Its Monday! Do you know what that means?! Another episode of Fearless DIY is up on The Design Network!!

This week I’m tackling a project that maybe doesn’t seem so fearless…painting a rug. But sometimes its not so much about the type of projects as it is just running at it with wreckless abandon.

You can check out the episode here!

Fun fact, we filmed this episode on my birthday and the mystery head helping me hold the rug up at the end is my sister Amy! She drove up and surprised me, it was the best birthday present ever (along with the 5 lb. bag of cinnamon bears that she brought with her.)

Update!! You guys I am such a space case. I forgot to link to the rug!! Its from IKEA (you can find it here!) its called Nipprig (I bet you’ll never forget that name…)

The post Fearless DIY: Painted Rug appeared first on Vintage Revivals.

We are solving a little design dilemma today folks. Does anyone have areas in their house that need a uniquely sized rug (not your standard 3×5 or 5×7)? In my house, these places always seem to be low traffic areas and the rug is really just for looks and to add to the design. (If you have this prob, you might want to check out this tutorial too!)

Dun dun dun duuuuuuunnnn! Insert a Floor Cloth. A floor cloth is basically a reinforced piece of fabric that is sturdy and looks so great!

To make this project you will need:

Heavy Woven Fabric (I found this at Joann’s of all places!)
Wonder Under Fusible Webbing (also available at Joann’s)
Drop Cloth

Start cutting your fabric to the size you are itching for, add 1 1/2-2” to that measurement. Next you are going to iron a 3/4-1” fold into the raw edges of your fabric. Because I loved the little fringies on the ends of mine I only did it on the sides, but you can do it on all 4 of you need to!

Position your fusible webbing on the back of your fabric (paper side up)

Iron on the paper side (don’t use steam! Just heat and pressure).

Wait until the fabric is completely cooled down before you peel off the paper.

Notice how the webbing is also on the fold that I ironed. You don’t want to miss that part!

Now iron your drop cloth right side down onto your fabric/webbing combo. We are doing it right side down so that the thick edge doesn’t leave a big gap between the 2 materials.

All finished!!

While it isn’t heavy duty rug weight,  the floor cloth is still really substantial. I love that you can throw it in the washing machine if it gets spilled on and I LOVE that it is so inexpensive!

Check out the other projects in this series here!

The post No Sew DIY Floor Cloth appeared first on Vintage Revivals.

Dudes. Lets talk about budget decorating tips. Pretty sure that every blogger on the planet has written a post or 9 about this subject. And I mean, here is the thing, there are a million tips about it but I thought it would be fun to create a simple seating area on a real life budget and show you the scientific breakdown (or something along those lines) of a fail-proof and awesome little space. Then all week I will be posting tutorials, to make the projects crystal clear so that you can totally snatch up the thrifting spirit and run with it!

There are 3 categories that we are dividing and conquering today.

Thrifted, Gifted, and Lifted. Catchy much?

Thrifted is pretty self explanatory. It is cool junk that you find secondhand. Thrift stores, Craigslist, Yard Sales etc. Thrifting is where I find most of my treasures.

I love thrifting art. I think everyone should have pretty things hanging on the walls in their house, but there is this idea that only “real” art should count. I wholeheartedly disagree. Creating a space that I love in my house is all about embracing the imperfection. Perfect example is this awesome skeleton print. I found it a few weeks ago for $2. At the time it was a black and white print. Sometimes I make bad choices and leave things in my car for too long. Imagine my surprise (and swears) when I finally remembered to take this guy in my house only to discover that the sun had changed the color. My black and white print was now mauve. Blink blink. There was a clear film on the paper that had a reaction to the heat. It had a large piece of film on the top (the one that remains) and a smaller one on the bottom that I peeled off. I sort of think that the two tone background makes the piece and let me tell you,  I am so happy about that little accident.

Amateur oil paintings are a crucial cog in the thrift store machine. They are always there. Some are not so awesome, and sometimes it is hard to see how amazing a piece is while you are actually at the Goodwill. So if you don’t hate it and think it has a little potential,  spend the $3 and take it home. Hang it on the wall and see how cool it really is! Sometimes I see a painting and think “Hm. I don’t hate it…” but I don’t know if it will look lame or if it is too weird. Those are usually the pieces that I love the most once they are up. This little blue moment was a great find for $5.

How freaking adorable is this little Kodak Brownie video camera? It was one of those exact situation where I wasn’t sure if it was old enough to be cute. I am so happy I spent $10 on it, because it is perfect in this shot.

