DIY Subway Tile Backsplash

[pinit]DIY Subway Tile Backsplash Tutorial[pinit]

Our kitchen renovation continues with this DIY subway tile installation.  It was easier than I thought it would be, but there are a few ways you can avoid heartache through learning from our mistakes and our victories!

Mussel Bound Adhesive Tile Mat

So this stuff falls under the “Victory” category of our first tiling experience.  We saw Mussel Bound Adhesive Tile Mat at our local big box hardware store and had to try it.  It is super sticky double sided tape, basically.

How to adhere tile

 You just stick remove the backing from one side and stick that to the wall.  It is easy to cut to go around your various outlets and corners.

Place Tile over adhesive

When you are ready to place the tile, you remove the backing from the other side and stick the tile in place!  I am not sure you are supposed to do this, but we removed tiles and repositioned them with no problem when we had to.

Blue Hawk Tile Cutter

This falls into the “mistake” category.  We saw this Blue Hawk Manual Tile Cutter and thought we would buy it for the $30 instead of renting or buying a tile saw.  It scores the tiles then snaps them at the score line.  Ideally it does that.  Lots of chipping took place.  Also, if you have to cut out a section of the tile, forget it.  It is fine for cutting straight through the height of the tile, but don’t even think about trying to cut out a rectangle section.  Nope.

We ended up renting a tile saw for one day.  That was $40.  Then we bought one for $89.  Should have just started there.  It is the Skil 3540 and it worked great for cutting these tiles.  Since we know we will be tiling again, this is a great option, costing just a little more than we wasted spent on the manual cutter and 1 day wet saw rental.

As far as grouting once all the tiles are placed, I used this video from Pretty Handy Girl to guide me.  Love her!

DIY Backsplash Ideas

What do you think?

I LOVE our new kitchen!

Kitchen Before

In case you missed it, here is the before.

WHAT?!

Read about our DIY Countertop Revamp!

Take your kitchen cabinets to the ceiling and get rid of the outdated oak with our DIY Kitchen Cabinet Upgrade!

It is my favorite room.  Stay tuned for the final step in our Kitchen Makeover with Moen!!

DIY Budget Backsplash Idea with Subway Tile @savedbyloves

Saved By Love Creations Needs You To Investigate

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Rainbow Recycled Wine Bottle Chandelier

Make a rainbow chandelier from recycled wine bottles @savedbyloves Hi there, recycled wine bottle decor lovers!  Today I am sharing a project that will add color to and illuminate any space.  Get your rainbow on with this wine bottle chandelier or match it to your style. You can make this light to go with your home decor using your favorite Mod Podge Sheer color, or use as many as you can get your hands on, like I did.  The project involves cutting wine bottles, which is easier than you may think, so let’s get started!

SUPPLIES:

 

Wine bottles cut to the size you want (I have showed you how to cut them HERE:  How to Cut Wine Bottles)

Mod Podge Sheer Colors

Mod Podge Sheer Colors

Wax paper or non stick craft mat

Craft Knife

Pendant light kits (I used these 12′ Hanging Lantern Cords I found on Amazon)

TUTORIAL:

Coloring the cut wine bottles

Pour Tinted Mod Podge

Squeeze a generous amount of Mod Podge Sheer Colors into the cut end of your bottle.

Upcycle Home Decor Wine Bottle Crafts

Twirl Bottle to disperse color all over the inside of the bottle.

DIY Wine Bottle Crafts

If you are having a hard time getting it to flow, you can tap the bottle against your wrist as shown.

Let the excess Mod Podge drip into back into the product bottle to save as much as possible for your next project!

I placed my bottles on my kitchen table, on a non stick craft sheet, with the ceiling fan on.  Place them with the mouth down so they dry faster.  This will be an overnight process.

Wiring the lights

How to make a pendant lamp

For this project I used a standard E27 base pendant light kit available at almost any Walmart or big DIY store.  The one I used actually had an in-line switch between the plug and the socket base.  I didn’t have a need for the switch or the plug since I was going to be direct wiring it to an existing switched circuit.

