Vintage Revivals • Page 109 of 120 • Fearless DIY

What Would You Do? Round 2: Thrift Store Treasures Edition

By Mandi | 01/17/2013 | 20 Comments

Dun dun dun duuuuuuuun! I (as well as many of you) am a bit obsessed with thrifty design. When you are trying to find your grove learning how to spray paint (I dont care how many tutorials you read you have to actually do it to learn) the last thing you should do is try it out on some family heirloom. Start with a thrift store find that has potential and learn on that puppy.

All of today’s WWYD submissions are just that. Thrifty goodness at its core. So make sure to chime in with what YOU would do, and if you have something that you are sick of overanalyzing about send it on over and I will share it with the world for you! (vintagerevivalsblog AT gmail DOT com subject line WWYD)

Up first is this AWESOME table from Laurelle:

Wow! I am so glad that you are doing this series! I bought a tiny mid-century style coffee table at a market a couple of months ago and I have been searching the internet since then for inspiration on what to do, but so far no luck. I would prefer to paint it because I just don’t know if I would be able to strip it down, sand it, fix up the wood (which is completely dis-coloured, all the edges are black – and I’m not even sure if it is made out of wood!) and re-stain it. But I am worried that paint would completely destroy the style of the piece. Anyway, I need ideas and this seems like the perfect way to get some!

Dear Laurelle, I am IN LOVE with your table. The end. Just kidding. I would totally paint the frame a crazy fun color, like hot pink and then sand down the drawer and legs and leave them wood. Make sure you don’t paint over the awesome brass details, and maybe find a new handle (scroll down to Becka’s paragraph and you will see some awesome hardware suppliers!)

Our second victim (and I use that term very loosely) is Becka’s dresser

Hey Mandi!

Can I first just tell you that I love your guts! Your blog is the reason why I now have a thrifted dresser I painted an amazing shade of teal in my living room. It’s probably my favorite thing in my house! Thanks for making me use color!

Anyway…

I have another thrifted dresser that I am planning to paint black and turn into a new TV console/entertainment center. (Pictures attached)

I have two WWYD questions:

What would you do with the hardware? Should I keep them and spray paint them or buy new hardware all together? What kind?

Also, I am going to remove the top left and right drawers and create a shelf for our cable box and Play Station. Should I paint the inside of the shelf a pop of color? Perhaps the same teal I used for that other dresser.

Hey Becks! 2 things. Is the hardware at all curved? I cant tell from the pics. If it is then you might have a hard time finding the right curavature. If its not then by all means change it up! You can find some great ones here and here. As well as your local thrift store. Remember when I bought a dresser just for it’s hardware? As far as the color goes, I would totally paint the insides of the open spaces a fun color, the teal would be great or if you are wanting to bring in another color this is the perfect way to do it!

So what do you guys think? How would you update these thriftilicious items?

How To Make A Wall Sconce From A Bowl

By Mandi | 01/16/2013 | 26 Comments

Do you know what kind of lights are a little hard to enjoy? Sconces. I mean, there are some great ones for sure, but (there is always a but) most of the ones that I really loved are SO expensive. Or they don’t have enough personality. Or I look at it and say “hmmmmm. I could make that myself.”

Today’s project falls in category #3.

After the hallway makeover started I knew I wanted to change out the lights. I pondered and pondered and pondered and could not come up with something that made my heart skip a beat. So I asked on FB what your favorite online lighting stores are, and ended up at Shades of Light (which is an AMAZING store BTW.) and I fell in love with these convertible wall lights.

In fact they reminded me of these happy bowls that I had just scored at the thrift store that morning (.75 each)

So it was decided. I was going to track down a bowl (actually 2) to make a light out of. I hunted for a few days and found bowls of all shapes and sizes. It was impossible to find one that was footed and large enough, so I changed up my search a little. I ended up with these bamboo bowls from Target that were on CLEARANCE!! Bam.

To do this yourself you will need:
A Bowl
A Light Socket
Lamp Wire
An awesome light bulb. (I always get mine at Lowes.)

Start by drilling a small pilot hole into the center of your bowl. Then using a 1/4” drill bit drill the hole larger. The purposes of the pilot hole are 1. to make sure that it really is in the center of your bowl (that way if you flub it up you can re-drill) and 2. so that when you drill into the bowl with your larger bit you get a smooth clean hole and don’t need to worry about the wood splitting.

