Just a quick decorating idea inspired by Kathy’s lovely framed “K” at Creative Home Expressions. My framed “hope” was fun while it lasted, but I needed a change, so here’s to “faith.” Adding the red-and-white striped scrapbook paper in the background gave it a whole new look. If you want to make your own, download the letters here and click here for the tutorial. One guess what my next word will be. Bigger project coming next Monday.

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. Another $17.75 spent on paint, primer, and a brush bring the total to less than $30. Add some of her own photos and candle holders, and she was ready to start the transformation. Maria loves the clean, fresh look of white (a girl after my own heart!), but her husband wasn’t keen on the idea (he said white reminds him of hospitals), so he suggested staining the tabletop. It all came together beautifully, don’t you think?

Side table

Supplies and tools

• latex paint (Maria used Olympic Dogwood Blossom [D20-1])
• primer
• wood stain (Maria used gunstock colored stain)
• satin polyurethane
• newspaper or drop cloth
• fine sandpaper
• paint brush
• screwdriver
• mineral spirits (needed to clean polyurethane off paint bush)

1. Disassemble the table. Lightly sand the base and legs.

2. Cover your work surface, then apply two coats of primer to the base and legs. Maria’s husband shared this tip that made painting the legs easier: Hammer a nail into the bottom of each leg so you can hold and spin the legs without touching the fresh paint. Great idea! Let the primer dry, then apply one to two coats of paint. Let dry between coats. When finished, let dry overnight.

3. Sand the tabletop smooth. Again, protect your work surface, then apply two to three coats of stain. Let dry and lightly sand between coats.

4. Apply two to three coats of polyurethane. Let dry and lightly sand between coats. Let dry overnight, then reassemble the table.

Frames

Supplies

• latex paint (Maria used Olympic Dogwood Blossom [D20-1])
• primer
• newspaper or drop cloth

1. Disassemble the picture frames. Protect your work surface, then apply two coats of primer. Let dry after each coat. Apply one to two coats of paint. Let dry between coats. Reassemble the frames, add mats and art or photos as desired. Don’t forget to clean the glass!

Vase

Supplies and tools

• spray paint (Maria used a vanilla white shade from Michaels)
• masking tape
• newspaper

1. Slice masking tape into various widths (or purchase tape in various widths) and tape around the vase in your desired pattern. Protect your work surface with newspaper, then spray with spray paint. Let dry.

Candle holders

Supplies and tools

• frosted glass spray paint
• newspaper
• votives/tealights

1. Clean and dry your glass candle holders. Cover your work surface with newspaper, then spray with frosted spray paint. Let dry.

Thanks, Maria! You can find her original post here.

Inspired by Jill Rosenwald's gorgeous lamps found at mainecottage.com

My friend Julie Chai (watch her videos here) at Sunset magazine gave me this lamp base as a project. Southwest isn’t my style, plus it had rusty hardware and a tattered, taped cord. I adore Jill Rosenwald’s lamps from Maine Cottage, but they’re out of my price range. So I decided to rewire and paint this table lamp instead. I got a bit carried away with all the flowers (in eight different shades of green/blue), but it was so darn fun! All the supplies I had on hand, which would make the lamp practically free—except I got soaked on the $50 lampshade. It still beats $425, though. In the end, my favorite part was the super inexpensive DIY round finial.

Rewired & painted table lamp

Supplies

• ceramic lamp base
• lampshade (I found mine at Lamps Plus)
• various house paint samples
• water-based primer
• 1 small sheet of felt
• 1 sheet of cover stock paper
• light socket & cord—or lamp kit (available at OSH)
• 1-1/4-inch wooden head bead (4-pack for $1 at Jo-Ann)
• clear spray lacquer
• drop cloth or newspaper
• scrap piece of wood & a nail
• craft glue (I used Aleene’s Tacky Glue)
• generic metal lamp finial (like this one)

Tools

• foam paint brush
• small paint brushes
• screwdriver
• scissors
• pencil & mars plastic eraser

1. First unplug the lamp. Remove and discard the bottom felt piece (if it’s still attached), cut the cord, and disassemble the light fixture. Remember how to reassemble the pieces. Set them aside.

2. Paint two coats of primer onto the base. Let dry 15 minutes between coats.

3. Apply two coats of your base color paint. (I custom mixed this color green.) For the finial: Hammer a nail into a scrap piece of wood, then place the wooden bead in the nail to paint it. (Thanks to Highjumpgirl for this suggestion.) Prime and paint the bead as above.

4. When the paint has completely dried, lightly sketch your design onto the lamp base.

5. Using your smaller brushes, paint over your sketch. I used ten different shades of blues and greens in my design—spare paints I had on hand. You can use acrylics from an art store or samples from a paint store. When the paint is completely dry, erase any wayward pencil marks.

6. Spray two coats of clear lacquer over the painted base and finial. Let dry 15 minutes between coats.

7. Rewire the lamp, replacing any necessary parts. I replaced the light socket and cord, but reused the rest of the original hardware. The directions are on the back of your lamp kit. Two of my original hardware pieces were rusted, so I removed the loose rust with a wire brush and spray-painted them silver.

8. String the cord and hardware through the lamp. Assemble the pieces per the directions. Make sure you tie the cord in a knot inside the hole at the base of the lamp to prevent the cord from accidentally being yanked out. Insert the harp into the harp bottom.

9. Trace the base of the lamp onto a piece of card stock.

10. Cut out the card stock and felt the same size. Glue the circles together. Let dry, then glue them—felt side facing out—to the base of your lamp. Let dry.

11. Insert the metal finial into the hole at the bottom of your wooden bead. Press them tightly together. The fit should be snug enough that no glue is required.

12. Attach the shade and finial, then flip the switch. Let there be light!

My sister Christy came up with this super easy idea—and I love it. Even better: I had all the supplies on hand. No, I don’t drink wine, but I have plenty of friends who do. They saved their corks for a big project I have planned. I could spare a few for this trivet. You can make these any size or shape you want. They’d also be great as coasters.

Wine cork trivet

Supplies

• 31 wine corks (all the same height)
• 1-1/2 yards of 7/8-inch-wide ribbon

Tools

• hot glue gun & glue
• scissors
• fine sand paper
• sharp serrated kitchen knife
• cutting board

1. Cut each wine cork in half with the kitchen knife. Try to cut as close to the middle as possible, so each will be the same height.

2. Sand the rough edges smooth and even out the height, if necessary.

3. Arrange the wine corks in your desired pattern.

4. Flip all the corks over, then start by gluing the center line together. A thin line of glue along the side is sufficient.

5. Then glue more corks, one by one, onto that center line until they are all glued together.

6. Start gluing the ribbon to the outside edge of the trivet. Squeeze a thin line of glue between each cork (one at a time), and then press the ribbon into the crevice. Let the last line of glue cool a bit before gluing the next (so you can pull the ribbon tight).

7. When you reach the end, trim the ribbon, apply the final line of glue, and press the end into the crevice.

8. Pick off the inevitable hot glue strands, let it cool, and you’re done.