Guest Project: Samantha Sciotti’s Nightstand Update

Just a couple days ago I received a text message from our friend and former roommate, Sam, asking about the best ways to paint a piece of unfinished wood furniture. In return for our knowledge, she promised to take pictures of the process and send them our way:

Supplies:

Piece of unfinished furniture or wood

Paint or primer

Stain

Paint brushes

A piece of plastic on which to do this, if working on this indoors

Dry cloth or rag

“I took an old Ikea night stand that I have had for years.”

“Stenciled on a design I wanted”

“Took primer and painted the areas I wanted white then used a stain and stained the whole night stand.”

“I took a dry cloth and wiped down the white areas after because they seemed a little sticky but it wasn’t really necessary.”

And there you have it! In just a few simple steps, Sam turned this run-of-the-mill nightstand into a personalized piece with lost of character!

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Customized Camera Case

Once upon a time I had a bright orange camera, it was protected by a cute brown and white floral Vera Bradley wallet with a little pocket for my extra battery. Then some how, magically, the camera, case, and extra battery disappeared. I searched high and I searched low, I searched in and I searched out, with no trace in sight. Time was ticking and Saturday Studios were quickly approaching so I gave up and bought a new camera, but a case was out of my budget. Here is my solution:

Supplies:

Leather scraps – or fabric scraps

Embroidery floss

A thicker gauge needle

I traced the outline of my camera on the leather scraps, making sure to leave some room around the edges to take in consideration the thickness of the camera. The leather scraps are placed so that the faces that are touching will become the exterior of the case and what is being traced on is the interior.

Since the leather is pretty hefty, I used large bobby pins to hold it in place while I stitched the two pieces together.

I then used the embroidery floss to do a not-so-professional looking stitch around my template. Then I just trimmed the edges down to a little less than a quarter of an inch from the stitching.

Once it was all stitched, I flipped the leather right side out and stretched into the corners. I tried my camera inside and it fit nice and snug, but was difficult to get in and out of. That is where the brown strip of leather comes in.

I just made a few cross stitches at the bottom seam, top edge and stitched the ends together. This allowed for a small pull on each end of the case to help with putting the camera in and taking it out.

Here is an image of how the top strap just moves to the side while taking the camera out or putting it in. The strap also acts as a catch in case the camera tries to slide out on its own because I assume that over time the leather will naturally stretch a bit. This project took me a little over an hour to whip up and is a simple, customizable way to protect your electronics. I am going to leave mine very plain but this project can be personalized in a million ways – different types of fabrics, paints, bleaching, size it down for a phone, size it up for a laptop!

—Heather

Spice Organizer

One of the best ways to save money is by cooking at home, and since this girl is back in school, the budget is tight! When cooking at home, spices are your best friend, but your cabinet’s worst enemy. My spices have completely overtaken an entire shelf of cabinet space and I have been wracking my brain for a solution. Unfortunately I don’t have the space to use magnets and hang them all up in plain sight, or the money to buy a fancy spice rack, so here is the simple solution I came up with.

Supplies:

Box – smaller size, with shallow edges is best

Paint

Sharpie marker

Online shopping is another way to save some dough(as long as you don’t go overboard) because you can find amazing coupon deals and you don’t have to waste gas driving to the store. My most recent purchase came in this box, which is just about the perfect size for my spice collection.

I cut off the top flap and painted the inside of the box white and used some of the gold paint from my last project on the outside. This will take a few coats to cover the natural color of the cardboard. Some other ways you could the cover the box are with patterned paper, fabric, newspaper, magazine images, spray paint, Mod Podge, etc. So go crazy with the personalization!

Here is my disorganized spice cabinet. I have to shuffle them around every time I cook and there is absolutely no rhyme or reason to where they are placed back. What a mess!

While all of my spices don’t fit in the box, the ones I use the most do. This is a huge help because when I go to cook something, I can just take out the entire spice box, rather than running back and forth between the stove and my spice cabinet!

All organized and look at all the space I have now! The stuff that didn’t fit in the box are mainly back-ups that I had purchased because I will be running out of the other one very soon. This quick project can also be just as easily done with a store bought box/basket, tupperware or a serving tray.

–Heather

Spray Painted Phone Case

This is a super simple way to take a phone case you already have and make it new and fun again.

Supplies:

Phone case

Paint – I used spray paint, but most any kind would work

Seems like almost everyone has moved into the smartphone world, and while the things these phones can do is amazing, they are fragile pieces of technology that really need a case to protect them from accidents.

I bought this case off of Amazon for under $5 and used it as is for months and loved it. The consumer in me won out after a while and I purchased a different case and threw this one into storage for the time being. Then one day I came across a blog that was showing ways to use glitter and paint to create a fun case when it dawned on me that I had some silver chrome spray paint that would make that black case look amazing.

So I laid down some newspaper outside and got spraying!

I let the paint dry overnight before handling it, just to make sure I wouldn’t leave any finger prints on the finish.

All done and ready for a few more months on my phone! Simple, quick, easy and using stuff I already had on hand – it doesn’t get much better than that!

–Heather

Update! After actually putting this case to the test, the paint begins to wear off on your hands a bit so I have gone back and coated the case in a clear gloss lacquer to protect it from further wear.

Framed Fabric Wall Art

So I have this pillowcase that is probably older than me, and it is subsequently the softest thing I own and one day I noticed a small rip in the fabric. I flipped the pillow over and tried to pretend it would mend itself in my dreams. Unfortunately, life doesn’t work like a fairy tale so I threw it in the wash with my sheets and the rip more than quadrupled in size, which equaled minor devastation. I take pride in my ultra-plush bed that would make the “Princess and the Pea” sleep soundly through the night, so I decided to turn my sad, unusable pillowcase into a piece of art.

