took NEARLY 1 YEAR before I had a real comment that wasn’t spam. And yes, I read and commented on other blogs too. It just took a while for things to warm up. Can you imagine waiting that long? I didn’t really think much about it at the time because I didn’t expect that anyone was reading. Things have changed since then. It’s been a long journey of ups and downs. Don’t give up! In 2007, we purchased this old neglected farmhouse and as you can guess, a lot of my blog posts discussed our projects, our before and after transformation, our DIY.

After a couple of years of writing my personal blog, I found that others online shared my passion for DIY, home improvement and decorating and DIY Show Off was born. I’ve been writing about DIY for over five years. I’m often asked what I will write about when our home is complete. Um, I think we have projects to last us 20 years and during that time frame and to infinity and beyond I’ll be starting over, changing my mind, rearranging my home. It’s something I’ve always loved to do.

How did you decide on the name for your blog? There are books filled with baby names and dog names and cat names. I think I’m going to write a book filled with blog names. It’s HARD to choose a blog name! After blogging for a couple of years and discovering that the topic I enjoyed writing about most was DIY, I decided to create a new blog dedicated to do-it-yourself. I started focusing on sharing our home projects and giving others (bloggers and non bloggers) a place to share {SHOW OFF} their DIY home improvements and decorating, with links back to their blogs. I love recognizing a DIY job well done and helping other blogs grow too!

It’s a place to Show Off DIY. So…”DIY Show Off” it became after a sleepless night when I couldn’t stop thinking about a name. Some of you might remember my first look and my tag line…

Which project has brought you the most traffic to date? It’s a toss up between my painted foam playmat (which I now use as outdoor wall art because it turned out too cute to step all over)…

and my last minute idea to for a “using what we have” stair landing makeover with FrogTape…

By far, our home tour has been the most popular page and is my favorite post to update. Because if I’m editing that home tour page, it means we have progress, baby!

Since I’ve been a member of HomeTalk for quite a while, most of my posts are before the HUGE growth HomeTalk experienced this year. I invite you to check out my HomeTalk post. To date, my most popular HomeTalk post was my super easy DIY yarn pumpkins {yarn+pinecones}. Shared 1.6k times! Woo hoo! And yes, that traffic trickles down. Blogging can sometimes feel lonely. HomeTalk is a place where you can meet new friends who share your DIY and decorating interests, a great tool to help grow your blog too. If you’re not a member of HomeTalk, it’s free to sign up!

Do your friends and family read your blog? Yes! My daughters read my blog. Bri reads it regularly and Ali has been reading more, especially since her apartment reveal is coming up! And Mr. DIY? He catches up on posts regularly. He loves reading comments. His favorite DIY blogger comment was that our marble subway tiled backsplash is “to die for”.

Hearing words of praise and approval are so encouraging! We’re like blog dogs. The more “good job” comments we get, the more we want to do it again!

I know my mom and sisters check in on occasion and I have at least one friend who tries to read every day. And if I get excited about something and share on my personal Facebook page, all of my family and friends are very supportive. Outside of that, I’m lucky if someone knows what a blog is which is so hard to believe. Stuns me every time I’m asked. I probably say the word “blog” 100 x a day and some people don’t know what it is?! It’s an everyday part of my life.

How has keeping a blog changed you? The changes I’ve experienced through blogging have all been positive. Home projects are more fun when I can share. I’m still amazed that what I do inspires and helps readers. Knowing I’m helping and encouraging others to create a home they love encourages me. It’s also a huge help at keeping me focused and seeing projects through to completion. It’s helped me stay focused. Blogging sometimes makes me more confident, then turns around and makes me more humble too. Discouraging days happen and hanging in there during those takes makes me stronger. And the best part by far has been the friendships and relationships I’m making. Connecting with other DIY lovers has changed my social life!

How I blog…

*Do you stick to a strict posting schedule? How do you keep track of when and how often to post? I prefer to keep things low pressure. My blog linky parties are the only strict scheduled posts at DIY Show Off. The DIY Project Parade is creeping up on it’s 150th post!

