Ultimate Blog Party

This is the first time we have participated in the Ultimate Blog Party.  It is hosted by Five Minutes for Mom and you can check out the details here Ultimate Blog Party

Our blog began from an idea that Amy & I had thought of at her annual New Year's party.   We were in the midst of various projects and thought this would be a way to document them. Rob and I live ten minutes from Chris & Amy so there is a lot of sharing of ideas, tools and materials.  We are addicted to Pinterest and use it as inspiration. We are enjoying this blog so far and hope that you will follow along.  


Here are some of our favorite projects so far...

Shutter Stand by Chris & Amy

Mudroom Out of a Closet by Rob & Megan

Thanks for stopping by!

Megan

Framed Out Living Room Wall by Amy & Chris

As you all know we have been working on our living room for two years! lol I just cant stay away from re doing it.  We wanted to give the room some character. I love the wainscoting look but not the price, so we came up with a cheaper and different alternative.

We bought MDF board to frame the wall. Once we determined how big and how manys boxes we wanted, Chris started by framing the border of the wall first.  Then he placed the mdf boards vertically and then finally horizontal to complete the boxes.

Once the framing was complete, Chris covered any holes and gaps with putty to give a seamless look. Then he completed the project by painting the entire wall and framing. I would like to eventually put big, funky frames with pictures in the boxes. I will update when that portion is complete!

Total cost and Material:

MDF board $50

The rest of supplies we already had from previous projects.

Paint color: Raffia Cream (Home Depot)

Thanks for stopping by, we couldnt be happier with the finished product!

Amy & Chris

Lampshade Redo by Rob & Megan

I had found this lampshade at Lowe's after Christmas for$ 3.75 and it is approximately a 12 inch shade.  It originally came with a red and white plaid trim at the top and bottom, and that was why it was on clearance. It was easy to remove the trim and begin a new project.

I purchased this fabric on sale at Joann's a few weeks back. I thought it would look great on the shade. The fabric for 1 yard was $10.00 and I used about half of a yard.

I had pinned a wonderful tutorial by the The Creativity Exchange on how to recover a lampshade a while back. The tutorial is wonderful, and I was able to follow it very easily.

The first step was to trace the shape of the shade on the fabric with pencil. We flipped the fabric over and rolled the shade beginning at the seam and back around. Drawing a faint line on the fabric alongside the top first, and then rolling it again drawing a line along the bottom. The top and bottom of the shade were two different sizes. Then I cut out the fabric as you can see below.

What I did next was take the end piece and hot glue it along the seam.  Then I wrapped the fabric completely around the shade and glued the other end down as well.

Then I used hot glue to glue around the top where I left the least amount of extra fabric. It worked out better for me this way. I used clothespins to hold down the areas that I was gluing. Then I cut around the metal pieces of the shade.

I then did the same thing on the bottom working my way around and pulling the fabric tight. I was pleased with the final product considering it was my first try, and I hope to find another base at Goodwill or similar store. For this I used my lamp I already have to show you the shade on a lamp.

Thanks for stopping by! Hope you had a great holiday weekend.

Lamp Shade $3.75
Fabric $10.00

Total Cost $13.75

Megan