Wood Countertop, Bathroom DIY

I always knew this 80's countertop in my bathroom wouldn't be here forever, I just had other projects that were higher on my list of priorities! Well, it finally happened, I decided I couldn't look at this counter for 1 more day.

A few years ago, we took a weekend to give this downstairs bathroom a tiny face lift. We framed the builder grade mirror, painted the cabinet and gave the walls a fresh coat of paint. I never liked this countertop, but I could live with it until we finished other stuff in the house.

Like a lot of projects I do, I saw this on Pinterest! I figured this would be a fast and easy project, just pop off the old counter, touch up the paint and spend a couple hours putting together the new countertop...NOPE!

• Pop off the old countertop 
• Build new countertop, stain, add a billion coats of poly 
• Buy a new sink because all the sinks toilets and tubs in this house are bone colored and I already changed out this toilet to white
• Apply knockdown plaster on the wall behind toilet where the counter was attached 
• Realize that the color of the stain and the tile back splash I chose clashes with the cabinet and wall color
• Repaint walls and cabinet
• Touch up the molding paint
• Touch up black molding around mirror
• Notice with the new, lighter wall color, the ceiling isn't really white and now looks horrible and needs to be painted as well
• Install the countertop and tile back splash
• Even though the counter is exactly what I wanted, the new wall color I chose is way lighter than I thought it was and now I want to paint the walls again and maybe the cabinet too...

Home DIY is never as fast and simple as we think it will be. Oh well, what can you do?!

I don't have a detailed tutorial for this countertop, but you can pretty much see how it was done from the photos. Everyone might need a slightly different method depending on what you're replacing and your existing fixtures. After I stained, I applied several layers of polyurethane. The sink was attached and sealed in place with clear silicone caulk and I used the same caulk to seal the gaps between the three pieces of wood.

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Re-purpose Holiday Decorations: Deer Head

Get a can of spray paint and re-purpose holiday decorations in to everyday home decor.

You've seen them everywhere, faux taxidermy heads are hot home decor right now! Unfortunately, they can also be pricey. Now is your chance! Go immediately and get a holiday deer head on clearance! Doesn't matter what it looks like because as long as it can be spray painted, it's all good. I found mine at Walmart on clearance for the bargain price of(drum roll) $3.49!! Can't find a deer head? Check the craft store for a paper mache head.

So I've noticed white is the common color for these heads, but I like to be different and also my home accents are mostly dark colors. I also think it would be cool to do the antlers a different color than the head. Maybe a white head with teal antlers or even a metallic color. Whatever your color pallet, you can find spray paint to match.

So my head is glitter. It took MANY coats of spray paint to get all this glitter covered. This is an exercise in patience for me because I HATE to wait for paint to dry! So that's it! Covering something in spray paint couldn't be easier right?

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Book Quote Poster

Make personal, one-of-a-kind wall art by printing and framing your favorite quote, book passage, or music lyric. 

I totally did not come up with this myself, it was Pin-spired. How did I get this giant print you ask...engineer prints. Engineer prints are a very inexpensive option for printing. These are commonly used for blueprints and not really meant for photographs so you aren't going to get the best quality. I think it works out perfect for this kind of project, and who can complain for only $3.88?! For that price you can print a new one for every season! You can design your quote on your computer and then have your local office supply store print it for you. I chose to have mine printed at Staples because I was able to upload it online and then pick up in store. I did stop by Office Max/Depot and asked if they have engineer prints. They said they do, but as far as I can tell, there wasn't an option to upload it online.

Like I said, this was inspired by projects I found on Pinterest. There are tons of blog posts already out there with this idea and specifics of how to make your poster. A couple I found helpful are DIY On The Cheap's and Delightfully Noted.

Find your quote...My family happens to be especially nerdy, so this quote from Tolkien's The Fellowship Of The Ring, fits right into my home. A great place to find book quotes is Goodreads. If you have an account you can save quotes you like.

For my poster, I designed on PicMonkey. Click the design button, chose your background color and click apply. My poster is big, 24x36. I went to resize and unchecked keep proportions, then changed size to 1200x1800. You can use higher numbers for clearer image, just make sure it's in the ratio of your poster size. Now just add text boxes and lay out how you want your quote to appear. After you make sure everything is where you want it and spelled correctly, save it to your computer.

