Bedroom Revamp: Reclaimed Wood Headboard and Wax Paper Chandelier

 Our bedroom has been a work in progress. It actually started about two summers ago.(You can see what I worked on back then by clicking here and here.)

I had been wanting a cool headboard for a while, and a search through Pinterest led me to love the idea of nailing reclaimed wood into the walls. So, this spring, my husband found a pile of free untreated (chemical-free) wood planks. It doesn't get any better than free!

So, my husband measured and cut them to size, then drilled them into our wall panel in this cool pattern. I love it against the pale yellow walls! It reminds me of a barn door-so rustic and unrefined. And, the feminine part was added by me. I made the faux capiz shell chandelier-also seen all over Pinterest. It was the fifth one I've made-so I'm pretty much an expert by now! (for pictures of the other chandeliers and the tutorial-click here) 

Martha Stewart Mother's Day Campaign: Stenciled Garden Sign

A couple of months ago I signed up to be a part of an exciting Blueprint Social campaign sponsored by Plaid to test out a new line of Martha Stewart's Craft Supplies. You can guess that I had a lot of fun getting this huge box of freebies and dreaming up a project to make for a Mother's Day gift. (Check out what I got to choose from here.)


When I found out that  Martha's new craft paints were good for use indoors or out on wood, glass, metal, fabric and just about any surface I figured the sky was the limit with what I could create.

So, my task was to create a pretty Mother's Day gift using any of the supplies in my goody box. Knowing how much my mom enjoys being outside made me think she might like a decorative garden sign.

 So, in the spirit of repurposing I grabbed a pallet plank from my stash, picked out some of the adhesive and monogram stencils, paint and brushes to design a bright sign to hang outdoors.

Here's what I used for my pallet garden sign:

pallet plank
rope
staple gun
Martha Stewart Monogram stencils
Martha Stewart Craft Paints
Martha Stewart Adhesive Stencils
stencil brushes
paint brushes
stencil tape
pencil
electric sander and sandpaper

First, I secured a piece of rope to the back of each end of the wood with a staple gun so it could be hung from a branch or nail. 

Then I spread out my monogram stencils to spell out the word "GARDEN" across the pallet. 

I drew a line down each edge of the stencil so I could paint the background in sections before stenciling the words.

Next, I painted in the penciled in sections with two alternating colors of brown and fuschia.

I decided to sand down my dried painted wood before adding the stencils to give the sign that nice distressed, weathered look I love.  

Then, I used the adhesive stencil, stencil brush and paint to add a design between the sections where my letters would go with a light aqua. 

I also taped off squares in each section using the stencil tape and painted them in a medium aqua in for even more color borders before adding the letters. 

It was finally time to spell out my word!  I used my monogram stencil and smaller stencil brush to add each letter in brown.  Once these were dry I outlined each one with my light aqua to add contrast. 

I decided my sign was done after adding a few flowery stencils around each letter in light aqua. 

And the humble pallet was transformed! The project had taken a few more steps than I had envisioned in the first place but it was worth it because I was really happy with the nice pops of color in the end result.

Here are a few beauty shots of the garden sign hanging in my yard:

I have to tell you, I was really impressed with the quality of the Martha paints. I loved the pretty, modern colors and how smooth they were to apply. And I admit stenciling was a craft I used to shy away from because I thought it would be too easy to mess up, but the adhesive ones were so easy to work with and could be used again. Also using stencil tape to hold down the letters helped too. 

Now, I love stenciling and plan on using these again-maybe on fabric next time?

If you like what you see here and want to be inspired by more Plaid craft ideas and find out about their latest products, ideas and promotion, you can find them on Facebook, Twitter or Pinterest.


I wrote this post as a part of a paid campaign with Plaid and Blueprint Social. The opinions in this post are 100% my own.

Thanks for visiting ReMadeSimple-hope you enjoyed your time here and left with a little inspiration!

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DIY {Reclaimed.Recycled.Repurposed.} Spring Flower

Happy Spring! We are getting ours early around here and to celebrate I have been having fun thinking up little flower projects lately-have you seen my Pincushion Flowers?

I have a really quick craft for you today that repurposes a few of my favorite things: wine corks, shutter slats and milk jug plastic.

  And I got to test out the new Martha Stewart paints and spray paint set. It would make a great kids' project too I think. Want some of your own?

