DIY Upcycled Jewelry Holder

Happy Monday!! Can't believe February has already arrived...along with some snow. I took a moment this morning to walk outside our village and soak in the peaceful cool quiet of a new day. The snow so perfectly covered every rooftop and tree in a precise blanket of unblemished white. The perfect start to my day after dropping our youngest off at kinder and before I tackle our mound of ski laundry from the weekend...but not before I've had my coffee!

One of my latest DIY projects was to figure out where to put my jewelry since I sold my jewelry armoire before we moved. If you remember, I made a smaller version of a jewelry holder for a teen that lived next to us in VA, you can see that HERE.

I guess you can say I've gotten quite a bit of use out of the doors we removed from our laundry room, since that's what I used for this project. I needed something I could set up on my dresser and not hang on the walls since most of them are hard to hang anything on here in Germany. I also wanted a splash of color in our closet, since we are renting and can't paint the walls, so I looked through my chalk paint stash and chose this lovely lavender shade.

No prep work for me, just slapped two coats on and roughed up the edges a bit with a sanding block. I dug through my hubby's tool box and found a few white hooks and cup hooks I had left over from another project and attached them around the edges. 

I'm pretty excited with how it turned out and love that it adds color and charm to our closet room. I destashed a bunch of my unworn jewelry before we moved as well, always feels good to declutter!

Here's the jewelry holder in all it's glory sitting on top of my dresser. The lighting isn't the greatest but I wanted to share how I display the rest of my jewels. I have a few trinket boxes, the brown cedar one my Dad recently made for me. The two trees I used to have on our mantle won't fit anywhere in this house, so I have them adding a bit of greenery to my jewelry set up and they double as clip holders too! How do you display your jewelry? I'd love to see, share a link in the comments or let me know your favorite part of this DIY project.

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DIY Jewelry Holder from an Upcycled Door

I love summer!! Not only do I love the warm weather but I feel like I can tackle my mile long DIY to do list and finish it in only a day! That never happens...but I do check items off and add new ones!

My latest DIY is this jewelry holder that I made for our neighbors teen daughter. I've been helping make over her room and she needed a place to put all of her pretty baubles instead of the top of her dresser. 

The shutter was FREE, can't beat that! It's actually half of a folding shutter door that we removed from our laundry room closet area. The doors were never shut and the laundry room closet is pretty enough to leave exposed, so we removed the doors and hardware. The other half of this door, I have on our mantle. I quickly took a sander and roughed up the edges a bit for more of a chippy paint look and then painted the wooden knob, that I kept when I cut the door in half, and the entire edge with two coats of chalk paint.

I drilled three holes on the larger top section of the door to add three door knobs but when screwing one of them in, it broke...it happens...oh well, I had just finished organizing my hubby's tools in the garage and knew I had a few hooks left over from an IKEA haul, so I added those instead.

The only purchase I made for this project was a box of white cup hooks that I predrilled before screwing in. The ones on the sides I placed at 12 inches apart to allow for necklaces to hang. The bottom row is great for bracelets or more necklaces and the middle portion of the door, is the perfect spot to keep earrings untangled and paired together. 

I attached a large hardy picture hanger hardware on the back and can now say that this jewelry holder is feeling glamorous and is so happy not sitting in the wood pile in our garage.

Paint Color: Home Decor Chalk Paint

34803 - Patina

Chalk Painted Octopus

Who doesn't love a little octopus? I picked up this wooden guy at Home Goods awhile back when I was starting to pull things together for my kiddos shared bathroom and hid it away for a rainy day. 

Once I painted their bathroom, the current color of Guy, the octopus, wasn't what I wanted (I had always planned to paint it anyway), so I quickly slapped a coat of WHITE chalk paint on it...

and then another. After it was fully dry, I quickly sanded down the edges with an electric sander. No wax or poly was used on guy, so this project was quickly finished and hung in their bathroom. Isn't he cute?! So glad the warm weather is back, it means paint dries faster!

Bench Makeover

A bench built with love from my husbands late Grandfathers hands has always been a treasure to move with us and find the perfect location for a quiet time out spot for our little ones. All four have used it in it original condition but the lettering had faded and I thought a little freshening up was just what the DIY Dr. ordered.

 Before and After

I made sure to wipe down the bench with a damp cloth and let it air dry before opening my bottle of Waverly Chalk Paint in Agave. One coat with a foam brush and then a second coat before lightly distressing the edges and taking off any roughness with a sanding block. 

Satine can always be found close by and usually approves of all of my crazy projects! 

A quick layer of Minwax clear satin Polycrylic, you can always double up on Poly. Just make sure you put on thin layers because it dries quickly and will drip if you have too much on your brush.

I'm quite pleased with the finished bench,  it adds a nice cheerful pop of color to our sunroom and the kids use it not only for time outs but also to put on their shoes!

Curbside Makeover - Take 2

This is the second time I've made over this curbside find, 

that I threw into the back of my car when we lived in

Newport, Rhode Island. You can find my first post HERE.

I am over the moon with how this turned out and 

can't wait to get started on my next paint project!

First I sanded off the stenciled design off the top.

I wanted to make sure the top would have a smooth 

surface and not leave a flower impression once I was

finished painting. It's the only portion of the piece I

actually sanded since I knew I would be using the

ever-forgiving chalk paint.

I'm also partial to foam brushed when applying chalk

paint, they are inexpensive and I love that I can squish

them into small areas if needed.

This is after the first coat of Americana Decor

Chalky Finish "Yesteryear". It's a beautiful pale

grey color, which I love...but I was going for a 

different look to coordinate with the bathroom

mirror where this piece was to reside.

I pulled out my Waverly Wax in Antique and started 

applying it with an old t shirt. If you don't want your

dark wax to look so dark, apply a clear wax first.

