Sugar & Spice!

We recently put in a new kitchen and now there is a space above the cabinets for cute little decorations! I wanted something sizable up there but wasn't sure what to do. With a little brainstorming, my sisters and I decided on a "Sugar & Spice" sign. We wanted to frame out each letter using a variety of frames. I gathered the frames I already had on hand, and then made a quick trip to Goodwill to complete the look. We spray painted the frames that were not already black, to match the black ones I already had. Then we cut scrapbook paper to fit each frame. I used a different pattern for each one but kept them all in the same color scheme. Now here was the time consuming part...I hand painted all the letters on to the paper. I used my wall paint colors to tie it all together. One thing that made it easier was to pencil the letters first and then paint over it. When they all dried, I put them in the frames and set them up where I wanted them. And here we are....

I simply love how it turned out! It was so easy to do too! The best part is, if I decide to change it later, all I have to do is whip up new letters and I can change the entire look!

--Wendi



My favorite tool? - Spray Paint

Recently I have discovered a new love in my life...Spray paint! Seriously, this stuff can work miracles! If you haven't used it yet, I highly recommend trying it! I can almost guarantee you will fall in love! Anyway, the reason I love it is because everyone knows that paint can breathe new life into anything, but spray paint makes it so quick and easy! Here are a few things that I gave a quick spritz and now they are some of my favorite pieces!

I found this little guy at Ross for $5! I wasn't fond of the color so I gave it a coat of Rust-oleum satin finish Ivory Silk! And now....



It's perfect for my kitchen!

I was on Pinterest the other day and I saw a ton of painted glass vases and thought I would give it a go...with a twist! Like the fleur de lis vases I did, I rummaged through the "trash pile" from our renovations and saw these glass pieces on a nasty old ceiling fan! A little Ivory Silk paint and Presto!....



Now they are all set for their new life as a vase! I have also put a candle in them and they have such a beautiful glow to them! So whatever I need them for, they are good to go!

So I desperately needed to add flowers to my kitchen/dining area but with the price of flowers these days, I couldn't do an arrangement the size I wanted. I went my stash of roses. (My hubby helped some friends move and brought home a huge bag of flowers that they were getting rid of) As you can see on the left, these flowers were fading, tomato red! Not exactly what I was going for! I got the idea to paint them, like I had done before in my Rose Petal Christmas Tree project. But hand painting was not an option! So with a can of Rust-oleum satin finish Claret Wine spray paint, I set out on an adventure! I HIGHLY recommend wearing a glove when spray painting flowers...also singing the Alice in Wonderland song "Painting the Roses Red" helps pass the time! While those were drying, I painted an old basket with black spray paint! Then when everything was done drying I got some Styrofoam blocks in the basket and started poking the flowers in! Voila!

Now I finally have flowers that are the right color!!

Thanks for stopping by!!

--Wendi

DIY Dry Erase Board

So I'm sure most of you have seen this idea before, but I thought I would share anyway! I got a great frame from Goodwill for $2. The only downer...it was hunter green. But thanks to my new found addiction to spray paint, I quickly changed that. I did a quick coat of Rust-oleum satin finish black paint and BAM I had a whole new frame! Then I cut some scrapbook paper (I chose a neutral color and a subtle pattern so that the board could be as versatile as possible)! Then grab a marker and get to writing!!

Growing up, we always had a dry erase grocery list in the kitchen. As we noticed that we were almost out of something, then we would add it to the list. This made my mom's life so much easier when it came time to shop!

Change it up for any occasion like birthdays, celebrations, holidays, etc.

Write out a menu for the week!

I didn't write anything on the actual paper so my board is entirely dry erase. If you only wanted it for groceries, you could print the word "Groceries" on the top and maybe put in a few bullets for a more permanent solution. Likewise, if you wanted it just for menu planning, you could print "Menu" and each day of the week on the actual paper so you wouldn't have to re-write it each time! Enjoy!

--Wendi



Fleur De Lis Vases

Ok guys! So lately we have been doing a ton of renovations on our house. In the process we have created a lot of waste by just throwing out the old, so I thought I would go through the "trash pile" and see what I could salvage! I saw an old light fixture that used to be in one of the bedrooms but, because we did not like the fixture, we replaced it! Here is a picture of the light fixture!

Please ignore my goofy face! My dad caught this candid moment of me in complete awe of this light! And yes when we bought the house, it was missing a piece of glass from the fixture!

Anyway, I saw the metal pieces and wondered if I could somehow turn them into a vase! With the help of my younger sister, we demolished the light fixture and finally got our hands on the metal!



