Remember yesterday when we talked about inspiration not being a destination? How it can happen anywhere, at anytime?

A few weeks ago after a particularly hard mom day (you know those days where you know that no one in your family walked away unscathed?) I was trying to get Dylan in bed. She’s 6 and stubborn and had been fighting me on everything, all.day.long. After trying unsuccessfully for an hour to get her to go to sleep, I finally stepped away for a minute and took myself out of the chaos of the situation. I know on days when I am in a fighting mood I usually just need someone to love me, and that is what she needed too. So I grabbed a book off the shelf and snuggled in for a little story. She fell asleep almost immediately and it gave me a few minutes to breathe. Flipping through the pages and reflecting on life gave me a second to soak up a little inspiration.

I called Jamie (because she is the brilliant mind that illustrates my madness) and told her that I wanted to do a few Madeline inspired row houses. Something that the girls can help me do.

To make this project, you will need:

Cricut Explore Air
Vintage Revivals Row House designs
Black vinyl
Paint

Start by downloading the row houses in Design Space. They are a Make It Now project which means that they are perfectly sized, all you have to do is load the vinyl and click go.

Typically when you cut out a design in vinyl, you “weed” all the unnecessary parts out and toss them.

DON’T DO THAT!!! hahaha

Weed the inside of the design (the house and the windows/doors) so that it looks like this. Do not weed outside the design!

This is what you are going for:

The next step is to take the outside of the house (the part that you would normally throw away) and put it on the wall. It doesn’t have to be perfectly straight, wonky is embraced at all times on Vintage Revivals.

Then you are going to paint inside the shape. I only did one coat because I sort of the love the splotchy variation for this project.

Peel off the vinyl, and now (finally!!) you can throw it away.

Paint all of your houses, and after they have had at least 12 hours to dry you can start to put on the vinyl.

If you want to use transfer tape you can, but we placed everything by hand. I showed Dyl a picture of the houses on the computer and she did her best to match it.

Can you picture an entire wall filled with these guys? Oh my gosh, someone needs to do that.

Today’s #cricuteverywhere giveaway is such a good one,  1 year subscription to all of the images on Design Space, or Cricut Craft Room!!

Just to clear up any lingering questions… Design Space is a free downloadable software, you are not winning that (because everyone already wins! It’s free!!) you are winning yearlong access to over 50,000 single images, image sets, and fonts, including all of the Make It Now projects (like this one!!)

To enter this giveaway: All you have to do is a post a photo on Instagram of your favorite spot in your house! Hashtag it with #cricuteverywhere and be sure to follow @vintagerevivals and @officialcricut. Please tag me in your picture, I want to see!!

For more info on today’s giveaway click here.

Pssst. If you are ordering a Cricut Explore Air, use the coupon code STARTER to get 50% off any starter set (this one is my favorite!)

The post DIY Row House Wall Art (so fun for kids!!) appeared first on Vintage Revivals.

Do you remember the ipad of the 80’s? Lacing Cards.

You know the kind right?

Well this project is like that, only its really cute and something that you actually will want to hang on your walls!

To make this project you will need:

Cricut Explore
Cricut Explore Markers (see my alternative option here!)
110# Cardstock
String
Teeny bit of tape

This is a Make It Now project that I designed for the Cricut Explore which means all you have to do it click the Make It Now button and it automatically sizes and cuts everything exactly the way that I designed it!!

One of the features of the Cricut Explore that I love SO much is the write and cut feature. It does it all in one pass, so it is perfectly lined up every time!!

Just make sure that all of the dotted lines are covered with yarn. Dylan my 6 year old super loved this project, so it is definitely for smaller kids, as well as older ones. (Or kids a heart for those of you who are like me and love it as an adult.)

You can check out each of the projects on Design Space here:

Big Dipper and Little Dipper
Orion
Leo

Want more info about the Cricut Explore? You can see all of my posts about it here! And while you’re already nominated for mom of the year, check out these other kid friendly projects!

The post Kid Friendly Constellation String Art appeared first on Vintage Revivals.

If you missed Part 1 of this tutorial on how to build an outdoor nook you will want to check that out here.

When I was designing the Summer Reading Nook, I was envisioning something that was sort of vintage campy. You know big canvas tents,  really basic shapes,  the kind of thing that when you picture a summer hideaway it instantly pops into your mind.

