Category Archives: DIY

Dollar Tree Inspired DIY

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Everyone is always using high end stores as inspiration and creating projects that sometimes turn out better than the original. I did that this evening, and even I was blown away by the results.

It all started with this little Reed diffuser from Dollar Tree.

I was putting away some bags with Dollar Tree purchases and got distracted. Lol

First of all, I’ve had a little gold metal riser for a year or two. I never knew what I would do with it. Today, I used it to put my hot melted candle wax jars on, so it was handy (I hadn’t put it away yet, either. 🙄)

I took three little glass vases out of one of the bags. They were the only three I saw at Dollar Tree one day so I got them, not knowing what I’d use them for, either. I really liked the bit of gold around the top of them.

I also found two packages of reed decor. I have found these before and have them in my upstairs bathroom in a vase. I really like the neutral look of them.

Then I remembered I bought a Reed Diffuser at Dollar Tree awhile ago and hadn’t used it yet. It had the Eucalyptus scent.

So, of course, I had to act on an idea that came to me.

I added some RubnBuff on the rims of the vases to enhance the gold a little more and also added it to the edges and feet of the riser.

I poured the liquid from the diffuser evenly into the three jars and divided up all the reeds into the jars, making sure I saturated the ends well. Then I arranged the jars on the riser. They fit perfectly!

I’m so glad I stopped what I was doing and put all these things together. I really like how this turned out! It’s so much prettier than just the little Reed Diffuser all by itself. It looks and smells perfect in my downstairs bathroom.

A Chicken and Rooster Upcycle

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I found a chicken planter and a rooster that would hold a vase at two different thrift stores in the last few weeks. I decided they both needed updating using a concrete look technique.

The first thing I did with the chicken was spray him with Mod Podge pearlized glaze. Any sealer would work or even spray paint. I sprayed it to help the paint adhere well since the pottery was a bit shiny.

Next, I mixed chalk-style paint with baking soda and began daubing it on all over. This gives it a nice texture and no brush strokes. I gave it two coats, letting it dry in between.

After two coats of the baking soda and chalk paint mixture. I don’t have a photo, but I sprayed it with a coat of Mod Podge. This will help keep the antique look I’m giving it from soaking in which would make it hard to remove if needed.

Next, I did a little dry brushing with the gray paint. I would daub it on and use a baby wipe to blend where needed.

That’s it. I now have a chicken planter with a concrete look.

Now, for the rooster – I finished him much in the same way using the baking soda and white chalk- style paint mixture with a little different type of antiquing.

I learned the rooster was made of resin. I knew it wasn’t metal or wood. I had someone tell me to scratch off a bit of the bottom and if it was white underneath, it was resin…it was white!

I daubed the white chalk paint all over him. I only used one coat and wasn’t worried about full coverage because I liked the colors underneath and didn’t mind them coming through a bit.

Once dry, I used sprayed the rooster with this clear chalky spray. This will help me when I apply the glaze and will let me remove excess.

I applied the metallic green glaze to make it look like the rooster had been outside in the weather for years and had moss growing on it at one point.

I also applied a bit of turquoise paint for some patina.

The rooster was now ready to be added to a garden display.

A Dollar Tree Candle Makeover

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I’ve been seeing crafters use the tall Dollar Tree candles and melt them to create new candles in pretty containers. I had everything I needed to try this out. I am thrilled with the results. In fact, I shared the one I made for myself on my Facebook page and already have a request to make another.

The candle in the glass holder is from Dollar Tree. I ordered wicks from Temu and I had this wooden bowl. I love thrifting wooden bowls so I had several to choose from. The fragrance oil is “Egyptian Musk”. I love the fresh clean smell. I found it on Amazon.

I had seen many crafters stand the candle in a pan of water and put it on the stove on low until it melted. Today, though, I saw a technique of placing the candle on a cookie tray in the oven at 300°. It took about 18 minutes to melt mine.

