I am not an artist, so please excuse my painting skills. During my undergrad, one of my color class assignments was to copy an impressionistic painting on a wine bottle. It was the perfect assignment for a novice painter such as me. On a wine bottle, you can’t see the entire painting at once, so [...]

Happy Earth Day everyone! I found these flower-shaped plates at a thrift store while hunting for dishes with which to make cake stands. I loved the shape of them so much that I bought them all. I have plans for the rest, but these three were destined to become mirrors. As a friend pointed out, [...]

I told you I have a lot of doilies from my great-grandmother. I decided to frame a few more for Christmas. I bought these 12-inch square collage frames at Michael’s. I replaced the mats with $1/yard Walmart fabric. I love how the doilies look like snowflakes. (That monster wall heater is the sole—and inefficient—source of [...]

I love these glitter-encrusted Christmas ornaments. I plan to leave them up past the holidays. It’s nice to have a little sparkle around. Here, I mixed my mom’s antique oval mirror with a couple of large mirrors I found on Craigslist. For the small rectangle one, I cut a 12- x 12-inch mirror tile (found [...]

Got a balcony or porch railing and some jam jars? This is a cheap and easy way to shed some light for trick-or-treaters, or just create a mood for nighttime porch sitting. Best of all, you don’t have to worry about the wind (or little feet) knocking them over.

A few years ago, I achieved my dream of owning a Yamaha DX7 keyboard, the synthesizer behind that bell-quality sound of 80s pop music. But, I couldn’t just plop it on top of any keyboard stand. A former roommate gave me an old piano bench, and I found an unfinished Shaker sofa table to match. [...]

Got drawer pulls, pants hangers, and photos (or your children’s artwork) lying around? With a few supplies, you can hang them on the wall in minutes—and easily swap them out when the fancy strikes. The best part is drawer pulls look like antique picture hangers—for a fraction of the cost. And the girls? Three of my [...]

What do you do with an ever-expanding tool supply in a small apartment already packed to the gills? Answer: toolbox side tables. I found two of these locking file cabinets on Craigslist and loaded them up with all my tools and paint. For the smaller tools, I divided the drawers with Ikea’s Antonius basket insert. [...]