Burlap Wreath DIY

I am obsessed with everything burlap! Seriously, you should see my house at Christmas time! I use burlap for everything from putting it on my Christmas tree as garland, to using it on my mantel and even wrapping gifts! It adds so much texture and detail to anything you want to create. There are many tutorials out there for making your own burlap garland wreath, so there is not right or wrong way to do it. I believe my way is one of the simplest you can do though. I started with a wire coat hanger. Yes, those ugly wire hangers that we all have tons of but refuse to use them even if they are the only coat hangers left...those wire hangers... All you need to do it take apart the hanger and re-bend it into a circle. It does not have to be perfect because the garland is very forgiving. I had my burlap garland left over from last year, but I purchased it at Michaels for about $6 per roll. You get a lot of garland for your money also. I used 4 rolls for my wreath. The amount you use depends on the size of the wreath you want. After shaping the hanger into a circle, start by weaving the garland in and out, sort of in a fan shape (like how you make a fan out of a piece of paper that you fold back and forth, if this makes any sense). Keep doing this until you cover the entire hanger with garland. Twist the two ends of the wire hanger together (i used pliers for this part) so that the garland does not come off. Tie a small piece of garland, or ribbon to the top of the wreath and hang! Voila! This wreath took me about 3 minutes to make and cost about $10 (Michaels coupons included).

My burlap garland wreath on my front door

Moss Covered Letters

There are several ways to make your own customized moss covered letter. I chose a more difficult way to make it because I already had the below styrofoam board and did not want to go out an purchase a letter. Plus the thickness of the styrofoam was perfect since I wanted a more "chunky" letter "B" and I wanted a larger letter than I have previously seen on other blogs and websites. These letters are available for purchase on Etsy for about $70! I only spent about $20! The styrofoam was purchased at Walmart for about $7. The sheet moss was purchased from Michaels for $6 per package and I had a 50% off coupon for one regular priced item. I used 2 1/2 packages of moss for my letter. You will also need a glue gun and about an hour of your time :) I would love to see your finished moss covered letter!

Styrofoam for the letter. I simply drew out my letter "B" and cut it out using a serrated knife.

Sheet Moss

After Moss application

Renovation of a Back Porch

Lovely

 After a short stint of owning an English Bulldog, our screened in back porch looked kind of, well destroyed! We never utilized the great space like we should because it needed a lot of work and love. Sorry I do not have any before photos, but here is the breakdown of the after: We started off painting the wood beams a soft muted grey color to make the screen porch lighter. We used an epoxy kit, purchased from Home Depot to refinish the cement flooring, approximately $70. New fans were added and our new flat screen was hung. After a lengthy search for the perfect outdoor furniture, I finally found this lovely teak furniture with white cushions online at Sams Club for $999 on sale. It is great quality, well built and looks perfect in this space. I used several pillows to bring in pops of blue and green, found at Home Depot on clearance for $2 each!! The middle yellow pillow was purchased at Target on sale for $17. I purchased the two hanging plants at Walmart to bring in more green color and add warmth. I love how the space came together. I am on a hunt for the perfect outdoor rug to place under the couch and coffee table now, so if you see anything let me know! Enjoy!

Love the pop of color that the pillows bring to the space!

Epoxy flooring completed

The TV hung in place, with a shelf built to house the direct tv box

Renovation of a Dining Room

My dining room before was dark, boring and needed some color in its life! I saw many examples of this "board and batten" style that I wanted to recreate in my dining room on various blogs and on my oh so fav website, Pinterest. I thought that my goal at first was a far out one, especially since I was going to attempt this all by myself. GASP! So you see, my husband HATES and I mean HATES any kind of DIY projects. I constantly dream up more renovations and projects that I want to do and frankly I think it drives him nuts. He says I can do whatever I want to the house, as long as I finish it without him! hahahaha!! Sounds mean huh? Well, he would rather hire someone than to do it himself, but I am the complete opposite. I love the reward and satisfaction I get after completing a project and the amazement on everyone's faces when they say, "You did this all by yourself!?".... Ahhhh :)

My dining room before, after the majority of furniture had been removed. See how dark and small the area looks?

Primer up on the wall. This took about three coats to the bottom half where the dark brown once was.

Top color on. Misty Morn (Semi gloss)  by Behr.

Boards going up on the wall. Used liquid nail on the back and two small finishing nails to secure in place.

Finished product! The curtains were not in yet, but I purchased two panels from Ballard Designs,  they are the burlap style curtains and look fabulous in this space.

My table scape :)

So here is the breakdown of the items used:

*2 sheets of 0.5in thick MDF board- purchased from Home Depot at about $22 a sheet. Also had all my measurements and Home Depot cut all the boards for me :) Major time saver! They only cut straight boards, no angle cuts, so this is something to keep in mind. My battens (the vertical boards) were cut at 59" long, using 0.5" thick MDF board. My boards (the horizontal board on top) were cut at various lengths, depending on your wall measurements but were 6" wide, using the same 0.5" thick MDF board. I managed to get all my cuts out of only 2 large MDF sheets. WOW!!

*Liquid nail

*paintable white caulk

*Wood filler

*finishing nails and a nail driver

*sandpaper to sand down the wood filler over the nails you drive into the boards

*3 gallons of Kiltz primer

*1 gallon of Behr Ultra Pure White in Semi Gloss, for the bottom wall color and boards and batten

*1 gallon of Behr Misty Morn in Semi Gloss for the top blue/grey color

Basic Instructions:

Start by priming your wall with about 2 or 3 coats, depending on the wall color you are covering, and prime all your boards and batten that you are using (this will be easier for you when they are up on the wall so that you only have to do touch ups to the paint). Paint the top color, any color you prefer, make sure you know your batten measurements before you do this part to ensure you are going down far enough! Once all your coats have dried and your entire wall is covered evenly, you can start putting up your batten. I put my battens up 12" apart. If an outlet or light switch happens to land exactly 12" apart from a batten then simply move the batten over a smidge, trust me, you wont be able to notice! I used liquid nail on the back of my battens and 2 finishing nails, one in the top and one in the bottom once they were up. I later drove in the nails with a nail driver, used wood filler to fill the hole and painted the Behr Ultra White over it. Once the battens are up, the boards are very simple to install since they lay on top of the battens. Use the same liquid nail and finishing nails then make sure to caulk where the board and batten meets to ensure a nice seamless flow of all you boards. 

I hope this tutorial was easy to follow. Please leave a comment with any questions or suggestions. Thanks!

My Art. My Life. My Blog

Welcome to my new blog! I am a lover of all things design, fashion, art, and a big advocate of doing things yourself. I find inspiration through other blogs and websites, then recreate ideas into my own. I frequently get asked how did you make that? Where did you buy that? So, I figured what better way then to blog about all my projects and findings. I hope to at least peek the interest of one of my readers and hopefully encourage everyone to create!