Step 1

Wine Bottle Pendant Lamp tutorial

I cut the wire using wire cutters at the socket side of the switch.  I left about 2 ft. of wire to the socket base but you should test and see what distance looks best in your application.

Step 2

DIY Lights from wine bottles by saved by love creations

Run the cut end up through bottle and out the neck of each of the six colored bottle shades.  The sockets will fit snuggly up in the taper of the neck of the shade.

Step 3

Wine Bottle Pendant Lamp 6

Wine Bottle Pendant Lamp 7

Bare the ends of each of the wires using your wire cutters to peel away the plastic coating (there will be 12 wires, hot and a neutral for each lamp or 18 if the kit is wired for a ground).

Step 4

I chose a room that already had a simple ceiling light on a wall switch. This made it easy to take down and I just used the existing junction box and cover plate from the old light.

Step 5

With wall switch OFF ( throw the service breaker for extra safety) take down the old ceiling light and find the white(neutral), black(hot), and green (ground) wires.  Pull them down out of the box and make sure you have enough room to go back with the new wire bundle you’re going to create.

Step 6

DIY Rainbow Chandelier

Combine all the neutral wires from the lamp kits together into one pigtail. DO the same for the hot and the ground if present. Use some electrical tape to help hold them all together while you get ready to connect them to the junction box.

Step 7

Using an appropriately sized wire nut, connect the white pigtail of the lamp kit to the white (neutral) wire from the ceiling. DO the same with the Black (hot) and ground( green, if present).

Step 8

Carefully push the wires up into the junction box and allow the weight of the lamps to be carried by the bundled lamp cords over the junction box support bar.

Step 9

Slide the fixture cover you used from the old light up into place to cover everything.

DIY upcycled lighting tutorial

Step 10

DIY upcycled lighting

Flip the breaker and the switch on. Put bulbs in the lamps. Let there be light !!!

***Extra tip: Use Mod Podge Rocks Adhesive Stencils and Glitter Spouncers to add your favorite pattern for added sparkly goodness, like I did with this Upcycled Bottle Lamp:

Not up for electrical wiring?  Use your colored bottles to create Upcycled Rainbow Lanterns:

DIY Horizontal Succulent Planter Box Display

[pinit]DIY Horizontal Succulent Garden @savedbyloves[pinit]

Decorating with succulents is a top design trend that won’t be going away!  That is why I am thrilled to share how we created this horizontal succulent garden placed above our double deck doors.  I took the easy way out and went with artificial plants, even though succulents are easy as can be to grow and maintain.  I was gifted an excess supply of the fakes from Michaels that a friend had leftover and just went with it.  The project was simple and quick, and cheap!  The planter is (no surprise if you have been around here much) made from reclaimed wood.

Here is how I did it!

I had some tongue and groove wood that I picked up from Habitat Restore.  I ripped it with my table saw to about 4 inch wide pieces, and cut 3 of those to 4 feet in length for the 2 long sides and the bottom of the box.  I cut 2 of them to about 5 inches for the short sides.

Ryobi-Airstrike-Nailer

I nailed all of the pieces together with my trusty Ryobi Airstrike Nailer.  The pic shows the creation of this Stenciled Planter Box, but the process was the sam for today’s project.   If I could have just one tool in the whole “stuck on a desert island” scenario, this would be a top contender.

DIY Succuulent Garden

We used 4 3 inch wood screws to attach the finished box into the studs above the double deck doors.  I found a 12x36x2 inch styrofoam sheet in my stash and cut it to fit tightly in the planter box, all the way a cross.

Then I just hopped on a step stool and arranged my faux succulents, shoving the wire stems into the foam to hold them in place.

DIY Succulent Garden

What do you think?  I am going to be honest… I seriously like it bunches.

