Boy's Room Wall Art with Chargers

Nearly every time I shop at Wal-mart I make sure to go check out the clearance section in the home goods section.  Most of the time I don't see anything that I need/want, but a few months ago I felt like I hit the jackpot when I found a stack of 14" solid wood dinner plate chargers for only $2 each!  They were originally priced at $6.96.  Yesterday I felt like making something crafty and ended up turning three chargers into some fun wall art for my son's room for only $6!

I bought ten of them knowing that there are several things that I could make with them.  I have an idea for a Christmas gift and will tell you about it when/if I figure out all of the little details.

Because I might want to use the chargers for something else down the road I didn't want to paint over the wood.  I didn't have enough white vinyl on hand to cut the images out either so I took a chance and used everyday white contact paper, which I had plenty of.  (You can read more about cutting and using contact paper for stenciling here.)  If it starts to peel I'll come back and update this post and let you know--hopefully it won't.

My son picked the images he wanted and chose a tractor, an airplane, and a monster truck.  I found the images online and in Microsoft office, uploaded them into the Silhouette program, and then converted them into images that could be cut with the Silhouette.  If you aren't sure how to do this, there is a great tutorial at Sew Dang Cute Crafts.

Biplane Image 

This is the dresser in my son's room.  It's amazing how closely the chargers match it!  It's rare that I find something on clearance that doesn't need to be spray painted!

Command strips are my new favorite way to hang pictures and wall art.  These things really work!  I used one strip for each of the chargers which should be enough, but I might still go back and add another one since they are hanging above my son's bed, just to make sure they won't fall on him.

I had so much fun making this wall art, probably because it was so easy to put together and didn't involve making a huge mess! 

Two Years

I also wanted to mention that last Sunday marked two years of sharing my 'fabulous finds' here on this blog, it's crazy!  When I published my first post two years ago, I knew that there were craft blogs and that people commented on them, but I had no idea that these commenters were part of a whole blogging community of women (and a few men) that lift and support each other and inspire each other's creativity.  The blogging community has made the world we live in just a little bit smaller and I can't tell you how much I've enjoyed being a part of it.  Thank you for stopping by to read about my little projects, for your support, and for your friendship!

Today's Fabulous Find...$6 Boys Room Wall Art

Linking to:  Or So She Says   Today's Creative Blog   Home Stories A to Z   Tator Tots and Jello   Six Sister's Stuff   Funky Junk Interiors    Craft Junkie Too    The 36th Avenue    House of Hepworths    The Shabby Creek Cottage   Someday Crafts   Creations by Kara   Beyond The Picket Fence

"Free Ten Dollars" at JCPenney

Do you get the coupons in the mail from JCPenney that are good for $10 off of a purchase totaling $10 or more?  I get one about every 2 months and I really look forward to them!  I call them my "free ten dollars." :)  I like to see how far I can stretch them, you know, just for fun.
 

Anyway, I've found some pretty good deals over the years using the coupons, but this deal I think has got to be my best yet!

What I bought:  One metal (1" round) curtain rod that fits a 28"-48" wide window and two sets of clip rings.

Total retail cost:  $82.00  Ouch!

They were marked down on clearance, and then reduced again.

I used my "free ten dollars" coupon and ended up saving $80.09!!!

So if you did some quick math in your head then you already know that I only paid $1.91 total

 for the rod and two sets of rings,  $2.03 with tax.  

You better believe I felt giddy as I walked out the door. :) 

I'm not sure why some get the coupons and others don't.  It may have to do with if you have a JCPenney card or not, but I really don't know.  I have a card but never use it.  I haven't cancelled it for fear that the coupons will stop coming.  I do a lot of shopping there and every bit helps.

Ask about the $10 off a $10 purchase coupons at your local JCPenney store, it's worth the effort for sure! 

If you've happened on a great deal that made you feel all giddy, please share!

Today's Fabulous Find...JCPenney's $10 Coupon

Thrifty Spring Decor

Over the last couple of months I've been showing you pieces of my spring decor.  I thought you might like to see how it all came together.  Many of the pieces were either on sale, thrift finds, from the dollar store, or something that I already had. My total cost--$40!

  Click on the links for more details, including before pictures, costs, and tutorials.

 

 

Candle Stick (no link)

$2 Good Will find, spray painted dark brown and distressed.  In the picture there is wire wrapped around the candle.   The wire seemed like a good idea at the time, but blended in with the wreath so I've taken it off.  I might try wrapping wire around another candle sometime though. 

