LeTeRs- SUPER CUTE!

Hello again friends! I'm VERY excited about this week's DIY project because it turned out so darn cute! Shawn and I have decided we are going to be doing a DIY Christmas this year to save money (and also because I think he is worried that all of my DIY projects are going to be stacking up around the house). And this week's project is a Christmas gift for someone and I just LOVE it! Ok let's get started with the list of materials:

1. Wooden letters- I waited until the were 50% off at Hobby Lobby at got mine. It ended up costing me less than $1.50/letter. Regular price they are anywhere from $1.99-3.99/letter depending on the style you choose. But they go on sale regularly, so I would just watch the ads!!

2. Scrapbook paper- usually it is around .50-$1.00/sheet, but what I did was again wait until the books of scrapbook paper went 50% off and got like 150 pages for $9.99. The benefit to this, besides it being a way better deal for the money, is the the books usually have a theme to them, so all the pages will match each other if you decide to do what I did and make each letter a different pattern.

3. Mod Podge- you should have some lying around if you did my first week's project, but if not it is around $4.99 for a jar of it and it lasts quite a while. (Reminder: Michaels always has a 40% off coupon each week and this would be a good thing to get with that coupon!)

4. Scissors

5. Paint brush for the Mod Podge (Remember, I wouldn't recommend using a sponge brush on the Mod Podge, it is better to use a brush with bristles). Cost: $1 or less

Now that we have our materials lets get started!! The first thing I did was figure out which pattern I want for each letter. Then I took the first letter and piece of paper and traced the letter onto the paper. HINT: Turn both the letter and the piece of paper upside down or else you will end up tracing it backwards.

After you have the letter traced onto the paper then cut the letter out. Now, on the first letter I did I was going for perfection and realized that is not going to work. The reason is that if the paper is cut to match the letter exactly, then there is no way to mod podge it onto the letter. Plus, it just didn't look very good. So, what I found looked the best was to cut out the letter smaller than what I traced. It actually looks really good not being perfect. HINT: my letters were already white and I'm not sure if it would look as good if it were just the wood color. So, something to consider if you have just the wood color letters is possibly painting them before you put the scrapbook paper on.

After you have your letter cut out place it on the wooden letter to make sure that it looks good. If not, you mat need to cut a little more off here and there. After you have your paper letter looking the way you want it, then set the paper letter to the side and brush mod podge all over the front of the wooden letter.

Next, you want to place the paper letter onto the wooden letter. HINT: Do this carefully or else your paper letter will have bubbles in it. What I found was best was to start at one corner and work my way down and to the right slowly. After you have placed the paper letter onto the wooden letter it is time to mod podge over the top. Do this gently because you are working with wet paper here and if you aren't careful you may end up ripping it. Make sure the ends of the paper letter are covered especially.

The final thing you want to do is use your finger and smooth out any wrinkles and make sure the mod podge is evenly spread throughout. HINT: There will likely be a wrinkle here or there, just press them down as much as possible but don't worry too much about them. They will dry smaller and it gives them character!! Plus, it really isn't all that noticeable. All of mine had at least one wrinkle in it, but I bet you can't find them in the finished pictures!!


After you are done, just set them to the side and let them dry! I can't show you all my final letters just in case the receiver of this gift is checking out these blogs, but here is a picture of some of the letters completed.

My final thoughts: This has been my favorite project so far. The total cost was around $20 (for seven letters), but I also have a lot of scrapbook paper left over to use in the future. I really think they turned out really good and I just hope the receiver of these loves them as much as I do! The only negative I have is that I couldn't figure out how to get all those wrinkles out. Now, they are very small and honestly you really can't even see them, but I'm a perfectionist so it really bothered me at first. It also really didn't take that much time. It maybe took me a little over an hour to do it and I was watching TV at the same time. I think this is a very doable project for anyone!

Overall DIY Grade: A-

Good luck and please feel free to post your finished project and ask any questions or comments! Happy Do It Yourselfing!

EaSy DIY Modern Art

Welcome back DIYers! So this week's project is the easiest DIY project I think I have ever done. It didn't turn out perfectly, but again I think the next time I try it, it will get better. Ok here are the materials you will need:

1. Canvas (any size you want, I used a smaller one for my first one since they are cheaper and I wasn't sure how this would turn out). Cost: $3.99-$25 (depending on size) Remember: Always look for sales, coupons, and bonus 2 for ones!

2. Paint: Whatever color you want. I went with Acrylic paint and it worked just fine. Cost: .59-$2.99.

3. Paint Brush: Whatever kind you prefer to work with. I just grabbed a package of 3 at the dollar store. Cost: $1-$10

4. Masking tape: Cost $1-$3. I got mine at the dollar store.

Now that you have your materials, you're ready to go! The first thing you need to do is take your canvas and place lines of tape on it in whatever design you prefer.