This tent can be done 2 different ways. You can make it permanent or removable. Living in Southern Utah we get rain maybe twice a summer. Its very very dry here, so I wasn’t worried about the drop cloth being damaged in the weather. So my tent is permantly attached to the nook. If you want to make yours removable, you will just need to sew the drop cloths together. Super simple.

You will need:

(2) 9×12 Canvas Drop Cloths

(2) packages of curtain grommets

(4) Large Screw Eyes (pictured below)

20 Feet of Sisal Rope

We are going to start by attaching the screw eyes to the 4×4 posts.

Drill a pilot hole into your 4×4. The eyehooks are very thick, if you don’t do this you can risk splitting your entire post.

These are the screw eyes that you want. You can find them at Home Depot or Lowes and they are around $3.00 each I believe.

You should be able to screw them in by hand, but if it is getting really tight and they need to go in deeper, my favorite trick is to put a screwdriver through the hole and use both hands to turn it.

Now that you have your corner where the fabric needs to reach. Measure the distance from the pitch of your roof down the roof line to your screw eyes (write down that #). Then measure from the screw eyes to the ground. You are measuring for your canvas roof so make sure to add a couple of inches to your measurements, you don’t want it to be too short. Oh and I wanted mine to puddle, so I added 5 extra inches to the wall measurement. To make the roof/sides you will need 2 drop cloths that are 9×12. Each one will run you around $25, but Sherwin Williams has some on sale right now for $14.99.

Of course the greatest way to get huge pieces of fabric for a fantastic price is to grab a drop cloth. These things are one of my favorite cheapy fabrics because they are durable, a neutral color and huge. Oh and cheap. (Did I already mention that?)

Lay your drop cloth on a flat surface. Mark your width and height and cut your fabric to that size.

Fold your drop cloth in 1/2 hot dog style (OMGosh remember that?!)and  mark where the pitch of the roof ends (where your screw eyes are)

Now we are putting on the grommets. Attaching grommets is VERY easy. And when you are don’t you are going to have something that reminds your kids of shipwrecked Ariel…at least that is what my girls thought. I found my grommets at JoAnn’s. They are regularly $10 but use a 40% off coupon. You will need 2 packages.

With your drop cloth still folded in 1/2 figure out the width between each grommet. Divide that # in 1/2 and draw the first mark on the side with the fold. The distance between each of my grommets is 15” so my first mark is 7.5” from the fold. (Doing it this way saves time)  then mark the full spacing (15”) between each grommet across the rest of your drop cloth. Line each mark up to the center of your template and trace.

Cut through both layers of fabric when you are cutting out the template.

Place the backside of your grommet on and then snap the front on.

So easy right?!! If you are making your tent removable this is the point that you will want to sew it together. Also you will want to hem the raw edge with a sewing machine or with hemming tape.

Tie a large knot in your sisal rope and string it through your screw eyes and all of the grommets. To tie the second knot is definitely a 2 person job (one to tie and one to hold the rope taught.)

We attached our fabric to the crossbar with a stapler along the top.

Hope this inspires you to make something fun for the little (or big!) kids in your life!

The post Summer Reading Nook/ Outdoor Hideaway Plans Part 2: Roof and Curtains appeared first on Vintage Revivals.

You.Guys. As I was writing the tutorial for the Outdoor Summer Reading nook/Playhouse post I was HORRIFIED at the pictures that I had taken. I guess full sun and full shade in 115 degrees for 8 hours will do that to you.

They were that bad.

So I am trying to figure out a way to salvage this tutorial, when one of my great friends Rayan from The Design Confidential offered to help me. This girl is LEGIT. Her site is full of amazing building plans with step by step instructions (think Ana White but more modern and West Elm-y) I pretty much I owe her my 3rd born (no,  this is not a pregnancy hint) and undying love and devotion. So huge huge thank you Rayan!

Now lets get on with the fun.

This is a very simple build. The finished size of the playhouse is 5 feet x 8 feet.

