Project: Cheap Backsplash!

I REALLY want a tile back splash someday, however the current price for the glass tile I have my eye on is around 12-14 dollars per square foot. I have plenty of things that I could spend just under $500 on and well, I'm a cheapo :)

Chevron stripes!

I know that it is super trendy right now and so as far as long term...not gonna happen!

But for right now, I'm game!

I originally saw this pinned using vinyl for the whole thing. Great idea too! It costs about 5-6 dollars per square foot as well if you went through the Etsy site...

Here's what I did-

I painted the back splash area "Forsythia Blossom"

A great light yellow....I loved it until I turned on the kitchen light and then it held this fluorescent "highlighter-ish" quality I wasn't in love with...

So I did this-

Repainted it darker yellow!

When I took the paint back to be re-tinted the guy told me he had never had someone hate the color, come back and get it darker...

well there is a first for everything :)

I went with "Bumble Bee A13-6"

Above the cupboards I painted "Stormy Weather" a gray, so the yellow really pops.

Then-

I had a wonderful friend make me 2 stencils with her Silhouette...

Used left over "Witch Hazel" from a different project...I used a sponge brush-much easier when using a stencil!

Then-

Commenced to paint.

It was a long process because I only made two stencils and so I had to wait for them to dry in order to put them up for the next round. I took a lot longer than I planned, but I love the result...for now :)

Thanks for checkin in!

Project: Menu Board!

I have been using my kiddo's chalk board as a menu planner, while I know he doesn't mind, I figured that it was time to get serious about some menu board ideas!

I am very lucky because a friend of mine, saw that I had pinned several variations of menu boards trying to decide what I liked, so she invited me over for a playdate/craft afternoon. Which meant that we got to get together 3 times working on it! (choosing the style, shopping for the frame and fabric, putting it all together!)

Crafting with friends is my favorite!

After MUCH deliberation we ended up liking this style best!

Picture frame, 12''x18''

Used coupon from the website @ Micheal's.

Ended up being around 7 dollars. There are cheaper frames for the same size, I just really liked this frame best, I like the thicker edge.

I used fabric for the background.

Used a Sillouhette to cut out circles, letters, and rounded rectangles.

Tacky glued it and stuck it back into the frame!

Finished!

That was easy...

now...what to make for dinner?

Project: Drop Off Station!

 My new..."Drop off Station"

     

I often refer to it as my Mud Room because it's the closest I'm gonna get! :)

Since I am a teacher and the summer is my free time, I really started to panic last week when I realized, I hadn't even started the projects that wanted to get to! So, to assuage my guilt I quickly began work on the area of my house with the biggest need! I love my kitchen, but I do not have a good pantry area, I have had to rely on this shelf to hold the food "I use too much to be in the food storage area, but there isn't enough room in the kitchen because I don't use it that often," if ya know what I mean?

Uhg...here's the before: (I can't believe I am showing people how this looked! In my defense, this is probably the worst it got...)

It just became this awful drop off zone...yikes!

So....I moved the shelving into the Laundry Room, totally reorganized and much better looking!

I then began to paint the whole wall "Stormy Weather," a very beautiful gray-subtle but perfect! You can get the color at Lowes, however I just took the paint chip to my local Ace and they were able to find the color in their data base, so if you like it, I'm betting you could find it without a Lowes nearby.

After painting it gray, I wanted to do horizontal stripes using, "Witch Hazel" white, it has a gray tint so they wouldn't look so stark in contrast. Make sure when measuring from stripes that you put your tape up right, it needs to be on the outsides of the stripes you are painting, the tape should look even for every other stripe!

Found the basket at D.I. painted it "Tropicana Cabana"

Along with the shelf on top!

Wicker might not hold up the best, but for 4 bucks, I felt we could make it work ;)

The four plank table,

I found this on Pintrest, but the pinner didn't pin it to the website. So I googled it and found a couple of suitable designs! Super easy! It is supposed to have another board running across the front at a diagonal, but I wanted to put the basket there, so I removed it.

Spray paint, "Summer Squash."

Hooks from Lowes. I found that they want to charge you up to 2 dollars more per hook if you want different colors. Buy the cheapest and then paint it if needed.

I found the cheapest shelving material as well at ACE...I used the fifth board to my table as the shelf!

and there you have it!