first home makeover: Crafts & Mini Makeovers

Stenciled Curtains

Bare with me while I get through my stenciling addiction. After the frosted stencil pattern I added to the back door, I was in need of more stenciling projects. I decided to turn the utterly drab curtains in the guest bedroom into customized fabulousness.

These curtains were so drab and borrrr-ring

But now they are so fab

For step-by-step instructions on how to replicate this idea, and turn the custom dial up a knotch, check out my full tutorial.

Create Privacy with Frosting

This is our back door BEFORE my curtain alternative design - using frosted glass spray paint

This is our back door AFTER the frosting was applied

Click here to read the complete post on this curtain alternative idea!

Welcome Idea

In the summer months, we love to go tubing down the Delaware river with our friends. Our tubing adventures are four miles long and ususally last approx four hours. I consider our group of friends "professionals" because we've gone so many times over the past couple of years. When we tube the Stockton bridge in Lamberville, PA is always our departing location.

There was one day I floated down the river faster than most of my friends so I had some time to kill in the shallow water. I kept myself busy by pulling up rocks from the bottom of the river. One rock in particular caught my eye (I think because it was so flat). That rock ended up coming home with me. Once home, I had no idea what to do with it so I just threw it on the mulch in my front yard.

Today I was reading up on some blogs when I came across a super cute post, at Finding my aloha, that gave me the idea of turning my special rock into a welcoming front step decoration.

With some supplies I already had lying around (white spray paint, craft knife, and projector paper [for making stencils]), I was able to pull this fun idea off in 10 minutes (for real).

You're Painting WHAT?

That's how the Lowe's employees at the paint counter reacted when I told them, "I'm painting my carpet." As I write about it now, and actually process that statement, I totally get why they reacted the way they did. To some, that's just CRAZINESS!
Here is the carpet in our family room BEFORE I painted it:

And here's the AFTER. What a difference! And what a great way to liven up the room, don't you think?

To read my full tutorial on this super easy area rug idea, simply click here.

V-Day Gift Idea

I was clicking around on on the internet last week when I came across this adorable V-day gift idea posted by Melissa on her blog, 320 Sycamore.

My girlfriend and I wandered into a Michael's Crafts store on Thursday for some "Wedding Invitation" inspiration when out of the blue I remembered this great idea. I immediately abondoned my friend and went searching for the materials.

Here is a picture of everything I needed:

Once I determined the best space on the paper, I outlined the matte and then cut appropriately.

To be sure I glued the letters on the glass exactly where I wanted them, I placed a small marker on the glass to mark the location of the first letter.

Finally, I glued the letters on the glass, added the background paper and matting, and Walaa.

BTW, I gave it to Rob this morning because I was so excited. He loved it.

Bonus: the background paper matches our living room perfectly - so it looks great in there!

1. Picture Frame - $2.99
2. Decorative Paper - $1.00
3. Glue Gun (free from thrift store)
4. Scissors (had)
5. Letters (snagged from Scrabble game)

Total Cost: $3.99

Glass to Class

I found this light during one of my frequent visits to Impact thrift store. At first I was just going to buy a new shade for this light and call it a day. But then, I was reading a post on Centsationalgirl's blog titled Crytal De-light that outlined steps to revamp an old light. Turns out it was the same style lamp as this one - WIERD!