Living Room {Before and After}

Hello! I am one of the two sisters from The White House Boutique. I wanted to share some of my home makeover with you all! My hubster and I moved into our {1st} home a little over a year ago and I've just recently FINISHed my wallpapered fiascled living room. It is a 1890's house with no straight walls and or straight windows {so it made re-wallpapering quiet difficult}. My living room was covered with this pink flowery not so cute stuff (see picture below), that I couldn't paint over it. After several painstaking months upon months of taking this flowery stuff off, I realized I couldn't paint the wall as well, due to all the imperfections this old house blessed me with. Wallpaper my friends {which I now believe should of never been invented} is tougher than it looks. Every wallpapered room I now enter I have a lot more respect for. So lets get down to it.

Here is the before {like the waaaaayyyy before, previous owners that is.}

The During

I do have to admit I'm a bit embarrassed by this photo. Our house looked like this for several months!

 Although the wallpapering may not be perfect. I do love my new living room. And all the imperfections of my old house.

One of the downfalls (as seen in the two pictures below) of a old house is the wiring. My husband or I aren't electricians and the closest we know of one is my father (whom can literally do everything I swear). He said the best way to get my chandelier in the room is to hang it from the ceiling and plug it in. So now I have this ugly cord thing in the center of my wall (we are planning on fixing it) but for now I'll take the chandelier glistening in the room any day even with the ugly cord!

 

 The fun thing about this room (which is the same in all my rooms) is that I got 98% of this stuff at a thrift store (and I'm proud to say  I am a cheapy) and or DIYs. My favorite thing in this room is the yellow couch, I scored it at a second hand store for $275! The rugs? Wal-Mart for $30 each! The chandelier? 50$ at a garage sale! The piano? FREE! The chevron chair? $2 at a thrift store and I reupholstered it for under $7! Book shelf?- 10$ at garage sale! Owl lamp?-$5 garage sale! Map wall art?-$1 garage sale! I could go on and on my friends (it makes me so excited) haha. :) 

Jute Wrapped Desk Lamp {DIY}

Here is my inspiration.....ahhhh swoon.....

This can cost you though a hefty price tag of 55$! But it is adorable! So I wanted to do something similar to this guy I got at a thrift store for $2! And it screamed MAKE ME PRETTY!!

It had this black base bottom thingy that I wanted to jute dazzle!

What you will need

1.Scissors

2. Jute (you can buy at any local hardware/walmart store for a couple bucks)

3.Glue gun and glue

 

 

So you plug in your glue gun and wait for it to warm up. You then put glue on the lamp and you wrap your jute around the stem of the lamp. I do a little area at a time so that the glue does not harden. Make sure to pull the jute tight so that it wraps nicely around the stem of the lamp.

 

You continue to do this until you reach the top of your designated area. When you are finished wrapping it you cut the jute off with the scissors then glue the remaining end of the string of jute onto the lamp. Yep and your done! Its so easy I tell you what! And it makes it look a million times better! I might want to do this to another larger lamp and get a bit more daring? Stay tuned.........

 

 

 

 

Polaroid Coasters {DIY}

I am in LOVE with these! White Tiles turned --Polaroid Wannabe's--Slash Coasters! Ha, say that 5 times fast!  They were so so easy and so inexpensive {that's our favorite part}!  I purchased roughly 40 coasters at our local Restore home store for $2.50! No Joke! 

What you Need:

White Tiles {the ones I grabbed measured roughly 4 1/4" x 4 1/4"}

Mod Podge {I used the antique style Mod Podge}

Computer & printer

Scissors

Paper cloth or rag {if you use the antique style mod podge}

Ruler 

First step is to print off your pictures of desire!  I searched for ones that had a little bit of artsy flare to them! A couple of them were from a talented photographer in the area {with her approval of course}, some I found on Flickr.com, & some were from my own photo library!  How fun to even use old photos from the family or all black and white ones!  So many possibilities! Ahhhhh I love it!  So once the pictures are saved to your computer I just used Microsoft office word {I am sure there are other programs to use but I found this the easiest to print of a picture in the exact size I needed} I then opened up a new document and inserted my picture of choice!  Once it plopped into the document I re-sized it to resemble a Polaroid- leaving a little space on the edges {top and sides} and of course leaving a larger white area on the bottom! This is where your ruler comes into play! I literally held the ruler up to the computer screen measuring each picture out so it gets to be the right size!  It prints actual size that's on screen! I am sure that there is a ruler that you can pull up on your document but I am not that computer savvy! Print these suckers and then start cutting them out!  

Now it's time to get down and dirty!  Add mod podge to the bottom of the picture so it sticks to the tile and you can line it up!  Once in place and air bubbles are pushed out add mod podge to the top of it {pressing  out all air bubbles}!  Once you have completely covered the top of the picture and along the edges this is where I grabbed a paper towel and wiped off the access glue-{the antiquing mod podge has a yellowish tint to it and I did not want it on the white edges so it would lose it's polaroid effect}

Let dry and Bam!  You have your Polaroid Coasters!  Too fun for words!  I think these would make great gifts, a fun craft to do with friends!  Share you thoughts and comments!  We would love to hear from you! xoxo The White House Girls

Chicken Wire Frame {DIY}

 

Chicken wire gives frames a new life! I had this big gold frame hanging around in my basement that I got a while back for $9. I have drug it out so many times wanting to do something with it and finally I was inspired...... by this.....

