Looking back: 2012 DIY recap

As a DIY’er, I’m always taking a look at what’s not finished, what needs work and planning my next project. But at the end of the year, I love looking back and reflecting on everything we did accomplish. 2012 was a busy year! Here is a recap of some of my DIY. {Warning: This is long. Who knew? Some of these feel like a lot longer than the past year.}

First and foremost…whether you’re a long time DIY Show Off reader or it’s your first visit…welcome! And THANK YOU for your support and encouragement in 2012. 2013 will be my 6th year of blogging and I’m looking forward to many more years!

January – a DIY dressing room reveal with ideas for organization

dressing room

 a stairway/landing makeover

after {now} and all dressed up for Christmas…

stair landing Christmas time

February: vintage inspired craft room reveal

vintage craft room

Reading nook and living room updates…we’ve since installed new distressed wide plank bamboo flooring.

gallery wall, thrift store wall art, console table, stair wall, living room

blue Valentine DIY decorative accents

fun wood block accent tutorial

March: a painted foam puzzle playmat

painted foam playmat, rustic vintage restaurant sign, do it yourself, tutorial painted rug

a tissue paper pouf wreath

tissue paper wreath

 a DIY canvas table runner

clock theme dining room

Easter decorating DIY

 Easter, decor, do it yourself, faux chocolate bar sign, wood sign, centerpiece

DIY peacock feather triptych

April: easy DIY baseboard tutorial

DAP Dyna Flex baseboard caulking tutorial

and talking about chandeliers

repurposed coffee table

May: Styrofoam convex mirror tutorial

DIY convex mirror tutorial

opening the pool at mom’s! I shared my mom’s idea for hanging beach towels…a DIY beach towel rack from large double curtain rod.

curtain rod towel bar

In June, I found some “before” kitchen pictures and shared our kitchen makeover in reverse…

now…

farmhouse kitchen

{more of our eclectic farmhouse kitchen details}

before…

farmhouse kitchen before

The Haven conference was definitely a 2012 highlight: my favorite topics {DIY and decorating} and meeting others I’ve “known” who share my love of DIY and blogging…who’s going this year? This girl right here!

Haven 2012 swag bag

July – I had the pleasure of hosting the Pittsburgh I LOVE Thrifting Day for the 2nd year! An opportunity for my favorite past time: spending time with my girls and family, thrift store shopping and meeting local blog friends.

DIY Show Off #ilovethrifting

August: DIY distressed chevron sign {wood plank}…

garden sign

headboard door pediment

DIY repurposed headboard

Summer & Fall 2012:

before

 apartment walls before

Apartment renovation – I took on renovating a tiny three room apartment from minor cosmetic to interior decorating. From refinishing floors, lots of clean up and painting, a budget friendly bathroom makeover and tons of DIY thrifty decorating fun! While meant to be a summer project, it’s turned out to take a little more time. I don’t mind. You know I love working, DIY and decorating. I will be taking final photos this week and sharing the reveal in the next few days! So exciting! But here are some projects related to renovating and decorating the tiny apartment that I did have a chance to share…

after

Tiffany & Co. spray painted steamer trunk

bathroom floor before

bathroom makeover - before

bathroom floor after {tips for tiling}

Daltile Carrara ceramic tile

See all things related to the apartment renovation here! Reveal and more project updates coming soon.

herringbone accent wall

Rustoleum Countertop Transformations:

Rustoleum Countertop Transformations before and after

Rustoleum Cabinet Transformations/painting kitchen cabinets:

before

apartment kitchen before

after

Rustoleum Cabinet Transformations pure white

September: rustic DIY sign tutorial

distress sign tutorial at DIY Show Off

a kitchen bar makeover. An outdated kitchen bar set gets a new look for a tiny eat in apartment kitchen.kitchen island makeover

October: A little behind the scenes of the DIY Show Off blog. {more of my blogging story and the “real” life behind blogging…not as glamorous as it look!}

life of a blogger quote

November: how to turn a coffee table into an upholstered ottoman.

DIY upholstered tufted ottoman

Decembersitting room mini-makeover.

and a little motivation with colorful Christmas decorating to get the family room makeover going in 2013…

colorful eclectic Christmas

Coming up in 2013? It’s a little ambitious, but here’s a look at my DIY wish list:

  • family room renovation – time to get this eclectic room done! I’m considering making it a bit of a craft space as well. Current craft space is a bit jam packed and upstairs. Who needs a family room right next to a living room anyway?
  • front door and front entryway – I long for a front door, a beautiful welcoming front entry for welcoming guests.
  • pantry and kitchen island – these were meant for 2012 but never started.
  • laundry room makeover – I have the ugliest laundry room on the planet. When we moved in, I relocated it from the scary spidery basement to the first floor. That’s all I can say.
  • bathrooms…I have 2 upstairs that need renovated. Huge embarrassing bathroom spaces. I’m ready for a dream bathroom, relaxing cottage style.
  • master bedroom…always last on the DIY priority list, but maybe ’13 will be the lucky year. ?
  • Not DIY…rescuing a dog (working from home = little socialization and missing the company of our doxie).
  • Haven 2013! Bring it on!
  • Working on some blog design and layout changes as well. Toying with the idea of a new lifestyle blog (with DIY here of course) but thoughts of keeping up with two blogs is sort of scary!

Want to see more DIY?

Would you be interested in DIY Show Off continuing the annual yearly “looking back” linky party? In the past, it’s run the first week of January.

Like what you see? Stay up-to-date in 2013…
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His & Hers painted pillow covers

His & Hers Pillow Covers

I shared my painted upholstered chairs

Christmas sitting room with painted striped chairs

I also liked that the Serena & Lily chair {my inspiration for the stripe} had matching accent pillows.

Serena and Lily Bark Miramar Racing Stripe Chair

I just so happened to have 2 matching pillow cases on hand. What are the chances? I have had them just sitting in a basket in my craft room along with the other supplies. I love when DIY project was meant to be! {Chairs are actually a light grey and the pillows are a linen color…but they look so well together!}

His and Hers Pillow Covers tutorial

Materials:

  • FrogTape
  • two pillow covers
  • latex paint
  • acrylic craft paint
  • stencils

FrogTape-stripe-pillow-cover-tutorial

I measured the width of the stripes on the chairs and using FrogTape,I created the same stripe on the front of my pillow covers. I did insert a piece of cardboard to prevent paint from soaking through the back side. I filled in my stripe with the brown latex paint that I used on the chairs. I removed the FrogTape and let them dry. Then simply used stencils to spell out “His” and “Hers” (using an acrylic craft paint). I’ve read that you can set the paint with a warm iron.

I also liked that some of the fabric shows through for a worn look.

painted pillow cover

Awe…His & Hers

FrogTape painted striped Hers pillow

Now my chairs are complete! Christmas in the sitting room coming soon! 🙂

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

FrogTape Blog Squad

Cue the confetti and balloons! DIY news and a giveaway!-

Do you remember me telling you guys that I won the Purdy grand prize at the Haven Conference earlier this summer? Well, my prize arrived! Inside the box was this..

Purdy

$1000 worth of Purdy products!

OH MY GOODNESS! I’m the luckiest DIY girl in the world today. I won’t have to buy paint supplies for quite awhile. Awesome!

Want to see what $1000 worth of Purdy looks like?

Purdy paint products

It looks Purdy awesome. Imagine the projects I can complete with this stash of goodies!

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And if that wasn’t exciting enough? I have more fun news. Some of you have noticed and have sent me tweets, FB notes and comments. Thank you from the bottom of my heart! Seriously…I’m on cloud 9! And your thoughtfulness has made me feel so special the last couple of days. Thanks for noticing, thanks for taking the time to tell me you’ve seen it!

It’s no secret that I use FrogTape a lot. A LOT a lot. (with the apartment renovation: almost every day!) Well, I recently had a dream come true opportunity to promote FrogTape, a product I do believe in and use in real life – in an advertisement! Woo hoo! You can see an ad in…

Country Living, September 2012

DIY Show Off  FrogTape ad

House Beautiful, September 2012

DIY Show Off FrogTape ad

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Thanks so much to FrogTape and Purdy for making my DIY and painting projects so much easier. Amen, right?

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DIY SHOW OFF favorite product giveaway…

Prize: So, what’s the giveaway? NOT $1000 worth of Purdy but, well, two of my most favorite DIY tools in the whole wide world, of course. I’ll share a bit of my duplicate Purdy products and stash of FrogTape with one DIY Show Off friend. It’ll be just like it’s your birthday too! 

How to win? Winner is open to US residents only. Giveaway runs today through midnight EST Sunday, August 12th, 2012. Good luck! Simply leave a comment for each of the following:

  • Just leave me a note in the comments below. Maybe about when/how we met or what your working on or what DIY has inspired you lately or what makes you happiest or just “hi”. 😛
  • Share this news/giveaway link on Facebook.
  • Share this link to this post on G+.
  • Share this link on Twitter.
  • Pin this post.
  • “Like” Purdy on Facebook.
  • “Like” FrogTape on Facebook.

Thanks for sharing my excitement, thanks for letting me share my excitement! Thanks for tolerating me while I ‘show off’ on my online journal. 🙂 

Disclosure: I did not get paid to write this post. I’m sharing two products that I truly do love and personally use.