Happy Together

A DIY craft blog

Fireplace Makeover

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I’m starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel on some of our new home projects. It’s been a patience growing time for sure but it’s worth it now seeing things starting to come together. One of the very first projects I took on was this fireplace makeover. I wanted an instant gratification project to get me motivated and this fireplace makeover totally was that. The two main things I did was paint the mantle (we plan to have hardwood floors in here and with the wood beams and windows we were feeling like there was a lot of wood) and then add a white mortar to brighten up the brick. I love brick, well pretty brick, and I liked the color of the actual brick just not the yellowish tan mortar that was used on it.






Before beginning, I vacuumed the brick and wiped down the mantle. I prepped the mantle with a light sanding and did another wipe down with a deglosser. Then I taped it off so I wouldn’t get paint on the bricks. I painted it with Behr Ultra Pure White in interior semi-gloss enamel. It was straight off the shelf, but I always have them shake it up for me at the store. For a piece like this, I paint an area of it with a brush and then go over what I can with a roller so it looks nice and smooth.


It took me three coats to get the coverage I wanted. Now, I think two coats would have been okay, but I’m picky and really wanted it fully covered. I also did two coats of matte polycrylic on the top shelf to protect it from all the things that would be placed on it.


For the mortar I found this at Lowes. It was the only white mortar that wasn’t in a giant bag. I could have tried somewhere else, but I just bought it and gave it a try. I used a plastic bucket and mixed up a little bit at a time with water. This allowed me to work in small sections without it all drying up in the bucket. Oh, and as always, I went for a peanut butter consistency of the mixture before applying.


I used a small plastic spatula to put the mortar on the cracks. I thought about using a grout bag and piping in on the lines like I have done on brick backsplashes, but this was such a large area I felt this would be easier.


This method worked well and let me be a bit creative with the placement and such.


As you can see, it looks kind of messy and lumpy after first applied.


Once I had done a small area I went over the mortar with a damp sponge. I tried just dabbing it with the sponge and then I tried gently wiping over it. I ended up preferring how it looked when I gently wiped it. I was able to finish this mortar part in about four hours and that included going to pick up my kids from school. It went a lot faster than I thought it would for sure. I have done quite a few backsplashes and other similar projects so I felt really confident in what I was doing and with the material I was working with.


It brightened up the room so much and we are all so happy with it. I also like that if I wanted to add more mortar later for a german schmear look or even paint the brick I can still do that. We have had about 8 fires since I finished this and so far it’s holding up really well. I’m aware that I might have to freshen it up periodically, but I’m okay with that. That’s part of having a real fire no matter what the brick/mortar is. After I did the fireplace I painted all the trim and walls and have decorated some. We even changed out that old ceiling fan last weekend, after I took these pictures of course lol. So the last two big items is to figure out that track lighting situation above the fireplace (we are considering can lighting so it doesn’t compete with the main light) and then to get the flooring changed. My girls are loving the carpet for now though. They think it’s so soft!  And I’m glad they are enjoying the comfort of it 😉

 

Shark Trunk or Treat

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I have been so busy lately with our new house and am currently taking a break from removing old painted over wallpaper (say a prayer for me okay? lol) to share this themed Shark Trunk or Treat trunk I put together. Each grade at my children’s school was responsible to have one trunk decorated. I volunteered to do one this year and it was my very first time ever decorating for this type of event. A big thank you to my husband and some of the other moms who helped me set this all up! I couldn’t have done it without them. It was all a lot of fun and we have some great ideas for next year.


I tried to think of decor that wouldn’t take too long to set up and could be created in plenty of time before. A lot of what I used came from the Dollar Tree or was something that we or someone I knew already had so that made putting this together a lot more feasible.


I had a piece of plywood cut down to fit my van for a painted shark to go on. I cut out the mouth and decided against cutting out the teeth so no one would accidentally hurt themselves, so I just painted the area black around them to make it look like they were cut out. I placed one of those silver streamer curtains behind it and then we put a lot of the “treats” there so the kids could reach into the sharks mouth to get them.