 

 

Spring Plate

Dollar store plate and stand.  Total cost (including the vinyl) $3.

Spring Wreath

$9 Wreath (with coupon) and dollar store flowers.  Total cost: $12

(Paint Stick) Crate

Made with paint sticks for under $4.  Greenery was $10 total (buy one, get one free).

Bird's Nest

Thrift store silver dish, dollar store nest, and clearance bird, total cost:  $3.50.  I wrapped burlap around the books to cover the shiny gold titles.  There's a trend (which I like) to rip the covers off of the books, but since they are books that I read, I'm gonna leave the covers alone.

 

 

 

 

 Framed Shelf

The shelf was a .75 thrift store find that I painted white.
I already had the frame and the lantern.

(Paint Stick) Window

Made with paint sticks, trim I had, and glass from a dollar store frame.  Total cost: $1

 

Black Shelf

 $2.50 Garage sale find that I painted.

I'm already making some fun changes to it for Easter and can't wait to show you!

Todays Fabulous Find...Thrifty Spring Decor

Linking to:Under the Table and Dreaming

Free Paint Sample and a $5 off Coupon

Many of you have probably already heard of Valspars paint sample promotion, for those of you who haven't yet, I thought I'd show you what you can get for free!

Valspar is giving away 100 paint samples each day for 100 days.  I don't know when the promotion ends, so if you want one, don't put it off.  The best time to try for the sample is in the morning, it opens at 9am CST.  Go to Valspars web page, select a color, and then wait for about 3-5 business days for this to show up at your door...or in your bushes...which is where mine was...crazy wind.

Inside you'll find a sample of the paint you chose, a $5 off paint coupon, and paint chips for the paint color you selected and for two coordinating colors.   

Valspar will also send you a small roller with two roller brushes and a plastic paint tray.  Not bad, right?

Generally when I choose a paint color, I take for-e-ver!  I will grab a bunch of paint chips, move them around the room to see them in different light, stew, fret, stew some more, hope that I got it right, and then cross my fingers and finally buy the paint.   Because this was free, and I wasn't planning to paint an entire room with it, I went ahead and just picked a color right off of the screen.  I may have to change my ways because Apple 4 is exactly what I hoped it would be!  Maybe I was just lucky. :)

Click here for your free paint sample.

Today's Fabulous Find...Free Paint Samples at Valspar

Before and Afters and Painting In Snowy Weather

This is what a person resorts to in cold weather who is desperate to spray paint!  Yes, you have to get very creative.  It actually started snowing while I was spray painting.  Brr!  It was also windy and I was nervous as my long hair was whipping around that it was going to blow into the line of paint and I'd have an unwanted dye job, should have pulled it back first. :)  I hurried to get the painting done (before the neighbors witnessed my insanity) and lucked out that the paint didn't have any problems, my neighbors didn't ever ask me what I was doing, and my hair maintained it's natural color.  Whew!  Hurry Spring!!!

I bought this frame years ago at a thrift store for 35 cents.  When I say years, I mean like before I was married! Yes I, okay mostly my husband, packed this baby around move after move for over 15 years and I never once used it...ever.  It didn't have glass or a back and I just didn't quite know what to do with it.  I bought it with my husband, then fiance, thinking we would put pictures in it for our wedding reception.  I remember how much fun I had shopping for it with him, there are some good memories attached to it, so I never got rid of it.  This time it paid off though to pack rat, because I finally found a good use for it!

Spray Painting the frame...it's painted with black and dark brown.

I distressed it and hung it on my wall thinking that I'd hang some smaller frames in it...anyway that was the original plan. 

After I'd looked at it for several days (while waiting for a better day to spray paint the smaller frames, I'd smartened up by then), I remembered this little thrift shelf that I bought for 75 cents.  I can't find the before picture, but it was exactly like the shelf below, but smaller.  I painted it white and sanded the edges, to let some of the color of the stained wood through, clear last summer but never hung it up anywhere.

It seemed at the time like a crazy idea, but I held it up inside the frame just to see how it would look, and  I loved it.  Then came the thoughts..."do people frame shelves?"..."is this weird?"..."better Google it"..."better run it by a sister"..."do I dare blog about it?"..."shouldn't matter anyway, 'cause I like it"...and so it stayed.  Do you ever do this?

I love this little shelf because I can easily change the things that I set on it for each season.   The frame around it actually does 'frame' whatever I set there, bringing attention to it.  I've tried several things on the shelf and decided to show off my little red lantern for now (a gift from my In-laws).

