HomeMade Bathroom Spray

If you've never heard of poo-pourri spray...well, here it is. It is a natural "before-you-go" air freshener for your bathroom. Their web site says that "Poo-Pourri is not a chemical cover up! Based on aromatherapy principles, a squirt of two into the bowl forms a protective layer of essential oils that prevents nasty smells from showing up..."

Ok, so I first heard about this from one of my favorite bloggers Jill over at One Good Thing By Jillee. But just like her, and probably many of you, I believe in the power of essential oils, and I didn't want to pay $14.95 for a 4 oz. bottle of this spray, just in case it didn't work. So here is what I used:

15 drops Lemongrass Essential Oil

15 drops Spearmint Essential Oil

6 oz water

small spray bottle

(it's ironic that my spray bottle says "I Go")

Fill the spray bottle with water, add essential oil drops and shake.

As you can see, I've already used mine quite a bit!! 

Now to use, Jill's instructions were spot on...

BEFORE nature calls, shake bottle to mix well, spray your toilet 3 or 4 times, then "do your business". The oils will disperse over the water creating a vapor barrier and trap any offensive smells.

I had to try this and let me tell y'all, it works, and it works good! I can't believe I didn't know about this before now. Thanks Jill!! I've even mixed a teeny-tiny spray bottle to keep in my purse for those "away from home" bathroom visits! Okay, enough about this subject...Thanks for reading!!

Before and After: Vanity Set

There's nothing like a good garage sale. My mom and I hit them up every chance we get! I saw this vanity at an Estate Sale a while back and I bought it immediately.

I've been wanting one of these for my bedroom ever since we moved in. This one will be a perfect fit, it just needs a little TLC. So I used my oil rubbed bronze metallic paint, that I seemingly use for everything, and this Krylon 18K gold leaf paint pen...

I rolled on one coat of paint, let it dry for a few hours, then painted all the corners and crevices and let it dry over night. I removed the seat from the stool and recovered it with a piece of scrap fabric I had stashed away. I gave the stool 2 coats of Krylon Oil Rubbed Bronze spray paint.

Have I told you how great Krylon products are? Yea. Awesome. Even with 2 coats, the stool was completely dry in about an hour. So, I recovered the seat with the leftover fabric, screwed it back on and voila...instant makeover!!

The vanity looks just as great! Once it was dry I accented it with the gold paint pen and it looked even better!!

And here it is, all prettied up, in my bedroom. I can't tell you how much I love this. And it only cost $30!! The original stool was sort of small, so I switched it with one I already had in my bathroom. It's perfect because I can slide it all the way under so that the space feels nice and neat. And the color of the stool already matched too! It turned out to be a perfect place to display some of my favorite accessories!!!

The wall space above and around the vanity is so plain right now, I mean, completely empty! I have huge plans for it so stay tuned! Thanks for reading!!

DIY Jewelry Display Stands

I've been holding this post in drafts for about 2 months now...sad I know.

One Instagrammer asked me how I did it, which prompted me to finish this post so that they could check it out and maybe try it themselves...

I originally saw them on a blog that I can't, for the life of me, recall the name of. But I saw them again on Pinterest, so I knew I had to make them! (the pinned photo has a broken link)

So here's what you will need:

wooden plaques (Hobby Lobby for about $1.50 each)

wooden spindles (I cut them off of an old chair)

decorative knobs (Hobby Lobby for around $3-10 each)

craft paint

screws

hand saw

Here's how:

Cut your spindle to desired height. I used a hand saw like the small one in the picture above. I think it's actually a drywall cutter. It only cost about $2 at Walmart.

(Original Blogger'sTip- If you are going to cluster a few together, cut them at different heights to add interest!)

Pre-drill holes in the top and the bottom of each spindle & also in the center of each wooden plaque. This will ensure that the wood doesn't split.

Screw the wooden plaque to the bottom of the spindle.

Screw the decorative knob to the top of the spindle.

Done!

I painted my display stands, but this step is optional. The most expensive knob I purchased was only $9.99 and they were all 50% off at the time! I bought enough supplies to make 4 stands (only 3 pictured here), so total price for making 4 of these beauties was right around $20! That's super cheap! You can use them to display your watches, bracelets, or whatever!! Enjoy...

*follow me on Instagram (@missthompson)

Thanks for reading!!

DIY Wood Nail Polish Rack

 No Foam Board here!!

I got the idea to use wood instead of foam board from dulcecandy.com. Depending on your polish brands and size/types you could display hundreds of bottles here...I currently have 187 bottles displayed here and about 90 more that had to stay on the table top (I know my little collection is no where near some of you super serious varnish lovers out there!)...watch my YouTube video below to see how I made this!!

