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DIY Decor

DIY Decor

DIY Simple Chalkboard Welcome Sign

We’ve had a stretch of seriously gorgeous weather here in Michigan over the last week – sunny, 70-80 degrees, and I love it!  When the weather is nice, I can’t stay inside, so we’ve been focusing on mostly outdoor projects for the time being.  One of the areas that’s been in desperate need of some love is our three season front porch, it is the cutest area that totally sold me on the house the first time we came to look at it.

Ever since we moved in a few years ago, I’ve dreamed of turning our little porch into a cozy seating area where we can sit and have breakfast, drink coffee, and people watch on pretty spring/summer/fall mornings.  I can also picture snuggling out here with Baby Smied someday 🙂  My inspiration has always been this photo: blue beadboard ceiling (so southern!), wicker furniture + white cushions.

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We have a seating area in the works thanks to my mother-in-law who gifted us Jeremy’s Grandma’s old wicker furniture, that we repaired/refinished and will be featuring in an upcoming post!  First though, I wanted a little curb appeal.  I’ve always loved oversized signs on porches that can be read from the street, I find them so welcoming and charming, and we had just the perfect blank wall space right next to our front door.

DSC_0962My original inspiration for this piece was this sign I found online – I often see things like this and think “I can make that myself!”

Rustic Metal Welcome Sign from Antique Farmhouse

Rustic Metal Welcome Sign from Antique Farmhouse

So, let’s make a sign!

Materials List
1/4″ piece of plywood (we used birch leftover from our bed project)
Chalkboard Paint
White Paint
Small Foam Roller
Small Paintbrush (fine tip)
White Chalk (I used my trusty old Crayola)
Pencil
Dropcloth
2 Wall Screws
2 Eyelet Screws
Drill

I used a piece of scrap birch plywood from our bed project for this, that just happened to be the right size for the space.  You’ll need to cut the plywood down to 12″ x 48″ if you want a sign this size.

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For the letters, I printed out each letter of “welcome” in the Archer Bold font, size 500.  Trim the letters down and lay them out to be sure they fit, and you’re happy with the font size.

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Lay out your dropcloth, place the birch on top, and paint with 2-3 coats of chalkboard paint.  I didn’t prime beforehand, and find that I get the nicest finish by using a foam roller – don’t forget to paint the sides!

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As you can see, I’ve gotten a LOT of use out of this little quart of chalkboard paint.  I may or may not have also spilled some on the basement floor at one time…oops.

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For chalkboard lettering, I often freehand, but I’m going to share a little secret with you if you don’t love your handwriting: the Transfer Method.  For this sign I wanted the spacing to be as uniform as possible, which can be really hard to freehand, especially with a vertical orientation.  Lay your letters out on the board exactly where you want them.  Tape each piece to the board on the left side to hold it in place.  For extra precision, have a cat come give it a second look to ensure it’s laid out correctly.

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Perfect.  Thanks, Murph.

Next, follow these steps for each letter:

While keeping the paper taped to the board, flip the page over and smear chalk on the back side of the paper.  Flip the paper back over, and firmly trace the letter with a sharpened pencil.  This will transfer the chalk outline to your sign – easy peasy.

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I used a spare white chalk marker to darken the outline so I could ensure a really clean edge before painting – this step is optional.  There will be leftover chalk dust on the sign, but you can wipe that off with a damp towel once the paint has dried.  Once all of the outlines are done, it’s time to paint!

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For the letters, I used some spare Benjamin Moore White Dove (my favorite white of all time) that we had lying around.  This step is simple – with a small artist’s paintbrush, just stay within the lines!  I only did one coat because I wanted this sign to have a handmade/imperfect feel, and one coat will leave just enough of an uneven finish for that.  Once you’re done painting, let it dry for a few hours (I left mine overnight).

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Now it’s time to hang your sign!  I wanted mine to hang from eyelet screws, it reminds me of old gas station/Americana signs which are just adorable.  Thankfully, we had two old screws in just the right place from some swag hooks we tried to remove when we moved in.  I’m not exaggerating when I say there were no fewer than 5 swag hooks in each room of this house when we moved in…I would post photos for proof, but that would require a blog post of it’s own.  Let’s just say that no one needs that many swag hooks.  EVER.

Measure where you’d like your wall screws and eyelet screws to match up, and drill pilot holes to avoid splitting the wood.  We used a 5/32 bit for this.  Then slowly screw in the eyelets.  Hang on the wall screws, ensuring everything is level.  You can adjust the eyelet screws by a few turns if you need to adjust to make it level.

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toolsThis handsome fella has a serious love for everything Dewalt.

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Now you’re done: instant curb appeal!  It was such a short and simple project (my favorite kind!), that cost $0 because I was able to use materials I already had lying around.  What a cute result!  What do you think?  Hopefully this will inspire you to make your own!