You will need:

(2) 2×8’s @ 60”

(3) 2×8’s @  96”

(4) 4×4’s @ 60”

() 2×6’s @ 60”

(2) 2×4’s @ 37”

(2) 2×4’s @ 41”

(1) 2×4 @ 93”

(13) 2×6’s @ 60”

(2) 2×6’s @ 50”

(1) 4×8’ Sheet of Lattice

(12) Corner Braces (pictured below)

(2) 90 degree angle braces (pictured below)

(6) 2×4 braces (pictured below)

1 Box of 1 1/2” Deck Screws

1 Box of 3” Deck Screws

Start by building your base box with the 2×8’s. This makes it a really great height without needing to put in a step. It will measure 60”x96”. If you have a Kreg Jig, use it to attach your boards together,  or if you are like me and live in the stone age you can just use deck screws.

Next you are going to attach your 4×4’s. Make sure they are nice and flush with the corners of your box. Use corner braces (pictured below) to attach the 4×4’s to the box.

One you have your posts up, attach the center joist to the box using the same corner braces.

When that is all done, its time to attach the 2×6’s that will be your deck floor. They need to be cut at 60” long. If you have a way to transport it home, buy 10’ boards to save the most money and waste. Start by attaching your first board directly behind your corner posts so that it sits flush.

Space your boards as you are attaching them (we used a screwdriver) and screw them directly to the base. Also if you need to stagger the boards (if you have to use 2 to make up the 60” width) just make sure that it is centered on your joist.

To fill in the gap and add a little flair to the ends of the floor, I left a little bit of an overhang to make it more step-like. Cut these boards to 50” to fit between your 4×4 posts.

We made the pitch of the roof as absolutely simple as possible. First things first you will want to buy (2) 90 degree braces that looks like this (also please note the baby Preying Mantis that apparently wanted to be famous.)

The boards are not mitered at the top to form the 90 degree angle, but you will need to miter them at a 45 degree angle to fit flush on top of your posts. Also  you will need to cut a 90 degree angle off of the end of the 45 to make it line up with the end of your 4×4. If that is confusing, look at Rayan’s sketch below,  this is why she is a professional folks.

(It is really easy if you assemble the entire roof on the ground and then put it on once it is built.)

Attach your brace to the pitch

Then attach the 2×4 brace to the backside of the front pitch and the frontside of the back pitch. You may need to read that a few times.

Now place your 2×4 cross bar in the braces.

Before you can put on the roof you need to attach braces to the top of your 4×4’s.

Use every ounce of energy you have left (just kidding, its actually fairly light) and put the roof in the braces that you just attached and screw it into place.

And TADA! You have the entire structure built!

If you are planning on attaching lattice to the backside, you will need 1 4×8 sheet. Cut it down to size and attach it to the bottom half of your Nook.

We attached the remainder to the pitch of the roof and then used a Sawsall to cut the excess off. Lattice is really thin and delicate, so be careful with it. One thing that you will notice when you are attaching it to the pitch, is that the corners will come up short on the bottom, because its just not quite wide enough. Use the extra scraps to lengthen the pieces that wont quite reach. (Sorry I don’t have a picture of this process, it was dark when we were finishing up!)

Oh and go give a huge fat hello to Rayan wouldja?

Check out Part 2 HERE!

The post Summer Reading Nook/Outdoor Hideaway Building Plans appeared first on Vintage Revivals.

Happy Monday my friends! You may or may not know that about a year and 1/2 ago I posted a really through tutorial for painting concrete/cement. Ivie’s floor was my first experience and its held up really well, so well in fact, that I decided to rip the carpet out of Dylan’s room and paint her floor too.

So why another tutorial? Well, I’ve learned a few things along the way that I would love for you to know to (in case you are planning on tackling your own concrete painting project!)

Carpet Removal

First up is carpet removal. Not the funnest job in the world, that is for sure. Dyl’s room is preeeeetty small so it wasn’t a horribly hard job (but if you need a few more tips on that, pop over and check out this post on YHL.)

Once your carpet and pad are out its time to remove the tack strips. (Those are the pieces of wood along the edge of your carpet that hold it in place.)  You can use a myriad of tools for this from a chisel, to a hammer, to a screw driver. We used floor scrapers to remove them (you can see both of them in the picture above)  The one on the left is a little finer and you have a little more control, and the one on the right is sort of like the bulldozer of floor scrapers and destroys everything in its path. Basically you are using them to pry up the tack strips. Make sure when you pick them up you are wearing gloves, those suckers are sharp.

