Old Drawer Wall Shelf

Have I mentioned how much I love New England ;) (About a million times, right?)
I picked up a few desk drawers off the side of the road about a week ago, and they were in great condition!  I've been working on a few projects with them, and this is the first one I finished.

We've had bunk beds for about 6 months, and my oldest daughter is on the top bunk.  She likes to have water, and books, and other little things up there with her - but they've never had a place to live.  She just keeps them tucked into the corners of the bed, or under her pillow :)

When I saw this drawer, I was excited to make it into a little shelf to hang up by her bed!

I painted the inside walls with a bright color acrylic paint that matches her room.  I used masking tape to create clean lines on the outer edge.  I let her pick out scrapbook paper for the back, and after cutting it to the correct size, used spray adhesive to adhere it.

If you look at the very first picture you'll see the D-ring hangers I attached to the drawer.  They hang on screws in the wall - and it feels pretty secure up there.

I LOVE repurposing things - and this little drawer looks so cute up there!  Now there is a place for all my daughter's little treasures...and she doesn't have to sleep on them :)

Little Wooden Houses

I made these little wooden houses for a friend. 

Quick and easy, check out the original post here.

We Caught a Leprechaun!

Kitchen Wall Signs

I recently gave the signs in my kitchen a little facelift, and I wanted to share! 

Just last week I picked up this amazing vintage metal letter at a darling farm store here in Massachusetts -- the farm is celebrating its 300th birthday!! 

They had a few old things for sale, and I am so glad I didn't pass this letter up - I LOVE the way it looks in the kitchen!  The color is awesome - the chippy-ness is charming...and it is our last name initial, which is cool. 
Buying antiques here in New England is so much fun, and I am still giddy about this one!  It is big, and heavy, and it has little grooves in the back so I can easily hang it wherever I want.

Once I got it in the kitchen though, I realized that the red colors on my other signs didn't quite match.  So, I decided to give things a little makeover. 

This sign below has been a "washroom" sign for quite a while.  I liked it, but I wanted a change, and this was a quick one.  Take a look at my original post here for a tutorial.  I  used the same method, a vinyl stencil, for this "Enjoy" sign. 

The great thing about distressed signs, is that there is PLENTY of room for error, and anytime I want to change the words, I just paint over everything underneath!

I repainted some of the words and background on my daughter's sign.  The kids LOVE having their own signs.  The original was brown/orange, and I am loving this update with blue/red-ish.   It matches my new "B" better, and looks more retro to me.  Take a look at my original post here. 

Somehow, I spend a lot of time in the kitchen (life of a mom, right?) - so it is fun to have a kitchen wall that I love looking at.  If you have a blank space anywhere that you are trying to fill - try painting yourself a sign - they are really fun!

Wooden Growth Chart

For mother's day last year, I made my mom a growth chart to track her grandkid's heights on.  It was made out of canvas - check it out here.

Ever since then, I have intended to make a growth chart for myself.  My kids kept asking if they could measure themselves.  Then, after we had our 3rd daughter, my husband was saying he thought it would be fun to compare their heights at certain ages.  So, I finally grabbed a piece of scrap wood and made a quick one for myself!

I cut vinyl with my Silhouette to use as a stencil.  I made a mark on the left side of the wood at every inch, at the edge of the wood and 1 inch from the edge.  I decided I wanted to stencil only the odd numbers.  I lined the left side of the number up with the mark I made 1 inch from the edge.  The large numbers (marking each foot) were 3 inches from the edge. 

I dabbed a little black paint onto each stencil and then peeled off the vinyl when it was dry.

I used a ruler and a paintbrush to paint the lines.  It was an easy way to measure the length of the line, and paint it nice and straight.  I used the pencil marks I had already made to know where to paint the lines.  The lines at the odd numbers were shorter, and the lines in between (representing even numbers) were a little longer. 

Luckily, I was able to look at their little blue immunization booklets to get their heights at various ages.  I used my $1 alphabet stamps from the craft store, and a brown ink pad, to print their names and ages at the correct heights. 

I realize that it is not as tall as you usually see them.  I only had a 4 foot piece of scrap wood...but since my babies came out at 20 inches anyway, I figured I could start at 22 inches and it would still work :)  It is now hanging in the girls room, and it really is fun to compare their heights!

So, it's never too late to make one - and I think our kids will love looking at it in years to come!