Laundry Room Projects

Last day before the reveal of the laundry room. Yes, I am squealing with delight. Tonight the whole this gets put together and I am so excited to show you. Before the reveal, I wanted to show you a couple more simple projects made for that space. As all the other projects in the laundry room they were simple, easy on the pocketbook, and took no time at all to make.

This cute little lamp was a Fancy Store purchase - base, shade and all. Can you believe it? And there was not a single scratch on it. Yes, I happy danced right there in the store :)

When I spotted it, I just knew that it would be perfect in the laundry room. It serves as little ambiance in that passing spot between the garage and main house... not to mention that it reminds me to put the clothes in the dryer when I turn it off at night.

As much as I like feathered/fur trim, this one was looking a bit sad. There were fluffies missing and it was just too dark for the space.

That's when I remembered this delicious pink fabric from my stash. And wouldn't you know, there was just enough to recover the lamp shade!

After removing the fluffies, I traced the shade by rolling it across the fabric while marking it lightly with a pencil. Also, I made sure to leave at least a 1/2 inch allowance on the top and about 1 inch on the bottom. That way the "seams" would be nice and clean.

Once cut, I hot glued the fabric along the top leaving a 1/2 inch of excess fabric.

Why do I always have paint on my hands?

Note to self: wash hands before taking pictures :)

That then I carefully wrapped the excess over and glued it down on the inside, making sure to glue only on the white, thicker portion - not the black shade itself.

Then I met the seams on the side {up and down} and folded over the side that would be visible.

That way it made a clean seam. A dab of glue sealed it to the opposing fabric. Again, I avoided gluing directly to the shade.

With the excess fabric on the bottom, I folded it over once till it met the base of the shade...

... and then folded it over again to create a clean seam and glued it down.

So simple, but what a change!

Now I need to decide if I should keep the base black or go with a chocolate brown. Thoughts?

On to craft number 2.

I really wanted to use this tissue paper to make a small decor ball for the laundry room shelf. But I knew that it needed to be smaller since the tissue paper I had in this color was limited. After searching the house I came up with this:

Now you have proof that I will make a decor ball out of anything! haha!!! These are just perfect for mini decor balls.

After cutting the paper into 3/4 inch strips, I placed a line of hot glue down one side...

... and then quickly rolled it up to make a little flower puff.

Then a dab of hot glue attached it to the ball.

Several more, and voila! Instant pretty.

Who would have ever thought that this was originally a fast food prize? Love it!

What items have you repurposed for the sake of home decor?

All photos taken by yours truly and Mr. too Blessed to Stress.

Laundry Tips Board

Can I even tell you how excited I am to show you the Laundry room reveal in two days? It is coming together so nicely. Who would have ever thought that such a tiny space could be so bright and cheery? Major Happy dancing going on right now :)

This is another project that has found it's way into the laundry room remodel and I have to tell you I am THRILLED with the result. It was so simple but totally makes my day every time I walk in there... which is often. This family of 2 + pup goes through a lot of laundry! Are we just more piggy than others? huh, must be :)

I found this chalkboard in the bins at the Fancy Store {aka Goodwill Outlet} and I may or may not have let out a little squeal when I found it and madly ran across the store to snatch it up. I love the big chalkboard and chunky frame! What I was not loving was the scratched paint and these weird staple things that were sticking out of the bottom. Maybe it used to have a little shelf or something? I merrily pranced walked calmly through the store with my purchase, not fully knowing where it would end up.

Anyhow, once home I realized that it was just perfect for the laundry room - ironic since it was originally for a laundry room and painted lavender, the old color of my laundry room.

First things first, I set up an uber professional painting station... in the living room... on a card table covered in newspaper... so that I could watch HGTV. Classy, I know :)

I found these oops paint samples in the garage paint cupboard and decide on a creamy white {left side}. Sorry but I have no idea what color the sample was, there is no tag on it.

The seams needed some help, which gave me a perfect excuse to try out this cool stuff:

It is spackling that goes on pink and dries white. That way you know when it is ready to sand. How awesome is that? Totally what this haphazard crafter needs!

I the meantime, I set out to remove the big ole staples which turned out to be big ole nails!

