DIY Wooden Sign (under $10 too!)

Hello, hello! 
It sure has been a while since I've blogged, and there's good reason for that. Life has been a little busy around here. While I have been doing some projects here and there, it's definitely slowed down a bit. 

One of my most recent projects, aside from moving furniture around (haha!), was "building" a wooden sign for our family room.

Before I moved some furniture around, we had a large bookcase in this spot. I felt it was a little too big for the area and I wanted something smaller here, so this thrift store dresser/buffet table fit the bill. After rearranging some things downstairs, we had room on this wall right above the table. This spot looked a little sad and empty. Considering that I added tons of photos in the same room recently, I wanted to put up something besides a large photo in this area. Immediately, I thought a large wooden sign would look great and would tie in some of the wood pieces and trim nicely.

Here is a look at the space I'm talking about:

 It's a good sized wall that was just missing something

Alright, on to the materials I used...all I needed to purchase were a few inexpensive ones...

1. Two 8ft pieces of wood (from HD)
2. Stain (already had)
3. Large poster board (from Michaels) 
4. Black sharpie marker (already had)
5. Large ruler
6. Pencil to trace letters
7. Nails and/or wood glue


I think I spent around $5 for everything. It did help that I already had most of the supplies on hand, but even I didn't this project would only be around $10 to complete.

OK, so here is a quick run down of what I did, with pictures of course ;)

I had already had a stencil set that I purchased last year from the Dollar Tree to use for the letters. Because I didn't want my letters to be rounded, I ended up using a ruler to straighten them out, but you can write your letters however you want, of course. Then I went over everything with a Sharpie and colored it in.

I chose a verse from Matthew- Let your light shine!  

 

Here is the hubs cutting the wood trim for me :) 
*Two pieces at 33"
*Two pieces at 22.5"

For the wood stain, I chose to use what we already had on hand which was Minwax in Provincial. It's definitely one of my favs.

Once the stain was dry, it was time for nailing and stapling (yes, I stapled the wood together because I was too lazy to use wood glue and wait.for.it.to.dry...😂)...

The nails we already had were pretty much the perfect size for this project. Thankfully, they weren't too large that they split the wood and they were just long enough to hold the 2 ends together! Hooray!

 

I only used 4 nails (one for each side) and this wasn't enough to keep the frame sturdy. This is where the staples come in handy...haha!

I stapled the edges together too (no one will even notice) and stained over it so that they are hidden.

I'm so happy with the way the sign turned out! It was just the perfect piece for this spot!

I also chose to write another verse on the other side of the poster board so that we can change up the sign if we want. Also, since the poster board is light enough to just "sit" inside the frame, if I want to replace it with another board, all I have to do is take this one out and put a new one in. 💓💓

I love that these verses are one of the first things we see when we come downstairs. It helps to know the truth that God is always there...a good reminder especially for us in our journey of foster care. 💕

So if you are looking for a small project to do and one that is super inexpensive, give this one a try!  😍

Faux Granite Countertops (Take 2)

It's been 4 years since our counter tops have been refinished and they were looking like they needed a facelift. The paint was beginning to chip at the corners and sides, so I decided it was time to update them. 

When I first painted our kitchen counters years ago, I tried to go with a faux granite finish and it worked out okay. The tutorials I watched online called for using a sponge to get the look. Since I was too cheap to go out and actually purchase one (I know, crazy right?), I decided to use paper towels. This method worked out okay and we got lots of compliments on the look of them once they were finished. However, they never actually ended up looking like granite, so I recently decided to give it another shot.

I went out and bought a sponge this time (only one...haha- there I go being cheap again!) and it did the job nicely!! It does take some patience and time, but I think it's worth it in the end if you want to "diy" this. Plus, you save a lot of $$$.


Once the painting was complete, I gave our counters a couple of coats of clear poly and let them dry for 24 hours before putting our items back on them. 

Here's to hoping we get another 4 years (or more!!) out of  'em. :)

 ******************************************************

I will post a quick step-by-step process of how I painted our counters and hope this helps anyone out there who wants to give it a try!


Step 1: Prime your counters- I used a latex based primer. Use a couple of coats and let it dry for about 24 hours before moving on to step 2.

Step 2: Buy a sponge (trust me, this is a lot easier than using paper towels ;)) and dip it into a dark paint. I chose to use a dark gray that we already had in our paint storage stash. ;)
Let your paint dry before moving on to Step 3.

Step 3: Take your sponge and dip it into a lighter shade than the first color you started with and start painting over that darker color. 
Repeat this process a few more times lightening the color as you go. I chose to use a base white paint as my last color to lighten the counters and achieve the look I was going for.

 
Step 4: Once you've painted all your layers, let it dry completely and add a poly coat for protection.



Step 5: Sit back and enjoy all that hard work! :) 

We are very happy with the way our counters look. I think they ended up resembling more of the granite look I was aiming for. 

Have you ever tried painting your countertops? How did it turn out?

When All 3 Of Your Kids Share a Room

Ever since our youngest turned 2, he has not been a fan of sleeping alone in his own room. He would fall asleep in his toddler bed (he was already climbing out of the crib) and around 2 or 3 in the morning wander into our room or his sisters' bedroom. It wasn't until recently that we decided to move his bed into his sisters' room so 1) he isn't alone and 2) we see if this move would comfort him enough during the night that he wouldn't wake up multiple times.

The plan worked! If only we had figured this out sooner!!

So, now all 3 of our kiddos share one room and surprisingly, it's not crowded at all. I feel like it's actually even cozier and comfier than before. 

The change involved repainting the walls with a color the girls chose- Benjamin Moore Iceburg. I was hesitant about it at first because I didn't really know how it would work with some of the other elements in the room. But I have to say, they were spot on with the color! We love it! It's a blue that reminds me of the sky on a clear summer day. :)

Here are a few photos of their new space. 

I spy a little boy reading :)

I did end up keeping the painted closet doors because the girls use this for their clothes. Our son's clothes are still in his old room, since he will be moving back there eventually.

 I spy a cute puppy! (even though he's actually not a puppy anymore, he's still cute)

The doll bunk bed was a DIY project from last year. A few of the dolls sleep there...and did you happen to notice the doll in the basket that is missing her shirt? Why do kids love to take clothes off of dolls and not put them back on? Something I'll never understand.

Behind the closet doors, the girls share an over-the-door organizer. It was a couple of bucks at Wal-Mart and holds plenty of their little toys and stuffed animals. Happy to have them off the floor at the end of the day!

This little spot next to the door of their room is special to me because it holds sweet memories of when our girls were little. :) We had the pictures taken at Colonial Williamsburg. Such a sweet day!

We still have that dollhouse I made for the girls a few years back. They still play with it occasionally, which is nice. Little brother and little sister have also doodled on it quite a bit. It's not lacking in color, that's for sure!

The large B/W picture above is another one of our favorites. It was taken about 2 years ago when our kiddos still loved each other. Just kidding! They still do. ;) 

The framed quote is from Katie Davis Majors, founder of Amazima Ministries (a ministry we support). It says,"I have learned that I will not change the world. Jesus will do that. I can, however, change the world for one person." You can learn more about this wonderful Uganda-based ministry here.

I also hung up a shelf (fence board that my hubby cut down to size) above the picture for all the kids' arts and crafts.

With all this, I hope the room is a place for our kiddos to rest and relax after a busy day. So far, it has worked out that way and for that, I am thankful!