Category #2:  Gifted. The gifted category makes up things that were given to you (why I felt the need to clarify that is beyond me….)  The amazing weaving is the star of the show and was a little happy mail from my girl Lindsay at Hello Hydrangea. You guys must go and check out her shop. I need it all.

Because I love you so much,  I have a gift for you! Next week (Friday the 18th) the free project in the Vintage Revivals Newsletter is a download of the Geometric Grizzly. Make sure that you sign up for the newsletter so that you can cash in! (Don’t worry, I will remind you again!)

Now for our third and final category, Lifted. So I feel like lifted can mean 3 things. 1. Stolen. Like from someone that loves you enough to let you take something. Or illegally…if it is worth the consequences. I know there are a few Cold Dead Fingers pieces that I would do 1-5 for. 2. Hijacked from another part of your house, or 3. Something that you bought or DIYed for an amazing price.

The hanging planter? DIYed for less than $20. The cute IKEA basket was less than $10 (I cant find it on their website, but I just bought it so they have them in store!)

Remember when I told you that I bought a meeeellion different colored serape blankets? Yep. It was the truth. The tribal floor cloth is one of my favorite elements. Can you believe that I found the fabric at Joann’s of all places?!

I didn’t get a great shot of it, but the little white plant stand with the fern on it is a total Target hack. Right now they are selling these beverage stands and they are the perfect size for a plant!

I just love how collected and happy it feels.

Tutorials start tomorrow for this space! Watch for the Himmeli planter (you can check out this one if you cant wait for a few days,  I wont judge you),  chair reupholstery (you will throw up at the before), and the tribal floor cloth.

**Check out the other projects in this series here!

I am heading to Atlanta for Haven today,  Pray for this desert rat to not completely drown in the humidity… its going to be touch and go.

The post Thrifted, Gifted, and Lifted: The Anatomy of Budget Decorating appeared first on Vintage Revivals.

Happy Knocktoberfest!!!

Wait, what? You didnt know that normal peeps celebrate Oktoberfest with beer drinking and merry making, and DIYers celebrate Knocktoberfest with freaking awesome projects from brands you covet that you can replicate on the cheap?!

Welcome to an even MERRIER October lovers! Want to dance?! I am feeling the need to pull out Court’s old tuba from his middle school band days. Ok, moment of truth. He actually played the Saxophone…  but the sax just seems a little to sexy. The sexy sax man totally ruined me for life.

Holy tangents. So sorry folks.

First let me start off by saying, I love West Elm. Like if I had a junk ton of money and wasn’t allowed to thrift I would totally shop there all day son.

But life is not that way.

About a month ago I stumbled upon these amazing ethnic rugs from WE.

The sisal one was my favorite, but I loved how imperfect the first one felt. Like it was really handmade. What can I say, imperfect makes me so happy.

The problem is that the one I love is roughly $800. That is unfortunately out of my price range and as much as we would all love to drop $800 on a new rug, sometimes that is just not plausible.

This is the part where we get a little creative.

Find a knobby jute rug for the best price possible. This one from RugsUSA is 65% off right now (which makes it only $60 for a 5×8!). I would always check out your local Homegoods. OR you can always stitch together a few smaller ones if you cant find the size that you need with this tutorial!

And you will have to forgive the lack of real pictures for this tutorial, it was past midnight the day before D day and I was lucky to not have woken up to giant green diamonds on my face the next morning.

(The paint that I used was left over from this project)

Start by taping off the stripes for the edges.

When you are painting on a rug that is so knobby you will have one very very good friend to make the paint line consistent. That friend is water.

Use a medium sized paint brush and paint your lines. Then while your paint is still wet, dip your brush in water and go back over the lines. The water will loosen the paint and make it so that it seeps down into the knots without diluting the color.

Once your stripes are painted mark 5 evenish sections (or as many as you want,  take matters into your own hands if you must.)

Start by making a zigzag down one section. If you want perfect paint lines feel free to tape it off. If you want it full of personality just wing it. Just make sure that you stop a few inches before the tape on one side so that you can make complete diamonds.

Then go back and do a second line.

Remove your tape and do another zigzag, but this time zag where you zigged.

Then do another line.

Continue on removing your tape as you go, until your rug is finished.

Then smile every time you see it. Because it is adorbs AND because you saved $700. I feel like we deserve a cupcake dont you?

If you want more deets on the table you can check out the full tutorial on building a pipe table here.

