A hidden memo board

WOW!!

What a surreal day! TDC was highlighted on The Nate Berkus show today and it’s been so cool seeing all the new visitors around here! :) (I don’t think the segment is up on his site, but I’ll video tape it and post it for those who didn’t see it if you’d like!)

Thanks to Nate for the wonderful mention on his show, welcome to my new visitors and thanks again to my readers for all your sweet comments. Whew. Crazy!!

OK…only to the organization goodness. I started this project just a teensy while ago. OK, maybe it was about eight months ago. It’s sat half way done for all that time.

About eight months and day ago…I decided I was tired of the all of our random notes, phone numbers and pizza coupons cluttering up the side of the fridge, so I had a bahhhrilliant idea. I still had magnetic paint from the chalkboard I created in our kitchen years ago:

(You can find out more about that process here. )

I decided to utilize the cabs right next to the fridge – I wanted to paint the insets of the doors (inside) with that fun magnetic paint and make it into a little, private memo board.

I was all YAY – I’ll use what I have, it will take about 20 minutes, and BOOYAH I am good. Well, in my world, as soon as you think it or say it out loud, the opposite happens. Like when I was five minutes early to a dinner the other night (which never, ever EVER happens) and congratulated myself (to myself). Then I drove into the parking lot only to realize I was supposed to be at another location fifteen minutes away.

Gah.

Anyway…I know better to say it out loud folks.

The thing with magnetic paint is that it needs to be shaken SUPER, freaky, well. Every time I’ve used it before, I’ve taken it to the hardware store and have it done in their machine. If you don’t, the magnetic goodness sits at the bottom no matter how well you stir. At least for me. I must be a wimp, cause I can’t get that stuff up into the paint to save my life.

Because I didn’t have much paint left (and Paint Guy tells me they can’t put an almost empty can in the shaker), I figured I could mix it myself.

About five coats later I finally gave in. The stuff was not magnetizing – so the inside of the doors sat like this for eight months:

Isn’t that lovely. I had taped them off, but I left the tape up there so long, it wouldn’t come off all the way:

So when I decided to finally tackle this again, I had to use an x-acto knife to get the tape off:

It had become one with the cabinet after all this time. :)

I got it cleaned up and went ahead with my idea to fix my failed idea. I found some perfectly sized pieces of galvanized metal at a local True Value:

For MONTHS I tried to find the perfect metal pieces to fit in there – I’d find the right size, take it home and find out they weren’t magnetic. GAH!

Then I got galvanized metal roofing stuff (that was magnetic), but I was going to have to cut it all down to make it work…and I just needed a teeny bit, not a whole roll.

So THIS stuff was perfect!! It was something like 80 cents a sheet? And I found it at a little bitty small town True Value store – who would have thunk that?

I put it up with hot glue, just in case I ever wanted to take it down:

I am NEVER taking it down, now that it’s done. But you know, just in case. :)

Now I could hang our random bits of paper! But when I went to find our magnets, I couldn’t find one. It had been so long since I started this project, I had gotten rid of ALL of them in a purge. :)

Since I’ve been feeling crafty lately, I decided to make some new magnets. I made some of these cuties last year for little Christmas gifts:

(Sorry for the crappy pics – my battery was dying on me!)

I know…you’re wondering why I didn’t just use these. :) Well, I found them when I dug through my craft stuff – I forgot I still had some. And I remembered that the roll ‘o magnet that I used on the back of them last year wasn’t nearly strong enough for my liking.

And I wanted to craft darn it! OK?!

So I gathered my supplies:

The French Onion dip is optional. :)

You can find these little glass jobbies at any craft store – I think they’re a few bucks for a bag?:

I use Aleene’s clear glue:

Just brush it on the back – you don’t have to use much!:

I kind of forgot that and globbed it on. It took forever for them to dry!

Just lay them glue side down on the paper. You’ll want to push them onto the paper well, so all of the air bubbles come out. After they dry, use an x-acto knife and trace around them to cut each one out.

I used some heavy duty magnets from True Value for these, and glued them on with liquid nails:

Oh yeah…they’re totally Christmasified:

   

Aren’t they too cute?!

I used some square glass pieces I had as well -- they make adorable little magnets too:

I was so motivated, I printed out a list of pizza places and their phone numbers:

Now our pizza place memo board is complete! And caauuute!:

Now the coupons, lists and phone numbers are hidden, but still easily accessible. All for less than $3 in metal sheets – that is what I’m talking about!