Make sure that the tape is stuck on very well and that the sides are not bubbling up or anything. HINT: When picking out tape to use, make sure you get something that is definitely sticky enough not to let the paint through, but not so sticky that it is going to mess up the canvas when you remove it. If you can't find masking tape, consider using painting tape (or whatever you call it when you line the baseboards and windows when you're painting walls). Also, make sure you get the tape on the sides of the canvas too, so the design is followed all the way through!

Now that you have your tape securely on, START PAINTING!!

HINT: Make sure you get all the corners and creases next to the tape! And make sure your brush strokes are all going in the same direction or else when it dries it will look funny.

Make sure you get the sides too! HINT: Make sure that after you paint the sides that you check the top to make sure there is not extra paint on the sides built up! You want the top to be nice and smooth!

After you have it all good and painted let it dry for a few hours. I let mine dry overnight just to be sure it was completely dry.

When your canvas is dry you simply peel off the tape and WOW you have a pretty cool art piece.

CAUTION: If you don't get the tape real secure than you are likely to have paint that crept under it and made it so the lines are a little messy. Now, Shawn said he liked this because it gave it "character" and honestly you really can't tell unless you look really closely. Next time though, I'm definitely going to try harder to make sure that tape is good and secure!

My final thoughts: The cost of this project was very minimal (most expensive is the canvas which I actually found on sale for $4 (regularly $7)). The total cost of this project for me was only $7.50! And even better it only took me about 10-15 minutes to complete and was very easy to clean up too. I really liked this project and I am happy with the finished project. It gave me another idea of something to do for a Christmas gift that I will share in a later blog (just in case the person getting the gift actually reads my blog). Needless to say though I am definitely doing this again! My only complaint is that the paint did bleed a little in some places, but again I think that with practice I will get better at that.

Overall DIY Grade: B+

Good luck and please feel free to post your finished project and ask any questions or comments! Happy Do It Yourselfing!

DIY-Desk Cover

Welcome back DIYers! First, I want to apologize that I've waited until the last minute to post this one this week. I had a jurytrial and so my week was very full. Anyway, this week do I have a treat for you. This is actually NOT something I saw on another website orin a book, but something I thought of all on my own. Basically, what brought this idea together was I just started my new job, and for the first time in my career I was given my very own office that I could paint whatever color I wanted. Well, I chose this very beautiful gray (rugged suede is the exact title) and because my diploma and bar license were framed in black I decided to have black accents to bring it all together. The only problem is that the desk the office provides is brown :( So I started thinking about what I could do to the desk that wasn't permanent (because we aren't allowed to paint the furniture and the desk stays with that office if I ever switch offices). Then I thought, why not make a desk cover!! So I went to the fabric store (JoAnn's fabric to be exact) and started my creative process there. First, I'll show you a picture of the completed project so that you have an idea of what was going on in my head.....

Now, you guys are probably thinking, that's cute, but it will get dirty and how do you wash it! Well hold onto your shorts because I have an EASY solution that I will discuss later. Ok, now that you have an idea of what the project is, lets talk about what you'll need to complete this project:

1. fabric of your choice (make sure you measure the top of your desk and also leave at least an inch extra of fabric on every side for it to be pinned up) Cost: between $5-$20 depending on how expensive the fabric is you chose. Mine ended up costing about $10

2. Iron

3. fabric laminate (you can find this in the fabric store section that deals with no-sew options). Regular price for this I paid $9.99 and depending on the size of your desk you might need two rolls (I did), but remember most fabric/craft stores have coupons and run things on sale so watch for those sales and coupons!!

4. Hammer

5. Thumb tacks. Cost: I found a box of 300 for $1 at the Dollar Store.

Ok now that we have our materials lets get started! The first thing you do is iron the fabric and get all those creases out. Then place the fabric on your desk. Now because I was doing this from the ideas in my head I wasn't exactly sure what I wanted the end result to be so I got a lot more fabric than I ended up needing, so I had to trim the fabric. If you have to do this too,make sure you leave a minimum of 1/2 inch of fabric on all sides to tack up afterwards.

Now that you have your fabric cut and the size you need it's time to put the laminate on. Remember earlier when I said that you were likely worried that it would get dirty and how would you clean it? Problem solved! After you put the laminate on you can wipe it down with a wet cloth to clean and it also doubles as a mouse pad!! And it is surprisingly easy to put on. HINT: I placed the fabric where I wanted on the desk first, because there is no need to put laminate on the ends that you are going to tack up. First you press it onto the fabric where you want it, then you press an iron on it for approximately 8 seconds. CAUTION: make sure you do not put the iron directly on the laminate, but instead place the paper the laminate came off of and top and press the iron on that. Also, make sure you iron is NOT set to steam! After you get it placed on and have used the iron on the top, turn it over and press the iron on the backside of the fabric for approximately four seconds.

After you have all the laminate on you are ready to tack up the sides. I will tell you that I think the easiest way to do this is to use a staple gun, however, my boss said no to that idea out of fear it would ruin the desk. Another thought was to use double sided tape, but my fear with that was that it wouldn't last very long. So, I had the idea of just sucking thumb tacks. I simply went around the entire desk and put a tack every inch or so. Now, my desk required me to use a hammer to get those tacks in good and tight. What I had to do was press in the tack first with my thumb, and then once it was set it, I used a hammer and just pressed it in the rest of the way. CAUTION: do not hammer the tacks like you would hammer a nail, tacks are too delicate. just place the head of the hammer on the tacks and use pressure and it should go right in.

