Artsy Coat Rack

This was a hastily-done project, as I was in need of a place to hang coats after my freestanding coat stand broke (note to self: don’t buy furniture from CVS. Especially when it’s on clearance).

I just got one of those unfinished wood pieces from A.C. Moore, removed the hardware, painted it chocolate brown, decoupaged it with art postcards, and screwed the hardware back in. It’s a little sloppy, but it does the job and looks pretty.

 

Christmas Decorating

Since I’m living in a house this year, I decided to decorate for Christmas.

The garland, wreath, and red bows are from Michael’s, and everything else is from Target.

The tree was only $10 and I fashioned a skirt for it out of an old table runner.

Target had a lot of knitted and crocheted ornaments tthat were really cute, but I was going for a more elegant theme. They were also selling paper chain garland, which made me kind of sad. What sort of person buys something for $4.99 when it takes zero skill and 5 minutes to make their own?

 

DIY Picture Rail

 

I love my bedroom! One of my favorite things about it is this picture rail I rigged up a couple weeks after we moved in:

 Pictures rails are great if you….

• Have a lot of pictures to hang in a small area
• Don’t want to put a lot of holes in your wall
• Want the freedom to move pictures around easily
• Want to pretend you live inside an art gallery

You can buy a picture rail system, but they are expensive. To make your own for considerably less, you will need a long strip of wood and fishing line or thin wire. I went to Home Depot and got a strip of white molding that matches the molding around the doorways.

Drill holes in the wood strip at various intervals. The number and spacing of the holes depends on how far apart you want the pictures to hang, and if you plan on moving things around or adding more later.

Thread wire or fishing line through the holes you want to hang pictures from, and cut a little longer than needed. I laid my pictures out on the floor, in front of the wall, to decide how they should be arranged and where to thread the wire.

Mount the wood strip to the wall, close to the ceiling. Make sure it’s capable of supporting whatever you plan on hanging from it.

 Attach your pictures to the wires and hang them at various lengths. Small mirrors and other things are also fun to use. You can hang one picture directly below another by attaching its wire to the one above.

And you’re done!

 

Fall Wreath

It’s supposed to get near 90 degrees today. Yesterday I ignored the weather and made a Fall wreath for our front door.

It got washed out in the photo, but the door is a rich sage green and the reds and oranges of the wreath really pop against it!

 My mom makes wreaths for various seasons, and now I see the appeal. It’s a fun, gratifying little project that doesn’t cost a whole lot of money and looks better than most wreaths you buy in the store.

I have to say that fake flowers and leaves aren’t a medium I’m used to working with, but there are people on my street who have sparkly plastic flowers “planted” in their front flower beds… so I figured I didn’t have to worry much about creating an eyesore.

C doesn’t seem as excited by the wreath as I am, but at least she has no objections to it being there. I have some leftover materials– flowers, leaves, and fake fruits that I didn’t end up using– so I think I’ll make an arrangement for the fireplace mantle next.