DIY Challenge for the Year

I have a few challenges for myself this year. I'm participating in the Classics Challenge by November's Autumn and I'm running my own challenge for fairy tales.

In 2011 I finished a 101 Goals in 1001 Days challenge with fairly successful results. So to better myself this year I want to do a crafty project once a month.

In January I will be in Colorado and I will probably load up on some supplies that aren't easy to find in Germany. I will mostly be working from my Pinterest DIY list. If you have any ideas I should add, shoot them my way!

Turning Old Crates into Shelves

Here is how I turned some old crates into shelves. First off, buy or find some old crates. Usually you can find them pretty cheap in antique stores. I found mine on a garage sale website.

Then I took some tissue paper that I just loved, make sure and buy really big sheets depending on the size of your crates. I cut the paper to fit the boxes and lined the backs. Having tissue paper is nice because it bends and molds without ripping. I just attached it with double-sided tape, but you could use about anything that will adhere it to the wood. They haven't fallen out yet!

My lovely husband put them on the wall. In Germany the walls are pretty much made out of concrete, so you can just drill holes and hang wherever. He put screws through the wood on the top two corners and then into the wall. They are flat-head screws so the paper lining covers them up. You might have to do something different depending on your wall set up. Ask someone handy, I'm not exactly that.

And then decorate! Because of how strong our walls are I had no worries with weight. But still, don't pile your entire set of encyclopedias on there, you don't need them falling off and leaving gouges in your wall.

What do you think?

The Writing on the Wall - Home Painting Project

Back in high school my two best friends and I had a painting business. We called it The Writing on the Wall and we even had business cards. We only worked for friends and family, but it was a lot of fun. We designed and painted rooms and typically we wrote a bible verse or some lovely saying in big letters on the focal wall. I've grown to love having words on the wall. And when I saw a rug that was like an old letter, I got my inspiration to paint on the wall again. So in my office I have a big wall that is just over my bookcase. Here is the recipe for painting words on a wall.

Ingredients:

A blank wall.

Paint and a calligraphy brush.

A cup of tea and your favorite quote. Of course my hero is Jane Austen so we're going for some pieces of Pride and Prejudice. It helps to put the quote in a font you like on the computer so you have something to refer to.

Some twine or other way to keep the lines straight and the letters the same size. It's like a big rule book back in kindergarten when you were learning to write.

And voila! You have a lovely, hand-painted letter on your wall. I have Mr. Darcy's proposal, Elizabeth's refusal, her first glimpse of his wonderful house, and the first time they meet after their fight. In this situation I wanted to fill the whole wall so I picked a lot of words. With my friends we usually just did one line at the top of the wall. Although with one room we did one line all the way around the top of four walls. And another we did a long bible verse above someone's bed. Easy weekend project, and simple way to spruce up a boring room.