The Burress Home: DIY

Showing posts with label DIY. Show all posts

Tuesday, July 23, 2013

Favorite. DIY. Ever.

Seriously. Ever.

This man of mine

Built this console table of mine

He had some assistance from Ana, Kreg and me (I am the sander and stainer of this little DIY team). I won't bother to share how to, Ana White does that perfectly. I will however say the Kreg Jig tools are AMAZING.

It wouldn't be fair to this post if I didn't share my little mishap. I wanted to try my hand at a new stain color. I went with a Minwax in gray (can't remember the exact color name). I was supposed to test a small area first since we had never used the color before. Can you guess where I am going with this...yeah, I didn't test first. Nope. I wiped down the entire top, stepped back and IT. WAS. UGLY. U-G-L-Y. UGLY. The color didn't read gray at all, it was a greenish blue. I was pretty calm figuring it was only one coat so we could sand it out. My dear, patient husband came home and sanded it out for us. Crisis averted :) And lesson learned. Ok, I hope lesson learned. I have been known to have to learn lessons more than once before they set in!

This picture does NOT due this finish justice. It was UGLY. We ended up going with Minwax Ebony stain we already have and love. Go figure. Although I have recently seen a two tone finish I think would look amazing. Rusty might kill me this soon though....

Oh and a new table means new decor. Enter Ross with this pitcher. It called out to me. And I answered.

Wednesday, February 27, 2013

I Will Not Be Foiled Again!

My little title cracks me up!

I had a drama teacher in junior high that used to say (constantly to a couple boys in class) that the worst comedian is the one who laughs at his own jokes first. Every time I laugh at myself first I think of him....

Ok back on point here.

We ended yesterday with this fiasco

After I failed at my first attempt (you can read about it here), I decided to go a more fail proof method. SPRAY PAINT. Like I said yesterday, I do not believe my first failure is due to the tutorial I followed. Problem was I didn't FOLLOW her tutorial. I took her instructions as mere suggestions. Yeah, not good. Follow instructions people!

After laughing at my final product (well almost final, never actually finished), I pulled all the foil off and scrubbed the modge podge off as best as I could. The next morning, I lightly sanded and prepared to start over.

I used this pin on Pinterest as my final inspiration.

Photo and Tutorial from The Homeless Finch

Using Rustoleum Metallic spray paint, I painted the entire nightstand. The coverage was awesome. Not even a whole can (I was prepared with 2 cans!). Once the table was dry, I took a rag and wiped a Minwax Special Walnut stain I had on hand and wiped it all lightly with the stain. I let the stain sit for just a couple of minutes and then with a clean rag, I wiped it off lightly. I LOVE the final product and it was exactly as I originally hoped for!

In a pleasant turn of events, the original failure turned out to be a bit of success!!! The modge podge left behind a slight texture that gave the stain somewhere to stick for a more antiqued finish. Even failures can be successes.

Still have a lot left to do in the new room of J's:

~~Bedding~~
~~Throw pillows~~
~~Paint focal wall behind bed~~
Paint remaining 4 walls a soft gray
~~Nightstand redo~~
Cover lampshade for her Goodwill revamped lamp
DIY upholstered and tufted headboard (SO EXCITED about this project!)
Curtains
Refinish Vanity
~~Throw rug~~
Chandelier/New light fixture
Refinish her cabinet
LARGE bulletin board
Art work/Pictures up on the walls

This is turning out to be a very slow redo but I am sure we will LOVE it once it is finished!

I am playing along with some of bloggings best!

Linking up with

Friday, January 18, 2013

Our Handmade Holiday

I am behind again. Crazy busy weeks for the Burress home. More on why another day....

This year, I had a strong desire to hand make something for my kids (and the house). Truthfully, I ALWAYS have a strong desire to hand make something. Christmas was just a great excuse :)

We will start with the front door. One of our crafts for MOPS this year were the popular deco mesh wreaths. I came home and personalized mine further. In LOVE with how this turned out!

Ignore the peeling vinyl 3. I will get right on that.

