Better After

43 In My House

My Christmas Home Tour

Earlier today I shared a little Christmas project I made: gold glitter silhouette deer art. It’s like the catchiest name of a project ever, I know. If you enjoyed that, then keep reading! If not, well, keep reading anyway! Because I am inviting you over to my house to take a look at a little more of my Christmas decor just for funs.

I’m so glad you could drop by. (Pretend I just took your coat and offered you a steaming mug of hot cocoa. Aren’t I such a nice virtual host?) C’mon in!

Why don’t you have a seat in the living room by the roaring fire?

(Just keep pretending. I have never actually figured out how to turn on this fireplace).

(I have also not figured out if it’s better to try and take glowy Christmasy pictures during the day or night. Bear with me).

No mantel in this rental, shucks. I improvised with garland, and like it so much better compared to the beige square it normally is, I just might keep it up year round.

Just a simple gold/silver/white color scheme ’round here, with plenty of glitter.

I love, love these little faux trees from IKEA, and have a couple scattered about. I highly recommend getting yourself a few, they’re so versatile.

I had a strand of half-burned out lights, so I just piled them in this basket, and I think it looks quite lovely. I also hung strands of lights behind my curtains, which I would also like to keep year round, so cozy!

Now, pull up a chair and join me at the table!

I made these plates last year with my Silhouette and some gold vinyl. And yes, I keep it like that all month long! My family just shoves it all aside to use the table, but mainly uses the kitchen island anyway.

I made the runner with some faux bois fabric I found at JoAnns. It fits the ‘woodsy/glam’ theme that I wasn’t really aiming for, but with pinecones and disco balls sharing space, kind of happened.

The wreath was a $7 thrift store find, and the nutcracker was a little makeover project inspired by my friend Rebecca at The Crafted Sparrow. I just painted over that old picture and filled in a nutcracker silhouette with silver paint.

So glad you could visit! Thanks so much for stopping in friends!

Have a very, very merry Christmas!

December 20, 2013 By Lindsey @ Better After

18 In decor/ My House

Gold Glitter Deer Silhouette Art

This post is in collaboration with 3Mdiy.com >>>

You may have noticed a bit of a deer head trend running rampant in bloglandia. Deer heads are all up in the hizzy, all day errday. Behold:

1. 2. 3. 4.

I’m not one to snub my nose at a trend, but I did shy away from all things antlered for a while. Probably because I’ve never quite recovered from growing up in a little hunting town where decapitated deer heads were commonplace decor. Much like this:

source

Watching … always watching.

But there are so many great faux incarnations out there these days, that the almighty deer head has finally won me over. And they’re so cute at Christmas time!

I specifically like the silhouette look, so I set out to recreate some deer silhouette art for myself. It was a simple project, you can do it too!

Here’s where I started:

a 2’x2′ sheet of 1/4 inch plywood, mine was around $6
12″x 12″ gold glitter scrapbook cardstock
paint color of your choice
3M™ Sandpaper with NO-SLIP GRIP™ Backing
Holmes Workwear™ Premium Safety Eyewear
Corded Reusable Earplugs
3M Command Picture Hanging Strips

I used my skill saw to cut the board down to four 1’x1′ squares, with the help of my 3M™ Safety Products. I’m a safety girl, so I always protect my eyes and ears. You lose either of those, it’s permanent man.

This was my first time trying out 3M’s no-slip grip sandpaper, and I give it two thumbs way up. It has a rubbery backing that makes it super easy to handle, and it lasted so much longer than the cheapy sandpaper I usually use. (Up to seven times longer, according to the product description!)

I sanded the boards down, then proceeded to waffle for DAYS on paint color. I originally wanted white, but then I didn’t think the gold would stand out enough. Then I tried a gray stain, which didn’t work at all. Then I tried a maple stain, and my eyeballs almost barfed. Then I just mixed some silver craft paint with a little black for the semi-shiny gray you see before you, and sanded it down a bit so some of the wood grain would show through. The life of the decision-impaired.

After that, it was just a matter of cutting out the deer silhouettes I found online with my Silhouette. However, the paper I used was actually embedded with real lace (who knew) and my Silhouette was having none of it. I ended up tracing the silhouettes and cutting them by hand. So if you don’t have a fancy cutting machine, don’t you worry.

