Top left to Bottom Right:
The first is the wall above the fireplace + the mantle, which is one of the most drastic transformations our home has undergone. This fireplace used to be dark red brick. It was a major eye sore, until it got DIY'ed. It took 6 coats of white paint to cover that bad boy {honestly, probably could've taken seven, but I had serious claw hands after 6}. In the grand scheme of things, it's such an easy + pretty cheap update that will totally change the look of your fireplace. In addition to the paint, we added a reclaimed wood wall behind the tv + widened the mantle with a piece of wood as well. The wood was free {from an old abandoned barn}, the paint was already on hand, and the labor was free, so this entire project was F R E E for us {aside from the paint roller + drop cloth}. Free is good.
I shared a different view of our living/dining room this week. It shows the view across from the fireplace looking towards the entryway. I'm standing in the far corner next to a double window, for reference. This picture features my dad's handiwork with the reclaimed wood farm table that he gifted me for Christmas this year {also free wood from an abandoned barn; he's got connections in the form of a truck + good eyeballs}. Our chairs are from Overstock and I love the dark metal spindle feature with the wood seat. You can also see my antique fan that I found on Craigslist for $10 years ago, and my DIY painters drop cloth curtains. But the real star of this picture, as you'll see later in the post, is the DIY light fixture. Stay tuned.
You probably saw this picture already on social media, but if not, it was a picture I posted as part of the hashtag #mombiesrise, which is a fun little tag on IG for moms to post pictures of their mornings. Well, this particular morning produced my favorite picture of all time and my most popular picture on Instagram...ever {well, aside from maybe Emerson's birth announcement}. The company that made the shirt reposted my photo to their IG account and it was also their most liked picture ever to date with some 1200+ views! {What? So cool!} Totally unexpected, but they even offered me some free merchandise for it. I'm always game for comfy graphic tees {and like I said, free is good}. Anyway, her face paired with the saying on my shirt is the most hilarious thing I've ever seen. I did not bribe her or prompt her to make that face; it was all her and just a perfectly timed snapshot. :) You're welcome.
This is a portion of Emerson's room, which I briefly mentioned in last week's Organization: Emerson's closet edition post. I painted her closet door back before she was born. The room was lacking pizazz + so I went for it. It is seriously one of my favorite things in our house. It's so colorful + really brightens her room. I also loved that this picture captured a view in the mirror of the painted wooden "E" that my dad and I made for $8, and also the raindrop mobile that I DIY'ed using scrapbook paper + yarn. The "X+O" on her gallery wall above the changing table is made out of a cardboard box that I cut out using an X-acto knife + simply painted to match her room. Another fun fact: her changing table "dresser" is the bottom portion of a kitchen hutch that I used in our kitchen once upon a time. I removed the hutch and painted the whole thing white. Works like a dream + great for storage. Oh, and that little pillow on the door was mine + it still plays lullabies 28 years later. How sentimental.
The star of today's post is the light fixture in the picture above. In our connected living and dining rooms, we do not have overhead lighting. I don't mind using lamps because they're cozier anyway, but it was kind of annoying not having a light over the table whenever we'd have guests {which isn't all that often, but still}. I was bored one day over the summer and had lots of free time. Clearly, this was pre-Emerson {and remember, I used to have summers off as a teacher}.
I found a large white paper lantern on sale at Target for $10. I think they're usually upwards of $20, but don't quote me on that. Anyway, I bought it because I was originally thinking I could use it outside on our porch, but that was a bust, so I had to get creative. I had seen a couple of pictures on Pinterest related to creating a mini-version of this fixture using coffee filters and a hot glue gun. Easy enough, right? Well, 5-6 hours later and approximately 35 burns in, I had completed this monstrosity of a light and I LOVED IT. I still love it to this day. It is one of the first things people see when they walk in this room + always one of the first things to receive compliments. I have to be honest and say that I am really proud of this DIY. Not only does it make a huge statement, but it creates such soft lighting at night, that it's just perfect for dinner guests, or a romantic dinner with the hubs...because you know, we do that often, in all of our free time...
So, how did I make it? Like I said, I bought the lantern {I'm sorry I don't know what size it is, but it's larger than the standard 10"}, the coffee filters {like 500-600} and hot glue. LOTS OF HOT GLUE. To begin I assembled the lantern, so that it was round + full. Then, I took one coffee filter at a time and pinched the inside of it so that it crumpled up in the center brining all of the edges together like seen below.
I added hot glue to the pinched portion and stuck it to the lantern. I literally did this about 5 million times {or 600} until the entire lantern was covered and full-looking. Then I put a metal eye hook in the ceiling + hung in from that. My lantern has a cord that plugs into the wall, so I had to "swag" it, if you will. Luckily the cord is white, so it blends in with the ceiling fairly well.
That's it. It's such a simple DIY, but it makes such a big impact. As I've mentioned, it does require a lot of patience, and I would recommend wearing heat-repellant gloves. {I'm kidding, but only kind of} This would be a terrific DIY if you wanted to group a couple of small lanterns together, for a less time-consuming option, or if you wanted to go big, then try this one! I've also seen where people dye the filters using coffee to get a stained effect. I prefer the white personally, but hey, could be cute.
If you give this DIY a try, be sure to send me pictures or tag me in a picture of it! I would LOVE to see your creation! Thanks for reading. Until next Monday...XO!
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