me so crafti

Hello my pritti's,
I've been in nesting mode and feeling very creative and crafty. I have a whole slew of "must do" that I have compiled over the years. I know many of us are like that. You just need to get down to it and start... or get pregnant! haha

Here is a project that I worked on this weekend for the baby room. I found this old wood frame at my sister's hobby farm near her barn. You can do so much with these frames, like insert mirror, fabric, chalk board or just plain old cork! It all depends on what you need it for and what your budget is.

My budget: The frame was free, I spent $12 on a pack of 4 cork tiles and $20 for the paint. It sounds expensive, but I will be using the paint for  some furniture in the baby room, so it's worth it.

My materials: Frame, paint, brush, sand paper (corse), hammer, small nails with flat heads (x16), carpenters glue, reinforcement board, cork tiles, exacto knife.

It took a few days between the paint and glue to dry, but it's finally done! Here are the steps I took:

Take your old frame, clean the debris and old glass on the edges. Sand down to get all the shards of wood off. Brush with a dry brush before painting to get rid of all the dust and particles.

Paint frame with melamine based paint, may need 2 coats depending on the look you are going for. I let each side dry for 1 day (as you can see I also had to repair a piece of the wood that was coming out, I used wood glue for that).

When it's dry, sand the paint if you are looking for a rough look.

Place cork on the back side of the frame and cut pieces to fit the proper space.  The cork tiles I bought came in a thicker style, but didn't measure out perfectly.

Nail in the cork on the ends. Be careful not to pierce through the board on the front side!

Use wood glue and glue reinforcement boards on the back if necessary. I found this board in our workshop.

Finished back side of the board

Presto! Finished cork board!

I can't wait to hang this up and put some pics of the family for the baby room :)

I hope you enjoyed this post. Leave me your comments below.

xox

The 4 corners of my living room

Hello my prittis,

As you all know, I am obsessed with antiques and decorating my house with unique and affordable stuff!

Well, this Saturday I attended the annual Spring Antique Show! (see theovalley.blogspot.com post)

And low and behold, I found a great cabinet that was missing in my living room. You know to store cook books, CDs, blankets, table cloths... all that good stuff!

I was missing something on one of the walls in my living room, but now it's complete... well kind of... I now need to save up for an area rug, and maybe slap on a coat of paint!

I set it up yesterday, as soon as I brought it in the house. I'm so proud of it because it's technically my first true antique! It's from the 1800's and it hasn't been repainted, just sanded down a bit on the edges to give it the stressed look. It's also from North America, which means it's not imported from Europe, which I guess gives it more value. That's what the salesman said anyway!

Without further ado.... here is my cabinet!

Do you have a favourite piece of furniture in your house? Do you have a favourite room or corner of your house that you are proud of? Please share!

me decorate pritti

Hello my prittis.

It's still a work in progress, but here is a glimpse of my living room.

The picture on the left is my favorite spot of the living room. If I had to choose one spot to look at, this would be the perspective I would choose.

- antique table purchased at the Ottawa Antique Show held at Carleton U, from "Brooklin Antique Warehouse" (HWY 12 and HWY 7 905-626-4115). Jeremy is the guys name, he refinishes all the old furniture. He has amazing stuff and is a real treat to deal with.

- lamp purchased at Home Sense, sitting on a stack of cook books.

- blue book Domino, best dual purpose decorating book (to decorate with and to get ideas for decorating)

The next picture is a shot of my entire living room. On the left side I have a huge 10x10 (curtain-less) window. I have to say, people are always looking into my window, maybe they like what they see :)

Oh, and the coffee table is from the same dealer as the side table. They are not a set, but they go well together. See the small table on the right of the couch, that's were I keep my laptop and I usually sit on the right side of the leather couch when I am on my laptop (that's where I am sitting now!). I spend allot time on the couch and on my laptop... :S I am not proud, just keeping busy.

I am not done with this room by any means, and I can't wait to show you the finished product. This project will keep me busy during the cold winter months.

What's your favorite spot in your house?