Stencil on the Cheap

I left you earlier this week with the first steps in the alcove makeover completed.  Now comes the fun part!  Here's where we were a few days ago:

So when I nixed the paper idea like I discussed before, I immediately thought of stenciling.  There are some really cute ones online these days.  Have you checked them out?  Oh yea, I should mention they're also insanely expensive.  Okay, by insane I mean $50-$75.  I said I wanted this project to be cheap, and that's not cheap to me.

So I thought to myself, "Self, what could I use as an alternative?"  I did a little Pinterest-searching, and sure enough, Wendy at The Shabby Nest was using a homemade stencil for her walls... oh... and a Sharpie Paint Pen.  Brilliant!  When I said I was in love with those babies, I wasn't joking.  I had already purchased a gold metallic paint pen that I used here, and I thought it would work perrrrrfectly with the turquoise background color in the alcove.

Because I loved Wendy's idea... and blog... I used her stencil shape as well.  Here's what I did:

First, I folded a piece of paper over twice, and drew on one quadrant of the design with the folded corner in the center.  This ensured that the stencil would be symmetrical (think snowflake-making from back in the day).  I kind of planned out the size to fit the space.  The back of the alcove is about 20" wide, so I knew a 6" wide stencil would fit comfortably in 3 columns.

Once I cut it out, I traced around it onto the back of a cereal box to get a thicker form.

Boom!  Wall-stencil that costs nothing!

Then it was time to hit the alcove.  I used a ruler and a level to mark the center of the back wall, then did the same to mark the center on either side of the original line (so I had 3 even columns on the back wall).  For the side walls, the stencil would only fit once comfortably, so I decided another half-stencil along each edge would look best to finish it off.  I kind of eyeballed where I wanted the full column to go, then used a ruler and level again to draw a straight vertical line.  Hopefully all these descriptions make sense elsewhere besides just my brain.

Once I had marked everything off, I started working with the stencil.  I centered it over each vertical line I had drawn, then traced it on.

Finally, it was time for my paint-pen-lover to swoop in!  I went over the stencil with it, then erased all the pencil marks.  When everything was dry and looking beautimous, I screwed the shelves back in.  I ended up only using half of the shelves that were up before... I couldn't think of any reason I'd need seven shelves in a half bath.  Here's the finished product...

Overall cost of this makeover? Absolutely nothing!  I already had all of the materials for this, so I didn't spend a thing.  Now that's my kind of project!

I plan on keeping a couple of baskets and small storage bin here, but I'm not sure what else to put on these shelves.  Any ideas?

A Little Alcove Love

In an attempt to quit moping around here, cursing the winter weather, I've started to ease myself back into some minor house projects.  This first one was a long time coming.  Remember back when we renovated the half bathroom?  Remember the little shelving alcove I promised I'd be working on?  Specifically, number 6 on the to do list... "revamp the shelving alcove".  Yea, it's been sitting like that for the past 4 months.  Actually, no... first we took the shelves out.  Then, it sat for 4 months.  Can you tell how on-top-of-things I've been around here?

On a positive note, I have been able to get some laundry done.  And washed the pugs.  So things are slightly less smelly around here.  A nice benefit to a home-reno break.

Anyway, here's where we started.

Like I said, we unscrewed all the shelves and chopped them down to actually fit in the alcove.  After properly aging for 4 months, I sanded them down with a fine grit sandpaper.  I used a damp rag to clear off the dust, then wiped them down with dry paper towels.  The next day, I used mini foam rollers to add a coat of the leftover Zinsser primer from the kitchen cabinets.  I don't want these babies to start chipping.  Once that was dry, I rolled on 2 layers of satin paint from the living room wainscoting.  Not having to buy any new materials for this project = more money for the finer things in life.  Like food.  Yay!

I didn't photograph the shelf-painting process.  Pretty sure you've seen enough wood-painting from me after the kitchen cabinet fiasco.

Next, I got to work on the alcove itself.  I had to spackle and sand down some spots where the drywall was chipped first.

