Crafts

How to Make a Painted Buffalo Check Tabletop Christmas Tree

November 11, 2018 by Eileen 41 Comments

I totally am in love with Christmas.

I’m known to decorate in November, I have two full-size Christmas trees, and I have decorations everywhere – kitchen, bathrooms, kids rooms, you name it. 🙂

This year, we’ve been making a bunch of our own Christmas decor, and I don’t know why we haven’t tried this sooner!

Last week, we made a wooden star door hanger.

And, this week I’m so excited to share with you this tabletop buffalo check Christmas tree.

Wondering why of all of these Christmas projects?

Because we are collaborating with dozens of other bloggers in the Deck the Home Holiday Blog Hop, bringing you FIVE WEEKS of amazing holiday projects.

After you check out the buffalo check (see what I did there?!), scroll down to see all of the other projects in the Deck the Home hop this week!

The theme is wooden projects.

How to Make a Tabletop Christmas Tree

The tabletop Christmas tree is made out of plywood, and I painted on the buffalo check print. Pretty cool, right?! Below are the easy instructions so you can make your own wooden Christmas tree.

Materials & Tools for the Wooden Tree

1/4 inch Plywood
Scroll saw (You could also use a jigsaw or hack saw)
Wood glue
Free templates for the tree, star, and stand – see below!

How to Make the Wooden Tree

To start, I sketched out an outline of a tree on some paper. Once I was happy with the design, I cut it out with some scissors and traced the cutout on some plywood.

Then I used my scroll saw and carefully cut out two trees from the plywood. (Seriously, if you love DIY, put a scroll saw on your Christmas list 🙂 )

Notice the center lines I made on the cutouts with my pencil. The shaded areas were marked for me to cut out so that the two trees could intersect with each other.

Here are the trees with the intersection slots cut out.

You can use our free template to do the same 🙂

How to Make the Wooden Star Topper

Next, I made the star topper using the same intersection method as the tree. I cut out two stars and cut a notch in the middle to allow them to join.

How to Make the Base of the Tree

For the base of the tree, I just layered three circular plywood cutouts, which were to be glued together.

The largest cutout (the lowest one) had a smaller circle cut out in the middle (making a ring shape). This extra cutout was to hide some batteries for an LED light string.

I did take some extra time to cut out a tree trunk (looks like an upside down stool), but opted not to use it in the finished tree.

Now that all three elements were completed (base, tree and star), it was time for everything to be painted.

Here is the unfinished constructed wooden tabletop Christmas tree.

How to Paint Buffalo Check on Wood

To paint the wooden tabletop Christmas tree, I decided on a green buffalo check pattern. I absolutely LOVE plaid and I also love a challenge. The best part of this was you basically only needed two things – paint and painter’s tape.

Materials for Painting Buffalo Check

One acrylic paint of your choice (I used green)
Black acrylic paint
Painters tape
Paint brushes/Cups for mixing
Optional: hair dryer for quick drying

Video Tutorial

Check out the video below to see how I painted the buffalo check pattern.

Painting the Buffalo Check Pattern

First, I highly highly recommend that you do at LEAST one practice piece before you start your real piece. Second, you’ll need 4 different paint colors. You’ll use your main color (green), you’ll use black, and then you’ll mix in-between shades.

Mixing your Paint

So first, you’ll want to mix your paint. I used four small cups and put green paint in one and black in another. Those two paint colors would be used as is.

You’ll take the remaining two cups and put your base color (green) in. Then you’ll add a little bit of black to each. Basically you want two shades in-between your base color and black. So, I went from green to dark green to very dark green to black.

You definitely want to make sure that you test the shades on your surface to make sure they look different enough.

First Coat for Painting Buffalo Check

Next, you paint your entire piece your base color. So, I painted my tree green. I used a hair dryer to speed up the drying process because well, I didn’t have all day 🙂

Second Coat for Painting Buffalo Check

After your base coat is dry, you will take your painter’s tape and start making vertical stripes with it. There’s an easy way to do this, and that’s by using a piece of painter’s tape as your spacer.

So, you’ll take a strip of tape and place it on the edge of the tree going left-t0-right. You’ll push this piece down.

Then, you’ll put another piece of tape right next to this one. Don’t press this down – this is your spacer.

You’ll take a third piece of tape and place that down. Push that one down.

Next, remove the second piece – the spacer – and place that on the other side of the third piece, without pushing it down.

You’ll take a fourth piece and push that one down.

Remove the spacer piece before to use on the other side. Continue this way – using the spacer piece as your guide until you reach the end.

Once you have your tape in place, take your second color (dark green) and paint the areas not covered by tape.

When painting, use a brush and DAB on the paint. Do not use brush strokes because the brush hairs will get under the tape. So, just lightly dab on the paint until you have full coverage.

You can remove the tape – and let it dry without the tape.

Third Coat for Painting Buffalo Check

This time you are going to do horizontal stripes.

Start at the top of the Christmas tree and lay down one piece of tape. This time the first piece will be your spacer.

So after you lay down the second piece of tape (pushing this one down), remove the first one. Continue to use the first piece as your spacer.

Once the tape is down, use your third color (very dark green) and dab the paint on. This will feel kind of weird – because it seems like you are painting over all your hard work. However, keep going and you will get the results you want.

Do NOT remove the tape this time. Let it dry with the tape on. The last coat of paint will go on over this tape.

Fourth Coat for Painting Buffalo Check

Yay – last coat!

This is part is a little tricky. You are going to put down vertical stripes again – but you have to line them up perfectly with how you laid down the first round of tape.

That’s why we used the spacer piece.

So if you’re perfectly laying the spacer piece down both times, you’ll have no problem.

However, I recommend using a very bright light. If you aren’t working under a very bright light, have someone hold their phone up with the flashlight on – so you can see the lines through your paint. This way, you will see if you are laying the tape down right.

So, just as we did before, lay down the first piece of vertical tape. Push that one down.

Put the spacer down as the second piece.

Lay down your third piece of tape. Push that one down and remove the spacer before.

As you are working, try to make sure you are accurately laying the pieces down, just as you did before.

Last, peel off all of the tape (you don’t have to wait for it to be dry) and you’ll be amazed with the beautiful buffalo check pattern!

Painting the Star & Stand

You’ll also want to give your star and stand a coat of paint. I used regular acrylic colors and then some glittery gold metallic paint on top.

Here’s the completed star:

Gluing all the pieces together

Once all the pieces have been painted, I applied some wood glue and assembled everything together. Here is the final result!

