Blue Vase

Do you want great ideas for decorating on a budget?  Head over to Roadkill Rescue and get inspired!

Beckie showcases all kinds of projects - right out of the trash pile!  And today, she's featuring my spray painted blue vase -

I have a few old glass vases in my cabinets.  I never use them and it seemed like a waste.  So I decided to give them new life - with spray paint!  I wrote about this vase here but it's not the only vase that got a makeover.  I had already painted this one -

It's a really easy way to change up the decor in your house - and it's so inexpensive.  :-)

Thanks Beckie for featuring my project!

Oldie But Goodie - Blue and White Side Table

{A fun look back at some old projects - you know, stuff I did before I had any readers...}
{July, 30, 2011}



I have been working on a table for my daughters' room for a couple of days.  I bought it at the flea market last weekend (you can read about that here).  I love giving new life to old furniture (as I did HERE and HERE).  There was a little prep work - it was a little rough:

I had to sand it.  Then, I filled the scratches with wood putty. Sanded again.  And gave it a coat of Kilz oil based primer.  So, it looked like this:

Finally - the fun part.  I used Olympic white (off the shelf) and Valspar Lake Country for the top (I bought a sample paint - because I'm cheap thrifty).  I applied 3 coats of white and 2 coats of blue.  When that dried, I added 2 coats of Minwax Polycrylic Protective Finish in High Gloss.  And here is what it looks like now:

Pretty cute, huh?

Jute Wrapped Candlesticks - on Roadkill Rescue

Beckie from Roadkill Rescue is featuring my Jute Covered Candlesticks today!

This site (don't you love the name?) features projects made from free stuff - items you pick up at the curb, hand me downs, or things you would have otherwise thrown out.  And yes, if I hadn't thought of a way to change up those candlesticks, I would have tossed them.  

But now I love them - 

I shared the whole process here.   And head over to Roadkill Rescue to see all of the other great transformations!

Thanks Beckie!

My Friday Five - Week 1

I'm so excited about this series!  I love looking around blogland and finding cool projects for my house.  But I usually don't get to all of the projects that I love.  Which doesn't mean that I need to keep all of these great ideas to myself!  Hopefully, you'll find something here that you love too - and maybe you can recreate it!  Grab a cup of coffee and get inspired!

1 - I HAVE to start this series with the piece that inspired this whole series.  The PVC pipe dresser makeover from Mandi at Vintage Revivals -

Oh I know - everyone has pinned this dresser.  Can you say love at first sight?  It is stunning!  I just HAD to share it.  In case you haven't seen it before, the circles you see were added using slices of PVC pipe.  That's right - an old thrifted dresser, PVC pipe, and spray paint.  Are you kidding me?!  Mandi is a genious (I would love to sing one of my favorite Barry Manilow songs here but I'll refrain...).


2.  I have a confession - I have never made a wreath.  BUT after seeing this dollar store book page wreath at Living with Lindsay , I think I might have to give it a try.

So how much would you pay for the supplies to make this beauty?  How about $2?  Yup.  Head to the dollar store and pick up a foam wreath form and a cheesy romance paperback.  If you already have a cheesy romance paperback - you can make this for $1!  Now that's a bargain!  Lindsay can walk you through the process.  And, yes, I put this one on my to-do list...


3.  Need some light?  How about a Faux Capiz Chandelier?  Just use wax paper instead -

Those "shells" are made from wax paper!  Unbelievable!  Jessica over at Decor Adventures whipped this up for her master closet!  I love it - and it looks fabulous against her blue ceiling!  If I ever get to my laundry room makeover, I may have to have Jessica make one of these for me!


4.  Here's an awesome kitchen remodel for you.  You don't need to replace everything in your kitchen to get an updated look - sometimes you just need a few tweaks -

Jeralyn at Lemonade wanted to keep her cabinets, counter and appliances.  So everything else got an upgrade.  How beautiful is that black peninsula?  And the brick back splash?  And those curtains?  Well, I could go on and on but I need to get to my last find...


5.  Sick of your carpet?  Looking for an inexpensive way to replace it?  How about brown craft paper?  Really.

Rachael from Lovely Crafty Home ripped up her hallway carpet and put this down!  After a few coats of poly, she has a stunning floor that looks just like leather!  Why didn't I think of this?

So there you have it.  My Friday Five.  What do you think?  Are you inspired yet?

Pinterest Fun

I'm really starting to embrace Pinterest.  I can waste spend hours looking around on there.  Oh, I could be cleaning the house or painting something but sometimes, I just want to relax and look at all of the beautiful things people have created.  So, I grab a cup of coffee and get inspired.  There are some incredibly talented people out there!  Wow!  But then reality sets in.  I know I can't make everything I pin.  Sometimes, I know it's just too difficult for me or wouldn't go with my decor (even though I wish it would).  Or I don't have all of the tools I need.  Well, there are many reasons why I can't make everything that I pin.

Since I can't get to everything, I decided to at least share some of these projects with you. So here's where the fun begins.  I'm starting a new series on My Covered Bridge-  

I'm going to highlight My Five Favorite Finds in blogland.  I have seen so many stunning furniture transformations, incredible craft projects, and beautiful room remodels.  I want to show you what I find.  Because up until now, I usually only share it with my husband, Craig.  And he's getting a little sick of this conversation - 

Me - "Hey, you have got to see this"

Craig - "What?"

