'merica.

is your home ready for the 4th of july?!


I realized today that mine absolutely wasn't. and in my continual quest to have decorations for each holiday throughout the year, I decided to have a solo craft day! so, I went to Michael's, got out with only spending $9 (after forgetting the paint that i needed), put on Sara Bareilles Pandora radio, and went to town! I got out all of my navy, red, and white decorations and crafts, and assessed what I could do to Americanize (?) my apartment. I decided on doing two simple crafts: a wooden 4 which I framed, and the simplest heart bunting.

• framed 4

supplies needed: acrylic paint, wooden 4, scrapbook paper, frame, elmer's glue, hot glue gun, paintbrush

paint approximately two coats of acrylic paint to your wooden 4 and let dry. while allowing to dry, measure your scrapbook paper to the size of the cardboard back of the frame. I glued my paper directly to the cardboard with a thin coat of Elmer's glue. I then also removed the glass from the frame so that I could glue the 4 on with hot glue.

I might sandpaper the edges of the 4 for a more antique look, but for now I think it turned out great!

simple, yet effective! (and not tacky)

I think I'll make it a tradition to decorate the fork hook shelf for each holiday, since I don't have an entryway table :)

• holiday heart bunting

supplies needed: three scrapbook papers, heart puncher, elmers, string

for this craft, I just punched out hearts with my cute little heart puncher, from three different scrapbook papers. I then glued them to a little string, and hung them like bunting across a mirror in my living room for some added decor! I absolutely love it.

I also gathered up some of my red, navy, and silver accents that I put away throughout the year.

just a few pieces can transform your home! I hope this inspires you to decorate your space for this fun holiday. there's still time to enjoy what you've done :) I hope you all have a wonderful fourth!

all my love,
Greta

what's old is new again

so recently I've become obsessed with re-purposing old furniture. my dad has a TON of random tables and other pieces laying around, so I decided that I would spruce them up a bit and put them to use! honestly, two of them have become some of my favorite additions to the apartment. let's begin, shall we?


1. the "everything" table
I call this the everything table because everything just happens to accumulate on it, since I placed it right next to the door as you walk in.


supplies: old table, semi-gloss paint, paintbrush, sandpaper


so, I began with this ratty old table that was just collecting dust. I sanded it, so to take what was left of the gloss varnish off.

yuck, right? next, I simply did three coats of an off-white paint that I had from painting my room years ago. I ended up doing three coats to cover the dark wood finish.

ahhh, good as new! here it is in action...

I think it's cute AND classy, two of my favorite things. and I'm happy that I have someplace to collect all my junk as I walk in the door. oh, and yes, this project was THAT easy. I would recommend doing a clear protectant spray on it after the paint has dried.




2. the antique table


supplies: old table (again), semi-gloss paint, matte paint, valspar "weathered crackle" glaze, clear spray protectant, sand paper, paint brush


for awhile I had been having this issue with what I wanted for a kitchen table. with a limited budget, I wasn't ready to drop $300 on a new ikea kitchen table (although Ikea is my fave). and I just didn't like the cheapy table and chairs sets at Walmart. so, I decided to just re-purpose an old table and splurge on some pretty chairs to compliment it.


this was my shabby-chic inspiration!

here is the table i began with. it leaves MUCH to be desired, I know. (so does my grungy garage as the background here...)

the first step was painting it with a greyish-blue semi-gloss paint

I won't lie, I ALMOST stopped here, just because I love grey so much. after that coat has dried (I did two coats) paint over entire table with the valspar weathered crackle glaze. you have to wait for that to dry for about one hour, and then quickly paint over it with a matte coat of a different paint color.

and almost immediately you start to see the crackle! it's almost like crackle nail polish. after that step has dried, you simply spray it with clear protectant and let dry (at least 24 hours). I was kind of skeptical that it looked TOO shabby-chic, but now I love it and all my guests seem to also :) here it is compared to the paint chip I had picked out...

here it is with my two new chairs!

I'm a huge fan, mainly because I loveeee shabby chic anything. and it's fun to say that I painted it when my guests ask!




3. the fork hooks


supplies: 4 forks, shelf, paint, paintbrush, 4 screws, screwdriver, pliers, metal bender(?), spray paint (optional), clear gloss spray paint

so awhile ago I had spotted the cutest fork hooks on etsy.com, however, they were around $45 and I decided that it would be way more fun & cheaper to make them myself! First, I chose four different forks that I had around the house (our dinner sets are now all missing one fork... oops! sorry dad). I had a friend help me bend the forks into the "rock on," "pinky up," "f you," and "peace" signs, to make them look like hands. My friend also bent the bottoms of each, so to make them into hooks. This part was kind of complicated, but you just need to find yourself a Dad or guy friend with tools who is willing to help ya :)


here's a close up of the forks, pre-spray paint. I liked them without the paint also!

next, I bought a shelf from Pat Catan's for around $7 to mount them on. I had to add a little piece of wood under the shelf part, so that the forks could be screwed in. My dad helped me with that part (group effort, people!) The shelf prior to painting..

& the paint I used, that I already had at my house!

after letting the paint dry on the shelf, I drilled holes into each fork, and screwed them into the shelf (make sure to use screws that aren't too long, so they don't poke through!) the final product?!? pretty much my favorite craft to date...

Overall, the craft couldn't of cost more than $15! and I LOVE them, they're so fun! I honestly could of not painted the shelf or the hooks also, if you're interested in going for a more natural look. all of these crafts were done, for the most part, with items and old paint that I had laying around the house. so go rummaging through some old things and see what you can find! you never know, it might be your new favorite piece. I would like to thank my Dad for helping me with the table and fork hooks! couldn't of done it without ya Diddy.


don't worry everyone, now that it's summer there will be plenty more craft days with my biffs which equals more blog posts! stay tuned :)


all my love,
Greta