After DIYing the decorations, Santa and Mrs Claus got busy! Rylee was getting her first America Girl Doll. I knew we were going to have a very happy 8 year old girl that morning and could not wait! A doll means we must have doll clothes, right? I knew right away that I needed to learn to make doll clothes for 2 reasons.

The cost of AG clothing. Wow.
My Rylee marches to the beat of her own drum. Her style leans more towards skater than AG does :)

I think I nailed it!

And where would the doll sleep? Enter Ana-White (again!).

Again NAILED IT (uh sorry Rusty NAILED IT)!

For Colton I thought a teepee and a campfire would be fun! This was a bit more work than I think I would do again (the teepee). Now the campfire is worth it just because of how darn freaking cute it is!

Here is Santa working hard on Jadyn's tether ball pole. This little DIY project is a perfect example of Rusty and I. We could have bought this tether ball pole for a little more than the supplies cost us. My dear husband, though, refuses to pay for something he can build himself. I love that man. Notice there isn't an after picture of this. The weather has not cooperated for us for that. This weekend it will all be up. I will update this post then!

Not only did we have fun making it all, the kids LOVED it all!

Thursday, November 8, 2012

HGTV Next Design Star

Hi, my name is Alicia and I have a control problem when it comes to decorating. This includes kids rooms. Never has this been a problem. That is until my oldest decided to become a HGTV lovin', room designing monster :) Jadyn decided some tweaking needed to be done in her bedroom (that she ~~begrudgingly~~ lovingly shares with Rylee).

Armed with a ruler and paper in hand, the girl drew to scale (the best she could at 10 years old) her room and a new furniture layout.

With mommies muscles and Jadyn's ideas, we rearranged her room.

With a sewing machine, printer and the help of pinterest, we also DIY'd a few new pieces to decorate with.

With the help of Noonie and Poppies old furniture, Daddy's saw and mommy's paintbrush, we also added a new piece of furniture to the room. For the dresser, I gave a homemade chalk paint recipe a go. Surprisingly easy! According to a friend who has used the Annie Sloan paint numerous times, the finish is very, very similar. Just a HECK of a lot cheaper :) Someday soon (I hope) I plan to repaint all the furniture in the room with it. The dresser was well loved and well used resulting in some cracking and peeling on the sides. I had the bright idea of covering the sides of the dresser with beadboard (which we already had on hand). Turned out great!

Forgot the complete before photo. This is once the beadboard was added

Not promising to hand over all rights to their room decor choices just yet, but Jadyn's taste/opinions are starting to make it a bit easier ;)

Oh, she also redesigned my room. "Just for fun", she said. The entire room was a swimming pool. With a bridge leading you to the island where the bed was. That is our next project....yeah, probably not.

Saturday, November 3, 2012

52 Week Photo Challenge Week 40

Operation catch up this belong begins now.

Fall has arrived in the Burress home!

Our little fall mantel complete with ADORABLE glitter pumpkins purchased at an after season clearance sell last year and a fun THANKFUL pinwheel banner I made following this tutorial from Little Door On The Sound. Possibly my favorite paper craft ever! Already planning a Christmas one for the photo ledge above our pew in the entry way.

It's sad I am just now posting these pictures when I am contemplating starting Christmas decor within the next week or so!

Thursday, August 30, 2012

Moving On Up

Last week Colton moved on up to a real big boy bed. After the crib, down came the rail, and we had ourselves a toddler bed for just over a year. Back in June during our SLEEPING DISASTER we decided maybe he wasn't comfortable with a the small bed and small blankets. I opted for a twin mattress on the floor first so he could get used to no security on the sides since his real bed would float between his windows. His crib does convert to a full size, but for space reasons (ie toys), we will do a twin now full later.

I swear I brainstormed so many different bed options (mainly building this one from Ana White's plans). Instead I opted for a cheap (ie FREE) option by repairing and painting on old white Robin bed from Ikea that used to be a daybed in our playroom in a navy blue. I so wish I had before pictures and well as during pictures. With very skeptical looks from Rusty, I decided to repair this one all by myself. Apparently too many monkeys jumping on this bed over this years had caused the railing/screws for the famous ikea slat system to pull out. Faux wood isn't the easiest to repair :) In the end I did it! No joke it took me 5 days though. Probably 4 days longer than it would have taken Rusty. I am proud, though, none the less.