I quickly wiped on the Antique, working with one 

side of my piece at a time. One I'd finish applying, 

I'd start wiping off the wax and rubbing it in, till

I achieved the more worn look.

This is after the Antique Wax has been applied 

everywhere. You can see that I didn't put wax

inside on the bottom sections. I had a different

idea for the inside...since the top piece normally

would've held a drawer which was broken

when I first picked up the piece. There was a 

funny little lipped section that I wanted to make 

smooth....

Before I get to the insides:

Here are two easy clean up musts.

1. Wipe top of containers with a damp

paper towel, so you can easily unscrew 

the lid again.

2. Wear gloves so your hands don't look 

as fantastic as mine did when I finished!

 Here is my fix for the bottoms of the insides...

little pieces of wood. I was going to use paint sticks

but Home Depot was out of the large ones. I found

the next best thing and my hubby introduced me to

the saw, watch out world!

I cut them all to fit using the cool little laser light

and that sassy blade and I'm proud to announce,

I still have all of my fingers!

 The back corners of the top section had these little 

pieces that stuck up, so my DH helped me cut the

notches out for those pieces to fit inside.

My sweet helper, Satine...she loves her Mama

and I can always count on her to be nearby.

Next I pulled out my Americana Decor Chalky Paint

Everlasting, a nice bright white. Painted all the small 

wooden cut pieces and let them dry. After a second 

coat I quickly sanded them down a bit to make sure

they were nice and smooth on the edges and tops.

A bit of Elmer's Wood Glue and some golf balls 

did the trick for easy installation of the wooden

pieces and then only one step to go...

Just one coat of Minwax Polycrylic Clear Satin

protective finish and I'm proud to say this beauty

is done!!

Here she is in our half bathroom holding 

a few bathroom essentials...

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Rocking Chair Makeover

I picked up this sweet little rocking chair for $6 at a

second hand store in North Dakota a few years ago and 

it finally got a much needed facelift with a bit of 

Americana Decor chalk paint.

I used a sanding block to smooth the rough edges,

cleaned off the chair with a damp paper towel and

let it air dry for a bit before painting.

I used Americana Decor Chalk paint, called Refreshing,

a beautiful and truly refreshing mint color.

I found the paint at Michael's (using a 40% off coupon)

and Home Depot also carries a few color choices.

The first coat was easy to apply...I'm a bit of a messy

painter when it comes to chalk paint if I'm planning

on sanding afterward, like I did with this piece. 

Two coats of paint were applied so that none of the

wood grain would show through, at least not until

I wanted it to!

I went through a couple of sponge brushes on this

project, they kept getting caught on the small

areas and ripping but otherwise, worked great.

The second coat covered the wood that was 

showing through and I used a sanding block 

to distress the edges just slightly.

 

Since this chair will be used by little ones I didn't 

really care to wax and rewax when needed, so I pulled

out my can of Minwax clear/satin Polycrylic. I used a

water based brush to apply. You only need a little bit

on your brush at a time since the Poly dries quickly 

and you want to minimize drips. A double coat of Poly

was added to the seat and a few places I know will 

get more wear and tear.

Now to put this sweetheart back in my now two

year olds Vintage Circus bedroom!

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Furniture Makeover - Summer Porch Yellow

Warm weather means that I can paint again, yippee!

I've been wanting to give this piece of furniture

a facelift since we moved to VA last year. 

A bit banged up and scratched with moving

but it's still a great piece that sits nicely on 

our stairway landing.

Our walls are grey (darker in the main part of the

house, the photos were taken in our sunroom) and

the yellow pop on the stairway will be a nice addition

to our family sunflower canvas.

I found this scrumptious yellow at AC Moore, it's 

called Summer Porch, by FolkArt Home Decor Chalk.

I used about half of the bottle with two coats for this

project. I'm not the best painter but I like to tackle

projects and get them done and am very happy

with the end result of this one!

Two coats with two different brushes...

I waited a day in between coats since I painted

during nap time but the paint was very quick to dry.

A different day, I pulled the sander out and quickly

edged up my piece, letting the brown pop through

in various places.

Next the Polycrylic, this was very easy to apply

but you need to make sure you don't put too much

on your brush or you'll get unwanted drips

(which can be sanded off, thankfully, oops!)

Two coats of Poly, in two days...again at naptime.

I wanted to paint the drawer pull black but only

had chalkboard paint on hand...I used two nails 

poked through a piece of cardboard to hold my drawer

pull away from any surfaces. The bottom two

photos are what it looked like before. The top pic 

is right after I sprayed, still wet...

Next the drawer, I didn't paint the bottom, since I

knew I was going to line it with something. Found 

this super cute, inexpensive grey and white chevron

drawer liner at Target. 

I unrolled it and folded it over in the corner to create

a cutting crease, pulled it out and slid my scissors

up the folded line. Before taking off the backing,

I made sure it fit inside. Just two small trims, peeled

off the back and stuck it inside. 

I'm in love with my little yellow table, 

isn't it sweet?...

DIY Frame and Valentine Mantle Decor

I asked my dear hubby to whip up another project

that's been floating around in my head. We needed 

something larger for our mantle that could be used 

to decorate with. After looking for frames at Michael's 

and a few other stores but not wanting to swallow 

the $100 or more price tag for the size we needed...

Two pieces of fence boards from Home Depot were

snatched up instead and this is what the hubs made 

that I painted with Americana Decor Chalk Paint.

 Just a simple square but it adds a bit of height

and will be so fun to switch up for all the different 

holidays this year, can't wait to continue

the crafting projects!! 

Here's our mantle this year for Valentine's Day.

Share the love and link your Valentine projects

or decor below in the comments!