A Happy DIY Decorated Superbowl.....

I will admit I am not the biggest football fan ....but the hubby is for sure. and as a result I find myself hosting a crowd for the big game each year. Over the years I have accumulated a hodge-podge of football themed serving dishes and decorations .. and this year I decided to actually put it all together into a cohesive superbowl theme and I thought I would share my DIY's projects. 

Using a fake grass rug & some masking tape I created a "football field" table cloth for the base of my tablescape. I found a football cookie jar on Amazon which used to arrange flowers in for a centerpiece.  Using some felt, an empty Costco peanut can, and this cute penalty flag printable from HGTV's site I created a penalty flag bucket for napkins... Some homemade football cupcakes added an extra bit of sweetness to the table. 

I also made this adorable tassel garland to help get us in the football spirit-- I am really enjoying making these garlands for events lately!   I just love the festive touch they lend to any event and you can make them in just about any color combination. 

A round of superbowl bingo helped to keep everyone in the spirit and how cute are these DIY coasters. They were really easy to create with a strip off the grass rug, some wide mouth mason jar lids, and green felt on the back.  Check out the DIY instructions here... I found that a standard mason jar lid is just the right size to use as a stencil to get the grass to sit perfectly in the larger lid. 

Even Xander the Great Pyrenees got into the football spirit and wore his "LineBarker" jersey  & enjoyed a beer with the rest of us! 

Faux Panel Front Door DIY

So when we first moved into our new house (new only to us because the house is 100 years old) it desperately needed a new front door. Soon after moving in we went off to the local hardware store in search of a new front door. Only to find out when we got there that our door was an unusual size. In order to replace it we would have to order a special custom door or knock out the frame and widen the doorframe.  We headed home dejected and resolved to go home and think about our options.  Meanwhile a year went by and our sad looking front door languished.

 

After some brainstorming, pinteristing, and internet scouring I finally came up with a plan for our front door... We would redo the existing door with wooden trim and paint creating a faux paneled door. Luckly our door was solid wood making it a good candidate for a makeover. Since the original door was soo ugly and embarrassing you will not get a "before" picture... Just trust me it was the worlds ugliest front door...image a plain boring solid wood door with a peeling off finish.

 

To kick off the project we removed the hardware and peeled off the already peeling laminate finish on the door using a putty knife. We had a heat gun handy to help release  the glue on any resistant pieces but we did not end up needing it.  

 





Door with laminate removed and boxes sketched out



After removing the laminate I sketched out (using a level) 2 boxes onto the door where I wanted the wood trim placed and recorded the measurements of the boxes. We then filled in any uneven areas of the door with wood filler and  left it to dry.

 

While it was drying we headed to the hardware store with our measurements to pick out the wood trim. The local hardware store had miter boxes and saws available for customers to use so we were able to use them to cut our wood at 45 degree angles on each corner so that the pieces would lay flush with eachother.

 

Door with the trim glued into place

 

The next step was to sand down the door and glued the cut pieces of trim onto the door with woodglue checking the position of each piece with a level.  After the trim was glued into place we then tacked in down with tiny little nails.  We then filled in any gaps in the corners with the wood filler and allow it to dry.

 

After first coat of paint

  

Finally our door was ready for a  coat of paint!!! We painted our door a nice brick red, let it dry, and replaced the hardware and finally we had a real front door. Lastly to top it off we hung a beautiful knocker a good friend had gifted us. 

 

With the hardware replaced & a beautiful knocker

 

I can't put into words how delighted I am to finally have a nice looking front door.

 

A decent looking door at last!!!!

My Fav All Natural ... All Purpose Cleaner

I was cleaning the house earlier and ran out of all purpose cleaner. Since I needed to whip up a new batch I thought it was a good moment to share this recipe for a safe, effective, all purpose cleaning solution.

 

You only need 3 ingredients  Castile Soap ( I like the lavender scented), white vinegar, and water.  You will also need an  empty spray bottle.