Remove Adhesive

Now you have the fun job of getting off all of the carpet glue. And actually the proper spelling of that would be Carpet Human Fly Trap GAAA-LOOOOOOE. Our carpet was laid when we moved into our house 4 years ago and the glue was still VERY sticky. I don’t know at what point it looses its tack and becomes concrete like but I have heard that does happen….

In my first post I talked about dousing it with  Lacquer Thinner and letting it sit and then dousing it again and scraping it off with a plastic scraper. This is what I have learned since then,  if you pour a fair amount of Lacquer Thinner on and then cover it with a plastic garbage bag for 10 minutes the glue comes RIGHT off. Very little scraping involved. I took a few garbage bags and cut them down one side and the bottom so that they could cover a larger area.

Fill Holes

If you previously had carpet, then you are going to have lots of cute little holes along your baseboard that will need to be filled before you can paint. Mix up a batch of Quickcrete and fill your holes (its ok if you overfill them a little) and let it cure overnight.

Sand Baby Sand

The last prep step is to sand your heart out. Use a pole sander (you can buy them for around $6.00 at Sherwin Williams) and 80 Grit Sand Paper to rough up the entire surface of the floor. Sand the entire floor one direction, then sweep it up. Then sand it in the opposite direction, then sweep it up. Then sand one MORE time and this time when you sweep you want to sweep, vacuum, sweep, vacuum. Until you are SURE there is no dust left. (If you get it wet at this point you will have to wait 24 hours for it to fully dry, so don’t do that)  Just sweep and vacuum like your floor’s life depends on it…because it does. Take special care to sand along the edges where you filled the tack strip holes and they should blend right in.

Now comes the fun part.

Paint

Painting a floor is hands down the easiest thing on the planet. In fact I would rather paint 5000 floors than 1 ceiling. You don’t even need a paint tray!

But you do need good paint. Regular latex paint is NOT for this project. You need something specially designed to withstand the beatings that a floor takes. The paint that I recommend is Sherwin Williams Porch and Floor Enamel. It is AMAZING and has held up SO well in Ivie’s room. It is a water based paint (so no crazy fumes) that is self priming and goes on so smooth. You do not want to get the wrong product when you are doing a project like this (can you imagine?!). You can have it tinted to any color of the rainbow, but personally I love the Extra White Base.

Make sure that you are using a microfiber roller cover that has a 5/16” nap for a really smooth finish. (If you are doing a top coat you will need to buy 2 of them.)

Pour your paint onto the corner furthest away from your door. I usually pour an amount that is the size of a dinner plate. If you have closets in the space you will want to start there.

Roll it the same way that you would roll a wall, in a “W” pattern. Make sure that you are not leaving any gobs behind (yes, gobs is the technical term.)

Also, notice in the picture above that the holes that were filled absorb the paint more than the regular floor. So go over those extra well.

This picture is after 1 coat.

Let coat 1 cure for a few hours. Once it is dry recoat following the same pattern. I didn’t need more than 2 coats on Dylan’s floor, but if you do, wait the appropriate amount of time before you recoat.

Sherwin Williams Porch and Floor Enamel does not require a top coat to seal it. You can leave it just how it is with a Satin finish and be golden as the geese on Willy Wonka.

But.

I LOVE LOVE LOVE having a top coat on because it makes cleaning the floors easier. It makes them shinier (this picture from Ivie’s room is the perfect example!)

If you are putting on a top coat, wait 24 hours before you do it to let your paint cure.

The top coat I recommend is H&C Wet Look Concrete Sealer (you can also buy this at Sherwin Williams). DO NOT use a polyurethane on top of your floor, especially if you have used white paint. You will hate your life when it yellows.

*When I did Ivie’s room I did 2 coats of Sealer and there are a few places where the concrete was not level and it puddled there and has yellowed a little bit. So I would just say to one coat it and avoid that possible problem.

Once your top coat is finished wait at least 24 hours to walk on it and72 hours before you put furniture on it. Deal?

One question I get over and over again about painted concrete is how to clean it. Surprisingly the best method that I have come up with (after trying lots and lots) is dish soap and a washcloth. Yep,  regular old dish soap.