I purchased multiple sizes of blue and white balloons from Party City to create a fun garland because I just love them and wanted to incorporate one some how. I made it the day before and it lasted very well and no balloons popped on the way there. The front arch was created with some 1/2″ pvc pipes attached to wood bases. I taped plastic blue table cloths together to drape over it and go over the trunk of the car. We taped the back edges over the car so wind wouldn’t blow it all over the place. I also had some random items to anchor down the sides.


I drew the shark silhouettes on some brown paper rolls from the Dollar Tree and cut them out. We taped them on top of the table cloths the day of to create the feeling of walking underneath a tank with sharks in it. I loved that part! The sun shining really made it  stand out.



This trunk was actually one that I found in the attic of our new house. How timely right? It appears to be an old trunk used by someone in the military, but still could give off that treasure chest vibe. I had a bunch of shells from the summer to use and had paint cloths to mimic sand underneath. The clam shell was one my mom had already and it was perfect for this. It originally came from Home Goods.


For the treats we had some candy and lots of bags of gold fish to pass out. I also put together these little shark repellant bubbles for them. You can get a package of six from the dollar store so that’s a great deal! I used the labels from A Few Shortcuts, here, I just had to make them a lot smaller to fit on these.



My sweet miss E had a blast and so did miss J. They are still working through their bag of treats they got. I also took quick pics of all the other trunks so you can see how amazing everyone did! It totally blew my mind how fabulous it all was. There was even a snow blowing machine! Great memories were made for sure.

Church Nursery Decor

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This post is a continuation on all of the church projects I worked on over the past two years(coffeeshop/ bathrooms/ plant wall install/ statement wall on stage/ nursery entrance plants/ student room). I think I have only two more posts after this and then all of that project will have been shared! Looking at it all now, I can’t believe how much we got done in the time frame we did. The area I’m focusing on today is what you would consider the church nursery area. This is where the babies to five year olds can go during services. This area used to be offices but it was switched to be part of the children’s wing because this area is better from a security standpoint. The entrance begins with two glass doors which I designed these window clings to go on. I didn’t get a more panned out view, but there isn’t much wall on the side of these doors to put something there, so the window clings were the perfect solution. I used a template from Vistaprint and we ordered them from there. I have to say, if you work with any type of organization or own a business, I recommend Vistaprint for signs, window clings, posters, roll down banners, postcards, etc. I have ordered so many products from them for church and even for personal projects. If you wait until they are having a sale, then you get an even better deal too.


Once you walk through the doors to the left you see this bench spot which I had shared here before here.


Then on the wall beside it I painted on the logo. I’m not a skilled painter so i used a projector to shine on the logo, then I traced it and painted it in. It’s a great inexpensive way to create a large wall statement.


Behind the front desk is a space for the volunteers to get supplies they need, etc. I built the above table to hold some of the items and made it tall enough that if any littles were nearby they couldn’t reach the top. I was able to use all kinds of left over wood I had in my garage, so I was super happy about that. I just used my knowledge from previous builds to create it and use all the random pieces I had. If you could see the top, you would see there are a few different widths represented, but it all came out wonderfully.


I found some cork boards that weren’t being used and put the other walls in this area. They give a place to share information the volunteers will need.


To make it easy to distinguish each room, I designed these room numbers. I was looking at ones you could buy premade and was amazed at how much things like that cost. So i used some thin craft wood, glued on a clear plastic picture holder(I used these and just removed the magnet), and designed a template to be used for all the rooms. It’s simple and allows anyone to know which room is which.


I worked with the nursery coordinator to create some decor for the classrooms. She gave me a theme for each room which was mostly based on the curriculum and then I shared some decor ideas for them. Then I got to work. The above picture was for a room that had a farm theme. I made short barn doors from fence pickets and added the lights to them. We secured them to the wall similarly to how I did the ones behind my daughter’s bed so these aren’t going anywhere.


This room had Southwestern-ish theme to it. I used scrap wood to create this fun wood pattern on the wall that was based on this fireplace I had seen on Design Sponge. What a great idea, isn’t it? This was another project that cost hardly anything since I used lots of leftover pieces I already had.


This room was for the really littles, so there wasn’t necessarily a theme. I added a few colorful things to the walls for them to look at. I printed out these adorable ABC cards from The Handmade Home to hang on the wood.


Also in that room, I used scrapbook paper and paper bags to create these kites. It’s an easy project to add some whimsy to the room.