If you already have had a sconce on your wall then there should be a hanging bar with your old light. If not then you will need one. Your socket kit will come with a nipple that attaches to the bottom of your socket (you can see detailed pics on what this looks like here) Splice your wire in with the wires that are in the wall with wire nuts, then attach your hanging bar.

Feed your wire through the hole in your bowl and attach the socket per the included instructions (or have your cute husband do it while you take pictures and he says “can I move now?”)

A light that has a visible light bulb screams for an Edison/Vintage style bulb. You can find them online or at your local Home Improvement store. They will run you about $8.00 each. The most important thing to remember is that it is part of the design. Don’t skimp on something so fantastic!

If you are itching for more light projects make sure you check out these:

How To Drill Through Glass

Candle Lantern to Chandy

Openwork Cube Pendant Light

Ombre Yarn Lampshade

Anthro Inspired Teapot Lamp

Caged Basket Chandy

School House Light Fixture

Working Through A Room Making Idea Fail.

By Mandi | 01/15/2013 | 13 Comments

We all have them. Game changing (or should I say room changing) ideas that send your current decor into a tailspin that even Iceman cant pull out of. You want EVERYTHING different.

About a year ago this happened to me. I announced that I was redoing my living room and my main inspiration was Southwest.

This is what my living room looked like at that moment…not a bit of southwest to be found. I needed a change.

I had some pretty set ideas on what I wanted. The biggest thing that started the entire ball rolling was the plan to stencil my main wall with an awesome native triangle pattern. (Actually I dont know if stencil is technically the right word. I was going to stencil gold leaf adhesive to the wall and then gold leaf the pattern.) In my mind this was SUCH a brilliant idea. I had THE BEST stencil company in the world Royal Design Studios custom make a stencil for my wall. (if you are thinking about stenciling you will 100% want to use theirs. I PROMISE. My current fave is their Rattan stencil)

It took me a while to get around to doing it and to make a long story short, it was not awesome. It was imopssible to tell where the adhesive was, the edges were far from a clean line and it took for.ev.ur. to do it. I even ordered some gold stencil creme to stencil the pattern on, but by that time I had come to love the plain white walls and wasnt quite sure I wanted to give them up. (I cant seem to find the pictures of the stencil but you can see it on the wall during this video)

So now that you are caught up, here is where I am today. I LOVE the way my living room is coming together. But I am sad that there isnt more tribal southwesty goodness going on. In fact all I have right now the is even remotely ethnic is my Aztec Chevron rug (made that name up, thankyousomuch), this awesome pillow that I scored at Homegoods in AZ when I was working on Kelsey’s room, and the leather and sisal woven rug underneath the desk that goes against everything I believe in.

They are all graphic (which is the whole reason I chose southwest, not because I am obsessed with peach, sea foam green and howling cartoon coyotes.) The problem is that there is just not ENOUGH.

So this week that is all changing.

I think I have figured out a way to rock the animal hide canoe a little… can’t wait to show you guys! Make sure you follow me on Instagram so that you can stay updated!!

So here are my tips to working through an idea fail.

1. Failure is not an option. Ever. Just because something isnt working out the way that it should doesnt mean that you should paint the wall and give up on it forever.

2. Step away for a bit. We all know the feeling. You have stared at that DANG wall/dresser/room for waaaaay to long, its like when you have to keep writing the same word over and over and over and it gets to the point where you are asking yourself if those are in fact english letters and if it is still spelled correctly. Dont try to figure it out if you are frustrated, just give yourself a break.

3. Remember what inspired you in the first place. For me it was the graphic pattern that I loved. What was it that inspired you to get so excited you couldnt sleep? Make a list if you need to. Sometimes putting things on paper helps you narrow your focus.

4. Talk it through with someone that you trust. For me its my amazing Mother in Law. She is a perfect sounding board because she has great taste and really gets my need to push the envelope. Utilize your friends on Social Media, listen to the ones that you trust and dont discount the ones that arent your cup of tea, it might trigger your inspiration somewhere down the line.

5. Get back on the horse!! Sometimes the only way to figure it out is through trial and error. So try try again!

Do you have any triumphant ends that you want to share with the world?! Leave the link in the comments so we can all check them out!

Birds Of A Feather Thrift Store Art

By Mandi | 01/14/2013 | 34 Comments

Happy Monday! Holy moly you guys have blown me away with all of the comments on Blog Puberty post! I love you all and value your feedback more than you will ever know!!

If you remember last week I showed you an awesome thrift store art transformation with a vintage piece of Crewel Embroidery. I also mentioned in that post that I scored 3 pieces, so here is project dos.

