Category Archives: DIY Projects

Gray and Gold Rast Hack

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WHOA. I can’t believe it’s been more than a month since my last post! I’ll be honest: We’ve finally reached the point where we can’t really justify spending any more money on stuff for the house. Consequently, I have nothing new and don’t have much to post about (though I do still need to finish the house tour). BUT – I did recently finish a furniture DIY that’s been a long time coming.

I’ll just dive right in and show you:
Glitter and Goat Cheese - Ikea Rast dresser hack - Painted dark gray with brass hardware

Over a year after purchasing two Ikea Rast dressers, I finally got around to painting them!

Let’s go back to the beginning. I got the idea for this project from Design Manifest. This was my inspiration:

This is what the Rasts looked like when I first purchased them, of course:

I spray-painted the toe kicks gold immediately while the dressers were still in multiple pieces. Then, Brad put them together for me, and I brought them into the foyer to use for storage while they were waiting to be completed. Remember?

Glitter and Goat Cheese - Ikea Rast dresser hack - before painting

For whatever reason, though, I never ended up painting them. And once we moved into our new house, they came along, still unfinished. Here’s a peek at how they looked on Thanksgiving:

Glitter and Goat Cheese - Ikea Rast dresser hast - before painting

I didn’t get motivated until right before we decided to host a Super Bowl party. It was the first time most of our friends would see our new home, and I wanted it to look good. So, I gathered my supplies: Kilz spray primer; a foam roller; and Sherwin Williams ProClassic paint in Satin, color-matched to Benjamin Moore’s Ashland Slate (the same color as our kitchen cabinets and guest room walls).

I already had all the hardware: Antique brass decorative corners from Hardware World, and brass ring pulls from Lee Valley (43mm x 51mm burnished bronze, to be specific). The decorative corners had to be glued on – I used a Krazy Glue pen – so my plan was to lacquer the dressers before anything permanent happened. Unfortunately, spray lacquer can only be used in temperatures above 55 degrees, and that wasn’t going to happen before the party. So, I just put the hardware on anyway, because I am the most impatient person on the planet.

Glitter and Goat Cheese - Ikea Rast dresser hack - Painted dark gray with brass hardware

When I do get around to lacquering these and have to tape off the decorative corners, I know I’m going to be cursing myself. But I’ll cross that bridge when I come to it.

Glitter and Goat Cheese - Ikea Rast dresser hack - Painted dark gray with brass hardware

I’m actually glad I didn’t paint these until we got here, because I love that they’re the same color as the kitchen cabinets. It ties the two rooms together without being too matchy.

Glitter and Goat Cheese - Ikea Rast dresser hack - Painted dark gray with brass hardware

There was just one snafu in this process: My gold toe kicks got kicked to the curb. Somehow, they got really dirty and stained and dark and gross over the course of the year. I could have re-painted them, but that would have required either taking them apart or taping them off, and I was just in too much in a hurry. Instead, I primed right over the dirty gold. They look nice for now, but I think I might like to goldify the toe kicks by hand at a later date. Maybe with high-quality acrylic? Or gold leaf? I just don’t know!

So, what do you think of my Rasts? Worth the wait? Should I goldify the toe kicks, or leave them gray?

     

Pretty Things for the New Year

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So, it’s been a little while since I posted. It wasn’t on purpose, of course. Life just got in the way. Even now, I have to make this quick, because it’s almost 10:30 p.m. and I have to run 6 miles before work in the morning. Don’t ask me how I’m going to manage that – The sun doesn’t rise until 7:30, and I have to be at work by 10. But either way, I wanted to stop by to share a few pretty things that have moved into my home over the past few weeks.

Glitter and Goat Cheese - Wedding photo canvas by Raw Photo Design
This photo, taken by Raw Photo Design, is one of my favorites from our wedding. We used our entire photo credit for Pictage to purchase this canvas, and it was totally worth it. It makes such a statement (it looks much bigger in person), and I like that it showcases some of the prettiest parts of our day without actually featuring our faces. I don’t think we’d be comfortable with a giant photo of our faces on display … It’s just not our style.

