A Satisfied Customer...

Hey guys!! Our cousin is getting married next month and he recently asked for my help with a table revamp.  His fiance that we love found this table on Craig's List for $100.

Please excuse my garage... It's a bit shanty! This was a great table. It's solid oak and has great traditional lines... It was just in need of a little updating!  It also came with a leaf.

I opened the table up and set the leaf inside leaving a bit of space on each side.  I used Behr black satin interior paint.  I never pick a color card.  Just tell the paint guy or gal that you want black.  I cleaned the top off just a bit and painted the entire piece.  Here it is drying.

I then used my 3M block sander with 80 grit paper to sand my edges a bit.  I LOVE the results!

My cousin added the topcoat of Polyurethane by himself when he got it home.  I am hoping they will soon share a picture of it in the house but for now these will have to do!  For less than $25 I took this old orange looking table and turned it into something fabulous!  We are constantly getting questions about revamping kitchen tables and I hope this inspires you guys to go for it! It is so worth it!!

And there's my satisfied customer!!

Congratulations Justin and Shannon!!

~Whitney

Some Very Meaningful Bling...

So girls... Have you had to chance to stop by and see Lisa Leonard Designs??!

Lisa Leonard Designs is one of the Shanty Sisters favorite custom jewelry designers!  Her style is young, fresh and fun!

Want to see some of her goodies??

This is Lisa Leonard's new Vintage Frame Necklace.

And this lovely is her Whoo Do You Love necklace... LOVE!

And not only does Lisa Leonard make super cute jewelry, she has other great products as well!

These are the Pewter Heart Wall Hangings!  They are a Perfect wedding or baby gift... I may have to get one for my new little bean!

Make sure you go see Miss Lisa Leonard and take some time to look around!  You will want one of everything just like me.  Her handmade jewelry is meaningful, unique and perfect for everyday. Each piece is hand-cut, hammered, antiqued and polished sterling silver.  You can create a custom mommy necklace or a piece with a meaningful phrase or date to wear near your heart.

You can also keep up with her on her blog!

 

 

Go check Lisa Leonard Designs out! Let her know the Shanty Sisters sent you! You will not be disappointed!!

 

~Whitney

Crown Anyone?

It's DONE!!!  I don't know if I am more happy that my work is done or that I am finally enjoying it!

No this one is not mine!  This one is actually around $3,000 when you factor in shipping and decor!

This is mine!  Total cost for this piece is $300 including decor!

How did I do it?  Well, let me first start off by saying that I am NOT a carpenter and I have never built a piece of furniture from scratch!  I learned as I went with this piece thanks to Ana over at Knock Off Wood!  She has a ton of plans offered on her site, free of charge, so that people like us (practicle DIYers that drool over name brand furniture in the catalogs but would never spend a penny on the over-priced manufactured wood) can build them ourselves to enjoy in our homes!  This was a huge undertaking for me but I accomplished it from beginning to end all with my own two hands!!!!  If I can do this, so can you!  I challenge all of you to check out Ana's site and pick a project!  She has so many to choose from and you can start out with something as small as an end table or a chair! 

The last two weeks, I have focused on decorating and personalizing my storage wall! 

I started out by purchasing these super cute Closet Maid fabric drawers at Target!  They were on sale last week at 2 for $10!  I bought 8 navy, 4 chocolate and 4 dark khaki.  Total for 16 was around $90.

How I personalized!

This is set-up just like the one in the picture.  Ana designed her own plans to add a hutch over the TV so of course I couldn't leave that piece out!

Here she is with the hutch! 

I just couldn't leave well enough alone!  I had to personalize it just a tad more so...

I purchased this foam crown moulding at Lowe's!  The corner pieces allow for no miter installation.  I purchased a 12' piece of crown for $34 and the corner pieces for $6 each.  This foam stuff is soooo cool!  Our grandfather actually installed it in his home and you would NOT even know it is foam!  It has some type of primer on the front so it paints very well!  It is also very dense and feels durable!  Best part is that it is sooo much cheaper than wood moulding.  I would have spent twice as much on wood crown that is identical to this stuff!

 

This stuff is so light weight that I just used several finishing nails to hold it up!

 

It really makes a statement in the room now!

My favorite part about this system is the storage!!!  I am so OCD (no joke) so the storage this wall offers really makes my heart skip!!!  Yes, I am a nerd!  My fellow OCDers, these pics are for you!  Everyone else please bear with me:)

 

Everything organized and in it's place and the best part about it is....

it's HIDDEN!

I owe a big thank you to Ana!  I would not have this beautiful, fully functional piece of furniture that I built with my own 2 hands if she had not created the plans to begin with!  I have always drooled over this piece in the catalogs and online but I knew that I would never purchase it from the retailer.  Even if I could afford it, I could not justify the price tag!  I spent 10% building it myself and I was able to personalize it with Leapfrog by Behr and moulding!  Thanks so much Ana!  I can't wait to move on to my next project!

If you would like the step by steps that I took to build this piece, here are the links in the order I went!  There are links to Ana's plans in each post as well!

Step 1

Step 2

Step 3

Step 4

Step 5

Step 6

Step 7

If you take it one step at a time it is VERY managable!  I did one part per week and only needed wood glue and a drill!  The building part was the most fun!  Painting was my least favorite ~ it took an entire gallon of paint but the fruits of my labor make it all worth it!!!  The family loves it and I get such joy looking at it knowing that I actually made it!!!  Thanks so much for following me on this journey!!

~Ashley

 

My Girls' New Headboards!

Hey Guys! I hope you all are having a great Spring Break!  I showed you guys my fabric I had purchased for the girls' new room last week.  I had this plan for some fun headboards and after thinking it over way too much I decided to tweek my plan just a bit.  First tweek... I changed my fabric.  It is still the same amazing print from Amy Butler's Love line but I went with a different color palette.

I wanted to create a headboard that used minimal space since I am combining two kiddos in one room.  My original plan was to wrap plywood with the fabric and finish my edges with some fun picture molding.  Just before leaving for Lowe's I had a lightbulb moment... these usually come too late:).  I remembered that I had two matching large frames that I could use instead.  This saved me lots of time and even more money.

I started by spray painting both frames with a fun coral color I pulled out of my fabric.

While that was drying I started working on the inside part.  I purchased thick quilt batting at Hobby Lobby and cut a piece just a bit smaller than the cardboard I took out of the frame.

I used a hot glue gun to attach it to the cardboard.  If your frame doesn't come with cardboard you will want to cut a piece yourself or you can also use foamboard from a craft store.

I cut my fabric just larger than the cardboard and then ironed out all of the folds.  Then, I placed it face down for the next step.

I laid my cardboard down on top of the fabric with the batting face down on the wrong side of the fabric.  I then used my hot glue gun again to wrap the fabric and glue the edges to the back side of the cardboard.  This is just like recovering a cushion... You want to make sure you pull tight.

My final step before hanging was to put it back in the frame.  I placed it back in and pushed down the metal pieces to hold it in place.

I will show you this hanging on the wall but I can't give you the full view until I get the bedding done.  I am currently working on it and I LOVE it. The best part about these headboards is the cost.  This is a very inexpensive yet chic way to create your own headboard in no time.  I can't wait to share the rest of this revamp!  Hope you like it!

Thanks so much for stopping by and I can't wait to share more of this fun revamp with you guys! Happy Wednesday!

~Whitney

Make sure you stop by Disc Hangers and check out their amazing products!  You can see what Shanty2Chic did with them HERE!