Here's you'll need to make these flowers:

• clean milk jug circles (cut out of the side of a milk jug)
• wine corks
• shutter slat or thin strip of wood
• wire
• buttons
• scissors
• Martha Stewart multi purpose craft paint (or spray paint)
• Martha Stewart paint sprayer kit (or spray paint)
• low temp glue gun
• frame hanger

First, cut even slits all around three milk jug circles. 

Then, roll up the ends of them until they curl with a paint brush or pencil.

(they should look like this)

Then, cut a few inches of wire, loop the wire through the bottom flower, twisting at the base to secure.

Add a drop of hot glue to attach the second and third top circle.

Now it's time to add some color. Either use the Martha Stewart sprayer according to directions or spray paint in color of your choice to spray the center of the flowers. Allow to dry.

After the flower is dry, attach a button to the center of the flower with a hot glue gun. 

Then, attach your frame hanger with hot glue to the back of the shutter. 
Push the wire through the middle of the cork and hot glue to the shutter slat vertically.

Finally, loop a piece of wire into the shape of leaves, and connect to stem to finish.

I hung my spring flower in my tangerine jewel box half bathroom. Love how this tiny accent looks in my tiny space. (More on how we added this second bath into a corner of our house in a later post! )

I'll be decorating the house for Easter this week-can't wait to show you some of those ideas!
Hope you enjoyed this one today!

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Pallet Gone Artsy

I have been fascinated by projects I've seen using the ordinary pallet reclaimed as 

something beautiful and was on the search for some pallets so I could start creating.

In my spare time when my husband is off work, we sometimes

find cool junk out on the streets. This was my lucky day. These

pallets were laying outside abandoned in our downtown. 

Yes, that is in fact 3 pallets

rigged to the top of our little hatchback. 

Side note: People sometime ask us how we have 2

kids without a van and I tell them we survive just fine-and sometimes

can even fit furniture inside/on top of it. (You should have seen our car

when we left IKEA! When there's a will there's a way...ha ha...)

Ok, back to the story: So, we found these pallets and since we always drive around
prepared with bungee cords and rope, we tied them up and they got home just fine.
The first project I got to make with them was a gift request for "local art".

Here's what I used to make this project:

• one pallet plank
• wire
• 4x6 photos of zoomed in letters (one letter on each photo)
• staple gun
• sander and sandpaper
• wire cutters or Dremel with cutting attachment
• foam board
• exacto knife
• matte Mod Podge
• small craft paint  brush

To start the project, we took zoomed in and took photos of lettering around our city

on local businesses. We used it as a fun walking scavenger hunt for with the boys. 

(see, this is how you fit in projects with kids and teach them their A,B,C's...)

After getting the photos printed, (we used 4x6's) and gently prying off the pallet plank 

with the back of a hammer,  we were ready to get started:

First, I lightly sanded my pallet plank to soften and lighten up the appearance.

Then, I traced each photo onto foam board.

I cut the foam board rectangle with an exacto knife. This would be the backing

for the photos. (Make sure you protect the surface underneath by cutting on a mat or cardboard.

 I just used a cutting board because that's what I had laying around.)

I evenly spaced out each piece of foam board onto the pallet,

 then used a staple gun to secure them into place.

After the foam board pieces were secure, I brushed a light, even layer of

matte Mod Podge onto the foam board. 

I then placed the photos onto the foam board, careful not to get

any Mod Podge onto the photo, lining them up evenly with the foam board

 and smoothing with a tissue.

For the next step, we needed two people. We wrapped wire

tightly around the pallet in an x shape in the front. I held it in place while

Jeff used the staple gun to secure it in place. 

When it came time to cut the wire, our wire cutter wasn't doing the trick, 

so I pulled out my new Dremel with the cutting attachment. 

It worked really fast, but be prepared for sparks if you try this. 

And wear safety goggles! Yikes!

Here's the finished sign showing off some hometown love! We were so happy with the mix of rustic, industrial, and modern styles. Perfect for the loft apartment where it's going.  I want to try this idea for my own house with other words spelled out, maybe hanging vertically with family photos?

So many possibilities when you take the humble pallet and turn it into art. I can't wait to do a headboard with the rest of them, and whatever else I come up with. Well, what do you think? Are you in love with pallets too? And have you ever made anything from them?

Thanks for visiting ReMadeSimple!  Looking forward to showing off some more of my repurposing and thrifty decorating projects in the near future. I hope you come back to visit and if you love what you see here, please consider staying connected via Google friend connect, Facebook or Twitter on my sidebar to the right!

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