Hello, no wonder they hurt so much when I accidentally smooshed my hand into them.

Once all nasty nails were removed, puttied and dried I used a sanding block and a toothpick to get all the excess off and gave it 3 coats of yummy, creamy white.

While it dried, I headed over to one of my favorite craft stores, Ben Franklin, and had the words "Laundry Tip" printed out in a favorite font, Coventry Gardens. It's kinda hard to tell, but the letters are a deep chocolate brown.

Once everything was dry, it was time to apply the vinyl, have studdly hubby hang it up and stand back to admire.

I love it! The "tip" was written in Chalk Ink Markers which I absolutely am in love with. Want to get me something for my birthday this month? Colored Chalk Ink Markers are on my wish list. {Hubby, are you reading this?}

How have you been using chalk boards lately?

Joining a Laundry Room themed party over here:

 And a "Wrap Up" Over here :) 

All photos taken by yours truly.

Iron Away

So there was a major bummer with the awesome chandelier from this previous post… It was painted and looking all snazzy when dark clouds started to roll in. It really looked like a sudden down pour was on its way. So I moved it under the canopy and that’s when it happened…. The swing bumped up against it taking off a whole chunk of paint. I probably would have left it but it was a really noticeable spot. So I touched it up. Waited….. and then the bag it was drying on top of somehow got pushed up against it and tore off a BIG chunk of paint. Grrrrrr. I was not a happy camper. So there is currently no light fixture in that room and I now need to sand and repaint several spots. Bummer.

But on a happier DIY note, I have a fun project to show you. I recently decided that my ironing board cover needed an update from faded/stained stripes. There were no ready made covers that really matched the new colors in the laundry room, so I decided to make one myself.

Now before I jump into this mini tutorial please note:


~I am not a champion seam seamstress. Basic strait lines on a machine are a challenge for me. If you can sew for real – you may just want to look away. :)

Here is the yummy fabric I chose. Dark chocolate background, light and hot pinks, and creams. Isn’t it just lovely? I love it!

My ironing board is just over 2 ½ long, a little table top kind. Under the cover it had a thin but sturdy piece of foam and then just a piece of plywood. Fancy schmancy… oh, and it was from the Boutique. $3.99, yippee!

Here’s evidence of it’s tiny size - yep, that’s my kitchen counter. All full of junk… hmmm…..Guess I know what my next project is!

After ironing my fabric, I took the old cover and stretched it out flat on top of the fabric. Both were face down.

Then I cut out the basic shape of the cover leaving about 3 inches on every side.

The spray paint on my hands did not come off for several days!

Now here comes the not so technical part that I just made up as I want along. After folding the fabric within ¼ inch of the original cover I pinned it all the way around.

{Other side}

The ¼ inch became the pocket to feed the elastic through.

At the corners, I made sure to fold over one side flat and then the other on top of it.

That way when the pocket was sewn it would still be open to push the elastic through.

At this point I was ready to sew all the way around, making sure to leave a 1 inch gap at the bottom {short end}. That became the entrance and exit point for the elastic.

Once sewn, all I needed to do was attach a tiny safety pin to one end of the elastic and feed it through the little pocket all the way around. I did this, of course, while watching a previous episode of Design Star. hee hee!


All that was left was to trim the excess fabric and put it on. Tada!

By the way, there will be a laundry room reveal by the end of the week… I am just bursting at the seams, ready to show you! Stay tuned!


All photos taken by yours truly.

Follow Up

As promised in my "Return to Blog-Land" post, I am making good on my New Years blog resolution and following up on projects in the works from last year's posts.

Remember this beauty? Yes, I know it was a long time ago. Reach deep into the memory bank... or click here for a quick refresher. It was a beat up old Welcome sign purchased at a garage sale. After removing the worn vinyl lettering, a light sanding and a few coats of 50 cent Oops-paint, it was ready for some freehand lettering and design.

All I did was download a free font that was swirly and unique, draw a light line to get the letters straight, and then freehand drew the letters lightly with a pencil. I then used paint markers to fill them in. One was regular size and the other was a fine tip. I just love paint markers. I have them in every color I can get my grubby paws on. But that will have to be a post for another day.

(don't know why this picture is so dark...)

