Update: DIY Postcard Wall Art

It's been 10 months since I installed my DIY Postcard Wall Art so I thought an update was in order. If you haven't read the post where I installed it, it was a pretty easy process. But since I was doing something new-to-me I had no idea if it would actually have staying power.

The good news is that it still looks great and I really like it! And thankfully there is no real bad news. The only behind the scenes maintenance I've done is to stick back up a few that have fallen down. Almost all of them were originally stuck on with 3M stickers but I ran out of the stickers towards the end so the rest just got scotch tape. A few months later I added 3M stickers to those without them. The few that have fallen off since have been the ones that only had scotch tape or ones that are on bumpy or cracked parts of the wall (because my walls are plaster there are more imperfections than on drywall).

But a new phenomena occurred this week:

Wondering what that new little white box in the corner is?
It's a motion detector because I'm super fancy like that.

Oops, there are a few crooked ones, but oh well, it adds to the DIY charm.

It's been rainy and humid here the past few days so I'm wondering if that has anything to do with it but several of the postcards are starting to curl away from the wall. Some of that has to do with the fact that on a lot of the post cards I only put one 3M sticker right in the middle (during installation when I realized I was running low on them I started to only put one on as opposed to two). So some of that would be cured by adding a new sticker. But also, I don't hate it.

Of course, if they all start falling down then it'll be an issue, but until then I sort of like the added texture. That was the whole reason I added foam core the the back of some of them in the first place. It seemed like it would give the look dimension but it ended up not make much of a difference. The curling postcards definitely do give the look more dimension though so I'm happy for now.

Overall, I highly recommend this project! It was extremely cheap to do ($15 for the postcards and around $20 for other materials) for the impact it has and it was very simple and fast (it only took me about two hours to do, way less if you skip the foam mounting part).

Threshold Makeover

Eight months later and I'm still in love with the cork floors in my kitchen (more on their installation here and here). Seriously, they are amazing. They look great, feel good under my feet, and are easy to clean. If anyone ever asks me how I feel about them, I become a walking infomercial (have you googled 'cork trees' yet? DO. IT. Your mind will be blown). But there was one task leftover from the big install last winter that I never got around to finishing.

This is the threshold between the kitchen and the dining room. While it was installed perfectly and I've never had any problems with it, I never got around to staining it to match the cork. 

For some reason I was nervous about staining it, which I soon realized stemmed from my last attempt at staining. If you don't remember, I tried to stain a dresser and it was disastrous (more about that here and here). But after a brief tutorial and pep talk from my friend that helped me install the floors, I was ready to just get it done.

I used my good old Frog Tape (more on my preference for Frog Tape here) to tape off the threshold. Since sanding wasn't necessary, I just put on latex gloves and used an old sock to rub the stain on. I used Minwax in 'Special Walnut', the kind of stain without the poly added in (that was my mistake last time). 

My staining coach told me that if I wanted to make the stain darker I should apply the stain, let it dry over night, and then apply another coat. But if you know me at all you know I am the most impatient person on the planet. It's like a real problem, so after a few coats I was done. I left the tape on until the next day optimistically thinking I might do another coat, but the next day I was satisfied with how it looked (or too lazy to stain it again, take your pick). 

It's a little thing, but it made me happy for a solid week. The transition looks so great now! I should have done it months ago since it only cost $6 and took 15 minutes. C'est la vie!

Updated Faux Sofa Table

Remember my faux sofa table? I made it a few months after I moved in (more about it here).

Here is a refresher of what it looked like behind the scenes:

It worked great for over a year, but then BOB happened:

He was all like, "Hey, thanks for putting this special shelf here just for me!" Not cool, Bob. Since the home tour was coming up I had grand plans of making an actual table out of wood for back there, but like a lot of things, it didn't get done. But, I couldn't just leave it like this for the tour so I decided to get creative again.

Though I have more tubs like the bottom ones they were being used elsewhere so I pilfered only the lids and set them on top of the cardboard boxes. Obviously, this is a bandaid to a bigger problem, but you know... it is what it is.

Little known fact about me: I don't use a top sheet. I find them unnecessary so I have like 10 top sheets that I never use so I grabbed two white twin top sheets and folded them over the tubs.

Voila! Not a long term solution but it worked great for the home tour (and beyond, it is still holding up nicely). One day I would like to build a simple table for back there but one day at a time.

Home Tour To-Do List Updated

This September my house will be featured in the Irvington Home Tour which I mentioned here. I'm still really excited about it, but since getting back from my trip and my subsequent hand surgery I have lacked the energy/ability to attempt nearly all of the projects I so ambitiously assumed I would get done in time (for the full list click here, but be warned, it is a ridiculously long list). It was, in fact, 18 items long. Yeah... sometimes I really overshoot things. So my new and improved (and much more realistic) list is 4 items long.

1) Replace/Get blinds in the living (currently only two of the four windows have blinds).

2) Hang the TV (I already have the mount).

3) Buy new plants to replace some of mine that are looking sort of sad.

4) Clean, just like, everything.

Bonus items:
* Build sofa table to replace my 'faux' table I created (here).
* Re-grout shower


From the day I get my cast off till the day of the home tour I have 25 days. I'm not sure yet how quickly I'll have full use of my hand after the cast comes off, but I think that completing these four tasks (with the possibility of two extra bonus items) within 25 days is reasonable.

Wish me luck!

DIYable Thrift Shop Find #4032

I'm still chugging away on my thrift shops articles (all available to read here) which means I'm still trying hard to not spend money every weekend. 

Thankfully, this last time I only spend $2.99 on this framed art. It looks small here but it's actually about 18" wide and 12" tall. I really like the frame even though it is a little beat up. And let's be honest, this is not the best painting ever painted but it's a sweet little scene.

Right now this painting is just leaning against my bedroom wall but I have a few ideas about how to spruce this guy up.

Idea #1:

via Under the Sycamore

Paint over the existing painting with new colors. I saw this on Pinterest awhile back and thought it was such a creative idea. It's basically a play on paint with numbers. It's unique and cheap and could potentially be easy. Although, let's be honest a lot of these types of projects look easy and I over-confidently think I can do it but then I get into the project and... it's a mess. But I'm just crazy enough to keep trying projects like this.

OR

Idea #2:

via A Beautiful Mess

I actually reference this idea in my last attempt at DIY art (here and here). I like this project because it is extremely simple. Stick letters on canvas, paint over letters, dry, peel, and done! I'm not sure what I could write on such a small canvas though...

What would you do? I'm leaning toward Idea #1 but I'll see what my mood is when I decide to start this project. For now, it will just be a weird little painting in my room.

How to Clean a Sheepskin Rug

A few months ago I found a sheepskin rug in my parent's garage and after gently questioning them about it's use I found that it wasn't being used and that I could have it - yay!

For the past few months it has been living in my bedroom in front of my nightstand. Despite coming from a garage it was in great condition.

Not sure why I made my bed such a backwards way, but anyway, the sheepskin looked really nice until Bob (I could end just about any sentence that way... until Bob). I had noticed in the past few months that Bob just loved to lay on that thing and chew up his toys. Which is totally fine with me except that all his hair started to get stuck in the fur of the rug which is confusing and then there were all these bits of chewed up dog toys stuck in the fur, plus some blue ink got on it and honestly don't know who is to blame for that. But all of that wasn't enough for me to actually bother to clean it (I would periodically shake it out and try to vacuum it but it wasn't very helpful) until Bob straight up threw up on it. I was like seriously Bob?! My entire house is hardwood and you choose to vomit on 3'x2' dry clean only sheepskin? Really? So it went directly into a trash bag to be dealt with later because dog vomit is nasty and ain't nobody got time to deal with that crap at 11:30pm on a work night. Later I took it out of the bag enough to check the tag which said dry clean only. Okay, that's annoying but I figured paying $15-20 to get the thing cleaned for me isn't the worst thing to ever happen. Except the dry cleaners said they wouldn't take it. Say what? Isn't that your job to dry clean dry clean items? I was annoyed. But it really need to get cleaned and the vomit had been on it for like a week at this point so I figured I couldn't hurt it worse by trying to clean it myself. Here is what it looked like pre-cleaning:

dog vomit (semi-censored because nobody wants to see dog vomit)

general filth

blue ink?

dog hair

After several google searches I came up with many different answers. I love the internet but sometimes too many opinions on how to do something can be confusing so I just decided to combine everything I read because I'm all about making good choices!

How to How I cleaned a sheepskin rug:

1) Shake it out

The less dirt and hair and other debris that you can remove pre-cleaning is in your best interest.

2) Give it a bath

I filled my tub with about six inches of cool water and then I added about three capfuls of baby shampoo.

(the wire brush comes in later)

While I was drawing a bubble bath for my sheepskin rug I couldn't help but think to myself, "This is such a first world problem."

The rest is pretty self explanatory... just move it around and bathed it. It was really gross and I got wet and I felt gross and sort of wanted to become a vegetarian afterwards because being that close to wet animal fur makes you reconsider all sorts of things about your life. 

3) Rinse and repeat

If I didn't mention this at the beginning you will get wet. So don't do this wearing a silk blouse and cardigan like I did because that's just not smart.

But yeah, you've got to rinse and rinse and rinse because animal fur apparently soaks up a lot of water and the water will be filthy and you will be super grossed out and you will totally have to clean your tub afterwards.

After you've rinse and squeezed as much water out of the rug as possible it will look life you have a dead labradoodle in your bathtub but be cool because you've got to get through this. 

4) Brush it out

At this point I am like what am I doing with my life???? I am brushing a rug that I just gave a bath, what has my life come too??? But you will get through it, I promise. You will be changed, but you will get through it.

I really wish I could suggest that you skip this step, but I think this might be the key to the success of this process. Brushing out the rug got out a lot of the debris lodged down deep inside the fur. It was also oddly satisfying. I felt like a kid playing with a doll's hair. Mostly because you can yank and pull and tear out the hair and your doll can't do anything about it (was I a sadistic child or is that normal?). I used the edge of the bathtub to help me as I brushed out my rug. I felt like I was in an animal version of Psycho wherein I am obsessed with caring for a dead animal because let's be honest that is exactly what a sheepskin rug basically is. 

5) Wait, because this sucker takes for. ever. to dry

I exaggerate a lot but when I tell you took this rug seven days for this rug to dry I am not kidding you. Seven. Days. Honestly, it's still a little damp. I wish I had a clothes line outside for it because I think that would have been faster. I even dried it in the dryer for 10 minutes but that made me nervous so I stopped. So basically you just have to wait.

But when you are done waiting your rug will be clean and you will have gone to a place deep inside of yourself and come out with a new appreciation for the rug that you have so intimately bathed and cared for.

 It is definitely a little more crimpy/curly than it was before but I think if I brushed it again it would look the same, but the crimpyness doesn't bother me. The washing part only took me about 45 minutes but it felt like forever since this was such a silly task. I really hope i don't have to wash it again any time soon. Bob, I hope that my angry words got through to you, DO NOT VOMIT ON MY SHEEPSKIN RUG.

DIY Paper Crane Mini Art Installation

I lurve paper cranes. My obsession began in the fourth grade when many of my great obsessions began. Having taught in Japan the previous year my teacher made it her mission to teach us all about Japanese culture including how to make paper cranes. Like riding a bike, I've never forgotten how to make a paper crane.

A few months ago I saw two images on Pinterest that got me thinking...

via Pinterest

via Pinterest

Can I incorporate paper cranes into my home's design? The obvious answer is YES.

This corner of my bedroom was pretty empty and in need of some love so I went for it.

I really like it! When I have more time I would like to add more cranes to make it an even bigger statement but for now I'm very happy with this simple and cheap project.

Here is what I did:

Made some paper cranes
Strung them with fishing wire
Push pinned them to the ceiling

Easy!

Here is a link on how to make a paper crane. I just used white computer printer paper, but origami paper would probably work better. I think I made eleven, but like I said, I may make more to make the installation bigger and better. The best part about making paper cranes is that it is extremely soothing. If you've never made one before the first few will take some thinking, but after that your brain takes over and does it for you, sort of like typing.

The only thing I bought for this project was clear fishing line which was surprisingly expensive at $7.99. Thankfully, it was the only thing I had to buy for this project so I guess $8 isn't too much. If you have a friend who fishes you could just ask to borrow 20 yards or something since there is no way I'll ever use 300 yards of fishing line.

The way the paper crane is folded creates a natural hole at the bottom of the crane so I used that as a starting point for stringing up the crane. 

In order to string the fishing line through the crane I had to make a hole in the top of the crane. Before the hole:

After I jabbed the smaller end of the scissors into the top:

I started to make the holes bigger after I took this picture because stringing wire through such tiny holes was difficult to say they least. If you look closely you can actually see through to the other side, but it was a very tight fit!

I strung the string through the top hole first and then through the bottom hole and then I wrapped it around each wing and then knotted it on the top. Of course the string is clear so taking a picture of this process was sort of impossible, but you get the idea.

I left about two to three feet of string attached to each paper crane because I wasn't sure at what heights I'd be hanging them.

My plan for hanging the paper cranes to the ceiling was to knot the fishing wire to a push pin and then push it into the ceiling. This would have been simple if my ceiling was dry wall, but the hanging process was much more difficult than I had anticipated mostly because my ceiling is plaster. Plaster doesn't like push pins, this I learned. Instead of giving a huge amount of detail about the process I will just tell you that I used a hammer to get the push pins into the ceiling and also, I broke a lot of push pins.

Below, you can see that the push pins aren't very noticeable at all. Is it a bad thing to make so many little holes in the ceiling? I don't know. I didn't even think about it while I was doing it. I guess whenever I leave I'll just fill them with a little bit of putty or something. But it's so pretty, who cares?

It was sort of hard to photograph because they gently sway in the breeze created by my fan. I find it very soothing. It's like having a adult mobile! This would look adorable in a kids room but I personally think it looks very nice in a 27 year old woman's room too. Although, I am positive that my fourth grade self would be super proud of this project. 

What do you think? Do you have a childhood obsession that you would like to incorporate into your home's design? My advice: Do it.