I love to tell you how much I spend on each of these crafts! This is another ZERO dollar project.

Scrap plywood, painters tape from the garage, and acrylic paint from the craft room! I haven’t taken a trip to the hardware or craft store at all during the Deck the Home Blog Hop. 🙂

So if you have these materials too, what are ya waiting for?! Make your own buffalo check 3D FREE tree 🙂

And if you have a string of lights laying around like we do (from a robot scarecrow we made last year), you can even light your tree up.

More Holiday Inspiration

It’s the second week of our Deck the Home Blog Hop, where we are collaborating with 25 talented DIY bloggers! Check out all of their holiday DIY projects or see my favorite holiday wood DIYs.

20+ Insanely Creative DIY Christmas Wreaths

November 9, 2018 by Eileen 1 Comment

Well, my friends, the holiday season is upon us.

And if you are anything like me, you’re probably loving every second of wandering the holiday aisles at Target and Home Goods.

Seriously, sometimes I want to buy their entire Christmas section.

But you know what’s even better than spending a ton of money on gorgeous Christmas decor?

Making it yourself for a fraction of the cost!

Today, I’m sharing over 20 insanely creative DIY Christmas “wreaths” that are so simple to make.

A few of these Christmas wreaths cost nothing to make, a few of them only took 20 minutes to make, and even more of them are so creative that you wouldn’t see anything like it in the stores.

These creative wreaths fall into 5 categories – wreaths made from hoops, wreaths made from cool stuff, wreaths that are totally nontraditional, wreaths made from fresh greenery, wreaths made from wood, and wreaths that are beautifully classic.

Easy Hoop Door Decor

First up, we have wreaths that are all made from hoops. From rustic simplicity to boho chic, these wreaths all the basis of a simple hoop design.

Most of these wreaths took 30 minutes or less to make. In clockwise order (pictured above), we have:

Simple, Rustic Wreath from Patti at Renovating Mapleson Manor

Easy Boho Wreath from Jessica at Jessica Lehman Interior Design

Embroidery Hoop Ornament Wreath from Laura at Mom Envy

Simple Hoop Wreath from Megan at Two Feet First

Totally Unique Holiday Door Decor

Next up is my favorite category – holiday wreaths made from unique things!

I love the creativity in all of these wreaths – from using old sweaters to coffee filters, these holiday wreaths are truly one-of-a-kind beautiful.

In clockwise order (pic above), we have:

Simple Cozy Christmas Wreath from Carmen at Gross to Grandiose

Christmas Coffee Filter Wreath from Sarah at Creative Ramblings

Thrift Store Finds Christmas Wreath from Brooke at Cribbs Style

String Art & Christmas Things Wreath from Christine at My Kitchen My Craft

DIY Wood Door Decor

Did you know that you can make some really creative and fun wreaths from wood?

From the star we made to the pretty signs above (one is made from fence posts!), you don’t want to miss these.

In clockwise order (pic above):

Simple Christmas Star that we made 🙂

Wood Planked Wreath from Kristen and Vicki at Timeless Creations

Wooden Christmas Door Tags from Thea at That Sweet Tea Life

Non-traditional DIY Wreaths

Ahh another one of my favorite categories. You guys, these wreaths are amazing! They are not traditional Christmas wreaths which is what makes them so darn creative!

From a snow scene to gift tags to cuddly yarn wreaths, you will love these!

In clockwise order (pictured above):

Simple Christmas Door Basket from Samantha at Little Bits of Home

Monogram Door Hanger from Toni at Girl, Just DIY

Snow Scene Hanging Basket from Amy at 1905 Farmhouse

Easy DIY Yarn Wreath from Lidia at Design Inside the Box

Gift Tag Door Decor from Betsy at Happily Ever After, Etc

Fresh Greenery Holiday Wreaths

It wouldn’t be Christmas without fresh greenery! Here are three wreaths that feature fresh greens – some are even from the yard.

They turned out so pretty, right?!

Going clockwise (pic above):

Fresh Clippings Christmas Wreath from Stephanie at Gathered In The Kitchen

DIY Garden Clipping Door Wreath from Casey at House by the Bay Design

Rustic Frame Christmas Wreath from Rebecca at Zucchini Sisters

Traditional Holiday DIY Wreaths

Last, but not least, we have some beautiful classic wreaths.

From burlap ribbon to beach-themed to floral Christmas garland, these wreaths are simple and gorgeous.

In clockwise (pic above) order:

Holiday Pinecone Wreath from Amy at Home, Health, and Heart

DIY Burlap Ribbon Wreath from Kenya at Kenya Rae

Rustic Evergreen Wreath from Maureen at Red Cottage Chronicles

DIY Moss Christmas Wreath from Meegan at What Meegan Makes

Coastal Christmas Wreath from Eileen at Sand Dollar Lane

Farmhouse Christmas Wreath from Jaclyn at The Dotted Nest

How inspiring are all of those DIY wreaths?! So many of them are simple to make and take a short amount of time.

Definitely put some time aside this holiday season to make your unique door decor. It’s lots of fun, saves money, and you get to create something you’ll love!

DIY Thrift Store Sweater Wreath | Deck the Home Spotlight

November 7, 2018 by Eileen 1 Comment

Ever see the perfect project on Pinterest but it’s just a little too late?

Yup, that’s always me.

Searching for pins the a few days before Christmas.

I find all these great ideas and am so disappointed that I don’t enough time to work on them.

Well, my friends, not this year!

I have teamed up with 25 talented home and DIY bloggers to bring you the Deck the Home blog hop. It’s a five-week series of ah-mazing DIY holiday projects.

It’s running now until the first week of December, giving you PLENTY of time to peruse the projects and complete a few of them yourselves.

Every week has a theme and this week’s theme is door decor.

And let me tell you, these talented DIY bloggers brought it!

Deck the Home Door Decor Spotlight

It was so hard to choose my favorite – but the spotlight goes to Brooke from Cribbs Style, who created two gorgeous decorations for the front door from things she found at thrift store.

Not only that, but they turned out awesome! Below is the thrift store sweater wreath she made! How gorgeous is that?! I definitely will be visiting my local thrift stores, looking for inspiration for my next projects. I bet you will too 🙂

Full tutorial is over on her blog – and you can check out the other thrift store project she did too 🙂

Hop on over to Cribbs Style for the Sweater Wreath Tutorial

Brooke is a DIY blogger with tons of creative projects. She just did an amazing closet makeover that will have you drooling! Definitely check it out!

Last, check back on Friday for our next Deck the Home post.

