Divine Dining Rooms: My guest post on SummerHouse's blog: Always Summer

FREE IMAGES I got the great honor of guest posting over at Always Summer, SummerHouse's blog.  You can see it some of it below, but go to Always Summer to see the whole post.

I'd say that the dining room is probably the room I talk about the least. I major part of that is probably because I've never had a proper dining room, and because even after spending hours in the kitchen preparing a beautiful meal, you're likely to find me enjoying it curled up on the couch.

However, I'm coming to realize that now that we are looking for a home, I might actually have a real grown up dining room, and once I have kids we will not be dining on the sofa. Also, the up coming holidays are probably when dining rooms see the most action, so I've gathered up some dining rooms to inspire me and other dining room neglecters like myself to give it a little more attention. Your sofa will thank you!!

I wish I was genius enough to put together spaces like this... those benches with that wallpaper? Sublime.  I also think that's the closest to sofa-like one can get proper dining room seating! Oh, and did I mention those windows!?!

Okay.  Can we talk about that amazing gold chandelier?!?!  There is very little I wouldn't do for that chandelier....very. little.

See more...


1. via BHG, 2. via FLOR Blog, 3.  House of Fifty

DIY Herringbone Table Makeover, Guest Post by Twin Dragonfly Designs

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Hello Chic on a Shoestring readers!  My name is Heather and my little corner of the blog-o-sphere is Twin Dragonfly Designs. If you browse around awhile you will find;  crazy party ideas, tried and true recipes, epic craft projects and tutorials for just about all of it.  Oh and I have twin, four year old boys {so they're involved in pretty much everything}.

Today I am sharing my Herringbone Table Makeover.

This was a risky project for me.  Painting a white herringbone pattern onto our dining room table could have been a disaster!  But I freaking LOVE it!!!

And it can't really get any worse than this before shot, can it?

We've had this table for years!  It's been through messy toddlers times two, who have recently moved on to creative art expression with markers.  And being that we had pretty much scrubbed the finish right off of the table ~ drawings had become ingrained in the wood.

So I began by taking over the garage and sanding the crap out of our poor table. 

After sanding it to a fine finish and making the table look like new, I decided to paint a herringbone pattern onto it.  I found an image {via google images} and played with the scale until it was the size that I wanted.  Then I printed it onto card stock and cut out the negative spaces.  At this point I was like "okay, this might be cool".

I continued to paint the herringbone pattern {with acrylic paint} over my entire table.  By now I was getting a little worried.  Too much pattern and contrast?  But it was too late to turn back, there was no way I was sanding off all of that paint!

So I decided to give my pattern a distressed finish and lightly sanded the herringbone before applying 6-8 coats of clear varathane finish.

I am so glad that I stuck it out.  I love the finished product!

Adding a fun pattern is great way to update a sad looking old table and give it new life!

With over 6 coats of finish, it should withstand the creative chaos of a bevy of children for quite some time {fingers crossed they don't find the wood burning kit}.

Wouldn't this be gorgeous if you used a dark stain instead of the white paint?  Maybe in another 5 years...

We have a leaf for this table that I painted and refinished too.

I'm going to do a full dining room / kitchen reveal as soon as I mop the floors, wipe the finger/nose prints off of the sliding glass door, dust the buffet, do the dishes, clean the stainless steel appliances, throw together some knick knacks and... 

You should really stop by Twin Dragonfly Designs to see what I'm up to while I valiantly try to avoid cleaning my house!  

Thanks for having me Kate!

Table Makeover, Guest Post by Brilliant Like Fireflies

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Hi, my name is Courtney, and I'm one half of Brilliant Like Fireflies. My sister Kristin and I have just started up our blog and we're really excited to share our crafts, recipes and DIY projects. Today I'm going to share my DIY IKEA project.

A couple years ago I bought a red LACK side table from IKEA to hold my TV on. It has worked out well, especially since I have a small TV and only a small place to put it in my living room. But well the red was bright and fun when I got it, I would prefer something simpler and classier.

Originally the inspiration for this project came from the blog Pretty City Things, and her DIY take on her LACK coffee table, check it out below.

