Washi Tape Storage

So a few weeks back I majorly scored on Pick Your Plum...I got 10 rolls of Washi Tape for something like $13.  Totally cleaned up, right?!   Of course, now I have a Washi Tape storage problem.  That's a fine problem to have, if you ask me.   

DIY Front Door Spring Wreath

Another season, another wreath makeover here at Two It Yourself.  If you haven't caught on by now, I prefer to shop my home over the store and last week I went shopping.   Last week's hoist included this spring wreath.  It's seen better days on my front door, but I wasn't ready to completely let her go so I gave her a makeover.  The wreath is now hardly recognizable, but the job was a pretty easy one.

Faux Terrarium in a Yankee Candle Jar

I'm so excited...I found another use for my empty Yankee Candle jars!  Nothing like a pretty FREE glass jar...and some dollar store supplies.

I am working on spring-ifying (yup, so went there) our house and this little guy was among my first projects.  I am calling it a faux terrarium because I don't know what else to call it and basically because 'paper flower with moss in a dollar store mini clay pot in a glass jar' is too long.

I am new to terrariums, but I'm liking them.  If you're not familiar, according to Dictionary.com a terrarium is "a glass container, chiefly or wholly enclosed, for growing and displaying plants." In other words I think I'm justified in calling this a faux terrarium.  No?

Okay onwards my friends.  I started by putting some filler (aka balled up tissues) in the bottom of my mini pots.  These mini terracotta pots come in a three pack at Dollar Tree. Can't beat .33 a piece! 

DIY Towel Hooks from Old Curtain Tie Backs (15 Minute Project)

 

So last week my daughter pulled the towel bar - wall anchors and all - straight out of the wall in our master bathroom.   She left a pair of golf ball-size holes in the wall and gave me a perfect excuse to make a new towel hook.  

For months, I had been holding onto this idea of using some old curtain tie backs, that we no longer use, as some kind of hooks.  Oh when the stars align...

DIY Laundry Drying Rack (Wall Mount from Floor Standing)

Many a days I'm asked "Oh that's cool...where did you get that idea? Pinterest?" Yeah yeah yeah, I got it inspired from Pinterest, okay...what's it to ya?  But I got news for you today...I didn't get this DIY drying rack idea one from Pinterest.  No ma'am!  I actually had a moment of pure genius last week and thought this one up all.by.myself. 

If you've been following recently, you know I'm in the midst of making over my laundry room.  I'm on a tight budget and working in an even tighter space.  One of the items on my 'must have' list was a wall mounted drying rack.  With a $100 budget I was definitely going to DIY it, I just had to figure out how.

In our old house we had an actual laundry 'room'.  It wasn't pretty, but at least there was room for a foldable floor standing drying rack.  Our current laundry closet is extremely limited on space and I'm forced to hang all of my unmetionables all over the door knobs on the second floor.   Anyway, we've been storing that foldable laundry rack for years and the other day it caught my eye...it almost had a little glow around it like "TAKE ME!!! I AM THE ANSWER TO YOUR DRYING PROBLEMS".  And so...I did.

Laundry Room Makeover Progress

Yippee!! My laundry room isn't nearly as scary as it was just about a week ago.  Now, it's also no where close to being done, but progress is definitely being made.  It's kinda tough to get much done with just a few hours here and there...when my youngest is in pre-school a few mornings a week and my oldest isn't having a(nother) snow day.

If you follow me on Instagram you know I scored a $15 cabinet at my favorite local thrift store.   She was UGLY!  If you thought the outside was bad, the inside was 100x worse.

Pottery Barn Knockoff Chalkboard Frames

I was perusing the Pottery Barn Kids catalog last week when I spotted their adorable chalkboard frames.  Oh they're just so cute..and so expensive at $39 for just one!   I knew I could knock them off very easily and they'd be perfect in the playroom to display the kids artwork.

Dresser Drawer to Storage Box {Easy DIY Project}

Oh boy I am so excited to share this one with you...it turned out way better than I could have anticipated and had I known what the end result would look like I wouldn't have dragged my feet on this project for so long.  It was literally months in the making...but really it took me all of about 2 (kid-free) hours to complete.

