Gretchen over at Gretchen’s Garage teamed up with her son on a snow day to turn scrap wood and leftover paint into a piece of wall art. The duo drew out their design on a piece of paper and then made the puzzle come to life with the cuts of wood and paint. For only $10 for the plywood backing, Gretchen got new wall décor AND a day of quality time with her son. Now that is something Pottery Barn can’t compete with!
As soon as Stacie at Stars for Streetlights saw an artistic map of the Great Lakes for over $100, she knew she had to try to make it. She ended up turning the project over to Sean, a Chicago native with a connection to the lakes and also the patience to cut out five layers of cardstock with an X-Acto knife! I must say I am pretty much in awe of Sean’s steady hand. Even up close, the map looks fabulous!
Aly from Entirely Eventful Day loves the function and industrial look of trunk coffee tables. The price was the only thing holding her back from owning one until she found a way to get one for FREE by transforming Grandpa’s old tool chest. With a cleaning, sanding, and staining, Aly finally got her beloved trunk coffee table and brought new life to a family piece that was going to be discarded!
The minute Julie from Do or DIY saw Restoration Hardware’s tripod floor lamp, she knew she had to have it. Well, maybe not RH’s almost $1400 lamp, but a very similar DIY version! Julie wanted it to have that antique vibe, so she took to Craigslist to find an old wooden tripod that was used for mounting telescopes. Husband Chris took over the electrical work, and the lamp was complete! It turns out that Julie and Chris’ lamp cost less than even the sales tax of the Restoration Hardware version!
Ann wanted to repurpose old framed art into décor for her bathroom and knew just where to turn – Deb from Lake Girl Paints. Deb took apart the frames and matting and gave the pieces new life as hand-painted word art. Here’s from Deb: “So a fresh recycle will bring trendy style to Ann’s bath. It sure makes you think about old things in a new way.”
