I have been getting a ton of emails lately from readers about to embark on their first DIY project. It must be the nice weather that brings out the painter in us all! I always end the email with the simple fact that their project cant be worse than my first (hundred) DIYs. So in the spirit of full disclosure (and to make you feel a little bit better about your project fails) I would like to submit for your enjoyment the Top 10 WORST projects on Vintage Revivals.

Oh my gads, I cant believe I am doing this.

#10  Roy the Rhino. I feel like Roy always had a little bit of an inbred look about him…

#9 Toddler Proof Toothbrush Holder. Because hello, drilling a hole at the end of a new toothbrush every time you need a new one (which was frequently) is the easiest and most practical solution to this problem. And that paper! Oh my gosh. Someone hold my hair.

#8 Roman Numeral Wall Art Ok so this idea wasn’t the worst thing ever. But the execution of the green one? Why.

#7 Junkins

#6 Tin Foil Nightstand. This was quite the controversial post, there was a lot of haters…clearly for good reason.

#5  Street Lamp. Because a giant glass globe balancing on a floor lamp is always a good idea.

#4 The Nugget Cabinets (round 1)  Man these things just weren’t working, no matter what I did. Glad that I fixed them and didn’t just live with it.

#3 That time I thought it was a good idea to spray paint my backsplash orange

#2 Vicki.  What in the actual hell was I thinking!?. Luckily I came to my senses. But still. Tragic.

#1 My first project ever. The yellow end table. Painting in 100 degree heat is never a good idea, especially when it’s your first time trying it.

And just for fun, a bonus entry. Gumdrop art. At least I recognized it for what it was at the time.

So there you have it. The worst things that have come out of Vintage Revivals. Man I am glad to have moved past that yellow, gray, glaze everything phase. I hope you had a good laugh and understand the absolute truth that there is NOTHING that you can do that would be worse than these.

The post The Top 10 Worst Projects on Vintage Revivals appeared first on Vintage Revivals.

Hey hey!!

I have been going back and forth for months about turning Vintage Revivals into more of a lifestyle blog, you know with recipes, fashion, Crossfit Inspo, and a little bit of DIY sprinkled in!

Basically I am going for total blogosphere domination. #letsdothis

I thought today would be a great day to kick things off with my first fashion post!!

Of course, I don’t actually own anything that isn’t covered in paint, but that’s not a problem. We are making this thing happen. So, after a full day of projects (and on my 4th trip to Home Depot in a 9 hour period) I thought “Eh, what the heck, lets just shoot it here.” It is after all, where I am most comfortable.

What I’m wearing:

Pants: The sweats that I quit for my New Years resolution. You can find them just about anywhere! Just make sure that you get a Men’s XXL for the desired effect.
Shirt: Court’s T shirt that had a little accident with a black paint can (sold out, similar style here)
Sunnies: Dollar store
Shoes: these lace slip-ons from Target
Paint Brush: Purdy XL Glide
Paint on my hands:  Tricorn Black in satin by Sherwin-Williams
Arm Candy:  Goodie Hair Ties

I mean, there are still so many ins and outs of a lifestyle blog to learn, so I hope that you guys don’t mind being guinea pigs for a few months. Tomorrow’s post:  How to hard boil and dye an egg in the oven (at the same time!!) and 14 of my favorite Easter green smoothie recipes!

The post A New Chapter for Vintage Revivals appeared first on Vintage Revivals.

Hey guys!! Just wanted to pop in and let you know that we made the crazy deadline! The Nugs is 93% completed and in Salt Lake for Pinners!!

The drive up was a puckerfest to say the least. I don’t think I exhaled completely until we stopped about 2 hours in and I checked to see how everything (mostly the tile) was doing. I did a jig/exhale/hallelujah shout right there in the gas station parking lot when it was all intact.

I learned a ton about exterior painting that I cant wait to share with you (good, and heartbreaking of course).

We haven’t had a chance to take it to a weigh station to find out the total weight yet, but it pulled like a dream. Court said that felt really tight. (Whatever that means.)  All I know is that from the deadlock reflection that I had on it in the side mirror that it looked good.

Off to get everything finished and set up!! xo

The post The Nugget: Survival!! appeared first on Vintage Revivals.

I feel like this post needs to start off with an explanation.  You know the kind that your 10 year old gives, when you ask her, well anything.  The kind that has a lot of “But I’s” and “Ya, but…’s” in them?