After staring at the lantern for a few days trying to decide what was missing (do you see a trend forming here?), it came to me (the light bulb moment)...another way to use paint sticks from my stash...a little something to pull everything together... and it would only cost me $1!


I'll show you what I made in my next post. :)   Today's Fabulous Find...'Framing' a Shelf

Spring Plate

This may be a bit early to be posting spring decor, but I decided that just because it still looks like winter outside, doesn't mean that I can't make it look like spring inside. :)

I was trying to decide what phrase I wanted to put on a spring plate, when I remembered that last spring Melissa at 320 Sycamore printed and framed a line from a poem by Emily Dickinson that I really loved.  I knew it was exactly what I wanted to display in my home as well.  I used vinyl to put the line from the poem on a white plate, added an image, and chose green as an accent color.

 Melissa was kind enough to share the fonts that she used.  I pretty much followed how she printed hers, except that I had to change the smaller words to a different font (Gisha) so they would work better with vinyl.   The image of the birds can be found at Silhouette's online store.  The plate and the stand both came from the dollar store.  When I see metal stands for only a dollar, I stock up.  There are so many things you can display with them for simple inexpensive gifts.    

I also went back and bought more of the white plates (while they were still at Dollar Tree) so that I can display other seasonal quotes on them in vinyl, or to use them as gifts.



I ended up only spending four dollars each for the spring plate and for the thrifty bird's nest.

Click here to see Melissa's Dollar Store Spring Vignette, which includes her Emily Dickinson framed print and the full poem.

I love the look of this spring plate and am so grateful for those who share their talents and inspire creativity.  Thanks Melissa!



Today's Fabulous Find...Emily Dickinson Print at 320 Sycamore
 Linking up here: Tip Junkie's Silhouette PartyTator Tots and Jello

 

 

Sale on S'more Boxes!

Remember these fun little boxes that I cut windows in and used for the s'more kits?   

Well, they are currently on sale at Wal-mart for 50% off.  So you can buy 5 boxes for $1.50!  They come in several different sizes.  The size for the s'more kit box is 8.25" x 7" x 3.5".  If your Wal-mart has them, they should be in the seasonal Christmas section by the wrapping paper and gift sacks. 

I grabbed some today to use throughout the year.   I have plans for them.  Don't you think they would be so cute for Valentine's day with a heart window in the top of the box and cookies inside?  Really, you could cut out a shape for any holiday...an egg for Easter, a star for the 4th of July, a ghost or pumpkin for Halloween.  I imagine them with a bright ribbon, a cute tag, and colored fill inside.  Anyway, I thought that I'd pass on the deal in case you are thinking of making s'more kits this summer or next year for gifts and want to save some money on the boxes.  Where they are sold in the seasonal section, you may not be able to find them later.  Wouldn't you know that now I'm regretting that I didn't pick up more of them. :)

Todays Fabulous Find...50 75% Off Sale on S'more Boxes!

Photo Block: Before and After

What a busy time this is!  I'm hurrying to get my Christmas gifts done for my neighbors and friends and thought I'd give you a  peek at what I'm working on today.  Wait 'til you see what this photo block looked like before!

A couple of months ago I found these photo blocks.  The retail price was $2.50 each, but they were on clearance for 90% off, making them only .25 each!  I figured that the photo pick alone was worth .25 so I bought a bunch of them, with plans to make them over.

Here are the steps from start to finish...

I pretty much followed the same steps that I used in the paint stick ornaments tutorial if you'd like more details. 

1. Original block (not exactly what I had in mind).
2. Scraped off the shapes that were glued on. (I saved them to use on future projects.)
3. Painted the block.  I used 2 coats of craft paint to cover up the shiny bright paint.  I was too busy lazy to sand them, but in my defense, the paint was really hard! :)
4. Cut squares of scrapbook paper, distressed the edges, and Mod Podged them onto the block.
5. Mod Podged over the paper and all of the paint. (The Mod Podge, I'm hoping, will protect the paint so it doesn't chip off of the original paint, remember, I was too busy lazy to sand them.
6. Added a jute bow.
7. Added vinyl with each family's last name initial.  (Instead of vinyl, you could print whatever you want onto the paper following these steps.)

So here's the before... 

...and the after.

As soon as I have them all put together, I'll show you how I'm using the photo blocks in the gifts. 

Todays Fabulous Find...Twenty-five Cent Photo Block Holders!  

Linking here: