Home Projects – Modish Mama

Life is Beautiful Sign

Published on April 5, 2017April 19, 2017 by modishmamaLeave a comment

I have a group of family pictures above the couch that I hung with the intention of making a sign to go under and I finally have it done. I planned on making a sign and painting words of some kind on it but then got busy with many other things. While strolling the Hobby Lobby clearance section I came across this pre made, blank wood sign just ready to be painted on. Yippee!!

I decided to make my own stencil by designing the text on my computer to the size of the sign. I then printed it to print in banner form across several sheets that I taped together to make my stencil. This time I decided to rub chalk over the back of the paper, placed it on the wood sign and went over the edges of the letters with a pencil. This will make the chalk adhere to the sign.

The chalk idea worked but wasn’t really dark enough for me to start painting over so I went over everything with this nifty chalk marker. It’s just amazing what you can find now! Now I’m ready to paint. I just used some white paint I had around the house, painted in the letters, gently distressed the letters and entire sign with sand paper and sealed with wax. This was a fairly quick project that I did while cooking the boys dinner and doing squats around the kitchen. Because well thats what busy moms do (lots of multi tasking).

I just love my new sign!

Distressed Front Door

Published on March 27, 2017April 5, 2017 by modishmamaLeave a comment

This was super quick project! It really only takes like 30 minutes to paint your front door so why not change it up every once in a while? I decided one afternoon I wanted to paint my front door, grabbed some paint I had laying around and got started. I had previously painted the door black with chalk paint and covered it in a wax coating but with the color being so dark you could see every little finger print.

I mixed some paint together to get the right color I wanted and painted the door in just a few minutes. I decided I wanted a distressed look and brushed over the edges and entire door with a black wiping stain with a paint brush to give it a distressed look. I recommend not using your favorite brush for the wiping stain because it will be toast after. This took a bit longer to dry and you want it to be completely dry before you add the wax sealant.

Once dry, I brushed on the wax, wiped it away (per can instructions) and done! In just a little bit of time you can change the look of your front porch by changing up your door. Now to direct my attention to the dead mums still in planters outside the door. Eeek!

Navy Blue Playroom

Published on January 24, 2017 by modishmamaLeave a comment

This all started with the plan to put up a shelf in the playroom. The day before we planned on heading to Lowes for supplies for a shelf, I decided that we couldn’t possibly put up a new shelf until I repainted the room. The boys playroom needed a little pop of color and the walls are bare. I came across a few rooms while on Pinterest and quickly decided on a navy blue that would really accent the white trim, shelving and the bright green accents already in the room. The playroom has needed some attention for some time now and painting the walls is the first step in the right direction.

Before:

After two coats of paint a third trip back to Lowes for more paint, the walls are done and I love the color! Just a little tip… If you head back for more paint or send your significant other, don’t let them give you a different type of paint because they don’t have half gallons in the paint you originally purchased. It will never match (lesson learned). Always use the same exact paint, other wise your two coats may turn into three to fix the un matching paint. Just a few more accent pieces here and there and this room will be complete. We of course had to add some Star Wars pieces here and there (because you can never have too many). What bright or daring color would you love to paint but are afraid to? The beauty is that if you don’t like it, you can paint over it! Now, to touch up all the white trim, cabinets and add a few more decorations.

After:

DIY Kids Dream Catchers

Published on January 17, 2017April 19, 2017 by modishmamaLeave a comment

When my littles get scared at night and have bad dreams we make dream catchers of course. This was an easy and fun craft for my boys. They helped with most of it but there were definitely times when they were interested in other things and had mom take over. I had not made these before but knew I could throw something together. I went to Hobby Lobby to get supplies and gathered any and everything I had at home. This is what I started with but did not end up using everything.

We started with the wooden embroidery hoops and wrapped them with yarn in the boys choice of color. Then we wrapped the black sparkly pipe cleaners over the areas where we tied knots in the yarn. I decided to use the pipe cleaners decorated with colorful beads to start the inside of the dream catchers (again in each boys choice of colors). Pipe cleaners were great for this project since they can easily be wrapped around and don’t need to be tied.

The next part was to add the yarn to the center. Just tie it where you want to start and string it across the pipe cleaners. The boys were about done at this time so I finished up with the string and they helped do the rest. I gave them each yarn with the ends knotted around feathers and let them add beads to each. The yarn started to fray on the ends so I wrapped tape around each end so they could easily add beads. Then I tied them on the hoops and added one pipe cleaner to the top for hanging. If I had a glue gun near by, I would have secured the string and feathers a bit more. More than likely I will be doing this soon, when one accidentally breaks apart.