Glitter and Goat Cheese - DIY spray-painted plant pots from Ikea
Both of these plants and pots are from Ikea, but I added the yellow and gold stripes myself with spray paint and painter’s tape. It was SO quick and easy – I sense a new DIY addiction coming on!

Glitter and Goat Cheese - Cape Cod Indian Neck print by Heidi Gallo
My mom bought this beautiful Heidi Gallo watercolor print in Cape Cod and had it framed for us for Christmas. It features Indian Neck, the beach our cottage is on. We also have a framed oyster print by the same artist – she uses such gorgeous colors.

Glitter and Goat Cheese - Dayna Decker gold candle with wood wick
This amazing Dayna Decker candle was a gift from my cousin and his fiancé. In addition to being GOLD, it also smells like heaven and has a wood wick that crackles when it burns. It is wonderful.

Glitter and Goat Cheese - DIY spray-painted peach oval mirror
This mirror isn’t actually new, but it’s newly peach! We got a great deal on it at Home Goods a couple years ago, but it was cream, which didn’t really match in here. I wanted to paint it soft coral, and this Valspar shade from Lowe’s was the closest I could find. I think it’s called “Brushed Rose.” Brad doesn’t like the color, but I think he’s crazy.

Glitter and Goat Cheese - DIY watercolor painting in spray-painted gold Ikea Ribba frame
I think Brad should be more supportive of my work – I’m certainly supportive of his! He painted this with watercolors, and I put it in a custom-made frame (a.k.a. an Ikea Ribba frame that I spray-painted gold) and featured it prominently in our downstairs bathroom. I really, really love it. Figures – I watch countless YouTube videos and read online articles, and I still can’t paint watercolors for shit, but he takes one try and makes this masterpiece. WHATEVER. You can’t force the creative juices to flow, I guess.

Glitter and Goat Cheese - Fiddle leaf fig tree from Ikea
I’ve wanted a fiddle leaf fig for some time now, and I finally got one! It’s actually from Ikea. I’m going to do a separate post about this baby, but can’t resist sharing it now. It’s going to live inside, but I let it spend some time on the deck this weekend. I think it liked it.

Glitter and Goat Cheese - Gold dog biscuit container
And this – THIS – is my gold dog biscuit container. I did not spray paint it. It came that way. My best friend Alisa found it at Home Goods and gave it to us for Christmas. I think it was made for me. And my dog, I guess.

We still have a lot of Christmas gifts and recent acquisitions to unpack and display, but there’s only so many hours in the day. In fact, it’s my bedtime now, so that’s all, folks.

What’s the prettiest gift YOU got over the holidays?

     

Baby Steps: Updating the Kitchen

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When we’re feeling brave and rich, we’re going to gut our kitchen. Hardwood floors, new cabinets, granite countertops … but until then, there’s only so much we can do. I mentioned our plans for a Phase 1 update in this post, and I’m happy to report that most of them are complete.

Glitter and Goat Cheese - Kitchen with painted cabinets and gold hardware

We’ve removed the upper cabinets that blocked the view to/from the dining room, painted the remaining cabinets, and Rub ‘n Buffed the existing cabinet hardware to a soft gold.

Glitter and Goat Cheese - Kitchen with dark gray cabinets and gold hardware

Brad and his dad removed the cabinets, and we paid our painters to refinish the cabinets. It was worth every penny to not do it ourselves. They only charged us $300, and when I consider the fumes alone (we used oil-based paint for extra durability), I have no regrets whatsoever. The color is Ashland Slate by Benjamin Moore, and it’s the same color we used in our guest room.

Glitter and Goat Cheese - Dark gray cabinets with gold hardware

There are still a few more changes we’re hoping to make before the major renovation. Updating the horrendous fluorescent light fixture and changing the wall outlets to GFCI (with nice, white wall plates) are at the top of our list.

Glitter and Goat Cheese - Dark gray painted cabinets with gold hardware

I still hate the tile floors, but this yellow area rug helps distract me from their yuckiness.

