Friday, July 25, 2014

Shimmy on over!



I’m a sucker for a simple project, and this, my friend, is as simple as it gets. I’ve mentioned Shims before, I love using them and buy them in the larger contractor’s packs for only $5! Shims are really light weight and usually used as spacers or to make things fit together, but I am finding all kinds of décor uses for them. My latest project is a wooden shim table runner for our dinning table.
I used my two favorite Rustoleum stains {Dark Walnut & Weathered Gray} and mixed them together to make varying shades. I put one quick coat of stain on the shims with a foam brush and let them dry.
While they were drying I took an old drop cloth to use as a base and cut a piece to the size and length needed. The shims I used were 12 inches long, so I cut the drop cloth 10 inches wide so it fit nicely underneath and wouldn’t show. Once the shims were dry I got my glue gun out and spent the next 5 minutes gluing the shims to the drop cloth. Shims are tapered so I alternated each one to give the runner a little dimension.
I have been wanting to bring more wood tones into the kitchen to compliment the wood flooring we put in and this definitely did the trick! It only took half the pack of shims to complete the table runner so all in all it cost less than $5 to make! I have already started another project using the remainder of the shims and I can’t wait to have it finished!  You can use any scrap material as a base and make the runner to fit any size table. I like that it is not your typical fabric runner, it is unique and brings character to the space! Shimmy on down to the hardware store and buy yourself some shims, their uses are endless!
 
     xoxo,
              Rachele







Friday, July 18, 2014

DIY wall shelves for $10 or less!!

        I have a super easy, cute, and inexpensive project for you all today!! Those are absolutely the best kind! These wall shelves can be made in record time, and with the use of leftover paint, stain, and sandpaper, you can make them for $10 each. I made two for the playroom wall in one afternoon! Including painting them! I wanted a way to display a wall of family photos without putting a million little holes in the wall. This seemed like the perfect solution and I loooove the way it turned out. These shelves definitely make my top 10 list of easy and fabulous DIY projects. 
        The building plans are simple and can be found on Ana Whites website HERE. The only part that could make this difficult is how long I decided to make my shelves, they are almost 8 feet long. It was a tad difficult to do by myself but I got it to work okay. Here are my shelves unfinished...
                        
And the finished product...so cute!!
                   
                   
                   
      I hope this inspires you to add a couple $10 shelves to your walls this summer! It can fill a large empty wall or you can make smaller ones to fit in tight spaces. And finish them to your personal home decor, painted white, stained dark walnut, or whatever your heart desires. Have fun and enjoy the creative process!

Xoxo,
         Katie




Tuesday, July 1, 2014

Love me some USA!


July already! In three short days you’ll be celebrating Independence Day with family, BBQs and fireworks, woo!! I thought it was the perfect time to share one of my latest projects; a rustic wooden sign featuring the good ‘ol US of A! Originally my mission was to make some sort of ‘manly’ wall décor for my brother, which I did, but the hubs and I ended up liking it so much that I made another for us!

What was great about this project was the fact it cost me $7.50 to make both, not each, both! I took myself down to Lowes {my glorious home away from home} and bought 5 fence boards at $1.50 each. The fence boards aren’t great quality and are made from cheap wood but they’re light weight, and their imperfections are perfect for the beat up look I wanted. To make one yourself you’ll only need 3 fence boards and it will only cost you $4.50, sweeeeet!!
Okay, first step… sand those suckers down! You want a rustic look, but you don’t want splinters, so give them a once over to smooth them out a bit. Next, cut 2 fence boards in half and the last board into fourths. You’ll have 4 equal pieces for the sign and 4 smaller pieces to use on the back (you really only need 2 of the smaller pieces for the back, so save 2 for a future use). I stained my boards, which you don’t have to do, but I wanted them dark, so I used my Rustoleum Stain in Dark Walnut and wiped it off as soon as I put it on. To attach your boards together you’ll need to screw your smaller pieces onto the backs. Flip your boards over, line them up and place the 2 small boards on vertically, drilling one wood screw into each board, on each side. I really didn’t explain that well, so look at the picture below to see the back of my signs. Don’t forget to pre drill a pilot hole- otherwise your boards will split!
To get the shape of the United States I made a giant stencil by printing the outline on printer paper, taping the pages together, cutting them out, placing them on my sign and tracing the outline on. I found an awesome website, it had multiple maps and outlines of the US and of each state individually, it lets you decide what size you’d like to print, based on how many pages it will use. I chose a 3x3, so 9 pieces of paper; you can print on 1 sheet of paper or all the way up to an 8x8 on 64 pages! Click HERE to be taken to the website.
Alright, your sign is made, stencil done, time to trace the outline on and paint! I painted along the edges first to give myself a buffer and finished by painting the entire US white. After the paint dried I took the signs back outside and sanded them down a little more to distress and rough them up so the wood showed through the white paint. I made each sign in an afternoon, so it really didn’t take much time and I ended with two rustic signs, one for my brother and one for JD’s man room.
I have seen these types of decorative signs in stores lately and they are expensive! No thank you! You can easily make your own and customize it, I think an individual state would look great and one with a world map would be awesome! Happy Independence Day from the Poplin’s and Ramseier’s, I hope everyone has a fun and safe 4th of July!!

     xoxo,
              Rachele

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