Project #3

I saw a really cute idea in Pottery Barn's summer catalog. I almost soley restrict myself to simply getting "ideas" from Pottery Barn as most of their items don't fall within my slim deocrating budget. There was an old shelf with cute mason jars hanging with candles. I thought it was precious.

Lucky for me... I had the perfect shelf. It was one my mom had seen at a garage sale and picked up for a buck or two. Its just been sitting in my garage, waiting for the perfect project.

I didn't want to pay for mason jars, so I just emptied a few things out of my fridge (that probably needed to go anyways!). I used a jelly jar, pizza sauce jar, and an alfredo sauce jar. I like this because the jars are a variety of sizes, which adds to the look. I filled them with some beans I had from another project that I got for $1 at Fred's.


I took some jewelry wire ($1.50 for the spindle that I used a tiny bit of), twisted it together to make it strong, and then wrapped it around the top of the jar. I made little loops on each side so I could connect the hanging wire as well. I twisted the hanging wire and then looped it through the holes I had made. It is plenty strong enough to hang the jars by.

I bought $1 candles from hobby lobby to put down in the jars. I let them burn for a little bit so they would appear like they have been used a few times at least.

I don't process pictures for the shelf, but it started out just a boring brown color. I spray painted it white and then took my sander to it (of course). After roughing it up a bit, Smith hung it in our dining room for me and we put the jars in place. LOVE how it turned out! I did the whole project for less than 1 of Pottery Barn's mason jars would have costs me! I mean no disrespect to one of my favorite stores, but I must say... Booyah, P.B.

See below for more of my recent projects! I know you must be thinking..."What? More than one post in a period of a few months?"... yes, shocking. Enjoy!

Project #2

I have been really wanting a small table for our entry way (are you starting to see a pattern...). So Smith and I thought...what better to do on a Tuesday night than build a table?



I actually took some process pictures for this one. I don't have the starting point, but as it was "from scratch" once again, you can probably imagine a pile of wood for yourself.



It took us about 2 hours to build this beauty. I got up the next day and painted it while Smith was at work. We are really happy with how it turned out. All the supplies cost right around $60- which isn't our cheapest project, but it definitely beats the $200+ tables I was finding for the space.

Here is the table "bare bones" after we constructed it.

We used stair spindles as the legs to add a decorative element that wouldn't have been their with just straight board.

We picked an inexpensive peice of wood trip to wrap around the table to add additional detail. I think it made the table look more "finished".

I painted a rough coat of red, not worrying about coverage because it makes the distressing easier in the end. After that coat, I used the sander to light rough up the entire peice and then went back and really distressed areas that would naturally see wear and tear (edges, corners, etc.) I then took the stain and went over the entire table in order to darken the whole thing up. I added additional stain to the areas where I did extra sanding. It came out looking like it was many years older than it is!

Finished project!

This windows came from another project I did last year (sorry no process pictures!). They came from my childhood treehouse that my dad tore down last year. I thought they worked perfectly in this space.

We has the best time building this and are really proud of the end result. I have to give credit to where credit is due though- Smith once again was my indespinsable handy-man. I would be in a rough spot without him! What a great husband! :)

Project #1

I had been really wanting a bookshelf in our living room to display all our pictures of family and friends that didn't have a place. So a couple months back... Smith and I decided to undertake our first "from scratch" furniture project.

I had already refinished multiple peices, but this was our first time to build the peice. Thankfully, I have a super handy husband who can figure out just about any project he sets his mind too. Otherwise... this gorgeous bookcase would not be in existance :)

Sorry I don't have process pictures... I'm trying to get better at that! Anyway, here is the finished project. We are really happy with it... and it was cheap too. Always a plus!