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Monday, June 26, 2017

DIY Customize Color Letterboard

I have been drooling, DROOLING over colored felt letterboards. I just haven't drooled over the price. They are expensive! I kept thinking there had to be a solution, and I've found it!


I recently found THE BEST DEAL! An 11"x16" letter board for $9.95, that comes with a set of black letters! This letterboard can be found at Walmart. I've not found it online, only in stores, and not all stores carry it, so you may want to call and check, unless you are making a trip anyway. I've found it in fabric and craft, and in stationary. The construction is okay, and the white felt looks a bit dingy, not like the Letter Folk letter boards. You can even get 2 sets of additional letters and words for $9.95.


As I mentioned, it was a little dingy, and I didn't love the color of the white. It looked more grey. I thought this would be the perfect board to turn a color!


So... an inexpensive, easy DIY solution was born! Textile medium mixed with the craft paint color of your choice, and brushed on your letter board, was the answer! You can find textile medium at any craft store, and I think most brands work just fine.


 I used Anita's on one, and Delta on the other board, and they both gave the same results.


Squirt as much paint as you need into a cup, and add the textile medium. What this does, is it thins the paint, and makes it so it doesn't dry hard. It stays soft and playable. Mix more than you need. You will need more than you think, and the felt will suck up any excess.


I found that adding a little more textile medium than paint gave me the consistency I wanted. It will be pretty thin! Kind of like pudding that's not set up.


Mix it up, and start brushing it on your letterboard. The felt will soak the color up. It feels more like a stain than a paint. I loved using the medium flat brush for this project, because it was able to get under the frame and not get paint on the frame. It went super fast! By the way... I tried to take the frame off, and couldn't bend the metal prongs back into place after, that's why I opted to just paint with the frame on. If you get paint on the frame, you can just wipe it off. You may need to add extra to the crack lines, just to make sure the color has saturated everything.


Let it dry in the sun or over night. This is very important, because the letters can leave dents in the painted felt, if you insert them before it's all the way dry.


I also made a pink one for my bedroom. I kinda want one in every room of my house!


At $9.97, there is NO EXCUSE not to buy and customize your own letterboard today!


The board says what I felt when I finished.


Now I have two more boards, one for my bedroom, and one for the powder room. Just think... you could have two more boards by the end of the day too!

Thanks for stopping by! 

Have a Happy and Creative Day. And seriously... make a painted letterboard!

Risa



Wednesday, June 21, 2017

Outdoor Yard Lights for under $150!


Let's talk about outdoor lighting. Outdoor lighting creates the perfect ambiance. It brings a little magic into your evening. It makes you want to stay a little longer, and is the perfect touch to any yard. I might even go as far as to say it's a necessity! 



I liked my patio, but it wasn't really a place I wanted to spend any time, and I wanted a place where my kids would want to hang out with their friends all summer. The lights were just what we needed to make our patio feel like an outdoor room.


I researched so many ways to do this on Pinterest. I even talked to our contractor about building a simple frame pergola out of 4x4's. We didn't want to spend that much. This DIY project came in under $150, including 2 sets of lights.


First, you'll decide how many poles you need to support your lights. We needed 8 total, 4 on each side of the patio.

SUPPLY LIST:

8 - 3/4" galvanized electrical tubes. We paid $4.25 for each 10 foot section at Home Depot.

8 - 5 foot pieces of rebar. We bought 4, 10 foot pieces and cut them in half. They are $1/foot at Home Depot. So, they were basically $5/piece. My husband cut them in half with his multi-tool.

8 clothes line hooks. These were also from Home Depot, and worked well because they come with a washer that tightens to hold the hook in place.



Outdoor string lights. We got ours at Costco for $29/each. We used 2 sets. I recommend getting them at Costco because they are a great price, but also because they are long, 48" compared to the 12" kind you length you find in many stores.

We measured where we wanted everything to be, and my hunky husband pounded the rebar into the ground. He pounded it in about 2.5 feet deep.


Then we simply slipped the metal poles over the rebar. 




The outdoor room was beginning to take shape.



We, and when I say we, I mean, he... My husband drilled holes int the top of each pole, and put a hook in the top. These were from Home Depot. 


We tried multiple types. The type we landed on is, clothes line hooks, sold individually, just like the one in his hand. You find them in the open screw bin area of Home Depot.


We did this on Memorial Day, and Costco was closed, so we had to wait to pick up lights. I hate waiting! We put them up after work the next day. Who needs daylight?


The lights attached to the hooks so easily, because they have a little loop on top of each one.


We ended up moving the pole next to my stairs closer to the stairs because we had more cord left on that side and it was droopy. 

BEFORE:



AFTER:

I don't think anyone would notice that the pole is not perfectly lined up.



 We did run an extension cord up to the lights. I don't really see it at night.


It's pretty at night. It's pretty in the evening. I even like it in the day time!







It's my new favorite place to be. I find myself looking for excuses to hang out on the patio at night now. The lights are bright enough, that we canst out on the table and play a game without and additional lights needed.


My daughter had some friends over the next night, and they all ohhed and awed over the lights as soon as they saw them. The girls even wanted to take selfies with the lights.


Thanks for stopping by! 

Have a Happy and Creative Day!



Risa