Decorating/DIY Archives - Page 241 of 269

I have had some serious birdcage envy for quite a while now. “The Nester has eleventy billion of them (that she somehow manages to find for like 25-cents). One of my gal pals has a seriously adorable one on her front porch that makes me want to perform a drive-by birdcage theft (Zoe, I wouldn’t *actually* do that, so please don’t blame me if it goes missing). I’ve seen some cuties in antique stores, but I’m positive that once my dog was introduced to it, his teeth would its life in our home pretty quickly.

When I told my husband that I really wanted a birdcage and couldn’t find one I liked, he responded with, “Lindsay, we’re not getting a bird.” Well, duh. Why would I want to put a bird in a birdcage? I want it for a nest. Or some moss. Or some seashells.

Or a plant.

I finally scored a birdcage a few weeks ago at a discount home decor store, and I’m so glad I waited until I found this one. It was half off, which made the price right. I love the shape of it, and it’s perfect for a little pot of climbing ivy (which is officially the first live plant inside our house – please pray for its survival). It’s my hope that the ivy will grow in a spiral all the way to the top. It’s grown a ton in the past two weeks, so it won’t take long to fill the cage.

(That lamp shade, on the other hand, is not perfect. We’ve discussed it before, and I’m now firmly in the “I hate it” category. The ribbons are coming off of it today.)

I think the little birdie on the top of the cage is quite simply adorable, though.

I’ve positioned it on an end table in front of the window, so it gets plenty of sunlight. I am watering it with a turkey baster (that’s right, a turkey baster) since I don’t have a watering can with a spout long and skinny enough to fit through the cage and into the pot.

Okay, I don’t actually have a watering can at all, so a turkey baster it is! At least I’m remembering to water it, people.

Anyway, the whole point of this rambling post is to show you that birdcages don’t have to contain only bird-related items. Nests, feathers and quail eggs are great (and I totally {heart} them), but when presented with an empty birdcage, you can definitely “branch out” a little bit to find a unique filler. Ba-dum-chhh.

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Now, for the moment you’ve all been waiting for…the winner of the back40life vinyl giveway! Our winner was randomly selected by the random number generator at Random.org. The winner is commentor and Twitter follower:

Martha at A Day in the Life

Congrats, Martha! I’ll pass along your info to Jodi (although I guess y’all can just tweet now – LOL). We can’t wait to see where you put your new vinyl design!

For everyone else, don’t forget that Jodi is offering a 10% off discount for the readers of Living With Lindsay at her Etsy store! Enter the code “Lindsay” at checkout to receive your discount. You can apply the discount through Friday, July 25th, so if you aren’t Ms. Martha you can still purchase your favorite design at a discount.

A few months back, I ran across a tutorial on CraftyNest to turn a salvaged cabinet door into a serving tray. I immediately knew I had to attempt to create my own tray, although I knew that mine would be no where as wonderful as the one she created.

People, she drew that design freehand and then painted it with a paintbrush. I am usually totally delusional about my artistic abilities, but you and I both know there is no way I could do that.

So, I decided to do it how we non-artists would do it – spray paint!

Reclaimed Cabinet Door Serving Tray

1. I found this old cabinet door at the ReStore for $1. I was more concerned with the shape and size than the color of the door. I also wanted one that was solid wood. I knew I was going to use this mostly for decorative purposes, so the size of the inset wasn’t that important to me. If you were going to use this to actually serve drinks and such, you’d want a larger inset (see the original inspiration picture).

2. I removed the existing hardware with a screwdriver (and the help of a “diggie” and some Legos) and sanded the entire door with 220-grit sandpaper. It’s a fairly small door, so I just sanded it by hand.

3. Then, I primed the entire door – front, back and sides. And yes, I did it right there inside my house because it was literally 108 degrees outside.

(Oh, and the photos start to get really speckled or something starting here. I’m not sure what happened, so I just apologize in advance.)

4. Next, I sprayed the entire door with Krylon’s Satin Brushed Nickel paint. Don’t worry, this is just the undercoat. After the paint dried, I taped off the border with painter’s tape.

5. I bought a super cheap yard of lace at Walmart and laid it on top of the door. I taped the lace to the ground so it wouldn’t blow around, but you don’t have to do that if it’s not windy where you live.

6. Then, I simply sprayed a light coat of white paint on top of the lace. I sprayed one pass from side to side and then one pass up and down. After I sprayed it, I immediately removed the lace to reveal the new design underneath.

Pretty cool technique, huh? Again, sorry about the weirdly speckled photos.

7. After the paint was dry, I applied two coats of wipe-on poly so that it would be protected. I also installed two cabinet drawer pulls on either side of the drawer to use as handles. You may also want to add the little felt pads to the underside corners of the door so that it doesn’t scratch any surfaces.

For now, I’m displaying my tray in the vignette on top of a dresser in my bedroom. The dresser is getting ready for a huge re-do, and I think I’m going to like the tray on top of it.

I love this project because it was very easy and yields a pretty interesting result. There are so many creative things you could do to embellish the tray other than the lace design – add stencils, chipboard designs, or even one of the awesome vinyl designs you can find in the back40life Etsy store. Don’t forget to enter the giveaway to win one of her designs!

I’ve added this post to Kimba’s DIY Day over at A Soft Place to Land. Head on over there and check out some other great DIY ideas!

Branching Out of My Birdcage Envy

Old Cabinet Door Turned Serving Tray