The infant room had a sheep theme based on the verse Psalm 95:7. I had some other talented ladies make some things to add to this room. Those adorable sheep were made by a lovely woman who used this pattern from Purl Soho to make them. Then another lady embroidered those adorable sheep for me to add to the embroidery hoop wall. They did such a great job! To make the open embroidery hoops stretch farther, I took them apart so I could use two circles from each one.


This room had a fun dress up spot so I asked others if they had any unused frames we could have and I spray painted the ones we got. I did the color scheme based on the adorable felt ball garland I found at Hobby Lobby in the scrapbooking section (find them here online). They are such fun colors!


This room had a book theme. I used some old books to create faux succulent planters to add on the wall (here is an excellent tutorial on how to make them) and then I made a book wall using kids books. I used a 4’x8′ piece of underlayment to be the background and found the vintage kids books from the thrift store and used some that had been donated. I used a nail gun to secure the thicker books and a stapler for the thin ones. I would leave the two top open pages open and then glue them in place after nailing/stapling. Then you couldn’t see any holes or staples on the books.


This room was simple, but I absolutely adored these baby animal posters I had printed again using Vistaprint. I bought the downloads from Etsy here. I placed them in larger Ikea frames to make a statement.

For this last room I was inspired by this nursery done by Vintage Revivals. Isn’t her work amazing? First I looked online for animal and forest type silhouettes. Then I used a projector to trace them onto thin plywood and my wonderful friend cut them out with a jig saw for me. That was a blessing because I was getting close to my deadline and had a lot to get done.


All of the kiddos loved all the fun new things to look at and play with. It was so much fun to help partner on all of this. Have a wonderful and creative weekend! -jess

Beach Fun and Finds

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This summer has been one for the books! We took a lot of time during this transition to enjoy our new surroundings and that meant quite a few beach trips. The girls really enjoyed going so we were inspired to go at least once a week. While they enjoyed playing in the sand and water, my favorite part was looking around for sea glass and interesting shells and such. I have just always loved the “hunt.” Whether it is thrifting, looking for crystals in the mountains, or looking for sea glass on the beach….. I really enjoy it.


This above shell was from our very first beach trip this summer. Not too much, but it got me (and even my husband and daughters) into making the hunt a part of our beach time.


Of course, I mainly look for sea glass as I have ideas for it, but I also think it’s fun to find interesting textures and colors. Even broken down things can be beautiful when you can see them that way. In the above picture, the pretty blue chunky piece was actually gifted to me as I was searching the beach. A passerby asked if I was looking for sea glass and I said yes and he gifted me the gorgeous piece. Made my day 🙂




Another day we were all excited to see all kinds of sea sponges that had washed up on the shore. The girls really thought it was neat and my oldest found this empty horse crab shell to put her finds in.


Now my husband has found the most unique pieces so far….pottery!!!! Both pieces shown in the pics. I couldn’t believe it! ha! The one who wasn’t even really looking for anything finds the cool stuff, right?


One time I found some driftwood pieces and when I got home I looked at them and felt like they all looked like types of animals! I quickly took pics of them on a white background and drew over it using an app on my ipad. This would be so fun to do for a kid to draw over, or even an adult like me!





Sometimes things wash up that are unfamiliar too. Like this creature above. We looked it up and believe it to be a blue button jellyfish. I think the hurricane pushed them up this way as it seems they are usually down in the Florida area. But they sure were pretty! It looked almost like jewelry. Nature is just the prettiest.



Now it’s time to start embracing fall. Usually I’m chomping at the bit to buy a porch full of pumpkins and decorate in all things fall, but not this year. Maybe it’s because there’s so much on our plates with working on buying a new home, getting girls adjusted to school, and all the other good stuff that happens this time of year. I still plan on taking some walks on the beach to see what I find even when the weather gets cooler though. I can’t wait until I have some time to sit down and create with some of these finds. Does anyone else enjoy combing the beach? -jess

Barn Quilt Garden Flag Tutorial

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Have you ever seen a barn quilt? If you have not, it’s a large piece of wood that’s painted to look like a quilt or a quilt block and placed on the side of a barn. I first noticed them on a trip to Tennessee a few years ago. I thought they were so beautiful and recently I wanted to replicate it in someway. I have no barn but I have seen people create these for indoor wall art on a smaller scale. I kept thinking about ideas though. Then I thought how pretty it would be as a garden flag. I wasn’t sure how it would turn out, but I am happy to say it turned out so good! They look so pretty sitting among the plants or even on a mailbox. Though they are heavier than a fabric garden flag, the metal flag holders are stable enough to hold them. Read on for the tutorial.