As you have seen this week, DIYing is not all sunshine and Pinterest pictures.  Sometimes it is really great ideas horribly executed, or in the case of the worst fail in the history of the internet,  it is a HORRIBLE idea perfectly executed.

Which I was reminded of a few weeks ago as I was going through the files on my external hard drive.  When I came across the pictures from the first few months that Vintage Revivals was alive,  I was overcome with emotion.  And not the good kind.

Please enjoy.

This DIY fail is from the infancy stages of Vintage Revivals. (I would say August/Spetember 2010.)  When I started my blog I literally had no previous experience with design/decorating.  None.  Finding your own style and voice takes practice,  none of which I had.  The first blog that I ever read was All Things Thrifty.  Brooke’s style is bright colors and glazed.  I thought she walked on water.

I spray painted and glazed EVERYTHING I could get my hands on.  Because I loved it.  And I didn’t know anything different. 

(So basically I am pleading ignorance.)

When we moved in our kitchen had no backsplash.

Can you see where this is going?  Its like watching a kid fall off of something,  slow mo and all the while screaming “noooooooooo!” and then they still eat it.

Doing things a cheaply as possible was my reasoning for everything.  The cheaper the better. 

What could get cheaper than a $12 roll of paintable wallpaper?

Which isn’t the most horrible thing.

But then.

You guys.

I cant.

(breathing into a paper bag)

I decided it would be AMAZING if I spray painted it ORANGE!

For the love of everything that is good in the world WHY was this a good idea??!!

But what there’s more.

I decided to “tone it down” a little with black glaze.

Obviously the fumes from SPRAY PAINTING INSIDE MY HOUSE were messing with my mind.

Because I ended up with this:

I know.

Even if.  Even if this had been executed perfectly, it was a HORRIBLE idea.

It looks the the back kitchen of a bad Mexican restaurant.  And by bad I mean, failed 5 out of 5 of their last heath inspections.

Bad like you probably caught e coli just looking at these pictures.  (sorry for that!)

Luckily I could see that this was just not a good result.  So to fix it I took the obvious approach. I SPRAY PAINTED IT WHITE.

WHYYYYYYYY?!?!?!

Why did I spray paint it again?!

Why didn’t I just painted it normally?

It is obviously Brooke’s fault for not telling me I could use regular paint.  When she said “You can spray paint everything!!” I clearly took that as gospel truth.

Now, normally I would apologize for the horrendous picture quality but the fact that I took them on my 3rd generation iPhone is what saved them from the hard drive crash of 2011.  So you are welcome.

So glad to have learned this lesson a few years ago.  This time around, the kitchen overhaul is going to be MUCH different.

Now.  Do you feel a little bit better about yourself?

I for one am feeling very naked.

The post The Most Embarrassing DIY Fail in the History of the Internet. (I can say that, its mine.) appeared first on Vintage Revivals.

So, you know how you meet people and you are like “Um…hello, why are we the same person?”

This is EXACTLY what happened when I was reading Morgan’s submission. It was like seeing into my own creative mind. That is a scary thing my friends.

See Morgan loved this Anthro Amethyst Crystal lamp.

It is so pretty right? But unfortunately it was $500.

What is a girl to do?

How can you make this lamp yourself?

Um.

Obviously growing crystals on a thrifted lamp is the answer. (Doesnt this totally sound like a Mandilicious project!?)

I will let Morgan take it from here…

I did a little googling and found an awesome Martha Stewart tutorial for growing crystals using water, dye, and a spice called alum. Her tutorial was for easter eggs, but I thought I could totally multiply it by ten and get a crystallized lamp.

So, I found the coolest cut glass lamp at goodwill (it was destiny!)

 

I unscrewed the base, and covered it with the glue & alum and then soaked it in the dye/alum mixture…. for two days.

 

It came out VERY purple. And not a crystal in sight. I ended up letting it sit for 9 days (I thought maybe it would take longer?)

 

But no, now I have a purple, lumpy lamp. That, needless to say, looks nothing like the anthropologie version.

Ok its me again. Still laughing! Dont you love the thought process?! Seriously Morgan, I think we are sisters.

I need to give a HUGE thank you to everyone who submitted their DIY’s Gone Wrong. You guys seriously rock my world, and have totally made me feel like I am not alone in my failures.

So tomorrow is the day.

The day I share the worst DIY fail I have ever had.

You may think I am being dramatic. You may think I am exaggerating. You my friend, are dead wrong. It is horrifying with a capital WHAT THE H.

Stay tuned.

The post My Favorite DIY Gone Wrong Reader Submission appeared first on Vintage Revivals.

