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Shabby Adventures

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Hey.
How are ya?

It’s been a while…

I know.

I’m sorry.

You see I recently bought one of these.

That’s where I’ve been.

Well, actually….this is where I’ve been:

Reading my newest book:The Handbuilt Home by Ana White.

And I’ve been pinning all sorts of things here.

I’ve really been very busy doing things.

Non-computer things.

It’s good for me I think?

To prove that I didn’t just ditch you,

that I was actually doing SOMETHING….

Here are some Recent Projects I’ve tackled
(with inspiration/tutorial links)

I heart Oregon HOME Sign
(Inspiration via The Vintage Lemon and Shanty 2 Chic)
(Painting on Wood Tutorial: My Wonderful Walls)

Wash Your Hands Printed Fabric Bathroom Frame
(Tutorial: My Repurposed Life)
(Graphic: 4 Men and 1 Lady)

Photo Collage
Frames were repurposed from garage sales or goodwill.
I did this in our mudroom bath,
the lighting is horrible, but it really helps
that tiny little room feel a bit more cheery.

Glass Knob Wreath Decoration
Scroll wood from Home Depot and
The rest is just a piece of walnut stained wood,
with a knob and a wreath….simple but pretty!

Printed Fabric Shabby Pillow
(Tutorial: My Repurposed Life)
(Graphic: Graphics Fairy)

Repainted my Mirror
(Inspiration Color via The House of Smiths)

Cedar Planter
(I need like ten more of these!)
(Ana White)

Gallery Shelf Ledges
(Ana White)

And more gallery shelf ledges….

The gallery shelves are simple and cheep. I love them!

Storage Crate
(Shanty 2 Chic)
This turned out HUGE and fits all of our floor pillows,
and even a couple of babies.

Fireside Bench
(Ana White)
Love this one! I still haven’t coated it with poly,
just enjoying the rustic look.

And finally my VERY FAVORITE project this month:

Framed Wall Maps
(Frame Tutorial via Shanty 2 Chic)
I cut my boards with my miter box and a hand saw, just like the tutorial above,
but I actually used this video tutorial from Kreg, for assembling the boards.
My frames were done in a few minutes.

The longest part was beating them up a bit and then waiting for the stain to dry.

Aren’t they wonderful?
Here’s what I used:

Boards: 1 x 3’s
Stain: Minwax Walnut
Maps: US and World (though I might replace with these antique looking ones)

Phew.

That was a lot of work!!

See, it wasn’t you.

It was just me being busy.

And believe me, I’m just getting started on my “list”

I am always finding new links for fun projects on Pinterest!
so if you’re starting to miss me, follow me over there too!

Shabby Chic Mud Room Shelf

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Okay.

First of all.

I need to state that before I actually MADE this,
I spent THREE months trying to BUY this instead.

I needed a Mud Room Shelf,
and I had a small list of requirements:

I wanted one that was made out of REAL WOOD

This shelf had to be heavy duty.
Four kids.
Activities with crazy amounts of gear.
A gazillion winter jackets.
Maybe even a special place for my crazy heavy purse?
(seriously what ever happened to REAL WOOD?)

I also wanted LOTS of hooks.
At least 6.
2 or 3 just isn’t going to cut it around here.
Ideally I’d have 12,
but I only have room for about 6,
so that is the magic number.

And of course I wanted it to MATCH.
 I adore shabby, rustic, and muted colors.
Too much color and not enough reflecting light just makes my head hurt.

So after months of searching with no luck,
I grudgingly went to my favorite DIY blog Shanty 2 Chic.
I was only hesitant because I’ve never actually “built” anything before.
(napkin holders in 8th grade shop class don’t count)

But after my initial building butterflies,
I did a simple search and found exactly what I was looking for:

Isn’t it beautiful!
And the tutorial was SHORT and SIMPLE and I KNEW what most of the supplies were.

To make an already long story short:
I made two of them!

And it really wasn’t hard at all!
(read: I spent ALL day struggling with this project, while my children ran rampant in the yard and by the time we came in for dinner they looked like starving chimney urchins and I made them eat their pizza in the bathtub.)

Super Easy.

So yeah, in all honesty:
My feet hurt.
My knees hurt.
I have a power drill blister.
I’m covered in paint.
But I feel great because….

This is a piece of furniture.
And I made it!
And it only cost me about $55/shelf.
FOR REAL WOOD PEOPLE.

It’s hard to tell in the pictures,
but these shelves are FIVE feet long and about TEN inches tall.
They are massive.

I love them to pieces.
 I loved the white shelf so much that I put it by the front door.
I cannot wait to decorate this each season!

And here’s a shot of my totally awesome Mud Room Shelf:

Here’s a more honest shot
from the other side of the room:

Just keeping it real people…..

If you’re interested here are the products I used:

Rustolem Heirloom White Spray Paint (white shelf)
Behr Aged Jade Flat Paint (blue/green shelf)
Minwax Walnut Wood Stain
Antique Gray acrylic paint on Martha Steward stencils.
Bird Poop (Jacobean Wax)

Besides using different colors and hooks,
I also got a much thicker piece of casing.
This was a mistake on my part, but I actually love the dimension it adds.

Now….I wonder what I should build next?