DIY Cooking at Home

Just call me Houdini. I recently turned an old house shutter into a lamp. Yep, that's right! So, here's the backstory: I picked up an old house shutter years ago at a junk shop simply because I liked the color and the patina, guessing I'd figure out something to do with it. Fast forward a couple of years, and I finally had an idea! The shutter has been leaning against an empty wall in our family room for quite some time, where it looked OK, but kinda purpose-less. I decided to make it useful by turning it into a light fixture. It was so easy. I found an old wall-mounted light fixture in our basement and that's what sparked the idea. First, my husband drilled a hole in the shutter and affixed the light's mounting plate just above it so the hole was really just a half-moon. This made the hole practically invisible once the lamp was hung. Then he attached the lamp. Then I, not happy with the stark white shade, covered it with some pretty cotton fabric from Jo-...

Hi there! With the new year well underway, I thought I'd take a look back at last year to see what projects we've completed around here. Forgive the tooting of my own horn, but we got a lot of s%!# done! :) From major DIY projects--like our open kitchen shelving--to small handcrafted accessories, these are the projects I'm most proud of...the ones I still look at and think, "Hey, I/we did that!" So without further shameless self-promotion, here are my favorite DIY decor posts of 2015. Open Kitchen Shelving Anthropologie Knock-Off Terrarium DIY Drum Shade Lighting Fixture IKEA Hack: Leksvik Hutch Turned TV Cabinet Z Gallerie Knockoff: Ming Box Kitchen Island Bookcase Rain Boot Wreath Upgrading a Builder-Grade Home with Trim West Elm Knockoff: Linework Vases Glass Drink Coasters

Hey, hey, how are ya? It's gettin' to be about that time to deck the halls! We typically get our tree right after Thanksgiving, how about you? I want to share my round-up of the prettiest tree skirts I could find over on About.com. Check out these gorgeous and unusual tree skirts here, but if you can't find one you like, consider these ideas: Make a Tree Skirt from a Tablecloth Basket Christmas Tree Skirt Rustic Crate Tree Skirt Wrapped Gift Tree Skirt Galvanized Tree Collar Red Plastic Tote Tree Skirt Happy tree hunting and decorating! You May Also Like: Magnetic Advent Calendar Christmas Countdown Cake Stand for $2

Boob lights be gone! I'm so excited to show you this project, guys, because I really took my time (unusual for me) and executed it carefully (also, kinda unusual for me) and it turned out great! What da-ya know? I'm on a mission to get rid of the '70s factor in our house. Every single knob, cabinet, outlet cover and light fixture in our house dates back to 1978, but I'm slowly changing all of them. The boob light at the top of our stairs is my most recent victim. When I painted our landing black, the light really stood out like a sore thumb. I knew I wanted a drum shade fixture, so I bought a shade and got to work. The shade I bought, FYI, has a 15" diameter and it's 9" tall. Just in case you wanna change your own light, 'cause most of them are about the same. I kept the plastic on the shade the whole time until the very end, just in case something didn't work out and I needed to return it. Next, I removed the finial and took the glass boo...

Hey there! I'm a little late getting this up today, but it's too good to wait 'till tomorrow. I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say that pegboard is the new pallet . There are so many darn uses for it! It organizes stuff so well, of course, but it can be dressed up, painted, cross-stitched, and designed to look like art, too. So you really get a lot of bang for your buck with this stuff. I would highly suggest searching Pinterest for pegboard organization projects, and you'll see what I mean; but, here, I've rounded up 8 of the most clever pegboard projects I could find that were more about aesthetics and less about function. via via via instructions via via instructions via via via You May Also Like: Wrapping Supply Closet with Pegboard Organization Ideas for Small Homes