Repurposed louvered door and full length mirror

You might remember a few months ago when we had our master bathroom expanded so we could replace our tiny vanity with a double... No? Okay here's a refresher.  Part of that renovation included combining our two reach and grab closets into one 'large' closet (and I do use that world loosely').

5 Silhouette Projects for Beginners

So I got a Silhouette Portrait - the little sister to the Silhouette Cameo - for Christmas.  (If you're not familiar -it's a paper cutting machine or a die cut machine use to make cards, stencils, labels and for scrapbook.) It's really not fair - my kids open up their new toys and immediately they start playing with them non-stop.  I guess when you're a mom it doesn't work that way.  Wah wah wah.  I'm dying to play with my new toy, but I'm squeezing it in during naps.  When does school start back up? I kid. I kid.

Re-use Yankee Candle Jars: How to Remove Wax from the Glass Holder

I don't know about you, but I have been burning through Yankee Candles this holiday season...pun intended.  The Yankee Candles come in such beautiful glass jars I really want to save them to upcycle after the candles were long gone...but before that I had to figure out how to remove the wax from the glass holder.

First, I peeled off the label.  Don't worry about any left over residue right now, you can use goo gone after you get the wax out to remove it. 

After the label was off, I burned the candle down as low as possible.  When most of the wax had melted to liquid I poured it into another container.  (Actually I consolidated it into another candle of a very similar scent).  You could also empty it into an empty soup can or another glass jar. 

After I poured out the liquid wax, I let the rest of the wax harden up in the original Yankee Candle jar.  Once it was solid, I used a paring knife to cut wedges - about 6 or 8 sections - into the hardened wax.

$2 DIY Small Potted Christmas Trees from Patio Tomato Planter

This is one of those projects that just sort of hit me. I wasn't planning on making a small potted Christmas tree - as I am in the middle of making two 4' artificial trees for my front porch - but when I spotted my very sad looking tomato plant on my patio I had an 'ah ha' moment, as Oprah would say.

Clementine crate crafts: How to make a 'darling' table centerpiece

Isn't this little Christmas table decoration just darling?  Pun intended because that crate was actually filled with Darling Clementines until about a week ago.  That is until I dumped them all in the fruit bowl so I could put the wood clementine crate to (better) use.

I'm not gonna say I bought a five pound box of clementines just for the crate...but I mean it may have had a little something to do with it.

Regardless...I think it was a good decision because now look at Mr. Crate.  All I did was use a little goo gone to remove the paper and adhesive before spray painting two coats of black paint all over the box.  

Then I filled her up with goodies I had around the house...

DIY Large Christmas Sign {Pottery Barn 'Peace' sign Knockoff}

If you've been following Two It Yourself regularly you know I love a good knockoff - especially when it's a Pottery Barn one and especially when it saves me oh...$129!  I kid you not, this 54" Pottery Barn Peace Sign - as gorgeously hand painted as it is - is triple digits.  Well, guess what my friends....I just made a DIY large Christmas sign for FREE! (Even if you don't have any supplies you can make this for just a few bucks...for the paint and stain.)  I may be bias, but I think my DIY version is equally as charming.

As much as I love me some PB, I decided to use the sign as inspiration, but not completely knock it off.  Instead of PEACE I went with BE MERRY and I have a different finish.  That's what's great about this large wood Christmas sign - it's completely customizable.

Yard Sale Nightstands Flip and ReSTOREd Challenge Update #2

Well, here we are more than half way through October and my ReSTOREd Seed Money Challenge is going strong. I'm currently working on my biggest piece of painted furniture yet. I'm hoping to get it up for sale by the end of this week - that is if I can part with it. It's a beauty, if I do say so.

So far I've sold four pieces - well, technically five you if count the set of matching nightstands as two.  These babies really plumped up my Seed Money Challenge Fund.