It is hard to hang things on the freshly painted walls in our new home.  What if I change my mind, what if it looks dumb… so many holes to patch.  Not in this case.  Totally satisified!

If you want to make live succulent gardens, check out our popular DIY Terrariums and Succulent Plants:

How about our 50+ DIY Terrariums and Creative Planters?

 

Succulent in Decor DIY Horizontal Planter @savedbyloves

DIY Butcher’s Chart Cow Vintage Kitchen Art With Free Graphic

[pinit]DIY Kitchen Art Tutorial With Free Printable Butcher Cow Art @savedbyloves[pinit]

Vintage kitchen art in the form of the butcher’s beef chart is tops in the design world these days.  That is why I was thrilled to score a cookbook from 1898 with the perfect image for such a piece!  I scanned it in, cleaned it up in Photoshop and enlarged it to fit a 28 in x 14 in piece of art scored from a garage sale.  This tutorial shows you how to transfer a large image to a chalky finish surface, and provides the butcher beef chart cow art for you to download for use in your own projects!

SUPPLIES:

Vintage Butcher’s Beef Chart Image  (Click link for image download page)

Image transfer kitchen cow art

Paint brush

Chalky Finish Paint by DecoArt in Whisper

Image Transfer Medium

Clear Wax DecoArt

Laser Printer and Photoshop or other editing software

Painter’s Tape

Spray bottle with water or cup of water

Image Transfer Cow Butcher Art

TUTORIAL:

Image Transfer Vintage Cow Butcher Art

Prepare the surface for the image transfer by painting with Chalky Finish in your choice of color.  I used Whisper.  It took 3 light coats with 15 minutes of drying in between to cover the image on the garage sale art.

While that is drying, prepare your image.  I resized mine in Photoshop to fit the 28×14 inch recipient surface.

 Make sure you reverse the image before printing it so the numbers won’t be backwards in the transfer!

If you are making art larger than your printer will print, you will need to print it in sections and tape it together like I showed you in the video found here:

DIY Rustic Sign Tutorial Using DecoArt Chalky Finish Paint

How to Make Vintage Wall Art

Print the sections, align them and tape together on the back with painter’s tape.

Chalky Finish Home Decor Project Vintage Kitchen Art

Large Art Image Transfer Tutorial

Paint the surface with a thin layer of Americana Image Transfer Medium, and paint the ink side of the image to be transferred with the medium too.  For more detail on using this product, see my Vintage Image Transfer Coaster Tutorial shared at Printable Decor.

How to do an image transfer

Spray water on the back of the printed image and let soak for 3-5 minutes.

Rub paper backing away with your finger tips (there are detailed pictures of this in the graphic coaster tutorial linked above).

Seal the piece with clear wax and you are all set!

DIY Kitchen Cow Art Tutorial With Free Printable Butcher Cow Art @savedbyloves

Check out more cool ideas in our 50+ Image Transfer Projects

50 Plus Clothespin Crafts To Make

[pinit]Clothespin Crafts to Make Over 50 Great Tutorials @savedbyloves[pinit]

How have we gone this long without sharing a collection of clothespin crafts? It is a mystery.  Whether you have the one piece wooden peg, or the two piece wood or plastic version held together with a spring, you can use these simple laundry inventions to make some cool stuff.  From home decor, to jewelry, to toys and games for kids, we are all sure to find something we can enjoy in this gallery of things to make from clothespins.

clothespin craft for headphone storage

My personal favorite?  This headphone cord organizer found at Buzzfeed.  

Are you with me on this?

What are your favorite clothespin crafts?  Do you have one we missed?  If so, let us know!

ENJOY!!

Recycled Wine Bottle Tiered Veggie Stand

Recycled Wine Bottle Tiered Display[pinit]

Do you love Dollar Store Crafts?  How about making things from recycled materials?  Make an all occasion display in just a few simple steps, using dollar store dishes and cut wine bottles!  This project is perfect for displaying your garden harvest, letting tomatoes ripen in a window sill, filling with holiday themed candies and filler, or  for storing your favorite jewelry in a fashionable way.

