{31 Days of Coastal Style} Easy DIY Driftwood Sign Tutorial

I have a confession to make. When it comes to crafts, I am NOT Martha Stewart. Or Ana White. Or even Karianne of Thistlewood Farms! For me to make a craft it must be: a) cheap (as in, preferably free), b) easy (like do-it-with-my-eyes-closed), and c) not involving a tape measure. (Let's just say: measuring tapes and I do not get along...)

So that's why this driftwood sign project was right up my alley. Free? Check. Easy? Check? No measuring involved? Double-check. Seriously, I'm almost embarrassed to call this a "tutorial", because, really, there are only two items necessary: a big piece of driftwood, and a paint pen (oh, yeah, three if you count a pencil)-- and it took less than five minutes from start to finish!

When I found this big, long piece of driftwood (at Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore on our Fourth of July family day), I knew immediately what I was going to do with it, and where it was going to go. I knew I was going to make a sign with it (similar to these), and that it was going to go in the beach-themed bathroom of our new apartment (even though we weren't even moved into said apartment yet)! But for some reason, it took me forever to actually get around to making it!

But on to the tutorial:

1) Steal Borrow your hubby's white paint pen. (Or if your hubby doesn't have one, you can always buy one at your local craft store, or on Amazon here- though that would take this craft out of the "free" category, and into the "costs a couple bucks" category) ;)

2) Decide what you want your sign to say. 

I knew I wanted mine to say "BEACH", and a distance. I picked 5 miles because a) that's the approximate distance from our house to the Michigan lakeshore (give or take a mile or two, and b) the number "5" is pretty easy to write nicely. ;) (Oh, and "5" also happens to be the number of people in our family, and the last digit of the year that Mr. Superman and I started courting & got engaged-- so I guess it has some familial significance, too-- now that I think about it!)

3) Lightly sketch out your words in pencil, to determine where and how big you want your letters to be.

4) Trace over your pencil marks with the paint pen.


Mine were a tad too skinny after one "go-round", so I went back over them a second time to make the lines more thicker/visible.

5) Stand back and enjoy your handiwork! :)

BTW, to hang my sign, I screwed two eye-hooks into the back of the driftwood, and strung picture-hanging wire between them. (Sawtooth hangers would have worked well too, but I was out of those.)

And in it's final resting place, my (soon-to-be-fully-revealed) bathroom:

Seriously, I feel embarrassed that a project this easy took me five months to actually break down and do it! (Hey, there's that number 5 again!) I'm so glad I finally got it done! Now it makes me smile every time I walk into my bathroom :)

Did you miss any of the other 31 Days of Coastal Style posts? Check the list out here!

Do you have a project you've been "putting off" for a long time? What are you waiting for? ;)

P.S. Check out the rest of the "31-Dayers" over at The Nester's blog!

{31 Days of Coastal Style} Weekend Daydreaming: Cape Cod Relaxation

Happy Sunday! Since today is (supposed to be) a day of rest, I just wanted to pop in and leave you with some fodder for your afternoon daydreams-- whether you're relaxing, or just wishing you were!

Source: Country Living. Pinned here.

Wouldn't you just love to lean back on these colorful Adironack chairs and sip a glass of iced tea (or a Diet Coke), while we watch the yachts sail lazily by? Why, I'd even be willing to make the finger sandwiches! (Who am I kidding? I'd be happy just to frame this and hang it on the wall!)

Did you miss any of the other 31 Days of Coastal Style posts? Check the list out here!

If you could go anywhere in the world for an afternoon of relaxation, where would you go?

P.S. Check out the rest of the "31-Dayers" over at The Nester's blog!

{31 Days of Coastal Style} DIY Faux "Ceramic" Coral

Today I have what is probably the World's Simplest Tutorial for you! :) 

If you're anything like me, you've drooled over the decorative ceramic sculptures in stores like Target and Homegoods countless times. However, if you're anything like me, you've also a) had hiccups over prices like $19.99 (or even $130, for Heaven's sakes!) for a small decorative accent that b) you've realized will most likely last only 2-3 days max in your little-child- (and clumsy-adult-- who, me?) -inhabited home.

So when I saw, and swooned over, a white ceramic coral figurine like the one above (pretty sure it was at Target, but now I can't find it on their site :( ), I decided there had to be a version of it I could find make myself that, a) wouldn't cost an arm and a leg, and b) could be displayed without constant fear of breakage!

Enter stage right: (drum roll, please)........ the Walmart aquarium aisle! 

Yep, the same aisle with the tiny glass fishbowls, little plastic pirate ships for your pet beta to "sail", and tanks full of goldfish floating swimming happily. That's where I found this pink beauty! It's perfect-- only $4.88, and best of all, lightweight, rubbery plastic that will withstand ANY two-year-old! Only problem, the Pepto-bismol-ish color = not exactly my style. BUT, nothing that my best friend and super hero, Mr. Spray Paint, can't change!