So now that you are feeling a little more inspired, there is a whole myriad of Knocktoberfest projects for you to check out over at Makely.

If you are here from 320 Sycamore you get a big fat high five,  the only bad news is that I am the last stop on the tour today, but first thing tomorrow make sure you check out Ashley from The Handmade Home’s project.

The post West Elm Knock Off Rug appeared first on Vintage Revivals.

Alternate Title:  Your new name is (insert first name until after the first syllable and then add Gyver to it.)  You are caught in the biggest design dilemma of your life. With no way out. You have to save an entire room design with a single paperclip. This is what you do.  I mean, it may be a little long, but it totally would work right?!

If your name is Mandi your McGyver name is MaGyver. Coincidence? I think not. (I will thank you later Mom!)

You may be wondering why making a rug is a Basic DIY. The good news? We are not talking major rug making. (if you are feeling extra motivated check out this post on how to really MAKE a rug.)

We are talking, you have a funky size requirement, or can’t find a rug in the size/color/pattern that you are dreaming of, or want to be cheap.

Or if you are feeling extra unlucky all 3.

I dont know about your Homegoods/TJ Maxx but every one that I seem to visit have the same situation going on. Big rugs? None. Small Rugs? 5 zillion. Those are not good odds my friends. And living in Southern Utah, where my options are HG or Target, sometimes you have to let your inner McGyver duct tape his way into your heart.

To make a rug you will need at least 2 smaller rugs, but up to as many as your little heart desires. If you have a large area to fill then you will need more.

1 roll of heavy duty twine

1 small paperclip bent in 1/2

The best rugs for the job are ones that are flat woven. They make this project much easier. And they are reversible, so all is not lost when your kid *cough* husband spill something on it.

Make sure that your pattern lines up and that you are using the same side of the rug if you are going for a continuous pattern.

Like this:

Not like this:

“Thread” your paperclip with the twine. Push it through one of the end loops of your rug. Pokey ends first. *If you have a knitting needle that will absolutely work too. But for my life, this is what tends to happen.

Pull enough of the twine through the loop that you will be able to stitch the entire length of your rug. Its much easier to do this now than to try and coax it through 39 loops.

Feed it through a loop on the other rug. Keep it uniform and pretty,  it looks better and is easier that trying to skip around. I did mine through all of the white cotton loops.

This is a great project to do while you catch up on your fave tv show or all of the news coverage about Miley’s Twerking fiasco.

To finish it off just knot it a few times and cut your twine.

I made my rug to fit this hard to fit space in my living room.

It totally brightens up the corner, compared to the last one that I had there.

Each of my rugs were 2.5×4 so my finished rug size is 4×5 and it is just the right size.

And the other good news? You now have a McGyver name. Which basically means that you are cooler than roughly 79% of the population.

#congratulations

The post Basic DIY: How To Make A Rug With A Paperclip 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.

Have you noticed that I have a few tutorials from the Epic Room Makeover Giveaway that I have yet to post? Its true, and its a crying shame. (Lesbihonest, I am procrastinating that 3D tumbling wall because its going to be 78 posts long) So hopefully forgiveness will be freely doled out.

Oh and for those that are new, every year I host the most amazing giveaway blogland has to offer, I get to be the Room Makeover Fairy and go to one readers house for a week give them a FREE makeover. Sweet right? Its the best way I can say thanks to my amazing followers! Check out 2012 and 2011 for inspiration and to see the incredible transformations!

Way back when we were working on Kelsey’s room the biggest obstacle that we were having design-wise was the rug. I couldn’t find one that was right. They were either to boooooring, or too small, or too suckish. As a matter of fact we (Me, Kelsey, Jilly & Mia, and Hailee) spend a good 45 minutes sitting on the floor of the Peoria Homegoods trying to come up with a way to make a Chindi rug. (For those unfamiliar with the term Chindi it basically is a woven rug made out of different textiles. Also known in the great USofA as a rag rug.)

One early morning we found ourselves at World Market. (I had actually never been to World Market before and was in love with a handful of things). So we walk in and right to the side of the entrance they had this huge pile of the most colorful rugs I had ever seen. I actually think I made the sound of a singing choir of angels the second we walked in the door…which basically will guarantee that the employees love you from that moment forward.

The problem?

The rugs were much too small for what we needed, and they didn’t come in larger sizes. So I pulled my inner DIY MacGyver up by the bootstraps and decided that we were going to make a rug. We bought 6 rugs @ $39.99 a piece and skipped our happy rear ends out of there with a plan.