Her inspiration was the table below, so I kind of combined the two for my own table.

So the first step was to paint my table white, using the can of Antique White paint I used on my dresser (check it out here). It took just three coats to cover that red (yay!). See, all white and shinny!

Secondly, instead of using wallpaper like my inspiration photo, I decided to go for stencils to decorate the top. I picked mine up from Michaels Craft Store, they were from the Martha Stewart collection, and with a 30% off coupon they were under $15. I used some grey craft paint for the stencilling, and they turned out pretty well. I liked that for this part I didn't have to be exact, if they didn't turn out perfect that was OK.

After it was dry I was ready to nail in the nail heads/upholstery nails. I picked mine up at Home Depot. I used 6 containers that were each $1.88, but just covered the two sides of the table that are shown, not the two up agains the walls. It took quite a while to use a ruler and measure out where to put them all, and then to hammer them all in, but the result was amazing!

I know it isn't 100% perfect, but it looks good to me, and was just the update I needed in my living room. Here's one final before and after for you to see.

Cucumber Martini, Guest Post by Happy Hour Projects

FREE IMAGES Hello to all the readers here at Chic on a Shoestring Decorating!  I'm Adrianne, and I blog over at Happy Hour Projects.  With Kate taking a little hiatus, I thought I'd share a vacation-worthy recipe with you: the Cucumber Martini.  (Hope you're relaxing and pampering yourself, Kate - cheers to you!)

It's deck weather here, and this is a great drink for entertaining.  It will be even better when everyone's gardens are cranking out cucumbers... mmm. :)

I will give you the recipe here, and then I'll walk you through a little bit of the prep.  There are a few things you'll have to make before you can mix it up, but they are quick things and can be done well ahead of time, so that all you need to do when your guests arrive is shake up a couple and relax.

Adrianne's Cucumber Martini

• 1.5 oz. vodka
• 1 oz. triple sec
• 1 oz. simple syrup
• 1 oz. cucumber juice
• 1/2 oz. lime juice

I generally recommend substituting 7-Up for the vodka and simple syrup anytime you want a non-alcoholic version of a specialty martini.  It won't be the quite the same, but it's still a fun treat. :)

If you're new to the world of specialty martinis... welcome!  There is one ingredient that pops up a lot, and that's simple syrup.  Simple syrup is equal parts of sugar and water (I make my batches one cup of each at a time), heated in a saucepan on low heat, until the sugar dissolves.  It takes about 5 minutes to make a small batch of simple syrup - your sugar will dissolve before your water comes to a boil.  I didn't photograph this step because I had some on-hand, but if you'd like photographs of a syrup I made recently to see how it looks once the sugar dissolves, you can visit my post about the lemon-basil gimlet.

Perhaps you're wondering about how in the world you're going to juice a cucumber.  You'll need a blender or a food processor for this step - to my knowledge, you can't just buy this as an ingredient.

Wash your cucumber well, and cut off a few slices to set aside for your garnish.  Then, peel what's left and cut it into chunks (this will make it easier for your food processor to handle).

Puree it.  You want it as close to liquefied as possible.  You may find that adding a tablespoon or so of water makes this process go more smoothly.  Then, you'll strain your puree to remove anything solid.  Place your strainer over a bowl (I used a measuring cup and my small strainer) and spoon your puree into the strainer.  You can press down on the puree to squeeze as much juice as possible out - if a bit of pulp comes through, that's okay.  Any pulp small enough to fit through your strainer will be fine.

I managed to get a little over 4 oz. of juice from one large cucumber, after I reserved 4 slices for garnishing, which is enough for 4 drinks.

Simple sugar lasts in the frig for months in a sealed container.  I just use a Mason jar for mine.  I'm not sure about the cucumber juice; I try to use fresh ingredients like this within three days.  But you can certainly prepare these ahead of time to save yourself the work later.

Now, the presentation for martinis is half the fun, really.  This drink is excellent with a sugared rim.  If you haven't rimmed a glass before, the easiest way to do it is to rub it with fruit and dip it.  In our case - we are using cucumbers, so I rubbed it with a cucumber slice:

And then dipped the rim in a small mound of sugar.

