Recycle Repurpose Redecorate > Vintage Door Message Board

Have I mentioned how lovely my friends are and how lucky I am to have them? And as if they couldn't get any better, they are also CRAFTY.

I love that word. In my book, it's right up there in the good friend check box along with "funny" and "non-judgemental"; which all of my lovely gal pals are. They are the kind of girls that will hang with you not only thru the thick and thin, but be on speed dial to go and get a pedicure with you, help you laugh at your worst mothering experiences, try to soothe your tears with a frappacino, and bail you out of jail, if you if should ever need it. (Remember that "non-judgemental" part...?)

The other perk to having amazing friends is seeing them create cool and amazing stuff like this:

My talented friend made this from an 80 year old screen door she found on her family's old homestead. She brought it home and had her handy hubby lightly sand the ruff bits and then sealed it with a couple of coats of polyurethane.

Next she got some metal sheeting to use for three magnetic memo boards and gave each one a border using scrapbook paper and adhevisive. She then created a chore/behavoir chart for her kiddos on one of the panels by using a paint pen, which you can find at any craft store.

For a cool final touch she had a family friend laser cut the top memo sheet with their family name and the year they were married. She used eye hooks and chain from a home improvement store to hang the boards all together and then mounted the whole thing on the wall.

How cool is this?! I'm scrounging around for an old door as we speak.

Thanks Mystie for sharing!

~Angela

P.S. Take a peak at how she made her little girls butterfly wings with some paint, wire hangers, and a pair of nylons! We will beg her to share this project with us on another day.

Summer Shack > DIY Water Ski Towel Hooks

Did anyone notice that the first day of summer was yesterday, or the day before or a couple of days ago?  Okay, I know I just gave you almost no useable information except that summer has officially begun, I just don't know when and am too lazy to look it up.  


I just looked it up and I stand corrected, the first day of summer is tomorrow.  Now I have nothing to say cause I was going to wax poetic about the summers of my childhood and how warm the summers were when my children were young.


All that was going to be a build up to:


The summer's were so hot back in the day that we would spend almost every evening after work and weekends on the river with my sister-in-law, her husband and all our kids.  Our kids all learned how to water ski, kneeboard, and tube.  This was before wakeboards, so everyone water skied.  I feel so sad for those poor lonely water skis.  You hardly ever see them out on the river now.  


Where I do see a lot of water skis are at thrift stores and at yard sales,  When I see them, it always brings back so many great memories of hanging at the river!  For Mother's Day last year, my son took our poor, sad, lonely water skis and made outdoor towel racks for the pool towels!

Upcycled Water Skis

Here's some more ideas:

seibelsblog.blogspot.com

alifesdesign.blogspot.com

pinterest.com

Next time your out and about and you see some poor lonely water skis, grab them and give them a new home and a new purpose!


~ Laurie

Reuse Recycle Repurpose > Garden Goodness

Mary Mary,
Quite contrary,
How does your garden grow?

With tongue depressors, and paint chip samples,
All in a pretty garden row.



Look what we made! These seed markers made from paint chip samples are some crafty goodness for your garden.

To make these babies, sashay (way more fun than walking btw) over to your local home improvement store and pick yourself out some great summer paint colors.

Let your inner child take over, or your actual real life children if you've got them handy, and cut out your veggie shapes. Glue them on top of another paint chip for a fun background, and then laminate the whole shebang (we used our Xyron). We added a large tongue depressor as a stake, but you can use anything you may have laying around. Wouldn't some vintage silverware be great?

Have fun, and make sure to send us some pics if you do!

~Angela

Dress This Mess > A Lamp With Some Substance!

Have you ever had one of those Oprah "Aaha" moments where you think: "If only we could..." And then you do, and life changes forever as, you and Oprah, soar up over a rainbow in a hot air balloon called success?

No?

Well something a little bit like that happened with this vase
- but without the fabulous Ms. "O":

My wonderful Auntie enlisted me, and my somewhat creative brain (more like I begged her to let me help...) in redecorating her great room; which includes her living room, dining room, and entryway.

Two of most important things that she wanted in her redesigned space was, more of a contemporary feel and color. Words I love to hear!  She picked out a beautiful palette of peacock blue, apple green, creamy ivory, black, and bronze-y brown. 

The first space we worked on was the entryway. She had found a gorgeous granite topped console table, which we wasted no time accessorizing with some great finds from Pier One and TJ Maxx (aka - my second home). But then came the dilemma. It had no wow factor.  

While the entryway area was looking very chic and sophisticated, it was also looking very beige. Don't get me wrong, I love me a little beige, especially framed with a crisp white. But too much of it and your eyes start to lose interest, kinda like a pretty face with no personality. This console needed some vibrancy, a little something that would have you coming back for a second glance. Unfortunately, the piece that had the pop of color we needed was a ceramic vase, that crowded the whole table when added in with the other pieces.  Boo Hoo.

Then came the "Aaha" moment (bet you were wondering where that was coming in...) I complained that what the table really needed was a lamp, only in the same color as the vase. Then Auntie brilliantly asked, "Couldn't we turn the vase into a lamp?"

**BING!**

Why couldn't we turn the vase into a fabulous lamp, and why does she need my help, when clearly there are a bunch of amazing ideas floating around in that cute head of hers?! And that's what we did. (the DIY'ing of the lamp. Not the getting rid of me part.)

