Category Archives: DIY Crafts

DIY Bird Feeder

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In all my life I don’t think it has taken this long for Spring to spring. Snow, sleet, and frost has tucked itself in between beautiful sunny days for weeks. It’s really not that bad but it’s definitely confused the bulbs all over my yard and the birds that spend their days flitting around my backyard.

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With warm weather in sight, I decided it is finally time to embrace Spring! What does that mean exactly? It means that my attention is turning again to my Outdoor Room. If you follow me on my Pinterest, you’ll notice that my Outdoor Wonderland board has been my main focus to plan for summer. On my constant quest to save money, I decided my first outdoor project would be a cheap one. Cheap meaning that I only spent $2.50 on the project! And that $2.50 project is DIY Bird Feeders!

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This Week’s Menu

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Saving money is always at the very top of my list of “Must Do’s.” I’m sure everyone has a place in their budget where they could be saving more and spending wiser. Mine has got to be food. It is so easy to come home after a day of work, bury my head in a project and forget about dinner only to end up spending way too much eating out instead. While it’s often delicious, it’s expensive and typically unhealthy. So rather than accept this fate, I decided to force my self to change it. And what better way than with a DIY project? It all started with a small bulletin board that I got 7 years ago for college.

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DIY Mosaic Resin Lamp

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My mom recently gave me this rusty, dirty lamp that had been sitting in her garage for years. During its hay day, it was displayed prominently in my mother’s living room. But, 10 years ago, it was displaced to the garage after a move into a bigger house. Rust, spiders, and other pests have had their way with it and now it’s my turn to breathe new life into this antique metal lamp.

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Luckily, it still works and all the pieces are still in tact. So, with an idea in the back of my head, I purchased spray paint, mosaic tiles, and resin. Then I got to work.

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DIY Roman Shade

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I know I talk about it a lot but I was practically signing the lease already when I saw the bay window at the front of this house. I guess you could say it was love at first sight.

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Screen shot 2012-07-21 at 11.44.30 PMThe charm, the character, the archway… I adore it. But I don’t adore the window coverings. Mini blinds and roller blinds? Fairly effective at blocking light when desired but not enough and definitely not attractive. However, it wasn’t at the top of my projects list because I thought it would be too expensive and I had no good ideas because my list of requirements was tall. Working with the obstacles (as I did a couple of weeks ago) was going to be a delicate dance. Here’s what I wanted…

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Home

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IMG_8528It’s a simple phrase that’s very important to me. Since graduating from college and moving in with David 2.5 years ago, I realized that home can be defined in many way. In most ways my home is this tiny white house that I share with David and our pets. It’s also my hometown of Springfield, MO, which also happens to be my current city, it’s my parent’s house where most of my precious memories still reside, it’s my childhood where I made my first steps. But to me, the true feeling of home exists within the company of friends and family.

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Hit a Road Block

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So I had this awesome project lined up to post today then this happened….

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My mom gave me an old lamp to clean up, DIY, paint… Basically she told me to pizazz it any way I wanted. So I cleaned it up, prepped it for paint, and broke it… While I was taking pictures, I nudged the lamp and the globe crashed to the floor. I am way too clumsy for someone who was a dancer for 18 years. I should be great on my feet! So I decided to turn this negative into a positive!

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The Many Reasons Why My Grandpa Is Amazing

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When I was growing up, I was lucky enough to live only 0.5 miles down the road from my grandparents. They live on 70 acres of land that is best described as a kid’s wonderland. My mechanics-obsessed grandpa has a massive workshop filled with enough tools to make anything you could imagine. This is where I learned how to build things, how to shoot guns safely, how to make a cat dance, how to use power tools, how to nail a nail, how to saw a board, how to put a worm on a fishing hook, how to change oil, how to drive a tractor, and much more. My kid imagination was vastly endless and my grandpa was always up to any challenge. And he still is. So last week when I asked him to help me build a bench, I could barely give him the dimensions before he finished the project for me.

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Anyone Can Be a Superhero: DIY Superhero Capes

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Last week, I made and mended children’s superhero capes for a family friend. Her sons wore them everywhere as kids, one of them even suffered through a bike accident, and she requested that I make her several new capes to give as gifts. These make fantastic gifts for a two or three year old. Their imagination’s are just beginning to develop making for some excellent playtime. When I was a kid, I used anything, sheets, pillowcases, or blankets, tied around my neck to become a superhero. My inspiration came from these two well-loved capes.

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Want to learn how to make a superhero cape?

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Terrific Lady Day

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When I was a kid, my biggest fear was turning 10 years old. Double the digits and double the responsibility? No thank you! I’m fairly sure that pop culture was already pushing its way into my psyche to not so subtly remind me that growing up sucks. It was never about adding another digit to my age, it was about realizing that I would soon be departing my childhood. Unfortunately, I had to “grow up” a little earlier than I would have liked so peaking at age 10 actually seemed likely to me. Obviously, the days inevitably passed and my 10th birthday finally arrived. To take my mind off of my silly fears my mom planned the perfect party at a pottery shop and it was awesome. So awesome that I completely forgot why I had been so nervous of growing up in the first place.

Dorky and apprehensive 10 year old Shannon.

Dorky and apprehensive 10 year old Shannon.

Now, fifteen years later, I am still feeling the apprehension of aging but this time it’s not because I’m scared of growing up. I’m worried about not living my life to the fullest, so I decided to start with changing each and every day. All this to say that last weekend David and I decided to enjoy special days devoted to each other. Case in point: Terrific Lady Day!

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Home Office/Guest Bedroom Reveal

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I am happy to announce that I finally finished redecorating my office before Christmas! Earlier this month, I was encouraged to redecorate my own office when I was given a beautiful 8-foot-long desk and began working from home. So with a bright color palette in mind, $50 in my pocket, and great furniture that I already owned, I set out to redecorate my room.

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Keep reading to see how the room turned out and take a look at my final budget.

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