Other than that, I post when I have something to share and when a feature by another blogger or reader is submitted that is a good fit with the topic of DIY. DIY Show Off is 99% DIY related but I’m trying to incorporate a little more personal and lifestyle posts. I enjoy blogging. My posts aren’t always planned, my schedule isn’t super strict. * I find that if I put too much planning and scheduling into my blogging, I change the post 20 times and add enough details to compete with the longest novels {ahem…this blog post is the perfect example of a planned in advance blog post. I rest my case!}. The most I’ve worked ahead is by one week and although it does feel good and like I’m all organized, I then get lazy and start back over with writing the day before I post or the same day. Besides, when I finish a project, I want to share ASAP, not store it in draft for weeks.

What are your favorite types of posts to read/write? Well, let’s see. I think you know the answer to this one! I love posts related to DIY, decorating, thrifting, repurposing. But I also enjoy posts about fashion, crafting, blogging, photography and lifestyle.

DIY!

What advice would you give to other bloggers that you wish you had known when you started blogging? I wish someone had told me that even though I would approach blogging with a casual attitude, that there is the potential for it to become a HUGE important part of my life. {It’s contagious and addictive!} That even though I love blogging, even though I’m passionate about my topic and excited and all motivated, there will be times of doubt, lack of confidence and discouragement. There are highs and lows. There are smiles and tears. It happens to everyone. Blogging looks easy and positive enough and it is! But it also portrays an organized, beautiful, mostly always happy life where everything is perfect, going well and positive. Most times, Blog life isn’t true reality, it’s an edited airbrushed version of reality. We never know what’s going on behind the scenes. We see what others want us to see. If you’re a new blogger or just a blog reader, I’m grabbing your hand, looking you in the eye and stressing…

Blogging is time consuming and a lot of work and in most cases, something else {less important} is being put on hold or neglected. If you find you love blogging but feel discouraged or overwhelmed, don’t give up. Step away from the computer. You’re a blogger! You make your own schedule! Real life and good feelings are the priority. The worldwideweb won’t explode if you don’t post or take time off. Find a balance that works for your real life and realize that growing a blog takes a lot of nurturing, hard work, learning and dedication…but real life comes first.

I’m doing something I’m completely in love with…making our house a home. If I allow it, weeks can go by tied up in projects, taking and editing pictures, writing tutorials, proofreading, hitting “publish” and starting again. A lot of hours go into just one project for one blog post. Add blog maintenance, fun opportunities {some even paid}, blog friendships {there are so many inspiring friends/blogs that keep me on the computer for hours before realizing I missed lunch!} and social media to the mix and you have time to eat and sleep. 😉 It’s important to set time aside for real life. When blogging becomes a full time career, it means the potential to work double time. And while it’s a lot of work, I love it and it’s a good fit for my life. Growing a blog takes time, patience and work but your content is out there. Someone, somewhere, sometime is going to be reading what you’ve written and be inspired.

dream.create.share.inspire

Making new friends is so much fun! Thanks to HomeTalk for the awesome feature and letting me share a little about myself today! Thanks for stopping by! I’d love for you to stay in touch by following DIY Show Off…

Thanks for enduring 4 blogs posts within a 48 hour time frame! There’s just been so much good to share this week with the 3 HUGE giveaways, DIY Fall Festival linky party, today’s fun HomeTalk Bloglight feature and my Joss & Main Curated Collection later today! And I promise that after today, you won’t hear a peep from me until Sunday…where I’ll be hosting the regularly scheduled DIY Project Parade from a warm and sunny vacation US destination. I.cannot.wait!

Painted Striped Curtains {apartment sneak peek}

Posted on October 12, 2012 by Roeshel

Painting Horizontal Stripes on Fabric Curtain Panels

Renovating, furnishing and decorating an apartment = very tight budget. With the main floor needing six panels, Ikea’s Vivan panels were a perfect choice. A set of two panels for $9.99 – what a deal! And they’re huge! 52″ wide x 98″ long. I love all white curtain panels but for the main living space, I wanted to add a little texture, neutral accent and simple pattern. I love horizontal striped curtains. We decided to go with three large neutral stripes, starting from the bottom.

Not according to plan: My plan was to do an ombre design from black, dark charcoal to light gray. I ended up with something a little different. Here’s how I did it, my suggestions on what I would have done differently and why my stripes aren’t ombre.

