Happy May Day! (a little late) Did you get any special flowers for May Day? Several years ago, one of my daughters-in-law found a beautiful way to preserve some very special flowers she received. She created a vintage window shadow box! This daughter-in-law, Melissa, before she was my daughter-in-law, preserved many flowers. This isn’t about the drying process though, (I think she just hung them upside down and they dried). This post is showing the creative way she displayed these preserved flowers in a DIY vintage window shadow box. These ... Keep Reading...
Stencil Vintage Window
Repurposing vintage windows is a specialty of mine. I absolutely love to reuse them in the interior of a house to add interest and character. I have gotten so many fun vintage windows, most for free too. This tri-panel window was one of those freebies! We were driving around the countryside, and saw that exciting 'FREE' sign with a pile of old furniture pieces by the end of someone's driveway. Are you one of those that just has to stop and see if there are any treasures to be had? Or are you the type to scurry away for fear of cooties?! I'm very solidly ... Keep Reading...
Vintage Medicine Cabinet
After finding and holding onto this vintage medicine cabinet for a few years, I was pretty happy to get a sweet place for it in the lower level guest bathroom. It was in need of some restoration help though. Although I'm not an expert, I'm not afraid to tackle a project like this and figure it out as I go along. (shopping links for products I used in this project are at the end of this post) This charming vintage medicine cabinet has some sort of small, thin tiles covering the face of it, creating a lovely design. I actually can't tell what they're ... Keep Reading...
6 Furniture Projects to Inspire You
Revisiting some older posts here at Simple Decorating Tips, I thought it'd be fun to share 6 past furniture projects for inspiration. Even though I decided to only select from older projects, I am still tickled with the results! I am including tips with direct links for the products I used in order to help you be able to transform your own projects. First product and maybe the most important: For almost every painting project I work on now, I use bonding primer. It works on just about any surface and unlike most primers out there, this special bonding ... Keep Reading...
Backyard Boat Pond
This is a super fun post I've been keeping in my back pocket since I got the backyard boat pond completed last fall! Don't you just love the sound of water? I sure do! The calm soothing sound of a water fountain is so pleasant in the summer. At every one of the past 3 houses we've had, I've created a different type of water feature. I wanted a water feature in our backyard at our new house, but did not want the commitment, or cost of a built-in pond. I got a little creative and made a DIY backyard boat pond after seeing a similar one on Facebook a while ... Keep Reading...
Meringue Cookies
I'm really stepping out of the ordinary today... Today's post is for these yummy gluten-free meringue cookies. This is my very first time to post a recipe here on the blog. Funny thing is I do cook a lot. In fact, I love to cook, decorate, garden and do all the things involved with keeping a house. Though I like to cook, I don't bake treats very often. Going on 2 years now, I've been gluten free and figuring out the baking aspect of gluten free baking has been fun for the rare times I do bake. These gluten-free meringue cookies, are actually totally ... Keep Reading...
How to Sew a Pleated Valance
If you've been following along, you know that I've been working on getting the design studio ready. (I'm currently only able to offer e-decorating, but hope to be able to offer other types of decorating consulting very soon.) The window in this studio space needed a little pizzazz without a lot of fuss. In this post I'm going to show you how to sew a pleated valance like I did for the studio window. The fabric and style selection: The window had a roman shade that I ordered from HERE. That took care of the function, but didn't add too much ... Keep Reading...
7 Simple Hangers
These 7 simple hangers are fairly common, (except one that is pretty unique). I use most of them so frequently that I thought about calling this post '7 Hangers You Can't Live Without'.... then I decided that was a wee bit sensationalized. (Maybe?) I truly love to share simple tips and techniques with you for the sole purpose of offering encouragement. I want you to be able to DIY without being afraid. To understand things like simple picture hangers, may actually help build your confidence to hang a picture, plate or artwork yourself! Last week I ... Keep Reading...
Tips on Installing Faux Beams
Faking it! This is a post on faking it! If you boil it down, there is a pretty big part of decorating that is about 'faking it', right?! Trying to create a look and feel with the decorations. Where does the 'creating' end and the 'faking' start? Maybe that's too abstract of thinking... Maybe that's just me, just how my decorator mind works... Maybe, (and this is a very solid option) I've been in my house during the quarantine too long... LOL In my attempt to transform our 1970's house into a colonial revival cottage style, I decided it needed beams. ... Keep Reading...
5 Ways Hardware Made a Difference
Ever been at a point of a project when you seem to have hit a dead end, or at least a really big pothole? You had the vision but are struggling how to connect the pieces? Boy, I sure have, more times than I can count. Usually it goes something like this: I have a vision for the finished project. I even have most of the 'ingredients' for the project. The big ole pothole is figuring out how to connect those ingredients to make the vision come to life. I have found many times that some sort of hardware is the key ingredient. Finding just the right type of ... Keep Reading...
