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Do-It-Yourself His and Her’s Towel Hooks

Being married means sharing things, right? Like a bed, his last name and the household finances. But, there are some things that are off limits – like my bath towel! I loathe getting out of the shower to find my towel damp. Don’t you?

So to rectify this problem, I can’t think of a better way than to “label” your towel hooks! Thus, the perfect use for these adorable vinyl designs from Simply Said – the MR. and MRS.

I love them, and think every married couple should have them! Imagine the uses – iron them on your bed pillows, adhere them to your mirrors above a double vanity, or mark the bride and groom seating at a wedding ceremony!

Here’s the easy steps to making your own:

1) Order your Simply Said vinyl designs here.  Mrs. is item #NP1090, and Mr. is item #NP1089. You choose the size and color. I chose 10″ in Warm Grey. They’ll take about 10 days to arrive.

2) While you wait go shopping for a piece of wood. I went to Lowe’s and bought a 10×1 board and had them cut it down to several pieces that were 10×10. The first two cuts are free and every cut thereafter is just twenty-five cents.

3) Buy two hooks (these came from Lowe’s), and two picture frame hangers for the back of the board (to hang on the wall).

4) Lightly sand your corners and edges, as the cuts are raw and splintery. I used a Black and Decker Mouse to sand with  80 grit paper, followed by 220. Remove saw dust with a dry brush.

5) Paint your boards. I chose to use Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in Emperor’s Silk. After I painted the wood (two coats), I applied dark wax, and distressed the corners.

6) Allow your paint and wax to dry fully. It’s best to allow them to “cure” for a week or two, so all the chemicals evaporate before you apply the vinyls.

7) Once your painted boards are ready, apply your vinyl designs. See the application video here.

8) Follow the directions for putting your hooks on the boards. Basically its just a matter of using an electric screwdriver to drive two screws through the hook hardware into the wood.

9) Follow the directions for putting the hanging hardware on the back.

Done! Now hang them in your bathroom and be sure to show the love of your life his or her new towel hook!

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Painting and decorating wine bottles

Last week as I tossed an empty wine bottle into the recycling bin, I thought it would be nice to repurpose these glass containers into something useful or pretty. Pinterest is overflowing with bottle crafts, and three minutes into browsing, I was hooked. It was on!

I put out a call online for my neighbor’s empties, and went shopping for spray paint. I came home with 10 cans in a rainbow of colors! (Admittedly, I’ve got a bit of a craft hoarding problem.)

The first things I made were these little scented oil diffusers.

I used mini wine bottles and sprayed them white. Then I applied two 1″ Simply Said designs in red that say “Cherish Family.” Raffia is tied around the necks. Inside is a homemade mixture of 1 cup safflower oil, and several drops of lilac essential oil. The sticks are bamboo skewers, the that you can get at the grocery store. Just remember to turn the sticks around each day and your room will be lightly scented!
Once I started spraying the bottles, I couldn’t stop! It was so easy and fun!
I bought this pink color last week thinking I would craft something for a baby girl’s room. However, on Friday, a dear friend of mine lost her battle with cancer. Today, the color took on a different meaning for me and this vinyl design of “Hope,” felt more fitting. Ann was an amazing woman – a fighter who never gave up hope. And who, incidentally, loved a glass of chardonnay. (and whom I named a piece of my chalk painted furniture after in this blog post)
I really love this next one…
This bottle was sprayed metallic gold, with a black Simply Said “Dream” design. I snapped a few dead twigs off a tree outside and sprayed them black. Then I wrapped a few little jewelry trinkets around the neck. You can buy very inexpensive jewelry items like this at your local craft store. 
And here’s a trio awaiting their finishing touch, and what will undoubtedly make them adorable…
Candy corn bottles for Halloween! Why am I making Halloween crafts now – in July? If you wait until October, it might be too chilly outside for spraying and your paint will take longer to dry. Today, when it was 90-something outside, the paint literally dried on contact! But, the real reason is because I just couldn’t wait!  I ordered Simply Said vinyl designs for these, too. And as soon as they come, I will apply them (which takes all of 30 seconds, see an application video here), and share the final photos! They’ll say B-O-O. And I have a pair of goggly-eyes to put inside each O. They are going to be super cute, and make a great table centerpiece!
UPDATE:
Here they are complete with vinyls and eyes!
I’ve got something very similar planned for Christmas with a trio of bottles that will say Peace – Love- Joy. I probably would have started those today, but I ran out of empty bottles. Better get back to drinking!
Here’s to you, Ann.
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Simply Said at The Empty Nest

Today I had the pleasure of doing a Simply Said party with Janet from The Empty Nest – a delightful  shop that sells Annie Sloan Chalk Paint. Janet and I go back a few years — I had met her during Annie Sloan’s US tour, when she was in Leesburg, VA. I was attending and brand new to chalk paint. Someone introduced her to me as my local stockist (back then she was a booth-holder in an antiques shop). Now Janet has a gorgeous shop full of amazing furniture and goodies in Old Town Warrenton, VA. When I was painting furniture I was in her shop almost weekly. Talk about inspiration – check it out!

