Removing chrome rust

Last week I picked up an adorable yellow Cosco stepping stool on CL for $15. I've always wanted one in yellow and it will now come in handy to get at those high items in my office.



The down side, it had speckles of rust all over the chrome legs because it had been stored in a moist basement. The solution? Well I used crumbled up aluminum foil and rubbed the rust right off without scratching. If you have something smaller people even suggest soaking the chrome item in cola, then crumple up some foil and use it to scrub the rust away. Rinse with warm water and wipe dry. Make sure you have something underneath to collect the rust dust, it gets kinda messy.

New bathroom sconce

I went with the Possini Euro. I like the clean look and the metal rectangle kind of goes with my shower door motif. My husband drilled a big hole through the wall and we were able to get everything done in two days. I was the little helper and forgot to take any photo's of the process, but here's a picture of the bathroom before. The room has way more light! Hmm I wonder where else I can stick another sconce, these things make a room look wonderful!

Installing blinds

I previously mentioned that I was getting roller shades from Blinds.com to fit my strange, large windows. Well, they've arrived!

When my husband and I are doing any kind of home improvement, there is usually some amount of frustration and hours of wasted time trying to figure out how to complete the project. For once, that didn't happen: the blinds literally went up with just four screws! Blinds.com customer service guided my husband through the measuring process and custom-made the blinds to fit perfectly inside the window box. All you need to install them is an electric screwdriver.



They look really, really good. They give just the right amount of privacy and protection from the sun, while still being able to see outside. It's really crazy how good they make the room look! Stay tuned for an upcoming before-and-after pictorial!

Thanks to the nice folks at Blinds.com for sponsoring this project!

DIY: Make a mod cardboard mobile

Heather from dollarstorecrafts.com took one of my mobile prints and turned it into an actual moving mobile from materials you would have in your craft stash. Click here to see how she made one.

Pots with a Personal Touch

Martha Stewart had some really great examples of hypertufa pots in her March issue. Hypertufa is a mix of perlite, Portland cement and peat moss. It looks like cement but is much lighter. Click here to watch her how to video.

Wall texture

Mio Culture Ripple PaperForms


Inhabit Living Wall Flats


Check out how Jackie from Tiny Decor installed her Inhabit Wall Flats. Fabulous!

My DIY tray project (before and after)

I've had this plastic tray for sale in my Etsy vintage shop for months, priced at $4. It had a cute asian-looking design, but it had some scratches and I didn't think anyone would ever buy it. Sooo... I gave it a new mod facelift! I sprayed it with red Krylon spray paint and I made some custom vinyl circle decals for the center. I love it now!!

Creative wrapping paper

images via Martha Stewart

I think homemade gift wrap is the bomb! I love using old newspaper or brown craft paper tied with yarn. I think I might even attempt this diy bow I saw on www.howaboutorange.blogspot.com, so cool!


via www.howaboutorange.blogspot.com

Plates

Have you ever collected so many plates that you don't know what to do with them all? Well, you just might want to try hanging them up on your walls.

I love, love, love Lisa Congdon's hanging plate display! (pictured above) The idea of hanging plates isn't a new one, but I love her fresh and colorful approach. I've been wanting to do something like this in my home with all the odd plates that I pick up at flea markets. I still need to go and find a bit more but I do have some cute ones that I can play around with for now.

For anyone who is interested I found a helpful page on ehow called how to hang plates and also some info at marthastewart.com. I can't wait to start this project, I love arranging things! Check out more plate arrangements below.

Image via Apartment TherapyFlickrFlickrAntique Plate DisplayFlickr

Flour, sugar & tea

Weeks ago, I got these metal kitchen canisters at a nearby flea market for a dollar. The set was missing the sugar canister, but I'm not much of a coffee drinker, so I figured I could relabel them to fit my needs. I turned them around so that the original text was hidden off to the side and I made some new labels using vinyl. The decals came out great! If anyone wants a set of their own, I just put it for sale on my vinyl Etsy page. Although not shown in the pictures, the set also includes the coffee label along with flour, sugar and tea.

Before

Tutorial: Alphabet Card Art Display

I found this cute tutorial over at Tiny Decor, enjoy!

"This entire project was inspired by these awesome alphabet cards by Jenn Ski for K&Company that I found at Michaels. I previously featured Jenn’s animal letter prints in my roundup of modern nursery art on Etsy. When I saw her new Actopus to Zelephant Collection at Michael’s I immediately knew she had licensed her designs to K&Company.

The set of alphabet cards was only $6.99. So cute, but too flimsy for my son to play with. I wanted to find a way to display the lightweight cardstock cards so my son could enjoy them. After a lot of pondering over frames, cork boards, and clotheslines, I finally came up with a great idea to mount the cards to canvas and secure them with silver brads."

Click here to read more.

Brooch display

I got creative last weekend and finally made a home for my brooches... well most of them. I think I'm going to have to make more of these, I don't think my brooch obsession is going to end anytime soon.

Center piece idea ~DIY~

I've had this idea of doing stick center pieces for a long time so I went outside today and collected a variety of dead twigs and weeds. Then I walked over to my local craft store and bought tons of pearls and white floral spray paint. I'm not sure if I will even go with this idea but I think it looks pretty so far...

DIY: Fabric-Covered Corkboard

Images above taken from fresh vintage

Everyone has an ugly corkboard they can dress up. Mine was in my office, but my cat, Floyd, liked it more as a scratching board. It had chunks of cork missing and it looked horrible! I came across a great idea from a blog called Fresh Vintage, and I got inspired to dress it up.

To make my fabric corkboard I used some really cool retro fabric that I had gotten from a flea market, some white paint and staples. Unlike Fresh Vintage, though, I took my corkboard apart, painted the frame and stapled the fabric to the back of the actual board (well, actually the front, because floyd had already destroyed it) before putting everything back together.


"What happened to my cork scratching board?" -Floyd

(more of my office)

How to Make a Messenger Bag Out of Trash Bags

DIY 60's style!

Check out these crafty vintage booklets for sale on Etsy.

Socks, Mittens and Accessories

Baby Book Knit and Crochet

Fashion Accessories Easy to Knit and Crochet

So You Want to Make a Rug - Vintage Booklet

Holiday Crafts Circa 1965

Here are some craft ideas from the December 1965 issue of Family Circle magazine.











Check out this tissue topiary.


Note that those brilliant mod orbs are actually covered soup bowls!


Images taken from curly-wurly.blogspot.com.