Now it's a knock-off!

Nothing for six days, and then two posts in the same one! Go me. I had to show you one of the many tiny projects that have been waiting to be finished around here. I wish I could say it has to do with our bedroom, but it actually has to do with the guest bedroom.

Remember my knock-off Pottery Barn lamp? The one that I created after falling in love with their version, but I just couldn't swallow the astronomical price tag?



Yeah, that one. Well, apparently patience is an art form, because back when I first made this lamp, I couldn't buy the amazing unlined burlap shade separately, so I settled on a sheer white one (which now graces my coffee bean lamp). But over Labor Day weekend when Mom & I hit up Pottery Barn, guess what was hanging out in their lighting section?


Meet the Pottery Barn "Burlap Tapered Drum Lamp Shade." A true thing of beauty in my opinion. I know some of us out there are wacky for burlap and lack the necessary skills to create this at home (ahem! yours truly!), but now if you feel like saving yourself the stress and anxiety of cutting up a perfectly good lamp shade only to realize you decimated the frame and can no longer cover it time of DIY-ing it, you can buy it!

And what a difference it made.



Now it looks like a knock-off!



With the addition of the new lamp shade, this little guy came to a whopping $50.40. If you calculated in tax for the original lamp, it would come to a grand total of $281.66, effectively saving me $231.26! So that little lamp shade was well worth the extra money!


Happy dance!

Knock-off Pottery Barn lamp

Ever since I saw this lamp from Pottery Barn, I couldn't shake the image from my mind. The curvy mercury glass was so pretty and the light bulb visible through the unlined lamp shade gave it a somewhat playful appearance. I loved the effect!


What I didn't love (as usual) was the price they were demanding.



No matter how much I loved it, I knew I couldn't get on board with that astronomical dollar amount. So I sort of put the idea of owning it out of my head. Fast forward to last week when I was at the ESW looking for Mother's Day gifts and a lamp for the guest room. I found a real cutie--the perfect size for the top story of the night stand--for a whopping $4. It was very brassy and tarnished as you can see.





A coat of primer made a huge difference, but from here I was at a loss for what to do.



Then I remembered the oh-so-coveted mercury glass lamp. But how could I achieve that look?! Roeshel had great success with her mercury glass pumpkins by just using silver and brown paint, but I wasn't sure if I could recreate that look on the lamp. Then, out of the far corner of my mind came this idea.


No, that's not spray paint and it's not silver leafing. It's a product called "Rub & Buff." I'd seen it used by Gina at The Shabby Chic Cottage, but she'd used their "Patina" formula. I used their "Silver Leaf." I had no idea what the heck I was doing, but at only $4 it was was cheaper than silver leafing and a whole lot easier (I had no idea what leafing actually entailed)! But before I started, I painted the lamp espresso, that way any color peeking through would be dark, just like regular mercury glass.


(Erm, sorry for my--ahem!--slightly crooked picture)
Then all it took was rubbing it on. I used my finger (which was very silver by the time I was done) and just sort of went at it! A little goes a ridiculously long way. I couldn't believe how little of the tube I used. Once it's dry (and it dries with in minutes, if not seconds) all it takes is a little rubbing with a rag. Any areas that rubbed off in a way I wasn't happy with, I just added more of the cream. I love the way it works! I'm going to go crazy with this stuff (after all, I still need lamps for our master bedroom).





It's not a dead ringer for mercury glass, but I have no doubts that this was a better choice than spray paint.

Now all I needed was a lamp shade. I tried to make my own frame and cover it with burlap. The frame making went fine, but the whole covering it with fabric was a little more difficult than I had anticipated. I started searching for just a simple burlap lamp shade, even though I really wanted the see through effect (which can only be achieved with an unlined shade). On a whim (read: out of sheer desperation) I happened to check Pottery Barn's website, which is where I found this.


It's much more sheer than the burlap, but the concept is the same! I love the softness is gives the metal of the lamp in their photo. But the best part was the $19.99 clearance price tag! Well, that and I paid for it with a gift card so technically, technically there was no out of pocket cost. =)



All in all, my new lamp cost me $28 total, but only $8 out of pocket! If you're better at covering your own lamp shade, this is a wonderful way to add a little sparkle to your room without shelling out a lot of paper.


I'm linking up to:
DIY Project Parade @ The DIY Show-Off
Trash to Treasure Tuesday @ Reinvented
Power of Paint Party @ Domestically Speaking

Nice rack

I'm loving my newest accessory for the guest bedroom! I really don't know what to call it. It's not a coat rack, but simply calling it a rack sounds so much like my husband and his Marines on a Friday night wrong as well. So if anyone can come up with a good name, I'm all ears!

