Saturday, March 5, 2011

As promised a little DIY & some therapy....

I firmly believe that retail therapy works. And my theory is that by shopping in local thrift stores I am also contributing to the community......Did you buy that?
No; well I will tell you that there is definitely a good feeling about mindlessly walking the isles until that one shiny thing captures your attention. And then like a furry varmint with a shiny new treasure you stroke it, and turn it over in your hands, and admire it.

image from here
Oh, maybe that's just me. I may have taken my Ranger Rick membership a little too seriously;}(yes I still have my membership card & so does my hubby lol)

I have been struggling whether or not to show you all (as opposed to y'all) my thrift store finds all at once or as I use them. I decided since most of them I am using right away I will just give you bits and pieces. Especially since they all pertain to a larger project I have dubbed "Project Kitchen aid".

 What's this you ask? Well, because my life is so boring and uneventful (oozing sarcasm in case you couldn't tell) I decided our entire house needed to be re-arranged. By re-arranged I mean dumped into a food processor, pulsed for 20 minutes and moulded in a fluted pan for three days. Hence the name. Let me explain why I thought this was a fabulous idea in the first place.....


I have to have this print! get yours here
 In addition to retail therapy I find that I use a "Make Do and Mend" type therapy. Making things helps mend me. And most times I will use what ever is readily accessible (make do). It comes on fast, in a flood of creative ideas and I scramble to get them out. Kind of like creative vomit....hahaha sorry that's gross but totally funny. So half finished chaos is what we get. I promise the end results are well worth the drama.












So now without further ado.......................

A Fabulous Cork Board

The bag of doilies was stuffed full. Mostly crochet edged, beautiful pieces. For $5.99 oh and I had a $5 off coupon from a previous shopping excursion. Yeah I used a coupon at a thrift store, don't judge me;}

And, the giant cork board. There is actually a story with that. You see my husband and I like to bond at Goodwill on Sunday's (they change the half-off sticker color) with coffee and NO KIDS. Well I walk by this cork board. It's poop brown with some not quite lined up cork squares. But the wood frame is in good condition and it has wooden feet too! The hubby sees me ogling this monstrosity and says "No way, where the heck are you gonna put it!" ..." But it would be perfect for my new office honey.And its half off today!" I explain. He just gives me the " I don't care, I'm going to have to build a freakin' warehouse to hold all your furniture lady" look.  So I sadly slink away with my best "Oh gorsh; I'm soooo abused" look.

Fast forward a couple of days. Hubby has cleaned out his car. By this I mean he has brought in a month's worth of rotten Tupperware from his traveling closet. Doesn't say anything just leaves it on the counter for me to find. I take one look in that bag, grab my keys and off to Goodwill I go. And by golly wouldn't you know they still had it, and it was still half off;}

I stopped at Hobby Lobby on the way home and picked up a tub of acrylic paint and some cheap brushes. I painted the entire wood frame. (no I didn't tape the cork I'm too lazy for that) It only took two coats and it dries really fast!

Then I stapled doilies on at random. I overlapped them and folded some to give me an edge to butt up to the frame.
You can have a bunch overlapping (like mine) or if you want a paired down style you could spread them out a little more. And then of course whats the use of having a fabulous cork board without cute button pins to hold the pictures in place!








Well that's it for now folks! I will be back shortly with another diy........
xo.kyla

8 comments:

Laura Thatcher said...

Wow. I love the restyled cork board ! Brilliant!

Unknown said...

This cork board is fab!! I love your blog loads! =D I saw my friend on indie moon blog had decorated a board like this for her new babies nursery! It's adorable - she added wee fairy lights too

Pure Ella said...

Oh my goodness this is so cool.
I am on a hunt for doilies - but here they're about $5 a piece!
You got lucky and way to go on that coupon ;D

stopping by via under the sycamore ;)

Brittney said...

Ooohhhhhh ::oogles:: Your so craftsy. Now come do my house!

jamie said...

i saw your comment over on pugly pixel's textured stationary tutorial that you said you did in elements. could i ask you about that?

jamie said...

so happy i found you!
lovin' your blog already.
going to go read more...because i have all the time in the world to sit here and read!!!!
~j

♥ Miss Tea said...

Love the cork board you made! so creative and love the photos you post too! i'm your newest follower! :)

Irina said...

What a great post! Just came across your blog and fell in love with it immediately! You have amazing sense of style!!!
Check out my blog and follow if you like it, I will do the same in return!
www.fullclosetbutnothingtowear.blogspot.com
Hope to see you soon!

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