DIY Fabric Flower Drawer Pulls

I'm really excited to share a project with y'all from this weekend for our baby girl's room!

I can not believe that I'm already in my third trimester and that I'll have a baby girl in less than 3 months! It just blows me away how fast this pregnancy has gone by.

OK, on to the project! It is very sweet and simple, but packs a lot of punch in the cuteness department :)

Take a peek!

We found this dresser on the side of the road in our neighborhood a couple summers ago on our way home from the park. It wasn't perfect by any stretch of the imagination... and we didn't care. 

We painted it white as soon as we got it home, and it was good enough for the time being. Now that I am pulling together a nursery for the new baby I wanted to glam it up a bit. 

I was inspired by this post that I have seen pinned a million times. However for our nursery the look was too clean looking and I wanted something a little bit shabbier.

So, I'll tell ya how I did it!

I used:

Scrap fabric

Sharp Fabric Scissors

Round Objects from the recycling bin

Polyurethane Spray

Scrap Cardboard

A scribe

Cheap Ikea Drawer pulls

Screw driver

1. I cut out various circles using jars from the recycling bin as a template. I chose my patterned fabric to be the back and front and my solid fabric as the middle two layers.

2. After cutting graduated sized circles, I scalloped the edge of the two patterened circles (the smallest and largest) buy just winging it. Then frayed the edges with my thumb nails. This can get very messy, so I'd recommend doing it over the garbage can.

3. I cut into the circle of my solid fabric making chunky petals and frayed them all by pulling them and running my thumb nail across them. 

Here is a photo to give you an idea of the steps above:

After I frayed all of my edges to my liking I wanted to stiffen the fabric up so my flowers wouldn't be floppy around the drawer pulls.

So...

4. I laid my frayed circular shapes out on a scrap piece of cardboard, took it outside and sprayed my fabric with a polyurethane spray. I could have opted for mod podge, it probably would have dried faster and would have been less stinky, but I didn't want to mess with getting fabric pieces in my mod podge and I was trying to make this happen as fast as possible :) 

5. I let my sprayed fabric dry for several hours in the garage.

6. The fabric pieces stiffened up just as I wanted them to! I crumpled them up a bit and layered them up biggest in the back down to smallest in the front and poked a hole through the center of the fabric with this handy tool that my husband has. It's called a scribe, and I'll tell you it worked quite nicely!

7. I stuck the screw for the drawer pull through the drawer from the backside and popped my flowers onto the front side and screwed on the drawer pull in the center. 

8. Last, I fluffed up my flower petals around the pull. I could not be more thrilled about the final product!!!

I think I'll take a little sand paper and some stain to the dresser to rough it up a bit, the white is just a little too clean looking at this point :)

 One last look up close!

You can go here for a look at the changing pad cover that I whipped up for the nursery in the same color scheme.

Later on this week I'll reveal what the rest of this closet looks like in baby girl's room!

If you decide to make your own fabric flower drawer pulls, I'd love to see what you come up with.

Hope your weekend was great and your Monday is sweet to you :)

DIY Water color fabric from an old sheet

Hey Friends!

Y'all know I'm no stranger to working with old sheets!

This time I am working on some additional fabric for Baby girl's nursery decor.

If you missed it, here is my inspiration board. 

I wanted something fun and not perfect to go with the main fabric that I'm using (behind the lettering at the top of my inspiration board.) I don't want to spend more money than I need to and I love to get creative during nap time!!

1. I cut off about 18" worth of fabric from the bottom of my off white sheet and ironed it.

2. I used masking tape to make very uneven lines.

3. I mixed turquoise and white fabric paints to get the color I desired (that complimented my other fabric) and mixed some water in so it got runny.

4. I laid my cut sheet out down the hallway with newspaper under it.

5. I sloppily painted between the masking tape. :) Then I smacked my head because I realized that this was a project the kids could have actually helped with, but they were not here/sleeping.

6. Take your painted sheet piece off of the newspaper while it's still wet and hang over the bare shower curtain rod, or the news paper will stick to the back- which is a hug pain.

7. Let it dry, Iron it to heat set according to paint instructions, then pop it in the dryer on HOT. Your paint is now perfectly imperfect water colored fabric to stitch up to your liking! 

