Wood Pallet Wall Plaque

After posting my Valentine's Vignette, I had quite a few questions about this new addition to my living room. Apparently, I can't slip anything past you guys. No really though, I'm glad you noticed it and liked it enough to ask about it, because it's one of my new favorite parts of the living room!

Adam always comes home with more pallets. I'm not really sure where they come from, but we've got quite the collection of them in our basement, and I love the look of a good pallet wall. I have allowed a pallet wall to consume my thoughts for so long, but I just don't seem to have anywhere to put one in our home. 

Instead of a entire pallet wall, I decided a small "pallet wall" would look great over our buffet. I've never really loved anything that I've put above the buffet, and always just seemed to be putting things there to fill the empty space... until this pallet wall plaque! 

Adam built this for me because he made the mistake of mentioning he was "itching for a project" so unfortunately I can't take the credit. But I can tell you how he made it! 

He started with pulling apart the pallets and arranging them in an aesthetically pleasing way. He then had me approve his design before building a frame on the back. 

Here is the frame he put in the back. All of the pallets have been individually glued onto the frame with wood glue. As you can tell, the frame isn't centered from top to bottom. This was purposeful, so the plaque could hang on the wall by the frame, but the bottom still had as much support as possible.

We decided to leave all the nails in the wood to create an even more rustic look, so some of the nails needed the backs cut so they didn't hit the wall. 

He stained it with Minwax's Wood Finish in Provincial. 

For one final touch, he added a nail in the top center of the plaque so I could hang my wreaths.

I would love to find an incredibly inexpensive boxwood wreath to hang here this spring/summer, but so far I haven't had much luck. So for now, the burlap wreath is a great replacement. 

Come back next week to see my Spring Vignette for this space!

projects in this post:

burlap bubble wreath | white & whimsical chalk paint buffet

DIY Wood Shelves

My living room has always puzzled me. It is a decent size, rectangular in shape, and the center of our whole home. I have redecorated it about a thousand times, yet I never seem to be able to get it right. I have always loved everything that I put in the living room, I just never seemed to love everything once I put them all together.

First: I didn't like the paint color when we first moved in, so we painted it slightly darker.

Second, I made this Burlap Rosette Heart for over the couch, which I loved for a long time, but I'm ready for a change.

Then, I decided it needed a bench under the window, but now I sometimes think it makes it look too crammed.

Next, I thought it was too dark, so I lighted it up with lighter curtains and a white entertainment center.

After that, I made a wood plank coffee table to make the room a little more unique.

Even after all of that, I always felt like something was missing, that "WOW" factor.

I've changed my pillow covers about 12 times thinking that I just needed to change up the colors.

And then I saw Shanty 2 Chic's DIY Floating Shelves (Check out her full tutorial). They seem to have these shelves, or something similar all over their houses and I love them! My husband was nice enough to build some for me and I am seriously obsessed! He followed Ashley's instructions, but tweaked them a little. Here's what he did differently:

• created the E-shaped frame of 2x4's and attached the wood top to the E with pocket holes.
• attached the 1x6 side pieces with pocket holes as well. 
• pre-drilled everything to make sure it all fit together nicely. 
• We decided to stain the shelves before hanging them to make sure the stain didn't get all over the house (we used 2 coats of Minwax Provincial)
• Then he hung the shelves first putting on the E-shaped with the top, then attaching the sides, and finally screwing in the bottom.

We hung the shelves 14 inches apart, which has worked out perfectly for us. 

Here is our final project:

Okay, one last look...

What do you guys think? I want to build these for every room of my house!

Happy October!!

DIY Christmas Stockings

When Adam and I first got our own place, we went with the cheapest everything when it came to Christmas decorations. We found stocking at Walmart for $5, and a matching tree skirt to go with it, so we thought we hit the jackpot.

Fast forward a few years and those ugly stockings had to go! I was determined to make my own stockings last year, but that never happened. So here I am this year with some new stockings I made myself, finally.

Since I made green and red chevron pillows and tree skirt last year, I decided to stay with the chevron theme. I already had the fabric, so this project cost me absolutely nothing.

First, I used our old stockings to trace. I found it easiest to fold the fabric so I could cut out both pieces at once. 

Next, I cut out the fabric for the stocking. Instead of cutting right on the line, I went out about a half an inch to leave room for the seam. This worked out perfectly when it cam time to sew because I could just follow the line I traced.

Next, I sewed the outside edge of the stocking "flap" so there would be a smooth edge. 

With all fabric facing down, I then lined up the flap and stocking to sew the edges together. When you do this, be sure the pieces of your stocking are facing outward so they are correct when you fold them.

With the flap fabric lifted up, fold the stocking so it is lined up and ready for sewing. Sew ONLY the stocking together, following your trace lines. DO NOT SEW THE FLAP. 

Once the stocking portion is sewn, turn the stocking right side out. The flap should now be inside out. Sew the side edges of the flap together.

Lastly, turn the stocking inside out one last time. Attach a piece of ribbon on the top of the stocking. Consider which way you want your stockings to hang when you do this. Then turn the stocking right side out again.

You just made your very own stocking! Woo Hoo!!

My first stocking took me quite a while to make. There were so many things to think about as far as how to sew it and in want order to be able to get the flap to fold down. Confession: I even threw a half completed stocking away because I messed up so bad. 

But once I figured out the process, I whipped up the next one in about 15 minutes.  

Happy Stocking Making!

Can you believe Christmas is just 8 days away?!

Fabric Turkey Pillow Cover and a Thanksgiving Blog Hop

When I got invited to be a part of a Thanksgiving Blog Hop by Erin and Emily from Elizabeth Joan Designs, I immediately knew I wanted to attempt to create a turkey pillow! It's one of those projects that's been on my mind for quite some time now, but since I don't usually decorate specifically for Thanksgiving, I've never done it. 

The thing I loved most about this project is that it cost me next to nothing to make, and I'm sure that would be the case if any of you wanted to create one as well. The only thing I had to purchase was the Heat N Bond which cost me $2.99. 

To make the pillow cover, I used leftover drop cloth from my ruffled curtains I made a while back. You can see my tutorial on how I sewed the pillow cover here. 

Using many different fabrics, I cut out the pieces of my turkey. Then I took the lazy route and used the Heat N Bond Ultrahold to stick the turkey pieces onto the pillow. I was definitely NOT about to use the sewing machine to sew on all those tiny pieces.  In a matter of minutes, I had a new Thanksgiving inspired turkey pillow for my living room. 

He's so stinking cute I can't even handle it.

Next year, I think it would be cool to use the same idea to make a larger version and hang it above my couch to replace my rosette burlap heart. But seriously, isn't he just the cutest little guy?

Brought to you by: 
Elizabeth Joan Designs - Homemade By Carmona - Dwelling In Happiness - Melanie Gets Married- Latte Everyday - Hawthorne & Main - Bumblebreeblog - Anderson + Grant - Renovar Design - For My Love Of - Not A Trophy Wife 

(Simply click on any of the above pictures to see projects from other bloggers!)

A HUGE thank you to Emily and Erin for inviting me to be apart of this Thanksgiving Blog Hop! I hope you'll take the time to check out the rest of the bloggers projects as well!

DIY Pillow Sleeves

It seems like I change my pillow covers far too often... probably because I do. Adam has decided it's becoming a problem. I've decided I might have finally figured it out.

Ever since moving into this house, the living room has just puzzled me. I have not been able to decide colors, furniture, wall hangings, or anything. I have changed my mind more times than I can even remember, and to this day I'm not quite sure what on earth I want to do with this room. 

I finally came across these two fabric designs at hobby lobby, and decided to give them a whirl. I may even keep my coral polka dot pillows around with as a fun accent color.

In search of the perfect color combinations for the living room, I have created countless pillow covers over the past year. You would think by now I'd be an expert, but the truth is I am absolutely not. 

Almost a year ago, I shared this tutorial with you all. I have always made my pillow covers this way, but this time around, I decided to try something a bit different. Unfortunately I didn't take pictures, but I will try my best to explain it.

I purchased a yard of each fabric, and was able to make 2 pillows with each for a total of 4 pillows. The best part: the fabric only cost me $10, which means I only spent $2.50 on each one!  (see why it's so easy for me to keep changing my mind!?)

I started by ironing my fabric and cutting it to size.

To determine the height, I measured the pillow and added 1/2 an inch. To determine the width, I measured the width, multiplied by two, and added another 6 inches. 

Example: If I had a pillow that was 18inches x 18inches, I would measure the height as 18.5 inches, and the width as 42 inches (18x2=36+6=42). 

After cutting my fabric, I folded a seam along both of the shorter sides of the pillow. These will eventually be for the back flaps. 

Then, I laid the fabric out, facing right side up, and folded each side over. I pinned the sides in place to create an inside out pillow cover. Once the sides were pinned in place, I stitched the two long sides (top and bottom). 

Once the sewing was done, I flipped the pillow cover right side out and inserted my pillow.

Ta da!

I think they turned out great! They add a pop of color to my living room and really seem to brighten the place up a bit.  With that being said, these babies might be around for a while. 

And see that sunshine beaming in through the windows? Spring just may be closer than we think!