Oh what to do with this window???

We bought our house a few years ago and the kitchen was in need of some TLC!

It was OK at best and a little drab dated for our taste but the rest of the house was FABULOUS (for us that is)!

We were hit with a wonderful unfortunate situation with a water line, and the entire kitchen had to be gutted.

I wish I could say we did the kitchen ourselves with a super easy DIY project, but sadly, we are not that handy.

The pros did this for us:

If you look really close in both pics, there is a hideous gorgeous vineyard border at the top of the walls.

We literally tried every trick in the book to remove this stuff but it wasnt going anywhere.

I worked around it and we now have a wine themed kitchen!

We have a problem with window clutter. (shhhh!)

You can't see it in the pics above, but this is what the window looks like now:

I hate love the curtains! Don't you?

These came with the house and it is TIME they go!

Hubby decided he needs to brew his own root beer and my window sill is his storage for empty bottles.

It also serves as the medicine cabinet, box top collector, vinegar stand, coffee can dryer, yadda, yadda, yadda!

My mission this week is to redo this chaos and finish off the window to match the rest of the kitchen.

 I bought this panel:

It is just the panel. I will update you later this week when i am finished with the transformation.

Framed Art Redo!!

 You gotta LOVE Goodwill!! I go in there every weekend in search of FABULOUS finds!

I used to go alone or with the little daughter but lately hubby likes going with me! :)

On a recent trip HE we found this cutie!

It was $2.99 and great just as is but doesn't match a single thing in our house!

It had this paper backing on it from edge to edge.

 I got my 2nd favorite tool....the Exacto Knife...and got to work removing the paper.

 It came off really EASILY!

 The glass had a mind of its' own and decided that it was going to stay put, so, I listened to it for fear of breaking her.

I cut a piece of SUPER FABULOUS scrapbook paper  and glued it to the cardboard with a glue stick.

As you will soon learn if you continue reading my future blog postings,
I am ADDICTED to vinyl!
This redo wouldn't be complete without the "vinyl touch" so...

I cut out a super cool vinyl decal and attached it to the front of the glass!

I LOVE IT!

Let's break it down:

Framed picture...$2.99

Vinyl Decal...Free (i made it myself)

Scrapbook sheet...$.59

Total...$3.58

I use vinyl in so many of my projects! It is easy to work with and adds a nice finishing touch to anything you apply it to. I use a Cricut machine and SCAL software for cutting and creating my vinyl projects. If you have any questions, please feel free to email me.

Dance like no one is watching....

Hobby Lobby had a MASSIVE 66% off clearance on Valentine's products this weekend and of course I had to see if there were any goodies for me!!

I found this WAY COOL sign blank!!

I knew exactly what I was going to do with this beauty!!

How LUCKY can you get to find something 3/4 of the way complete??!!!

Using my super fabulous Cricut machine and SCAL, I created a vinyl decal that says

Dance like no one is watching

I use contact paper to transfer the vinyl instead of transfer tape...it is SO much CHEAPER and easy to use for these types of projects.
(if you are making vinyl decals to sell, use transfer tape otherwise the adhesive from the contact paper will leave residue behind...big NO NO!!)

I cut the transfer tape the same size as my decal. It is hard to see in this picture but it is there!!

Contact paper is completely transparent so it makes it EASY to figure out where to place the decal.

Using my handy dandy scraper tool, I rubbed over the decal to make sure it was secure on the board.

(this picture was so hard to take!! I am not really left handed but taking a picture with my left hand was impossible lol!)

After giving the decal a good rub with the scraper, I lifted the contact paper gently away.

If the decal lifts with the contact paper, simply give it another rub, then lift again until it peels away completely.

Once I got the decal on the board, I decided it was just a little too plain!! I made a quick bow out of sheer black ribbon, then hot glued it in place.

I am SO happy with the final result. I am thinking about changing the ribbon to black satin but I haven't decided yet.

Let's break it down:

Blank Sign Board    $2.37 (originally $6.99 but 66% off)

Vinyl Decal  Free (i made it myself)

Ribbon Free (leftover from other projects)

Total Cost: $2.37

These are the kind of DIYs I love!

Now I know that some people don't have handy dandy tools and supplies lying around but scrapbook stickers or stencils would work great too.

If you have any questions about this project or any other, email me at andrea@asuniqueasu.com

Valentine's Day Tradition

When Valentine's day rolls around there is one thing that is a MUST in our household...

Chocolate Covered Strawberries!

They are SO expensive to buy so we make them ourselves!

All you need is the strawberries and chocolate.