So tempting, so tantalizing, so NOT REAL. Pinterest is the mother of all modern urban legends. You cant help but be sucked in by the beautiful pictures and mindlessly simple solutions. But of course it has a dark side. All of today’s DIY Gone Wrong features are Pinterest inspired fails.

Up first we have Deborah.

It started so innocently. I love those little bleached bottlebrush trees and there’s a million pins out there how to DIY bleach them, so yeah, I’m gonna do that.

I bought a couple of cheapies at Walmart, and because I didn’t like them all that well, ordered a Department 56 package set from Amazon for $10.

I got out my plastic tub, bleach and trees and set to work. The first try, I left them in the bleach-water for the requisite 10-15 minutes and NOTHING. So I added more bleach and left them in a little longer (an hour at least). Some green bleach-water, and not much else.

I dumped it all out, filled the tub with just bleach, threw the trees back in and left it all for the rest of the day. Here’s the result:

The Walmart trees were obviously made from green plastic; no amount of bleach was going to make them anything other than green. They also had a kind of “flocking” on the branches and some “snow” substance. The flocking partially disintegrated and the snow must have been a glue of some type because it just became extremely gummy. I managed to get most of the gummy off the larger tree but just left the smaller trees alone. And a lot of the “needles” are falling out – the top of the larger tree is just wire. Fail #1. Oh, but those other trees. Goodness me. They are kinda beyond words. The branches of the larger trees stuck together, so they look sorta like Italian cypress trees if you squint at at them, and like blonde drowned rats if you really look. The needles bleached out fairly well, but the snow on the ends is a day-glo mint green. And the wire rusted, so even the really small trees that might work have big blobs of rust. Fail #2.

AND, there are chunks of branches falling out. Like, my trees have alopecia, or more accurately I guess, just went through chemotherapy.

So mangled, so hilarious.

Christine from Lets Get Crafty gave birth to a project that was inspired by not one but 2 Pinterest ideas.

This button bowl:

and the penny countertops that are taking over the world:

I love the look of pennies and they’re everywhere so finding them would be easy. What could possibly go wrong?

At this point I was already running into trouble. I realized I put too much of the glue on which created a balloon slip-n-slide for the pennies. After awhile I just wiped off the glue and put a light layer back on but waited for it to become tacky and then stuck the pennies on. The sliding was at a minimum and I was coasting right along.

I let the penny bowl dry overnight before coating it with the glue. Then I waited. And I waited.

You can still see a glimmer of hope in my eyes at this point that all would be well with my penny bowl but alas she was never meant to be…

Again, here is the bowl..er…sculpture of pennies that just sagged and appeared to be melting until it finally came to rest.

Christine has a video on her blog of the moment she pulled it out of the mold and it is a little bit hilarious watching it melt. But she is just so cute about it makes you say awwww!

I think that this is a really cool project that would totally work if you used something more rigid than Mod Podge,  maybe some sort of clear epoxy?

I loved everything about this fail submitted by Dani, and instead of paraphrasing her post, you just need to click over and read it,  it is super funny.

Tomorrow I am featuring my favorite DIY Gone Wrong submission (because it is TOTALLY something that I would have done.)

The post DIY Gone Wrong: Pinterest You are SUCH a liar. appeared first on Vintage Revivals.

There are times when you unknowingly start a DIY project thinking it will be such an easy fix. Then the DIY gods laugh in your face and make your life miserable for being oh so naive.

Most of the submissions that were a can of worms type projects were very long (because you get 6 projects for the price of one!) So I am going to send you over to read the whole post!

Up first is one of my FAVORITE bloggers in all the world. Ashley from Domestic Imperfection. She is as amazing as the day is long. But even talented DIYers have bad days (weeks).

Ashley decided to make her own chalk paint (does this ever work out?)  little did she know what she was getting herself into…

Check out her post here.

As I was reading Rita’s submission about her bathroom renovation from Satan there was one line that made me literally laugh out loud.

Right before Cane smashed this foot down into the cabinet, breaking the back apart, he shook his head, looked up at me and whispered, “Two leaky tiles.”

Check out her whole post here.

See you tomorrow with a post dedicated to Pinterest…oh yes. We are going there.

The post DIY Gone Wrong: Can of Worms appeared first on Vintage Revivals.