Now, to shake it up.  For this, I really do advocate owning a shaker tin, though professional bartenders have been known to shake up drinks using two glasses stacked together.  I'm no pro, so I use my tin.

Fill your tin with ice.  This is how you're going to chill your drink.  Now, measure your ingredients in.  I always recommend a top-shelf vodka when you're making martinis.  Effen even makes a Cucumber Vodka that would be perfect here, but I used what we had in the house already.

Now just shake it up.  I always go by the rule that it's shaken enough as soon as my fingers get cold. ;)  Now pour it...

Then add your cucumber garnish, and enjoy poolside, deckside, or anywhere you plan to relax!

Now, I need to take a moment here to dispel the notion that it's all drinks and parties at my blog, given the recipe I've shared today, and the name "Happy Hour Projects".  In fact, my drink recipes are only a very small part of what I blog about.  You see, "Happy Hour" came to be shortly after my daughter was born - when I needed some craft-therapy, but didn't have a lot of time for projects anymore.  What I focus on there is crafts and recipes - tutorial-style - that you can do in an hour or less, and many times with supplies you probably have on-hand already.  That's my real Happy Hour!

I love blogging because I love the support and friendship that's in this creative community.  Thanks so much for having me today, Kate, and we're all looking forward to seeing you back soon!

~ Adrianne

Easy Spring Wreath Tutorial, Guest Post by Craftbotic

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My name is Rosie and I blog at Craftbotic about my adventures in craft, travel, literature and, well, anything that takes my fancy!  I am really pleased to be here at Chic on a Shoestring Decorating, helping Kate out while she takes a well earned break.

I decided to make a Spring wreath after a different craft fail. I was left with strips of paper that, due to their Spring colours, needed to be used.  I also wanted something to compliment my butterfly message board . 

You need: a small polystyrene wreath, strips of paper, butterfly stickers/cut out shapes, ribbon and tacky glue.

Glue the strips around the wreath.

Position your ribbon where you want the wreath to hang.  Using glue and taps of paper, attach the ribbon to the back.

Add your butterflies.  I found some 3D stickers which made this really easy (Available from Hobbycraft in the UK).  You could create the shapes using a Silhouette or by cutting them out by hand.  To make them 3D, only glue down the centre and then fold back the edges.

Easy, small, light and Spring in a ring!  You can see more Spring projects on my blog.  I would love to see you there! 

 Thank you for having me, Kate.

Rosie  xxx

Chair Makeover, Guest Post by Hating Martha

FREE IMAGES Hi All! Janel here from Hating Martha.     And I am St-ok-ed! to be hanging here! This is one of my favorite lounge in pj's with a coffee and browse blogs. You? Anyways, I don't hate Martha. Go read about that here. It will explain everything. But, I do love pretty things. I love pretty things...cheap! So, I do alot of my own diy and crafts which I show off on my blog. Recently, I bought me a chair. It was ugly...

But that voice inside my head said that it could be be-you-ti-ful! I sanded it. I sprayed 2 coats of spray paint on her pretty parts. I rubbed on some red paint I had laying around. And then finished her with 2 coats of polyurethane. I made an alfalfa sack into a quick seat cover... And she is oh-so be-you-ti-ful!

I realize I made that sound easy. I showed you the before... and then magic! the after! There were steps involved...did you catch those? But, I didn't think I needed to run through them all with you step by step, picture by picture. Because, although it is time consuming waiting for the coats to dry...it is easy. Really. Try it on a piece of furniture you don't care about. Just grab a simple color of spray paint (don't go for too funky on your first go-round). Sand first. Spray. (outside preferably. unless your H is more understanding then mine) Step back and look at the improvement. If it is a high-use piece you should probably add an overcoat of clear polyurethane so you don't have to repaint constantly. And if you want to do fancy pieces, expensive pieces, or specialty stuff...learn your stuff! Really, some of those furniture makeovers are art forms...they are crazy good! Okay...go forth and make your homes happy places! Maybe with a little turquoise paint? Til Next time!

