Suzanne McGrath Photography

Thrifty Thursday...How to Make Your Own Umbrella Holder

Hi there!  I have been trying to blog a little more consistently, but MAN, it's hard!  I have been trying to generate one than one post at a time and schedule them but it really requires dedication and organization.  It seems I'm generally lacking one or the other.  But I'm here tonight so here goes...

When we had new hardwood floors installed, we carried the intallation into our small coat closet that is right off our garage.  That is where I kept our umbrellas - just smashed in the corner.  My "system" worked just fine because the carpet kept the umbrellas upright and in the corner of the closet.  Fast forward to wood floors.  Wood is slippery.  And I had umbrellas laying all over the floor.  It was messy and the Type A part of my personality didn't like it!

I decided I needed to find an alternative.  I googled Umbrella stands and I shopped TONS and TONS of websites but either they were ugly or crazy expensive.  Seriously, who wants to spend $399 on an umbrella holder?!  Not me, that's for sure.  So I got creative.

I spotted this at my favorite store ever - Target!

Only $34.99 and not $349?  Yes, please.  (It's actually a large vase.)  

I knew it needed just a little bling.  And then I remembered Jenny over at Little Green Notebook had posted about oil-based markers.  I found one at JoAnn's but here it is over at Amazon:

Gold oil-based marker:

 

Seriously - this thing was SO MUCH FUN to use!

I just taped off my lines on the vase and started coloring.  (I did the bottom line first and waited a day before painting the top line.)  The taping took about three times as long as the coloring.  

And I ended up with this:

It looks uneven but you have to be this close to notice.

How cute is this?

I really like how the gold details in the umbrella holder pick up the gold accents I have elsewhere around the foyer!

And there you have it.  Now I just need to get myself some really cute umbrellas!  Wait...isn't Mother's Day coming up?

 

Thrifty Thursday...a Dollhouse

I'm here tonight with very few words and just a handful of pictures...

For Christmas this year we made a couple of the little girls' gifts.  And I'm here tonight to show you the Dollhouse!  I did not come up with this plan on my own.  Oh no!  My brain was fuzzy in December so I used a plan from Ana White.

I do have a few take-aways from her plan.  First, I wouldn't even both with the kreg jig if you have a nail gun.  If you've got a pneumatic nailer, I'd just use that and forget pre-drilling.  I think it would go much faster.  Second, I wouldn't do the stairs the way Ana did, either.  We used a sliding miter saw to notch out a 2x4.  If you got creative you could probably pull it off with a circular saw, but it would be harder.  Lastly, we didn't bother with the layers of roof.  Admittedly Ana's roof is cuter, but ours was faster and we were up against a deadline!  So check it out:

 

OK.  So I forgot to tell you not to look at the dirty floors!  We were in the midst of stair madness when nothing stayed clean for longer than 12 hours.

 

Notice it's on wheels.  It allows the kids to easily turn it around.  And did you happen to notice the different "wallpaper" on each side?  Fun!  I juse used modge podge and scrapbook paper from my stash.

 

Check out those stairs.  Awesome, huh?  And I went for a mid century vibe.  Can you tell with that retro raised floor?

A close up.  They're totally not perfect but the girls haven't noticed.

 

One final shot.  Cute, no?

The girls do play with this.  I will say I noticed they play with their toys the best when I rotate them around. Right now the play kitchen is up in the hallway outside their room and this is in the basement.  Perhaps some day I'll trade them out.  But in reality, this thing is huge!  It's not like we can just shove it into a corner.  But if they play with it, I consider that a success!

Holler if you try this and have any questions.  It really wasn't that difficult, thank goodness!

 

Thrifty Thursday..Chalkboard Paint

Well, hello there.  I thought it was about time I shared my experience with chalkboard paint!  After all, I completed this project before Thanksgiving.

So we have this wall in the basement that was originally painted an accent blue.  (Of course I forgot to take before pictures.  Oops.)  Anyway, when we had the chinchilla, he peed all over it so then we had to cover it up with a tarp.  When we got rid of the chinchilla (Oh, happy day!), I knew I needed to fix the wall.  We took the tarp down regularly, but of course at some point the tape holding up the tarp took down the paint with it.  So I had crappy looking walls.

Well then, one day last fall I was at one of #2's friend's houses and saw a wall they had done in chalkboard paint.  I knew immediately I wanted to do the same thing in our house.  So I did!  It did it end up taking me 3 coats of paint, but each coat was super quick to apply.  I think the can of Rustoleum paint itself was around $10?  

And here you go:

Seriously, all four of my kids get a kick out of using this wall.  And that's hard when you have kids that are 11 all the way down to 3!

And one more for good measure...

Isn't that fun?  And I have to say, I like that it's in the basement.  While some houses look awesome with chalkboard walls in their kitchen or kid's rooms, I like that this is hidden a little bit.

Have you tried any fun paints lately?