Ahhh – the mother lode!

Janet’s shop is a feast for the eyes! She has chalk paint, antiques, painted furniture, hand-crafted items, repurposed items, lovely textiles, and so much more! I could browse for hours!
She was so kind in offering to host a party for me in the shop. I set up in the back and we had a nice crowd join us to learn how to use Simply Said in their decorating. Here’s a few shots from the party!
Janet put out quite the spread!
 I loved the welcome sign!!
My Simply Said display included a few painted items, as well as Simply Said’s accessories and designs.
 In this picture I am removing the grid paper from the back of a design.
Here I am demonstrating how to easily hang a design on the wall. 
I had such a nice time chatting with the women who came. I loved hearing their ideas for using Simply Said. One lady, named Sue, is planning on creating a custom design using Simply Said’s online tool, called Your Way. She’s going to make a back-splash design that I have no doubt will be the conversation piece of her kitchen!
This was certainly a fun venue for a party! Big thanks and appreciation go out to my friend, Janet! if you’re in the Warrenton, VA area, be sure to check out The Empty Nest!
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More on color – choosing wall art colors

Now that I am a Simply Said design consultant, and doing home parties, I am getting a lot of questions about how to choose the color of their wall designs. So, I created this little guide to help. While this sheet talks about vinyl designs specifically, the suggestions are applicable to any wall art – paintings, prints, metal art, etc.

First – match your art with an accent color. If your room is mostly neutrals with a pop of red in your couch pillows and curtains, then red would be an ideal wall art color. Look at the photos in the top half of the page. Notice they chose vinyl colors to match their accents: a lime green accent wall, a red pillow and red in the rug, teal pillows, and a brown bedspread.

Another option for choosing color – go with the same color as your wall – but in a few shades lighter or darker. So, if your wall is light blue, like in the photo above, then use a darker navy blue color for your wall art. The use of one color family in various intensities is subtle and beautiful.

When in doubt, going with black or white is usually a safe bet, too!

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A simple Welcome Sign

Looking for an easy-to-make “Welcome” sign? I made one today and thought I’d share the simple steps.

First, find an old kitchen cabinet door. You can get them a few places. Try searching Craig’s List – a lot of people give them away for free when they are redecorating. Or search your local Habitat for Humanity restore. (find a list of stores here)

Then paint it to your heart’s desire. I used Annie Sloan’s chalk paint. Here’s a video of Annie on The Hallmark Channel doing a tutorial.

The next thing I did was apply a Simply Said vinyl “welcome” design. And here’s a video showing you how easy they are to apply. This is so much easier than the way I used to apply designs or enhancements to my painted furniture, which comprised of time-consuming transfers or stencils.
Here’s my Simply Said website, where you can order a welcome design. I think this would be a great idea for personalizing with your family last name and the date you moved into your home, i.e. “Peterson Est. 2010.”  Or even a sign for a wedding, with a design that says something like, “Matt and Nikki, April 21, 2014.”  You get the idea – the possibilities are wide open!

My last step was to drill two holes through the wood with a standard drill bit, and run a ribbon through for hanging. Voila! A simple, fast way to spruce up a front door, entrance, or anyplace in and around your home.

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Applying a Simply Said vinyl design to chalk painted furniture

When I was painting a lot of furniture, I loved putting designs on them. Chevron was very popular. So was anything french, Paris or script-inspired. It still is. The problem for me, was that I was relying on stencils to achieve the look. With stencils, I always had a little paint bleed-through and could never achieve the crips, clean edges I desired. Transfers were another option (using tracing paper to imprint a design onto a painted surface), but they took forever to fill-in with paint. And again, my hand wasn’t steady enough to get the crisp edges I wanted.

BUT NOW – there’s a solution to the edge issue. And a big time-saver. It’s vinyl designs. I just applied my first Simply Said design to a little side table and I LOVE it! It took a whole 3 minutes to apply!

Here’s the easy steps to applying the design:

1) I applied it over a piece that was painted with Annie Sloan’s chalk paint in Old White, with clear wax.

BEFORE

 I ordered the design in a grey color that looks a lot like Annie Sloan’s Paris Grey. Look how pretty it is!

Next, I laid it grid-side facing up and ran the application tool across the entire surface to rid it of air bubbles.

 Then I began in the top corner and slowly pulled the grid paper back and down to remove it.

Next, I laid it over my table.

Then I used the application tool again by running it over the whole surface to remove air bubbles and flatten it to the table.

I started at the top left corner and pulled the paper back and down to remove it slowly.

And there she is! Pretty!

It really looks like its painted on! I couldn’t be happier with it!

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