DIY Chevron Canvas, Guest Post by A Blog About Everything

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Hi there! I’m Leslie from A Blog About Everything. I write a lifestyle blog that’s full of a little bit of….well…everything. I’m so excited to be guest blogging here at Chic on a Shoestring Decorating! I’m going to share with you a little DIY chevron wall art project I did to spruce up my bedroom. 

 

The wall above my bed was seeming very sparse and the blank, white space just seemed to be calling out to me to cover it up with something colorful.

absolutely drab.

 

So I conjured up an idea in my head that I would become an artist and paint a giant canvas to slap up there. This canvas was to include chevrons. Are you sick of chevrons yet? Because I’m not. If I had it my way, everything would be chevroned. Including the canvas above my bed.

I didn’t have a spare canvas laying around, but if you did, you could just paint over it and use that. I moseyed on over to Hob Lob and used a 40% off coupon to purchase mine. For the paint, I knew that I would need lots (because I really have no idea what I’m doing) so I decided to use house paint. Its much easier to pick the exact colors you want without having to mix (or so I thought) and its much more cost effective. I purchased Behr sample pots in three different colors for about $3 each.

 

To make the chevron pattern I used painter’s tape and a right angle tool to mark off crisp lines. I found it to be easiest to start at the bottom and work my way up. I only had to use to right angle for the first row and then used the tape as my guide for each subsequent stripe. Using a craft knife, i was able to cut the excess tape used to mark off the chevrons in order to get a sharp angle.

To measure all of the other lines i used the width of the tape as my guide. I used painter's tape in a 1inch width. For the thickest chevrons i used two pieces of tape, side by side,  as a template for where to place the next chevron. Does that even make sense? If not, here's a picture:

two pieces of tape mark the two-inch space between chevrons.

I wanted the chevrons to gradually get darker as well as thicker as they progressed down the canvas. They start out at one inch apart, graduate to one and a half inches, then end up being two inches apart towards the bottom.  Measuring and taping took me about one episode of One Tree Hill (I’m embarrassingly obsessed with that show right now…it’s on Netflix instant play).

Once you’re taped off, you’re ready to paint! I had three colors I intended on working with for this project: a light gray (Stone Fence), a light blue (Newport Blue), and a darker blue (Heron) .

For the three upper rows I used my white base color and gradually added more Stone Fence for each row. I did the same for each color i used in order to make the colors fade in a uniform way.

The more i painted, the more i started to dislike the Stone Fence color. The gray was just too dark for the look that I was going for. It seemed to dry a lot darker than the swatch I had initially picked out. I wasn’t feeling the final product, so once i was finished I painted over the top 3 rows and started over. That’s what is so great about painting. Don’t like it? Do it again! Van Gogh did it all the time, I’m sure.  Its nothing to stress over…in fact, I loooove knowing that I can just redo it and nobody has to know. Except for all of you. Drat. Anyways, I tossed the grey color to the curb and used the lovely Newport Blue. Same strategy: pour a little blue in a lot of white and then add some more color as you progress rows.

I realized about three rows in that i wasn't going to love the gray.

 

Now all you have to do is peel off the painter’s tape and cross your fingers that you stuck it on well enough. Which I did. In most some places. 

i ended up liking the raw edges. i think it gives it character :)

Here is my end result:

  

I really enjoyed this project. It took me a few hours to complete (not counting a trip to the mall to wait for the paint to dry) and if you go into it with the Just-paint-over-it-if-you-don’t-like-it frame of mind I think you will do just fine. Is my painting perfect? No. Are the chevrons perfectly measured? Absolutely not. And remember how I was trying to pick specific colors to avoid all this mixing? As if. I mixed Every. Single. Color. I, however, really enjoy how it turned out. And it gives a perfect little pop of color to the empty space above my bed. Is this something you would try? Or are you just sick to death of chevrons? Either way, I hoped you liked this little DIY and that it will inspire you to do jazz up some of your empty walls.

 

If you liked this DIY, then pop on over to A Blog About Everything, follow me on twitter, or stalk my pinterest boards. I would love to hear from you!