Wall Art

As part of my quest to DIY this farm house. I made some pretty cool prints to hang on the walls of the living room. We bought the wood at Home Depot for $16.00. 

First Core helped by cutting some wood for me. I then painted it with the same color as the chair. 

painted wood

 I blew up a few favorite pictures that I've taken over the last couple of years (they were $12.00 each ot have enlarged). This one is from the Cherry Blossom festival last year. I adhered it with the spray adhesive and then mod podged over it a few times. I also tried to add an antique look and used sand paper to rough it up.

This one got a little rough, I scaled back the sand paper effect on the next one

 I love how this one turned out and this is a picture that I took in West Virginia back in 2010.

I'm a lot happier with how this one turned out

 Now all I need to do is add some hangers onto the back and they are ready to rock the living room walls of the farm house! As I had most of the supplies on hand they each were only $20 dollars each. Not bad for 24"/24" wall art!

Toddler Stool- Will Style

Now that I've become a pro at shopping at second hand stores (visited two in the last week). I found this adorable little stool that needed some love. Another thrifty shopper was interested in this same stool but felt that it was overpriced. As a novice to this whole new world of buying on the cheap I was floored that he turned away from a $3 dollar steal. I was sold and with a quick paint job and some Will family fun, it turned out well (watch out Carlyle family, an art project with your pictures is in the works)

                                                                          Before

I used some white flat paint that I found in the basement and did a few coats on the exterior and only one coat on the interior top. I made my own mod podge by mixing half Elmers glue to have water. I copied some pictures of the Will side of the family and laid them out on the side. I adhered them with some adhesive spray (I wouldn't use again as it did discolor some), stuck the pictures and mod podged back over the top.

I used some gray paint that we have to write our daughter's name on the top of the stool.

Here is how the sides turned out after 3 coats of mod podge.

A new stool for the farm house. Total cost $3.00 as we had some of the supplies laying around the house.

Chair Makeover

We are attempting to furnish our new farm house spending less than $1,000 (excluding appliances). Here is my first attempt at taking something old and ugly and making it into something fun and usable. 

I found this chair at a second hand store and spent $40 dollars. I liked the material and have always wanted a wing back chair. 

 Next stop was Home Depot and I picked out a water based paint color that I liked, and spent about $15 dollars on paint and foam brushes. I then diluted the paint with half paint, half water. After washing/cleaning the chair I applied the painted the chair. I then used an old rag to blot the chair to make sure that the paint was evenly covering the surface.

It took several coats for it all to set. I have to admit that it's a little crunchy and I would use a paint medium next time. The next step was painting the legs (I opted for white) and added some furniture tacks.
Here is the final product! Total amt spent $55.00.

George and L had to try it out and gave it a two thumbs up!