Put a small amount on the tough spot. (Dylan is going through a phase where she writes her name on EVERYTHING.)

Rub it in small circles with a damp washcloth.

Wipe it up with a clean non soapy one.

Do you have any questions about this project? Leave them in the comments and I will answer them there!

This post was written in partnership with Sherwin Williams. All project ideas, opinions and hard work are 100% mine.

The post How To Paint Concrete UPDATED!! (Plus My Secret Cleaning Tip!) appeared first on Vintage Revivals.

Fun project alert! A few weeks ago the folks at Pottery Barn Kids emailed me about creating a Summer Reading Nook for my girls and for their PBK and PBS Kids Summer Reading Nook Challenge. 5 other bloggers were included and we were given access to specific PBK staples for us to use in our nook,  the rest was up to us.

I don’t know what doing Dylan’s room did to my brain,  I think it unlocked my inner daydreaming child, because right now everything I am doing sort of has the perspective of someone roughly 3.5 feet tall. (what do you know, maybe I am a good mom…if you ignore all of the cereal/toast/ramen that happens in this house.)

So here is the thought process for this fun project. I don’t so much have a spot in my little house right now for a reading nook, so the obvious choice was to make something that was well,  not in my house. When I told Court the plans he was like…”Dude. This thing is going to be so heavy, and cost a million bucks,  can’t you just repaint a wall?” To which I replied “I mean, I understand, but if you saw what I see in my head you wouldn’t be able to shut it off either. Plus its freaking Pottery Barn.”

He then saw the light.

Aaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!

Doesn’t it look like childhood in a jar? I am SO in love with it, and more importantly my girls are too.

The design is a mix of thrifted treasures (the light and accessories),  family heirlooms (the amazing oil painting by my Great Grandma),  handmade flair (obviously the pom pom tassels),  and Pottery Barn Kids Furniture.

(Bookcase / Rug / Beanbag / Dalmatian Bookend / Pink Task Light)

The build went really smoothly and I will have a quick tutorial with guidelines and info about the structure up this week.

The canvas tent is made from a drop cloth, sisal rope, and grommets, and was SERIOUSLY simple. And because you guys love to know the behind the scenes nuggets…the original plan was to use wooden dowels instead of the rope. But then the whole, running, screaming, tag playing scenario ran through my mind and I knew we needed something that was a little more forgiving (as in forehead forgiving). So rope it was! If you are a hardcore Vintage Revival-er you will remember the curtains I made for Hailee’s Living Room with this same idea!

My favorite piece is the gray and white striped Rugby rug.

Of course my girls love the beanbag. Also, Ivie’s hair? Super jealous.

And what would be a photo shoot without a few Dylan Outtakes?

That girl will be the death of me.

Reading with my daughters is something that I cherish. I love reading books that have a great lesson in them, like The Giving Tree. My favorite series of all time though is Skippy Jon Jones. I can do a MEAN Spanish accent Skippito.

GET THE BUILDING PLANS HERE!

If you are itching for more kiddie inspiration, check out Dylan’s Bedroom.

Or if you are in the market for something a little more grown up (I use the tern grown up loosely around these parts) check out my living room.

I partnered with Pottery Barn Kids and PBS to create this project. Pottery Barn Kids sent me specific items to use in this challenge. The project ideas, cost, and opinions are 100% mine.

The post Outdoor Summer Reading Nook Challenge with Pottery Barn Kids appeared first on Vintage Revivals.

I believe that being creative is something that is learned. I believe that it takes massive amounts of inner confidence to create. I believe it is much easier to listen to whoever is telling you that its not perfect/unique/awesome enough (even if that person is yourself) than to fly the double falcons and push through it.

I am not a great parent. Sometimes I forget to brush my kids teeth. Sometimes I feed them cheetos for dinner. Sometimes I get frustrated and yell. Sometimes I do this all in one day…

But one thing I think I do pretty well is let my kids be creative. My girls would much rather do a project than pretty much anything else. So today I am going to let you in on a few of my secrets to encouraging creativity.