I hot glued the wick to the bottom of the bowl while the candle was melting and got it ready for the wax.

It is ready to pour.

After I poured the wax into the bowl, I added two capfuls of my fragrance oil and stirred it around a bit with another skewer.

I should have curled the extra wick around a skewer and laid it on top of the bowl to keep the wick upright, but didn’t remember to do that until after I poured the wax. Next time I will do that before pouring.

I then let it cool and trimmed the wick.

I love how my candle turned out! I can’t wait to make more!

A Rustic Riser

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I’ve been seeing risers made from blocks of scrap wood so thought I’d make one, too. My 3.5” x 1.5” square block of scrap wood had one end that was painted green. I didn’t want to cut it off so I just made it the front of my project.

I did sand the block well, including the green part and that lightened it up a bit.

I like to work on this lazy susan. I bought 100 disposable shower caps on Amazon and stretched one over the lazy susan to protect it. These work great and I just throw them away when finished.

I gathered up my supplies and got started.

Step 1: I used black ink and stamped flowers and bees on the green side of my block. I put it aside to dry.

Step 2: I purchased wood peg dolls from Amazon to use as feet. I watered down a bit of our Missouri Limestone Paint Company chalk-style paint (Coal Shovel) and covered the feet I would be attaching to the block. This will give them a rustic look similar to the block. I wiped the excess away and put them aside to dry.

Step 3: I wrapped the block with a paper towel only leaving the green inked part exposed. I sprayed that part with the Krylon spray matte sealer. I believe I got it at Lowes. This sealed the ink to make sure it wouldn’t smear when I applied wax to it later.

Step 4: It was time to glue on the legs. I used a combination of E6000 for permanent hold and hot glue for immediate hold.

Step 5: Once the hot glue set up, I applied Wise Owl Salve (ordered from a retailer) to the whole piece.

My rustic riser was now complete. I added a small painted terra cotta pot I had applied Dollar Tree rub on transfers to, added faux flowers, and displayed it on my rustic wood block riser.

I love how it now looks like the whole riser has been outside in the weather for years!

A Framed Redesign with Prima Transfer

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For today’s project I am up-cycling an old gold frame and adding a Redesign with Prima transfer from the Floral Collection. The transfer is applied to a unique background – a piece of one of Dollar Tree’s storage bins.

Cutting apart a Dollar Tree storage bin

The material is kind of a paper/fabric with cardboard in between layers. I cut off a piece to use as background for the transfer.

I cut the cardboard to fit the frame.

I used a glue stick to glue the material onto the cardboard.

I then trimmed the material to the size of the cardboard.

It was time to paint the frame. I mixed a little baking soda with a littler chalk paint to achieve the texture of stone.

It took two coats. On the first coat I used a brush to pounce the paint/baking soda mixture on so I didn’t get brush strokes. For the second coat I used a foam dauber. I love the distressed shading this technique produced. I set it aside to dry well.

Once dry, I gave it two coats of Mod Podge Pearlized Glaze Spray to seal it.

It was then time to apply the transfer to the material I had adhered to the piece of cardboard. I didn’t seal it as it is a decor piece and will not be handled much.

The sheet underneath is a silicone baking sheet I use to work on. Paint does not adhere well to silicone, so it is easy to clean after I finish a project.

I added the transfer to the frame. You could add the glass back in but I did not use the glass.

The final reveal – The material under the transfer looks almost like a piece of linen. It makes a very nice background.

Decoupaged Slippers – Wow!

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Materials used

I can’t believe it’s been so long since I’ve posted anything. I have been busy creating, though, so I will share my Instagram page at the end so you can see what I’ve been up to. Many of the posts explain the process I used when creating my projects.

But today, I actually have pics of the steps I took to make these awesome slippers. So, sit back and enjoy. This was so much fun to do!

Early this morning I happened on a Pinterest post that showed a pair of slippers similar to ones I just purchased from Temu and how the crafter decoupaged them with napkins. Of course, I had to try it and am so glad I did!