Before I get into the tutorial, I'd like to take a moment and give a shout-out to eBay seller Texas Home Decor, which is where I bought my hooks from. They were an amazing price--at about $3.50 a piece with shipping included, you can't even find plastic look-a-likes at Target for that price, and these are actual cast iron. But the cherry on top was that after ordering them on Friday afternoon they were already in my (California) mailbox by Monday! You better believe that at 11:30 Monday night I was running to my mailbox after checking the tracking info and seeing that DELIVERED message. (Yes, I checked my mail at 11:30 at night. Jason and I have always been bad about checking our mailbox everyday and it's not uncommon for our mail to pile up for three or four days before we retrieve it.)

Okay, moving on...first things first I measured my wall and used my inspiration as a guide for the size. I chose to do 27" x 5". I used a piece of my $0.51 plywood that I had planned on using on the wall unit--just so happened, it was 27" in length exactly! But as you can see, my jigsaw skills still aren't the greatest. They're getting better though! Since I'm going for the whole imperfect-reclaimed-wood-look I figured it just adds character! ;)



I'm pleasantly surprised at the knot holes this plywood has in it.





Next I used some of my favorite Minwax stain in "Dark Walnut." I originally purchased a little container of it to makeover my JoAnn tray and it's still got a lot of life in it. SIDE NOTE: If you happen to see Minwax stain at Michaels, do not buy it! It's so overpriced. Our Michaels sells it for about $9, but Home Depot only charges $4 or $5.



I only used one coat and didn't stress about getting it into the knot holes perfectly. Once it was dry, I used a sample pint of Behr's Artist Canvas in flat. For all you Rust-Oleum Heirloom White lovers, Artist Canvas is a very close match for a roll-on paint (if your Home Depot is like mine and doesn't carry Heirloom White in anything but a spray paint). I applied the paint in a dry brush style using both a foam brush and a regular paint brush (I cannot even begin to describe how panicked I was when I accidentally flicked paint onto the car of one of Jason's Marines--we're storing it for him while they're overseas).









Then I attached a single strip of plywood to the back to give the screws something to go into. I used short screws to begin with, but I wanted to try and prevent any chance of the screw tips scratching up our rented walls.



I hung it using d-rings and Velcro! ;) I'd like to try and find something a little better because it tips just ever so slightly away from the wall. But for now this system is working just fine!






(The hooks didn't come with hardware. So I just took some regular silver screws and used my rusting kit on them to make them match!)





The little hanging jar is actually made from a leftover Smucker's Strawberry preserves jar. I just jimmied a twine hanging system for it and it worked out perfectly (I even tested the strength by filling the jar with water). The faux-daffodils won't stay there for long. I plan on getting some fresh daisies at the farmer's market this week. I'm still on the hunt for the perfect basket like my inspiration photo, but my pink scarf looks kind of cute there too (and is still appropriate since we're having some unseasonably cold weather right now).

The total cost was $15.25 if you include the $0.51 for the plywood. I had everything else on hand. I loved my inspiration, but at almost $60 it was way out of my budget. My little knock-off was a whopping $45 less! GO BUDGET!

I'm linking up to:
Trash to Treasure Tuesday @ Reinvented
DIY Day @ A Soft Place to Land
Power of Paint Party @ Domestically Speaking
Transformation Thursday @ The Shabby Chic Cottage
Hooking Up With HOH @ House of Hepworths
Best DIY Projects of April @ Beneath My Heart

diy French grain sack pillow

This pillow was inspired by all those gorgeous grain sack pillows out there--you know? The ones that go for about $60 a piece? Heck, even grain sack fabric is about $60 per yard!


image from Apartment Therapy

The funny thing is, I had set about doing this project before I realized that everyone else out there was DIY-ing them too! But in case you want to follow my tutorial, here's how we do it at Two Nuts in a Shell.

SUPPLIES:

Fabric (I bought a simple cotton fabric from JoAnn's)

Sewing machine (or no-sew supplies)

Yard stick and pen

Tape (painters, packers, any kind)

Craft paint and sponge brush

Pillow form

Pillow closing apparatus (zipper, buttons--I used Velcro) :)

First things first, determine your pillow size. I made an 18x18-inch size. Measure using your yardstick, adding two inches onto the size for your hem. So your square should actually be 20x20-inches. If you like your pillows plumper and fuller, you can always cut out your exact pillow size. The hems will make the cover a little more snug around the pillow.



Cut out your square and pin the side hems in. Don't worry about the tops and bottoms yet. I find it's easier to do the sides in pairs.