Glitter and Goat Cheese - Dark gray painted cabinets with gold hardware and yellow accents

The rug is Nate Berkus from Target, and I’m obsessed with it. It’s light-colored and it’s in the kitchen, so it surely has a short life span. When it finally gets so dingy that I have to get rid of it, I will mourn its passing like that of a dear friend.

While I doubt my rug will survive for long in the kitchen, our magical greenhouse window seems to keep plants alive way past their expected time of death.

Glitter and Goat Cheese - Kitchen greenhouse window

See the plant in the middle? That’s one of those little basil plants you get in the PRODUCE SECTION at Kroger. It didn’t even come in a pot – it came in a plastic bag. We had one at our last place, and it died after three days. This one has been alive for six weeks. IN A COFFEE MUG. The plant on the left is from the house’s previous owner. Remember how it took us two months to close? Yeah, the plant just kept on living while it waited for us. The window is magic. I swear.

My penguin lives in the window, too. He only wears the wreath for Christmas time.

Glitter and Goat Cheese - Wooden Christmas penguin

Another necessary update? Getting rid of the vertical blinds in front of the sliding doors and replacing them with colorful curtains.

Glitter and Goat Cheese - Kitchen with painted dark gray cabinets and gold hardware - Wood cutting board

They’re from Pottery Barn in their Bettina fabric (which has sadly been discontinued). I love how they cheer up all the cool bluish-grays in the space, along with the warm gold hardware.

I originally planned to replace all the cabinet hardware with new knobs, but I figured it couldn’t hurt to try DIY-ing it first. After sanding each knob with fine grit sandpaper, I used Rub ‘n Buff in Gold Leaf to add a soft golden sheen.

Glitter and Goat Cheese - DIY kitchen cabinet hardware update - From dark brass to gold with Rub 'n Buff

Left to right: Original hardware, sanded hardware, Rub ‘n Buff-ed hardware

This method wasn’t perfect. They looked great, but after a few weeks, I noticed that the gold on the often-used knobs was rubbing off. I ended up redoing those and coating them with Valspar’s Clear Satin Sealer. It added a bit of a gritty finish, and it’s a little dusty-looking up close, but no visitor is ever going to notice the difference. Either way, I’d recommend this project for someone on a tight budget looking for a similar result. For one thing, finding non-shiny brass hardware for a reasonable price isn’t easy. With the amount of knobs we needed, I’m sure we would have spent at least $50, if not more. The Rub ‘n Buff was $4 at Michael’s – I used a teeny tiny fraction of the tube for all of these – and the sealant was $4 at Lowe’s. So, yeah, I’m not complaining. Look at the difference it makes!

Glitter and Goat Cheese - Gold vs. brass hardware on dark gray painted cabinets

Rub ‘n Buff-ed hardware on the left, original hardware on the right.

I think we got pretty close to my original cabinet inspiration photo, don’t you?

For funsies, here are the before-and-afters.

Glitter and Goat Cheese - Kitchen before and after

Glitter and Goat Cheese - Kitchen before and after

When we first moved in, we thought gutting the kitchen would be our first priority, but we actually don’t mind it as much now that it’s been spruced up. (We’ll probably put our focus on the master bathroom first!)

Have you made any relatively minor changes to your home that have made a huge difference?

     

Meet My New BFF: ORB Spray Paint

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In my last two house tour posts, I alluded to the fact that we’d already started a couple outdoor projects. Now that we’re finally finished, I can finally post about them! Both projects featured one of my new favorite DIY tools: Rust-oleum Universal Metallic Spray Paint in Oil-Rubbed Bronze.

Inspired by Young House Love, I decided that our deck furniture had potential. It was a brave call – the metal was covered in chipping paint and rust.

Glitter and Goat Cheese - Outdoor Furniture - Before

Glitter and Goat Cheese - Rusted Outdoor Furniture

Glitter and Goat Cheese - Chipping Outdoor Furniture

The first step was to get rid of all of that. I used my handy-dandy coarse sanding block to start scrubbing. I could have used a wire brush attachment for our drill, but it didn’t seem necessary. The paint came off really easily. It didn’t require much physical effort – just a lot of time. In the next photo, the chair on the right is sanded, and the chair on the left is not.