Supplies:

  • Wood Cut in a Square Shape (I used a 1″ x 12″ x 4′ piece of whitewood and was able to cut four pieces out of it…. If you are not familiar with buying wood, note that they aren’t usually the width it says it is. For instance, it says this was 12″ wide but it’s really 11.25″, which means I had to cut them every 11.25″ instead of 12″)
  • Optional: Wood Stain
  • Paint (I used acrylic craft paint and chalk paint. I recommend the chalk paint as it goes on thicker. I only had to do two layers of paint with the chalk paint versus many more of acrylic to get the coverage I wanted.)
  • Small Angled Paint Brushes
  • 2 Screw Eyes (I used the #12 x 1-3/16 in size)
  • 2 S Hooks (the ones that are closed and look more like an 8…. I used size 1-5/8 in)
  • Optional: Black Spray Paint (I used Rust-Oleum Flat Protective Enamel in Black)
  • Outdoor Sealant (I used Minwax Spar Urethane Indoor/Outdoor Clear Semi-Gloss)
  • Print out of desired quilt square (Make sure it’s a square and in the size that you are making. I made mine so they were slightly under 11.25″)
  • Pen or Pencil
  • Chalk
  • Pliers
  • Other supplies: Cup with water for cleaning paint brushes/Paper Towels for clean up/Something  to protect surface where you are painting


1. Find a Quilt Square that you would like to paint. I just went on Pinterest and searched “quilt square” to find images. The simpler patterns are the easiest to paint. That pineapple one took a lot longer than the others. Save the image you want and resize it to the size of your wood. The images I found had some space on the edges so when I cut it out the paper was the same size of the wood but the image was smaller.

2. Stain the wood if desired and let it dry before the next steps. I used Minwax Dark Walnut.


3. Flip the print over and use chalk to go over all of the lines of the image.


4. Flip back over and place on top of wood. Use a pen to go over all of the lines. Press down hard but not too hard that you go through the paper or make huge dents in the wood.


When you remove the paper you will be able to see the chalk lines.


5. Paint in areas with desired colors. I found that using angled brushes make for a much easier painting job. Trust me 🙂 If you can, grab a few sizes so you can find the size you like best.


6. Flip over and repeat steps 3-5 on the other side, making sure to have the pattern and colors all the same way as the first side. Then when it’s up, it looks like the same on both sides, unless of course you want to do two different things on each side.

Note: You might find you will need to do more than one coat of paint for good coverage. I discovered I liked using chalk paint better because it had better coverage and I didn’t have to do more than two coats.

Tip: I found that I could flip the wood and place on it on these painters’ tripods after the first coat so I could start painting on the second side while I waited for the first side to dry.


7. When the paint is all dry, wipe off any extra chalk with a wet paper towel. Then you will need to add two or more coats of an outdoor sealant. You can do more coats if you want, but I think two will be sufficient. If you keep these outside often, you will probably want to reapply every few months or so. This will help protect it from the outdoor elements.


8. Spray paint the metal screw eyes and s hooks if you like. I wanted them to be black so it blended it with the black flag hook we already had.


9. When those are dry, hand twist the screw eyes into the wood. I went in two inches from each side for placement.


10. Use pliers to slightly open one end of the S hooks. This makes it easy to place the flag on but it’s still closed enough that the flag won’t fall off.


11. Place the closed ends of two S hooks on the garden flag holder. Then put the S hooks through the screw eyes and slide flag into desired placement. Make sure to bring it inside if the weather is going to be bad (ex: hurricane, snow, windy, etc).


I took the above pictures so you can kind of see how it looks with each side looking the same. The colors really pop! This is such a fun project for a craft night or to make for gifts. You can pick seasonal or holiday colors to make it festive. Please make sure to share if you make one! Share on instagram and tag me and use #happytogetherbyjess so we can all see them or share on the facebook page 🙂 Happy crafting! -jess