 MATERIALS

Dollar store supplies and recycled wine bottles

-2 wine bottles and bottle cutting supplies – See How I Cut Wine Bottles

-E6000 or other industrial adhesive

-3 plates or dishes in varying sizes

 DIRECTIONS

 

Tiered Candy Display 2

1. Place largest plate or dish on a flat surface and glue a wine bottle top to it as shown.

Tiered Candy Display 3

2. Glue the top of the same bottle and place middle sized dish on top of that. Continue in this fashion until your stand is constructed.

Tiered Candy Display 4

3. Let dry 24 hours before using!

Recycled Glass Art CG

Do you love it?

What are your favorite wine bottle crafts?

Would you like to see more?

VISIT OUR 50+ Dollar Store Crafts:

 And our 50+ Glass Bottle Crafts:

Stylish Craft Storage with Sauder Bookcases

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Do you love the look of custom built-ins, but not the hefty price tag that comes with them? If you have unlimited funds at your disposal to do with whatever you like, this is not the post for you. This is for those who want the designer look on a tight budget, like us. As you may know from our recent new home tour, we are remodeling and decorating pretty much every room. Today I am sharing a peak into the studio. See how I am using affordable bookshelves from Sauder to help organize the space in style!

The ultimate plan here is to add trim and crown molding to make these bookshelves look like custom built-ins. I ordered four 5 Shelf Bookcases from the Sauder website for under $250. There is a ton of furniture to select from on the site, which is well organized and easy to navigate. The product was on my doorstep in no time!

Assembly was a cinch with easy to follow directions, taking about 30 minutes per bookshelf. If I could change anything, I would add marks where the nails should go in the backing. It was hard to know if I was on the wood or not, but I got better at it as I went along, and was a pro by the fourth bookshelf!

If you are keenly observant you may have noticed that the bottom shelf in the first image I showed you is raised compared to the initially assembled shelves. That is a part of the custom built-in plan. These bookshelves are perfect for such a project, but I needed the bottom shelf to be a few inches higher to be flush with the baseboard we will be adding for the built-in look. I cut a 1×12 to fit and attached it to the assembled piece with pocket holes. You can see the added shelf is perfeclty flush with my baseboard! More on that project to come.

If you aren’t up for tackling the custom built-in project, these bookcases are still a great solution for stylish storage! I love the white, and they are the perfect size for inexpensive storage bins to keep you organized.

Stay tuned for the built-in transformation!

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Sauder. The opinions and text are all mine.

DIY Crafts, Jewelry and Mixed Media with Blitsy

This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Blitsy. All opinions are 100% mine.

DIY Leather BraceletIf you love making mixed media art, jewelry, paper crafts and pretty much anything DIY, you are going to want to check out Blitsy. You can visit this online craft store for up to 70% off of the latest products for all of your creative needs. It is no secret I love mixed media, die cutting and creating with resin. I became a member at Blitsy, which took less than 2 minutes, and I was impressed to find some great deals on my favorite products! ICE Resin was way cheaper than what I pay at my local craft store, and about 35% less than other online sources. The same goes for Spellbinders Media Mixage line, and there were some great collage papers that I hadn’t seen and must have. That is exciting!

Why Become a Blitsy Member?

It is free. It takes seconds. Becoming a member gives access to weekly private sales on Blitsy.com. Each sale features collections of crafting products at fantastic deals prices. New sales begin every Monday through Saturday at 10:00am CST and last for 4 days or until the items are gone. You can get free stuff! For each new member you refer that ends up making a purchase, you get $10 dropped into your account for shopping at Blitsy. It’s easy to use your personal referral link to spread the word via Twitter, Facebook, email, and all your favorite places to scream from the rooftop. Blitsy has an Inspira tion Gallery to get your creative wheels spinning, and for sharing your own creations. Leather-Stitched-Bracelet DIY Learn how to make this adorable DIY Leather Stitched Bracelet, and other fun projects. You will be right where you need to be to buy the supplies at a steal of a price and get creating!

