They needed some major TLC but at a mere $8.99 (!) each, I knew they would be coming home with me.

I cleaned them up, sanded them lightly and gave them several coats of paint. I also sprayed the handles with an oil rubbed bronze spray paint. And here are the little darlings now:

I just love these little tables and I found the perfect matching lamps for them once they are in place in my living room!

Oh, what fun! It only took approximately an hour and a half to wallpaper all of these risers. Now that the steps have a fresh new look I will need to touch up the paint on the treads. (Yes, that is wallpaper at the top of the stairs. It was such a beautiful paper I had to use it on the walls!)

Next project…

This little guy was not as easy as the steps. Once I got the piece of wallpaper cut out, I had to glue the seam and  carefully use clothespins to hold down the paper around the top and bottom rims until the glue dried. It turned out better than I expected but I would still like to perfect the technique.

I have several more wallpapering projects planned that I will share with you shortly. In the meantime, grab some wallpaper and have fun!

After several coats of black chalkboard paint (I like to use Rustoleum’s Chalkboard Paint-you can find it in quarts at Home Depot)…

(yes, those are the still-surviving glitter pumpkins from Halloween!)

Three days of curing,  then priming with chalk…

The finished product…

I am very happy with the new chalkboard. I used to hang my plain, boring calendar in this spot. I now have a custom calendar plus extra space for notes & doodles.

My house is 100 yrs. old this year! Look for upcoming posts featuring before and after photos of my entire house.

drapery panels from Ballard Design

Instead of b00-hooing about the fact that I could never afford these curtains, I decided to try my hand at hand-stamping my own curtains. I had two pairs of white sheer panels that I had purchased at our local dollar store (total for two pairs: $20). I would have preferred a heavier fabric but since I already had these curtains I decided to use them.  I had some black fabric paint on hand, so all I needed to do was design a stamp.

I first looked at several medallion patterns online and made a few sketches. Since the homemade stamp was going to require a lot of fine cut work I decided to use the simplest design.

I traced my design onto some craft foam, cut it out using an X-acto knife…

…glued the cut out design to a wood block…and presto! A homemade stamp was born.

I spread one curtain over my dining room table and went to work stamping. I quickly learned that the panels shifted easily, causing the paint to smear, so I placed a white sheet of paper under each area that was to be stamped and heat-set the design with a blower dryer before moving on to another area.

In about two hours (phew!) I had new curtains that cost a fraction of what I would have spent on designer panels!

In the future I will be looking for heavier weight panels (probably a cotton/twill blend) as these sheers are great for summer, but I would prefer something sturdier for the winter months.

Although the days of sticky dough and messy glue are gone (well, maybe a bit of messy glue is still necessary!), I still enjoy making my own Christmas ornaments and decorations.

I usually try to use whatever I have on hand – pipe cleaners, felt, glue, spray paint, glitter, or paper. From paper snowflakes to sewn felt ornaments – I think homemade is the best!

This year I had a bunch of left over craft felt so I got busy cutting, sewing and stuffing and came up with these…

…super cute, and super easy. All you need is felt, rick-rack, ribbon, a sewing machine and a bit of stuffing to give the ornament dimension.

Another favorite, and super simple ornament – pipe cleaner snowflakes:

You simply cut lengths of pipe cleaner (use old scissors or wire cutters) and twist them together to form snowflakes.

This year I snagged a ton of glass ornaments on clearance and decided to decorate them with glue and glitter:

These are a bit messy and time consuming but they are really cute. Since I had the glitter out and had a bunch of dried beechnuts, I decided to glitter them as well…

I tied ribbon to them and hung them on my branch display. I love these, and so does the cat! We find them on the floor almost every morning. I knew I wanted to decorate with white branches this Christmas so in the fall I collected and spray- painted branches white and then used them for display…

And also made them into a wreath that I then wrapped with a garland I purchased at Ikea.

So…go root through your drawers and see what great things you can find to make your own homemade ornaments. Have a safe and happy holiday!

My daughter has had contact dermatitis since she was a baby and her doctor suggested that it may be from the detergent I was using. So, I switched from my normal laundry soap and tried dye free, fragrance free, organic, natural, blah, blah, blah detergents with no luck. She continually broke out in an annoying rash. I had just about given up when I read about homemade laundry detergent. It seemed easy enough, so after perusing many sites and collecting as much info as I could, I headed out on the homemade laundry detergent journey.

Please note that my detergent recipe is one that works for me – and for my daughter. Since using the homemade detergent  (for about a year, now) she hasn’t had one single outbreak of dermatitis. If you want your clothes super-fragrant and fluffy, this isn’t the detergent for you. If you expect lots and lots of suds when washing…you won’t get that with this detergent. What you will get is super clean clothes at a fraction of the cost of regular detergents!

I’ve made both the powdered and liquid types of detergents – they both have their pros and cons which I will share with you.

Powdered Laundry Detergent Recipe

• 1 bar Fels Naptha (Kirk’s Castile soap, Zoat or any hard milled/castile soap)
• 1 box Borax
• 1 box Washing soda

All ingredients can be found in the laundry aisle at your local supermarket. Use one entire bar of Fels Naptha grated (you can use a metal cheese grater or a food processor). Make sure the soap is finely grated. Add one cup of Borax and one cup of Washing Soda. Mix well, store in airtight container. When making the detergent I usually double or triple the recipe so I have a large quantity on hand. If you’d prefer more of a fragrance you can add a few drops of any essential oil. I use lemongrass or spearmint in mine. Use approximately 3TBS per large load of laundry. It is suggested that with every other load you add white vinegar to your rinse water to avoid getting soap build-up in your washer. I just add the vinegar to the fabric softener cup. Als0, if you feel your clothes aren’t bright enough you can add OxyClean to the dry detergent as a laundry booster.