Then I had to hot glue the base to the top.

Here is where I got ambitious! I decided to free hand a fleur de lis on each of the vases! And because I didn't think I could duplicate the same one for all three, I did three different styles of fleur de lis! I just used a pencil to draw on the design.

Then, I used an idea I saw on pinterest! The pinner had used hot glue to make the design pop off of the vase and then spray painted over all of it! Well...I don't have the most stable hand with a hot glue gun so I thought puffy paint would have the same look! It was so easy to work with! While I was drawing on the fleur de lis, my sister went through and outlined them with puffy paint! Take a look!

We did this for all three, and then I even added a second layer to it so that it would stand out even more! We let them dry overnight and then did a quick coat of Rust-oleum silver metallic finish pray paint! I almost cried tears of joy when I saw the finished product!

And here they are!! I couldn't be happier with the results! And the best part is, I used stuff I already had on hand to do it all!! For me, these are always the most rewarding projects!!

--Wendi



Cute candles!

More Christmas decorations! Last Christmas we found some adorable ribbon at Michael's along with some really pretty bling (all of which was on sale)! This was one of the easiest crafts we did the entire Christmas season! Ready?

We just tied a bow around this candle! Then to dress it up, we attached the bling using a little dab of hot glue! Best part? If you decide you don't like the ribbon next year, just take it off and use a new ribbon! It would also be really easy to do a different ribbon for each season! (I just haven't done that yet)

--Wendi

Rose Petal Christmas Tree

Ok, so I know it might be a bit early for christmas decor already! I actually did this last christmas and I love how it turned out. My hubby brought home a ton of fake flowers from someone he had helped move. I loved that I had all these flowers but they didn't match anything in my house, so I tucked them aside for a rainy day. My sister and I wanted to make some of those adorable christmas trees we had seen on so many blogs but didn't know what to use.

Then my sister got the brilliant idea to use these old flowers! Of course we didn't care for the bright/fading red color so she decided to hand paint the petals! Ambitious right? But it turned out so great! Take a look!

 We made a cone, using cardstock for the tree shape. Because we wanted a larger tree, we just wrapped the paper around itself until we got it to the right shape. Then we trimmed the excess paper on the bottom so it would sit flat.

We cut all the petal clusters so that we had a bunch of individual petals.

Then, to be really picky, we sorted the petals by size. We used the large petals for the bottom and got progressively smaller as we reached the top.

We would put a dab of hot glue and attach the petals. Be sure to overlap so that the tree looks more full!

Last of all, we made a cone shape out of a large petal for the top!

Here is the finished product!

My mom also made one but used the leaves instead of flower petals! It turned out very cute and had more of a traditional christmas tree look! I am looking forward to making more this christmas. Any suggestions of what materials I should use this time?

--Wendi

Saving the Drab Dresser

So when my dear hubby and I got married, we acquired old furniture from our parents and other relatives. One of the pieces we got was this old solid wood dresser that is 20 some odd years old. Let's face it, the dresser had seen better days, but with a tight budget, we can't afford a new one right now. So with that, I decided to give it a coat of paint! With the help of my dad, sister, and cousin, we were able to get it done pretty quick! This was my first furniture redo so it didn't go as smooth as I'd hoped. I underestimated how much paint I would need, so I had to make an additional trip to Home Depot. I used the Rust-oleum Painter's Touch primer spray (in grey) and the Rust-oleum Satin finish black spray paint. I used 3 cans of primer, and 4 cans of black (I also used more than was probably necessary because my primer wasn't thick enough on top so the paint kept seeping into the wood and I had to sand down the top and redo it). I didn't even do heavy sanding before either, just a slight sanding using the 220 finishing grit! Then for the hardware, I used the Rust-oleum metallic finish (silver) spray paint. When all was said and done, it turned out great! I will definitely be redoing more furniture in the future!

--Wendi

Before--notice all the scratches in the finish

The worst scratches were on the top!

Close up of the hardware

It never ceases to amaze me how much of a difference paint can make.

Much better right?

No more gold!

Welcome!

Hey guys! I have been meaning to start a blog for quite some time now but never got around to it! A little bit about me: I love finding cheap ways to make things pretty again! With that being said, I think you know where I'm going with this blog now! I have already finished a few projects now and I'm super excited to start sharing them with the world! I'm all about keeping it simple so none of these projects are very complex! I hope you can all find some ideas that work for you and that we can share our tricks with one another! ENJOY!

--Wendi