Hint, hint it will be a round-up of my favorite door decor projects. From traditional wreaths to hoop wreaths to wooden projects, there is all kinds of front door decor inspiration headed your way.

Hope it gives you some early holiday inspiration this year 🙂

How to Make an Amazingly Simple Wooden Christmas Star

November 3, 2018 by Eileen 23 Comments

There’s something about Christmas that makes me so happy.

I love coming down the stairs on a December morning, seeing the room warmly lit with the glow from the Christmas tree. I haven’t heard a Christmas carol that I didn’t like, and don’t even get me started on those Hallmark Christmas movies. 🙂

Needless to say, Christmas is my favorite.

So for this holiday season, I have something really special for you. I am collaborating with 26 other DIY and home bloggers to bring you {drum roll please} the Deck the Home Blog Hop.

Deck the Home Blog Hop is a series of amazing Christmas DIY and home projects that we will be posting every Monday morning from now until the first week of December, giving you plenty of time to peruse the projects and make some of them yourselves!

Each week has a theme – this week’s theme is Door Decor.

So, all 27 DIY bloggers have posted Christmas DIY door decor projects to their blog today! How cool is that?!

I’ll be sharing mine with you below, and I’ll be featuring one special blogger’s door decor project on Wednesday. As an added bonus, on Friday, I’ll be posting a little roundup of my favorites 🙂

And, below my project tutorial, there is a link-up of all of the Deck the Home Door Decor projects from the week.

Without further ado, here is my door decor project which will show you how to make a simple wooden Christmas star for your door. This project cost a whoopin’ zero bucks because they were all items I collected from around our workshop and craft room.

How to Make a Simple Wooden Christmas Star

The below instructions will show you how to make this easy holiday star.

Materials for the Wooden Star

The star itself is made just with ribbon, plywood, and greens. However, I did stain and wax the star, too. Check out the materials below.

Scrap plywood
Ribbon
Greens – Read below on how I got these 🙂
Wood Stain – I made my own!
Wax – We used Daddy Van’s Beewax, provided to us by Old Fashioned Milk Paint.

Optional – Jingle Bells or other fun accessories.

Tools Needed for the Wooden Star

Scroll saw (jig saw or even a handsaw will work too)
Orbital sander (or you can just sand by hand)
Hanging hardware

Draw out the Star

The first thing I did was grab a piece of scrap plywood from the garage, and I drew out a star. I didn’t want a perfect star, but one that had character – so I intentionally exaggerated some of the points.

Cut out the Star

Once I was happy with it, I used my scroll saw to cut it out.

If you haven’t used a scroll saw yet, ohmygosh, you are missing out! It’s super cool and super easy to use. It’s kind of like a sewing machine, but with a little blade instead. The cuts take a little practice, but it’s definitely a low-pressure tool.

After I cut it out, I rounded over the edges with a light sanding from my orbital sander. This made the star splinter free and easy to handle.

Stain & Seal the Star

Next, I stained the star with a homemade stain mix. I love making my own stain, and you won’t believe the materials I used. 🙂

After staining and letting it dry a while, I sealed it with beeswax that Old Fashioned Milk Paint provided when we did our mudroom makeover. I like to use all natural ingredients, so you won’t find many chemicals here.

Decorate the Star

Now, for my second favorite part (first favorite part was the scroll saw). I took out my Christmas ribbon collection and starting looking for the perfect one.

I’ve bought all of my Christmas ribbon from Michael’s 70% off last year, during the Black Friday sales. I didn’t have any projects in mind, but rather I gravitated toward the ribbon I loved and saved them for the rainy day 🙂 That’s one of the best ways to save money with DIYs and it saves trips to the store later on.

After I chose my ribbon, I started looking for greenery. I didn’t have any of my Christmas decorations out yet, and although they are labeled and stored in a pretty easy spot, I only had 10 minutes before I had to start to dinner. So I grabbed a Christmas wreath that was easier to reach and clipped a few pieces of greenery from the back.

Not yet happy with the results, a tree outside grabbed my eye, and next thing I know, I was clipping off some greens.

So there you have it, a mix of real and artificial greenery, tied with a thrifty yet gorgeous ribbon.

I was so pleased with the results and I still had a few minutes to spare before starting dinner. 🙂

Adding the Hanging Hardware

I keep a few frame hanging kits in the garage for hanging all types of things on the wall. They are very useful to have handy. I opted to use two mini eyehole screws and frame hanging wire.

I was pretty pleased with how the star turned out. Not only did I not spend a dime, but now I had a homemade Christmas star that I love to add to my holiday collection.

It’s fun when you find decor that you love in the store, but it’s a pretty amazing feeling when you made it yourself.

More Holiday Decor for the Home

So, my friends, I encourage you to make something yourselves this holiday season! And, we are giving you tons of ideas with our Deck the Home Blog Hop.

Check out my top favorite door decor projects in this roundup, or see all of the Deck the Home DIY projects.

Check back on Wednesday – I’ll be featuring one of my favorites 🙂

Get Ready for the Holidays with the Deck the Home Blog Hop

October 31, 2018 by Eileen 1 Comment

Before I had kids, I used to have my home decorated for Christmas in November, enjoying the magical decor for as long as I could.

My Christmas cards were ready to go the first week of December, and my holiday shopping was usually done before Black Friday.

After I had my son, I still was pretty prompt with my tree and my cards. My shopping took a bit longer because I had different priorities.

Now that I have two kids, I feel like I am always behind on everything.

The activities, schedules, cooking, cleaning, laundry, making sure everyone gets what they need – it’s hard.

I usually don’t think about the holidays until we are already there.

After last year was quite a bit chaotic, I decided that this year would be different. I will be starting my planning early – to ease up on the stress and enjoy the holiday season the way I used to, when I wasn’t running like crazy.

So, if you’ve been feeling like me, I have something really special for you this holiday season.

I am collaborating with 25 other DIY and home bloggers to bring you {drum roll please} the Deck the Home Blog Hop.

Deck the Home Blog Hop is a series of amazing Christmas DIY and home projects that we will be posting every Monday morning starting November 5th and going until the first week of December.

This gives you, my friend, plenty of time to get started with your holiday decorating and creating.

Every Monday morning, 26 DIY and home bloggers (listed in the picture above) will be sharing their themed projects! As an added bonus, on Wednesdays, I’ll be featuring one of my favorites. And, on Fridays I’ll be doing a round-up post! Below is the DIY project schedule.