Glitter and Goat Cheese - Sanding outdoor furniture

As you can see, I didn’t sand off all the paint. Just enough to get a smooth surface. I probably could have sanded a lot less, but I knew that if I could see uneven spots, they’d bother me. So I sanded, and sanded, and sanded,and sanded some more. Carpal tunnel be damned!

Finally, it was time to move the furniture to a drop cloth, where I wiped it down with a damp rag to get rid of all the sanding dust.

Glitter and Goat Cheese - Sanded outdoor furniture before painting

My next step was to spray the rusty spots with Rust-oleum Rust Reformer. It’s really cool: it bonds with the rust and turns it into a paintable surface, while also preventing future rust. I sound like a Rust-oleum commercial right now, I know – so in the interest of full disclosure, Krylon makes a similar product.

I’ve found that when you’re spray-painting furniture that has to be coated on the top and bottom, it’s best to start with the bottom. That way, when you flip it over, only the feet touch the ground, and if they’re not dry and get smudged, it doesn’t really matter, because it’s not going to show.

I let the Rust Reformer dry for 24 hours, then got going with the spray paint. Unfortunately, this part of the process took almost a whole week, because a) I kept running out of spray paint and b) I kept running out of daylight after work. FYI: This project ended up using four cans. Yikes!

But when it was finally done, it was all worth it. Look how much better everything looks!

Glitter and Goat Cheese - Spray-painted outdoor furniture

Glitter and Goat Cheese - Spray-painted outdoor metal furniture

There are a few uneven spots from the paint underneath, but you can only see them if you look closely.

Glitter and Goat Cheese - Spray-painted outdoor furniture - close-up

We even found some cushions for the chairs in a plastic storage unit on the deck! They don’t fit perfectly, but I think they look pretty nice with the umbrella, and they’re definitely comfy.

Glitter and Goat Cheese - Spray-painted outdoor furniture with cushions

When you factor in the cost of the spray paint and Rust Reformer, this project cost about $35. Not bad, considering how much a brand-new metal furniture set would have cost!

Glitter and Goat Cheese - Spray-painted metal outdoor furniture - Before and after

While I was toiling away in the backyard, Brad was in the front fixing up our mailbox and mailbox post. They looked icky.

Glitter and Goat Cheese - Mailbox - Before

The wood was dirty, the main mailbox was banged up, a newspaper mailbox was taking up unnecessary space, and several house numbers were missing. His first step was to take the mailboxes off the post.

Glitter and Goat Cheese - Mailboxes off post

He used another can of ORB spray paint to cover the main mailbox, and we decided to ditch the newspaper mailbox. We also decided we wanted the mailbox post white, but it was in rough shape, so we figured we’d just use spray primer and white spray paint. In retrospect, we should have just replaced the whole thing, but we didn’t realize how tough it’d be to cover such beat-up wood. The spray paint, unfortunately, didn’t do the trick. After Brad put the mailbox back on, I went back over the post with some white latex paint I found in the garage, and that looked a little better.

Glitter and Goat Cheese - Painted mailbox and post

You can’t tell from the pictures, but Brad also cut new wood pieces to screw the mailbox into. The ones on the original post were all rotted. Yuck.

We bought brand new oil-rubbed bronze house numbers from Lowes, but I only photographed the “1.” I’m sure you can imagine how pretty the rest are!

Glitter and Goat Cheese - Spray-painted mailbox

Like the deck furniture, it’s not perfect. But it looks a lot better than it did before, and it’ll hold us over until we can afford to replace the whole she-bang.

Glitter and Goat Cheese - Painted mailbox - Before and after

I still need to go over the post with some spar varnish. Interior latex, clearly, isn’t meant to be outside, and the post will probably start looking pretty rough if I don’t coat it soon. Here’s hoping I can find time this weekend!

What do you use YOUR spray paint for?

     

DIY Mini Watercolors

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A few weeks ago, I came down with a nasty cold. I felt so disgusting that even watching TV was exhausting, but I was too stuffed up and miserable to sleep. So, after work one day, I decided to swing by Michael’s to pick up some new watercolor paints. I figured maybe some soup and DIY would cheer me up. And it did!

