~thrifty thursday~industrial pipe picture hanger

Do you remember when I showed you the picture of our tortoise shell?

Last weeks thrifty Thursday project.

Well, it bring up this question.

Do you have an unsightly outlet or switch plate that is somewhere you don't want it to be?

Short of doing some electrical work, it's got to stay.

This is the light switch to our dining room.

I have previously covered it up with different things, but it's been difficult to turn the light on and off.

Then one day, a light bulb went off!

If I had something that sat out a bit from the wall, enough to get my hand behind it, I could still place artwork here!

To make this you will need, two street 90 degree fitting {1/2"}

One 18" black iron pipe {1/2"}

Two 1/2" flanges

Two S hooks

Two lag tight eyelets

One can oil rubbed bronze spray paint.

It's pretty self explanatory how to put it all together.

You can spray paint your pieces before you put it together or after.

I did before and then touched up places after it was assembled.

Make sure your frame is wood so the eyelets screw in easily.

It sticks out just enough to slide your hand behind it to turn the lights on and off.

Why didn't I think of this sooner?

xoxo

~tie dye napkins~

Here's a fun project to do with the kids even.

Cody and I {our 12 year old son}

made these napkins on a whim and I love how they turned out.

We used navy blue to go with the new chair slips.

There is very simple instructions on the back of the container.

We used some cream colored cloth napkins we had on hand for this.

We tied them up with rubber bands and string for a random look.

They washed and dried beautifully.

Is tie dye coming back or am I just reliving my childhood here?

Whichever it is, it was a fun project to do with Cody.

xoxo

~thrifty Thursday~{French crate}

Here is how I made this tray for $3.00, and you can too!

I started with this piece of expanded steel. You can buy this at home improvement stores.

I happen to have this in my studio, so I didn't have to buy mine.

Think outside the box here. You don't necessarily need a piece of expanded steel for this project.

Look around for unusual pieces in the right size.

Perhaps plexi glass, grates, old windows, etc.

My piece of expanded metal measured 32" x 19"

You are going to need to pick up 3 1x2's at the hardware store.

These are I believe 8' long and are only 97 cents each.

I purposely picked out the roughest ones I could find because I wanted my crate to look old.

So grab ones that are cracked, rough, and a little beat up.

For my crate 

{you will need to adjust to the size of your insert, meaning metal piece, etc.}

I cut 6 bottom pieces slightly larger than the 19" width.

I cut them at 20 1/2"

Then I cut 4 end pieces at 18 3/4" and 4 side pieces at 34" and finally, 4 short pieces to brace everything together in the corners. These are 5"

Again, you will need to adjust to your own measurements, this will just be a guideline for you.

Next you will need to darken up those pieces of unfinished wood.

You can use a stain, or if you are impatient like me and want a quick dry product, wipe on a little dark wax. I bet you could even use shoe polish. Does anyone still have any of that?

Now it is time to assemble.

I first laid my 6 pieces flat on the ground. This is what your metal will lie on top of.

Place the metal on top and make sure the bottom pieces are straight.

Add the end pieces and the side pieces. I used a air nailer to attach them all together.

If you don't have an air nailer, wood glue and small nails would work.

Note that the sides and end pieces of wood should be sitting on the taller side, not laying down like the bottom pieces.

{sorry, I am horrible at tutorials!}

Here is  a close up of what it should look like at this point.

Next, take the 4 shortest pieces and place them in each corner securing with your nails.

Attach the 2 remaining sides and the 2 remaining ends flush with the top of the shortest pieces.

Notice how one of my pieces of wood is totally broken off and because my measurements were slightly off, the pieces of wood don't meet up?

Yep, I like to call that character :)

Here it is all done!

Oh, and I don't know if you can see it real well, but I used a French stencil to add some wording to the centers of each side, just to really give it that old crate feel.

So, are you going to make one, or have I totally lost you with these directions?

xoxo

~what's your number?~

So, I have these 2 chairs from Ikea in my dining room.
Yesterday I decided they needed a little something
extra on them.

Here they are before:

I decided I wanted to put a number on each one, so here is what I did.
In a word document I created 2 numbers, 3 and 7 in the Edwardian Script font, size 650, and printed them out.

Then I carefully cut each number out and taped it to the chair using double stick tape.

Next, I traced around each number with pencil.

Then using black fabric paint and a fine tip brush, I filled each number in!

In a day or so I am going to wash them and hope that the black fades a bit.
What do you think?

xoxo

~a kid friendly New Years party~

December 31, 2002 I gave birth to Cody Phillip Thompson.
He has been the funniest most easy going kid from day 1.
Happy 11th birthday Cody!

Needless to say, our New Years plans always involve birthday cake and presents.
I wouldn't have it any other way.
He had his "friends" party a couple of days ago, so tonight we are having family over for a low key
dinner party.

I got the dining room dressed up for the festivities:

I painted a black canvas with white lettering and added some Wendy Addison glass glitter numbers to the "bar"

After doing a ton of dishes I decided paper plates and cups would do just fine this year!
I purchased black plates and cups from the Dollar Tree and added white stickers to the cups for everyones initials.

Paper placemats will make for easy cleanup:

To see how I made the place card holders, go here.

Here is the rest of the dining room:

Happy New Years everyone!

xoxo

~our Thanksgiving table~

First of all, Happy Thanksgiving to all of you! I hope
you have a very relaxing day spent with loved ones.

This year I was inspired to use some blue and white, which is not typically what
I use. But, I pulled it all together, and mixed in with some natural colors I think it works.
You can view details and such right here.

xoxo