


Sometimes I need a quick DIY project just to scratch the “itch”! Also, I am a very visual person so I care A LOT about what my surroundings look like.
Home Decor is very important to me because of this too! However, sometimes my vision is bigger than my budget! I do my best to make my own decor pieces so they look “store bought” (or at least somewhat…).
This way too, I have control of the design!
Here are a few quick and easy projects I’ve done and how I made them!
1. PAINTED VASE
I LOVE how these painted vases look around my house. They are SO easy to do. Vases like this are easy to find at Dollar Tree or even at local thrift stores.
Before I learned this method of vase painting, I used to just spray paint the outside of a vase. This didn’t usually work very well. The paint would peel or turn out really patchy.
The method I used here, the paint is on the inside! This gave an AWESOME affect since the glass gives the paint a beautiful glossy shine. It also gave the paint some depth which adds a ton!
HOW TO DO IT
Here’s what you’ll need:
- Glass vase/jar/planter
- Paint color of your choice
- Water
- Paper towels
- Paper plate
First clean out your glassware. If there’s any dust, dirt or grime on the glass, it won’t let the paint adhere well. Just use a dish soap that’s a good “degreaser”. I like to use Dawn Dishsoap.
Next, put the paint in the vase! I like to use acrylic, craft paint. Cheap and easy to find at most stores! You’ll want to be sure to thin out your paint a bit first. Take the paint and put it in a paper or plastic cup. Put a bit of water in the cup with the paint and mix it up with a brush or popsicle stick.
Once it’s thinned out, dump it in the bottom of your vase. Take the vase and turn it sideways, spinning it so the paint runs down and coats the sides.
LET IT DRY
When the paint has covered most of the inside, just turn the vase over and leave it on the paper plate upside down. The paint will eventually run all the way down and out.
Leave the vase in that position for about 20-30 minutes. Once the pain has had a bit of time to run, check back to make sure the paint hasn’t missed any spots. If it has, just spin the vase around a bit on its side to help the paint cover the spots.
Let the vase dry overnight upside down. Sometimes when turning the vase right side up, it will want to stick to the paper plate. If this happens, just carefully peel it from the plate.
A few pieces may be stuck and dried around the rim. Just take an exacto knife (or some scissors) and carefully scrape around the outside edge of the vase rim. Luckily, you’ll most likely have flowers or greenery in the vase that will cover the rim!
2. FARMHOUSE BUCKET
The Farmhouse look is such a huge trend right now! Especially in the kitchen. Everything from milk jugs to pails and buckets are used as home decor.
I’m loving this look right now too! We have some galvanized tubs in our kitchen that we use for parties to serve drinks. I wanted to give them a little “farmhouse love”.
(For this project, you’ll need a Cricut Machine or a friend that has one!)
HOW TO DO IT
Here’s what you’ll need:
- White vinyl (stick on not iron on)
- Clear contact paper or Cricut transfer tape
- Galvanized tub or bucket
First, open Cricut Design space and create a new project. (Make sure to measure the space on the tub or bucket to know how big to make your design).
For the “Milk and Cream” part of the design, download and use the font “Shadowed Serif”. I used the font “Copperplate” for the other words in the design.
Arrange the words the way you like them and “weld” them together in design space.
Next, select “make it” and follow the steps to create your design. Once the cricut has cut the design, “weed” out the negative space so that only the design is left on the paper.
Grab some clear contact paper or cricut transfer tape and rub it on top of your design. Rub hard enough that the design sticks to the contact paper.
TRANSFER THE DESIGN
Peel off the paper backing of the design slowly making sure no pieces of the design get left behind on the paper. Next, line up the design on the tub or bucket where you choose to put it.
Using a plastic card or a small squeegee, rub hard on the top of the design to ensure it adheres to the bucket. When you feel like you’ve rubbed on the entire design, slowly peel back the clear contact paper.
I find it helpful to start at one corner and gently pull it rocking from side to side. Keep the contact paper pulled all the way back on itself, very close to the design. Don’t hold it up at a 90 degree angle.
Once the contact paper is off, you’re done! Enjoy your new custom designed farmhouse bucket!
3. COFFEE TABLE TRAY
Trays are an awesome decor piece to go on anything from dining room tables (Click the link to check out how I refinished my dining room table!), center room ottomans, or like mine, on a coffee table! I love having a place to throw our remotes or just have an extra bit of personalization!
There’s many different ways you could customize your tray. If you have a tray that’s already the look you want, go ahead and skip to Part 2 in this tutorial.
When I found this tray, it was a light blonde color with an interesting design on the bottom. I normally would have just passed it up however it was only $.99 at Hobby Lobby… so of COURSE I grabbed.
Although it wasn’t the look I was going for, I knew for that price I could make it what I wanted!
HOW TO DO IT
Here’s what you’ll need:
- Tray
- White spray paint
- Painter’s tape
- Jute rope/twine
- Wood contact paper
For the personalization Part 2:
- Cricut Machine
- Black vinyl (stick on not iron on)
- Clear contact paper or transfer tape
PART 1
Step one is to paint the tray white. If you’re happy with the main part of the tray, be sure to put some brown paper or plastic over top and use the painter’s tape so the paint doesn’t get on it.
(If you are going to cover it with the wood contact paper, you can skip the painter’s tape step!)
Next, use your spray paint and give the handles and tray frame several, good coats. Be sure to give the paint at least a half hour or so to dry in between coats.
Once the tray is dry, you can either peel off the painter’s tape and covering or go ahead and put on the wood contact paper.
Next, wrap jute rope around the handles of the tray. You can either wrap a thin, single layer or make it very thick by wrapping a lot of layers.
If you want to personalize your tray, move on to Part 2!
PART 2
For this portion, you’ll need a Cricut Machine or a friend who has one!
I love the look of thin, handwritten fonts. For this project, you’ll need to download the “Better Together” font. You can use any font you please for the “est.” part of the design.
Follow the same steps I described for the galvanized bucket above to create and transfer your design onto your tray!
4. MASON JAR HANGERS
We recently refinished our family room downstairs. (Be sure to check back here and follow me on Instagram and Pinterest to see my post on how we did it!)
After we put in some new furniture, I had to figure out what was the best decor pieces for our new space. I knew I wanted a large, wood farmhouse sign over our new sectional. (New post coming soon on how to make a farmhouse sign!)
I realized that we would need something to go on either side of our sign to kind of “frame” it. After looking for some ideas, I saw some mason jar hangers on Etsy and decided to make some for myself!
(If you read my Paw Patrol Party post, you’ll know I won’t buy something if I can make it myself!)
HOW TO DO IT
Here’s what you’ll need:
- 2 Wood planks (about 4 inches thick, ½ inch thick and 18 inches tall)
- Mason jars (and their lids)
- Off white Spray paint and Oil Rubbed Bronze Spray paint
- Hot glue gun
- Jute rope
- Greenery
- Wood stain
First you’ll need to have the wood be the correct length. (I just had the guys at the hardware store cut mine for me!)
Next, stain the wood whatever color you choose! (Post coming soon on how I use craft paint as a fake stain!) Let the stain dry for about an hour or so.
While the stain dries, spray paint your mason jars the off white (put them upside down on some cardboard). Next, spray paint the mason jar rings with the oil rubbed bronze. (Don’t worry about the actual lid. You won’t need that!)
Once the jars and the rings have dried, put the rings on the jars and wrap the jute rope around them.
Go ahead and get that hot glue gun out to glue your jars in place on the boards. (You can also get these hose clamps if you’d rather go that route to attach the jars to your board. I just was lazy and used my glue gun!)
Now that the jars are attached, go ahead and stick in your greenery or flowers!
I hung mine with some command strips but feel free to grab some picture hanging hardware instead!
5. WINDOW FRAMES
During quarantine I accomplished MANY projects! Sitting around the house looking at everything so often made me want to revamp a few things!
One of my projects was to revamp the decor above my buffet in my dining room. I had a white rod iron piece above the buffet for a while but I was ready for a change.
I decided I wanted a bit more of a Farmhouse look! (Of course!) So I decided to make some window frames!
HOW TO DO IT
Here’s what you’ll need:
- Two medium sized craft window frames
- Large wood window arch
- White spray paint
- Wreath (If making your own, you’ll need wire and greenery!)
First, go ahead and spray paint your frames white. Be sure to get all the edges and the inside!
Next, take your greenery and wire it together into a wreath. Stick the stems into a piece of greenery and wrap the wire around it. This will make a sort of “greenery chain”.
Wire them together before forming the circle and connecting the ends. It helps to have the pieces closer together rather than further apart.
Once the wreath is done, wire it to the large arch window frame. You can either glue or wire the window frames together as well or just hang them VERY close together so they look like they’re attached!
Did you try one of these projects? Shoot me an email with how it went!
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Be sure to check out how I made my DIY Tufted Headboard and my DIY Kitchen Cabinet Upgrade! Be sure to check back here for more DIY posts and also follow me on Instagram and Pinterest!