One of the most exciting things about this transition is the use of the duvet I made for him when I made his crib bedding. I was IN LOVE with the fabric from Hobby Lobby 4 years ago (before we even knew if was a boy!) and since they were clearancing it, it was purchase now in case of boy or miss out if it was a boy. The cheapskate in me did NOT win this time. Purchased all they had. Made a crib skirt and a bumper for the crib and a full size duvet for later. Yes, I banked on loving this thing for a long time. What a win! I still, nearly 4 years later, LOVE LOVE LOVE this fabric. So versatile for a boy room for sure!

Colton is very proud of his bed telling me it is bigger bigger bigger like my bed. Any concerns of him falling off are gone. Sleeps like a champ in the center of the bed.

Something I never anticipated was seeing a lamp and a picture frame (albeit a frame with no picture yet) on a nightstand next to his bed would make him seem so much older.

Ignore the terrible pictures. So much natural light comes through his windows (even with the blinds down) it makes an amateurs job difficult :)

Monday, July 9, 2012

Laundry Service Not Included

With only 2 rooms left in our house "builder cream" we set out to knock one of those off ~~our~~ my list.

Our laundry room started out like this:

Now, don't be jealous of my HUGE laundry room. I know you are. It's tough being this cool sometimes. Don't hate.

After pinning some major inspiration pictures like this from Living with Lindsay's amazing blog:

Seriously people, this room makes we want to start another project RIGHT NOW! This farmhouse bed just might be on my to do list.

Ok, back to the laundry room.

I then pinned this blog for inspiration from Amy at Eat. Sleep. Decorate on the organizational side of the laundry room.

She gives a link on her blog for free label printables from BHG. Printed them from home, used laminating sheets purchased from Walmart and clipped them with clothespins onto bins from Walmart.

I debated for a long time about whether or not I wanted grey and white or my brownish-tan neutral that is used throughout my downstairs. (There is no name because years ago we ordered a certain shade and it was TERRIBLE but we had 5 gallons purchased so we asked Kwal paint to fix it based on what we described that we wanted. They came up with this and we LOVE it). In the end we ruled out a grey simply because I still had a good amount left of this color. Free paint won in the end.

My husband, after coordinating his shirt to match the tape and stripes, went to town deciding on a method to measure off the zig zags. I was introduced to this chalk and string thingy. And, yes, that is the technical name. By far the coolest tool ever. I have 3 other rooms in my house with stripes. Any idea how easy they would have been to do if I had known about this tool?!?! Consider my life changed.

Now here is a very UNPROFESSIONAL illustration of how to get clean lines when striping a wall. Works wonders.

Final product:

And, since I love a good side by side comparison:

Not bad for 24 hours work!

I am (for the first time :) participating in the Pinterest Challenge with some of my very favorite blogs!

I am also linking up to Kristen's Creations

I joining in on the fun with

And if you are reading this post (as of February 6, 2013) from Pinterest because you Pinterest people are AMAZING, PLEASE click on the Creating with the Stars button, scroll down to link #112 in that post and click back to this post! It helps me out in their competition. Me, my blog and my house will love you forever :)

Friday, June 22, 2012

I've Got Sunshine....

I mentioned back during our Memorial Day trip to the lake, that Amanda and I began some pinterest inspired DIY projects. Here are the final two projects!

Using the same old fence panels Rusty and I used to build a small kids computer desk and a console table for behind our sectional, we built a wood sign for Amanda. Free wood, a little stain she already had, a cricut cut contact paper stencil, and acrylic paint....a huge piece of FREE art.

Here is the pinterest inspiration:

Source: shanty-2-chic.com via Amanda on Pinterest

Here is our completed version:

I would have much preferred a picture of her sign hung up, but she moves slow :) She has it hung, just hasn't emailed me the photo yet.

The next project was another reclaimed wood sign that I pinned on pinterest. I thought this was an adorable idea that would look GREAT in our alphabet wall playroom. Here are the inspiration pictures: