Category: Projects

  • How to Make DIY Monogrammed Trophies

    How to Make DIY Monogrammed Trophies

    Or mugs, dishes, or vases — anything ceramic or glass. But I went with trophies.

    How to Make DIY Monogrammed Trophies

    Supplies

    Supplies for DIY Monogrammed Trophies

    I designed my stencil in Adobe Illustrator and then used my Silhouette cutting machine on vinyl. There are pre-made adhesive stencils in craft stores, and plenty of sellers on Etsy willing to make one for you. You can also cut one out of contact paper with an X-acto knife.

    How to Make a DIY Monogrammed Trophy

    After you’ve affixed your stencil (as smooth as you can get it around the important detailed bits), you can dab the paint on thinly with a dauber. Peel the stencil off before the paint dries. If you have difficult to reach portions (like the inner triangle of my capital ‘A’, for example), you can use a pin to lift up a corner so you don’t ruin the paint by trying to do it with your fingers.

    How to Make a DIY Monogrammed Trophy (Paint and Peel the Stencil)

    The glass paint that I used will cure in twenty-one days if air-drying, or it can be oven-baked at 350°F for 30 minutes, and it will be dishwasher-safe once cured. I tend to go light on my DIY instructions (you’re all smart cookies), but if you want a more detailed tutorial, I found this project by searching Pinterest.

    DIY Monogrammed Trophies Filled with Flowers

    The trophies are cute when empty, but I like them as vases and plant pots.

    Monogrammed Trophies Filled with Flowers

    DIY Monogrammed Trophies Filled with Flowers

  • Coming Attractions

    Coming Attractions

    I’ve been bouncing around from project to project lately, not getting much farther than the initial “I want to do it” phase. I can make all kinds of excuses (two of them are upstairs sleeping right now), but that’s neither fun to write about (boohoo, I’m so busy) nor read. The remedy? A new list. Here’s what you can expect to see me working on in the near future.

    Kitchen

    Make Some Kitchen Curtains

    Bathroom (Main Floor)

    • paint the exterior of the pedestal bathtub

    • paint the trim

    • paint the walls

    • replace the tub enclosure (hanging shower rod)

    • new shower curtain, towels, accessories

    Dining Room

    Living Room

    Basement

    • organize the studio side (a big job)

    • repaint the playroom side

    • paint a mural on the far wall

    Miscellaneous

  • A Little More Dollhouse Progress

    A Little More Dollhouse Progress

    I’ve been painting the exterior of the dollhouse off and on, and I’ve finally finished. I asked Eleanor what color she wanted and I’m pretty sure she named every color but orange, so in the end we went with green.

    Making it Lovely's Dollhouse

    It still isn’t finished though. There’s a front porch that I left off, and now I’m wondering if I should add it. I think there are shutters in the box with the porch too. This is an example of what the house could look like.

    Melissa and Doug Walton Dollhouse, Painted Exterior

    The window boxes and shingles are extras that didn’t come with the kit, but I’d like to add something like them to ours too. Do you think the front porch is a good addition though? It makes the whole thing a little more breakable (I’m thinking of August here), but maybe it’s more fun to play with a house that has a little overhang.

  • Show Your Colors

    My latest post for My Colortopia was all about my kitchen. It has been yellow for five years, and I’m thinking it’s about time for a change. I mean, I don’t stand on the countertops and take weird photos for nothing!

    The room does look ages better than it did when we first moved in; I’ll give it that. Behold the before shot.

    Right. So then Brandon and I redid the whole thing, and it looked like this.

    And it still looks like that today, except with white trim. So now that I have new fabric in mind for the curtains, I’m trying to choose a new wall color.

    I (like you, I’m guessing) love before and after shots. Over at My Colortopia, there’s a new Show Your Colors section featuring tons of them from their readers. I like seeing what real people have done to their homes (and imagining what I would do if I was the person that lived there).

    If you have any painting projects that you’re proud of, you can share your before and after photos too. You can get a feel for how it works with the widget in this post.

    Now, as for my kitchen? I’m thinking green. But that could change tomorrow.

    I have been sponsored by Glidden® brand paint to write this post but the thoughts and opinions expressed are my own.

  • How to Make a Terrarium (Video)

    Remember the punch bowl that I turned into an open terrarium? I put together a quick little video, showing how I made it.

    p.s. Today is the last day to vote for your favorite table setup in the Mystery Box Challenge. You’ll be entered to win all of the items we received in the challenge too, just by voting.

  • Comic Mishap

    Comic Mishap

    Enjoy the complete awesomeness of this paper while you can, because apparently you cannot use those faces in commercial photo shoots. I thought they were fine because of the illustration style, but nope. Lesson learned.

    I was in the city at a photo shoot all day today for a (fake) party that I planned. I’ll be on set again all day tomorrow, so I probably won’t be back to my normal posting yet and the Honor Roll may have to wait until next week. There were jets flying nearby in tight air formations today in preparation for the Chicago Air and Water Show. I’m going to think of them as an omen and a metaphor for tomorrow, soaring to great heights in perfect choreography, free of legal usage rights complications. Deal?