Dollar Store DIY Christmas Decorations

Backyard Boat Pond

Hi, I'm Liz from Simple Decorating Tips, a DIY and decorating blog. This is a super fun post I've been keeping in my back pocket since I got the backyard boat pond completed last fall!

How to Emboss With Aluminum Foil

I love the look of 3 dimensional art and metal embossing is a fun way to come up with a unique project. This week, I took one of my older patterns, Holiday Partridge, and made her into a brilliant foil embossed piece of art. This easy DIY project is based off of grade school memories.

Christmas Bells From Dollar Store Plastic Bells

I think these bells pass for "metal looking". I wanted an aged silver look and I'm happy with How they turned out!

Antique Gold Table Lamps

I recently purchased a chandelier for our bedroom ceiling. This has some antique gold detail on it and I decided I wanted our bedside lamps to match this. So I decided to try out Rub ‘n Buff on the brushed chrome lamp stands to give them a little transformation!

How to Diy a Concrete Bar Top - in a Weekend!

Hello! Today I am popping in with an easy DIY of one of my favorite design elements in my recent kitchen refresh. My bar top concrete countertop. I love the mix of the concrete with the warmth of the butcher block, and best of all…it’s pretty easy to DIY yourself.

Louvered Hall Tree

I was given a louvered door for free! We knew we wanted to make a hall tree out of it, but we weren't sure if we had all the pieces to make one. Until . . .

So Simple to Make Gorgeous Upcycled Christmas Bottle Lights

I've always loved lights in old bottles. However, the thought of trying to cut or drill into glass bottles has put me off. Well, the other day I came across some fantastic cork bottle lights which eliminate the need to cut into the glass. I used these lights to upcycle some old bottles into gorgeous Christmas lights.

Quick and Easy Upcycled Christmas Decoration Light Boxes

I have seen these pretty glass boxes with Christmas lights in them. But I didn't have any glass boxes on hand so I decided to experiment with some empty cd cases. I had a bunch of empty cases due to another project that used the unwanted cd's. (I made some shiny placemates with them in case you are curious :-) but that's another story.

My Ancestor's Armoire is Now a Story-Box!

Anyone who reads TLLG's HT posts knows that in addition to my entries re my urban garden and the birds which visit it; and my occasional entries about happenings in New York City, I've written about whimsical characters which visit my indoor succulent garden as well as an armoire that I have in the main living area of my studio apartment. The armoire I'm referring to belonged to my grandparent's ancestors but during the entire time that I was growing up, it sat, neglected in a corner of my grandparents' basement as seen below.

Old Window Turned Into a Christmas Decoration Mirror

When my friend had new windows installed in her home I rescued the old victorian sashes she replaced from the dump. I love vintage and rustic styled Christmas decorations. Therefore I upcycled one of these windows into a lovely Christmas decoration for my mantle. As well as looking very festive, I'd used a special spray paint on the glass to turn the window into an antique style mirror.

Playground to Sophisticated Garden Seating

We have reached the point where the children no longer play on the extensive play equipment left by the previous owners of the property. The area the play equipment takes is about a 1/5 of our garden. We decided to take it down and reconfigure this part of the garden, with the aim of creating a seating area with fire pit

DIY All-Year Wreath on a Budget

DIY Painted Sparrow Chargers for a Spring Table

Here’s another dollar store Spring decor project! You know those plastic gold chargers Dollar Tree sells? I gave them a makeover for Spring!

DIY End Table to Hide the Shredder

*This post is sponsored by GBC. All thoughts and opinions are my own*Shredders are a fantastic way to get rid of secure materials, but they aren’t always the best looking or fit nicely into the decor. Since I’m all about beauty AND function over here, I decided to create a much cuter way to house my function driven shredder. Here is the tutorial of how I made a DIY end table to house my new shredder. Let’s get started!Before: The reason for building the DIY end table

How to Crochet a Soap Saver Bag

In this tutorial, I am showing you how you can crochet a very simple soap saver bag for your new bar soap or those little leftover pieces. I don’t know about you but I don’t like to waste anything. Not even little pieces of soap! That is why I love these soap savers so much! You can either use these soap savers for your new bar soaps so they don’t get all goey. Or your can use them for these little leftover pieces of soap that would otherwise literally go down the drain. I like to think of myself as frugal by saving every piece that is still good to use!

How to Hang a Picture Straight With One Piece of Tape

Have you ever tried to hang a picture that has two holes in the back and no matter how much you measure it never comes out straight?Even worse, the holes are slightly off, and you have to keep making new holes.Well, you’re going to love this picture hanging hack. I’m going to show you how to hang a picture straight using a single piece of tape!

How I Made TWO Easter Garlands With Cheap Eggs!