Thrifty Thursday...Art Caddy

So this project truly was thrifty.  As in it cost me the price of two cabinet pulls.  That's it!

I had a problem.  My kids love to color and do art projects.  They are GREAT at getting the stuff out and ROTTEN at putting it back.  I was so sick and tired of putting the crayons and markers away that I decided I should make it easier.  And with that the art caddy was born!

I just used what I had on hand.  (I have a LARGE pile of scrap lumber.  Usually it just drives us nuts but every now and then it comes in handy!)

The first thing I did was figure out how long I wanted the caddy.  In my case, 24" was perfect.  I cut the sides to 23" long.  Each end was 1/2" thick so that added the last inch.  The bottom piece was also cut to 23".  Honestly, it took longer to get out my miter saw than it took to cut the wood!

After the wood was cut to length, I used my finish nailer and glue.  Of course I sanded the rough edges first.  Afterall, little hands are going to be using this thing and I didn't want anyone getting splinters!

After the glue dried I gave it a quick coat of stain.  I always have Minwax Jacobean on hand.  Love that color.  Since the stain alone was a little lackluster I also gave it a coat of satin water-based poly.  Last but not least were the handles.  Seriously easy!

Here are some vanity shots.  My favorite kinds of shots:

Notice the rounded padded bottoms I stuck to the caddy.  Afterall, I didn't want it scratching my mid-century dresser or my table!

For glass jars, I just used what I had on hand:  a small canning jar, a pickle jar, etc.  I had to clean out my refrigerator to find a few jars.  I consider that a BONUS!

This system is so easy to clean up.  Just throw the markers back in their jar.  And ta-da.  Instant clean-up!

One last shot.  Cool, huh?

And there you have it.  Art Caddy!

Kid's Valentines

I went all out this year - I got crafty!  Obviously, it was last minute.  I mean...some things never change.  But still, I think the girls' Valentine cards turned out pretty cute.  See for yourself:

#2 is TOTALLY into mustaches.  I'm not sure why?  Regardless, these were perfect for her!

How'd we do it?  We headed outside (for the best light of the day - it was about 5pm) and took a picture in front of our garage door.  I made sure to leave the right side of the picture "empty".  Then I just added the text in Photoshop.  I bought the mustaches at US Toy for something like $5 for a pack of 6.  And then #3 just signed her name and used double sided tape to attach the mustache.  (We left the back on so the kids could peel off the sticky part and stick the mustache to their face.)  Easy!

For #3 and #4, we headed to the Dollar Store to see what we could find.  Glow sticks and curly straws made their way home with us.  (I love the Dollar Store!)  I came up with a couple mock-ups in Photoshop and ta-da!  Instant Valentines:

Of course, none of these ideas were mine and I certainly can't take credit.  I found them all on my friend, Christi's, pinterest page.  Don't you love pinterest?  So many good ideas!

I hope you all have a Happy Valentine's Day tomorrow.  Personally, I could care less about it but the kids get a kick out of it...

Thrifty Thursday...#1's Room Reveal

Howdy!  Last week I showed you the little girls' room so this week I thought I'd show you #1's room.  I'm sure I've shown it before, but over the course of last fall we added some (easy) updates:

• new, cherry red, mid century nightstand
• recovered red benches (from Target)
• pinch pleated curtains for the window and closet
• upholstered headboard
• new bedskirt with gross-grain ribbon
• DIY pillows

Without further ado...

 

Yes, the curtain rod does look a little wonky.  I missed it when I was shooting in there.  Oops.

And there you have it.  It's a real, lived-in room.  Is it perfect?  Nope.  But she likes it and it's really functional.  My favorite part?  The headboard!

That's it, folks.  Have a great weekend! 

 

Thrifty Thursday...the Evolution of a Bedroom and a Mid Century Ombre Dresser

Phew!  That was a long title.  It's been much too long since I've posted any fun projects so I thought I would rectify the situation tonight.  

Back when school started #3 moved out of #2's bedroom and in with #4.  It just made sense.  The two little girls go to bed before the big girls.  We needed to get #2 to bed earlier and the only way to do it was to have her move in with her little sister.  They resisted slightly at first but the protesting didn't last more than a week.  

This move necessitated more storage in their now-shared bedroom.  Therefore, we moved #4's adorable dresser (3 down) into the closet (which made me sad to have to hide it), moved a desk in at the foot of the bed to corral all the junk that comes along with a 6 year old, and removed the bedside tables and replaced them with a dresser for #3.  

Here is the before shot of the dresser.  $40 off Craigslist.  A steal.  

 

And here is the after: 

Isn't she cute?  After painting all kinds of things I have to say, dressers are my favorite.  They're super easy to sand and paint and the impact is always HUGE!  I painted the white using those pre-mixed cans of Rust-Oleum Painter's Touch.  Love that paint!  I can't remember if I used oil-based or not?  But if not, I used semi-gloss and it's perfect.  Super smooth and shiny.  For the drawer fronts I just bought 3 samples of Behr.  Each green is two colors different from the next.  I've learned from experience that if you only vary one shade you won't see enough of a gradient.    