Smied Watermark

 

DIY Decor Home Improvement

DIY Pottery Barn Raleigh Bed

This bed tutorial has been a long time coming – we recently finished this project, and I’m so excited to talk about it!  I know I’ve said this before, but I love just about everything Pottery Barn makes.  If I had a million dollars and could furnish my entire house with their products, I would. Sadly, I don’t have that many zeros in my bank account (yet!).  For YEARS now I’ve coveted their Raleigh Camelback bed…but there was no way to justify spending $1500+ on it.

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Look at this cozy bed.  Sooo pretty.

Thankfully Jeremy and our friend Kyle are handy, handy dudes and agreed to build it for me!  If you’ve ever lived in an older home, you know that they’re not built to hold ridiculously large beds. So this tutorial is for a queen-sized bed and headboard, but you can adjust the measurements against your own box spring and mattress if you’re going for a different size.

You can get most of your materials from Home Depot, Lowes, and Joann Fabric.  We went to our local lumber yard for all of our wood- Chelsea Lumber, because they’re always friendly, helpful, and we like to support local businesses when we can.

12959508_10100789926697758_572382453_o12986744_10100789926787578_1518052260_oMaterials List
1: 4’x8′ piece of 1/2″ birch plywood
1: 4″x4″ board, 10 ft. length
4: 1″x12″ boards, 8 ft. length
2: 1″x2″ boards, 8 ft. length
11: 1″x4″ boards, 8 ft. length
1 box of #8-3″ deck screws (self-tapping is the key to less swear words.)
5 yards of fabric – I found this pottery barn dupe (in Natural) at Joann’s for $7/yard
2 rolls of Batting
1 sheet of 2’x 6′ upholstery foam (can find at Joann Fabrics or Home Depot)
1 can of adhesive spray
1 box 13/16″ nailheads
Beer (Optional, but really helps when you reach Part II, step 6.)

Tools Required
Staple Gun + staples
Miter Saw
Jig Saw
Hand Saw
Drill
Measuring tape
Iron
Rubber Mallet
Air Compressor + Brad gun (Optional, but can be helpful to tack things together quickly)

Instructions
Part I – Building + Upholstering the Bed
1.  A day or two before assembly, you’ll need to stain the legs of the bed.  Cut your 4″x4″ into 8 12″ lengths.  This will not only make for a taller bed, but will also allow ample room for under-bed storage.  Stain the legs with a color of your choice.  We did a layered stain for darker legs, with 1 coat of Minwax Dark Walnut first, and 1 coat of Minwax Ebony on top.

2.  Measure your box spring to find the dimensions for your bed frame.  Add a 1/4″ to each
measurement to give your box spring a little wiggle room when placed in the frame.

3.  Cut your 1″x12″ boards to match your measurements, these are the sides of your bedframe. Assemble the frame – we inset the short lengths inside the longer length sides, and secured with screws.

4.  Measure your 1″x2″‘s – these will run along the long sides as slat supports.  You want to leave at least 4 1/4″ at the ends to allow room for the legs.  We wanted our box spring to sit flush, so we measured the height of the box spring, added the 2″ of the 1″x2″, and that determined how far from the top we needed to screw in the supports.  Screwing them in flush with the bottom of the board, about 10″ from the top – this is for the sides.  For the header and footer supports, attach the 1×2″ sideways and flush with the bottom, so the 2″ is sticking out – you can see this in the bottom photo below.

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At this point it would be a good idea to set your box spring (we have a split box spring) inside the frame to ensure that your measurements were correct.  Success!

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5.  Attach your legs, one at each corner, with the top of the leg sitting 10″ from the top of the 1″x12″.

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6. Now it’s time to assemble the support framework.  As you can see in the photo below, you’ll need to cut 3 1″x4″s to run parallel, and 8 to run perpendicular.  Measure and cut the 3 parallel lengths first, because these will lie underneath the boards running perpendicular.  Divide the width of the bed into quarters, and attach your boards to the support slats with screws.

7.  Measure and cut the 8 perpendicular widths.  Attach these boards to the support slats on the sides, with these boards laying on top of the 3 boards running parallel that you just attached.  Attach the additional 4 legs – 2 each under the outside 2 parallel 1″x4″s where they meet the 3rd and 7th perpendicular boards, respectively.  Below is what the bed should look like when you’re done with this step.

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8.  Unfold 1 roll of batting.  Measure each side and cut batting to match, with an extra 2-3 inches to allow for wrapping.  Wrap over the top and bottom side, and secure with staples.  Repeat on all 4 sides.

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9.  Cut your fabric to match each side, with an extra 2-3 inches to allow for wrapping.  Iron your fabric, then much like you attached the batting, wrap the fabric over the top and bottom side, pull tightly, and secure with staples.  When you get to the corners, fold over to create a seam and glue with either hot glue or fabric glue.  Pull the top and bottom of the fabric at the seam over the side, and secure with staples.

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Part II – Assembling + Upholstering the Headboard
Did you know there are a ton of different headboard shapes, all with their own names?  I had no idea until we tackled this project.  The shape of this headboard is the “Eccleston”.
eccleston_large1.  Stencil or freehand (we freehanded) the shape of your headboard on your 4’x8′ piece of birch plywood.  Cut out your shape with a jig saw.  Sand down any rough edges left by the saw, we used an orbital sander with a 220 grit pad to get a really smooth edge.

