recycling Archives - white house black shutters

Simple Egg Carton Snowflakes

posted on: January 14, 2013 6 Comments

Ahhhh, winter time. It’s the time of year when we are torn between hibernating and tackling stuff like crazy. I’m also always torn between decorating for Valentine’s Day or decorating with snowflakes. I guess both would be cute together, but after the décor-overload of Christmas, I like to take a break from holiday décor. We usually go through about 3-4 cartons of eggs a week and I was looking at our stack of egg cartons wanting to make something out of them. And then it hit me – … [Read more...]

Filed Under: crafts, free projects, kid projects, projects, recycling, repurposing

Milk Cap Glitter Spiders

posted on: October 26, 2012 1 Comment

I love these little spiders, they make me happy inside. I don’t typically do Halloween decor. I’m lucky to get fall stuff up and blogged. Cause every year it’s the same craziness: you have fall décor that goes up when it’s still hot out. Then you put up some Halloween, and BAM, BIG HOLIDAY! Then you take it down and put up some more fall, then BAM, another BIG HOLIDAY! Then it’s Christmas. BAM BAM BAM, BIGGEST OF HOLIDAYS! That’s a lot of holidays and decorating for me, I’m … [Read more...]

Filed Under: crafts, decor, DIY, fall into me, family, free projects, kid projects, painting, recycling, repurposing

Anthropologie Inspired Lattice Tank Top

posted on: September 26, 2012 3 Comments

I’ve painted a lot of stuff over the years. The shutters for our home, many lamps, a box fan, frames, pillows (here and here), furniture, light fixtures. Everything. You name it, I’ve painted it. But I never change clothes when painting. It’s a bad habit that has left me with many good paint clothes. Yoga paints, freshly painted nails, shoes, shirts, my feet, my wedding ring, it’s all met the fate of getting paint on it. I was once asked by the lady at Kay jewelers, “what do you do … [Read more...]

Filed Under: free projects, painting, recycling

Yoga Cutoff Shorts

posted on: May 29, 2012 3 Comments

I’ve got good news and bad news. Good news: After having Adam, I lost a lot of weight and went from a 10 to a 4/5. Bad news: I have no shorts that fit. Good news: I have no shorts that fit and I need to go shopping. I do have a lot of yoga capris, which now look like weird baggy gauchos on me. Why not make some yoga shorts? I grabbed some fabric scissors, eyeballed it, and cut them into shorts. I cut the hemmed bottoms off and saved ‘em to make headbands. The bagginess works … [Read more...]

Filed Under: recycling, repurposing

Repurposed Melissa & Doug Puzzle Trays

posted on: September 7, 2011 8 Comments

I love Melissa & Doug toys, don’t you? I guess my kids think they’re okay, but I LOVE them.Something about the wooden-ness of the toys, it brings back a nostalgic feeling similar to the one I get from Lincoln Logs. That and the fact that I ALWAYS find them at garage sales! I think I’ve bought one or two brand new, of course those are the one or two that are now chewed up, gross, and missing just about every piece. But I digress…When I organized my hall closet and added a row of toy … [Read more...]

Filed Under: free projects, greatest hits, ORGANIZATION, recycling

47 Bags, Still Cleaning

posted on: April 28, 2011 Leave a Comment

Thanks for all your prayers! My mom’s surgery went well (about as good as it could have gone) and the doctors are confident that they fixed everything. My mom feels a lot better and is doing great. :) Yep, I added ‘em all up and I got 47. Plus 7 large pieces of furniture (still waiting on people to want my bed, haha). You would think I would be totally stoked and happy to be free of the clutter, but honestly, I don’t feel much different than I did in this post. I’ve tackled most of my … [Read more...]

Filed Under: 40 BAGS IN 40 DAYS, ORGANIZATION, recycling

Halloween VHS Tape Wreath

posted on: August 31, 2010 37 Comments

Ahhh, VHS tapes. The bulky dinosaur of technology. I’m sure you have a pile of them sitting in a basement, box, or maybe still next to your TV. We have VHS tapes and we don't even (nor have we ever) have a VHS player. They're plentiful. The tape is shiny. So I’ve been trying to rack my brain to see if there was a way to craft with VHS tapes. I took a VHS tape, dollar store wreath form, and some handy dandy Mod Podge. I took a hoop frame, stuck a bamboo skewer in it, spray painted it … [Read more...]

Filed Under: free projects, recycling

My Projects

posted on: January 13, 2010 5 Comments

Some things I’m hoping to get finished before the spring comes (and I’m still stuck inside): -Filing our taxes as SOON as we get Doug’s W2! -Getting my house ORGANIZED and going through boxes! I know it’s only been 4 months, most of the boxes are organized in the attic, but it bugs me still having boxes around. Remember the boxes in our bedroom from this post? Yup, still there. Can’t stand it. -Sorting through clothes (again). I did this right before we moved and donated a TON. I … [Read more...]

Filed Under: garage saling, Goodwill, hand-me-down, kids, recycling

Deck the Walls with Lots of Pictures

posted on: December 6, 2009 Leave a Comment

Since it snowed last night, my project for the day is to get pictures and stuff hanging on the walls. Although I may wait for Doug to come home to hang them for me so I can stand back and tell him what to do... lol. Why? I needed my trees to be snowy and they are! Read on...Frames from my Goodwill, sprayed them ORB over the weekend (not my pregnant self, that's what my husband is for). The three on the left were white, lavender, and purple (hard to tell by the bad picture!) and $1.99 each. Not … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Christmas, Goodwill, recycling

Project for the Day 11/5: “Just Paint It Black!”

posted on: November 5, 2009 2 Comments

My project for the day while Lily is playing and sleeping? Taking my coffee tables from worn medium stained wood to black, taking my bookshelf (formerly used as a railing) from medium wood to black. The tables are worn and even though the bookshelf doesn't look too bad in its current state, I think a nice coat of black will tie it in with the coffee tables and freshen it up. I'm kinda nervous (as I usually am) about painting wood, since I LIKE the look of wood. My sister in law is a big fan of … [Read more...]

Filed Under: recycling