Sadly, I don't have any pics of the process, but it's PRETTTY basic-- remove pink coral from packaging, find safe place to lay it out (or hang from wire on garage ceiling, like I did, so I could spray all sides at once), and give it several light coats of white spray paint! I chose to go with matte paint vs. gloss, since that was what I had-- but you could use high gloss spray paint if you prefer a more "ceramic-like" finish. And.... TA-DA!

Ain't she bee-yoo-ti-ful? :)

So next time you go shopping-- keep your eyes open! You might find a new decoration in the most unexpected place! ;) (And remember, with a coat of paint, ANYTHING can be transformed. Well, I don't know about children-- I've never tried spray painting them...) ;)

Did you miss any of the other 31 Days of Coastal Style posts? Check the list out here!

So now I want to hear from you: what's the craziest thing you've ever spray-painted, or turned into a decoration? Please tell me!!!

P.S. Check out the rest of the "31-Dayers" over at The Nester's blog!

What's Cooking in the Kitchen? A $15 Mini-Makeover!

Yes, it's true-- I just gave my kitchen a mini-makeover for only $15, and about 15 minutes of work! (If you don't count the 3 1/2 hours I spent scrubbing the myriads of spots, dried spills, and splotches that plague  light-colored cabinets... but that's another story!) And how, you ask? The answer: a simple hardware swap!

BEFORE: even from a distance, the  brass & porcelain handles look drab and dated (and if you looked closely, you'd see that the "brass" was corroded and brown-- hence the "wide-angle" shot)

AFTER: the smooth chrome is the perfect modern counterbalance to the traditional cabinetry!

Ahhhh, soooo much better! Sleek, shiny, and up-to-date! Wanna know a secret? I found them at Goodwill! (Shhhh...) Yep, a bag of 7 beautiful handles, exactly what I'd been looking for to replace my sad, corroded "brass & porcelain" handles that constantly looked grimy. And the whole bagful was only $1.49!!!

Unfortunately, I needed more than 7 handles-- I needed 10, to be exact, plus 4 drawer pulls. Fortunately, my local Menards happened to carry the exact same handles, so the extra ones only added up to $13! Bringing the grand total for my fabulous updated kitchen to $15-- well, $14.49, to be exact ;)

Of course, if I hadn't found that bagful of handles at the local thrift store, this makeover would have cost about $21 more, but the total makeover would still be a not-too-shabby $34! (Possible even less, depending on what hardware you chose!)

This update was especially important, because THIS is the view that you see as soon as you walk in the front door of our apartment:

(I'm still trying to figure out what to do to the front of the island, that won't detract from everything else.) Here's the other side:

Our kitchen cabinets were actually store displays, so my Superman took the two lower center ones (where the stove is now), and turned them into an island, flanked with open shelves! I sewed the curtains that cover the shelves out of a tablecloth about three years ago (back when I was into the floral, cottage-y style). I think I need to make a new set that match my new colors, & the stylin' new cabinet pulls! :)

Another thing I want to do very soon is put a backsplash up behind the stove area. I'd love to do glass tile, or even penny tile (*swoon*) but I'm afraid that's out of my budget right now (unless I find some at Goodwill!) But I might try my hand at some paint & stenciling!

A gratuitous flower shot... I never buy fresh flowers for myself, but a sweet friend got me these for my birthday! I love the "freshness" they bring!

As you can see, my kitchen is not very large, and it is (literally) the center of the house-- the living room is to the left, and the dining room is to the right (with bedrooms opening off of those). So this $15 update visually impacts the whole house! I'm so happy with the effect this simple change has!

So what do you think? Have you done any inexpensive updates that have a huge impact on your home? Any quick tweaks?

The Christmas Cards That Weren't

I had very high hopes for our Christmas cards this year. I've never gone the professionally printed route (mostly because I'm too cheap... LOL), so each year I spend hours designing the "perfect" Christmas card to remind all of our far-flung relatives what our family looks like ;) This year was no exception-- I laboriously selected the photos, created a layout, and tweaked it over and over again until I was happy (I always have a hard time being "satisfied" with my own work, but this one I actually liked!)

But then, the unthinkable happened. When I hit "print," our printer gave a cough, shuddered, and collapsed. (Well, okay, maybe it wasn't that dramatic. More like, I pressed "print", walked away (fully expecting it to do its job like always), and returned 5 minutes later to find a stack of photos with hideous white streaks across them!) One way or the other, after much research, troubleshooting, and weeping, our printer was declared deceased-- and the soonest we could afford to replace it was AFTER Christmas. :(

This meant that December 25th came and went with nary a Christmas card in the mail. This in itself is, unfortunately, not a new thing for me-- I am known to deem it acceptable as long as the cards are in the mailbox by December 31st! But when the calendar changed to 2013, and my Christmas cards were still giving me the stink eye from my computer, I gave up and went to Plan B-- New Year's cards!