Source



What You need:

1. Heavy duty stapler
2. Staples
3. Frame (make sure its wood)
4. Chicken wire - if you know any farmers...they usually have this laying around haha (you can purchase it at home depot) click here for home depot chicken wire.
5. Wire cutters
6. a little bit of strength (stretching wire out) :)

I take the frame and lay it over the chicken wire and cut out the wire all the way around. Its better to over estimate then to underestimate because you can always go back and trim off the wire after stapling it.  

 Then you start at one side of the frame and staple ever two wires (as seen below). This way it is good and sturdy! I staple one side then staple the other side of the frame that is parallel to side that you just stapled. This makes it extra tight so that you can hang pictures from it. Then proceed to do the other two sides just the same. Make sure you are pulling the wire with every staple to make it as tight as possible!! (This is were the strength comes in!)

 

A little rustic in a pretty Victorian frame? YES PLEASE!

 

 

EASY PEASY {DIY} sign

     Everyone has that favorite little saying that catches an eye, makes a person smile, or makes them feel good inside. Here is a easy way to display your favorite quote in your home. This project will take you 10 minutes or less!I had the supplies lying around my house so this project was FREE!Anything that is free is pretty much amazing! 

What you'll need:

1. Pencil
2. Permanent marker
3. Map or scrap paper (we sell these sheets of maps at the white house for $1!)
4. Letter stencils (got mine at loopys for $1)
5. Quote of your choice
-some fun ones: {live what you love} {be weird be happy} 
-for maps: {run away with me} {you are my greatest adventure}

(I used glitter letters to trace)

First trace your quote onto your map or scrap book paper with a pencil. Then you need to bring out your coloring skills and color the letters in with a permanent marker (remember keep it inside the lines) ;) Then....oh wait your done! Frame it and bam! You got yourself your favorite little quote hanging on the wall for everyone to see!

{A Touch of Vintage} InViTe

My cousin is getting married in a few months {Yippie!! I have the special honor of being one of her bridesmaids!} My Aunts are hosting a Bridal Shower for her!  I was put on bridal invite duty!  So I got busy at it!  I wanted to add a {touch of Vintage with some modern flare}.  I thought I would put this blog together in order to help with creativity block when it comes to making invites for that special party! 
First think if there is a theme for the party or as for the bridal invite I tried thinking of her wedding colors.  In this case her colors are silver and Tiffany blue!  Another tip is to look at examples of what you are wanting.  Google it under images for example modern invites, chevron invites, baby invites...etc.  I saw an invite with a doily and that is what sparked my creativity!  I used the program picmonkey {which is EXTREMLY easy to use} I chose a woodgrain background and played around with the fonts and colors! Made sure to add some Tiffany Blue in the invite to correspond with her Wedding Day! Make sure to save it as a jpeg and off to copy store you go {here they will be able to size it and print if off for you on cardstock} or you can also choose to print it off at home you can find cardstock at any craft store!
To add a little uniqueness to the invite I wrapped it with a paper doily wrapped it with twain added a love tag and finished it off with my favorite touch a feather!  
There is so much one can add to an invite for a personal touch such as buttons, lace, ribbon, rick rack, twain, etc...print it out on vintage pages from a book even! If you are looking for fun colored envelopes I purchased these kraft style envelopes at Hobby Lobby which were $6 for 50 envelopes.  I added some fun font for the addresses to add that final touch of special!  
I think they turned out pretty darn cute!  I hope the bride likes them!  Hope this helps with any creativity block on may have! 
Happy Friday to all!!

How to give a chair new life in 1 hour!

How to give a chair new life! My sister and I have been spotting these cute chairs everywhere! We even picked one up on the side of the curb!  We have a serious addiction to any kind of chair! These chairs deserve a second chance and we are having so much fun! It seriously only takes an hour and you have a brand new chair! This chair we picked up for $2 at a thrift store added a new layer of paint! And Tahdah...a brand new super cute chair!  It's a heroic feeling when you can safe a life!!

What you need:

• A Chair
• Tape {any kind masking, paint tape, packing tape, etc.}
• Garbage bags..or any kind of plastic or newspaper paint {spray paint or latex
• sandpaper {if you want to rough the edges to give it some vintage love}

How To:

1. First you need to wipe down the wood of any dirt or dust. This is so the tape will be sure to stick!
2. Next step is to cover the fabric. Lay down the plastic {or newspaper} close to the edges but not too close so the tape doesn't stick.
3. Next run tape along the edge of the fabric tucking it under the piping of the fabric and make sure you are taping the plastic {or newspaper} to ensure a leak free paint job!
4. See pictures for guidance.
5. Once you are sure that you have it all sealed up and safe from paint you are ready to get busy painting. Pick a color that will compliment the fabric~ White is always a safe color and it brings out the funky color these chairs usually are! In this case we choose a fun mustard yellow! Dare to be different!
6. We usually add 2 to 3 coats depending on the brand of spray paint or latex paint.
7. Let dry... once it is dry we grab a sheet of rough sandpaper and sand the edges to give it a shabby vintage appeal!
8. Peel off your plastic and check out your new chair! Yippie...you did it!! It's as easy as that! Let us know if you have any questions!

To think this little lovely above was found curbside....rescued, received some love & she even found herself a new adorable little family.

photo courtesy of Kim Jansen

Share your pictures of your re-do's would love to see them!