I finally decided to tackle our screened in porch over the past several weeks. It's hard to imagine we have been living in our house 9 years and we never even considered what we could turn this little hideaway into.

I decided on the color scheme of gray deck surface and white trim, and then got to work picking out the paint. For the deck surface, I chose Sherwin Williams Deckscapes acrylic solid color deck stain in color "Kings Canyon. A beautiful smoky gray color. I have used Valspar exterior paint, we purchased at Lowes Home Improvement, on several other projects, so I decided to use that brand in white for the trim.

Once painting was complete, I decided that the screens would all need replacing because they resembled sails of a ship at this point. I found a really cool article on the "This Old House" website here. They show how to use the screen tight system to install replacement screens. Let me say, I had no experience doing screen replacement before. And with the exception of a few pieces in the middle I couldn't reach (I made my husband come help me), I managed to install this entire system myself. The fact that it is a vinyl enclosure system sold me on this product. And... it went up beautifully and relatively easy. In our case, the worst part was removing the old wood that held the screen installed when our house was built.

The furniture we purchased through Amazon.com with free delivery. The beautiful rug came from Overstock.com.

When it came to the lights, I ran into a dilemma. I wanted beautiful soft light but outdoor lights were super expensive. I found an article (through the miracle of pinterest) on Lowe's Home Improvement's do it yourself section that showed how to turn tomato cages into light fixtures. That article is here. I must say, this was a little time consuming, but the result was perfect for our porch!

I am also making a cool wood sign out of scrap wood for the wall on the porch, more on that process later once I get it finished. I am so excited to use this beautiful space this fall when the weather finally stays cool enough to enjoy it here in NC. More pictures of the finished porch I'll add later this week.

Picture Frame Wreath Tutorial

I found a really cool picture frame wreath idea on www.pinterest.com that I wanted to try, but I decided to change it a bit since it's almost fall here in North Carolina. Love it this time of year!

So, here is the original post: http://violetpaperwings.blogspot.com/2011/07/another-summer-wreath.html

And here is my attempt at making it into a fall theme for our front door:

I have to say, it was a pretty easy project and I was so excited with how it turned out. Here is the material list:

• Picture Frame (this one I believe is an 11x14 frame) - I actually used an old frame in my closet that didn't match my current decor and spray painted it chocolate brown.
• MDF or wood letter - I picked this one up at Michael's for $2
• Scrapbook paper or paint to cover the letter - I used scrapbook paper above
• Twine - this can be found at Lowes or Home Depot for about $2 a roll, depending on the type you choose
• Fall foliage picks or flowers - I picked up mine for $2 total, one came from the dollar store and the other from Michael's Craft store, but you could use any decoration to match the season or holiday you like.
• Mod Podge - If using scrapbook paper for your letter
• Glue gun and glue - I used this when wrapping the twine mostly but also to hold the foliage in place
• Optional - Spray Paint - this is for the frame if you don't like the color. I picked up a can for $0.99 cents at Ollie's (love this place).

After picking your frame and painting it if necessary, you'll need to wrap the edges with twine first. Use your glue gun to start each twine wrap, and every 10 or so wraps, add some glue to keep it wrapped up tight. Glue the end as well.

My MDF letter above was white when I bought it, so I used my brown spray paint to cover it and make it match my frame. I then laid my letter over my scrapbook paper, traced the letter with a pencil very close to the edges, then cut out the letter drawn.

I used modge podge to cover the top surface of the letter with a sponge brush, then laid the paper on top of the letter, pushing it down to evenly to attach the paper. Pushing bubbles out as you go. Once smooth, cover the top of the paper with a coat of modge podge. Do a light coat as not to damage the paper. Allow this to dry completely.

Attaching your decorative foliage can be done in a variety of ways, but I actually stuck the stems of my picks down under the twine wrapping at the edges since there was already a small gap made by the shape of my frame. You could also cut the stems short and hot glue them to the surface, whatever works best for you.

Last but not least, I attached my letter to the frame using my twine. I wrapped the top of my letter with a little twine and glued it into place at each end, but I left extra twine at one end to tie to my frame. I also added a little sprig of berries to my letter with the glue gun just because I thought it was cute.

Add a piece of twine to the top of the frame for hanging, and voila! That's it! I spent less than $10 since I used a recycled frame and the result turned out better than planned.

Happy Fall everyone!

The start of something good....

I'd thought of starting a blog many months before this post was written. Problem was I had no idea what I would ever write about that anyone would want to read.

Then I decided that just maybe, maybe someone would like to see some of the creative ideas I have come across and tried myself. We all see cool stuff on the internet and think "I can do that!" but very few of us actually try it if we are being honest with ourselves. Not out of fear or lack of confidence (well, maybe a little of that), but mostly due to lack of time and resources. Soooo, that being said, I've decided to make this blog mostly about my arts and craft projects, wood working expeditions and any great tips I may come across that have helped me in my daily life. That and hopefully doing all of it in the "cheapest" way possible but with style and class. Welcome to my blog!