*Update (They were 3×5 each and here is the link to World Market)

This is probably the simplest DIY ever.

You will need a long upholstery needle and twine craft thread. It looks like this:

Nice and thick.

Lay out your rugs out in the pattern that you want. Ours were 2 rows of 3 rugs, hamburger style. (Here is a visual if you don’t have a 2nd grader to explain what hamburger style means…)

Then we stitched them together using the loops at the ends of the rug. We made sure to tuck the fringe underneath the parts that weren’t supposed to be fringy.

And 6 too small rugs became 1 giant perfect colorful base to Kelsey’s room. Its pretty much impossible to screw this up. This style of rug is SO forgiving when you are doing a project like this.

This rug screams “Hello world, I am happy today and I don’t care who knows it.” and don’t we all want a rug that says that to us in the morning? I know I do.

Check out the rest of the Epic Room Makeover 2012 projects too,  unless you HAVE to get back to work,  then you can come back later…

Voting is still happening for the 2013 Homies,  if you have ever been inspired by something on VR I would love it if you would click over and vote here. Its sort of like putting a gold star on my forehead and slapping my butt for a job well done. xo

The post Chindi-licious: How To Make A HUGE Rug Out of 6 Smaller Ones appeared first on Vintage Revivals.

Guys!! I am sorry I have been a little MIA this last week,  you will totally understand why shortly. How is that for cryptic?

I wanted to pop in and share with you my rug choice and the giveaway winner!

I would say that the votes for the rugs were pretty evenly split so a third of you know me SOOOOO well. As for the other 2/3…so disappointing. Just kidding,   I would have taken any of the rugs so you know me pretty dang well too!

AZTEC CHEVRON FOR LIFE!

So lets chat about this awesome rug for a minute so you can understand why I bought it.

Go with me on this one.

I walk into HomeGoods and see it on the far wall. And I was like  “OH FETCHIN CRAPBALLS CRAP. Do I run? Do I remain composed? Do I pray?” So I did my best to do all 3, but you know what it like when you see something awesome and *possibly* pray that everyone around it goes temporarily blind to up your chances of scoring the sweet find.

Don’t tell me you have never prayed for temporary blindness. Cause you and I both know that is a lie.

1. Its REEEEEDICULOUSLY beautiful. I don’t have any black in my house at all (because I usually prefer dark gray) but I love the high contrast black and white.

2. There are a few elements in the room that are major color expenses (meaning they are mucho colorful) and I needed something that was colorless.

3. HELLO ITS AZTEC CHEVRON! How perfect is that for my Santa Fe Brothel theme?!? FREAKIN PERFECT that’s how.

4. It was $99…and its reversible. So basically it was $50.00. Which is exactly how I explained it to my hubs.

Now for the winner of the $250 HomeGoods Gift Card.

Can you guys believe that there were over 10,600 entries? That is amazing!!! I love that you guys love HomeGoods as much as I do,  hopefully I can do another fun giveaway soon!!

Congrats to Trish! (If your name is Trish check your email! You have 48 hours to respond from the time the email was sent or another winner will be drawn.)

Love  Your  Guts,  Mandi

The post HomeGoods Winner and My Rug Choice appeared first on Vintage Revivals.

(sigh) I love this rug. Is there any easier way to update a rug than with a little paint?! I think not! This is also one of YOUR fave projects from Hailee’s Makeover.

The reason that its taken me so long to post it is because the stencil for it was originally one of a kind custom. But Melanie from Royal Design Studio and I decided that we love you guys lots and wanted you to have the chance to make something awesome with Houndstooth too. Sooooooo I had to wait to post this project until you could buy it!!

You can buy it here for only $39.00 and make sure to use the code VINTAGE10 to get 10% off!

First things first,  you need a rug. The one that I used is from Ikea. It is an 8×10 sisal rug and will run you about $120. I measured the width of the stencil and marked with painters tape where each row needed to line up. If you look closely in the picture below you can see the little blue dots. By doing this you can get your stencil centered on the rug.

I used about 5 big bottles of Americana Snow White. Trust me, its better to buy a bunch before your start your project then to have to run to the store in the middle of it….

Then its time to start stenciling. We used stencil brushes to stipple the paint onto the rug. One trick that I learned (after I took this pic) is that if you mix a teeny bit of water in with the paint it will make it so that it spreads evenly and gets into all of the tiny woven cracks.