It was high time we replaced the DIY watercolors in the center of our gallery wall. Brad and I had painted them on computer paper just to test out my cheapo paint set. They were terrible. (Sorry, Brad. No offense.)

My new ones aren’t much better, but at least they’re on real watercolor paper and use better quality paint!

Glitter and Goat Cheese - DIY Mini Watercolor Paintings in Ikea Ribba Frames
(Mine are the two small ones in the center. The one on the left was painted by my friend Jess, the top right is by Tchmo from Society 6, and the bottom right is marbled paper from Paper Mojo.)

I’m particularly fond of the one on the bottom. It’s just blobs of color, but they’re pretty colors, and I’m so obsessed with watercolor lately, that’s really all I require.

Glitter and Goat Cheese - DIY Mini Watercolor Painting in Ikea Ribba Frame

It’s weird to call a painting “DIY,” since theoretically, unless you’re buying a print, all paintings are DIY … But since I’m not an artist (by any stretch of the imagination) and I created something to replace actual art, I think this qualifies as DIY.

Glitter and Goat Cheese - DIY Mini Watercolor Paintings in Ikea Ribba Frame

The nice thing about being into abstract styles is that you can create a piece that makes you happy without having any talent whatsoever. Hooray!

Would you ever hang DIY art on your wall, or am I crazy?

     

Earl the Octopus Makes His Debut

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Remember when I said I was ordering two prints from Society6 to hang in my foyer, back in January? I wasn’t lying – I ordered them the next day – but it’s taken me until now to get them both hung! Whoops!

I mentioned that the standard sizes on Society6 don’t fit in the Ikea Ribba frame mats. That was a bit of a deterrent for Earl the Octopus.

Earl Octopus Print - Wobins - Society6

Luckily, I remembered that Jenny at Little Green Notebook had run into the same problem, and her genius solution was to just paint out the gap with a solid, contrasting color. I thought about mounting Earl on a piece of solid scrapbook paper, but I felt like he deserved better, you know? I really wanted to give Earl an ocean to swim in. So, I busted out my cheapo watercolor set and painted him one.

Watercolor Painting - Blue Background
(Don’t mind the orange blob behind it. That might end up being a creation for the living room. Maybe not.)

Next, I needed to cut off Earl’s extra edges. I used my paper trimmer with the laser guide so that I wouldn’t screw up. Nobody wants a crooked rectangle on full display!

Earl Octopus Print - Wobins - Society6 - Trimmer

While all this was going on, I had also spray-painted my Ikea Ribba frame gold. I know, I know – cut it out with the gold spray paint, woman! – but I literally have eight white Ribba frames in my foyer already. EIGHT! It was getting out of hand.

After days of drying time and a lot of double-sided tape, I finally managed to get Earl mounted in the ocean, the ocean mounted onto the mat, and the mat and glass shoved back into the spray-painted frame. SUCCESS!

Earl Octopus Print - Wobins - Society6 - Gold Ikea Ribba Frame

I LOVE how it came out. I had originally meant for the ocean to be a darker shade of blue-green, but my cheapo watercolors have very little pigment, so this was the best I could do. I’m happy with it, though! I think it really POPS. Total price for this framed art? $26. Bam.

I also finally hung the other print, Tchmo’s Untitled (Cloudscape), on the gallery wall. This sizing issue was resolved much more easily – I just got the size that was a little larger than the mat opening, and cut off a bit of the edges. No harm done. I wasn’t a huge fan of the red, anyway.

Gallery Wall - Abstract Watercolor and Marbled Paper in Ikea Ribba Frames
That frame on the bottom left always goes crooked for some reason! I fixed it after this photo was taken, I swear.

The giant piece of Pirouette marbled paper has been hanging up for a while, too, but I don’t think I ever posted a picture of it on the wall. Bad blogger!

Paper Mojo Pirouette Marbled - Ikea Ribba Frame

So that’s all my foyer art! I’m a pretty big fan of it. Find out more about it here and here.

What process do you use to fill your walls with pretty things? Long-term collection, or buying all at once?

