Tag Archives: DIY

09.10.13

DIY update of old treasure

Posted by Christina // 6 Replies

I mentioned yesterday that we went treasure hunting last weekend. Tomorrow I am going to share all of our fun finds but I had to show you my favorite quick update.

When I saw this gem of a glass-platter-thingy…seriously what are these called…I knew it had to come home with me. I love picking up pieces like this because the options are endless. She’s a looker right. With her sweet old country quilt scene. I considered gold leafing the plate and staining the wood, but decided on a more fun approach. I put a quick coat of Pantone’s color of the year around the base and then cut out a cool piece of graphic scrapbook paper. I intended to glue it down but then decided that I would love it more if I could change it up with just a paper cutout. Just look at her makeover. Have you done any quick updates?
Will you ever get sick of Emerald?
What is that thing called seriously?

08.29.13

Holiday Lamp Challenge...rebounding

Posted by Christina // 10 Replies

Yesterday I told you all about my grand plans for an early Christmas victory.

I also revealed my excitement that Lamps Plus and Hometalk got together, gathered some bloggers and gave them each a fillable lamp to make their own. There is nothing I love more than a crafting challenge, except maybe procrastinating….which explains why last night I spent the whole night try to be creative on the spot thanks to that first fail.

I knew I was heading in the gold direction. There is no better time to mix metallics than during the holidays, so I embraced it a little early. When I found some pretty gold fabric I knew that had to be the shade cover. Unfortunately, since I am not a professional photographer I had a lot of trouble showing you how pretty this fabric really is. I wanted to avoid anything predictable for the base, but guess what I fell in love with….the definition of predictable. Throw a quirky quote in and I am sold. I know it looks a little plain in that picture up there, but that’s because you can’t see all the glamour of that fabric. In person, it’s like Jessica Rabbit walking straight through my living room. You know it’s all about the details anyways. I fell hard for the clear ornaments, and ate my words on not wanting to use them. I just love how they reflect the light and sometimes look like bubbles in the lamp. I think I will keep them forever. The gold glitter adds that extra something, the oomph to my oh la la.

The best part is, I can change out the base any dang time I want. This is my kind of ever-lovin-mind-changing lamp. Maybe one day I will figure out the sand, one day.

Do you think I made a good rebound from yesterday’s fail?
Did you get my “bright” joke?
What would you have filled this lamp with?

08.28.13

Lamp fail...

Posted by Christina // 13 Replies

A little while back I got way too excited to take part in a makeover challenge….especially considering I wasn’t on an episode of Jenny Jones Geek to Chic….I was just taking a very classy lamp from Lamps Plus and giving it some holiday glitz. You know how I love a crafting challenge.

The fine folks at Hometalk (have you been there….if you haven’t what the heck are you waiting for) and the sweethearts at Lamps Plus were kind enough to send us a snazzy fillable lamp to makeover just in time for the holidays. What? Don’t tell me that holiday preparation can’t start in August, Scrooge….I say bah humbug all the way to the ornament aisle with that nonsense. I could start Christmas crafts in March if Tim would let me.

So I began brainstorming. I let my Christmas creativity creep all up in my head. I came up with a brilliant plan, no ornaments, no pinecones, no lights. I wanted to fill my lamp with a glorious Christmas scene for everyone in our home to admire. Our dogs are totally into Christmas scenes.

I would put snow in the bottom and take those old Christmas figurines that old aunt Edna gave me and give them the razzle dazzle. Then I would doodle some pretty gold dots for the daytime effect and when you flip that switch BAM…you have snow falling on our little town. It was going to be the Christmas lamp trifecta, well…doublefecta since it really only had two looks.

Here is a sneak peek of us brainstorming our pretty city pre-gold dots. It sort of looks like a Halloween town so I feel like we were killing two birds ya know. We give love to all holidays, no discrimination. So I scavenged for fake snow. Seriously, did you forget it is August. Finally settled on white sand and got to work laying the fancy down on my little people. Then the unthinkable happened, I tried to put it together. How do I put sand in from the bottom and keep my little people all adorable. Well, I left that part up to Timbo.

See we will just glue the people to the foam see. And then see we will just pour the sand in the top see, and then I will just use these here tongs to perfectly place your little people. Oh wait…how will I do that without the sand coming out the bottom? And this long rod will make it very hard to maneuver in there. Well, actually…this isn’t going to work. Come up with Plan B.

Literally, after spending hours hand-painting figurines and taking photos and searching for fake snow…I was told to, ahem, and I quote, “scratch that”. Squeeze me?

If you need me I will be at home, rocking back and forth while I try to think of some sort of Christmas miracle.

08.20.13

Wedding Week...Something New

Posted by Christina // 28 Replies

We are beyond excited to be kicking off Wedding Week with “Something New” that we DIY’d to make our wedding a little more special and über-sentimental. It is my favorite project we’ve done to date.