Homemade Powdered Detergent

PROS

• Easily made and stored
• Long lasting

CONS

• Must dissolve detergent in washer before adding clothing – hot water works best
• Must add vinegar in rinse water, every other load, to avoid soap build-up in washer
• Cannot be used in front-loaders

Liquid Laundray Detergent Recipe

• Fels Naptha 0r Kirk’s Castile soap
• Borax
• Washing Soda
• Liquid castile soap (like Dr. Bronner’s)
• Plastic container (1 gallon or larger – I use a one gallon vinegar container for easy pouring)

Grate 1/2 bar of soap, finely. Bring one quart of water to boil. Lower heat to medium and add grated soap. Stir and let soap dissolve. Remove from heat and add 1/2 cup Borax, 1/2 cup Washing Soda, 1/2 cup liquid castile soap to melted soap mixture, stir well. Pour into plastic container. Add one gallon of very hot water. Shake or stir well. The mixture will be very goopy/chunky. Shake well before using. Use 1/4 cup per large load.

I use Dr. Bronner’s Lavender Castile Soap which gives it a pleasant, not to over-powering scent. Dr. Bronner’s also comes in Almond and Peppermint which I will be trying soon. Essential oil can also be added for fragrance.

Homemade Liquid Detergent

PROS

• Dissolves easily in water
• Has more fragrance than powdered detergent

CONS

• Messy and time consuming to make
• Must have large storage container
• Doesn’t last as long as powered recipe
• Cannot be used in front loaders

Close-up of the chunky/goo

The ingredients cost approximately $8 – and that $8 provides me with 4 large batches (of the powdered version) which lasts almost a year!

Here is a great site that offers plenty of  recipes and FAQ’s about homemade laundry detergent:

TIPNUT

Good luck with your homemade laundry detergent venture. Please feel free to share your thoughts/recipes/findings with me. Happy washing!

I took one long piece of burlap and quickly covered the frame; hand  stitching it around the top and bottom.

It wasn’t the finest job, but I wanted something quick, because that’s how I am. Plus, my free time is so rare these days I wanted to move on to the next project!

If I had been more patient I would have cut individual pieces to fit each side. I tied pieces of jute around the frame corners to tighten the burlap. And into the bedroom it went…where I filled it with tiny white Christmas lights.

It looks great at night. The perfect mood lighting!

I love this piece so much that I’m going to work on a hanging version for the corner of my living room. Stay tuned!

I was in desperate need of a quick and easy advent calendar idea, seeing as it is already December 1st! After perusing several ideas in magazines and on the web, I came across the perfect, quick project…a baby sock advent calendar…thank you, Martha Stewart.

It took no time at all for me to gather some of my daughter’s baby socks. I have a tendency to save EVERYTHING and I knew just which box the socks were in. Unfortunately, many of her socks were white, which just wouldn’t do, so I popped out to our local dollar store and purchased a few pair of new, colorful socks. I had previously purchased the pink wired ribbon, scrapbook paper and the ornament hooks so I was ready to get crafting.

To make this simple, yet adorable, baby sock advent calendar you will need:

• 25 baby socks

• ornament hooks or small clothes pins

• ribbon

• scrapbook paper

• candy, treats, toys, etc.

HOW TO:

• Cut ribbon to desired length

• If using ornament hooks insert one hook into top of each sock (if using clothespins continue on to the next step)

• Cut scrapbook paper into 25 strips, write numbers 1 through 25 on strips (I also wrote a little note at the bottom of each strip for my daughter – some were inspirational messages, others were directives about what we would do that day ie: decorate the tree, make cookies)

• Insert numbered strips into corresponding socks

• Insert candy or a small gift into each sock

• Hang socks on ribbon

Martha’s was a bit more traditional but I like the funky spin the colors add to mine.  Happy Holidays…and happy crafting!

This work is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.

I also added a piece of chalk tied to a string so it’s easily accessible for writing grocery lists.

Since we’re on the subject of chalkboards, another fun find was this Chautauqua Desk:

I found this piece at an auction for $3.00. It was in pretty rough shape and missing many parts. I was interested in the chalkboard and managed to salvage it. I put a hanger on the back and this lovely piece now hangs on my porch wall to welcome guests.

This work is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.

Vintage stained glass windows come in all shapes, sizes and varying colors. My very first stained glass window was purchased at a flea market for only $15. I pulled another window out of my neighbor’s trash! In a few easy steps you can have a fabulous piece of stained glass hanging in one of your windows.

Once you choose a stained glass window all you have to do is bring it home and give it a good cleaning. I like to use Ecover Multi-purpose cleaner – it’s environmentally friendly and has a light, lemon scent. Murphy’s Oil soap also works well. I chose to leave my stained glass windows untouched – just like I found them. If you prefer a cleaner, more polished look you can sand the wood frame, and use a wood stain or paint.

Project Skill: Beginner

You will need:

• Drill

• 2 sets of screw eyes and c hook screws

• Pencil

To hang the stained glass window:

• Drill two holes in the top of the stained glass window frame approximately 3 inches from either edge.

• Insert the eye screws into top of window frame.

• Have someone hold the window so you can mark the appropriate spots to drill for the c-hooks in your window frame.

• Drill holes and insert c hook screws.

• Mount stained glass window on c hooks.

Another creative and inexpensive way to make your home cozy!

This work is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.