I originally wanted to use wallpaper.  I was totally and completely inspired by rooms like these...

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As it turns out I've been feeling a little stingy lately.  I ended up deciding on paint instead.  So I went shopping in our basement paint stash.  I grabbed the bold peacock blue color from the dining room, along with the pale green from the living room.  I did a little mixing to get something just a bit lighter than the dining room walls.  It took two coats before it looked like this:

And here are the finished shelves.

For now, that's where we stand... but just wait for what I have planned next!  Let's just say I'm bringing 2 of my favorite things together for one awesome-ness product :)  Stick around for the finished alcove!

St. Patrick's Day Recap

Will and I have always loved celebrating St. Patrick's Day, but living in our neighborhood and near downtown made this year extra special.

We started off on Friday with the St. Patrick's Day parade downtown.  Our neighborhood has a long history of participating as the "Lawn Chair Brigade", and more recently the "Umbrella Chicks" have joined in.  I know, I know.  We do look professional!  But the main goal was just to have a good time.  Which we also achieved.

Courtesy of Jennifer Bowersock's Instagram... who coincidentally happens to be one of the best photographers ever!

The neighborhood festivities continued Friday evening.  For the past 30-some-odd years, our neighbors have held a St. Patrick's Day party.  This year they passed the torch on to their daughter and son-in-law, which included a parade from one house to the next.  Any outsider may think this group was a rowdy bunch of college kids :)  Our fellow Woodruffians take March 17th very seriously.

Yep.  There was a band.

Exhibit A: The Shot Ski.  To preserve the pride of our neighbors, no photos are being uploaded of anyone actually using the Shot Ski.  You're welcome :)  

Saturday we woke up bright and early (well... not too bright and early) for the 4-mile Shamrock Run downtown.  We decided to jog down from our house, which ultimately was a bad idea when we realized we'd have to jog back to our house after the race.  And after a celebratory beer and spinach-artichoke dip.  I didn't vomit.  Just to make one thing clear.

Photo courtesy of Brandi Severns' iPhone :)

Surprisingly, we were both happy with our times.  It helped that we had a cheerleader :)

Photo courtesy of Brandi Severns' iPhone :)

I'd like to say there were more shenanigans thereafter, but unfortunately the Arvins can only handle so much celebration + running + beer and food.  We rested our legs and enjoyed some tasty Guinness Stew, recipe courtesy of Nicole at Prevention RD.  Alright, and maybe another Guinness alongside...

March Giveaway Winner

Rafflecopter has randomly chosen a winner for the March Red Maple Run Giveaway!  Congratulations!

For everyone else, don't give up!  There are always new giveaways in the making :)  For those of you interested in partnering for a future giveaway, you can contact me at LindsayArvinRD@gmail.com.

Have a great week, friends!

March Giveaway from Red Maple Run

I'm so excited to announce this month's giveaway, brought to you by another fabulous Etsy Shop!

Red Maple Run sells a variety of charming home goodies, and when they told me what they were contributing to the March giveaway, I was downright giddy!  Amy and Steve are offering a set of 4 breadboards to one lucky Acrylics and Icing reader!  And because I'm such a nice gal, I'm going to give you all a shot at them rather than stealing them for myself... which I gave serious thought to.

There are two options to choose from, which are valued at up to $64!  Only walnut is pictured below, but the winner will have the choice of maple as well.  I suddenly want to host a party so I can drink wine and serve cheese and biscuits on these guys...

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Get ready cooking- and baking-lovers of blog-land.  You have less than 5 days to enter!  In honor of St. Patrick's Day, the giveaway ends Sunday night, the 17th.  So get your entries in before you hit the pubs this weekend!

The rules are simple.  You have the option to enter up to 4 times using the doodad below.  The boards will be will be made to order (7-10 days after choosing walnut or maple) and shipped by USPS Priority- only US addresses are eligible.  Comment below or email me at LindsayArvinRD@gmail.com  if you have questions or issues with entering.  Remember, the steps you choose to complete must actually be complete in order to claim the prize.  Good luck, friends! :)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

These Days...