8. I'll wash and dry my fabric again before cutting and stitching it up into my project for baby girl's room!

If you give it a shot, let me know. You inspire me too!!

From Baby Boy Clothes to Baby Girl Clothes

Hey Y'all! 

I believe I mentioned in the last post that things were starting to get a bit more girlie around here! 

I'm going to show you guys how to make or up cycle baby boy clothes into baby girl clothes!

Mr. P and I had so much fun going through his old baby clothes and picking out a preliminary batch to alter for his baby sister who is scheduled to arrive mid June.

On my pinterest board "Baby Girl" I have a miss-mash of projects to take on for her room and inspiration for diy clothing and up cycling!

Photographed above are the first round!

#1. Is one of my own designs. The polka dots made me think of sprinkles, so I stamped a sprinkled cupcake on scrap white linen, cut it out into a square and appliquéd it onto the onesie. Once it's washed a couple times, the edges of the cupcake patch with fray and look pretty cool.

#2. and #4. are inspired by this blog post of an embellished onesie.

#3. Is a simple heart cut out of white linen and I zigzag appliquéd the edges.

Here are a few more photos closer up:

Thumbprint Christmas Ornaments

Holy-moly! I haven't written a blog in a long time! I have been doing numerous things, getting ready for the holidays, spent time with my mother etc... Time has slipped away, but I have needed the down time that I have taken. Whew!

I am sharing a very fun and simple holiday project that we did as a family, Thumbprint ornaments!

Here is my Ornaments Pinterest Board with the pins that have inspired this project!

We started off with inexpensive wooden circles from the craft store.

We painted a base coat of acrylic paint- in this case it was an off white.

I used a paint brush to put brown acrylic paint on every family members' thumb (one at a time of course) and placed it where I wanted it on the wood with light pressure. 

I then used a fine paint brush to paint the eyes, ears and antlers in black and the noses in red. I wrote in red ink at the bottom, but it doesn't look so crisp, so I'd likely not do that this time. This project was inspired by this pin.

For the snowman, the base color is Christmas red and I used Mr. P's pinky and index fingers and thumb. I simply brushed on the off white paint and put them where I wanted them!

All that is left to do is drill little holes at the top, thread some ribbon through and hang them on the tree!

Happy ornament making!

Our Pinterest Inspired Bathroom!

I have to tell y'all that I have no idea where the original image came from, if you know please leave the info in the comments section so that I can give credit where credit is due! This particular photo links up to my Home Sweet Home board on Pinterest.

Isn't this stunning?!

I found this photo on Pinterest a few months ago, and could not stop thinking about it.

Well, Happy Hubby and I got to work!

We already have the dark gray in our home, so we popped open the old can and slapped it on the wall, though we all know painting, even only one wall, takes way more time and patience than just "slapping it on..."

Happy Hubby made me some of his amazing brackets, and we painted some pine board white for the shelves and hung them. 

And this is what we came up with!

It is very difficult to photograph this little nook of the bathroom, so I apologize for the photo, but you get the gist!

Whoop! Whoop!

Here is the view from the mirror :)

Happy Hubby just framed it also, btw!

Next we will touch up the white paint, finally install a tp holder, and spray paint all that brass to look less 90's!

Thanks for letting me show off my Pinterest Inspired Master Bathroom!

Stay tuned!

DIY nightstand from old wood- a free project!

Some people see these old shipping crates and think, "junk."

I see these shipping crates and think, "victory!"

I found them on craigslist, and sent my amazing, willing, forgiving and oh-so-compassionate Happy Hubby to break them apart and bring it home to his creative wood loving wife. 

Wow, I did just type that...

I know pallet projects are all over the place, and I love it!
They are cheap, they reuse/recycle (I'm a huge fan!), and they are so darn cute!

My side of the bed has sadly been looking like this for awhile:

Yikes! That's embarrassing! 

Looks like a dorm room. 

Needless to say I was eager to turn free loot from the pile of crap above into a functional less of an eye sore nightstand... 

So, we got to work.

we cut.

we screwed.

we sanded.

and sanded.

um, and sanded.

we painted.

we sanded.

we sealed.

and here she is...

The shelf to the right is going to go soon...

We are looking less like a dorm room! Yipee!

Not bad for free huh?!

free wood.

white ceiling paint left over.

spare screws.

left over poly-acrylic. 

(Yes, it yellowed a little, which was fine for this project.)

I'm considering adding a little something to the front of the shelves... 

we will see how that goes, you know you'll hear about it when it happens ;)

It compliments our homemade headboard and our luxurious pin tucked duvet cover from old Rit dyed sheets! 

Happy, happy homemaking- one project at a time!

Do you have any free projects or pallet projects you'd like to share? 

Post a link in the comments, I'd love to see 'em!

Wine bottle to vase! A quick project tutorial

I am going to tell you how to turn a wine bottle into a vase!

Remember this post? 

There was really just a smattering of color in the form of fabric and fake flowers that were inspiring me for A & B's bedroom. Whimsical really.

I could not pass up these huge daisies at Michaels at 50% off a couple of weeks ago, but we needed a vase and I really did not want to buy anything. I already hadn't purchased enough fabric with my coupon stash and had to go back to buy more for a measly 10% off. 

I do not like buying things that are not on sale. I think I inherited that from my father...

Ok, on to the tut.

So simple:

1. Raid your recycling (or someone else's!) and select a bottle.

2. Soak it in hot water to scrape curse peel the label off.

3. To get the excess gunk off from the label you can use goo gone, vegetable oil,

 or rubbing alcohol and some salt is a great little abrasive.

4. Wash the bottle very well with dish soap. 

5. Let your bottle dry all the way. 

I waited a whole day, and I lived to tell about it ;) 

6. Spray primer! 

Cover the whole bottle.

7. After your primer has dried (usually about 20 mins or so), 

spray paint your bottle your chosen color. 

In our case it is white.

8. This is the most important part: 

Put your bottle someplace safe and relatively warm and let the paint cure for at least a week. 

This will keep your paint from chipping, peeling or cracking.

**If you choose to add huge whimsical flowers, set them up in varying heights, as seen in the photo, and trim the stems with burley wire cutters. You may have to twist them slightly to get them into the bottle.

DIY Photo canvas for gallery wall

So, I'm hopping on the trendy scene with home decor. The gallery wall... I am working on two at the moment (since we all know that I am self diagnosed D.I.Y- A.D.D), one in my entry way and one in Mr. P's room.

Guess what?!

 Canvases were on sale last week at Joann's- 50% off! I live for this time of year. Honestly, I refuse to purchase a canvas if it is not on sale. I bought a lot of them... 

I just adore how a photo looks on a canvas and I have been known to purchase the Groupon for 60% off said canvas photo mounting. Enter Pinterest to save the day... again!

I found this tutorial (which rocks!) and I decided to do what I do and make it my own.

1. I took baby photos of Mr. P and adhered them to canvas (that I'd painted black brown- top and all 4 sides) with Matte Mod Podge- my fav.

2. I patiently waited for them to dry... about 20 minutes.

3. I covered the top of the photo with smooth horizontal strokes of Mod Podge. The smooth strokes with a paint brush, not sponge are sooo important, in the end you will see the strokes, but they make your photo look like part of the canvas.

4. Again, waiting for it to dry...

5. Fill in the creases between the photo and canvas, around the rim of the photo, you'll end up painting it. Then smooth vertical strokes of Mod Podge across the top (of the horizontal strokes) of the photo.

6. More waiting for it to dry...

7. one last coat of Mod Podge on top of the photo, again smooth horizontal strokes.

8. Waiting for dry....

9. Repaint the edges of the canvas black brown and stipple a bit onto the front rim of the photo- you can see it better on the smaller, lighter photo below.

10. Wait for it to dry.

11. Spray the whole thing with clear flat (unless you like a little shine, then use satin...), acrylic spray paint- I used Krylon!

And, a little side view!

Fabric Covered Laminate- Paula's Photo!

I love to inspire and I love to be inspired!

This is the reason I love blogging :)

Paula read my fabric covered laminate blog post and she was inspired. 

I told her that I would love to see what she comes up with for her drawers, and a few days later Paula sent me this photo of her stacked laminate drawers!