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2.  Lay your foam down, then place the plywood on top.  Trace the shape onto your foam, and cut.  We decided to attach the headboard directly to the bed, so we stopped the foam 12″ from the bottom.  We were able to use 1 sheet of upholstery foam, cut in half length-wise for the entire headboard.  In order to get the smoothest cut, use a small hand saw…trust me on this.  We used a box cutter and it wasn’t pretty.  Jagged foam edges make for difficult upholstery later on.

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3.  Apply a generous amount of spray adhesive to your plywood, and attach the foam.  Let dry for 30-45 minutes to make sure it’s secure.

4.  Unfold one roll of batting, and lay your headboard foam-down on top of it.  Attach firmly with staples, but don’t pull too hard or the batting will tear.  Trim the excess batting.

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5.  Measure and cut your fabric to fit the headboard.  Iron the fabric!  Upholstering with wrinkled fabric makes an already hard task even more difficult, so don’t skip this step.

6.  Now it’s time to upholster!  Attach your fabric with staples.  This will be the most time-consuming and frustrating part of the process.  Be prepared to pull staples out as you move around the headboard, to eliminate wrinkles.  It’s a slow process, but don’t give up – it is so worth it when it’s done!  When we got to the corners, we folded the fabric over like we were wrapping a present.  We had never attempted upholstery before, so this video was a great tutorial.

7.  For the final touch, tap your nailheads into the upholstered plywood with a rubber mallet.  We started at one end of the top, and spaced the nailheads out 1 1/2″, making sure to place them towards the front of the plywood so they wouldn’t overlap the back edge.  You can measure out the width, or create a little template like we did – it made the process much faster.  Continue all the way down both sides.

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8.  If you’re attaching directly to the bed like we did, add your 1″x2″ strips along the bottom of the foam.  Here are some examples of how the bed will sit on the frame:

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9.  Attach your headboard to the frame.  If you have someone to help hold the headboard up while you’re screwing it in to the back frame board, great!  If not, clamps can help as well.  Screw it in until secure, and you’re done!

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Looks like the real thing, and is Murphy-approved.  Now we just have to find some cozy new bedding to fit our new bed.  What do you think? A HUGE thanks goes to Kyle for making the drive from Kalamazoo to spend a few days to help us – you’re the best!

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If you attempt this project, please comment on how it went for you – and send photos!
Smied Watermark

DIY Decor

DIY Burlap Shamrock Wreath

It is officially March!  She came in like a lion, dropping another 7 inches of snow on us this week.  But I know that warmer weather is on the way, and so is St. Patrick’s Day!  Anyone who knows me well, knows that I’m always decorating my house.  Whether it be for the next holiday, or the current season, our house isn’t a home unless it is festive!  I get so much inspiration from the creations I see for sale on Etsy, but as it goes with most things, I see it and think “I can make that!”.  This wreath was no exception, and I’d like to share how you can make your own.

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SUPPLIES:
18″ Wreath Frame
2Rolls of 4″ x 10 yd Burlap Ribbon
1 Roll of 4″ x 10 yd Green Burlap Ribbon
4 Pipe Cleaners cut in half (any color, I used brown)
1 Roll of Twine
2 6″ Twist Ties
Scissors
Hot Glue Gun + Sticks

Once you have all of your supplies, it’s time to get started.  These wreaths are so much easier to make than you’d think!  A starting tip, you’ll need to make sure that your burlap is folded in half (width-wise) while you’re working – this makes for prettier edges, and a fuller wreath.

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Start by pulling your folded burlap end through the inner loop of the frame, and secure with a pipe cleaner. You can cut off any excess pipe cleaner once secured.  Pull your first loop up through the innermost section, twist at the bottom (pick one direction for the entire wreath), then pull your second loop up through the middle section.

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Twist again, and pull your third loop up through the outermost section.  Congrats!  You’ve finished one row! To start the next row, twist your ribbon and start again on the innermost section of the frame.  For every 3 rows you finish, secure the burlap to the frame with another pipe cleaner.  Repeat this process until you’ve made your way around the entire frame.

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Done!  To make the bow, cut the green burlap ribbon into 3 pieces: 60″, 24″, and 8″.

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Fold the 60″ piece into an “X”.  Fold the 24″ piece into thirds, and place fold side down on top of the 60″ piece. Pinch from the middle of the “X” to the top of both ribbons, and secure with a twist tie.

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Fold the 8″ piece in half (width-wise), and fold over the middle of the bow.  Secure with hot glue.

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Attach the bow to your wreath frame with another twist tie.

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To make the shamrock bunting, cut a 21″ piece of twine.  I just cut out 4 shamrock shapes from the leftover green burlap ribbon, you can freehand this, or use a template.

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Hot glue shamrocks to the twine, and tie each end of twine to your wreath.

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Aaaaand you’re done!  Time to hang it proudly on your door, and kick back with a drink of your choice 🙂  You’ve earned it!

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Have a great week!
Smied Watermark2