Simply DIY 2

**I started writing this post over a year ago when I finished this dresser.  Now that I'm trying to finish the post, my memory is not quite the best when it comes to step-by-step instructions.** One day, my little guy will get too big *sniff, sniff* for his nursery and we'll have to send him off to the guest room.  While this is not happening anytime soon, the guest bedroom does need a dresser for our guests.  I figured that I might as well plan ahead and get a dresser that will eventually be for my son to use.  Keeping with the nautical theme that we used for his first birthday party, I've decided to hack an Ikea Tarva dresser to match this someday, nautical-themed, kid's bedroom.   Now, there are A LOT of beautiful Tarva updates all over the internet and I decided that the "framed" drawer was my favorite update.  This very simple dresser looks much more put together when the drawers have that small update.  This project was a big project for me, as I

I'm baaaaack.  Yea, its been a while...sorry...again.  Keeping up with my little guy sorta keeps me busy ! My latest project makes me all giddy inside.  Its a simple project that I've thought about doing for a while and I just bit the bullet and completed it.  Back in the day, I used to babysit this boy who had a HUGE chalkboard on a wall in his kitchen and I just loved it. He loved it too...but I think I loved it more. It was good for coloring and learning.  Now, my little guy isn't quite old enough to enjoy a chalkboard yet, but soon enough, he'll be making marks all over my painted walls  the chalkboard wall. I thought about putting the chalk paint on a blank wall we have in the kitchen, but decided to go with just a small area and use the side of our cabinets.  I purchased my Rustoleum chalkboard paint  at my local Ace Hardware store, but any home store (or Amazon) has it.  Everything else I had on hand to paint the cabinet.  Its best to use a small foam r

So, my youngest sister has made a personal goal to run either a half or (eventually) a full marathon in each of the 50 states.  While she has run quite a few half marathons in our home state of Pennsyltucky, her only other states are Tennessee and soon-to-be Ohio.  She needs to get on that goal ! From doing each half marathon (and always kicking butt) she receives a participation medal.  Along with the medal, she has her bib as well.  What to do with these memorabilia from each race?  You could scrapbook the bibs with some photos, and throw the medals in a keepsake box, but why not display them?  I've noticed on my sister's Pinterest page (Oh, thank you Pinterest) that she has pinned a few bib/medal holders like this one : I decided to give it the ol' DIY try and make my sister one of these for her birthday.  This was a trial and error project, with lots of trial and lots of errors.  Bare with me while I try to explain. Tools Needed: Paint brush Drill Mat

Hello !  It's been a while !  Our little one has been keeping me very busy with, you know, eating, sleeping, pooping, and playing.  It's so exciting being a mommy !  I love every minute of it. I have been doing some DIY projects around the house, here and there, but I've been very bad about blogging about them.  One that I finished recently is a bookshelf made from crates. As I looked around our living room, with baby stuff here and there everywhere, I realized that I have no "baby stuff friendly" storage.  I needed a spot to throw his toys and books and other little things like teething rings and whatnot.  I knew I wanted something "cube" like and small to fit under our bay window. We used to have a wicker basket trunk that sits in front of the window.  Not too baby stuff friendly.  I started looking where every person now looks: Pinterest.  I found some ideas and figured that using some crates would be the perfect solution ! I purchased my crate

With our baby quickly approaching, as well as Valentine's Day, I found this bottle cap holder  an appropriate gift for my hubs.  After all, he just purchased a beer making kit which I'm sure he will be putting to good use.  While I could have purchased it, I figured I'd DIY it.  Except for the slit at the top, it was fairly simple to make. I purchased a shadow box, white letters, and sticker paper at Hobby Lobby.  Make sure to buy two packets of letters.  I forgot to count out  how many letters I would need and didn't have enough 'E's', so I had to make a quick (and yes it was actually quick) trip back to Hobby Lobby. First, I used a pencil to draw a box/slit on the top of the shadow box.  Make sure that it is big enough for the bottle caps to fall in to. Then came the hard part - cutting the slit.  I'm sure if I had the right tools, like a certain dremel or drill bit, this would have been a lot easier.  However, I don't.  So I had to use so

With about four weeks to go until we meet our little one, we finally have our nursery just about finished !  It's painted, furniture is put together, shelves are up, most of the decor is up, and the drawers are just about stocked with clothes and diapers.  Since we didn't find out the sex, it's fairly gender neutral.  I figured I can add some pops of purple if its a girl and leave it how it is if it's a boy.  Here's a little picture tour : The curtains came to me as a revelation.  I couldn't, for the life of me, settle on a pair of curtains !  I looked at IKEA, Target, Wal-Mart, and the internet and just couldn't find anything that fit the room. I was thinking of purchasing a fabric from IKEA, but fully making the curtains was a little intimidating for me (I made my bedroom curtains from scratch and I felt like it took me foooorreevverr to make them and vowed I would never do it again).  Then, one day as I walked passed the b