     

Easy Afternoon Gold Leaf DIY

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Oof. I hate that I’ve been such a lame-ass blogger lately. I find it so difficult to get motivated when I’m seriously bummed out, you know? (If you’ve been reading, you know why I’ve been bummed out. You’re sick of hearing about it, I’m sick of talking about it, blah blah blah.) But today, we woke up at an ungodly hour for Brad’s 10K – he finished in 1:06, woohoo! – so I felt like the day was hours longer. It just seemed wrong not to use that extra time for at least one project.

After screwing around with some supplies I found in my office, here’s what I came up with:

DIY White Yellow Gold Leaf Vase

I’m only slightly ashamed to say that this took me an entire afternoon, despite its simplicity. I don’t mind, though – I like to think of that time as an investment in my future crafting skills. You mess up, you learn, you move forward.

The original plan was to paint the inside of the vase with hot pink glass paint, then gold leaf the outside.

DIY Gold Leaf Vase - Materials

It started off well enough. First, I blocked off the section I wanted to gold leaf with Frog Tape.

DIY Gold Leaf Vase - Frog Tape

Since I knew the gold leaf adhesive would have to set for about half an hour, I applied that first with a foam craft brush.

DIY Gold Leaf Vase - Leaf Adhesive

It goes on milky, and then eventually dries to clear. That’s when you know you’re ready to apply the gold leaf. While I waited, I applied the glass paint (again, with a foam craft brush). And, well, it looked kind of crappy. I suppose I shouldn’t have been surprised – the whole kit probably cost about $8 from Michael’s, and it was the air-dry kind of paint. Real glass paint has to be baked. I decided to wait for it to dry to see if the coating would even out. In the meantime, I applied the gold leaf.

DIY Gold Leaf Vase - Glass Paint Gold Leaf

I really don’t have the patience or steady hands for good gold leaf application, which is a real shame, because I love it so much. But despite all that – and my lack of wax paper, which makes the job a LOT easier – I thought it came out OK. I was definitely pleased with the clean line when I removed the Frog Tape.

DIY Gold Leaf Vase - Glass Paint Gold Leaf

Meanwhile, though, my cheap glass paint wasn’t getting any better-looking. I attempted to pick out a stray piece of cat hair and realized that the paint was peeling right off, so I just peeled off all of it with my nails.

DIY Gold Leaf Vase - Leaf Only

Luckily, I had a back-up plan – a whole cabinet full of spray paint. I covered the outside of the vase with a Ziplock bag and taped along the edges.

DIY Gold Leaf Vase - Frog Tape Ziplock Bag

Ideally, I would have painted the inside of the vase neon pink, or perhaps lavender. But the only reasonable colors I had were white and yellow, so one of those would have to do. You want to hear something funny? I thought I could apply the primer to see if I liked the white, and then if I didn’t, I could just apply the yellow over it. UH, NO, IDIOT. It doesn’t work that way when you’re painting the INSIDE OF GLASS.

Luckily, I liked the white. Then I had the genius idea of adding the yellow to the inside, anyway, to give my little vase the oh-so-important P.O.C. (That’s Pop Of Color, people, and it is CRUCIAL.) After that, I touched up the gold leaf again, and then hit the whole thing with some clear sealer spray. Ta-da!

DIY Gold Leaf Vase - Gold White Yellow

The sunshine yellow goes perfectly in my office. Shocker, right? Everything ends up in there. I’m seriously running out of room for gold spray-painted tchotchkes.

DIY Gold Leaf Vase - Gold White Vase Vignette

EVERYTHING IS GOLD AND WHITE. HELP!

It’s not exactly the most exciting thing I’ve ever DIYed, but I like it. And working on it took my mind off my knees for a little bit, which is always good.

Have you ever rescued a DIY from icky-streaky-cheap-looking failure?

     

Bless My Husband’s Hanging Skills

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Our mini-gallery wall frames have been hung!