Deck the Home Schedule

Week 1 – Nov. 5 – Door Decor

Week 2- Nov. 12 – Wood Projects

Week 3- Nov. 19 – Outdoor Decor

Week 4 – Nov. 26 – Gifts

Week 5 – Dec. 3 – Home Decor

How cool is that?!

Now instead of perusing Pinterest the week before Christmas looking for decorating or gift ideas, you’ll have a whole directory at your fingertips before December even comes!

Each project is DIY and home-related too. So, my friend, check back Monday morning for my first Deck the Home post of 2018. It’s something for your door 🙂

If you just can’t wait until Monday, I have a few holiday posts from last year – including this cookie decorating gift, an Advent Calendar made from felt, and a cute gingerbread house gift box.

How to Keep Your House Looking Good When the Kids are Sick

October 9, 2018 by Eileen Leave a Comment

How to Keep Your House from Becoming a Mess When Kids are Sick Post Preview: Here are 7 tried and true ways to keep your home looking good when your kids are feeling under the weather. My favorite tip is #2 – as a mom, it might just be my best-kept secret.

Only two days into the new school year, my son already was under the weather.

Ugh. I knew this would happen – but after only two days of school?

Last winter, we had a terrible stomach bug hit our household. After scrubbing for hours and tossing so much away, I really learned my lesson about how to maintain the house while my kids were sick.

I’m wishing you and your kids good health as the school year progress, but if the kids do come down with something, here are some ways I’ve learned to keep the entire house from becoming a disaster while they are not feeling their best.

1. One Room is All You Need

My son has toys in every room in the house (the family room, living room, playroom, gosh they’re even toys in our bathrooms!).

When sick, rather than have him playing in his playroom one second and moving to the living room the next, tearing up the house and sneezing on everything, we usually have him play in the family room when he gets sick.

That’s the room with the TV, the cuddly blankets, and the most sunshine, so that room is perfect.

It’s much easier to deep-clean one room after a sickness than every room. This also keeps the playroom relatively germ-free, which a hard room to deep-clean, being that their are about a gazillion toys in that room.

2. Disposable Crafts are Key

Throw-away crafts are my best-kept secret…

We keep a bin of random things from around the house and add to it often – paper towel rolls, cardboard, ribbon, small boxes, chalk, etc.

When my son isn’t feeling well, we get creative and make all kinds of things – things that are hours of fun, but that you can throw away later.

We’ve made a paper towel robot, construction sites from the cardboard, a diaper box puppet theater (he wanted to keep this one haha), or sometimes he just starts cutting and gluing thing to things.

The best part of these crafts is that there is no spraying, cleaning, or sanitizing later because you just throw them away!

Huge Coloring Sheets

If you don’t have a bin of random things, there are AWESOME coloring activity sheets. They are these huge sheets that you spread on the ground with tons of random things to color. Seriously, hours of coloring time 🙂

The other day my son, in the midst of his cold, was giving me a hard time eating his lunch.

Easy Activities

So, the teacher in me spread a blanket on the floor, grabbed a couple of nearby stuffed animals and a bunch of paper products from the pantry, and said we were having a picnic.

His face lit up, he happily ate his lunch, and he played picnic for the next TWO days. He was begging for small plates, empty food boxes, and such from the pantry for his animal friends.

He was ecstatic when I gave him muffin wrappers for bowls and plastic spoons. 🙂

I was happy to provide because it was another perfect sick day activity. The food boxes and plates get trashed and the blanket and animals get tossed right in the wash. Much easier than cleaning all the play food he has. Again, I learned this the hard way.

Think about things you have around the house that could be simple fun – but are easy to dispose of later.

3. Fresh Air is Always Best

If possible, it’s always best to the kids out for some fresh air when they aren’t feeling well.

Not only is fresh air healing, but with the kids outside, the house becomes less of mess. There are tons of things you could do outside. My son’s favorites are his dirt box and his rice box.

These are just large under-the-bed plastic containers (with a lid) filled with sand, rice, or dirt and little toys. We have beach toys in the rice box and construction vehicles in the dirt box.

Kids love these, and if it gets completely germed up, just toss the contents and let the rain wash the toys.

4. Use Blankets or Slipcovers on Couches

Couches can be hard to clean, so slipcovers are a dream because you can easily wash them.

If you don’t have a slipcover, you can spread and tuck blankets over the cushions of the couch while the kids are sick. Then, you can just toss the blanket in the wash when everyone is all better.

Easy peasy – and much easier than scrubbing a couch.

5. Always Wipe Down

Even if your kids are outside or spending their time in one room, while there’s germs flying around, you’ll want to make sure you are wiping down all those frequently touched areas. Fridge, microwave, faucet, sink handles, door knobs, light switches, phones, ipads, etc. And, the floors.

Plus, keeping everything clean and shiny will make you feel better during the state of disarray.

6. Steamers Are Your Best Friend

I don’t know why it took me so long to buy a steamer, but I guess I made up for it because now I have two.

I have a floor steamer and I have a handheld/rolling steamer that’s perfect for spraying anything. (If you do buy a steamer, make sure you read the reviews. That way you’ll get one that gets really hot aka eliminates the germs).

The floor steamer is great because it will steam any type of floor – carpet or tile. And, the rolling steamer is wonderful because you can steam anything – couches, toys, stuffed animals, anything at all. I’m a little crazy and I usually wash and steam stuffed animals.

So if you are like me, a steamer will be your best friend.

7. Start Using the One-Touch Rule

Ahh, you have to use the one-touch rule. Admittedly, we aren’t the greatest at it, but it’s an amazing rule.

The one-touch rule is you touch something once. Only once.

So, say you get an Amazon box in the mail and you are unpacking a new stapler that goes in your upstairs office. Rather than leave the stapler on the kitchen table, and then maybe eventually to the bottom of the staircase, and then to the hallway table, you walk it to where it goes.

Hence, you touch it once.

Same with the cardboard box – you take it to your recycling spot. It’s seems so simple, but it’s exactly why my house looks the way it does right now 🙂

When you use the one-touch rule, you’ll be surprised at how much less cluttered your home is. When your home is less cluttered, it’s not as bad cleaning up after a sickness in the house because there is less to clean.

If sickness happens to strike your house this school year, keep these tips in mind to keep your home looking good and your sanity in tact.

Easy & Gorgeous Wooden Christmas Ornaments for Kids to Make

October 1, 2018 by Eileen Leave a Comment

Easy Christmas Popsicle Stick Ornaments for Kids to Make Preview: You’ll find out how kids can make seven different Christmas ornaments from popsicle sticks and wooden shapes with this simple tutorial. It’s a perfect Christmas craft for kids of all ages.