I fell in love with this picture of 2 birds that are 100% made of feathers. (!)

As you can see it was in pretty rough shape (one of the birds had even fallen off of its painted perch!) But for $2.00 there was just SO much character in those little guys, I couldn’t leave them behind!

For this project you will need gold leaf, a basic mini Ribba frame ($1.99 at Ikea) and something awesome to put on it (insert birds here)

Spray spray adhesive on the back of your frame. (I used spray adhesive vs. gold leaf adhesive because it was easier and once framed the gold leaf isn’t going to be manhandled at all.) If you want your gold leaf super smooth and you are leafing a flat surface the EZ Peel leafing is AWESOME. I talk a little more about leafing here if you need more deets!

Then attach your awesome object. I used a touch of hot glue to stick my birds to the leafing.

So what do you think? Do you love the feather birds or are they not your fave?

Blog Puberty. Its A Thing.

By Mandi | 01/11/2013 | 142 Comments

This is a slightly rambling post with HORRIBLE grammar. In all actuality if I could write it as one big long run on sentence I would because in my brain it is one gigantor thought. But I broke it up for you with a lot of periods and Ands. Please enjoy.

There are some blogging things that aren’t regularly discussed. Things like making money, or how to deal with Jerkhole commenters. I have mentioned here and there that I seem to be in a slump, and while I truly love everything that goes along with Vintage Revivals sometimes I have to put a smile on my face and dig to remember the things that I love. So here is a post about where I am.

I am currently in blog puberty.

Just reminisce from your pubescent days and go with me on this one. So you start this blog. And you are the new girl on the block, and you have all of these fun new ideas, and do things that are unfathomable to some. And it is SUPER exciting. And you are feeling like “Yea man, this is AWESOME!! If I continue to grow at this rate I will have 56 million followers in like 48 years!!” (not actual math facts)

And then you realize a few things.

1. You realize what an IDIOT you are for not having a .com from the beginning (insert yourawesomeblog.blogspot.com here) so then you are like DUDE. I hate having blogspot in my name. Its not legit. I am changing it. And $20 and a godaddy account later you are OFFICIAL. And then you expect greater things to happen. And then your traffic evens out. And you are like UM. WHAT is going on!?! I am a .com now! And my projects are great! I am FINALLY LEGIT. And then you realize that google now looks at your established site as gone and in its place is a brand new baby site. So that sucky sucks.

2. You look back on the projects that you have done over the last 2 years and there is a DISTINCT change in your style. And you wonder (out loud many a time to your BFF Brooke) if people don’t “get” what you are doing. And then you remember that it doesn’t matter because you feel like you have finally found your TRUE style…you know the kinds that makes your guts grin! (But you still wonder if you have lost people along the way…)

3. You are lucky enough to realize from the beginning that ALL you have as a blogger is integrity. So you stand up for what you believe. Your personal truths are woven into every pixel of your site. You only share the things like brands that you really do love in real actual life…sometimes to a fault. You believe in what you are doing. AND THEN there you are, looking at your future and the future of your site, and life, and career, that this little hobby blog started, and it is scary. You wonder if people can see the integrity as strongly as you stand by it. And you don’t know if you can actually have enough faith in yourself to believe that you are different enough to make a difference and have your voice heard.

And then you get in this place where you are analyzing WHY this blog or that blog have 150399043904850 pageviews and you have 6. And you get mad that Pinterest gets all of the credit when it is actually real life people doing the awesome crap. And you wonder WHY you are even doing this.

And then you get an email or a comment or run into someone at Homegoods and they tell you that your blog has blessed their life. And you see that your favorite part of your site, the part where you share your heart has been read 80,000 times and you remember THAT is why you do it.

So you are trying to figure out your place, and its kind of awkward. Actually, its really awkward. And you have ALL of these things going on that you never thought of when you started this little hobby blog and you realize that it really is growing up.

Its not a cute new baby blog on the block that everyone is smitten with. And by all means its not a blog that has matured to its full potential. But there is the entire world in front of you and the only thing that is holding you back is yourself and your over analyzing stupid brain that compares and minimizes and gets in your way.

And you look at blogs that have matured, they have found a way to make it through blog puberty a victor.

And you know that in time you will too. Blog puberty doesn’t end because you want it to, it ends because you have grown and changed (awkward much?) through it.

So please hang in there with me while I am trying to figure all of this awkwardness out.

And until then does anyone have a retainer I can borrow?