You Guys. I am so excited for this week of hilarious DIY fails. I am loving all of the submissions (if you havent had a chance to send yours over yet you can get all the info here)

The most common denominator in a DIY fail is this little thing I like to call Project Mode. I am pretty sure that it is a super human power sort of like survival of the fittest,  there is no way that you are giving up until it is DONE. I mean what else would give you the ability to ignore what a disaster your house is,  feed your kids ramen for 3 days,  think it is a good idea to use kitchen utensils in place of tools that you cant find (because of your house being a disaster),  rationalizing the most ridiculous things away,  and keep working until the project is a) done b) gone so horribly wrong you have to step away and compose yourself or c) ruined for all of eternity. Project Mode can be such a jerk.

This desk from Melanie is the perfect example of the haze that Project Mode puts us in:

Hi Mandi! I love that you’re doing craft fails,  Blog land is most often so picture perfect, but DIY-ing is totally trial and error. Happy to share on of my many errors .: )

This is my Chevron reclaimed school desk! Like many projects-I just started on a whim the second I felt motivated. Unfortunately, I didn’t have any white paint. I did have some OLD cream colored paint though;  I was in project mode and I was using it! We can see how well that worked out. Turns out, paint DOES go bad! After some extra elbow grease and a trip to my beloved Home Depot, I started again with some fresh white paint and went with stripes instead.

(https://www.finditmakeitloveit.com/2013/07/student-desks-turned-craft-table.html)

There are few people who have had the experience of having a major DIY fail on national television. I am one of those lucky people (you can read all about it here) To this day the word Birdhouse triggers my Craft Wars PTSD and I start explaining my side of the story. It is really quite embarrassing.

Lucky for all of us, Sunday sent in a clip of her televised DIY fail…

What’s a good DIY project fail unless it can be televised for all to see? Take for instance my “pallet art” project. Which, mind you, I worked diligently on for a few days only to proudly present my great project on TV.

“be joyfull, give thaks, pray always.”

The host of our local show were great and we all had a good giggle!

Here’s the link if you want to watch it for yourself: https://asundayafternoon.com/pallet-wood-projects-big-oops/

Does this make you feel a little bit better about yourself? I know I do.

The post DIY Gone Wrong: Project Mode appeared first on Vintage Revivals.

Happy Thursday my lovies! So, you know when you start watching Vampire Diaries and then all of a sudden its 2 days later? No? Just me?

Last week as we were chatting about the kitchen tile, I may have mentioned my most embarrassing/horrifying/take me down 15 notches on your DIY respect scale project. And that one day I will share it with you.

That day is coming.

Welp, because no one likes to be the only one drowning in a pit of judgment, and because EVERYONE loves a good laugh, I thought that it would be WAY more entertaining to show you a whole week of DIY gone wrong projects. Right? Cause lets be honest…there is a bit of a learning curve sometimes.

So.

I will tell you about mine, if you will tell me about yours. I would LOVE for you to submit stories and pictures showcasing your worst DIY fail. Like so epic you will bring shame to your children’s children.

Send me an email to vintagerevivalsblog at gmail .com with DIY Gone Wrong as the subject line and tell me all about it. Keep it as short and sweet as possible and by all means pictures are a must.

You should know that I am not above bribery, or paying out of pocket for laughs. Every project that I feature will receive a $10 Gift Card to Homegoods with one grand prize winner receiving $100.

You have until next Friday Nov. 15th to submit your failures.

Game on.

The post DIY Gone Wrong appeared first on Vintage Revivals.

Earlier this summer (while I was shopping like a mad woman trying to get things ready for the Hoard Sale) I stumbled across this AWESOME rug. Being the first one at the sale that morning,  no one else had had the chance to scoop it up.

I bought it for $150 and happily stored it in my garage until a few weeks ago. Before the wicker headboard took the fate of my bedroom design in its swirly hands, this rug is what I was planning on being the jumping off point.

I moved it in and put it under my Craigslist couch (read about that here) and was instantly disappointed. It was just SO big. You don’t realize when it is sitting in a driveway the actual size in the context of your house. Its like when you are starving and order extra food,  you think you are going to eat it all, and you have every intention. But then 1/2 way in you realize that its just not going to happen. Now I am hungry.

I hate when size doesn’t translate in pictures. Ok picture this. The couch is just over 7 feet long and the rug is 10×8.5. It took up the ENTIRE area between the bottom of my bed and the couch and it was just visually overwhelming.

I think that is why it wasn’t my jumping off point. It is a BEAUTIFUL rug (that already has found a home at my Mother In Law’s) but it just wasn’t right for this spot.

But man, that is a good rug.

The post The Rug That Couldn’t. appeared first on Vintage Revivals.