One of my favorite things about the holiday season is getting to enjoy the excitement of the holidays with my kids.

My son loves to do crafts with me, so we try to come up with new Christmas crafts, decorations, or ornaments to make each year. This year, we happened to have a huge box of colored wooden shapes along with popsicle sticks.

From those things, we created 7 different ornaments.

Not only did we have a blast making them, but it’s always fun to deliver them too. My son sang Jingle Bells while delivering ornaments and Christmas fudge to our neighbors 🙂 I’m sure my daughter will be joining in on the songs and crafts next year.

Without further ado, here are the instructions on these easy Christmas popsicle stick ornaments for kids to make.

Materials for Popsicle Stick Christmas Ornaments

One of the things I love about these popsicle stick ornaments is they look so pretty! You can’t tell if a kid made them or an adult 🙂

Die-Cut Colored Wooden Shapes (you could also get uncolored wooden shapes and have the kids paint them)
Colored Popsicle Sticks (you use regular popsicle sticks instead and paint them)
Glue
Ribbon or twine
Optional: Additional crafty things such as cotton ball, ribbon, googly eyes, glitter, washi tape, pom-poms, etc

Instructions for Kids Christmas Ornaments

Instructions are pretty simple for this popsicle stick Christmas kids craft. Just set up your pieces, glue, and tie with a ribbon.

I tend to use hot glue because it works so well. So after my son put the shapes together, I glued them down. I also found that the twine a little hard to work with, but ribbon worked much better.

If you do use uncolored shapes or popsicle sticks, you’ll need to account for dry time. So, the first session would be painting the shapes and popsicle sticks, and the next session would be piecing together the shapes into ornaments.

Here are the different ornaments we made with the wooden shapes.

Christmas Tree from Popsicle Sticks

Simply take 3 popsicle sticks and shape into a triangle. Use a rectangle or square for the tree stump, a star wooden shape for the top, and decorate as you wish. We used glitter on some and ribbon on others. Washi tape would also work well.

Rudolph the Reindeer from Popsicle Sticks

Another one of my favorites – Rudolph is a fun one to make! Start with an upside down triangle. Add oval or teardrop wooden shapes for the ears. We then used googly eyes on stars for the eyes and a red heart for his nose.

Simple Star from Popsicle Sticks

For the star, take five popsicle sticks out. Start by making an upside down V with two popsicle sticks. Then make an X with two more popsicle sticks. Lay the X on top of the upside V, and you will see your star starting to take shape. You’ll place the 5 stick across the middle to finish the star.

Nativity Scene from Popsicle Sticks

This one is my favorite – so much, that we made many more of these than the others. We started by making the stable with 6 popsicle sticks (see pic). Then, we used various circle and rectangle shapes to create Joseph, Mary, and Jesus in the manager. Don’t forget the star at the top!

Snowflake from Popsicle Sticks

For the snowflake you just lay four popsicle sticks on top of each other to form a snowflake-like shape. Easy peasy!

Christmas Candle from Popsicle Sticks

This Christmas candle works well if you have oval or teardrop shape wooden pieces. You’ll use that piece for the candle’s flame. Then, use rectangles or squares or a combination to build the candlestick. Lay on a short popsicle stick for a holder, and you’ll have a Christmas candle.

Santa Hat from Popsicle Sticks

The last one is the Santa hat popsicle stick ornament. You just form a triangle and then lay cotton balls or pom-poms on the bottom to create a fuzzy hat look. Don’t forget to put one cotton ball or pom-pom at the top!

Connecting Lesson

I know what you’re thinking – a lesson?! With a kids craft?! The way my former-teacher-mind works is always in the form of a lesson. So I thought, I would share it with you, just in case you could benefit from it 🙂

Toddlers: Colors. Have your child sort by color, using construction paper. Lay out the construction paper and have toddlers place the red shapes on the red paper, yellow shapes on the yellow paper, etc. (Be careful of small pieces with little ones.)
Preschoolers: Shapes. Have your child sort by shape. Cut each shape out of construction paper and have the kids place the little wooden shapes on the construction paper shape you cut out.
Kindergarteners: Patterns. Make a couple of sample patterns. Use all the same color for the first few (e.g., red circle, red square, red circle, red square). Ask your child what comes next. If they seem overwhelmed or have a tough time, pull a couple of shapes to give them a multiple choice. (e.g. “What comes next? The red circle or the yellow square?”) Gage their level and make harder patterns or have them make you a pattern! 🙂
Elementary Level: Compose Shapes. Have your child put various shapes together to create something cool – like a robot, a fox, a flower, a person, etc. Make it easier or harder by pulling shapes for them.

Fun Christmas Craft

If you’re looking for a fun Christmas craft for kids this year, you can’t find an easier one than these popsicle stick Christmas ornaments. Plus, everyone loves receiving them as little gifts!

Don’t forget to make a few extra for your Christmas tree too.

How to Get Astonishing Results with Milk Paint & Raw Wood

September 29, 2018 by Eileen 8 Comments

How to Use Milk Paint on Raw Wood Post Preview: You will find out how to use milk paint on raw wood to create beautifully-finished furniture with a non-toxic, zero VOC paint.

This post is sponsored by Old Fashioned Milk Paint. All opinions are entirely my own.

We have been on a mission lately at the grocery stores, when online shopping, and even at the home improvement stores.

We’ve been choosing products that have the healthiest ingredients. Ones with basic ingredients, instead of long lists that we can’t pronounce. Ingredients that aren’t detrimental to our health.

If you’ve ever read the ingredients or warning signs on a regular can of paint, I’m sure you know what I’m talking about.

After a ton of research on paints with the best ingredients, I stumbled upon milk paint.

Milk paint is a non-toxic, water-based paint. It has been around for thousands of years – before adding solvents, toxins, and chemicals into paints was a thing.

I’ve painted tons of furniture before, and I was worried that milk paint would be hard to work with or not give me the results I wanted.

Well, my worries were met with a beautiful, easy-to-work with milk paint and that delivered the same results that a high-quality furniture paint would, without all the chemicals.

How to Milk Paint Unfinished Furniture

My husband and I were in the middle of a mudroom makeover when we started our quest for natural paint. We had built a wooden entryway bench with locker-style cubbies. It would hold backpacks, coats, hats, diaper bags, mail, shoes and more.

In our search, we were ecstatic to find Old Fashioned Milk Paint, made from just milk casein, lime, and earth pigments. The milk paint worked exactly as a high-quality furniture paint without solvents, toxins, and other chemicals that have since been added to paints. Old Fashioned Milk Paint has absolutely zero VOCs, it’s bio-degradable, and non-toxic.