Supplies:

Poster frame – or any frame

Fabric

Santa brought me a few large frames for Christmas and I hadn’t gotten around to filling them yet, so when the pillowcase ripped beyond repair, I suddenly had something to frame.

First I ripped the seam of the pillow case to open it up wider and give myself more options for layout. They sell seam rippers at any fabric store, but I didn’t have one on hand and just used some nail clippers and they got the job done just as easily.

Then once the pillowcase was just one large piece of fabric, I laid it out on the cardboard backing for the frame and took a peek at the composition. I was pleasantly surprised with the contrast between the white fabric and brown backing, as well as the black frame. Afterward, I just folded the tabs down on each side, making sure to pull the fabric nice and taught in the frame.

Here you can see what the fabric looks like all framed. A bit of simple, modern-style art using something most people would have thrown away or turned into rags.

My office/studio had some blank walls that were begging for some artwork, so this piece got hung up promptly. While my framed piece of fabric has a bit of sentimentality to it, the project could be done with endless other things – wallpaper, patterned fabric, ribbon, material samples, scrapbook paper etc. In just ten minutes I had turned my unhappy accident into a beautiful piece of art!

–Heather

100th Post- Blogs We Are Thankful For

We are excited to announce that this is our hundredth post! Thanks to everyone who has come along for the journey, and we can’t wait to share our next 100 projects with you.

We decided to pay it forward on this post and share with you a few of the blogs we love! In the Thanksgiving spirit- here are the top 10 blogs we are thankful for.

If you have a blog of your own that you would like to share- please post the url in our comments section and we will be sure to check it out. 🙂

The Jealous Curator – “A collection of artwork that inspires & depresses me. I know it’s good when I’m left thinking, Damn I wish I thought of that.” I couldn’t have said it better. This is the perfect site to visit to give your eyes a treat and view some fine art that is unique, beautiful, sometimes strange, but always impressive. -Emily

Design Sponge– This is definitely an example of a design blog done right. They cover everything from interiors, to interesting cities, to fashion, to (our favorite) DIY. Over the past few years Design Sponge has become a household name with a best selling book, over 75,000 hits a day, and New York Times even named it “Martha Stewart Living for the Millennials”. One of the most impressive aspects of this blog is that it is updated around 6 times a day. (If Heather an I update 6 times in 2 weeks we are impressed with ourselves.) -Emily

Young House Love – The cutest little family with the most amazing blog. I stumbled across this blog on pinterest recently and it was where I originally heard the idea of raising your shower curtain to update your bathroom in my last blog. This family is full of amazing ideas and projects to update their new home, and I guarantee you will be as hooked as I am! -Emily

Made in a Day – The perfect site for all of you crafters out there. There are tons of easy DIY tutorials and there are always new blogs being featured. Two Girls was even featured a few times! She hosts awesome link parties every week too, and who doesn’t love a good party? -Emily

Knock Off Decor – Exactly what it sounds like. Find ways to make those expensive items at Pier 1, Anthropology, Williams-Sonoma, and more. And make them for much, much cheaper. Love. -Emily

Wellness Mama – This woman has done so much research and tried so many options in the quest for the healthiest life for her and her family. This blog is where she shares those tips with the world. With tips on living naturally and recipes galore, this site speaks to everyone. – Heather

Apartment Therapy – “Helping people make their homes more beautiful, organized and healthy by connecting them to a wealth of resources, ideas and community online.” But it’s WAY more than that! I was introduced to this site six months ago (Thanks Francine!!!) and have been hooked ever since. Whenever I am fresh out of ideas, this is the place I go to and just scrolling through the first page usually sets things in motion in my brain. -Heather

MoCo Loco – I found this blog when I was studying interior design at SCAD and I spent hours devouring page after page of the site, and it quickly become a daily read. A lot of what they feature is industrial design and architecture, but I have also been introduced to many interesting artists through their posts. I am ever-inspired by the work that practicing designers are creating right now. -Heather

Extra Extra Extra – The best thing about going to art school is meeting creative people, bouncing ideas off each other and being fueled by that energy. Lucky for me, my assigned dorm roommate ended up being this amazing artist and a great friend who I don’t get to catch up with as often now that we are separated by five states. This blog gives me a peek at what she’s up to, and nowadays she’s making it as a freelancer, which is such an inspiration for all those struggling artists out there. So snatch this lady up for your next project! -Heather

Design For Mankind – I honestly cannot describe to you how much I LOVE this blog. Every single post makes me excited, the writing is perfectly quirky and sincere, and the overall style is the most amazing combination of beautiful and weird. This site is my brain vacation. -Heather

Inspirational Interiors- Easy Bathroom Upgrade

Just wanted to throw some inspiration your way. I had read somewhere along the way that raising your shower curtain is a quick and easy way to add some cache to your bathroom…and I think they were right!

I purchased a new shower curtain today because our old one just wasn’t cutting it. It’s been through 3 apartments with me and had a good run.

So when I strung up my new curtain I decided to try the easy trick of raising the curtain rod a few inches and I really like the way it looks. I think it would look even better if I had purchased a long window curtain so it went all the way to the floor- so keep that in mind if you decide to try this. I was pretty excited to share the results, so pardon the un-steamed curtain.

It’s easy, it’s free (if you like your curtain you have), so give it a try!

Before

After