You know I love my garland for every season and holiday! Here are two ways to make beautiful Easter themed garland for about $10 each.

How To Create a DIY Faux Fireplace With Mantle - The Curated Farmhouse

Learn how to create a DIY faux fireplace with mantle. By adding a faux fireplace mantle to your space you instantly create a cozy farmhouse atmosphere. This simple beginner DIY tutorial will walk you through all the materials and steps to build your own amazing insert with our black farmhouse mantle.

How to DIY a Stunning Modern Farmhouse Wood Vent Hood

I love DIY’ing how to tutorials now. BUT…. I’m kicking myself in the butt for not making a proper tutorial on how we DIY’ed this modern farmhouse vent hood back in early 2019. We get asked questions all the time on how we did it. So I’m going to try my best to make one with the few pictures I do have. Being that this isn’t as detailed as most of my other tutorial feel free to leave a comment below with any questions you might have. We would be more then happy to help if you decide to DIY one of these yourself.

Hardwood Wearing? Here is My Hack!!

We installed engineered hardwood in a dark hand scraped hickory in our new home 10 years ago. Over the years the finish on it has worn in high traffic areas. This drives me crazy but I was not about to have the entire main floor refinished, I had to find an easier solution.

Five Ideas to Decorate Eggs for Easter

DIY Window Frame

Aye Matey!

And if you have been keeping up with my projects lately.. this is one more 'barn find' (I got 4 pieces in all, one is not yet complete.. oh who am I kidding , it's not even started LOL). Any who... Meet BOB... as in boring ole buffet. Bob was not quite as bad as Lola (Disheveled to Devine project), but he was still a disaster. Bob had gone through at least 3 color transformations: grey/white, orange (bright orange!) and teal. At some point during these transformations, they also decided that it would be a good idea to cut off the bottoms of his legs (poor Bob!). Then Bob got placed in the big ole barn, and left… in the dark corner… until I saw him. He was BIG, and heavy, and my husband complained (made up at least 3 excuses of why I should not take him home...).. and on the trailer he went (love when I win! ha!). Pay close attention on this one because there is A LOT involved in his transformation and I don't have a lot of room on HT to put it all in , so I will condense a bit. So, here we go............

How to Create a Symmetric Pattern on the Wall

When I was pregnant, I knew I wanted to decorate the nursery walls with solid colours. I was reading an article explaining newborns and infants' vision and how the contrast affects the eye and improves the brain-eye connection.It took me a while to find the perfect pattern, as I wanted it to be symmetric on the wall and aligned- without the need of too many marks on the wall

Minimalist Table Legs From Flat Bar

Well, as it turns out table legs are expensive!I recently built a table from leftover oak parquet flooring. Having put quite some effort into it, it seemed weird screwing some boring legs to it. That is when I got an idea to try to build minimalist table legs from a flat bar.

Simple Farmhouse Kitchen Open Shelves | How to DIY Brackets

We finished these farmhouse kitchen open shelves a few months ago, so I decided it was time to show you guys how we DIYed them! They were so easy and since we did them ourselves we were able to customize them to fit our specific needs.

How to Make Aroma Stones

How to make DIY aroma stones with essential oils. Use these as a natural passive diffuser in small spaces or as a natural air freshener.

How to Make a Simple Ladder Trellis

Recycled Plastic CD Bins

My husband has an enormous CD and record collection. Thousands of CDs. Our best friend (owner of a record store!) gave him 4 plastic CD boxes. Unfortunately, they were of no use to him. And he asked me could I use them. 😂Bring 'em on!As many CDs as he has, I have books. Books on shelves. Books on stools. Books in corners and on chairs. If an area doesn't have CDs, then rest assured it has books.The shelf in my tiny dining room has 2 shelves on the bottom that I am never happy with, no matter what I put on them. Hellllloooo CD boxes!!

How to Make Linen Beeswax Wraps

Beeswax wraps are very easy and inexpensive to make. You’ll love this simple linen version of a popular classic for your natural kitchen. Ever since I first saw beeswax wraps I thought I could make them myself. That is what I did over 2 years ago (you can see that post here). I still use them a lot but I needed different sizes. This time around, I thought it would be fun to use one of my favorite fabrics: linen!

