DIY Shutters on Vinyl Siding

There's one little window on our house without shutters on it. It always seemed a little bare to me.

There isn't a lot of room on either side of the window. I used some scrap/repurposed 1x4s for the long pieces and 1x3s for the short pieces to go on the top and bottom. I used paint sticks to separate the two pieces on each side.

After I gave each piece a good sanding, I decided to prime and paint everything before screwing it together, so the painting process would go a lot faster and I could better control drips in between the two boards.

Once I screwed the top and bottom pieces on, I did some paint touch up over the top of the screws.

I decided to attach them temporarily with hooks, so I could make sure I liked how they looked before doing any drilling into the vinyl. I got these hooks vinyl siding hooks (affiliate link) on Amazon.

They are actually really strong and don't come off without some finagling. The bottom of the hook juts forward a bit, so I smashed it with my hand to make it more flat with the wall.
 

I measured how far down the hook was and added some wire wrapped around some little screws on the back.

Then I just slid the wire on the hook. I'm not sure how long they'll hold up in the wind without some more permanent attachment, but for now, they feel really secure. 

It's a small difference, but I love the result. Next, I think this window needs a window planter to go with the new shutters.

Linking to: Link Party Palooza, Merry Monday Link Party 110, Show and Share 319, Inspire Me Monday 118, The Scoop 229, Inspire Me Tuesday 322,You're Gonna Love It Link Party,Tips and Tutorials 265, Peace Love Link up 13, DIY Dreamer Share 224, Wake Up Wednesday 127, Wow Us Wednesday 280,

DIY Gold Magnolia Leaf Wreath

I've been seeing Magnolia Wreaths grow in popularity lately, probably thanks to Joanna on Fixer Upper. I had a magnolia leaf garland that I was thinking about turning into a wreath, but the leaves were a little large and I didn't feel inspired quite yet.

Then I saw this gold leaf magnolia wreath made by Sarah M. Dorsey

She made her wreath using real magnolia leaves, but I decided maybe I could make the garland leaves that I have look a little more appealing if I spray painted them gold, as well.

I got a 12" wreath form and sliced it down the middle, so it would lay flat against the door and have less surface to have to hide with leaves.

Then I pushed holes with a pen (a screwdriver also works great), filled them with glue and then pushed the leaf in. I ended up with about three leaves across.

I moved around until it was full.

  
I spray painted using Krylon Premium Metallic Gold Spray Paint (affiliate link) which I bought a while ago to use on a project, but never ended up using.

The can was a little smaller than regular spray paint cans, but it had good coverage, so I still have about half a can left for another project.  Also, if you have Amazon Prime, you might want to try Rustoleum Specialty Metallic Gold (affiliate link). This is a cheap add on right now for a regular sized can. I've tried the silver version of this spray paint and it was impressive.

 Once it dried, I lightly shook it to see where the leaves might move and filled in any green spots with gold.

Then I tied a ribbon around the top under the leaves and hung it on my door hook. 

I like the way it pops on my blue door!

 Linking to: Remodelaholic May Link Party, Inspire Me Monday 115, 

Refinishing a Chair (Again!)

About five years ago, I painted and recovered an upholstered office chair. This is what the chair looked like after being in my husband's office all that time: 

 

It got pretty worn down. Time to revive it again!

 

I removed the seat and back and started sanding the paint off.

 

 

 The wood underneath looked pretty nice by itself, so I decided to just seal the wood and leave it with a birch look.

 

The sanding was getting a little tricky in the corners.

 So, I ended up dismantling the whole thing. Then I rubbed on 5 (yes, 5!) coats of polycrylic protective finish, sanding in between  each coat with a fine grain sanding block. The first 2 coats seemed to soak into the wood, so I kept going with the coats until there was a nice smooth sheen. 

I took off the old fabric and recovered the seat and back. I sewed the front and back of the top arch part together and the used staples in my compressor powered nail/staple gun to attach the rest. Then I put the whole thing back together.

I love the whole new look! It should hopefully get at least another five years of being sat on.

Linking to: Remodelaholic March Link Party, Link Party Palooza,

Angel Wings From Cardboard

I love the angel wings trend going on right now. I decided to make some large wings using cardboard.

I traced out a design, cut it out, and then flipped it over to make the match.

I cut out three different sizes of feather to layer on top.


I started at the bottom with the largest feathers and then worked my way up hot gluing them on. Then I went over the top with a dry brush with a little bit of paint.

They make a cute backdrop for Valentine's Day!

Linking to: Merry Monday 89, Show and Share 299, The Scoop 208, 303 Inspire Me Tuesday, You're Gonna Love It Link Party, Tutorials and Tips 245, Wake Up Wednesday 106, FDTR 203, Wow Us Wednesday 259, Talk of the Town 5, Dream Create Inspire 32,     

Tufting an Old Headboard (Using a Tablecloth)

I've been dreaming of a plush tufted headboard for ages. I have a thrifted wooden headboard that I painted a while back and decided to give it a makeover.

Here's what I started with:

I wanted to make it a little taller, so I could sit up in bed and rest my head comfortably on it. I added 2 inches nailing some scrap 2x4s to the bottom of the legs.

To make a flat surface to rest the foam on, I added some scrap wood where there were indents.

Then I figured out a pattern for the buttons and drilled holes.

Foam is expensive and for a king sized headboard, it was going to be about $100 at Joanns (and this was half off on Black Friday). That wasn't happening. I found a 3" piece of multipurpose foam that was almost the size I needed for $25 at Home Depot. I got two using a $5 off a $50 purchase coupon and then cut the second one to fill in where I needed it to. There is still plenty left over for me to use for a bench project I have coming up.

Then I picked out the tufting holes using my fingers.

I wrapped some quilt batting around the top and stapled it in place.

Then I propped it up using some kid tables and laid my tablecloth on top.

I used a tablecloth because upholstery fabric would have cost about $50 for this size project (eek). I've also heard of people using shower curtains. The tablecloth actually is nice for spot cleaning, but I ran into some problems with the polyester fabric running when I was pushing and pulling a thick needle through it with the cord for tufting. Fortunately, this spot is at the bottom and was mostly tucked under the back when I stapled the final product and it's now covered by pillows.

Anyway, back to the tufting. I used extra fabric from the corners of the tablecloth to cover some buttons using a kit. I started in the middle and worked out to the sides. 

'
I was going to use some waxed nylon cording to hold the buttons in place, but I already had some thick ribbon/ trim on hand and decided to use that. I used a long upholstery needle and pushed up through the hole, strung on the button and then pulled the needle back through. Holding the ribbon as tight as I could, I tied a washer in place and then stapled the ends in a W shape to prevent slipping. The washer will help keep the knot from sliding through the hole.

Tufting complete!

Then I needed to staple the fabric to the back. I tried to create a few pleats to control the fabric as I was tightening and stapling.

Here she is all propped up and ready to be moved in place.

I love it! Just what my room needed!

Linking to: Merry Monday #86, Inspire Me Monday 94, 300th Inspire Me Tuesday, Show and Share 296, The Scoop 205, You're Gonna Love It Link Party, FDTR 200, Be Inspired Link Party 192, Upcycled Link Party, Talk of the Town 3,