Rocking Horse Before and After

Is it just me, or are there lots of baby showers to attend these days? I think it's just this stage of life. Surely it's not the water.

When I'm out thrifting, I always stay on the lookout for unique baby presents so I'll be ready for the next shower. One morning I ran across this sad little wooden rocking horse for $2. It looked like someone had tried to spray paint it black and then gave up.
I couldn't help but imagine it painted and pretty, and the cheap price tag made it easy to say yes. So I took it home with the idea that, once refinished, it might be a great gift for a baby shower I'm attending this month. I started sanding and discovered this...
No wonder it was $2! But some wood filler, lots of sanding, and even more coats of blue paint led to this...


I used my trusty Silhouette machine to cut out a vinyl monogram in the baby's initials, and then whipped up some rosettes (how-to here) that match the nursery colors picked out by the mommy-to-be.

Unique, thoughtful and TWO DOLLARS. I can't wait to give this to her!

Linking to:
Sew Much Ado ... Beyond the Picket Fence ... Tip Junkie ... Skip to My Lou ...

Breakfast Room Before & After

This breakfast room wall has been my nemesis. Sometimes when you have a large blank canvas, it can be more challenging to work with than a limiting space. That's the way my brain works, anyway. But I've overcome!
See? Gigantic, blank canvas. Some of you have minds that can visualize within 2.6 seconds exactly what you would do with this space. I am not among you. We added the chair rail months and months ago, as a first step in the direction we wanted to take this wall. I won't even pretend to give you the tutorial on that project. It was all hubby and his handyman brain. I think I held the tape measure once though.

We had dreams of installing picture frame molding underneath but we knew that project would take forever to finish because of my husband's work schedule. So we nixed it until we found these little beauties...
Ready-to-go molding! We priced out this molding style and the ready-made was a much more cost-effective option. This kind came from Lowe's. Here's a close-up so you can copy-cat if you'd like.

A laser level on a tripod made keeping everything in line a much easier task.
I'm sure there are very specific tools that should probably be used with these, but we're cheap frugal. So we used nails that were actually meant for a nail gun that we had on hand. You have to use very thin nails with this project or you'll damage the molding.
Can you just imagine the patience my husband has to let me stop him mid-project to take pictures of him doing this?
We (and by we I mean my husband) used a regular hammer to secure them into the molding and wall, but then used a punch to countersink the nails into the frames. It makes a big difference in the finished product.
Five frames later, it was getting much better. I would imagine the frames can be cut, but we purposely spaced ours out to account for outlets. And, no, we didn't paint the molding beforehand. They match! Who cares?!
A few botanical prints and clearanced-out matted frames and...

SO much better. I almost breathe better when I walk through this room (which is all day, every day). Marking a gigantic project like this off of our lists is a big relief!
What's on your to-do list?

Linking to:
Sew Much Ado...Sumo's Sweet Stuff...Today's Creative Blog...Skip to My Lou...Tip Junkie...Someday Crafts...Beyond the Picket Fence...Creations by Kara...Tatertots & Jello...Remodelaholic...Thrifty Decor Chick...