Here are the supplies I used:

1 -   24" x 36" back board  $8.34 at Lowe's

2 -   2" x  36" side pieces   $1.97 at Lowe's

10 - 2" x 24" shelf pieces   $0.97 at Lowe's
1 can spray paint (your choice) I used Rustoleum in Khaki $4.24 at Lowe's
Plastic drywall anchors w/screws $2.55 at Lowe's
Gorilla Glue $4.99 at Lowe's
Nails $1.30 at Lowe's
Hammer
Drill (to drill pilot holes and to drill screws into plastic drywall anchors)
Hot Glue Gun & Glue Sticks (i used a high temp gun w/high temp glue sticks)
Pencil
Ruler

If no price is listed, I already had these items.

I spent less than $40.00 on this project and it took me a little over a day to complete it. I really love it...I stare at it all the time!

Thanks for reading!!

Linen/Room Spray Recipe

Linen Spray can be a wonderful thing. But when you customize it to your own preferences, it can be even better.

There are several ways out there that this can be made, some using isopropyl alcohol, and even vodka. But the way that I show here is what works for me.

You will need:

Distilled Water

Fragrance Modifier

Fragrance/Essential Oil

Mister

Funnel

Blend 1 part fragrance/essential oil with 3 parts Fragrance Modifier and mix well.

Add 1 tsp of the fragrance modifier per 2 cups of distilled water. Shake well.

That's it! This makes about 3 cups of linen spray, depending on how you decide to measure out the volumes of fragrance and fragrance modifier. I don't like to make a huge batch because I don't want to have to store large amounts of this, so I use 1/4 cup fragrance and 3/4 cup modifier. And my favorite scent, Pink Sugar, has just the right amount of "umph" for this size batch.

The main benefit I get from making my own linen spray is that I control the amount of fragrance that permeates my room, whether it be strong or subtle. And also, I can play around with my oils and customize my own signature fragrances!

Pink Sugar is my absolute fav! I also used it in my Homemade Bubble Bath. Be careful with the oils you choose because some are not recommended for use on skin. I use the mister seen below because it is small enough to keep in my car console, and it's really sleek and cute! You can use any misting spray bottle or buy the one I have here. 

Fragrance Modifier allows oil to dissolve and incorporate into water. You can buy it here. Distilled Water is water that has been boiled to remove minerals and other elements, then allowed to cool again, which increases it pureness. It can be bought at your local grocery store. This can be really rewarding, play around with it and tell me what you think. Or let me know what recipe you use. Thanks for reading!!

Clean & Simple Saturday

DIY Plate Hanging

I've been wanting to hang plates in the tiny little space between my fridge and pantry forever now, but I hate those ugly brass plate hangers. Yea, you know the ones.

Well, a few months ago I found plate hanging discs at Hobby Lobby. I bought them, then they sat in a drawer for a couple of months because I was scared that if I hung my beautiful plate using this and it fell off the wall...devastation.

I bit the bullet. Hung the plate. Harps played. Angels sang. I was in love. 

Fabulous! No brass sticking out from behind the plate. It looks like it's just hovering there. This thing is the best thing since sliced bread! And it only cost $2.99! Here's what the disc looks like...

Instructions are simple:

1.  Clean the back of the plate with dish washing liquid and water. It must be clean so that the disc will bond properly to your plate.

2.  With your fingers, mix a little water into the glue on the disc. Leave for 3-7 minutes until the glue is sticky.

3.  Apply the disc to the plate, making sure the ring is in the correct position for the plate design. press firmly and rub well to expel any air. Let it dry overnight.

4.  Before hanging, test the strength of the adhesion by pulling firmly on the ring. 

That's it! If you ever want to remove the disc, just soak the plate in warm water.

This is a BeautifulLovelyThing. I am very proud of myself for finally doing this. It fills the small space just right. So if you have those horrible brass things holding your plates on the wall, take them down! Give this disc a try, I'm sure you will love it...

Thanks for reading!!

DIY Light Box

I love my blog. I hate my blog photos. I figured it might help if I just built myself a light box. So I did, and I love it!! And I'm gonna show you how I did it. After Googling, YouTubing & searching Pinterest, I came up with a plan. Here is what I used:

Cardboard Box

Tape

Box cutter/Scissors

White Tissue Paper

Ruler/Yardstick

Marker

White Poster Board

Lamps

Natural Light Bulbs

1. Outline 3 sides of the box using a ruler. Leave about an inch around each edge. Excuse my craft area. I'm having to use my guest room for now.

2. Cut out each side like this...

3. Remove the 3 coordinating flaps, leaving one flap along the bottom edge, like this...

4. Trim poster board to fit and place inside the box. Be sure to use your poster board matte side up to prevent glare and to not interfere with flash, if used.

