Golden Umbrella Holder

When it rains, perhaps you carry a brolly, umbrella, bumbershoot, parasol or gamp. No matter the name, I've got another easy DIY and the perfect spot to hold those useful shades until they are needed on rainy days!

A passed down treasure from my hubby's side of the family. It originally came with a lid but I chucked that awhile ago, when I figured out that this was the perfect umbrella holder. This project has been sitting in our garage just waiting for a coat of paint so it could be brought back into our sunroom and loved all over again. Projects like these are so simple and quick, I wonder why it takes me so long to do them!

Our sunroom has cheerful pops of turquoise, yellow and gold. What better color to paint something that will hold umbrellas for dreary rainy days than gold?! I flipped my pot over and sprayed in even light strokes, making sure to not keep my hand in one place for too long, to stay away from drips. After it dried in the sun, I flipped the pot upright and gave the top lip a quick spray. With just a few minutes of spraying and a few hours of drying time, this pot has a new cheerful spot in a corner of our sunroom and I think she looks pretty happy doing her job!

DIY Shabby Makeover

It's another easy paint project but one you don't want to miss!

 I've had this fleur de lis iron hook for several years now and when we gave our master bathroom a new lease on life with a new coat of paint, it just didn't stand out anymore. But not to worry, it didn't go in the giveaway bin, instead, I grabbed a can of white spray paint and gave it a squirt or two. After letting it dry overnight, I hit all the edges with a sanding block and it brought just enough charm out to make the extra step worth it!

and now we have a new shabby fleur de lis, along with the perfect spot to hang our robes!

Tiny Chair Makeover

I've had these tiny metal chairs, from IKEA, for a few years now and in their current home on the bookshelf, I noticed that they didn't stand out since they blended in with their background. 

A quick coat of white spray paint and a little roughening up with a sanding block and these tiny chairs have embraced their easy makeover. 

If you have items in your home that just don't seem to stand out or you wish were a different color, don't get rid of them, give them a tiny makeover first and see if you fall in love with them all over again!

Buckets of GOLD

I was out looking for terracotta pots to put our fall mums

in and instead of spending more than I wanted to on pots, I

grabbed three black buckets from the dollar store. 

First the handles were popped off, a few holes drilled in the

bottoms for drainage and then a quick tape job before

hitting them with a coat of GOLD spray paint. 

I added pea gravel in the bottom before nesting the 

white mums & grass in the three pots. I thought

they turned out cute for a quicky project!

and the front porch fall decor for this year is finally

complete...my 10 min wreath for under $10 will

be in another post, keep your eyes out for it!

You can view my other DIY projects here:

Wooden Pumpkins

Teepee Trees

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 Desk Makeover

This fugly desk was left in a closet in the home we

moved into this summer and I almost chucked it to

the trash bin until I decided to redo it for my daughter.

Before - Black, Boring, Blah...

I started by taking everything apart and

poked the screws into a piece of cardboard, partially

so I wouldn't lose them and also for ease of painting.

All the sections are lifted off the ground with a few

pieces of scrap wood...although I got smart the next

day and put them up on saw horses...much better!

I only used two coats of chalk paint and then with rags

sloppily applied the wax. Next time I'll get the right 

brush but this time, it worked just fine.

A few coats of gold spray paint for the legs

and hardware...I think the gold looks a bit more fancy

instead of the drab silver

I looked through my hubbies tool box for some sand

paper and found one of these round boys...roughed up

the corners, edges and a bit off the tops

before and after shot of the legs

and hardware...I almost couldn't wait 

for it to dry before putting it back together

and I'm in LOVE with the after!

Here's a shot of her new creative corner, 

which she exclaims that she "LOVES"!

The perfect spot for a pre teen to doodle, 

do homework or write letters to her friends.

Glamorous Gold

Remember this Trashy Treasure, I vamped up HERE back in 2012?

I found a new spot for this beauty above the doorway in our Sunroom

but orange just wasn't going to cut it with the turquoise and yellow decor.

Soooo, out came the bottle of gold spray paint, again...haha. Hope

you're not getting sick of the color yet?! 

Before and After

Do you have any favorite colors of spray paint

you like to use on your DIY projects?

I think I just might venture out on the next!

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linked up to Monday Funday

come check out all the fun projects!

Coordinate with Paint

I added this piece in our Sunroom (just not on the main

wall) and wanted to  have it flow with the room, 

so a bit of frog painter tape,

a touch of GOLD spray paint and tadaaa...

An easy way to update a piece of art or make

it coordinate with the tone of your room.

I actually like it better now!

DIY - Just Spray Paint It

Paint it....black GOLD!!!

If you happened upon my sunroom wall post, 

then you know I went a little crazy with the spray paint.

