I am so excited to have Karianne from 

visiting today. You may know her recently as one of the hostesses from the fun “Imagine the Possibilities 2012 Challenge” and her beautiful cottage bathroom makeover {it’s Pinterest Popular recently!}, a finalist in the WhisperWood Cottage First Project of 2012 Contest and a beautiful inspiration (see the bathroom reveal here). I love her style and she’s very sweet too…so if you’re not friends, hop over and introduce yourself.

Today, Kari is sharing a super cute tutorial for Distressed Vintage-Looking Alphabet Blocks. I love these. Here she is:

Project Details:

• Scraps of left over wood free
• Sample paint left over from projects free
• Hot glue gun free
• Scrabble tiles $1.00 at yard sale
• Chip board letters from Hobby Lobby $1.99
• Little bits of worn chippy typography for the hallway priceless

Step 1: Go to your workroom/garage/craft room and find the wood left over from projects. I used pieces of molding from other projects and scraps of wood that were just piled in the workshop.

Step 2: Cut wood into squares or rectangles or perhaps an octagon or two if you are feeling especially adventurous.

These blocks are 2″x 2″ and 3″x 5″ and 3 1/4″x 2 1/4″ and 5 1/4″ x 4 1/4.”

Step 3: Paint the leftover wood.

Leftover paint is the best. I used SW 7045 Intellectual Grey, SW 7015 Repose Grey and SW 7046 Anonymous. These were the sample cans I used to test out colors in my dining room. Yep. Leftover wall paint at its finest.

Step 4: Distress. Distress as much or as little as you like. You can see….I like a lot. I was going for the “wood left out over winter in the rain look.”

Step 5: Paint your alphabet.

I bought these chip board letters at Hobby Lobby (for 50% off in the scrapbooking section) in a variety of sizes and fonts.

And I painted them using the same leftover paint.

On my dining room table.

On what used to be my dining room curtains…..

…but that’s a post for another day.

Step 6: Hot glue your letters to your painted and distressed wood.

Or you can hot glue them to your really, really painted and distressed wood.

You can also glue scrabble tiles to the wood to mix it up a little.

That’s it.

Here are the letters in my PB knock-off/used to be an advent calendar/typography holder.

I love this project.

It met my requirements.

Easy. Check.

Cheap. Check.

Good use of my dining room curtains. Check.

Thanks for joining me on my journey through the alphabet. If you want to hear a funny story about this project, stop by my blog….thistlewood farm.

And lastly, a big shout out to Roeshel for letting me post about my little bits of chippy, painted typography.

She is a true rockstar and diy diva.

Last fall, I came across a giveaway (I don’t remember where) but I entered and didn’t win. However, after visiting the shop online and selecting a favorite item for my chance to win…I couldn’t help adding a few things to my Christmas wish list.

Now, you might disagree {nah!}, but I was a good girl last year. Santa delivered my wish list…

Now what’s a post on a DIY blog with no DIY?  To make up for it, I’ve included a Before & After…{please don’t laugh too hard at my ‘modeling’! Trying to practice being natural in front of the camera.}

Continue reading →

Meet Sarah from 2159. A new homeowner with a DIY drive to make her new home her own. She’s off to an awesome start!  Here are some great projects.  Click the link to the original post for more details on her creativity and fun eclectic style.

Coffee Table Cutie

Yikes! This coffee table before has seen better days…

but underneath all that wear and tear is a good solid beauty. Sarah wanted something with character and after a little DIY creative ingenuity, I’d say she succeeded…

I love it!

Oh-la-la framed print pizzazz! Sarah added a little lace to update mats.

So pretty!

And finally…her dining room before and after. I LOVE the DIY details and there’s a LOT of them!

Before: I see potential!

STUNNING! Is this really the same house?

Love the fun colors and beautiful board and batten/picture rail….

Check out that beautiful ceiling!

Sarah – you’re doing a beautiful job! Wow!  Thank you so much for sharing your hard work and beautiful style.

~*~*~*~*~

In other news:

Woo hoo! Check this out (with links to some b-e-a-U-tiful DIY projects…Amy has her work cut out for her. I’d never be able to choose just one)!

 x 2! I’m keeping my fingers crossed!   Check it out and leave a comment about your favorite (ahem…I won’t be be too upset if you <3 all of them. I just might agree with you!  

Excited for my painted/stenciled floor to be featured today at

Hi DIY friends!  Meet:  MaryAnn from Interior Salvage – a clever DIY’er with a newer blog. I just recently “e-met” her myself and look forward to seeing more. Today she’s sharing her gorgeous Anthropologie inspired floor. As you know, I’m no stranger to painting floors but MaryAnn’s technique has WOW’d and inspired me. See this beautiful wide plank farmhouse-looking wood floor?

It’s paint!

Continue reading →

I don’t normally really decorate for Valentine’s Day but when Ashley from Cherished Bliss asked if I wanted to join 14 Days of Love, I just couldn’t resist! Visit the link below to follow all 14 days of fabulous Valentine projects…she did a fantastic job organizing this fun blog event! {Thanks, Ashley!}

Pin It

You can see my “14″ tutorial and X’s and O’s how-to over at the DIY Club today where I used some Deco Art Americana acrylic craft paint, Stencils and Glamour Dust.  

Ribbon Wreath Tutorial  

Pin It {key to my heart wreath}

I used:

• Styrofoam heart
• 2 spools of organza ribbon {you can choose different types/all one type – up to you!}
• 2 spools of glittery wired ribbon
• 1 spool of toile
• Deco Art Americana craft paint (Desert Turquoise)
• Embellishments (I used a decorative key)
• hot glue
• paper clip

The thing about this wreath is I can leave it up a little longer since it shares my March birthstone color.

What do you think? {yes, that’s my fancy/schmancy DIY photo backdrop…but for all you know, it could be a wall in my home, right? These accessories are really displayed on my mantel in real life.} Want more Valentine inspiration?  Visit the creative blog friends shown on the button for more fun ideas!

See Aimee’s SUPER cute MR.&MRS. {in the bedroom – G rated, I promise} at It’s Overflowing shared yesterday and tomorrow ~ check out the sweets at See Kate Sew then get ready for an awesome HUGE giveaway at My Cherished Bliss on February 7th!

Other news:

The Lucky Linky Follower Giveaway has added a $50 cash prize to the pot!