I tried to kick down a door for the first time in my life last week.  It wasn't nearly as great as I would've imagined.  I guess I should explain.

I got home with a giant armful of groceries one evening when Will was out of town.  I have this fantastic keychain that allows you to remove your housekeys with ease... especially for warming up your car in the morning and being able to lock the house in the meantime.  This fantastic keychain also allowed me to leave my housekeys in the car while I lugged my groceries in.  Being the safety-conscious person I am, I locked the garage door and slammed it shut behind me.  Thus, leaving me with groceries and purse, but locked out of both garage and house.  And did I mention that Will was out of town?  Yea.  The pugs were screaming with excitement (not because I was home, obviously, but because it was feeding time), but unfortunately they don't have the anatomy and brainpower to unlock the door for me.  This is when the door-kicking started.  I thought there was a slight chance I could kick the garage door in.  I was definitely wrong.

Long story short, I called our dogwalker that visits when we go out of town, who has a key to the house.  Totally saved me from freezing my rear off.  Naturally, I got inside and immediately downed about 10 of those Pillsbury break-apart bunny cookies that I had just made the night before.  Ten is not an exaggeration.

That was only some of the random excitement we've had around here the past couple months.  Here are more that I photographed.  And that don't involve kicking.  Or binge-eating.

My in-laws came up from Evansville with their new pup, Beau.  He's pretty handsome.

Then in an attempt to be intimidating, Kirb tried to eat the insides of his toy.

I got a little fabric-happy a couple weeks ago and made a new pillow for the living room.  I told you, I'm diggin' the tribal-esque prints these days.

We did a lot of this.  And by "this",  I mean sitting around like bums reading magazines and looking at blogs.  Well... I did that.  Will read newspapers and classic novels.  At least one of us is scholarly around here :)

We ran in a Valentine's Day 5k while sporting hilarious shirts gifted to us from our good pals.  And apparently can't be photographed doing a proper heel click through the finish line.  Ha!

Our neighborhood hosted its first movie night in the town hall.  We brought-our-own-beer (and wine) and watched a short film about our neighborhood that gave more than a couple glimpses of our house back in it's early years.  We were a little giddy about it actually.  Probably freaked out the neighbors a bit.

I created more wall art.  I talked before about needing pieces for the dining room.  When I spotted this guy from an Etsy shop on Pinterest, I gave a go at creating something similar with charcoal.  Not sure why I like him so much.

Probably most importantly though, I have a giveaway coming up in a couple of days!  Woop woop!  Get ready, friends, it'll be here Wednesday!

More Sharpie Paint Pen Excitement

You already know from the Pinterest Challenge post that I've got a newfound obsession with Sharpie paint pens.  Really.  I could be out anywhere and think, "Hmmm... that window would be sooo cute with a little paint-penned decoration," or "Oooh, those tiles could be much more unique with a paint pen design," or even, "Wow, those pugs would be stunning with paint pen stripes down their backs."  Okay, maybe not the last one so much.  But I think you get the point.

So on a quest for more paint pen craftiness, I remembered my need for cheap art in the dining room.  I have a wall that's in need of a gallery.  I dug up a postcard, my sketchpad, and some frames I wasn't using to see what I could come up with.

One particularly lazy evening, I plopped myself in front of the TV and started doodling a pattern with my black Sharpie paint pen.  I'm crazy about tribal prints these days, so I made one of my own.

I kind of like it all framed and hanging like it's fancy.

I always like incorporating maps into decor, so for another piece I printed one off from the internet.  I used one of my favorite travel quotes and a gold paint pen to finish it off.

And lastly, I found this postcard in our mess of "souvenirs" from our summer in Spain a few years ago. Maybe I'm feeling a little travel-bug-ish.  Used my gold paint pen for this one, too.

After adding a piece of black craft paper to fill the extra space in the frame, it looked like this:

I'd say I'm well on my way to a dining room gallery wall!  Do you have any new paint pen creations?