Guess what! Now, you're done!

My final thoughts: The cost of this project was around $30. It only took less than an hour to complete and I have really gotten a lot of complements on it. One notable one, was a co-worker said she is calling HGTV and turning me in for a reality show, haha. This is definitely a doable DIY project, and the best part is you are using fabric, but not a sewing machine so those of you like me with minimal sewing ability, you are good to go!!!!!

Overall DIY Grade: A-

Good Luck and please feel free to post your finished project! Happy Do It Yourselfing!

DIY Art Decoration

Ok so as promised I have my first DIY project! Basically, this project is supposed to be used as an art piece for my livingroom wall. I saw this on a website and thought I would give it a try. Here is what the final project is supposed to look like according to the website I found it on.

In the photograph above the individual took a bunch of fabric squares and pasted them on a canvas. I do not have a bunch of fabric pieces laying around my house and my boyfriend did not allow me to just start cutting up pieces of clothing, blankets, etc. so I was left to find another method. What I do have lying around the house is a bunch of scrapbook paper pieces. If you do not have scrapbook pieces laying around then you can go out and buy some for pretty cheap. Actually Wal-Mart is even carrying them now and you can get a little booklet of a bunch of different designs for $5. That one booklet should be enough for you to do this entire project as long as you look all the different pages in it. Ok so here is a list of the stuff I used:

1. Pieces of Scrapbook paper (or you can use fabric if you have it)

2. Canvas (can purchase at any art store, hobby lobby, etc. or if you want you could do this on a piece of wood or glass if you have that).

3. Mod Podge (can purchase at Hobby Lobby or any craft store, it comes in a bottle and you will not use anywhere close to all of it, but this is a VERY handy tool to have at all times if you are planning on doing some DIY project)

4. Paint Brush (whatever size you prefer, but because the Mod Podge is a glue it will be hard to clean your brush completely, so I have one brush that I designate as my Mod Podge brush only. Do NOT use a sponge brush, they don't work for Mod Podge!!)

After I had collected all my tools the first thing I did was cut up the pieces of scrapbook paper in different size shapes. I stuck with making them all with straight edges rather than rounded edges because I wasn't sure how they would all piece together if they were rounded.

After I cut out the pieces I then started putting them on the canvas one at a time. I would recommend starting in one corner and working down and across. I would NOT put one pieces on the left side and one on the right just randomly because it is VERY hard to try and find pieces to fit like that.

Here is a step-by-step process of what I did....

1. Picked out a piece of the scraps and placed it in the top left corner of the canvas

2. Brushed Mod Podge over that piece to secure it to the canvas

3. Picked out another scrap of paper that I thought would look well next to the first piece. What I considered in this was color, shape, and whether I had a similar piece anywhere near it.

4. Go back and start the process over again until the canvas is covered.

So here is MY final project....

My final thoughts: The cost of this project where minimal (most expensive is the canvas which is about $10.00). The total cost was probably around $15 maximum. It did take about 3 hours to complete, but I just worked on it while I was watching tv. I will say that it does look obviously like a DIY art piece. Now for some this is a great thing, but for others like myself you want your DIY projects to look like someone else did it. I would definitely try it again, but next time stick it a limited amount of colors (I'm really thinking a black and white one with just different patterns of black and white would look super cool). This is definitely a doable DIY project, but don't expect the outcome to be something you will see one day in an Art Museum and I will say this is definitely one where I think you will get better with practice.

Overall DIY Grade: C+

Good Luck and please feel free to post your finished project! Happy Do It Yourselfing!

Welcome!

So I'm guessing many of you are wondering what this blog is all about. Any of you that know me, know that I am not a writer, but I have been trying some DIY projects lately and I realized it would be REALLY helpful if there was someone out there, who isn't a Martha Stewart trying these projects. And then I thought, why not have that someone be me? I am a lawyer by day and although there are some artsy people in my family, that gene completely skipped me.

A little bit about me....I LOVE DIY projects because although I am a lawyer, I'm in public service so many times if I want something cool, I have to DIY or I'll never get it. So, I have made a goal for myself. I am going to try one DIY project a week. I'll then post pictures, my experience, and whether or not it really is a DIY project for non-professionals. The goal of this blog is to be completely honest and say whether or not this is even worth your time trying. I'll let you know if I'm happy with the end result or if it took WAY to much time, etc. I will not be sugar coating anything, and because I'm prone to weird things happening to me, hopefully there will also be some laughter in all this too!

All I ask is for you guys to keep me accountable to making sure I do at least one a week! Also, please feel free if you have a DIY project you have been wanting to try, but wasn't sure if it was doable, shoot me a message and I would be happy to give it a try. My first project is DIY art and that post will come later this week, so look for it soon!