Printing...Like I said, I like the convenience of uploading my images and then picking them up in store which is why I chose to use Staples. On the Staples website, (1)Shop by Category, (2)Copy & Print. (3)Engineering Prints. Pick your size and design. After you upload your image, just make sure that you click on the Media button and select the right size and check the box that says "fill content to paper", then choose the correct Orientation(landscape or portrait). Remember that this method of printing isn't meant for photos so your image isn't going to be "photo quality". My print looks a little fuzzy around the edges of the letters, but at a distance, you can't even tell.

Frame...I found this frame at Michael's. They have lots of poster size frames available in different colors. I happened to get a great deal on mine. Look for sales and coupons because these large frames can get pricey.

Love Tolkien as much as us? Take a look at my Hobbit cake!

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Custom Built Wood Desk

Why buy when you can make it! I've had the same cheap computer desk forever. After my husband built his flag end table, we figured why stop now? Lots of browsing through Pinterest gave us some great ideas, and we finally landed on this desk from Centsational Girl. I love the look and it's a pretty simple design. An added bonus is that we were able to use some leftover lumber and didn't have to spend much on addition pieces we needed. Now I have a custom, solid wood desk that I'll be able to enjoy for many years and my husband will enjoy bragging about his mad woodworking skillz!

Take a closer look at my crochet jar pencil holder and my fabric covered mouse pad!

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Updated Vintage Brass Plates

I inherited these Lombard brass wall plates from my grandmother. From what I can find online, these have been knocking around her house since the 50's! I was a little torn whether I should alter them at all. In the end I decided to go for it because there's no way I was hanging them in my house as they were. As cool as vintage stuff is, I just don't dig beat up ugly brass but really do love the Dutch scene on them. My ancestors are from the Netherlands!

The first thing I did was give these a really good cleaning. I used vinegar, water and a scrubby sponge. While researching online how to paint brass everyone says to prime first. Well I'm lazy and the store had spray paint with primer in it! That counts right? I ended up using Krylon Cover Maxx. I did several light coats until it was completely covered. Torture! I hate waiting for paint to dry. After the white, I took some Valspar Tanslucent Color Glaze(Mocha) and applied it with a q-tip into the areas that I wanted a little darker. I wiped it off with a dry rag and played with it until I got the look I wanted. I think the glaze really helps the design pop.

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DIY Flag End Table

Here's another project that came about from necessity. We needed a table for our small TV in the living room. We had a bunch of spare wood in the garage and my husband figured he might as well try to make one. When I came home from work, he had this waiting for me! 

We were trying to decide how to finish it and because of the number of wood panels, I jokingly said you should put the Puerto Rico flag on it. Well, don't say stuff like that unless you're serious because once the idea was planted, there was no going back! My husband was born and raised in PR and his little table has become a tribute to it! 

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Outdoor Citronella Candle

Quick 10 minute summer project for those of you without yards like me, or those of you who have glass bottles with no purpose.

This St. Germain bottle is from a craft liqueur made from Elderflower blooms in France. Of course the bottle is gorgeous, it's French!

I just couldn't throw it out and since there are more mosquitoes/sq. inch in Charleston, I needed an alternative to the citronella torches that repel bugs.

I purchased some wicks and citronella oil by Tiki at Walmart for less than $10 total.

Using a funnel I poured the Tiki Torch Fuel into the bottle.

To hold the wick in place I unfolded a paperclip and threaded it through the wick about an inch from the top.

Place the wick in the bottle with the fuel oil and fold the edges of the paper clip down around the mouth of the bottle.

When you light this for the first time it will crackle and burn off smoke but the smoke is what keeps the bugs away!

Please use caution with this, treat it exactly like you would a Tiki Torch, it's flammable and if knocked over could start a fire. If you want a more secure candle, I suggest drilling a hole through the lid and threading the wick through it.

I recommend it be used as a centerpiece on an outdoor table or on a quiet porch or out of reach of small children!

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