Next, run your fabric through your sewing machine, or use your no-sew supplies to hem the sides. Make sure that you're sewing the "wrong sides" facing the outside. This usually only matters of you're using a fabric with a pattern, but with our simple cotton it doesn't make much of a difference. Just make sure that your pen or pencil marks will end up on the inside of the cover.


(Isn't the close up of this fabric gorgeous?! I love how closely it resembles an actual grain sack!)

When it comes time to do your other sides, I sewed about 3/4 of the way down, stopped, hemmed the bottom portion of my pillow, and then finished stitching the sides. Since I didn't use a zipper, I needed to finish off the hems so they wouldn't fray. But essentially the bottom portion of my pillow is open. Hopefully, these photos will help (a little).





Attach your Velcro for closure. Any craft store sells sticky Velcro. I always attach my two sides and cut them as one so they're the same size.



Next: painting. Before we start on our stripes, make sure you separate your fabric using cardboard or paper bags. This keeps the paint from seeping through to the other side. I also made sure to put a little piece of cardboard at the top and have a little piece of paper bag sticking out of the bottom so I could carry my paint all the way to the edges.

If you did an 18x18-inch pillow, the center of your pillow will be between 8.5-inches and 9.5-inches. Using your yardstick, tape off your center stripe. Press down firmly to keep the paint from seeping through.

Using a stencil brush (they're those round spongy ones), gather some paint making sure to blot off any excess. I used a pretty blue-grey paint called Sterling Blue by Folk Art.



Start blotting the paint onto your fabric. Don't use too much paint. Seriously, a light hand is the way to go here.



Continue blotting until you've filled in your stripe. You can also go back and fill in any blank spots. Don't worry about it looking perfect--real grain sack isn't!



Once the paint is dry to the touch, go ahead and remove your tape. Go slowly so that any excess paint on your tape isn't cast off onto your fabric.


(Pretend that my pillow is already closed. I wasn't sure how I was going to close the pillow--zippers go on first, not last, oops!--and I didn't want to wait to paint the stripes on.)

Repeat these steps for your two smaller stripes. I just eyeballed mine (which unfortunately made them just a little uneven, but again, perfection is not the point here).







Once everything is dry, put your pillow back inside and display with pride! You just saved a bundle of money (overall this project cost me $6.28)!

a new old coffee table

You may remember this post on our coffee table; the one that badly needed painting since the finish had been stripped by Bath & Body Works Wall Flower oil. But what you didn't see in those photos was this:



Yes. My paint job in all its splotchy goodness. I don't know what the hell happened. I think that was the first night the temperature really fell in SoCal, and it just effed up the paint beyond belief. I tried to cover it with regular roll-on paint, but nothing seemed to fix the problem. So instead, I stripped it down and painted the whole thing Heirloom white. It's now sitting in Jason's game room awaiting the TV.



Wondering why I decided not to use the piece I'd slaved, agonized, cursed, and cried over worked so diligently on? Blame Pottery Barn. Well, Pottery Barn and my catalogue addiction. While sipping my Plantation Mint tea and leisurely flipping through the glossy pages of their January catalogue, my heart absolutely stopped when I saw this photo.



It's not just that Benjamin Moore Wedgewood Gray wall (although how gorgeous is it over those planks?). Or that amazing photo gallery set-up (humina humina humina) or even that bright green tree in that to die for braided basket. No, what made my heart skip a beat (or twelve!) was the Norfolk Bench.



The chunky legs, the distressing. The whitewash finish. And I practically started salivating when I read this in the description:

... We've captured its appeal in this family-friendly bench, crafted with the generous proportions of 19th-century Irish farmhouse furniture.

Oh shut up! You all know I'm a sucker for all things Irish. But at $400, this bench was just not meant to be. I immediately started scheming over how I could turn my once-French Country coffee table into an Irish farmhouse coffee table.

Imagine my delight when I remembered we had this in the house.







That planked top, those turned legs, that distressing! And it was free! All it needed was a couple coats of Heirloom White paint (and only to the top! the bottom was a near perfect match as it was!), some more distressing...





...some Ralph Lauren Smoke glaze (thank you Shanty Sisters!)...



..and some fabulous new hardware courtesy of Anthropologie...





...and I now have my very own Pottery Barn knock-off Irish farm house coffee table for the sweet sweet price of $35! AH! Fabulous!

For those who are curious, the table originally came from a local furniture store called Jerome's, but I'm pretty sure it's an Ashley Furniture table.

I'll be linking up to:
Inspired Ideas @ The Shabby Chic Cottage
Make Your Monday @ The Twice Remembered Cottage
Trash to Treasure Tuesday @ Reinvented
Power of Paint Party @ Domestically Speaking
The Pottery Barn Knock-Off Party @ Homebody