Bathroom slippers from Temu

I apologize to the Pinterest crafter. I was in such a hurry to do this, I forgot to save the post and now I can’t find it again. Sorry, original crafter. She actually cut the napkins into small pieces and decoupaged all areas of the napkin. I decided just to use one large piece across the top and sides.

I had purchased this pair of slippers from Temu. There were a very bright greenish yellow color and I wasn’t sure I liked the color until ….. I added the napkin to them. Wow!

One piece of the napkin covered the top and sides

Step 1. You must remove all the extra layers of the napkin. This one happened to have 2 extra layers. You only use the layer with the image. I cut around the image part of the napkin: I cut around all the succulents and greenery of the napkin and then took the other end of the napkin and cut it into small pieces.

The napkin laying across the top of the slipper.

Step 2: Once I laid the large part of the napkin over the slipper, I knew I wanted to only use it so I didn’t use the small pieces except to fill in on the sides where needed. I used a bit of water to wet down around the areas I didn’t want and tore that away, leaving only what I was going to decoupage.

Adding Mod Podge to the slipper

Step 3: The original crafter used Mod Podge for fabric. I’m not sure you’d have to use that, but I happened to have the fabric one so that’s what I used. Mine has been around awhile and was pretty thick, so I had a bowl of water to dip my brush in first and that thinned it out just enough. I applied the Mod Podge to the whole top and sides of the slipper. (I did the second slipper with another identical napkin cut out and placed it in the same position so they would match.)

Step 3: I laid the napkin where I wanted it, added more Mod Podge to my brush, and started smoothing the napkins down, getting into all the grooves and around the edges.

Step 4: Once the Mod Podge was dry, I gave it two more coats to seal the napkin well. When the final coat was dry, I applied a coat of water based polyurethane just for a bit more protection.

UPDATE: Just to make sure I would give it 2 coats of the sealer and even spray it with an outdoor spray sealer.

Close up

This close up shows how the raised puffiness of the slipper almost gives the napkin a 3D look.

I love how they turned out! It is amazing how the napkin color took on the color of the slippers. They truly are beautiful! The original crafter said hers were holding up well. These slippers are really not meant for shopping trips, etc. but I think you could even if you get caught in a rainstorm. They are perfect for pool shoes or wearing around the house, inside or out.

Springtime

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I have had this vintage Spring tea towel for several years and keep forgetting to get it out every Spring. I happened to rediscover it this morning so it was meant to be.

It is made to hang as it has a pocket for a dowel rod to go through, so I added the dowel rod and used a jute rope with leaves to hang it. It is large – 16” wide and 33 1/2” long from the top of the hanger to the bottom.

The colors are very vivid and I love the Wordsworth poem! Welcome Spring! you can’t come soon enough!

So then I created an 8×10 canvas by taking a photo of the sign with the poem from the Spring wall hanging I have and cut out just that image in a free app I use called ProKnockout. I saved it with a transparent background.

I found and saved a free image of a field of daffodils on the pexels website.

I married them together as an image and printed it out on tissue paper with my ink jet printer. I use Pixie Spray ( I get on Amazon) as a temporary spray on a sheet of copy paper and applied white tissue paper and trimmed it to fit. The Pixie spray allows me to peel the tissue paper off when printed. I sprayed the tissue paper image (when dry) with hair spray to keep it from bleeding.

I then decoupaged the tissue paper image onto a blank canvas and sanded the extra paper off the edges. I sealed the whole thing when dry with Mod Podge matte sealer.

Daffodils by William Wordsworth

I wandered lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o’er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host, of golden daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

Continuous as the stars that shine
And twinkle on the milky way,
They stretched in never-ending line
Along the margin of a bay:
Ten thousand saw I at a glance,
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.