Only one kid was interested in taking a picture, so here you go. Easy dream catchers you can make with your kids.

Soffet Eyesore No More!

Published on November 16, 2016November 16, 2016 by modishmama2 Comments

While working on my bathroom I realized that something had to be done about the soffet above the sinks. It is such an eye sore. I had originally wanted to cover it with real wood but I did not have a saw at the time to do the job. One day it all came together when I saw these peel and stick tiles that looked like wood planks. They would go perfectly with the nautical theme in my bathroom and I could easily cover the unsightly soffet in just a few minutes. This was so easy and I did it all while my boys were napping!

To be sure they would not come down, I used a strong quick drying adhesive. I cut down each piece with a box knife as I went along and placed them staggered to look more like real wood. These peel and stick ties are great and could be used for so many things.

Now I must decide if I am going to continue the peel and stick planks on the bottom of the soffet. If I do, there will be more work involved. The lights drive me crazy and I would have to move them so that they are centered over the sinks and mirrors and replace them as well. What to do? My head says yes it needs to be done. What do you think, should I add the planks to the bottom as well?

From Bite Marks to Beautiful!

Published on September 13, 2016September 6, 2016 by modishmamaLeave a comment

I love love love our coffee table and turns out so did our puppy! I hate the chewing puppy stage! I now have several pieces that need some attention. Several of the corners have been gnawed on, now what to do? I will have to do a little more work to get those corners fixed and decided I would strip and re-do the entire table.

Yes, my basement is a lovely mess but not for long, I have plans for this disaster area too (try to ignore it for now). To remove the poly and stain I used Citristrip and I really liked it. There were no fumes and it was fairly easy to use. I painted it on then waited. After an hour or so I tested an area and scraped of the top layer with a plastic scraping tool. The poly I had put on the top a few years back was fighting me so I ended up scraping off the majority of the top and painting another layer of the Citristrip and let it sit over night before scraping it again. I used the Citristrip on a much smaller project and I only and to wait an hour before removing it so the wait time can differ from each project you do. When the stripper is ready to come off it has a fuzzy texture to it and comes of pretty easily. My one issue was removing it from groves and small detailed areas on the legs. I had to clean and sand it several times before i got it all off.

My next step is to make sure and get all of the stripping gel off the furniture with mineral spirits. When I stain I want to be sure there are no poly pieces left so that I have even coverage. Once I have it all cleaned I will sand the entire piece to smooth any rough edges and then address those chewed corners.

After sanding the table (lots and lots and lots of sanding), I decided I loved the raw wood as is so I just cleaned it up and clear coated the entire piece. The lighter wood lets the hardware stand out a little more too. For those chewed puppy edges, I was able to get away with just sanding all of the corners to look the same. I originally bought some poly to clear coat the table but for experimental purposes I chose to use a clear sealing wax to see how it works over raw wood. The sealing wax has a matte finish that would look good on the raw wood, so I decided to try it out. Fingers crossed it holds up. Here is my finished coffee table, finally upstairs again. Now to get the boys to remember its there when running through the house.

Custom Storage Bins

Published on August 23, 2016August 15, 2016 by modishmamaLeave a comment

The fabric bins in the boys playroom have seen better days and are ready for an upgrade. They have used them as boats, cars, hats and just about anything you could imagine. With three little ones, saving a little money here and there really helps. Also, I love creating things myself so why not?

My inspiration was these adorable bins at The Land of Nod. I love these, but at $12.95 per bin it will start to get costly as I need 6 bins. So I did a little searching and found a lot of 6 in a similar color on Amazon for less than $20. Now to add the numbers.

My plan was to hand paint the numbers but in the sake of time I tried something a little different. I found this fabric spray paint at Hobby Lobby and decided to give it a go. I laid out my stencils, taped them down to keep them in place and protect them from overspray. The stencils are probably not the best for fabric as they don’t completely lay flat. As I sprayed I would hold down edges with my fingers so that the paint wouldn’t bleed under the edges. If you do this same method, I would recommend gloves. I could not find many font options in the stencils so I went with what I could find. For this reason I would have preferred to hand paint the numbers to get exactly what I wanted. They are not perfect, but turned out really cute! This would also look great on bright colors. You could really add anything, outlines of figures, objects, words or fun designs.