4. Secure poster board to inside of box. Be careful not to crease.

5. Begin laying tissue paper over box opeings, secure with tape, and trim excess.

6. Continue taping tissue paper on all exposed sides, until your box looks like this...

That's it, you're done! You can add more tissue paper if it doesn't diffuse light how you want. Otherwise, add your light source and it's ready to use! I used 2 desk lamps with these light bulbs.

Here is my desk area with the light box. I'm using one of my custom hand poured candles to try this out.

Look at this...I love it!! 

First light box photo ever. It looks great!!

This is gonna be a valuable thing whenever I get around to opening my Etsy shop.

Here is the same candle without the light box. The color is missed and no matter how hard I try to focus, it doesn't help.

and again in the light box. It makes such a huge difference. I never changed any settings on my camera. I'm so amazed!

If you're taking photos of items that are shiny and you want less glare, you can add plain white paper or card stock to the inside of your box to filter more light like this

I only have two light sources, but I may use a 3rd on top of the box sometimes when I take photos of my nails. Adjust your light positions to minimize shadow and have fun playing with this. If you know of any other tips and tricks to using one of these, please pass them my way. I think it's probably the best thing I've ever blogged about! Remember, do not put your lamps directly against the tissue paper...fire hazard! I hope you try this out if you haven't already.

Thanks for reading!!

Salvage and Season Cast Iron

I have several pieces of cast iron in my kitchen inventory.  My Lodge 12' Skillet is my absolute favorite! I fry chicken in it, saute veggies, use it to put a good sear on a steak and so on. It's so versatile. I've had it for about 7 or 8 years now, so it is very seasoned.

My Dutch Oven, however, is not so lucky. I've had it for just as long, but it hasn't gotten as much love from me as my skillet. So it's time for it to get a little bit of TLC. I remembered a blog posting from curbly.com that I read a while back and decided to refer back to it for restoring this piece. It was too far gone to just clean it out and rub it with oil, like the old folks say. It's way too rusty for that. I needed to start from scratch. Here it is before...

Yeah, I know, yuck. Hmm. Well. Yeah. So I followed every step on the blog. 

Every. Single. Step. But it was totally worth it!!!

It turned out so great!! BLT!!! The lid even looks better. I can't believe I was gonna get rid of this. I can see lots of Goulash, Gumbo & Chili Mac in the very near future. So, in the words of curlby...Savor your cookware, and your grandkids will be able to pass it along to theirs. 

Thanks for reading!!

BLT = beautiful lovely thing

Above Kitchen Cabinet Decor

Ok so, this project has been a long time coming. I have a small, dark kitchen with no window and I have put it through hell in the last couple of years trying to figure out how to give it a Tuscan feel. First I did this...

Need your sunglasses right? It was too bright and way too yellow. My husband said it looked like the inside of a Mexican restaurant. And you can't even see my cookie jars, they just blended right in. So I tried to tone it down a bit by using a chocolate glaze...

A little better, but I still hated it. The white pantry doors look really nice, but that's it. So I painted the whole kitchen back off-white or eggshell or bone or whatever you wanna call it! Then I googled Tuscan-inspired wall finishes and I saw lots of "aged" and "old-world" finishes. So I did this...

I love it!! But it needed something besides my colorful fruit-shaped cookie jar collection to make it seem more "old world". So I started buying pieces here and there (keeping in mind that there are only about 12 inches of decorating space above these cabinets). I bought a couple of sets of clear rope lights and drilled a hole in that cabinet above the microwave to have access to an outlet. I wanted the lighting to be behind all of the accessories so that it would feel more like mood lighting rather than just another light in the kitchen. So I started playing around with the placement of all the goodies and came up with this...

I really love how this turned out! I tried to use all wine & grape themed items to make it feel "Tuscan". What do you think? Take a closer look...

In the photo above, the "BISTRO" letters are hung with double stick tape, the kind with the cushy foam stuff in the middle. I didn't want to nail them  because I really hate nail holes and I may want to change this word one day. I also wanted to be able to see the word, so I just leaned the wooden candle stick over in front of it. In the photo below, I really loved the colors in this plate. So to keep from covering it up completely I used one of my crystal candy jars.

Here's a view from the living room. It's a small space, but I have a very open floor plan, so it works for me!

Here is the same view with only the foyer light on. It can be really dark when you walk through at night with all the lights off, so the small amount of light up there makes a big impact. It's like an adult night light!

I'm very proud of myself for finally doing this. I think it turned out very nice. My next kitchen project will probably be to mount under cabinet lights. Where I live, we aren't able to have a garbage disposal, but when we built the house, the builders still put the switch on the wall. So I would like to have them all wired to that switch. You never know what the future holds! Thanks for reading!!