Aren't they gorgeous?! I am so proud of her hard work, they turned out amazing!

If you are inspired by any of the projects I post and you try them out yourself, I'd honestly love to see what you create! 

This is why I do what I do! Inspiration is a delightful thing, isn't it!

Fabric covered wall mounted file holders

I started out with these clear acrylic wall mount file organizers. I got them from Target in the office supply section and they were under $3 each!

Remember my fabric covered laminate drawers? 

Those are for my office, and I had just enough fabric left over for a small project in the same area.

You know I just couldn't leave these clear acrylic file holders alone, so I sanded them down to give them a little grip.

I then slathered on the Mod Podge and wrapped the fabric around the acrylic. Do not be fooled, it seems oh-so-simple, but this is very tedious and time consuming. I got all perfectionist on it...

I mean, just look at these little corners! Make sure you really slap on the top coat of Mod Podge where the fabric overlaps!

Here they are on the wall in my office/crafting space!

I think the best part is that they will also hold a 12x12" piece of scrapbooking paper, so when Mr. P wakes up from nap and I haven't finished my page, I can throw all of the parts in here until I'm ready to finish!

I kept my overlap at the top very tidy since you can see the white fabric through. I don't mind how it looks, but if I were to do it again, I'd likely use darker fabric to hide this. 

I'll throw some labels on these babies like I did on my up cycled cocoa box stamp holder and we will be in business!

And here they are!

(sorry about the blur, not the best lighting!)

Happy Creating!

I linked up:

Tuesday

How to Nest For Less

Creatively Living

Homework

A Bowl Full of Lemons

Vintage Wanna Bee

Refinishing Laminate Drawers- Cover your laminate with Fabric!

My last post was so... um, inspirational.

 I  Happy Hubby put this thing together for me. I found some handles out in the garage, but the screws were too long so Hubs was sent to work with them to cut down.

So this thing has been sitting in my living room all day long while we have walked around it and stared at it. 

I tried to fight the urge. The urge to change it, to do something to it...

But there it sat, boring and laminate and so...white.

And I gave in.

I found this very popular Ikea fabric I had in my stash, why not?! This baby needed some texture!

I cut strips a little wider and longer than the drawers.

Guilty pleasure: I love love love a brand new bottle of Mod Podge.

I had to capture this before I popped the top!

I sanded the laminate drawer faces with 220 grit sand paper and slapped on a medium thick coat of Mod Podge. I had never Mod Podged fabric before today!

I laid my strips on top of the drawer faces (I only did one at a time, allowing the first to dry completely before taking on the second). Since Happy Hubby had already put the thing together, I was not going to take it apart again, so I just propped the drawers open with a yoga block.

I used a brush, but fingers worked better on the edges. Plus, sometimes it's really fun to get glue all over your fingers!! I used Mod Podge to adhere the fabric onto the wood. I liked the fabric feel on the front of the drawer so I did not put mod podge on top of the fabric on the face, but I loaded it up on the sides on top of the fabric so that they wouldn't come all apart.

Here is the face of one drawer with the top edge (on the right) smoothed down.

Here is how I worked with the corners and tucked them in. I really slathered on the Mod Podge here in the corners. I'll likely seal the corners with even more later, depending on how it dries.

And here it is!

I soooooo love this! A million times better than that stark and boring white laminate! The bottom drawer is still drying in this photo. 

I used my seam ripper to poke a little hole in the fabric where the holes were predrilled in the laminate. We then popped a screw through from the front side and attached the handles.

I can not wait to finish it up!!

The top drawer has dried and I have sanded the edges a tad with my 220 grit sand paper to make them a little less sharp. It worked like a charm.

Please subscribe/follow my blog!

I'll post photos when the casters are attached and the printer is at home on top of this *now* sweet little thing!

Now I'm thinking of a million things I'd like to adhere fabric to...

Waaaaahooooooo!

What will you Mod Podge fabric on to?!

Have a rockin' weekend!

xo

Lauren D.

I linked up!

Monday:

Newbie Party @ Debbiedoo's

Tuesday:

Creatively Living

A Bowl Full of Lemons

Wednesday:

Gingersnap Crafts

Friday:

I Heart Organizing

Redoux