Step away from the can...haha

The reason the wall took me all day,

was because I tweaked a few things here and there

as I was hanging and just so happened to have one

can of spray paint in the house... Thanks to an

impulsive buy at the craft store and because I

give away all of our paint before we moved

this past summer, boo...

'Stuff'

The birdcage was fine but looked a little dull, so it

got a new facelift and now sits center stage ready

to clip some Instagram photos to it. Orange wasn't

happening in the room but I love the frame, so of 

course...gold but I'll probably end of repainting it 

black. I even got down and dirty with the screws

for the birdcage since they are visible. I think I

might be painting a few of my hubby's tools next!

'LOVE'

This little nugget was tucked away for a rainy day,

with plans to make a Shhh, don't ring, sign...but as

you can see, nada wholada going on with it. It was

however the perfect size and color for 'the wall', so

I dusted off the Cricut and made a very sketchy

stencil. I taped one letter outline down at a time,

using a bit of snail adhesive for the inside little bits

and sprayed. The paint dried fast, so I was able

to move onto the additional letters quickly. By the 

time I got to the 'e', I was pretty darn proud of

myself and will be trying my hand at more of this

in the future but maybe with proper tools.

DIY Mail Holder

Back with another Trashy Treasure. This sorry old brown Lillian Vernon (my Mom used to get their catalogs all the time when I was little) bill payer thing was placed outside next to a garbage can in Newport, RI...yet another one of my little finds that we moved to the Midwest. Oh Joy! Can't you hear my hubbies eyes rolling from here?

Clearly I was having a lightbulb moment, clouded judgement, when I thought..."hey, this would be great to stash a years worth of cards in"

I had my hubs rip out every other section to make larger slots for my cards and then I got to work.

A quick sand by hand just to scratch up the surface, lighten the numbers and monogram that were on the box, then my first light coat of white spray paint.

The first coat was too thick and started to bubble, so I just wiped it off the fronts of the drawers and started again, no problemo!

Two coats of white later, 

I pulled some scrapbook stickers out of my stash and started putting on letters for the months of the year...ripped those off in a jiffy and went with numbers instead.

I then started on my Green Apple...

3 coats later, I waited for it to dry completely before peeling off my stickers to reveal the white numbers that remained and yes, I was totally patting myself on the back right about now!

 A bit of measuring and drilling (in pearls and jeans, I might add) for my snazzy new green Hobby Lobby knobs...

a quick chevron designer paper to jazz up the bottoms of my drawers and viola!

She's ready for business!

 I added a bit of metal hardware to the front to cover up the impression of the monogram, I was so excited to take pics, I forgot to fill it first!

So, what do you think? Would you have picked this sad piece of trash off the curb??

I'm linking this DIY trashy makeover to the following blogs:
A Night Owl Blog: Create & Inspire Party
Becoming Martha: Keep Calm and Link Up
Alderberry Hill: Make the Scene Monday
Chic on a Shoestring Decorating: Flaunt It Friday
I Heart Nap Time: Sunday Scoop Link Party
Sincerely, Paula: Wordless Wednesday
The NY Melrose Family: Whimsy Wednesdays
House on the Way: Twirl and Take a Bow Party
Little Becky Homecky: Fantabulous Friday
Here Comes the Sun: Fabulous Friday
Monkies and Tutus: Weekend Wonders

Golden Find

Here's another trashy treasure that we've been toting around with us for several years now. I found this in a home we purchased in Grand Forks, ND under a very old work table in the basement. While we were taking the table apart to throw in the trash, this beauty fell down from underneath. My hubby wanted to trash it but I fell in love with the graceful curves and detail right away. I didn't know what I wanted to do with it at the time but knew it had to be saved from the dump! Fast forward six years and I think I've found the perfect spot.

A before pic, a few of the pieces had been broken off but just adds to the charm...she was pretty like this but I really wanted her to stand out in the crowd

first coat of orange spray paint, it soaked in 

well but wouldn't take to the outside edges

our living room is still getting pieced together, 

here's where she's resting in all of her orange glory now

a few candle sconces (that still need candles) and 

now I'm just looking for the perfect piece to sit 

under the TV, I'm thinking a pale 

blue or turquoise dresser of some sort.

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I'm linking up to this weeks
create and inspire linky party
over at A Night Owl Blog

have any fun projects you're working on?
come link up and join the fun!

Plate Rack UpDo

As promised, here are my snazzy plate racks, all dolled up and put to good use!

After looking at them closer in the light of day this morning, I saw I missed a few spots, so gave them another spritz and let them cure for a few hours before hanging.

On the wall

And graced with these sweet watercolors we picked up in Tallinn Estonia 

on a Scandinavian Cruise we took back in 2005.

The black frames were very inexpensive from Wally World.