The scrolly thing below didn't come out as even as I would have liked... but repainting and waiting to redraw it was just out of the question. Why? I wanted to use it right away. Simple as that. I was too excited to use it in my harvest tablescape. Maybe someday I'll get around to repainting it. But for now, it's imperfectly beautiful!

I'm linking this post up to Cottage Instincts "Make it for Monday," 

Between Naps on the Porch "Metamorphosis Monday," and Making the World Cuter Monday.

Be sure to head on over and check out these lovely blogs!

Photos from top to bottom: old welcome sign pre-transformation, the finished result, & the harvest display in our home from Fall 2009. (And yes that is a bunch of junk next to the table. Please avert your eyes. )

Basket-A-Holic

Are you a fellow basket lover?

There should be support groups for people like us!

“Hello, my name is Emily. I am addicted to baskets.”

There would be snacks. Served in baskets, of course.

I can't tell you exactly when the basket love kicked into overdrive. It was kind of gradual, I guess. I've always liked them and used them for decoration. But somewhere along the way, I discovered their practical use. I'm not talking about the occasional magazine basket. (although I love my magazine basket too!) I mean EVERYDAY practical use.

Take for example, this large hefty beauty. I lug this one around almost everywhere. It has served for buffet tables, book transportation, a trip to the market, etc. etc. And the price? Just right at $3.99

Remember this basket from a previous post? 25 cents! I still need to find a permanent use for it. Right now, it seems happy to hold my linens while I sort laundry.

(Just want to give you a heads up: Next week we’ll be talking about practical solutions for the dreaded linen closet. Check back for the post “Wash Cloths, Bath Towels, and Sheets… Oh my!” We’ll be covering linen storage essentials. You won’t want to miss it!)

And of course, we can’t forget the magazine basket. This one is from Pier 1. I've had it for 6 years and it always stays by my current favorite reading spot.

How about in the bathroom? Stock that basket up with some smelly stuff and some good reading material. Are you short on bathroom storage? Get a pretty basket and throw in some rolls of TP, and save that under the sink storage for the things you really don’t want anyone to see when they first walk in.

(By the way, I usually don't keep the basket on the side of the tub. But the lighting was so bad in there, I had to get it out of its usual corner.)

This funky shaped basket was recently thrifted on a 50% off day. Care to guess the price? 99 cents. Woo Hoo! And it is in pristine shape. The black would look awesome contrasted with a colorful fruit and flowers display. Hmmm. I may just have to host a get-together to try out that idea. Wanna come?

And last, but certainly not least, let’s not leave out the sweet little baskets. So many uses. Some are purely decorative. Others are just right for catching the little doo-dads and what-cha-ma-call-its that collect on the desk, kitchen counter, livings room, etc.

Do you have stairs in your house? If so, place an attractive basket at the foot of the stairs and use it to catch all the stuff that needs to make its way upstairs. Not only will it help corral the clutter in your main living area, but it will eliminate multiple trips of hauling everyday junk back upstairs.

Do you have enough remotes to start your own Radio Shack? Find a basket that will fit inside an entertainment center, pile them in, and close those doors.

Do your kids (and I use the term “kids” loosely. Ahem, hubby. J ) have several controls for their video games and entertainment accoutrement's? Get them a magazine basket that will hold them all, yet still fits within your decor scheme. Don’t fret. It doesn’t have to be expensive. Just practical.

And if it’s the wrong color, just attack it with a coat of spray paint.

So you see baskets are not just for decoration. They have amazing potential for practical everyday use. Here at too Blessed to Stress, we have a goal of conquering the clutter and chaos. So go dig in the closets and garage for your baskets. Give ‘em a good dusting, air them out in the sun, and put ‘em to good use. If you’re in the market for a new basket but your budget is tight, head to the local boutique… the thrift store. There are all sorts of options at the boutique!

How do you use your baskets? Do you prefer small, medium or large size of baskets? I’d love to hear in the comments below.

Oh and don’t forget to attend your Basket-A-Holics support group. I’ll be there. You’ll know which one I am right away. I’ll be the one with the snacks in a basket.

I'm adding this post over at Hooked on Houses as part of the Hooked on Friday Linky Party. head on over there and see what everyone else is hooked on!