1. Don’t freak out. There have been many a day when I have walked in on Dylan writing on things that she should not be. Lately she is tagging everything with her name. Its adorable and frustrating at the same time. Do you ever get the urge to do a project RIGHTTHISSECONDORYOUAREGOINGTOEXPLODE? I know I do. (Its usually when I improvise and use a butter knife to putty something,  or a roll of tape to measure spacing)  Kids get like that too,  AND they don’t always have the common sense to control it. Now, I am not saying you shouldn’t have rules or set boundaries, because you ABSOLUTELY should. But if mistakes are made,  its ok,  its just stuff. Heck I am sure there is some viral pin all about cleaning crayon off of every surface in your home anyways.

2. Give them the tools they need. Ivie loves to make things out of trash. This girl will save boxes and containers like it is manna in the desert. Her tool of choice is a hot glue gun. So I make sure that there is always hot glue in the house. Dylan LOVES to draw,  and if she cant find paper at a moments notice my walls suffer, so I always try to have paper on hand. If you give them the tools, then the only thing that is limiting them is their own mind.

3. Be creative yourself. There is not a day that goes by that I am not working on something. When my girls see me pushing myself and problem solving, they know that its not always going to turn out perfect the first time, but to keep at it.

4. Encourage Encourage Encourage. I love getting pats on the back for all of my hard work, your kids want that too.

5. Don’t Forget To Enjoy Their Journey. This is one of my FAVORITE videos of Dylan ever. EVER. It was shot about 6 months ago when she was going through her YouTube Monster High Makeover phase. Please enjoy.

The most important thing about fostering creativity is to help your child see that they can be as creative and weird as they want. It is worth the messes friends, pinky promise.

Can you tell I am on a kid friendly project kick? It should last approximately 6 more hours until I am ready for school to start again. If you need more kiddo approved projects check out this post and this post.

What are your favorite kid friendly projects?

The post Do You Mind Mom? I Am Creating Here. 5 Tips To Boost Your Kid’s Creativity appeared first on Vintage Revivals.

This post is all over the place. I am not sure why, but lets just go with it. Consider yourself warned.

When I was sprucing up my patio, I knew I want some kind of funky art. I have been hoarding this Tiki mask for MONTHS. Court was confused and a little, well, nervous, when I told him there was no way on God’s green earth I was selling it at the Hoard Sale. (The actual plan was to paint it and put it in my kitchen, we will see if that ever happens…)

So we have the Tiki mask and the theme of Summer. And for some reason the first thing that I think of when I hear “SUMMER!!!” is Grease. I don’t know why. Its a gift and a treasure, in one John Travolta-Hip Thrusting- Music Filled package.

Here is the internal conversation with Me, Myself, and I (you should know that Myself is the one that thinks through the way readers will react to things. Sometimes Myself is on vacation…like when I write posts like “Craigslist Etiquette is for Suckers” and it makes people feel the need to tell me that I have no morals. But usually she is right here with me.

Me:  Hmmm.. Patio. Decorating. Art. Summer.

I: Don’t forget we have that awesome Tiki Mask

Myself:  Some people commented on FB that the Tiki mask has bad Ju-ju and you shouldn’t put it in your house. Whatever Ju-ju is.

Me:  Well,  maybe we should put it outside.

I:  Maybe it will protect against the feral cats that crap on the lawn? Or the Feral teenagers that keep jacking our stuff.

Myself:  You cant say feral teenagers,  that will anger people. They are children of God, just trying to find their way.

Me:  Focus you two. Sheesh. So we have Tiki. We have summer.

I: Summer lovin,  had me a blast.

Me:  Ohh ohh what if we make it look like the mask is singing?! Such a good idea.

I:  I love that! He could be singing Summer Lovin and have kisses all over his face!

Myself:  Summer Lovin is probably not the best phrase since it promotes teenage sexual behavior, and we already have a wayward teenager issue.

Me:  Dude. No one is going to take it like that.

Myself:  Do you want to end up on a blogger bashing forum? Find something a little bit more appropriate.

I:  How about But, Oh. Those Summer Nights?

Me: Fine with me.

Myself:  It still a little risky, but if people get upset then they need a life. Plus most teenagers nowadays probably haven’t seen Grease. Lets do it.

Now who has said they want to live in my head? Its a bit crowded friends.

Dyl has become the resident watercolor specialist in the Gubler casa. I wish I could take credit for this project but it was 95% her.