Most times when you see milk paint used on Pinterest and blogs, it’s usually used to refinish an already-painted piece of furniture.

However, milk paint can also be used very easily on raw wood. And, it looks beautiful.

Milk Paint Materials

Milk Paint – We used Old Fashioned Milk Paint in snow white
Angled paint brushes
Mixing container
Mixer or drill with paint mixer attachment
Extra bond
Safe Coat Sealer

Materials for mixing milk paint

How to Mix Milk Paint

First, milk paint comes in a powder form. You simply mix it with water and then it’s ready to go.

While this is an extra step, it’s totally worth it to be painting with zero VOCs. There are also advantages to mixing your own paint. For example, you can easily create your own colors, the paint dries quickly, and it can be cleaned with simply soap and water.

To mix your Old Fashioned Milk Paint, follow these instructions.

1. Measure your ingredients.

First measure out equal parts of the milk paint powder and water. Dump these into a bucket or mixing container.

2. Add in bonding agent, if necessary.

You’ll want to figure out if you need a bonding agent mixed in your first coat. A bonding agent helps the paint to stick. It does make the first coat more watery but subsequent coats will be thicker.

Typically, if you’re using raw wood, you typically don’t need to use a bonding agent. We used the bonding agent for the first coat because we used birch to build our entryway piece. Birch is a close-grained hardwood, so we needed the bonding agent to get good coverage.

If you aren’t sure if you need a bonding agent, Old Fashioned Milk Paint has tons of information on types of wood and whether the bonding agent is needed.

3. Combine ingredients with a mixer.

To mix milk paint, we found that the paint mixer attachment on the drill worked perfectly. You can also use a regular kitchen mixer.

I’ve also used milk paint without use of a drill or electric mixer and I haven’t had as much luck, especially when mixing colors.

So you just dump your ingredients into the container and mix it very slowly for 2-3 minutes.

After your done mixing, let it sit still for 10 minutes. Then give it a good stir with the paint brush, and you are ready to start painting your wood with milk paint.

Mixing milk paint with a drill attachment

How to Paint Raw Wood with Milk Paint

Now that your paint is mixed well, it’s time to start painting that wood.

1. Make sure your wood is clean of any sawdust or dirt.

Wipe down your wood to make sure it’s ready for painting.

Unfinished wood bench ready for painting

2. Use an angled brush to put on your first coat.

We found that an angled brush works really well with furniture because you can easily get all of the nooks and crannies.

We also preferred a brush to a roller because we could control the paint better and watch for drips more easily.

If you have the bonding agent in your first coat, it will be more watery and thin. So you want to be careful of paint drips. Definitely start at the top of your furniture and work your way down. This way if you do have drips, you are painting downward and can even them out more easily.

The first coat is more about coverage than anything else. So a thin coat is fine as long as you are covering the area well. The first coat won’t look beautiful and that’s okay.

Let the coat dry and then you’ll be ready to move on.

After one coat of milk paint (with extra bond) on wooden cubby shelf

3. Stirring frequently, apply your second coat, making sure to use even paint strokes.

While the first coat was about coverage, when painting the second coat, you want to make sure that you are evenly coating your brush and evenly spreading the paint on. Take time to go over your brush strokes to make sure the paint looks smooth.

As with the first coat, start at the top of the wooden piece and work your way down. If your paint is extra drippy, use less at a time or apply a thinner coat.

If your milk paint mixture is too thick, you can add a little water at a time and mix well. The paint shouldn’t be difficult to apply or difficult to spread. You could also wet your brush a little to help.

Getting a second coat on the cubbies

4. Apply additional coats as you see fit.

Depending upon how thick or thin your paint coats were, you might need three or four coats. Or, you could need three coats and a touch-up coat. Decide what you’re comfortable with. You might put an extra coat in areas that are more visible.

Homemade bench drawers with three coats of milk paint

Remember if your paint is too thick, add a little water and stir. The paint shouldn’t be hard to apply.

Here’s a useful tip for you. Keep some sand paper handy while applying milk paint. After some coats have dried, you may notice some hardened drips you missed. Just lightly sand them down with 150 grit sand paper and cover up with the next coat. Also, when your last coat of milk paint has dried, the surface may feel a little rough as you run your hand across it. A very light sanding of 300 grit sand paper yields a super smooth finish.

Here is the finished cubby piece installed in our mudroom. The cubbies and the drawers were all painted in Snow White from Old Fashioned Milk Paint.

Finished locker-style cubbies and bench drawers painted with milk paint

Here’s a close-up of the drawers. The paint looks so professional. Out of all of the various furniture paints I have used, I’ve never been more pleased than I have been with milk paint.

Not only is it non-toxic and absolutely zero VOCs, but it’s absolutely gorgeous.

Homemade face plates (and drawers) with snow white milk paint

How to Seal Milk Paint

Milk paint doesn’t always need a sealer, but if the furniture is prone to spills or moisture, then sealing is a good idea. We sealed our entryway piece because the kids would be sitting in there taking their shoes on and off, hanging up their wet coats and hats, spilling their water bottles, etc.

To maximize the longevity of the milk paint, we opted to seal the finish with an acrylic type glaze. The dried milk paint already seemed pretty sturdy, but we didn’t want to risk early wear on the milk paint. We used SafeCoat AcriGlaze because of the extremely low VOC content. Applying it was very easy. We used a good quality bristle brush, and applied just two coats of the sealer, about 2 hours apart. We were very happy with the product. True to its word, it had a very low odor which dissipated quickly with a fan. The glaze dried clear. You could not tell it was even there unless you ran your finger across the wood. It was well protected.

All in all, we couldn’t be more thrilled with our milk painted entryway cubbies. The milk paint was extremely easy to use, proved itself as a high-quality furniture paint, and most importantly, it’s a safe, natural alternative to the chemical-laden paints that are out there.

Thank you Old Fashioned Milk Paint for offering a safe alternative so that we DIYers can build and create without compromising our health.

If you are looking for an easy to work with paint with zero VOCs, definitely check out Old Fashioned Milk Paint. You will love it 🙂

And as for the building of the cubby shelves, that tutorial is on its way to you next!

Want to see what our mudroom looked like BEFORE the makeover?

It’s almost unbelievable – but all of the pictures are here –>

How to Transform an Ugly Space into a Completely Functional Room

How to Stencil an Accent Wall You’ll Absolutely Love

September 24, 2018 by Eileen 11 Comments

How to Stencil an Accent Wall Post Preview: You will find out how to paint a stenciled accent wall, along with stenciling tips and tricks.