AND because I love you guys SO MUCH I thought you might enjoy the pictures I took that didnt make the cut…

Thrift Store Art Warms My Heart: Crewel Folk Art

By Mandi | 01/09/2013 | 71 Comments

Can we please have a moment of silence? Someone’s sweet granny’s house was cleaned out and donated to my local thrift store. They had NO IDEA the awesome treasures they were giving away…

(insert moment)

(thankyousomuch)

I happily grabbed 3 different pieces of art and I cant wait to share with you how I transformed them to fit in with my decor.

So today we are starting with my favorite. $3.00 ladies and gentleman. $3.00. I cant even imagine the TIME that went into this piece. So thank you Doris Parker. You have made my week.

As you can see in the larger picture above the cobalt blue velvet is in rough shape (especially around the edges), and the frame wasnt quite was I was looking for. Sometimes its good when things look like they came from the Thrift Store and sometimes notsomuch. This was the case of the latter.

I have had a picture hanging in my hallway since the overhaul and while I LOVE the frame and the mat the trellis pattern is a little to mass producey for me.

Lots of things have almost lived there but nothing was the perfect renter. Until Miss Parkers art moved in to the neighborhood.

I VERY carefully removed it from the old frame (it was professionally mounted and had about 100000 teeny nails holding it in.) which was fun.

I decided which part of the design was my favorite (that cute bird) and carefully folded it around the board (I didnt cut it down, just folded the unused design into the back) taped it in and tada! Instant art!

I cant even begin to understand how dear Doris did these flowers:

So what do you think, are you a fan of folk art or does it freak you out?

Big Plans for 2013

By Mandi | 01/07/2013 | 22 Comments

Happy New Year!!!! Pardon my lateness to the party, I was out of town all last week and now I am back and ready to go!! EEEEEEEEEEEEHHHHHHHHHHHHOOOOOOOOOOO! (that was my Wild West cowboy call if you couldnt tell.)

2012 was an incredible year for me and my blog and I am excited to see what 2013 holds in store. Right now I am itching to get some projects going and I cant wait to tell you all about the big plans that I have!!

Up first, because it is at the top of my list is the dining area of my kitchen. My kitchen is not my fave and I am hoping to be able to spruce it up a little bit (if Court has his way) or a lot (if I have mine…) but the dining area is something that is happening no.matter.what. Do you remember last year when I showed you how I painted my kitchen table?

As much as I love it its just not flowing the way that I want it to with my living room (they are slightly connected). So that is on its way out (if someone is interested in buying it email me!) the amazing green chairs that cause a firestorm of my questionable craigslist tactics are moving to the garage for now because I just cant bear to part with them…

If you follow me on Instagram then you have seen bits and pieces of my plans (if you dont you should @vintagerevivals) I shared this photo last week of the AMAZING rug I am using

I know.

I found the Craigslist deal of the century on some danish mid century dining room chairs ($120 for 7) when I googled them I found out that they are worth much much more……EEEEEEEHHHHHHHHHHHHOOOOOOOO! (There is that wild west call again.) They need to be reupholstered (or something along those lines) and the table is currently under construction. As for the walls they are getting a coat of paint with my favorite white (Sherwin Williams Ultra White Base) and a few other fun things are happening…(sorry I cant tell you all of my secrets.)

The hallway leading to my master bedroom has been neglected for, well, for the entire life of my blog. So that thing is getting a spruce up which means more ugly beam removal. And the Wall o Mirrors is getting an update.

Also please enjoy the fact that this picture was from Aug. 2010 and that wall behind the TV has undergone 3 paint treatments since then.

I am also getting closer to finishing up Miss Ivie’s room (I havent shared an update with you guys for quite a while) and here is a fun fact, the How To Paint Concrete Floors tutorial I shared is my most popular post of 2012!

Anyone have a man cave that they are working on? Good. Me too.

I have mentioned before that Court spent the entire 2nd half of 2012 renovating his parents house. It is getting close to completion and is GORGEOUS. I mean House Beautiful gorgeous. So I will be sharing that soon.

As far as blog conferences go I am heading to ALT this month, SNAP in April, and Haven in August. Anyone else going? I would LOVE to meet up!

I am also planning on doing a weekly vlog. Its going to be an exciting mix of stuff, from decorating, to family, to thrifting trips. Good stuff people.

So that is the plan forecast least the 1st 1/2 of 2013

I am hoping to end up at more of YOUR houses this year too, so I will keep everyone updated as that unfolds.

So um…anyone want to come and help me paint?