DIY: Large Heart Stencil

I am slowly trying to get Miss Lucy's "Big Girl" room decorated...very slowly as it turns out.. ;) ha! Life with two kids is so different! But we are loving it! Anyways, this was such a simple and fun project. If you know me (or are probably starting to see..) I love accent walls! They are (usually) easy and leave a big impression.
For this project I just cut a large heart out of cardboard, traced it all over the wall, then filled it in with paint. Pretty simple! :)

BEFORE:

If you look closely you will see that I snapped a chalk line directly down the middle of the wall. This helped me line up my hearts--I started in the center and worked my way out. You could draw a line for each row if you want to be really careful. 

Sorry for the blurry picture, its hard to work and take pictures! :) I simply placed the heart on the wall and traced around it, I used a pencil but would actually recommend chalk so that you don't see any lines after painting. 

I used my pencil as a guide for even spacing since I didn't want to pull out a tape measure every time...

The pencil lines are hard to see, but you can see my first row of hearts centered on the chalk line and then I went out from there. 

Once I had stenciled the whole wall I went back and filled in the hearts with paint! 

Ta-da!!

I added a few random gold hearts for an accent color :) 

 Lucy loves it! Hahaha! her fake smile and "cheeeeeeese"  :) 

....and yes, she broke BOTH arms...!!!

Now to refinish a dresser and add some photos to the wall!! It never really ends, right?? :)

Easy Summer Centerpiece: DIY Table Runner and Painted Bottles

I am addicted to change. It's true. You will see that more and more as you are following me, I am constantly changing things :) This means I have to find easy and affordable ways to decorate and redecorate my house. One of the fun ways to change things up is your table settings/centerpiece. This is a super easy DIY; cheap, and fast!

We splurged the other day and bought the "good" Rootbeer ;) And as soon as I saw those glass bottles my head started spinning with ideas.

 You will first want to clean them and take off the label. The easiest way is to just soak it in a tub of warm soapy water. I just let them sit in our sink for a few hours.

Once they have soaked for awhile the labels will peel right off.

After you have removed all the labels, let the bottles dry. Now you are ready to paint! I used a foam brush and just normal wall paint. I had a bunch of the small sample sized paints in many colors to use. 

I did 2 coats of paint on each bottle, letting it dry for at least 10 minutes in between. I did not paint the very top until the final coat of paint. That way I could hold onto the bottles without any problems.

..after 1 coat of paint..

..2 coats of paint.

Now for the Table Runner. I just used a piece of linen paint drop cloth. Cut it to size and hem the edges. To paint the polka dots I used a ping-pong ball and just normal acrylic paint.

Pour paint into a shallow cup or on to a plate to make for easy dipping for your ball. Dip one side of the ball into the paint, then stamp it onto fabric. I did a slight roll while holding the ball on my fabric to make my dot bigger.

Continue stamping until the cloth is covered in polka dots, I did a random pattern.

...you might want to be better at ironing your runner first...ignore my wrinkles... ;)

Let it dry for a few hours before use.

Blue Chandelier Make-Over!

Chad has been saying over and over again that this was his favorite project EVER! :) Its amazing what a little spray paint can do!!! A few weeks ago we were walking around Restore like we often do when I spotted this bad boy and instantly fell in love!

This was one large, heavy duty beauty that I couldn't pass up and I knew exactly where it belonged! :) And I will show you how an old $30 chandelier like this along with a couple cans of spray paint can soon become a highlight of your home!

...Its super easy :)

First thing ya need to do...Clean it!
Wipe it down WITH VINEGAR! This will save you! This is a handy tip that I learned via Pinterest :) Wiping down metal objects with vinegar before you paint them helps the paint to stick. I know..I was a little hesitant at first too that's why I tried it out for you :) And I will NEVER paint metal again without first doing this! I didn't have any trouble with the paint sticking, or chipping off after. And this is a 40 pound chandelier that took a lot of gripping, twisting, and handling to hang :)

After it's all clean and vinegar washed you are ready to paint! I did not want to paint the white candle-stick looking area on the lights, so I quickly wrapped them with tin foil to protect (plus you don't want paint getting in the light socket area!).

Now go to town painting! Make sure you get all the different angles..this is the challenge! I was under the chandelier, standing above on a ladder, on each side..etc. Check from several different points of view and at several different times to make sure you get it all painted.

I just grabbed spray paint from Walmart--I needed 2 cans. The color I used was called "Blue Ocean Breeze".

After it is all painted and dried remove the tin foil and put in the light bulbs :) ...My "candle stick" area (not sure what its called..?) was a little brown at the top and at first I thought of painting it white. I then realized that they actually slide out and are long enough to just flip over! ..My pictures will help explain: 

 

..dirty and worn at the top..

Take it right out! The other end (on the left) is clean and in perfect 

condition. Flip it over so the clean side is on top.

Now it looks brand new! :)

Now hang it and you are done!!!! Enjoy!

..I put ours hanging over staircase...so from upstairs you are eye level with it!! I LOVE it! And I took a billion pictures to prove that I do! ;)

...my view coming out of our bedroom every morning :)

.. remember our cute Gold Polka Dot Bathroom in the background?

Entry Way Makeover: Painting Stripes the Fast Way!

I'm super excited to share our Entry Way Makeover with you today! Along with this SUPER easy Tutorial for painting stripes......without measuring!!!!!!!!!!!!! That's Right!! ;)

Here are some "Before" Pictures of this space:

...Super plain and boring! :) Our Entryway is really small...which makes decorating hard! I'm not able to put a cute table in this small area, which is the standard Entry decor right? :) I decided painting the wall for a bright effect would be fun!

I've been wanting to try stripes for awhile but everyone always tells me how hard it is! AHH! I didn't want a project that took all week....So I found another way to make stripes..without measuring a thing!!!!!! And the whole project only took me 2 Hours!!!!! That includes the horrid taping time as well :)

So what did I do? It's quite simple really..I found a board out in the garage that was about the width I wanted my stripes to be and I TRACED IT! That's it! :) Here are some pictures to kind of guide you:

I know its kinda hard to see my lines and whats going...its also kinda hard to take pictures of yourself doing something... hehehe! :) I did it while the Hubby was a work and Baby Girl was sleeping. I apologize for not having the best pictures but I'll explain as I go! 

I just took this board (making sure first that the sides were level and straight!!)  and put it up on the wall and traced it with a pencil, moving the board down as I needed.  The squiggly lines that you can see above help me to clearly see every-other stripe. I scribbled in the area I would be painting to help me from getting confused! :)

Here is a picture of all my lines..now I just had to tape! 

Taping is what takes the longest....the tracing and painting goes really fast! Make sure all you edges are secure! I would run my hand along the wall where the tape was a few times just to make sure it was secure and that paint couldn't leak under. 

Now paint!! I used a small roller and went over it real fast...doing 2 coats of paint total. 

As SOON as you are done with your second coat (or however many you feel it needs to cover well), take your tape off!! Don't wait for the paint to dry before doing this! It makes it A LOT harder to take off and sometimes the paint will peel off with the tape.

And you are done!!

I Finally got some pictures up on the wall as well! Here are the "After" Pictures:

I love it!!!!! My Entry way feels a lot better..more welcoming :)