This post is sponsored by Stencil Revolution. All opinions are entirely my own.

Everyone has a spot in their house that drives them crazy, am I right!? For me, it was our mudroom.

It was boring, barely functional, and beyond a mess.

So, we embarked on a mudroom makeover and starting building an entryway bench with locker cubbies. In the meantime, I wanted to add a little character to the walls.

With its beige walls and grayish tiled floors, the mudroom room was just so plain.

So, I had a plan to DIY my own “wallpaper” aka stencil an accent wall.

Can I just say that stencils are amazing?! I’ve used stencils before on a world map wall art project, but never on a wall. I couldn’t get over how much the stencil completely changed the look of the room. The previously boring space became completely modernized with the stenciled accent wall.

The best part?

With wall stencils, you get to choose your own colors, rather than be stuck with premade wallpaper. And, you can save money by doing the work yourself – perfect for DIYing on a tight budget.

If you’re thinking about stenciling a focal wall in your home, it’s super easy – it’s definitely a DIY project that anyone can do.

Today, I’m sharing all my tips and tricks for how to paint a stencil on an accent wall.

How to Stencil an Accent Wall

First, I’m going to take you back a minute and show you a crazy before and after. It’s a little embarrassing, but seriously, this is what the room looked like prior to the mudroom makeover.

And here is what the mudroom looks like after its makeover.

And here’s another angle – I continued the stencil across the adjacent wall too.

So let’s get started! To stencil an accent wall, you’ll need a good chunk of time, and the following items.

Materials for Stenciling a Wall

Paint
Stencil – We used the Freya tile stencil
Rounded brush – This is a great brush set for stenciling
Paper towels
Optional – level (not needed if you use registration marks on the stencil), paint stirrers, plastic cup for small amount of paint, baby wipes (to quickly wipe mistakes)

Check out our wall stenciling video to see me in action, stenciling the wall.

Step 1 – Choose your stencil and paint colors

First, you’ll want to choose your stencil. Stencils are awesome because you can create a wallpaper effect for a really inexpensive price. We love the stencils from Stencil Revolution – you’ll definitely be oogling over their new tile line. The stencil we used is the Freya stencil and it’s part of their new line. We loved the colors they used with the stencil, so we mimicked those.

These stencils are especially easy to work with because they have registration marks, where you can easily line up each stencil with the one before. Because of these registration marks, you can get by without needing a ruler or a level.

After you have chosen your stencil, you’ll want to start thinking about paint colors for your stencil and, if necessary, the wall. Stencils don’t have to be the mono-colored. You can use two or three colors. Additionally, consider painting the wall or room, if it’s not the right background color.

We painted over our beige mudroom with white paint, as we wanted the background of our stencil to be white.

Then we chose two colors for the stencil – tan and charcoal. When you’re deciding on colors for your stencil, try them out with the stencil in a test area. I had a few different versions of tan before I settled on my favorite. You can try the wall stencil on an area of your wall that will be covered (I tried mine where the shiplap was going) or you can use a foam board.

Paint Tip: When choosing paint for the stencil, it doesn’t need to be wall paint. You can use acrylic paint from the craft store. Using the small acrylic containers from the craft store make it really easy to test colors too.

Step 2 – Prepare the wall

Next, you want to prepare your wall. If you are painting the wall first, you’ll want to do that now.

If you want to wipe down your wall or the baseboards or tape off any area, you’ll want to prepare that before starting to stencil.

Side note – If you’re painting your wall white over a darker color like we did, it can take extra coats to get back to white. Keep that in mind when you’re thinking about your project timeline.

Step 3 – Decide where you want your stencil to start

Choose an ideal starting point for your wall stencil. Ideally, this is the spot where you’ll want your wall stencil to look the best. The most visible part of the room is always a good choice.

Keep in mind that at the opposite end of the wall, depending upon the length of your wall and the size of the stencil, the last stencil could cut off. When you’re making your starting decision, factor in the opposite end or ends of the wall.

Depending upon your stencil’s design, you could nudge your starting point just a little bit to help the opposite end terminate at a better point.

Or if you get really lucky, the stencil might fit perfectly across the whole wall.

I started the stencil right next to the window, as this part of the wall was the most visible when walking into the room. The stencil cut off at the opposite end of the wall, but I started the first stencil a half an inch inward, so the last stencil would cut off exactly halfway. I was okay with it cutting off there because that end was in a more hidden corner of the room.

Note – The starting point for the stencil doesn’t necessarily need to be where you first start painting. It’s just where the stencil pattern starts. You could begin painting in a less visible area, such as toward the ceiling, so that any early mistakes are made high up, where people won’t be able to see.

Step 4 – Secure stencil to the wall

Next, you’ll want to attach the stencil to the wall. To do so, I just used four pieces of painter’s tape. It was super simple. When you’re done, you just peel the stencil and tape off and move to the next spot.

Some people like to use a spray adhesive, but I found that unnecessary. The tape was very simple.

Step 5 – Use a small rounded brush to start dabbing on the paint.

Now the fun part! To stencil the accent wall, you’ll want to use a rounded, stiff brush to stencil your wall. If the brush is too soft, it will bend. The best brushes are rounded that come to a point.

With your rounded brush, you are just going to dab the end of your brush in the paint. Do this as evenly as you can, and then blot the extra paint. This is important because if your paint is too thick, it will slip under the stencil and cause unclean lines. A little paint goes a long way.

As soon as your paintbrush is ready, gently dab it onto the wall. When you’re painting the wall, don’t use brush strokes, just stipple it onto the wall.

Now it won’t be perfect. But with a small amount of paint and a small rounded brush, it will be pretty close.

If your stencil isn’t flush against the wall, you can use your marker or pencil to hold the stencil flush against the wall with one hand, while you paint with another. I used a drill bit, rather than a marker, because it was the first thing I found 🙂

Brush Tip: As for brush size, keep in mind that a smaller brush will get you more accuracy and a bigger brush will get the job done faster. You could use a bigger brush in higher areas, where people won’t be able to see up close (because it goes faster) and a smaller rounded brush in lower areas.

Step 6 – Remove stencil and repeat

Simply peel back the stencil and remove. If there are any stray marks, you could always wipe with a paper towel or a baby wipe before it dries.

Then, line the stencil up with the registration marks (see above) and work on your next stencil.

It will be slow going at first, but like anything, it gets quicker as you get used to it.