One of the only things we know for sure about our wedding is the where. We fell in love with Lost Hill Lake Events, and decided almost immediately that we had to say our vows in the Walnut Grove. It felt special and magical, and just so “us”. Although Sofi Seck’s photo below is amazing, it is even better in person. Swoon. While thinking about our ceremony, we knew we were far from traditional. We both love the concept of a unity candle but I don’t need another candle that I can’t burn and I don’t understand how anyone keeps that unity sand looking pretty. Seriously, do you walk it home?

So Tim and I decided on a unity tree, with soil from both of our childhood homes. Wait, it gets better. The owner of LHLE is unbelievably sweet and almost as sentimental as I am and offered up one of their very own Walnut saplings. A baby tree from our wedding venue, with the soil from our families, to start our new life together…someone get me a tissue with a quickness. 1.2.3

We knew we wanted to include a unity tree, but we also knew we didn’t want just any planter. It had to be special. We had to make it. We looked at lots of inspiration from here and here and finally got to work. We even decided to use some of the wood flooring we yanked out during our bathroom remodel. In 80 years we will look at that planter and reminisce on our first house, and all the fun projects we tackled. I hope. I am so excited to give these jars to our moms, I know they will get a kick out of this quirky tradition. Much more than lighting a candle…and I can’t wait to get my hands on some of my future Mother in Law’s magic soil! Make our Walnut tree grow, grow big and strong, then maybe one day we will have a Walnut grove of our own. For now our pretty planter will sit waiting for new life and new beginnings. Until then, I am having fun imagining what our planter can be used for once our new tree finds a more permanent home. A pretty fern perhaps? Make sure you check back tomorrow for Casey’s Something Old.

Have you ever heard of a unity tree?
Any tips on growing a Walnut tree?
Did you buy the blue special edition tinted Ball jars too?

08.08.13

Rustic DIY Raised Planters

Posted by Christina // 7 Replies

Early this spring Tim and I declared the desire to be more self-sufficient.

One of the ways we decided to “make it happen” was to attempt to build some raised planters over our bomb shelter, just kidding. Wanted to make sure you were still with me. Raised, obviously, so I can avoid worms. Yes, I know how good they are for your garden but I prefer not to be curled up in the fetal position soaked in sweat and tears. In case you don’t know how weird I am, read this.

We weren’t quite sure where to start. I told Tim I would love something that gained character as it aged, something rustic and made of real wood. I wanted our veggies to feel like they were on a real farm. I also didn’t want to bend, and can I get a ledge? That sweet boy just smiled and nodded.

So we wandered the aisles of our favorite blue store and gathered lots of different materials to experiment with. Wood and screws and stain and tin and heavier wood and posts. Then this happened.

Remember way back when, we hinted that we were building something. Now you get the full picture, but don’t let that video fool you….he wasn’t doing it all alone. I helped a lot, we just don’t have a third trigger man to capture those teamwork moments. We are now accepting live in interns that also clean, cook, and sew.

When we call the project a wrap we had a perfectly imperfect rustic garden bed. I love things that I don’t have to worry about keeping in pristine condition, because let’s face it I am not very good at that sort of thing. I think these bad boys are only going to get better with age. See how it’s already weathering, meow. The funny thing is, we had a beautiful garden for about three weeks. Here I will prove it. Don’t those look tasty? Then, this thing called Haven happened. A whirlwind of mass chaos between preparing and attending left our garden, ahem, unattended. Which also means unwatered. And unpruned. Holy tomato growth. It’s basically a jungle on the one side and a barren corn desert on the other. When I came home from Haven, I couldn’t help but laugh at the tomato tree we had. I know more than a few of you all are practically professionals at this, so help a sister out. Do we cut those tomatoes back? Is there any saving that corn? Who wants to send me “watering reminders” every day?

Have you ever built a garden bed?
What do you grow each year?
Wanna come play in the tomato jungle?

07.11.13

We have a whole new house....sort of

Posted by Christina // 18 Replies

So maybe you haven’t been a “homie” for very long and have never seen our home. Or maybe you were so enamoured by our backyard BBQ that you missed it. Or maybe you just don’t notice things like a whole house changing colors. But it happened.

Our home went from peely, faded yellow…. to sweet, smoky gray. It’s sort of funny because looking at the photos above, the before doesn’t look that terrible. Don’t be fooled though, it was quite terrible.

We really thought long and hard about siding, but decided it is just not in the budget now. Any “exterior” money we have saved is going towards a roof that we are in dire need of. So paint we must.

Gray was the obvious choice, since it will soon be my last name.

We spent four weekends cursing the rain for hindering our progress, then spent the next week thanking my dad for all of his hard work painting our house while we were at work. Someone get that guy an award. He busted his hump because I had originally said I wanted to have it done by the Fourth. What a guy.

He was even sweet enough to leave our little birdie friends in their home. Now do you see the drastic difference in color?

Apparently our house brings all the birds to the yard, and they are like…I’ll poop on your car. I feel like I should be in our back yard singing so that they can land on my fingers and tweet along, then I can put those birds to work. Ala Snow White and all her “helpers”. I have plenty of dishes for them to do, trust.

Have you ever painted a whole house?
Have any bird babies at your house?
Do you have an incredible dad too?