I cut the words out with my Silhouette (the font I used is Nova Solid) and stuck them to a scrap piece of 1/8” ply that I had in my garage.

I didn’t want them to be perfectly lined up, so instead of using transfer tape I peeled of each letter and place it individually.

Once I had the letters down I drew a rough circle around them to mark where I wanted the wood painted (you can see it in the picture below) and then I gave Dylan free reign with her watercolors (I know that watercolors are not permanent but it was the loose watery look that I was going for.)

She had so much fun mixing and painting. I love when you get out of the way and give kids permission to let whatever is inside of them to come out.

Then I let Dylan peel of the vinyl. This was probably her favorite part, she was amazed that the letters were still there! I am pretty sure if there was a job just doing this, it would be the most gratifying job in the world.

All dried.

As far as the kissy mask goes, I just free handed lips onto the mask with plain old acrylic craft paint. I did contemplate putting it on my lips and then kissing him but Myself got the better of me.

I hung the board on the house (one of the upsides of Stucco) with small finishing nails in each corner and then hung Mr.. Tiki Man on with a nail. Not a big to do, but it works.

I love that Dylan did this,  I love that it looks so fun, and I love that the Tiki Man is going to scare away all of the feral teenagers. (Sorry Myself, I just had to throw it in there.)

Hope you guys have an amazing Memorial Day!

The post Outdoor Watercolor Tiki Mask Art appeared first on Vintage Revivals.

Man, we are cruising through the tutorials from Dylan’s Dream Room! As chevron has been on its way out over the last year I think many of us have been waiting with baited breath wondering what will take its place as the Pattern King. Ikat seemed to be a pretty great contender for a bit, and then I was seeing spots (well polka dots to be exact) everywhere but I am going to throw my money on the Hexagon.

I knew immediately that I wanted to do a Hex wall in Dylan’s room (and even though it didn’t work out right the first time) I knew it wasn’t the hex pattern that was the problem. I know what you are thinking. That wall must have taken years. And while it did take time, it is for sure not as complicated as the wow factor would assume.

Please remember that this tutorial was shot with the first room design, that is why the colors don’t match up to the final room shot!

I am not a math genius. AT. ALL. But I am a DIY till I die kind of girl and if I want to do something I am going to work at it until I figure it out. Luckily for you guys there will be no math involved (unless you want a certain # of hex’s on your wall, then your on your own.)

I knew the size of hex that I was going for was about yay big. So that was where I started. For this project I used 10’ 1×2”s. They are crazy cheap (like $.98 each!!) and you will need a bunch. I went through 37.

The biggest thing that you have to wrap your brain around is the adjoining angles. Each piece connects to 2 other pieces. so your angles have to be right or the entire thing is a crapshoot.

If you are going to paint the inside of your hexagons, this is the point that you will want to do it. Push all of your boards together and roll them. You will have drippage,  the easiest way that I found to fix is is not in the prevention but in a quick sanding job after.

Now its time to cut. Don’t be nervous. Set your miter saw at 30 degrees to the left of center. Cut off the very end of your piece.

Now before you make any more cuts you are going to set up a jig. A jig is basically a way to precisely cut each piece the exact same way. To make this jig I mounted my saw onto a piece of MDF (you probably wont need to do this if you have a saw table!)  Then I rotated the piece that I just cut so that the longest side was against the saw and measured how long it needed to be from long point to long point. I used some scrap wood screwed to the MDF and mounted them with the correct angle so that my piece fits perfectly inside.

Now you are really ready to cut. Keep your saw set at the 30 degree angle and rotate your piece of wood,  its much faster!

Each piece that you cut should look like this, with a long side and a short side.

This is the part where you are going to become a master cutter. Make this cut over and over and over again.

Done? Good. Now its time to set up a second jig to finish off our piece.

Rotate your saw to the 30 degree angle to the RIGHT of center. Use the clamp on your saw and secure one of your pieces on the LEFT side of the saw blade. You should have your long corner in the path of the blade.

Now place a piece end to end with your guide.

When you cut it you will end up with this (I pulled the scrap triangles out of the way so you could see the angles)

This is where each saw is different and you need to adjust your jig according to your blade width to get a perfect point.

Then you are going to line up your pieces to be cut with your jig,  making sure the long angle is through the cutting path.