Visit Sponsor's Site

DIY Ornaments Christmas in July

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DIY Christmas Ornaments with Mod Podge Sheer Colors @savedbyloves Christmas in July

[pinit]

Hi everyone! It’s Colleen, from Just Paint It. You know, every year, it’s the same thing. I tell myself I’m going to do one Christmas project each month so when December comes, I’ll be ahead of the game by eleven projects or so. Every year I fail and right after Halloween the craziness starts and before I know it, the holidays are over and I find myself saying, once again, ‘next year will be different’.

If you’re like me, you’ll enjoy this project. Especially if you like giving handmade presents for the holidays. I love giving ornaments as gifts because it’s something most people will actually use. With this tutorial, you can make a few or more and start checking names off your list before school starts!

So let’s get started!

DIY-Xmas-Ornaments

You’ll need some clear ornaments. These are plastic but glass will work too.

DIY-Xmas-Ornaments

You’ll also need something to ‘tint’ the inside of the ornaments. I used Mod Podge Sheer Colors in aqua and green. It comes in a variety of colors.

You can also tint plain Mod Podge with food coloring and make your own colors.

You just pour the Sheer Color in, swirl it around a bit and turn the ornament upside on a plastic cup or something similar for the excess to drain into.

DIY-Xmas-Ornaments

Now, I won’t lie to you, it takes a long time for this stuff to dry. I even thought I’d done something wrong but no, it just takes a while. I finally took a hair dryer, blew on both the inside and the outside of the ornament. Be careful though. Plastic can soften and glass can get hot!

A friend of mine suggested placing them into a bowl of rice overnight. Apparently the rice will absorb the moisture. Now I wish I’d paid attention in Science class.

DIY-Xmas-Ornaments

Once the color has dried, take a cotton ball moistened with rubbing alcohol and clean the outside to remove any oil from handling them.

If there are any drips around the ornament’s opening, a utility knife will easily remove them. Then put the ornament hanger will fit easily.

DIY-Xmas-Ornaments

You’ll want some place to set the ornaments while you’re painting them. A few split peas or beans in a bowl or the box they came in works great.

Of course, if you use rice to dry the inside then you’re all set.

DIY-Xmas-Ornaments

To decorate the outside of the ornaments, I used Martha Stewart’s Multi-Surface Craft paint in Silver. Since it’s multi-surface, it’ll work fine on glass or plastic. But the other reason I love it is because they make these fine tip tops that screw right on to the paint bottle. Instant puffy paint or paint writer!

I used silver to match the ornament hanger but gold would be lovely too.

DIY-Xmas-Ornaments

Like with anything, you’ll want to practice a bit – even though all we’re doing is basically dots. You still want to get a feel for the flow of the paint thru the tip.

It only requires minimal pressure on the bottle to get the paint to flow. If you have to squeeze it, get a straight pin or needle and remove the clog. Otherwise you’ll wind up with a spurt of paint when and where you don’t want it. Trust me on that.

DIY-Xmas-Ornaments

There’s no right or wrong way to do this. I just start making dots, then I decide if I want to connect them with a line or not.

DIY-Xmas-Ornaments

This is where having a place to set the round ornaments comes in really handy. Although I prefer holding them in my hand while I’m dotting them.

The silver will dry pretty quickly – nothing like the Sheer Colors. The paint will ‘cure’ after 28 days.

DIY-Xmas-Ornaments

That’s all there is too it!

DIY-Xmas-Ornaments

Now you have two less presents to buy. Unless you keep them for yourself.

I won’t tell. I promise.

Thanks so much for hanging out with me today! I hope you’ll come visit me at Just Paint It soon. You can also find me on Facebook, Google+, Pinterest and Instagram. And of course, I’d love for you to drop by my Etsy and Zazzle stores.

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