Then I Mod-Podged the deer to the boards and used the picture hanging strips to attach them to the wall, easy peasy.

Frugal Tip: My hanging strips were size large, and could hold up to 16 pounds or something crazy. Well, this project weighs like half a pound, so I just cut the strips in half!

Another tip: Use a matte Mod Podge. Mine wasn’t and now it’s much sheenier than I intended. (Sheenier is too a word).

Come back later today, and I’ll share a mini-tour of my house and more of my Christmas decor!

If you’re looking for more info on 3M, look no further!

3M on Pinterest | 3M on Facebook | 3M on Twitter

This post is a collaboration with 3M DIY. To keep up-to-date on projects, products and sampling visit 3MDIY.com.

December 20, 2013 By Lindsey @ Better After

10 In bathroom

Cy of Relief

If you’ve ever thought that your bathroom could benefit from some non-bathroomy furniture — such as a settee and a dresser — but then talked yourself out of that crazy nonsense, I’m here to tell you that you aren’t crazy at all. You’re a visionary! I would have never thought “Yes, an upholstered settee right outside of my shower door is just what this bathroom needs,” but take a look for yourself. It’s fab.

Of course, the furniture was just a small part of this bathroom’s mega makeover. Just about everything was ripped out and improved, thanks to the hard work of Cy, husband of Traci at Beneath My Heart. Two of the nicest people on the planet. We go way back.

But, truth be told, this isn’t even their bathroom; it actually belongs to their friend Robin, who enlisted Cy to relieve it from its outdatedness. I wish Robin was my friend, because I need this bathroom in my life. Or I guess I could just hire Cy too, if I wasn’t renting, and he didn’t mind commuting from Kentucky to Arizona.

Check out Traci’s blog Beneath My Heart for many more details of this beautiful room!

December 19, 2013 By Lindsey @ Better After

12 In tables/dressers

Screening Drawers

If you’re tired of the “paint it white and distress it” look that’s ever so popular, here’s something very much the opposite: the “oil paint it black with a bronze silk screen design.” SO unique! It hasn’t taken the nation by storm … yet. Maybe when we all get our hands on whatever it is you use to make silk screens. Silk … and screens? That’s my best guess.

From the talented Jacqui at Port Verde Studio.

December 19, 2013 By Lindsey @ Better After

21 In kitchen/dining/ office

Butler Implant

Adam Duritz of the Counting Crows once wisely counseled us that you don’t know what you’ve got til it’s gone. (Yes, I know Joni Mitchell sang it first, but I wasn’t even born then, so we’re going with Adam’s version). Anyway, the ‘what’ I’m talking about in this case is a pantry. My old house had such a nice pantry. Tall and spacious – you could sneak in there and eat several handfuls of chocolate chips before your kids ever knew you were gone, let alone that you even had a secret stash of chocolate chips. Not that I would know.

Now, there are no secrets. Our ‘pantry’ is nothing more than a really deep cupboard. No place to hide anything, yet nearly impossible to see what’s stuffed in its darkened confines. Jamie had the same problem. Cramped, under-performing storage. So she ripped it out and made a butler’s pantry instead! Light, bright and *gasp* useful! See it at So Much Better With Age.

But that wasn’t all. Jamie set her sights on this freeloading wall, which wasn’t doing anything to earn its keep in the household, except maybe holding the roof up. Psh. Well, why not turn it into a kitchen office? A few cabinets and a countertop later, and it’s pulling its weight alongside everything else, and looking good doing it. See more on her blog So Much Better With Age.

December 18, 2013 By Lindsey @ Better After

14 In bathroom

Adios, Doritos

With all the hustle and bustle this time of year, you may not have noticed that your bathroom is the color of stale Doritos. Totally understandable. Lucky for you, Sarah at Compulsive Craftiness is here with a cure. You’ll never guess what it is. Ok, you probably will. Paint! Paint that sucker today! What better gift to give your family, your guests, and yourself?

Not content to just rid the walls of their terra-cotta glow, Sarah also gave her tired old vanity an updated look with a deep mint. I probably would never have thought of a monochromatic match like this, but it really is a nice complement to the light mint walls. Hardware was simply updated with oil-rubbed bronze spray paint, one of my favorite tricks!