And it only took eight months! I rock.  ;)

Unless your kitchen is all fabulous and you have ALL glass cabs, you could easily do this to the inside of any cabinet! Five useless coats of magnetic paint not necessary. :)

 

*I was one of the bloggers selected by True Value to work on the DIY Squad. I have been compensated for my time commitment to the program as well as my writing about my experience. I have also been compensated for the materials needed for my DIY project. However, my opinions are entirely my own and I have not been paid to publish positive comments.*

 

Thank you to my sponsor!:

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Wine Rack Towel Holder

I absolutely love the idea of using things for their unintended uses. Like plant stands for nightstands or end tables. Or topping a big pot with some wood/cement/door/whatever and make a really cool outdoor table. Door or shutters as a headboard. Sheets as window treatments, etc.

Well. Here is my new unintended use item:

Yes. That would be a wine rack as a towel holder. See, before, my tub use to look like this -full of towels:

And thats not at its worst...at least this is somewhat organized....and the towels are folded :)

I used to have a basket under the sink for our towels. But, my husband could never remember they were there. I guess, out of sight out of mind. So, they migrated to the tub's edge. Which was fine cuz it was a cinch to just fold and throw them there. But it was an eyesore. Albeit, a behind the door eyesore. But I knew it was there.

And then I found this baby at the thrift store. For $3. And a light went off in my head.

It got itself a paint job and a new purpose in life....

...to organize my towels.

I'm thinking that I like this new look...and it frees up the tub! Can't beat that.

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I'm Back :) And with a little dining room update

I just checked to see when I last posted, and I decided that more than likely I have been blacklisted from all followers for not updating my blog, oh, lets say....for like 4 months? Its crazy how time flies and how life just seems to catch up with you.

I figured I should probably redeem myself and post like a mad women from here on out, but I can't promise anything. Although I will try my best to keep up to date.

This next project was actually done before Christmas time but its still up today, I figure it will carry itself past Valentines...at least thats what I'm telling myself.

Here is what my dining room looked like just after we moved in. Yep, pretty boring huh. (yawn)

I tried to spice it up.....

Worked for a little bit. But then winter came around, and it needed some warmth.

This is where my next project came in. I bought some cheap fabric, got to work with my sewing machine. Grabbed some of this....

And some of that....

And....perfection :)

When I first conjured up this idea, I thought it was going to be a lot easier than it really was. But I'm glad it finally came together. The problem I have is that I love slip covers on chairs, but these chairs (as you can see) are.humungous.I.mean.two.big.butts.can.fit.on.one.humungous. And that means, there is no way to try to get any standard chair cover on these things (believe me, I've tried). So, instead of embarking on the daunting task of actually sewing full slip covers myself, this was my solution.

I added about a foot of  fabric to the top of each chair, and thankfully because of the humungous chairs (see previous thought) I was able to add pillows for comfort and a little extra charm.

I just stenciled on the fleur de lis with some fabric paint.

Added a little something extra to the two end chairs...

And my meant.to.be.only.one.hour.project.but.turned.out.to.be.one.that.spanned.over.a.week.project finally was done :)

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Plant stand side tables

I had the biggest problem trying to figure out what to put in our front room, mainly concerning the side tables...Ugh. I think I even lost sleep over this. Pathetic huh?

Below is a picture of a transitional phase...waaaaay.too.clunky. Am I right? Those tables took up just way to much space in my cute petite room.




I like to shop Ross/Home Goods/TJ Maxx...all those good cheap places. While on one of my trips I found the absooluuutley puuurrrrfect side tables aka plant stands :) A beautiful solution to my problem:
They take up hardly any space and bring some curves into a hard angled room. I just love them! Who would have thought? Plant stands as a dainty little table? Figures huh. Even better....they only cost $13 each!

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A solution to a tangled mess

I love shopping for frames at the thrift store. This little treasure was brown, ugly and only 25 cents. I went shopping specifically for this project, and this frame worked perfect! I don't know about you, but my necklaces always end up in quite a tangled mess. I mean, sometimes I would go weeks without wearing a necklace because I didn't want to go through the trouble of finding where one begins and the other ends. So, here's my solution!

I just took apart the frame, spray painted it, and wiped the glass a little bit. I cut some card stock to size and used a few scrapbooking supplies and transformed the frame to a necklace holder. In order for the necklaces to stay, I hammered some tack nails into the back of it. This frame was short enough that I had to put the nails on the bottom of the frame so the necklaces wouldn't hang too long in the front. I love it!

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