I found them on a local Facebook page where individuals sell stuff.  They came complete with yard sale stickers, because they clearly hadn't sold at $10 a piece.  The seller was still asking $20 for the set, but I haggled her down to $15 and she was happy to just get rid of them.

DIY House Number Sign (And how to drill into brick)

If you follow us on Instagram (you don't? GO DO IT NOW!)  you know I've been working on DIY house numbers.   We have one little house number on our mailbox, but if it's dark out people can't see it at all.  If I'm honest, even if it's daytime guests often miss us, because they're looking on the house for a number.   No more drive-bys...I've got you covered, my friends!

The actual house number sign only took me a few minutes to make, it was figuring out how to drill into brick to hang the plaque that delayed me more than a week.  It's not that it's that hard (well actually, it is hard...get it hehe) it's just you need the right tools to actually hang anything on brick and mortar.

More on that below, but first let's get to how I made this easy house number plaque.  I purchased the numbers at Home Depot for a few bucks each.  I could have just mounted them right one of the wood pillars we have out front or even directly onto the front door, but I wanted to jazz them up a little.

I found an old picture frame that was no longer being used for anything except collecting dust.  I took the frame apart because I literally only needed the frame - not the back, the mat, or the glass.  I made sure the house numbers would fit (they could have been placed vertically or horizontally, but I went with vertically) and then I spray painted the silver frame black to match the outside of our house.

I Spy DIY: 7 Master Bedroom Ideas

Last week on the blog I showed off my newly refinished/repainted nightstand and got some great feedback from readers on it.  One of the biggest compliments was from a reader who asked if the headboard in the photo was purchased or made.  I'll give you one guess...

That got me looking at the photo, which at first glance doesn't look like much other than the nightstand.  But actually when I look closer I realize just how much blood, sweat and tears  love I have poured into our master bedroom since I started transforming it in the spring.   In just this one photo I spy FIVE DIY projects that I have featured on the blog...can you see them?

Okay, okay I'll give you a few hints (and all the links to the tutorials)...

Let's start with the nightstand because it's the most obvious.  It was painted two-tone to match the walls and trim and new hardware was added.

Large DIY Wood Clock from Fence Posts or Pallet Wood

I am so excited to finally be able to share my DIY clock with you all.  I have been working on the clock for the better part of the month - not that it took that long to make - it really didn't take long at all.  I was trying to find cheap DIY clock parts and that was a bit of a struggle.  The whole point of me making a large wooden clock myself was to keep costs down, but DIY clock kits combined with shipping can be kinda pricey.   All the details on where I found the cheapest clock hands and movement in a minute, but first let's get to how I made the clock.

I started with three fence posts (or are they fence panels?) that were just sitting in the back area of my basement.  Pallet wood would also work...or you can buy lumber at the hardware store, of course. 

Cheap wall art: Fabric covered shoe box lids

Not wanting to let about a quarter yard of this beautiful fabric (it's Pom Pon Play Spa by HGTV/Walvery) go to waste after creating my 15 minute window valance for the powder room, I decided I would make some cheap wall art with the rest.   This is a really easy project and one that even the kids can help with - provided you don't mind cleaning up a little mod podge.

You'll need a few shoe box lids in various sizes, mod podge, a sponge or paint brush, a hot glue gun, and a few clips are helpful - but not necessary.  I stole four shoe box lids from the closets in our house.  It turned out I only had enough fabric to cover three - actually I kinda cheated.  My fabric would really only cover two because of the large size of the lids, but you know the cardinal rule of decorating don't you - arrange things in groups of three or five.

In order to cover three lids I actually cut two of them in half and then slid both halves back together so they would be a little narrower.  I just used a some tape to hold them together. Now that they're covered in fabric you can't even tell that I hacked them.

DIY glass bottle or mason jar soap dispenser

Another project from the $100 bathroom makeover file...this one is a cute little soap dispenser made from a mason jar.   I actually liked the way it turned out so much I made a second one - but instead of using a mason jar (I didn't have any more), I used a glass food jar that otherwise would have gone to recycling.