Now do this about 7 billion times. Making sure every 20 or so cuts that your jig hasn’t jogged. Ha. I am funny.

Now is the REALLY fun part. Mounting them to the wall. You will absolutely need a nail gun for this part.

I started on the left side of the room to mount mine,  going back I think I would start at the ceiling, just so that I had a better way to mark the level line. Again, one of those do as I say not as I did teaching moments.

To do this you will need a trusty roll of painters tape and a level.

Start by taping a few pieces up on the wall (make sure that they are level vertically and level horizontally with the pieces around them. The reason we are taping and not nailing is because when one angle is off, it throws off the entire hexagon. If we tape them in place then we can adjust the angles to make sure they are right before we are totally committed to that spot

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Once your hexagon is fantastically fantastic use your nail gun to secure the wood to your wall. I used one nail in the center of each piece.

Then using your painters tape build off from there (making sure that everything is level!)  You can also use a laser level to line up your horizontal hexes if you are smart like that.

And then you just go.

This project is time consuming but its not hard,  its just a lot of repetition.

When you are done it is totally worth it.

The painting portion (or should I say repainting *snort) tutorial will be up next week! Happy hexing friends!

The post DIY Honeycomb Hexagon Wall Treatment appeared first on Vintage Revivals.

I love when someone comes up with a design that is just so genius that it sticks with you for YEARS. You may remember a few years ago on Design Star Courtland created these amazing wall sconces out of Copper Pipe.

They were a huge part of the inspiration for the conduit wall sconces in my living room and for the coat rack in Dylan’s Room.

One problem that I was running into while I was putting the finishing touches on her bulldog cork mural wall was a phenomenon that I have never experienced before.

In real life everything looked great, but once it was shot the space looked completely barren. It was super confusing and frustrating to say the least. So like the great DIY Houdini I needed to pull an idea out of, well, somewhere… and FAST.

A coat rack was on my list of ideas but I was thinking knobs on a board kind of coat rack. After I taped off the space with painters tape to see where I was size wise it was still too sparse. I needed something to fill the ENTIRE space. Luckily for me Courtland’s pipe lights zoomed out of the back of my brain and I was on my way to Lowes.

When you are buying copper tubing for this project you need to get PLUMBERS tubing. Its thin and easy to cut and perfect for this project.

You will need to decide the height of your coat rack and how many you want, to determine how much copper you will need (mine are 33’” high) and you will need to factor in an additional 5-6” for each of the actual hooks. You will also need (2) 90 degree elbows,  1 cap (they look like chapstick lids),  2 brackets for each rack, and pipe cutters.

I ended up with (2) 1/2” x  8’ pipe lengths,  and plumber’s value packs of the elbows and brackets (they sell 10 in a package)

Start by marking where your pipe needs to be cut.

The pipe cutter that you will need is about $14.00 and is literally the most simple thing in the world to use.

Place it on your tube with the blade on the mark.

Start spinning the entire cutter around your pipe. As it is cutting the pipe you will need to tighten the clamp a little tighter. You can see in the picture below how it is cutting through the pipe.

Then voila! your pipe is cut.

You are going to repeat this process for each of the hook pieces cutting them at 4.5” and 1.5”. The 1.5” pipe is practically invisible, but it is what connects the cap to the elbow and is SUPER important.

If you are using this pipe the way that it is meant to be used you would then solder all of your pieces together…but since we are NOT doing that I used my trusty e6000 to epoxy them together.

(You can use whatever bonding adhesive you have on hand, just make sure that it is clear due to possible seepage. PS. Seepage is one of those nasty words that make you dry heave when you hear it. Like Fleshy, or Yeast, or the way that my husband thinks I feel about the word Shower.)

Evenly space the pipes out and attach them to the wall using pipe brackets (make sure that you get them in the same diameter as the pipe you are using!!)  I attached mine to the wall at different heights to give is just a touch more visual interest.

Another thing that is worth noting,  the pipe is the same width as the chunky baseboard so I didn’t have to worry about how to transition it.

Total cost if you need to buy the pipe cutting tool is around $35.00.

Make sure to check out the rest of Dylan’s room below!

The post DIY Copper Pipe Wall Coat Rack Tutorial appeared first on Vintage Revivals.