We used a dip kit which has easy to follow instructions.
If your grocery store doesn't have a dip kit, then bars of chocolate melted over a double boiler will work too!

EVERYONE becomes a helper on strawberry assembly day!

The little one likes to dip! And the big ones,
well...

They like to eat!

Here is our finished work:

We made well over 2 dozen!

Let's break it down:

Strawberries (2 containers) $4.00

Dip kit  $2.77

Total Cost $4.77

Making your own chocolate covered strawberries is so much more affordable and lots more fun!

Photo / Memo Board Wall Hanging

My darling daughter is growing up! She is about to turn 9 you know! She REMINDS me every chance she gets.

We recently repainted her bedroom from the pastel pink and green to a loud beautiful fuschia and grey.

She really wanted a photo/memo board so that she could showcase recent family photos. I was shocked surprised to see that these babies cost anywhere from $20 and up!!

UNBELIEVABLE!

Off to Goodwill I WENT  on a mission to find the perfect frame! I got lucky and found this:

A French Bulletin Board with Pockets!!

I didnt need the pocket so I took it apart...thank goodness this was easy to do. After removing the pocket, I also removed the backing:

I decided the frame needed to be pink since I plan on hanging it on the grey wall.

I used Krylon spray paint for this bad boy! I also made a major MISTAKE eek!!

I DIDN'T prime the frame!!

BIG NO! NO!

But I was in a hurry and didnt want to wait! It took almost 4 coats and I had to scrape part of it once! 

ALWAYS prime a wood surface which was previously sealed.

While the paint dried, i went to Hobby Lobby and bought some cute fabric and coordinating ribbon.

I forgot to take a picture before I attached it to the board:

Here it is already attached to the board. Frame is painted and next was assembly!

The board had a back panel with screws so I reattached them and VIOLA!

Custom Photo/ Memo Board

Let's break it down:

Bulletin Board w/Pocket   $3.99

Fabric  $.61

(i only used 1/3 of the fabric, actual price $1.83)

3/8" Ribbon  $.99 (on sale 50% off)

1 1/2" Ribbon  $1.99

Krylon Spray Paint  Free

(leftover from previous project, normally $2.79)

Total Spend  $7.58

My daughter LOVES how it turned out and I DO TOO!

I had two very helpful lessons learned in this project!

1. ALWAYS prime wood which has been sealed!

2. USE hot glue to secure the bow on the ribbon! This prevents the ribbon from slipping.

This is an easy DIY Done Dirt Cheap Craft that you can do at home! I hope you give it a try and if you need help with questions, email me! 

I linked up at:

Laundry Room Redo / Makeover

One of the most neglected rooms in our house was the laundry room.

I HATED going in there!!!

The room was so cluttered and blah blah boring that I just AVOIDED it as much as possible.

 After searching the world wide web and seeing AMAZING makeovers, I decided it was time for me to do the same!

It was truly remarkable seeing what others have done to their laundry room.

I immediately grabbed my camera and snapped some shots of my darkened dungeon  laundry room:

Scary I know!!

I had to clean it up a little before taking the picture because it was more embarrassing than what you see above.

I figured anything I did to the room would be better than what I had but my budget was SMALL
$250 bucks!!

So much work love needed and not much money!

By far STORAGE was my biggest obstacle. Hubby and I marched on over to Home Depot and picked up this set of unfinished wall cabinet:

We I painted the cabinet Black.

For the walls I wanted a cheery blue color. I taped the baseboards grabbed the ladder and painted my heart away. After I finished painting the room (and it was dry), hubby hung the cabinet.

It was super easy to do after we watched a YouTube video!! If you are not very handy like us, then I highly recommend that you search YouTube for how to videos...such a GREAT resource!!

After a little TLC, here is what we ended up with!

Let's break it down:

Cabinet $89 (on sale, originally $112)

Black Paint $11

(they only had one choice, sad i know but i have lots leftover for other projects)

Wall Paint $15

Curtain set $20

Piggy Bank $10 (for all of the loose change!!)

Washboard $10

Cute Sock Pajama $5

Vinyl Decal FREE!! (i made it myself)

Trash Can $5

Glass Jars $6

TOTAL SPEND-------> $171

A WHOPPING $79 UNDER BUDGET!!

I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE my laundry room! It was the best $171 dollar investment I have made recently. I am so excited and ready to tackle the next project. Many of you may not need to add storage like we did. If you take out the cabinet, then we only SPENT $59 on the whole redo. We needed the cabinet to hide the madness behind it lol!!

This was definitely a DIY Done Dirt Cheap!!