Mini Gallery Wall Close Angle

Mini Gallery Wall in Foyer

For now, most of the “art” is temporary. The grey marbled paper will stay, and potentially the other marbled pieces (bottom left and top left). The turquoise ikat paper in the upper-right will eventually be moved to another frame in our bedroom. The two small pieces in the center are the sloppy result of Brad and I messing around with a watercolor palette and some printer paper. And the gorgeous piece in the left-center was painted by my friend Jess. Aren’t the colors amazing?! It’s going to be moved to a smaller frame, once I have one, though I think the white space makes a cool statement.

Mini Gallery Wall - DIY Watercolors

When my order from Society6 comes in, Earl the octopus will replace Jess’s painting, and the Tchmo abstract cloudscape will replace the ikat paper. We’re not sure what’s going to replace our crappy DIY watercolors in the center yet. Maybe it’ll be less crappy DIY watercolors?

I also framed the yellow and gold ikat and hung it in our living room.

Wall Art Living Room

This collection of frames has been a work in progress since we lived in our last apartment. The Ikea photography has got to go, and soon, it’ll be replaced. Bye bye, random fruit and wildflowers!

Do you ever use placeholder art just to get some frames on the wall?

     

Marbled Paper Deserves a Frame

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… And I intend to give it one!

Here are a few sneak peeks at the latest items to grace the Glitter & Goat Cheese house. As per usual, not a single one has been hung yet.

Paper Mojo Pirouette Marbled Paper - Turquoise Apricot and Raspberry - Ikea Ribba Frame
Pirouette Marbled Paper in Turquoise, Apricot & Raspberry ($4.50 from Paper Mojo) in a seriously large Ikea Ribba frame ($24.99). A big, beautiful piece of original art for under $30. I believe Kristin F. Davis did this first, and Danielle Oakey also framed a gorgeous piece. It’s sweeping the interwebs! You’re next – you know it!

It’s so vibrant in person. I’m obsessed.

Pirouette Marbled Paper - Turquoise Apricot and Raspberry - CloseUp

Let it be known that this particular Ribba frame (the 28″ x 40″) is a huge pain in the ass. The clear piece is actually plastic, not glass, which is fine. It makes it lighter, safer and easier to hang. However, when you remove the plastic wrap that the frame comes in, it makes the plastic piece extremely static-y, and if your frame happens to be lying on a carpet where your pets hang out, it’s going to get COVERED in fur. I can’t tell you how frustrated I was to bend down those stupid pieces of metal 87 times only to flip the frame over and find ANOTHER piece of hair caught in between the paper and the plastic. UGH. It was AWFUL. Anyway. Moving on.

These two are just a small part of my upcoming mini-gallery wall.

Paper Mojo Marbled Paper - Ikea Ribba Frames - Ikea Rast Dressers

The fuchsia is Agate Marbled Paper in Purple and Pink in a 20″x16″ Ribba frame, and the grey is Pirouette Marbled Paper in Black, Gold and Silver in a 20″x28″ Ribba frame.

You’re also getting a first look at my two Ikea dressers, which are in the middle of being hacked. Can you guess where I’m going with them?

When I get around to replacing the three frames I smashed – don’t ask – the gallery wall will hopefully look like this:

Foyer - Gallery Wall - Ribba Frame - Layout

I don’t have pieces planned for each frame quite yet, but I do have some more paper from my Paper Mojo order.

Paper Mojo - Ikat And Marbled Paper

The pink paper – Agate Marbled Paper in Rose and Blue – will probably be the only one used in the gallery wall. I think the two ikat sheets – in turquoise & gold and yellow & gold – will go in our bedroom somewhere.

I also have some of the grey and fuchsia left, and just hate the idea of throwing them away … Should I use them elsewhere in the house, or is that just too much marbled paper for one abode?

Pirouette Marbled Paper - Black Gold and Silver

It’s just so damn pretty!

I think the rest of the gallery wall needs to stick to the simple, abstract look. I’d really love to order an Electric Garden print from Cozamia, but I feel like that insanity deserves a GIANT frame and its very own wall, don’t you?

Stay tuned for more photos after I get these puppies hung on the wall!

Have you found inexpensive artwork substitutes to frame in your home? I’d love to see!

     

Suzani Print No-Sew Curtains

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Well, it took me a while, but I’ve finally completed my DIY no-sew curtains for our foyer.