To make this post even more fun, I thought I'd take you on a journey of how this room started.  First, there was a crib!

 

Although you can't see it, there was a rocking chair on the other side of the window.  We removed that and put in a twin bed.  

 

With that switcheroo we added a different night stand and removed the round table.  I also painted the back of the bookshelves:

 

#4 finally decided she was ready to give up the crib so we added in the second twin bed and I made upholstered headboards for another punch of color:

 

I added a little pizzazz by sewing rick rack to the bedskirts:

 

 

It stayed like that for just over a year until we moved #3 in here.  Now it looks like this:

 

One final shot:

 

Cute, huh?  Anyway, we love it.  But then again, I do so love color!  Have you been painting anything lately?  Any big plans for the weekend?  

 

Thrifty Thursday...a Refinished Wooden Chair

Fun title, huh?  It's all I could come up with tonight.  I've got one heck of a cold and can't go five minutes - no, five seconds - without blowing my nose.  Ugh.

Anyway, I thought I'd show you my chair tonight.  I bought this for $10 two years ago.  At first I thought it would go under my desk in the kitchen but the arms were too high.  Then, because it was so darned heavy, we put #4's booster seat in it and she was able to sit at the table with the rest of us rather than in her high chair.  Well, she's done with that and so it was time to address the chair.  Because it was UGLY!

This is the only before picture I could find.  It doesn't look bad at all.  But trust me, it was BAD.

I was originally going to paint it a really fun color with an off-set stripe down the front.  But then I started sanding.  And sanding.  And sanding.  It seriously had layer after layer of paint.  By the time I was done, I was down to bare wood.  And my neighbor happened to stop by while I was sanding and he commented that it was beautiful maple.  I don't know wood.  I don't even know if maple is good or not?  But I had spent so much time sanding it that I didn't want to cover it up with paint anymore.  And the hubby expressed his opinion which he usually does NOT do - he wanted stain.  So I figured, why not?

I stained this in Jacobean (my go-to stain) and two coats of polycrylic.  It isn't perfect but I love how it turned out!

I have to say, staining a chair is not for the faint of heart.  It's a pain in the you-know-what!

For now it's sitting in the living room.  

I'm not sure what we'll do with it once we get hardwood floors.  But it's not like that is coming next week so I've got awhile to figure it out!

And one last shot...

I feel like I'm a pro now that I've done so many projects using stain.

• We topped the window seat off with a wooden top, which you can see in a few of these images.
• I refinished a beautiful mid-century dresser turned sofa table.
• We refinished an ugly-duckling turned gorgeous wood veneer kitchen table.
• My first project - a dresser for #4's room.

 If you have any question, give me a shout!

 

Six on Sunday...how to make a Terrarium

Hi there.  I thought I'd talk about this project because it lends itself to a summer project with kids.  Originally I wanted each of my kids to make one of these, but we have only made one so far.  

It's really easy and truly something your kids can do with little supervision.

Supplies:

• Glass container - you can even use a wine glass!
• Rocks
• Sand
• Soil
• Plants
• Moss

You just layer it in the container like you see in the image above.  Well, actually, put the rocks on the bottom and then the sand.

And ta-da...you get this.

I will say the best place to get plants is not Home Depot or Lowes.  Your best bet would be a special trip to a landscape center.  

These require very minimal water which is perfect for someone like me who nevers remembers to water anything!

One last image...

If you try to make one of these I'd love to know how it turns out!  Have fun.

Thrifty Thursday...How to Customize a Bed Skirt

I'm back!  I think I just really needed a break from blogging.  I've kept up my Six on Sunday series, but it hasn't been as good as I like.  I'm finally starting to feel more energized and more excited to decorate and shoot and just live life!  I'm not sure if it's due to taking a multi-vitamin since I was low on iron, the weather, or #4 finally sleeping.  Maybe it's a combination of all three?  Whatever the reason - I'm just happy to be back to normal.

I actually completed this project back when it was still cold outside.  And let me tell you, this project was so easy!  If you can get your hands on a sewing machine, it shouldn't take longer than 30 to 60 minutes.  I bought several (5 of each color, I think) packages of rick rack from JoAnn's.  I used complementary colors to #4's room to jazz up her bed skirt.  Check it out.  

I just sewed the rick rack on to her inexpensive Target bedskirt.  I love the little pop of color it provides.  I briefly considered making my own bedskirt but it would have been too much trouble and I doubt I would have saved a dime!  Not my cup of tea.  So I went with easy.  

Here's a wider shot:

The blue actually coordinates with colors in her quilt although you can't tell from these images.

And one last shot of the entire room.  Cute, no?

And that's it!  This weekend I'm heading outdoors.  It's time to plant the cutting garden and the vegetable garden.  We might go crazy and even get the sandbox up and running!  Do you have any DIY plans?