The waves beside them danced; but they
Out-did the sparkling waves in glee:
A poet could not but be gay,
In such a jocund company:
I gazed—and gazed—but little thought
What wealth the show to me had brought:

For oft, when on my couch I lie
In vacant or in pensive mood,
They flash upon that inward eye
Which is the bliss of solitude;
And then my heart with pleasure fills,
And dances with the daffodils.

Plant Stands from Lampshades? Yes, please!

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We have a problem. I see an idea. I ask Danny if he can make it. He says he can. So….. here we are again with another project and putting off other things we need to do.

Would you believe these plant stands are all upcycled lampshades? Danny took off the fabric on each and spray painted the metal black.

We then bought 3 wood rounds. He sanded them and added a dowel on the bottom of each to fit down into the shades.

I used a driftwood weathering compound on each round that brings out the grain and weathers it a bit. I still need to seal them with a matte top coat.

They are lightweight but very sturdy. The cut crystal vase filled with glass beads and faux tulips is quite heavy.

These plant stands (minus the decor) will be going to The Gray Wall soon, so if you are local and wanting one or all for porch pickup, now’s your chance.

Available: Sizes and $ amounts on each pic.

Largest : $18

The other two: $14 each

I created a little bit of Spring with Redesign by Prima Transfers

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I had this piece of barn wood. My husband cut it into two pieces for me.

I painted them with a heavy dry brush of white pretty much where I was going to apply the transfers.

Then I applied the transfers.

It was a very rough surface and slow going. It wasn’t easy to apply but in the end it all applied and adhered perfectly. I sealed everything with Wise Owl Salve.

In hindsight, it would have helped to seal the painted area first, but I just took my time and at times actually used my finger underneath the plastic sheet to get over a particularly rough spot and it worked out fine.

So beautiful!

4 Awesome Projects from Thrifting Finds This Week

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#1 – I have a French Country look going on in this first thrifted find – a bird cage item which needed some repair and a metal basket. I painted a Dollar Tree peat pot and decoupaged with tissue paper.

The metal finial on the birdcage was just hot glued on and popped right off after I got it home. Not only was hot glue alone not good idea but there was hardly any surface area for gluing. I used E6000 and hot glue to attach a small wood round to the birdcage and I painted it white. Then I used E6000 and hot glue to attach the finial. I added jute around the wood round where I had glued it together. I also stuck my hot glue inside and upside down dropped some hot glue along the inside. It is on for good now.

The birch round came from a fallen branch and that cute bird I found in a thrift store. The faux flowers came with the birdcage.

I love putting this kind of thrifting together.

#2 – Next up is this awesome cutting board/serving board. I love cutting and charcuterie boards. When I found this wine bottle shaped bamboo cutting board, I knew immediately that I wanted to add a stencil to one side for decor purposes. The other side could still be used as a cutting board or both sides could be a specialty charcuterie tray that would make a beautiful cheese and fruit spread serving board.

I stenciled just a part of the board and then seasoned both sides with food safe Howard Cutting Board 0il.

Dimensions approx. 21″ x 7″ x 1/2”

#3 – I like thrifting, but I really like it when I find something just for me. I don’t have a lot of storage space in my pantry so things like cereal and crackers and chips, etc. always seem to end up on top of the refrigerator.

I found these awesome Harry and David copper colored metal baskets at Goodwill yesterday for $7.87 each. I knew they would go perfectly with the copper colored tin on the wall behind them. The one on the left holds snacks and the one on the right, cereal and crackers.

I saw them listed online anywhere from $14 – $46 each so these were a pretty good price. Yay!

#4 My final thrifted item project for the week came about because of the stalk of dried wheat I found at Goodwill. They had just put out several bunches of these. I only bought one bunch but now wish I had gotten more. I used several pieces in this beautiful tall vase a friend gave me. It will be going on the floor next to my fireplace. I do have enough left over for several future projects. so that’s good.

That’s all for now. I thrifted more things, but haven’t decided yet how I will use them. So keep checking back. I will be sharing when the inspiration comes.