May 4, 2010
This doesn’t quite fit within the realm of “decorating,” but since wardrobe decorates me rather than my house, I’m including it.
My favorite, favorite pair of round-toed brown Steve Madden heels (with pink stitching – sigh!) finally got to the point where wearing them in public was akin to wearing ripped sweatpants, so I stashed them in the back of the closet. After seeing so many articles about revitalizing old furniture with a can of spray paint, I asked Boyfriend if he thought I could get away with painting my shoes. He said no. But he didn’t say anything about using a different color shoe scuff polish to transform them. While he was away on Saturday, I took it upon myself to coat my shoes in two coats of black shoe polish. The result is a pair of shiny black heels, no scuffs to be seen!
Materials: old pair of leather shoes, shoe polish (preferably a darker color – I used an extra coverage scuff polish)
Cost: $0 (I already owned the polish)
You might ask, “Couldn’t you have just bought brown shoe polish?” Yes, but then they’d look the same. I like having a new pair of shoes! Next time I am trying red polish.
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April 29, 2010
Look what spectacular thing I found on design*sponge! It’s a poster reading “I promise I will never use Hobo, Comic Sans, or Papyrus ever again.”
Here are little gems from etsy, magnets saying “Friends don’t let friends use Comic Sans.”
This crafter channeled her anger against Papyrus into some seriously amusing buttons.
I’m so glad I’m not alone in my feelings about Certain Fonts. I’m having flashbacks to when I wrote the rant, An Ode to Papyrus.
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April 23, 2010
Glass votive holders are a common favor at weddings, and I often have mismatched ones around the house, sporting ribbon in someone else’s wedding colors. They look great in the scheme of a table setting but not so much in my living room.
After taking off the ribbon and stickers (and in one case getting a half-melted candle out of the thing), I used mosaic tile glue to affix glass and small ceramic tiles. I worked in small sections because tile doesn’t always adhere well to a curved surface. When all tiles were in place and the glue had dried for a good day, I used a no-sand grout. Finally, I used a mosaic tile sealer to protect them from water and dust. Voila!
In-progress pictures
Listed in Decorating + DIY Tagged DIY, Mosaic tile, upcycling | Leave a comment!
March 31, 2010
I often receive votive holders as wedding favors, but they sometimes have stickers bearing the bride and groom’s names, or ribbon in the wedding colors that in no way matches my decor.
I gave the one pictured below, which was from my cousin’s wedding, a quick makeover by wrapping it in textured brown wrapping paper and securing with tape.
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My favorite piece of furniture is my black and white toile footstool (below) that my sister gave me for Christmas the year I bought my house. I wanted to repeat this pattern on TV cabinet inserts to create a consistent look in my living room.
I was in luck one day when I went shopping and was given my items in a pretty black and white damask shopping bag. I decided to cut the bag up into squares and attach them to cardboard pieces cut to fit the back of my TV stand.
Cost: $0
Materials: pretty paper, cardboard, tape or glue, scissors
Time: 15 minutes
The damask pattern distracts visitors from looking at the PlayStation2!
Listed in Decorating + DIY Tagged Damask, upcycling | Leave a comment!
