Wall Makeover and Easy Fabric Wall Art

Aside from the wall now being occupied by my Sunburst Disc Mirror, we have another wall at home that needs a makeover:

Well, hello there Dora! That's Andrea's little girl chair. For now, let's focus on the wall behind the couch.

That frame holds a 2000-piece puzzle my husband and I worked on for 2 weeks a couple of years ago. My parents, and my husband's parents are the type who freaks when you make permanent holes on concrete walls. That's the kind of thinking we grew up with so we don't have a lot of wall decor.  I have a couple of those removable 3M hooks but I have never tried using them to hang heavy frames with glass yet. I've been meaning to do something about this wall for a while. So last weekend, I decided to start.

This is what we have now after I was done:

The smallest frame is actually still empty. I painted a couple of frames as well last weekend but I haven't gotten the chance to hang them yet. I decided to try those 3M removable hooks to hang the smaller frames and for the other frames I plan to add to this wall.

We have this wall decal I found at the mall:

Then I printed the silhouette I made of Andrea and put it in an old picture frame that I painted white.

The frame is a little bigger than the image I printed so I used black felt as background.

And then I made this fabric wall art:

I originally wanted a black and white theme for my wall but when I laid out the wall decal, I saw that the cages have colored flower print on some areas. So I decided to add a little color to the black and white fabric I initially picked out.

I prepared a little tutorial on how to make this wall art. Everything I used came from IKEA:

• IKEA Tyglosa frame (I can't find this on the IKEA website, but my friend bought 3 of these from IKEA in Singapore and I bought one of those from her);
• Fabric that is at least 6 inches wider, and 6 inches longer than the frame (3-inches allowance on all sides). I used SARALISA fabric;
• Another fabric for cutouts. I used ANAMOA blue fabric;
• Fabric glue;
• A hammer for assembling the frame.

The frame already came with the screws and nails needed to put it together so I just followed the instructions that came with it. You can use any plain frame for this project though.

Step 1: Cut small flowers or other objects from a piece of your fabric. The photo above shows a tree and I initially wanted to use that but after I cut it out, it didn't look quite right if you place it on top of my black and white fabric so I decided to cut 2 colorful flowers, 1 pine cone and 1 leaf from a different section of the fabric instead.

Step 2: Arrange your cutouts on top of your main fabric. Note that there is a 3-inch allowance on all sides so make sure you do not place your cut outs on those areas since you will be folding the allowance under the frame.

Step 3: If you're happy with the arrangement, use fabric glue to attach the cutouts to the main fabric. Let dry.

Step 4: Assemble your wall art. These next instructions were also included in the Tyglosa frame package.

• Fold one side of the fabric under the frame and secure with small nails. I think I only used 5 nails on each side, though the instructions were recommending to use more than that.
• Stretch your fabric over the frame and secure the other 3 sides with small nails. Make sure you stretched tight across the frame to make it look even.

You can stop after Step 4. You have your fabric wall art. However, I added an extra step. Since I live in a humid country and dust sticks to everything, I knew the white parts in my fabric will look grimy in a few weeks. So I decided to spray clear paint over it to protect the fabric.

The wall still looks a little empty so I may need to add a few more things.

Sunburst Disc Mirror

I've been seeing a lot of sunburst mirror projects floating around link parties and so far, I haven't seen something I didn't love! I couldn't find a plain, small, round mirror I can use to make one though. So I used what I had lying around. And this is what I came up with:

You might be wondering if those are CD's/DVD's. They're actually not. They are what you find inside a computer's hard drive when you open them up. They are approximately the size of a CD, only they are made of really shiny, really clear metal. First time I saw one, I thought the disc was really pretty. They are like small mirrors, and the image you see is way clearer than the reflection you see on a CD or DVD.

So why do I have a lot of them? You see a while back... a tragic thing happened... our external hard drive malfunctioned and I lost a ton of pictures and other stuff. After we were sure it was a lost cause, my husband opened it up and that was the first time I saw one of these silver metal discs. Then a few months ago, my husband's office got rid of their old equipment which includes several old desktop computers. Before they sold everything to the junk shop, my husband took out the silver discs from inside the hard drives and brought them home

If you have husbands who collect junk errr... old desktop computers, maybe you can convince them to pry the hard drive open so you can see it. DO NOT EVER, EVER TRY ON A COMPUTER YOU ARE STILL USING! 

So anyway, for this project I used:

• 13 of those silver metal discs, one is slightly bigger than the others... I don't know why. And I don't know if they come in any other sizes. I used the slightly bigger one for the center.
• 6 pairs of disposable chopsticks :)
• White paint
• Super Glue

Step 1: Paint the chopsticks white. Wait for them to dry completely before proceeding to the next step.

Step 2: Take your center disc and glue the the chopsticks around it. Make sure that the distances between chopsticks look even.

Step 3: Glue the other end of each chopstick to one disc. Wait for the glue to dry completely.

You can also use this idea as a kid craft using cheap blank CD's or DVD's.

Edited:
I did a little research and I found out that those discs are called 'platters'. You can google for images online. Use 'platters inside hard drive' or 'what is inside a hard drive' to search. You can see plenty of pictures to better appreciate how pretty they are.

I linked up to the following link parties:

Market Yourself Monday at Sumo's Sweet Stuff | Inspire Me Monday at Singing Three Little Birds | Made By You Monday at Skip to my Lou |  Show Me What Ya Got at Not JUST a Housewife | Take-A-Look Tuesday at Sugar Bee Crafts | Handmade Tuesdays at Ladybug Blessings | Get Your Craft On at Today's Creative Blog |  Craft Couture Monday at Craft Couture | Weekly Tues - Thurs Link Party at Running With Glitter | The DIY Showoff | Made With Love Monday at Sew Chatty | A Round Tuit at Creating My Way to Success | Tutorial Tuesdays at Hope Studios | We Did It Wednesday at Sew Much Ado | Show and Tell at Blue Cricket Design | Wednesday Link Party at Tea Rose Home |  Whatever Goes Wednesday at Someday Crafts | Strut Your Stuff at Somewhat Simple | Thrilling Thursday at Paisley Passions | Thrifty Thursday at Saved By Love Creations |  Get Your Brag On at Gluesticks | Transformation Tuesday at The Shabby Chic Cottage | Think Pink Sundays at Flamingo Toes | K.I.S.S. at The Tattered Tag | Sundae Scoop at I heart Naptime |

Out with the old

One good thing that came out of our yaya crisis is... ta-dah!!!!

Forgive the image quality, I used my camera phone for this.

This is our new "work area" at home. My husband hates the vases in the corner and told me it's an accident waiting to happen. But those vases used to be the sole occupant of that table and I have yet to find another place for them. The possibility of one of us having to stay home for a long time gave me the leverage to convince my husband to finally replace our old laptop. But now, we already have a yaya for Andrea AND I got my new laptop so the year is starting out great! :D

Project Nursery - Part 2

Technically, there aren't any updates about this project yet. I just want to post the design inspiration I picked for our nursery.

I got it from this site.

Pretty huh? I find myself being partial to blue and yellow lately (our bedroom is painted blue and white, and my living room motiff is yellow and blue).

My nursery space is a bit smaller and will only contain the built-in closet, a single bed (I don't think the baby will really sleep there... the room is only for his/her stuff), a table and a small shelf but I plan to get design elements from the photo above. The ceiling painted to look like a cloudy sky, for example (I'm still trying to get my husband to do the painting). And then, I will get this light from IKEA (I hope it's still available at the local distributor.)


And since we are not re-painting the walls, I can do some stenciling!! :) (If it turns out badly, then maybe we will decide to repaint, hehe).

Project Nursery - Part 1

This room will turn into a nursery before the end of September.

It's time to get creative! :D

Home Improvement Project - Part 3

My couch has arrived!!!

It actually arrived around 4PM last Sunday but I was too lazy to take photos.

Looking at the photos, my living room looks a tad... empty... don't you think? But when I'm actually there, it feels cramped. Oh well, I think I need a set of drawers to the left side of the sofa, a new armchair/lazy boy, and new curtains. The walls are still empty. We plan to hang the frames after we complete the furniture set-up (March! I swear to me it will be complete by March!)

BEFORE: old purple couch

AFTER: new yellow couch

my couch with the new pillows

Closer look at the pillows. I so totally knew the yellow-blue-yellow green color scheme would work!! I should get that yellow green armchair I want.But who said the work was done? :(

Action Items:
- get new entertainment center
- get set of drawers for the corner
- get a new armchair/lazy boy
- get a small corner table
- hang frames on the wall
- get another bookshelf.

More to come!

Home Improvement Project - Part 2

I'm getting my new couch this weekend and I'm excited :) The couch is the dominant piece of furniture in our small living room and as such, sets the general color motif of the entire area (including the dining area). Our old couch is purple so everything in the living area is in either pink or with a shade of violet. When we had our living room repainted, I insisted on having yellow trim. My new couch will also be yellow. I am aiming for a yellow and blue motif for the living and dining areas. I wanted a yellow, blue and yellow green motif, but MG is so opposed to the yellow green X(

In preparation for the arrival of the "queen" of our living room, I started buying small items that will reinforce the yellow-and-blue color scheme. I replaced the table cloth in the dining room with one in deep blue and had the dining chairs reupholstered in a close-matching color (MG also did the reupholstering, another one of his DIY projects... photos to follow). Then I bought a couple of vases in yellow and blue.

This corner table is still a work in progress. I still have to work on the flower arrangement. I was actually aiming for a different arrangement but I couldn't get the flowers to bend the way I want so this is what I ended up with. I initially wanted to hang a painting in this area but those darned light switches are in the way! :(

This is my other corner table, but the entire thing has to go because I'm replacing the coffee table set in this area with either an oversized armchair or a lazy boy. It's too bad, I kind of like the way this table turned out. The pink curtains will also be replaced.

I'll be posting photos of my living room with the new couch next week :)

Home Improvement Project - Part I

MG and I have a lot of books scattered around the house. We have this one bookshelf downstairs which also doubles as the house eyesore and mini-tambakan of everything little thing we don't know where else to put.

If you have been to my house, you can not have missed this metal monster.

I have been trying to redecorate the house for the longest time but MG has been opposing me for reasons I will never understand. What could you possibly have against a nice house??? So I've been trying to do it little by little, corner by corner, so he won't notice so much. We already had the downstairs area re-painted, courtesy of MG's parents . I already succeeded in getting a kitchen cabinet for the dining area corner (getting rid of the green plastic shelf that stood there for the longest time). I also succeeded in getting a new center table to replace the big wooden one that takes up a lot of our small living room space.

Getting a new bookshelf was not that easy since there were so many things we had to consider.

1. We both have to like it (BIG problem already since we have different tastes);
2. It must be able to accommodate as many books in different sizes as possible;
3. It must fit in a space where it won't obstruct the delivery of my new sofa this weekend (so definitely not in the hallway leading to the living room where our metal monster used to be);
4. The tone of the finish must match, or be close, to the tone of the current furniture we have.

These and other things. Number 1 already was a big enough obstacle. Everything I chose MG didn't like and what he liked I don't like. So we decided to make our own.

Ta-daaaaahh!!

The boards were already pre-cut and laminated so it was a matter of installing the support on the walls. I believe MG had fun putting the whole thing up. He loves those DIY thingeys. I arranged the books according to the probability of me reading them again. I like how the books look uneven. But MG doesn't (grrrr!). But unless he plans to re-arrange the entire thing, it's staying as it is.

MG's toys made their home in spaces between books.

This does not in any way mean we are done with our bookshelf issues. We still have a cabinet-full of books that need to be put in proper shelves. We just have to decide where (in our small house) to put them.