What I did:

Materials:

Ikea Vivian curtain panels
Paint (fabric paint or latex paint)
Sponge rollers (recommend trying foam rollers)
FrogTape
Tools used: yard stick, iron, sewing machine for hemming if needed

I started by pre-washing and ironing out wrinkles, then spread them out (one at a time) on the dining room table. I used a vinyl table cloth as a “drop cloth” for underneath the panel.

Using my yard stick, I started from the bottom and measured 12 inches, then drew a pencil line.

I used my FrogTape on the outside of my 12″ line to create a crisp border. For the next stripe, I measured 12″ from the edge of the FrogTape. Note: My straight tape lines extended past the panel to secure the edges of the fabric to the vinyl tablecloth to help prevent shifting.

I purchased 3 large bottles of fabric paint in black. My plan was to add white to lighten each stripe. However even three bottles of fabric paint does not go a long way with six curtain panels. I ended up using the black fabric paint for the bottom stripe of each panel.

Dip in paint, roll on cardboard/paper towels then roll onto fabric. My cheap rollers meant I had to go over it a few times but once the roller was saturated with paint, it went quicker.

Then…since we are on a budget, I used latex wall paint – which is the reason I ended up with a black stripe, gray stripe and greige stripe…not white ombre, but neutral! Tip: {figured this out after the fact}, water down latex wall paint for better absorption.

I used a sponge roller from the dollar store for each stripe. Tip: DO not use cheap dollar store sponge rollers. Invest a couple dollars in a better quality foam roller. My cheap sponge roller is part of the reason for a “suede” look…which we were okay with and ended up liking the look, but I also would have liked a more solid result. The faded look is pretty too and when time is an issue, it looks even better. 😉

I painted each stripe, let it dry a little, then hung each panel to dry more thoroughly. So, with six curtain panels, it did take me a couple of days.

I wiped the vinyl tablecloth in between laying out each panel. (Pleasant time saving surprise: The paint on my vinyl drop cloth could be seen through the white curtain panels, meaning after the first one, I didn’t have to measure/mark each panel – I just lined it up on the vinyl drop cloth and taped where the previous curtains’ FrogTape lines showed through.)

I immediately removed my FrogTape once painting was complete.

Once all of my panels were dry, I measure the length and cut from the top, adding 3 inches to create a rod pocket (cutting from the top or bottom means one of those needs hemmed and I found painting from the bottom up easier). I love using curtain rings, but again, 6 sets of curtain rings adds up, and this is a budget friendly makeover.

cutting and measuring…

I creased the extra 3 inches with an iron,

then folded about an inch under and ironed that.

I sewed a straight line near the bottom of the ironed fold to create a rod pocket.

***I’ll share what I did with the “top” piece of the curtain panels soon – cutting from the top left me with 6 valances, just needing a hem.

I gave each panel another quick iron over and now they’re hanging!

Before apartment makeover:

Just a peek of the apartment windows before:

Door paint color is Valspar Gilded Pesto (beautiful chartreuse!).

Sneak peek windows after:

Side note: Since the tiny apartment doesn’t have an entry way or closet, I attached some coat hooks (Hobby Lobby) to a board and screwed it to the door – instant cute coat rack. DIY Show Off bag is from Nest of Posies.

Whatdoyathink? It might make more sense when you see the rest of the apartment, eh? Patience, my friends. I know – not one of my strengths either. 😉

Note: I haven’t washed the curtains after painting, but I’m assuming all will be well – after all, the paint doesn’t wash out of my paint splattered DIY attire.

Update: More apartment details! We are still working on some finishing touches and last minute issues that have come up {the joys of DIY!}, so the reveal has been pushed back. However, there are a TON of DIY details and I’ll be sharing those over the next week or two {and while we’re on vacation}. We think it’s awesome and can’t wait to hear what you think! Little by little…we’ll work up to the reveal!

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

DIY Show Off ™ – DIY Decorating and Home Improvement Blog

DIYShowOff – Budget Friendly Do-It-Yourself Home Improvement and Decorating blog

Tag Archives: Roeshel’s Life

Joss & Main Curator’s Collection is LIVE!

I’m in the {HomeTalk} Bloglight today!

Painted Striped Curtains {apartment sneak peek}