DIY suzani print no-sew curtains

It’s so hard to photograph unlined curtains when the sun’s coming right through the window! Here’s a shot of them at night.

DIY suzani print no-sew curtains

Who wants a tutorial?

One thing I feel I have to say about no-sew curtains: If you have a sewing machine and know how to use it, these are not really going to save you any time. You still have to measure, cut, iron, measure again, cut again, and pin the hems. You’re just ironing down a piece of tape instead of sewing a straight line. And by the way, fusible tape is more expensive than thread. Consider yourself warned. For the record, I do have a sewing machine and know how to use it, but I thought this would be faster. I was wrong. Hence the warning.

NO-SEW CURTAINS

What you need:

  • Curtain rod(s)
  • Clip-on curtain rings – you’ll want around 7 per panel. Mine are from Walmart.
  • Fabric – see below for measuring tips to figure out how much you need
  • Measuring tape
  • Scissors
  • Tailor’s chalk pencil (it’s a pencil that wipes off easily so it doesn’t stain your fabric)
  • Straight pins
  • Iron
  • Iron-on tape (otherwise known as “Steam-A-Seam” or “Stitch Witchery” – the kind I used was called “TackyFuse Iron-On Adhesive”)

How to do it:

  1. Hang one of your clip-on curtain rings on your curtain rod. Measure from the clip to wherever you want your curtain to hit (theoretically: the floor). Then add at least 3 inches for the top and bottom hems. Multiply this number by the number of panels you want, then divide it by 36. Your final number is the total number of yards you need. (To give you an idea: I wanted my panels to be 81″ long, so I needed 9.5 yards for my four panels.)
  2. Pick out a fabric. Mine is Premier Prints’ Suzani in Wisteria, and I got it from Hancock Fabrics.
  3. Optional: Iron your fabric before you do anything else. You’re supposed to do this because you can’t cut a straight line in wrinkled fabric, supposedly. I did not do this. I didn’t feel like it. Mine turned out fine.
  4. Cut your fabric into the pieces for the panels. Remember: this is the length from the clip to the floor, plus at least 3 inches extra. I marked down my measurements with the tailor’s chalk pencil for the first panel, then I lay that first panel over the next three to make sure they’d all be the same size.

    No-Sew Curtain Tutorial

  5. Cut off the selvage edges. (These are the finished sides of the fabric, which don’t have the pattern.) If you have particularly narrow windows and want to make narrower panels, you can cut further. To get gathering that looks like mine, you want each panel to be about the width of the window when fully extended.
  6. Now, you have to iron the panels. Sorry. It’s a pain.
  7. Pick one side to start on. Using your measuring tape (or a ruler), fold and pin down a 1.5″ hem.

    No-Sew Curtain Tutorial

  8. Iron down your folded edge to get a nice, crisp edge.

    No-Sew Curtain Tutorial

  9. Remove your pins, and place your fusible tape underneath the folded edge. Aim to get it as close to the unfinished edge as possible so you don’t have a loose edge flapping around. Follow the instructions for the tape you buy – some have a backing you have to remove, some don’t.

    No-Sew Curtain Tutorial

  10. Fold the fabric back down, and iron over the folded edge. Again, follow the instructions for your tape to find out what temperature setting to use and how long to hold down the iron. Wait for the fabric to cool before you test the bond.
  11. Complete the next three sides. When you reach a corner where you’re joining two bonded edges, I’d recommend using extra tape. You’re holding down more fabric, so you need a stronger bond.

    No-sew curtain tutorial

    No-sew curtain tutorial

  12. Attach your clip-on curtain rings, using your measuring tape to space them out evenly.

    No-sew curtain tutorial

  13. Hang ‘em up!

    No-sew curtain tutorial

I timed myself while I was working on these, and it took me about an hour and a half to complete each panel. However, keep in mind that a) I’m kind of terrible at this kind of thing, and b) I was watching Ally McBeal on Netflix and was very distracted. A person with slightly more skill and slightly less ADD could probably do these a lot more quickly.

Anyone else ever made these? Any suggestions for improving my method?