DIY Upholstering

Lately, I have a new found love for upholstering. Mostly just finding items that I can re-upholster! Within the last year, I was generously given two stools from my father. And my lovely little stools were viciously ripped about by my cat Milo. (He's too cute to get mad at and I'm not cruel enough to remove him nails). They had tons of picked marks and I just couldn't stand them any longer. So, my re-upholstering adventure began.

My DIY Bathroom Make-Over (Part 1)

I started on my bathroom make-over adventure about 3 months ago and I am embarrassed to admit that I am not completely finished. I would say it is 90% done but I still have a few things I want to add before I am happy with it. Therefore, this post is part 1 of my bathroom revamp.

How to Paw Print Your Animals

Framed Cat Prints

While I was pinning away one night, I stumbled upon this awesome pin about framing your animals paw prints. So, naturally sometime that week I purchased black acrylic paint from the dollar store and prepped my cats for their paw print picture. Anddd, it turned out pretty well!

DIY Pillow Cover

How To DIY Design Pillow Cover

One of my inspirations to create my own blog was Virginia from livelovediy.com. That chick is fabulous and so creative. I stalk her blog on a daily basis waiting for her next post. I have mimicked many of her DIY projects, so, I will reference her on my blog where she deserves the props.

There are a ton of DIY pillow case tutorials to choose from, however, Virginia's pillow cover has a twist 'DIY stencil sharpie pillow', see the original post here. I looooved this idea and used it on my pillows that no longer matched my new decor. The old Mary-Ellen would take those un-matching pillows and throw them to the back of my storage area and forget about them while I shopped for new ones. BUT, I have changed my ways and found peace in renewing the old! So, this is what I did:

First, I picked out the fabric I wanted for my pillows. I asked the nice ladies at the fabric store what would work best for pillow covers since I know little to nothing about fabric. I picked out a pure white to match my bedspread.

Virginia used a no sew glue and glued her fabric together. I actually searched for it at Michael's Craft Store and the local fabric stores but had no luck. I have a hunch that perhaps it's not sold in Canada. Anyone heard of Unique Stitch sold in Nova Scotia? If so leave me a comment and let me know! I would love to get my paws on some. I too share a hatred for sewing. My mother is an exceptional seamstress and has taught me the basics but I'd rather squeeze glue out of a bottle if it works.

How To Paint Furniture

Welcome! My first blog post on How To Paint Furniture

Here it is, my very first blog post! Welcome!! I have to admit, this is sort of very intimidating for me. I haven't always been the most amazing writer on the planet. Lets just say I was average at best on my English essays. But practice makes perfect right? So, here I am here practicing...

Sometime in April I caved into setting up a Pinterest account as my friends were constantly raving about their love for the site and it wasn't long before I too, fell in love. My inner kindergartener came to life again and I was looking for friends to do crafts with at any free moment. It wasn't long after that I was completely OBSESSED with DIY projects. I was and continue to be inspired by bloggers, that I have stumbled upon after countless hours on Pinterest, to also share my projects with all of you!

As of late I have a deep deep love for refurbishing and refinishing old, outdated furniture. Dressers, dressers, dressers. What can I say? I love them. They are such a big part to any bedroom and so they should be fabulous. New modern dressers, bureaus, nightstands etc. are great and I love them just as much as the next person, but ya know what I don't love so much? The price tag! Geeessshhh those things are expensive! So, why not work with what ya got? ... Or in my case, find at a thrift store (ps I am obsessed with thrift store shopping, which you can grantee I will rant about frequently on this blog). I sometimes even like to drag my friends to yard sales early Saturday mornings. :D

This is her. My first refinished dresser to my apartment. Isn't she beautiful?

Well, she certainly didn't use to be. Here's the evidence.

Here's the thing.. I sorta forgot to take a picture before I took off all the hardware and began sanding. (Note the two middle drawers which are sanded and the rest are not. Fail.) I'm trying to get better at  remembering the "before" picture. I just get so excited.

I remember the first time reading about refinishing wood, I was pretty intimidated but seriously there is nothing to be nervous about. Unless your life depends on it then maybe. Kidding. I broke down the steps I took to complete this little baby and added tips I thought may be helpful. It really is super simple and easy that just about anyone could do it. And if you screw up, it's okay! You can also sand it down and try again.