DIY peacock gravel mosaic art

I started this gravel art project six years ago and finished it one year ago. I’m finally getting around to blogging about it. The project didn’t have to take five years to make, it just got set aside often to finish other projects, such as my kitchen remodel. It does, however […]

2021-07-10T23:39:53-07:00July 10, 2021|

Crafting with the Cameo: DIY embossed numbers clock

Can you believe it? I finally took my Silhouette Cameo out of its box and fired it up last week. I seriously don’t know what took me so long. I have lots of projects I want to try, but I decided to start with this square clock […]

2021-01-31T02:11:13-08:00March 27, 2012|

DIY frame within a frame

I adore this “bird cage” illustration by Emma SanCartier. And I wanted to make this small piece of art stand out. I could have mounted it in an up-sized frame with generous matting. I decided to make a frame-within-a-frame instead, mostly because I already had all the […]

2021-01-31T05:55:17-08:00November 11, 2010|

The hats of Victoria: DIY paper silhouettes

This is the third and final post in my Victoria magazine series. As I mentioned in my last post, hats were commonplace in Victoria magazine. In fact, every issue included at least one woman wearing a hat. Below are some of Victoria’s […]

2021-03-09T21:17:08-08:00May 20, 2010|

Window frame + free botanical illustrations = DIY art

I know: Monica, you need to get your seasons straight, right? I’m celebrating Spring in November because I couldn’t wait four months to share these beauties. Besides, red and green makes it almost Christmasy. You might recognize this window. Earlier this year, I filled each window pane with

2021-02-13T23:00:49-08:00November 20, 2009|

DIY framed silhouette words

My friend Julie inspired this idea. She framed some fall leaves in a large clear acrylic frame. I loved its simplicity. These Coach picture frames that I received as a gift years ago were perfect for spelling out a word.

I had five frames, but I was set on […]

2021-03-24T17:46:58-07:00November 11, 2009|

Maria’s DIY table, frames, vase & votives redo

Our new guest nester, Maria Romvari, transformed this corner of her house for her Hungarian blog A Hoover-gáton is túl, and she’s sharing her tutorial with us! Maria used ordinary thrift store items — side table, vase, and mismatched frames — totaling $10.67 to create this stunning vignette. […]

2021-03-26T13:13:25-07:00October 23, 2009|

DIY mini framed magnetic board

What can I make with an old picture frame that’s missing glass, a free fabric sample from FabMo, and an 8- x 10-inch LoRan magnet board that my friend Chris gave me? Another friend, Kristi, had an idea: a mini magnetic board.

If you add a […]

2021-03-26T19:22:47-07:00September 30, 2009|

Salvaged window = DIY shadowbox frame

Why anyone would paint over window panes is beyond me. But that’s exactly what someone did to this window that I bought at a salvage yard for $20. It took a couple hours to scrape away all the stray paint and caulking, but the effort was totally worth it, considering I […]

2021-02-24T00:25:51-08:00September 24, 2009|

Salvaged window = DIY wallpaper frames

First rule in government spending: Why build one when you can have two at twice the price?” Any guesses what movie that line is from? (Answer at the end of this post.) I loved these salvaged window frames so much, I bought both of them. This one was […]

2021-02-13T23:03:10-08:00June 3, 2009|

Heika’s DIY paper silhouettes

My friend Heika DeHart beautifully transformed her daughter’s bedroom. One of her handmade projects in that room were these stencils. And she’s sharing how she made them. She writes, “This was a simple, inexpensive project. I thought it would be sweet to have silhouettes of my daughter hanging on her wall but […]

2021-03-12T15:15:33-08:00January 22, 2009|

Heika’s DIY little girl’s bedroom

My new friend Heika DeHart shared these images of her daughter Aspen’s adorable bedroom. Nearly every decoration in the room was created from scratch by Heika herself. My favorite project is the stunning dresser. I loved the result so much, I asked her to share her instructions with all of us. […]

2021-02-19T09:10:08-08:00January 21, 2009|

Framing heirloom doilies for Christmas

I told you I have a lot of tatted 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 fabric from Walmart. I love how the doilies look […]

2021-01-31T06:13:17-08:00December 24, 2008|

DIY mini magnetic picture frames

Instead of chucking these old mismatched frames that I accumulated from thrift stores, I painted them all the same color, attached magnets, and gave them a whole new life. If only I could give this 1980s fridge a new life — in the junkyard. But because I’m renting my apartment, I’m […]

2021-02-09T09:48:00-08:00October 8, 2008|

Pants hangers + drawer pulls = quick DIY picture frames

Do you have 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 […]

2021-01-31T06:16:04-08:00September 17, 2008|

My great grandmother’s doilies in thrift-store frames

My great-grandmother lived to be 93. And she loved to tat. She made me and my siblings dozens of doilies, collars, and hankies over the years. Her tatted doilies are so beautiful that I hated to see them packed away in a box in my closet. But I wasn’t about to […]

2021-01-30T20:58:30-08:00July 23, 2008|
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