A Few More Wall Stenciling Tips

For our mudroom wall, I only stenciled the top third of the wall. On the lower part, I attached shiplap, which made for a really cool look.

I also ended up stenciling more than I thought. My plan was to just stencil the wall around the window, but I kept going around the doorway of the laundry room. If you are undecided on whether to continue the stencil on a neighboring wall, you can start with the wall that you are sure about. Then, go from there.

Stencil Cut-Off Tip: If you are doing a lot of stenciling and your wall stencil cuts off at the corner or around a window, you could do a couple of things. You could simple bend the stencil and tape it. I would use a lot of tape so it doesn’t slide when you are painting. It’s a little tricky to do but that’s what I did (see picture above).

Or, you could order more than one stencil, and cut the stencil so that you have a flush fit when stenciling around windows and near corners.

Here’s a close up of the finished wall, with the stencil at the top third, and the shiplap at the bottom.

Next, we put shiplap on the lower portion of wall, and we have a full tutorial coming on this! It was super simple 🙂

Here’s a few more pictures of the other side of the room, including the portion above the laundry room nook.

And, I just adore these hooks! They look perfect with the stencil and the shiplap. I think there’s about 16 of them in the mudroom now 🙂 They’ll be no excuses for bags and coats not hung up.

Go for it!

If you’re debating whether or not to stencil a wall, definitely go for it. Stenciling a wall is an easy, budget-friendly DIY. With a little bit of work, you can completely transform the look of a room.

If you love the way the shiplap looks on our accent wall, that post is coming next, and our whole mudroom makeover will soon follow.

So, there we have it! A completely transformed room with something as simple as a wall stencil. If you are looking for a thrifty way to redo an old space, definitely consider stenciling an accent wall.

7 Easy DIYs for Your Walls

June 5, 2018 by Eileen 24 Comments

This post is sponsored by Stencil Revolution. All opinions are entirely my own.

Even though we moved into our home years ago, we still had way too many bare walls in our home.

The walls were my last priority in getting ourselves unpacked and settled. So, picture frames sat in boxes in the garage for months and months.

What I didn’t know in my procrastination was that I could have been using all that blank wall space to our advantage.

Wall space isn’t just for pictures – it’s a gem of versatility! From floating shelves to accent walls to cool wall hangings to easy DIY wall art ideas, here are six easy DIYs for your walls so they will no longer be bare or boring.

1. Build Simple Shelves

One of my favorite spots in our home is my craft room, which is just a sitting room off our bedroom. When we moved in, we had no idea what we were going to do with it. Ha! I’ve completely taken it over with craft supplies.

When I had filled every inch, I moved to the walls.

We built two simple shelves with the dimensions to fit four fabric storage bins on each. That’s eight storage bins – filled to the brim – and not taking up any closet or desk space!

If you’re running out of space in your home, take a look at your empty walls, and see where you could put up a few storage shelves.

2. Make a Cool Wall Hanging

It’s hard to find the perfect wall hanging to go over couches and beds because they need to be so big to look nice. And, art is expensive! So, why not DIY it?

I partnered with Stencil Revolution to create this awesome stenciled world map wall hanging.

They have really cool stencils, and they have more than half a dozen sizes for each stencil. So you can paint a giant wall with a huge stencil or make a custom DIY piece like I did.

To make this, I first measured the area above the couch in the craft room. Then, I ordered the world map stencil size that was a little smaller.

After that, I put together three wooden boxes, painted them white, and then used the world map stencil.

As far as the paints, I used acrylic paint and faded one color into the next.

It looks amazing in my craft room above the couch – it fits the area perfectly and I got to create something exactly the way I wanted. Definitely check out the stencils that Stencil Revolution has 🙂

Rather than have blank walls above couches or beds, think about making a custom DIY piece with cool stencils. This is one of my favorite easy DIY wall art ideas 🙂

3. Create Gallery Wraps

Another way to create wall art is by making your own gallery wraps.

Simply purchase a few canvases from the craft stores, and then find some wall decals that fit the theme of the room. Paint the canvases and then apply the wall decals. I painted some a solid blue and others striped. The striped ones added some extra flair.

You could also use stencils on these gallery wraps too. These are great for nurseries or kids rooms.

And, if the decals come up easily, you can swap out the decals for other ones as the kids grow up.

These canvases are definitely a go-to project for easy DIY wall art ideas.

4. Put Together Scrap Wood Picture Ledges

These picture ledges were free! Yes, you read that right 🙂 We made them out of scrap wood laying around the garage (I love a good scrap wood project) and painted them with paint we had on hand.

The little ledge at the end is perfect for holding picture frames, and I emptied an entire box of frames. The picture frames perfectly took up the wall space in between two windows.

Not only were the ledges free, but it took just a few hours to put together.

5. Spray Paint Frames for an Artistic Gallery

If you’re looking to make a gallery but can’t find enough frames that will compliment each other, use spray paint.

I had an entire gallery of brown wooden frames, but two of the embroidered pictures had frames that just didn’t go.

With a little painter’s tape and some spray paint, the pictures now fit perfectly.

Galleries are a fun way to hang pictures – especially in hallways or staircases. It can definitely add some character to these places.

6. Create an Accent Wall

I love a gorgeous accent wall, and it’s an amazing way to bring character and flair to your space.

There are so many ways to create an accent wall – you can wallpaper, you can stencil an accent wall, or you can paint – a whole wall one color or a simple striped wall.

One of my favorite things about an accent wall is it saves you from painting the whole room – just updating one wall usually is enough.

7. Hang Pegboard for Office or Craft Supplies

This is another of my favorite DIYs from my craft room.

By installing pegboard, I was able to empty my entire desk. In fact, I got rid of my desk of drawers for a much simple table-desk design.

I didn’t know if I would like the pegboard because I would have to put everything back always (something I’m not great at), but I LOVE it! It looks so cool, and I can see everything.

Also, I don’t get asked questions by my husband and kids about where my scissors or markers are because everything is in plain sight. My son has a little spot on the edge, where he stores his markers and paint brushes too.

If you have overlooked wall space in your home, turn it into a fun DIY project.

You can use wall space for storage – floating shelves, storage shelves, pegboard organization, or built-in cabinets. You can use the space for fun décor to add a little style in. You easily update or modernize your home with cool pictures or wall hangings with these easy DIY wall art ideas.

Wall space is undoubtedly a little gem that can be used in efficient or creative ways. If you’re looking to add a little flair to your walls, definitely try one of the above DIYs.

You’ll be loving your wall space in no time.