Granted, these are not nearly as fancy-- I literally threw them together (on Microsoft Publisher) in less than 15 minutes! But the best news is, with a blank inside, they double as "thank you" cards for all of the gifts and cards we have received! I think I may have just started a new tradition!!!

So here's my big holiday tip to you: if you want to cut extra stress before Christmas, skip the "Christmas cards"-- just mail a New Year's thank-you card that contains the annual family picture/relative-reminder as well! Hooray!!!

So what is your holiday card M.O.? Do you design your own Christmas card, or do you fork out the money and let someone else handle it for you? Do you adhere to the traditional schedule of pre-Christmas card mailing, or do you (accidentally or on purpose) choose to wait until a different time to send your annual letters?

Christmas Gift Ideas for $10 or Less!

So, if you're Mark Zuckerberg, or Bill Gates, or Kim Kardashian, or anyone of those insanely rich people out there, you might want to skip right on by this post. But if you're on a budget (and who isn't, these days? well, except for those extra-loaded people on the Forbes Richest Billionares list), and DON'T have an unlimited amount of money to spend on Christmas gifts, then this is for you!

No matter what your Christmas budget is, ($300 a person? $30 a person? $3 a person?) it always seems to be a challenge to find the right gift in the right price range. (And I'll be honest, my budget is a lot closer to the lower end of the spectrum.) So here I'm rounding up a collection of gifts that have caught my eye in the last few weeks, for $10 and UNDER!


For the Little Adventurer:

$9.99 with FREE SUPER SAVER SHIPPING from Amazon.com

What little explorer wouldn't like a six-function whistle that also contains a compass, LED flashlight, magnifier, thermometer, and signal mirror? Walmart also carries a four-function version for only $4.95!

For the Little Snow-Bunny:

Only $8.99 on Sassy Steals (originally $18.99!)

Every little cutie needs a winter hat (well, unless you live in the Caribbean or Hawaii...), and what better winter hat than one that's (nearly) as cute as they are?

For the Fashionista:

$7.29 with FREE SHIPPING on Amazon.com

Any style maven will love this totally on-trend bubble necklace-- available in your choice of red, pink, rose, black, yellow, or turquoise (actually more like emerald green-- which happens to be Pantone's 2013 Color of the Year!)

For the Car "Buff" (pun intended):

An even $10.00 at Walmart!

Every true auto aficionado likes to keep his ride shiny-- be it an 78 Chevelle or a 2013 Viper! Help him out with a Turtle Wax car care kit (and maybe throw in a certificate for a "free car cleaning"-- or at least some assistance-- from you!)

For the Aspiring "Cake Boss":

$7.00 on Walmart.com (with FREE in-store pickup!)

Got a little (or big) person that likes to bake or decorate cakes and cupcakes? This Wilton 18-piece decorating kit has all they need to get started-- for only 7 bucks at Walmart! (The website says it's "Online Only", but my store has it in stock-- if yours doesn't, you can still get FREE site-to-store shipping!)

For the "Foodie":

Only $4.50 plus shipping on Etsy!

Forget those giant tins of mass-produced popcorn... here's some homemade sweet-and-salty caramel popcorn that will please even the most discriminatory tastebuds!

For the Anglo-phile:

$8.00 + $2.50 shipping on Etsy

Yes, I know the shipping puts it just over the $10 threshold... but seriously, who could resist this gorgeous "Keep Calm and Carry On" keychain? (Though, if you buy more than one-- say, one for you and one for someone else-- shipping is only $1.25!) Oh, and if you'd rather personalize it with a name or different quote, you can do that, too!

For Your Little Pirate (or Princess, or Astronaut):

$2.99 plus shipping from Amazon

Give your kiddos the gift of imagination with a dress-up costume they can play with year round! Amazon has a great selection of inexpensive costumes that will keep your little one's creativity revving high!

For the Techno-Geek:

A very affordable $2.96 + $2.44 shipping on Amazon.com

Oh, the weather outside is frightful, but these touch screen gloves will let them use their iPod, iPad, iPhone, or any other touchscreen device while staying bundled up and warm!

For Everyone Else:

You know the drill: "if all else fails, buy a gift card." For the most "bang" for your buck, go with a Dollar Tree gift card-- you can purchase them in any amount from $5 to $100!!! Just think of all the goodies that $10 would buy!

Hope this helps those of you who, like me, are still working on your Christmas gift lists! ;) What is your favorite under-$10 gift (to get, or to give)?

P.S. I have no connection whatseover with any of the people, companies or websites whose products I featured here, nor do I receive any financial remuneration from your purchase of said items or from said sites. :/