DIY Moss and Egg Easter Topiary

My DIY Moss and Egg Easter Topiary makes a statement on any spring/Easter table.I have seen these run anywhere from $60 to $150 on Etsy and high end decor stores.Because I had everything I needed on hand, and I bet you do too……I created this topiary for just $12.00.That is the cost of 6 dozen eggs.SuppliesApproximately 6 dozen extra large eggs, blown outWilton gel food coloring in blue and greenStrawgrey acrylic craft paintcopper metallic acrylic craft paintskewers foam conepaper or plastic plate to fit the diameter of the pot you choose so that the cone will not fall through.foam pieces or cardboard box to hold the skewers so the eggs can dryglue gunglue sticksmossurn/flower pot with diameter similar in size to the bottom of the cone. Or use a cake pedestal as a baseKrylon Modern White Matte spray paintDirections to Create Egg ColorsOnce you have blown out your eggs, dye the eggs blue and green following the Wilton package directions.The eggs will want to float as they have a hole in them. Using a large spoon, push the eggs down into the colored water and brace the spoon against the edge of glass to keep the eggs submerged.Once the eggs are the shade you want, remove the eggs using the spoon.Blow any excess water back into the glass by placing a straw over the egg hole and blowing into it.Set the eggs on a paper towel to dry.Once the eggs have dried, mix some grey paint with a few drops of water to create a grey “wash”.Place the eggs on the skewer and brush the grey wash over the entire egg.Stick the skewer back in the foam and allow the eggs to dry.Once the eggs are dry, cover the eggs in the copper shimmer color. There is no need to dilute the paint.Stick the skewer back into the foam and allow to dry.Once the eggs have dried, you can also spray them with a light mist of metallic gold for extra shimmer. Be careful to gently spray from about 12 inches away so that you don’t cover the entire egg and lose your base colorDirections for the UrnOnce you have found a suitable container for your cone, you may need to spray paint it the color you would like.I spray painted my pot Krylon Modern White.While my pot dried, I worked on the cone.Directions for the Egg and Moss ConeOnce the eggs are completely dry, starting at the base of the cone, glue a paper or plastic plate to the bottom of the cone. The plate needs to be at least the size of the diameter of the top of your pot.Next, hot glue the eggs randomly up and around the cone, mixing the blue and green colored eggs.Once you have completely covered the cone, begin hot gluing moss in the areas that are exposed and not covered by eggs.Use the moss to conceal the holes in the eggs. A skewer will help you push the moss into place once you have placed some hot glue in the area you want covered.Putting the Moss and Egg Easter Topiary TogetherPlace the plate with the cone on top of your container.Cover any areas where the plate can be seen with moss.Display on your Easter table or your mantel!

Fairy-light Tree for a Small Space

This bookshelf-hanging fairy-light display is perfect for college dorms or tiny areas where you can't stick things to the wall and don't have enough counter space.

How to Make a Tulip Wreath for Easter

Learn how to make a gorgeous tulip wreath for Easter with just a few simple materials, and less than an hour of your time.

DIY Convertible Sand and Water Table With Beer Cooler Option

Most days, I'm desperate to keep my three-year-old son quietly occupied while I wrangle my newborn or get work done. Sensory bins are a great option, but Evan's ability to keep rice confined to a plastic tub is spotty at best.Most sensory bin activities involve making a mess – that's part of the fun!Never heard of a sensory bin, you say? Allow me to share God's gift to moms everywhere...

Marbled Easter Eggs Made With Natural Onion Peel Dye

See the complete FiberArtsy.com Tutorial (link below)Learn how easy it is to make an All Natural Easter Egg Dye using only Onion Skins and Vinegar.Simply simmering your eggs in the onion dyebath gives you a lovely, warm brown shade.However, I am going to take this tutorial a step further and show you how to make awesome and unique Marbled Easter Eggs. So, start saving your Onion Skins! You will need quite a few.

How to Install a Wood Plank Wall

A big thank you to Timberchic for sponsoring this post! A few weeks ago I created a small man cave. More like a corner really. Just a small wall that I designated as a music “room” for my husband and his 12,000 guitars.But when I was done? The rest of the space felt… flat.See, in creating the music wall, I’d drawn a whole lot of attention to how boring the plain white walls in the rest of the space really were.Luckily, I had the perfect solution...In this post, I’ll show you how to install a peel and stick wood plank wall using Timberchic river-reclaimed wood planks. Using basic tools, you’ll be able to complete this DIY in a single afternoon once your planks have acclimated!The BeforeHere’s a true before to give you an idea of what I started with. Hello endless white walls of blah.(Yes, this was taken at Halloween.)

Save Money Making Large Flower Containers

I added two big blue turquoise flower pots on my front porch this Spring. I love the way they look and how they are tall next to my front door. But large containers also tend to have larger expenses.Here are smart money saving ideas for filling a large flower container on your porch, patio or in your garden. These are tips to help you save on the cost of soil, the cost of the pot, and the expense of the plants.

DIY No-Sew Bunny Pillow

Find the easy steps to make a No-Sew Bunny Pillow for spring or Easter. A fun craft project for anybunny, no sewing skills required!