Pinterest Challenge

Once again I’m taking part in the unofficial Pinterest Challenge hosted by Young House Love and Bower Power.

This time around I decided on creating some artwork for our house. We are seriously lacking in the artwork department.

I’ve been drooling over this ampersand artwork created by Elise Blaha Cripe ever since I first laid eyes on it. I am also an ampersand lover, so this was right up my alley.

After I made the decision that this would be my project, I made a trip to Home Depot for supplies. I had a few different thoughts about the materials I wanted to use. I knew I wanted dark stain, so I went with dark walnut. But I had a hard time deciding on the nails I would use. Home Depot has some great copper nails that I thought would look fantastic against the dark wood, but in the end I thought a more subtle approach would be the way to go so that I wouldn’t find myself regretting my decision.

As for the string, I wanted something neutral so anything too bright was out of the question. I considered both silver and gold, but ultimately ended up with white. I like the classic and clean look of it, but I especially like the way it pops against the dark stain.

I didn’t want to spend a lot of money on wood, nor did I want something too heavy that would keep me from hanging it, so I chose a pre-cut piece of plywood. I believe the dimensions are 2 x 2 1/2. It’s light weight and it was cheap.

I basically just followed Elise’s tutorial and ended up with a new piece of artwork that I couldn’t be happier with! I can’t wait to figure out where I want to display it. I love, love, love it! Thanks so much for the fantastic inspiration Elise.

Okay, enough talking…

I’m not sure why that line is running down the side of the wood. Jeremy sanded it for me before the stain was applied and you couldn’t see it then, but it showed up after he stained it. I don’t mind it though and actually think it adds some character.

After making this, I am excited to dive into more art projects. I’ve been wanting to paint a big canvas for a long time, but haven’t had the nerve. I think now’s the time. Plus, I’m so tired of looking at all my bare walls!

Oh, here is the price breakdown in case you’re interested.

wood-$6.99

stain-$4.89

nails-$2.69

string-$2.49

And I used some cardboard I had on hand to create my stencil-free

total: $17.16

Not bad for original artwork!

If you would like to make your own string art, I would encourage you to take a look a Elise’s blog for her tutorial. Or just look around her blog. It’s awesome!

Linking up at:

Young House Love

Bower Power

Sparkle Meets Pop

Red Bird Blue

See you later!

The project I ending up choosing for the unofficial Pinterest Challenge was building a terrarium. I’ve wanted to do this for quite some time now, and finally decided to go for it. I already had some of the supplies needed hand, so there weren’t many extra expenses.

The only things we had to purchase were the plants and the potting soil. We decided to use cactus soil instead of regular potting soil. I read a few different post about how to build a terrarium and mentioned using cactus soil because succulents don’t like much water.

We bought both the cactus soil and the succulents at Home Depot. We bought three small succulents at $2.28 each and two bigger succulents at $3.48 each, and we spent $4.99 on the bag of cactus soil.

Here is a look at our process. We made it a family activity and everyone helped. It was fun and I plan to make at least one more for our bedroom.

My inspiration came from Yellow Brick Home and www.brittnayanddylan.blogspot.com.

After I took these photos, I actually went back and removed some of the soil because I thought it looked to high. I like it much better now. It’s only a couple inches lower, but it makes a huge difference.

I’m really happy with how it turned out. I even added some rocks that we collected on the beach in Big Sur, California, so every time I look at it I’m reminded of our awesome trip! I love the bit of green that it adds to our living room. It’s inspired me to add more plants to our space.

Has anyone else built a terrarium? I would love to see it. I need more inspiration for the future!

Tashia

The ladies over at Young House Love and Bower Power are back with another edition of the Pinterest Challenge. I didn’t participate in the last challenge because I had too many other things on my plate at the time, but I’m definitely joining in this time around. I have a few things that I really want to make for the kids rooms, but there are some things I’d also love to tackle for the rest of the house too, so I need to go through my pins and decide on the perfect project.

The challenge concludes next Wednesday, so I have a week to make something amazing.

As of right now, I’m thinking maybe a painting project or maybe something with pallets if I can find free ones on craigslist. My last couple of projects were sewing projects, so I don’t think I’ll be doing anything like that this time. Ok, enough chatter. I’m off to search Pinterest.

Oh, and if you’re interested in following me on Pinterest you can find me here:

http://pinterest.com/tjdoyle811/.

Here is the last project I made for the challenge. It’s a lovie blanket that I made for Harper. It was my first time sewing a blanket and I am so proud of how it turned out. That’s why I love these challenges, because they get me to try projects that I might not try otherwise. So awesome!

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Will you be joining in? If so, I would love to see your projects!

Tashia