 

 All Purpose Cleaner:

1/4 cup Castile Soap

3 cups water

1  cup vinegar

 

 

Add the 1/4 cup castile soap to the spray bottle, add water, and mix.

add 1/4 cup castile soap

 

NOTE it is important to add the water BEFORE adding the vinegar. If you add the vinegar first if will  react with the soap and cause the soap to curdle as in the below picture:

 

we don't want to add an acid directly to a base!

 

Add the 1 cup of vinegar to the soap/ water solution  and qs with water to fill the rest of your spray bottle.

add 1 cup white vinegar

That's it! A simple, all natural, & effective all natural cleaning solution for your home.

Oxidizing Jewelry.... The Gentle Way

Oxidation, a blackened antiqued finish, looks absolutely beautiful on silver jewelry. The proper application of an oxidized finish can highlight the intricate details in your metal piece and create a lovely contrast with the stones in the piece. 

An example of an Oxidized Silver Piece

I really love an oxidized finish on the silver jewelry that I create... however, the most common ways to create this look involve the use of a toxic acid solution that will reduce the silver.  Examples of these products are Liver of Sulfur and Silver Black.  These chemicals can cause burns and  you should avoid breathing the fumes.


I prefer a simpler method that  uses a hard boiled egg to oxidize my jewelry creations. It eliminates the use of the harsh chemical and is a gentler alternative for both you and the environment.

1. Hard Boil your egg.. or eggs. I tend to use 1 or 2 eggs.
   
2. While still warm place eggs in in a baggie or Tupperware
3. No need to peel your eggs :) simply mash them
   
4. Quickly place your jewelry piece into the container and shut the lid
5. After 15 minutes or so rotate the piece in the container to oxidize all sides equally
6. Remove piece once it has achieved the desired level of oxidation
   
7. Rinse the piece off
   
   
   
   
   
8. With a steel brush  & burnishing solution shine the piece leaving the oxidation in the crevices to highlight the details... if you don't have these steel wool & dish soap will do the trick.
   
9. Enjoy the new finish on your piece!!

Wedding Invitation Ornament....

While on the "make handmade gifts" & "give left over items from our wedding a new life" kick I made some of these wedding invite ornaments... you can find  cute pics & DIY's for these all over pinterest and the blogosphere so I did not do a DIY for this but you can find a DIY here at weddingwindow.  These  are an adorable way to re-purpose some of your leftover wedding invites, my mother will LOVE one,  and I know I will treasure getting it out year after year when decorating our Christmas tree!

DIY keepsake wedding invite ornament

I added some of the left over ribbon from our favors and some wax seals as a charm!

Left over Wedding Napkins to Coasters D.I.Y.

So one thing that we have a huge excess of after our September wedding was cocktail napkins! Apparently people do not actually use 2.5 napkins per person as recommended by the wedding supply companies!! I hate to see all these napkins go to waste & just knew that I had to do something with them. So I decided to make some coasters. These will be a fun, cost effective, recycled, and personal gift for loved ones in our lives this Christmas.

Keepsake Wedding Napkin Coasters

from wedding napkin to keepsake coaster

Wedding Napkin Coaster DIY:

material needs:

• mod podge
• left over wedding napkins
• sponge brush
• 4" x 4" tiles
• scissors
• sharp knife (makes HUGE difference when slicing corks)
• leftover wine corks
• hot glue gun & glue sticks

Supplies needed

Step 1: Separate the layers of the napkins, you will only use the layer with printing

Step 2: Cut napkins to fit the size of the tiles

Trim napkin to size of your tile

Step 3: Paint THIN layer of mod podge over tiles

Paint modge podge over tile

Step 4:  Place trimmed napkin onto tile

Step 5:  Paint THIN layer of mod podge over napkin & let dry

Paint thin layer of mod podge over nakin

let mod podge dry until clear

Step 6: When dry repeat step 5 twice**
** Optional at this point you can add a picture or other decor to the  coaster.  Following steps 3 to 6.

Step 7:  Slice up your wine corks, try to get slices as evenly as possible

slice up your old wine corks for padding on back of coasters

Step 8:  Hot glue the wine corks to back of coasters

hot glue slices of wine corks to bottom of tiles

Step 9: Enjoy your coaster or wrap up for gifting!!