DIY–Peace Sign

Do you remember my feverish quest to find the peace sign of my dreams from CB2?

When I tweeted them, the CB2 people were kind enough to let me know that the item was forever out of stock, company wide.

And so, I had friends emailing me pictures and links to “make your own peace sign” (because you guys are amazing)

and while I’m not particularly crafty or DIY, I get by, and so, on a whim, I ordered 15 feet of grapevine twine from ebay for 10 bucks.

It was a little daunting when it arrived, all crafty and such. But I figured I’d give it a go. So I wrapped and looped and wired with natural wire from Michaels and I present to you, my DIY peace sign.

It looks a little wonky, but I’m going to fix it. And it’s much bigger than it looks in the pic. But I’ll keep working on it. I think it will work.

 

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Tres Belle.

In my online quest to find my Dope Jonathan Adler version of a Unicorn, I found something very cool on ebay;

A European magazine cover, featuring my fave designer with a title whose name is very close to my heart.

And so, after an accepted bid, a trip to Michael’s for a frame and specialty matting,

I now have a new wall-hanging in my living room that is super cool and pretty, I think…

or, as they say in France, tres Belle.

And the whole project is one of a kind and cost me less than $30.00 in total.

I adore it. But I’m sorry; I don’t know how to say that in French.

 

Back Patio–The Before

When we first moved into our house, we had an extremely long driveway, with a hot tub at the end, and a stone back patio, covered in old pots and things like stone angels and non-working fountains. The old owners left their patio furniture, as well, which was a rusted dark green metal.

We had room to pull up to our back door and garage and park about 8 cars in our drive (I exaggerate not) but no real back yard to speak of.

Right before the baby was born we took on a major project: we had a back yard built. Keystone Gardens tore up the driveway, removed the hot tub, dug, put in soil and sod and built us a real yard. They finished the project on a Wednesday. I went into labor at 4 am the next day. While I was in the hospital, we had super Fence install an aluminum fence that looks like wrought iron.

While I was recovering from my c-section, my dad and husband planted 50 mums around the property, even using stones to create a real cabbage patch, and all of a sudden the dilapidated area looked beautiful, fall-like and lush. We had fuschia, lavender and burnt orange mums and it was so bright.

However, our back patio has remained kind of rough.

This weekend I got an idea: I wanted to update the back stone patio, now that it is enclosed in our nice new yard, and it is where we have our grill, in preparation for spring. However, I have to do so on a very tight budget. I was very inspired by my much sought after lit peace sign and just ordered 15 feet of grape vine from ebay to try to make my own version of a cb2 inner peace wreath.

I went out to the patio this weekend to analyze the space. I threw away cracked and dirty pots (left over from the old owners) and scrutinized the metal furniture. I found some new dining sets online for under $400, but I felt like that was still out of my current budget.

Here is what the patio looks like now.

The more lounge-like set below is from our the front porch in our old house.

It’s all a bit junky. And a bit tired. But I got an idea.

It involved gold spray paint. And cost me $36.

My husband I got to work.

And I went on Overstock and found what look like really nice outdoor seat cushions in Navy and white. I spray painted the pots that I was able to salvage and saved some glass ones in bright cobalt blue. This is the before. I still have more painting to do, more pillows and accessories to add, and a wreath to build, but I am quite excited for the after and a summer with a nice, bright, updated back patio. Stay tuned…

My fine, feathered DIY.

So do you happen to remember the peacock feathers that I ordered from One Kings Lane?

I asked for you to stay tuned, and my DIY feather project is finally complete.

And I have to say, I’m pretty darn happy with the final result, as it combines several things that are important to me: It is unique (one of a kind, in fact), I was able to do this project on a budget (will tally the total in a bit) and it is feathered.

So here’s how it all went down:

I bought “grass green” paint and posterboard from Michael’s.

And gave it several coats. There I also purchased gold frames that would fit an 11X14 picture (on clearance). 

When the peacock feathers arrived I mounted them on the posterboard. 

And matted and framed them. 

And then hung them as a series in my master.  So now I get feathers, my strength symbol, next to my bed, which means a lot to me. And I did it on a budget. So here’s how it all breaks down:

Peacock Feathers from One Kings Lane: $22

Paint from Michael’s: $0.69

Posterboard from Michael’s: $1.99

3 Frames from Michael’s at $8.00 each

So the grand total of my original art piece is now $48.68. So for under Fifty Bucks I was able to create something very special, that pleases my eyes and my soul. Not bad, I say. Not bad at all.