Using a old lamp kit she had laying around in the garage, a carbide drill bit to drill a hole in the back for the cord, and her hubby's skillz, we made this:

into this!

And then Oprah ran through the front door, and gave both of us free cars!! Oookay - she didn't, but we were giving each other Oprah sized high -fives, over our new custom made lamp.

Isn't it just fabulous? Pretty, but with substance. Just what Auntie's entryway needed!

Look around your garage. You never know, you just might find a great potential lamp in all that mess!

~Angela

P.S. No one tell Oprah I used her catch phrase!

Recycle, Reuse, ReDecorate! > Dog Sweater DIY

**Disclaimer**
No, I have not become one of "those people" who refer to their pets as, "one, of my children" nor do I paint my pet's toenails, let them eat at the table, or have them written into my will. I'm simply a gal, with a little dog, with a lot of goodwill sweaters laying around. Got it?!

Okay, now that I've reassured you and myself that I have not unwittingly joined the, "I'm way to obsessed with my dog" club; check out this adorable sweater Laurie and I repurposed from an old sweater from Goodwill!

(She luuvvvs it, can't you tell?!)

This is all really her fault ya know, because every time I make her go outside, she stands by the back door with this same grimace and shivers like she's in the Arctic. I felt like she was telling me, "I'm cold! Now make me an embarrassingly cute sweater, STAT!" or maybe it's that she's now just paying the price for being such a drama queen of a dog...Whichever works for me!

This sweater was so easy anyone (including me) can do. We started off with a small children's sweater like this:

Next, we cut off the arms and cut down one of the sides of the sweater, opening it up. Next you will need to turn the sweater inside out and place it on your dogs back with the ribbed sweater bottom hem, up around your dog's neck.

I'm going to be honest, this next part is a little dicey. You will then need to tranquilize your dog (or cat!) or bribe them with bacon strips like I did; to stand still while you use safety pins to pin around their neck, chest, and front legs, essentially making a pattern. You read safety pins, right? Because one poke with a sewing pin and your dog is never coming near you, or a sweater ever again. Make sure to mark where you want the sweater to stop on their back (i.e. -before their "business").

Once you have it snugly fitted, remove the sweater (without unpinning) and trim the excess on the outside of your pins. Next you will take your sewing machine and sew around the inside of your pins and all the raw edges with a zigzag stitch. Remove pins and turn right side out.  Now you have an adorable dog sweater for a bacon breathed, crabby dog. 

Viola!

Note: Save your scraps! This recycled sweater idea would work great for dolls clothes, winter head  bands, leg warmers, coffee cozies, etc.! Hmmm.. maybe we need a post on this. Stay tuned!

~Angela

**No animals were hurt or injured while making this sweater**

Well, not physically anyway...

Reuse Recycle Repurpose - Skipper's Beach Club

So after my little ahha moment yesterday, we here at Chaos & Gloss decided to start a new blog feature called Reuse, Recycle, Repurpose; which will be all about using used and forgotten items in new and inventive ways. Check out "Skippers Beach Club", AKA our pool changing room /bathroom.

How cool are these orange recycled school lockers? My oldest son gave these to me for Mother's Day. You're probably thinking, "You got used lockers for Mother's Day??" Yes I did and when I saw them I was very excited as I had priced new ones and they were definitely not in my budget. You can find used lockers on Craigslist, flea markets and sometimes at yard sales at a price that someone other than Bill Gates could afford.

I loved the original color so the bathroom was decorated to accommodate this bright orange. One side of the lockers had to be painted so thank goodness that Rustoleum has a spray paint this color, a happy coincidence for us! Really wondering how much of this color they sell?

Another example of reusing and recycling is the old gate hanging on the outside of the clubhouse and the chairs in front, which were made from scrap wood that would have been thrown away.

Repurpose idea - the Ikea hooks are a made from a rubbery material and were put up on the wall to be used as a stop so the locker doors did not hit the wall. A duel purpose hook! Sometimes you have to think outside of the box to get an attractive end product - those door stops that they sell commercially were really ugly and I didn't want them to be the first thing you saw when you opened the door. Orange must have been the color this year as I picked the wall decor up at Craft Warehouse.

- Laurie

Say Goodbye to Summer

It looks like we're in the last days of summer. I'm so glad that I received my two garden gazing balls as a birthday gift from Mr. 2Wicked while there are still a few days left to enjoy them! Check out the picture of the garden gazing balls in my yard. I know you're thinking, "blah, blah, blah, we've all seen gazing balls before." But there is something very special about this gazing ball and its silver brother.

What makes these beauties so special is that they are "monkey proof." Yes, you heard me right - they're "monkey proof." This means they will likely last more than a week in my yard, unlike many (may they RIP) of their garden ornament predecessors, because they started out as bowling balls found at the thrift store!

Mr. 2Wicked says that making these beautiful and hardy gazing balls is fairly easy to do: First wash the balls and rough them up a little with some sandpaper. Wipe dust off. Spray with a primer (like Bullseye). Then coat with the color of paint that floats your boat. Like anything else you paint, you'll have to give it a couple of coats. The final touch is to put a couple of coats of high gloss sealer on them. There you have it: "Monkey Proof " gazing balls.

Thanks for the birthday gift Michael! Isn't this a great way to recycle and reuse old bowling balls? Hmmm, maybe we should do some Reuse, Recycle, Repurpose posts.
- Laurie