Vintage Window makeover

I've had a few of these old windows hanging around for a while and finally decided I needed to do something with them.  

They were very dirty and had hardly any paint left on them.

I gave them a really good scrubbing with warm soapy water to get all the grunge off and then I gave them a rinse with some bleach added to the water to make sure there was no mold.

The putty holding the glass in was dried out and broken up.  I removed the broken bits and the glass was still nice and tight in the frame so it didn't take much to cover the edge.  I just used a bit of wood filler.

 I primed the window using some of my left over DIY chalky paint in black.  Once it was dry I painted it in this pretty grayish blue. 

I finished them up with a coat of dark paste wax and added some pretty white hooks

I had such a hard time taking pictures because it was such a rainy dark day.
 

This would look so pretty in an entry.  Maybe displaying some family photos behind the glass.
The nice big hooks would be great for coats and hats,  and little side hooks for keys or purses.

It would be wonderful in a bathroom for towels and robes too. 

   I  really like how this one turned out.


What do you think.  Entry or bathroom?  Or maybe you have another idea.  I'd love to hear it if you do.

Pantry from Cheap Sears Bookshelves Part 2

A while back Ages ago I started a project to create a pantry space near my small kitchen to help supplement the tiny amount of cupboard space I have. You might remember it if you've been following along, if not you can find Pantry from old Sears bookshelves Part one here.

Well let me tell you what happened.  I got the shelves stacked together and being in desperate need they ended getting filled up with pantry stuff. Then winter hit hard,  I went into hospital and had a total knee replacement done,  I was busy recovering and doing my physiotherapy.... And .... time just flew by..  

Spring has finally arrived, the snow has melted and it's getting warmer every day. I'm walking without a limp and am happily getting back in the swing of things.  ...those ugly bookshelves are full of stuff and staring at me like I completely forgot about them.  I keep staring right back, but I've finally realized  I cannot live with the guilt of an unfinished project any longer.  Something needed to be done.

I was babysitting a little fellow but he had just gone down for a nap, so I knew I had approximately 1 hour.   I immediately dug the hinges I had purchased for this  project out of the bottom of the junk drawer (they were at the very bottom) and brought in the shutters I was going to use from my stash. 

The shutters had been separated for a previous use so I re-attached them using hinges in the middle and then I hung the shutters to the shelves using the same style of hinges.  Nothing fancy just little 2" hinges from the hardware store.  The doors were an exact fit side to side but not top to bottom.. I left the bottom up a bit so give it good clearance and I will have to find a solution for the top.

Then I added a couple of magnetic latches on the inside to keep the doors shut. 

About this time the little fellow I was looking after woke up from his nap.... so I guess part two of this project is done..

So I don't really have a lot more accomplished,  and you will definitely have to stay tuned to see what else I have  planed next.  At least the shelves are covered and  I promise not to wait three months before I get to part three. 



Mason Jar Soap Dispensers.

I love mason jars.  I've been wanting to try some of the  ideas for repurposing them that I have saved to Pinterest, and I finally got around to making a soap dispenser.

I simply followed   these easy direction from "Love grows Wild". Her tutorial made it so simple and I didn't need any special tools.  Just some pumps that I cut off the top of some empty soap containters and a small nail and hammer. 

I made two hand soap dispensers, one for my bathroom ....

and one for the kitchen. Than I switched them  because I made a third for my dish soap and I wanted the two pumps   in the kitchen to match.
























This was with the hand soap in the kitchen. Nice, but I wanted another one for my dish soap. 

That's better.  The stand is a plate and a candle holder that I picked up at the thrift store. I simply glued the two together.   This is so much prettier than your dish soap container on the counter.  The little cheese shaker contains baking soda for scrubbing hard to clean messes and keeping my sink clean.  It works just as well as comet without the nasty chemicals.

I can't believe how easy these were to make. I'm so happy I finally decided to try this. 

Now I just need to work my way through all the other mason jar projects out there. 


UPDATE:  I decided that I wanted a little more of a matched set, so I added a small mason jar with holes punched in the lid for my baking soda and gave all the lids and pumps a coat of black paint.  I'm so glad I did.


























It makes so much sense with the black and glass pedestal.  I'm loving the way it looks on my counter.

Kitty cat storage.

I absolutely love my kitty.  What I didn't love was the big bag of dry cat food sitting on the floor of the closet.  It inevitably gets  spilled and I was tired of cleaning up the mess.  The simplest solution of course is to pour the bag of food into a bucket with a lid.  I couldn't just have a plain bucket of course so I had to paint it.

I put about 2 tbsp. of plaster of paris into a little bowl and mixed it to a paste with a tablespoon of water. To the paste I added about 1/4 cup of regular acrylic craft paint. 

I used a sand block to gently rough up the surface a we bit and then painted the bucket.  I left the upper part of the bucket white because I figured it get too much handling to not chip and start looking.... well .. ugly.  Going to the ridge gave it a nice clean line.

When the paint had dried for about an hour I used a piece of dowel to "write" on the bucket. What it actually did was remove the paint to let the plastic show through. I wouldn't have been able to do this once the paint had cured for a few days. I could have used chalk or white paint to label it then.  This chalky paint  is pretty durable on the plastic..

There are some really great  paints out there that are great for using on plastic, like the Fusion spray paint,  if you would like to use them, but for me it's all about saving money and using what I have on hand. 
It's been over a week now and I am very happy with how well the DIY chalky paint holds up.  I'll be using it to make a few more of these buckets to solve some small storage problems.

Scented wax or essential oils?

If you have a scented wax warmer but don't like buying the expensive wax refills, here's an alternative that is safe and inexpensive.

I have this pretty little warmer. It was a gift and it came with a package of the little wax pieces to make the house smell fabulous.  But the refills aren't that cheap.  I could just get some from the dollar store I suppose but I don't like burning a lot of that type of wax in the house because I don't know what kind of a toxins they release when they burn.

I came up with an easy safe alternative to store bought scented wax.
I put about 2 tbsps. of grated beeswax and a few drops of essential oil in the warmer.   It's that easy, and it works great.  My favorite is lavender , but of course your options are endless.  Just use your favorite essential oil or oil mix  and your home will smell fantastic, and the air will be safe to breathe.


 That's what I call a win, win.