Washer and Dryer Stand

I have always wanted pedestal's for my washed and dryer, for the added storage and so I wouldn't have to bend down so much when doing laundry. The problem is that the one's for my washer and dryer are $400!! There was no way I was going to spend that much so when I saw the brilliant stand that Sausha built at Show and Tell, I knew I had to make one. It didn't turn out as cute as Sausha's but I am in love with it!

I built a frame out of 2x4's and then trimmed everything out with MDF and added some decorative trim. I messed up a lot so I had to use a lot of wood filler. Next time I know how to do it much better! I actually built this before we moved into our new house so that we could have it moved with our washer and dryer on top already. Love it!! ( It always helps when you enlist your Dad and Daughter to help too!)

Subway Home Rules Art

I have had a canvas picture of tulips that Jason and I bought from ikea when we were first married. I never liked it but it always matched our house and was only $40 for a big piece of art. When we moved it almost didn't make the move with us, but I knew that I would eventually turn it into something special. Jason got me a Silhouette SD for Christmas (Which I told him I would not be waiting to open) So I got down to using it and created some home rules subway art for our dining room. It was A LOT of work but totally worth it. The whole project cost me $14 total since I already had the canvas to work with. You could do this project with out a cricut machine by using a big printout of what you want and some spray adhesive or contact paper and a exacto knife.

Here is the before. I then designed what I wanted on the computer so I had an idea of how it would all fit. Then I spray painted my canvas with just white primer (Rustoleum brand)

Next I had the task of printing all the words on vinyl and peeling them and putting them onto contact paper and then onto the canvas. I wasn't sure how they vinyl would adhere to the canvas. It did okay. It would work much better on wood. It was weird because the blue vinyl worked great, the tan was okay and the orange was barley hanging on to the canvas. ( I just used old vinyl in colors that I don't really use, but that came in a cheap pack.)

After all the letters were applied I spay painted everything with 2 coats of flat black Rustoleum paint, let it dry and then Brooke and I peeled all the letters off. I still can't decided if I want to antique it or not. I like that it is a little bit more bold and modern then the rest of my decor because it adds some fun. I love how it turned out, although I wish I had used a ruler when placing my letters on. Some of the sayings came out a bit crooked. Now we can remember the things we ought to be doing while eating our food and I don't have to look at the tulips anymore!

Pillows

I recently found some pillows I loved at Just another hang up and had to copy them. I just used her inspiration and then made my own pattern using the size pillows that I had. I just used the guide below for the size of my pillows and pieced the pillow pattern together in any way that I wanted. Then I made envelope inserts in the back. I love how these turned out. So cute! The flowers were made from using long strips of extra fabric, and I just knotted the end and then twisted it around to make the look of leaves and glued with a glue gun. It is super easy. These pillows are great for a beginner. I had never sewed a pillow before in my life and I am pretty pleased with how they came out.

I did these one's for downstairs with matching curtains. Not quite as in love as I thought I would be. I think it is a pattern overload. Oh well, you live and learn. By the way the cheapest place to by pillow inserts is Target you get a 2 pack of 18 x 18 for $4! Here is a guide for how big to make your pillows -

• Your square piece is the size of the pillow form plus 1" square. So if your pillow form is 14", your square piece of fabric should be 15" square.
• Your rectangle pieces are the same length as your square piece on the long edge. For the short edge, they are half your square piece plus 2.5". So, if your square piece is 15" square, half of that is 7.5" and plus 2.5" is 10", so your rectangles should be 10" x 15" each.

Brooke's $35 Furniture

We just moved into a new house and it has a very brown carpet. Brooke's Twin bed that we bought her is black and I had such a hard time finding some bedding that I liked that was girly that went with brown and black. So my solution...new furniture! We moved her twin trundle to our guest room, and then I began the search for a new bed for her. I finally found a solid mahogany twin bed with beautiful lines on Craigslist for $35! I acted fast and picked it up that night. With a little time and paint it is now so perfect. I love it! My mom also gave me a nightstand that was her and my dad's and I did a little magic on it. Here is Brooke's $35 furniture makeover.

Before

After - The old nightstand. It was pretty dinged up and had a veneer on it that was chipped off in some places. I fixed it up a little and spray painted it with a pretty pink color. I also took the doors off of it and just filled the holes and put a basket under instead. Te rug is from PBteen. It is what I designed the room around.

The bed. I didn't even sand this guy. I just primed it and painted it with Rustoleum's Heirloom White. I also spray painted the matte in the pic to match the little pops of pink. I still have a long dresser to do in that room. More updates to come once the room is finished.

Easy Cheap Chalk Board

I'm sure most of you have already seen something like this done, but it is so easy and usable I thought I would share mine. I picked up this frame at the Goodwill for $2.50 and with some leftover paint I made a chalk Board. I just removed the glass and sprayed it with the chalk board spray paint. Then I primed and painted the dinged up frame. There you have it. Easy and inexpensive. I also can't write with chalk because it gives me the heebee geebees so I bought a chalk pen that works great and works just like a pen. This project also works great if you add some vinyl to it. That's on my list of to do's.

Welcome!

Hi everyone. I decided to start a blog about all the little things I do around the house. Why you ask? I guess I really don't know why...I just love doing little projects around the house and have learned so much from all my research and experience that I thought I could share it with anyone who is interested. I love everything about being a homemaker. The decorating, cleaning, cooking, sprucing up, I love it all. I am not an expert by any means, but I have learned a lot of good tips, which is exactly what you will find on this blog. Thanks for checking out the site and I hope you enjoy it!