Use the markers on your stencil to line up the next row. And just like I do every time I talk about Royal Design Studios I am going to tell you how fantastic the quality of product that they put out is. The plastic that they use is different than other products that I have used and  it is SO MUCH BETTTER! Trust.

So in the title of this post I am sure you have noticed that I called the rug Ombre. Its really hard to tell in the final pictures because it just looks like a shadow from the coffee table is being cast but in all actuality the pattern fades…its sort of fantastic.

To get this effect dilute your paint by 1/2 and stencil your next row.

Continue diluting it more and more until you get the level of color that you want. This is sort of a trial and error process but the good news is that if you make it too dark, or your stencil is splotchy you can use a spray bottle to dampen it and a towel to blot up the excess paint.

This is what it looked like when we were finished! Don’t you love it!?!

Once we were done and everything was dry the rug (I think because of the nature of the sisal) started to become wavy on the edges. If this happens to you it is a really easy fix. Use your painters tape to tape it down to the floor really well. Then get the edges wet with a spray bottle or cup of water (obviously make sure that your paint has had adequate time to dry)  leave it for a day or so until you know that it is 100% dry and then take your tape of! If it is still wavy then you didn’t use enough water.

Make sure to check out these other projects from Hailee’s Living Room Makeover:

Hailees’ Living Room Before and After

Source List and Paint Colors

Striped Chevron Hallway

PVC Pipe Dresser

Ombre Yarn Lampshade

Custom Built-ins For Less Than $30.00

Rope Curtain Rod

And if you need more rug makeover ideas you will love my Zebra Rug tutorial

and Compass Painted Sisal Rug.

The post Ombre Houndstooth Stenciled Rug Tutorial appeared first on Vintage Revivals.

I know you guys love a good rug project and I guarantee this one will not disappoint.

I love sisal rugs. They are a fantastic way to incorporate natural elements into a room.

But guess what? They can be kind of blah. So I figured out a way to Mandify it. I am sort of feeling a bit of Nautical-ness and what is more perfectly nautical than a compass? Um…nothing.

I bought the rug at Ikea. It was $79.00 (this is where you turn you head and cough) Pretty expensive but…sometimes its necessary to spend a little bit of mulah for AWESOMENESS. And I have been SEARCHING for one for a month and $79.00 was the cheapest price I found.

When drawing on my rug I used a pencil that didn’t show up wonderfully in pictures so I photoshopped the lines so that they would be more clear in pictures. The photoshopped lines are not exact, the actual lines on the rug are. Don’t judge me for not spending more time on picture perfection.

Start by finding the exact center of your rug. Draw 2 perpendicular lines that are the same length. Mine are 32 inches long.

Next you are going to draw 2 more lines (see picture)  My lines measure 17” (just a little over 1/2 the length of the long lines).

Measure 3” up and mark it. (Marked with the yellow dots)

Then you are going to connect the tip of your red line to each of your marks. (Blue lines)

Next you are going to measure from the inside of each blue line 2” and mark it. Then connect the tip of the shortest line to the marks you just made. (green lines)

Once you have all of your lines drawn take a small paint brush and trace all of your lines. (Sorry no pic, I am lame)

I used Decoart’s Stencil Paint in white.

It is awesome for a project like this because it’s a really thick paint that is designed to stay where its put!

Once you have traced each of your lines you are going to fill in the left side of each point (every other space).

Pull out your pencil, a small nail and a piece of string (I used jute because it doesn’t stretch) Find your enter point and hold your nail there the entire time! Stretch your string out and use your pencil to draw a circle around your star. Then you are going to extend your string out 3/4 of an inch and draw a second circle.

Paint along your lines. Then I went back and free handed each of the small squares. They aren’t perfect, but guess what? Don’t care.

TaDa!!

For my letters I cut the out on my Silhouette with regular old vinyl. Position it so that is is centered on your star tip. And the right distance from your circle.

Then stencil it on.

Notice there was NO bleeding, even with the huge fibers. That is because its FREAKING AWESOME paint. Oh and its water based (most stencil paints are oil) so it doesn’t jack up your brushes. And cause its water based it matches the Americana paints perfectly!

Ps. I did not receive this paint free. I bought it with my…well my husbands hard earned cash. I loved it, the end.

Here are a few more token shots.

If you missed the tutorial for the coral dresser you can read all about it here.

I can’t wait to show you what else I have been working on for my bedroom… So exciting!!!! EEEEEEE!

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