Me - "This old dresser used to be so ugly - now it's awesome"

Craig - "Yeah - that's great"

Me - "Can you believe how she made this?"

Craig - "Yea, no, that's really great"

Me - "You're not that interested are you?"

Craig - "Um...sure I am"

Well, you get the idea.  I really want to share all of the cool stuff I find with people who will love it as much as I do.  I mean Craig tries but, let's face it, he's not quite as into decorating...

I'm really looking forward to share My Friday Five tomorrow - so stop back and enjoy!  And by the way - you can follow me on Pinterest.  Check out the icon on my sidebar.  Or look for me - Kristen @ My Covered Bridge.

On a side note, I would like to thank Carrie from Dittle Dattle and Bonnie from Creating a House of Grace for featuring my buffet lamp makeover - 

It was such an easy and inexpensive project!  Thanks Carrie and Bonnie!

My Horchow Art Knock Off

Guess what?  My Horchow art knock off will be featured today over at Knock Off Decor.  I'm really excited - I LOVE that site!  It's a great resource for DIY imitations of expensive decorative items.  I showed you How I Made This Artwork and What It Looks Like in my dining room last week.

Beckie features lots of different projects from very creative people.  It's really fun to look around over there.  So, go check out Beckie's site - I'm sure you'll be inspired!  Thanks Beckie!

Silver Leaf Wine Bottle

Yesterday, I showed you how I added silver leaf to an old tray - 

I explained the whole silver leaf process in that post.  It was fun and I was happy with the results.  I also mentioned that I decided to cover another object in silver leaf - that's right, I covered a wine bottle.  I actually got the idea from browsing through the ZGallerie website.  I came across this-

Aren't they beautiful?  They are also $44.95 and up.  Although they are mercury glass, I think it's the shape and shine that really make them fun.  So, I figured a little silver leaf would have a similar look.  I took an empty wine bottle-

I soaked it to get the label off.  And made sure it was clean.  Then, I simply followed the same process as I did for the tray.  I brushed on adhesive size-

Let it dry for about 30 minutes.  Then I set sheets of silver leaf on the bottle and smoothed them with a clean brush.  I wanted a not-so-perfect look so I was applying the sheets in a random fashion-

After the whole bottle was covered, I used the brush to sweep off the excess silver leaf.  I sprayed it with a sealer and now I have this-

The silver leaf wine bottle really has a lot of texture up close.  It will make a cute decoration for holidays.  And it was free.  Woohoo!  You know how I love free!  I had everything on hand.  Actually, I still have more silver leaf left over - there must be something here that would look better shiny...

I've shared this post here -

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Silver Leaf Tray

Last week, I showed you a tray that I bought at Salvation Army (for $4.99)-

I wasn't crazy about the color and design - but I thought I could dress it up a bit.  And I thought I could try something I had never done before - silver leaf.  I went out to Michael's and bought my supplies-

Silver leaf, adhesive size, brushes, and sealer.  I did use coupons to help keep the cost down.  And I ended up needing more than one package of silver leaf for this project (I did have extra - and I can't wait to show you what else I covered...).  I spent about $20.  So here's the process - I started with the back first-

I brushed on the adhesive size-

It goes on white but clears dry.  I had to let that set up for about 30 minutes (I did some laundry, cleaned the kitchen, and checked out some of my favorite blogs while I waited...).  Then I got started.  I picked up a sheet of silver leaf and set it down in the middle of the tray-

I used a clean brush to smooth it down-

I repeated this process until the back was completely covered.  I did overlap the pieces slightly so it would completely cover the tray-

Then I rubbed the brush over the whole tray to get all of the loose pieces of silver leaf off-

I flipped it over, and repeated the same process on the front-

The last step was to seal it.  I used a spray sealer - I just gave it a couple of coats.  Then I cleaned up the mess-

There were tiny pieces of silver leaf everywhere...but now I have a beautiful piece for my dining room table-

Here's a before and after-

It's really interesting to see all of the 'squares' of silver leaf on the tray.  It's a fun piece - and it was fun to make!  It'll look great when I host Thanksgiving dinner!

I've linked this project here -

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Oldie But Goodie - Copper Pot Redo

{A fun look back at some old projects - you know, stuff I did before I had any readers...}
{August, 12, 2011}



I found a cute little copper pot recently at The Salvation Army Thrift Store:

When I spotted it, it was filled with incomplete decks of playing cards (which I didn't really need because I'm sure I already have plenty of incomplete decks of playing cards...).  I thought it was really cute even though the finish was not great.  It was marked $1.99 - but was half off!  So I got it for a buck!  Yea!  In order to spruce it up a bit, I took it outside with my favorite spray paint:

Rustoleum Gloss Pure White.  I thought it would be a fun little storage piece in my daughters' room (I have been transforming their room which I wrote about HERE).  They always have little odds and ends that need a home.  So after a couple of coats of paint, the copper pot turned into this:

It is so cute and fresh now.  And looks great on the new table I painted (I explained that project HERE).

I love how the white pops on the blue table.  It was a great little $1 project!  And I'm pretty sure the girls have filled it with stuff already...