Lowes Creative Ideas round up:the great out doors!

April 24, 2012 By 8 Comments

I am in love with the warmer weather and gearing up for my Lowe’s Creative Ideas up coming challenge ” Curb Appeal!” It’s taking me outside and in search of ways to spruce up my yard! A great place for me to start is to jump online to the Creative Ideas web site or check out my Creative Ideas FREE magazine! There I found some incredible inspiration…

This colorful door mat is a fun welcome to any home! I am lovingthe fun and bright colors and! Nothing says Spring like a bold burst of color!  For full instructions click here!

what kid wouldn’t love this backyard play area! So many fun elements yet so easy to create! A quick trip to the garden department at Lowe’s and some simple assembly is all it takes to recreate this charming play area! For full list of supplies and how to click here!

Have you ever wanted to create a water feature but just didn’t know were to even start? Check out this clever water feature and learn step by step how to make one of your own! I love the metal detail! Full instructions found here!

WE don’t all have  alarge space out doors dedicated to a garden. I was so impressed with this 4 x 4 garden box that Lowe’s suggests for small spaces! It waslks you threw the process of creating a garden with limited space! More details found here!

Your house address can get lost if it doesn’t stand out! Make it pop with a bold place to be on display! This address project has great potential to make your home stand out! For all the details click here!

All of these projects can help turn your outdoor space in to extended living space! When it looks that awesome you’ll want to spend more time enjoying the great out doors! Lowe’s Creative Ideas magazine has endless more ideas on how to create a space you love! Be sure to sign up for the free magazine and free ap! Let the creative ideas begin!

 

Filed Under: Lowe's Projects
8 Comments

Girls room makeover reveal & $100 Lowe’s giveaway

April 16, 2012 By 32 Comments

When we moved our girls down stairs we knew their room was going to take a lot of work! I’m not  a frilly, soft pink kind of mom so no such room was going to exist in my house either! This girls room was going to be a fun reflection of our entire home… bright and cheery! And super important, this new room need to be  suitable for two young girls who are most likely going to grow up in this space.

We transformed our playroom from this:

 BEFORE:

During:

I installed this fun Board and Batten wall and leaned away from the tradition of painting it white! HELLO pink! To be honest it was my way of getting around painting a room girly pink! This punch of pink was the perfect amount for me and my girls love it too! Win, win!

To this…

After:

Matching beds  ($15 each from an estate sale) got a new coat of paint! I used this method found here!

This $30 thrift store dresser got a fresh paint of paint as well! Baskets found at Lowe’s give new bedside book storage!

Wall art and a small desk face the window!

This desk was an amazing find! The space between the wall and the end of the beds isn’t very generous so when I found this 16″ deep desk at a local consignment store I had to buy it right up! It makes the perfect tiny work space that my girls love to play at. The wooden stool also got a fresh paint job and the purple pots on top of the desk came from Lowe’s garden department and are perfect art supply holders!

The fun and bright bedding is where this entire color pallet began! Cynthia Rowley quilts and accessories. Those yellow rugs are also from Lowe’s and have a makeover of their own I will soon share!

The last detail I added to make this space complete was a felt owl placement attached to the door with 3M Command strips! I swear I can’t live without 3m command strips! I hang everything I can with these babies!

I love the colors in this room, For the same fun pallet try using these great Olympic colors from Lowe’s:

Evening Glow, By the Sea, Cerise

This room was a blast to create! From installing the Board and Batten to creating fun storage with baskets! Lowe’s came to the rescue again and helped make this room makeover a hit! For more great ideas on how you can transform a space be sure to sign up for the FREE Lowe’s Creative ideas Magazine!

Giveaway time!

Lowe’s want’s to help one lucky BCD reader kick start a room makeover of their very own! Enter to win a $100 Lowe’s Gift Card! Winner will be chosen and announced On Monday April 23rd on the Blue Cricket Design Facebook page!


a Rafflecopter giveaway

Filed Under: Becca's posts, Before and After, Lowe's Projects, My home
32 Comments

A traditional bird house made from non traditional items!

March 15, 2012 By 13 Comments

Tweet tweet!!! Welcome home little birdies! Spring is knocking on our front door and it’s time to welcome back our neighborhood feathered friends!

This months Lowe’s Creative challenge was to create a bird house out of unsuspecting items from Lowe’s! Can you guess what this little abode is made of?

Molding details make the perfect frame for this easy to build bird house! When theses molding pieces were put together  they created the ideal home shape! You will need the following supplies from Lowe’s:

-Two 6″ molding halves

-One 6×6″  Cedar Hatteras castine (this tops off a stair rail)

- 4′ of rope

-One 1/4″ dowel

- Wood Glue

- Wood Fill

- Paint

- Sand Paper

- Craft sticks

Let’s get started…

1. Measure and find the center and mark where you’d like to drill your door hole.

2. Used a 1″ drill bit to make your hole.

3. Mmeasure and drill a 1/4″ hole for your perch.

4. Hold your two pieces of molding together and drill a hole in the top where your rope will be inserted into.  This step takes another pair of hands so grab a friend.

5. Now that your holes are all drilled you can glue the two molding pieces together!

6. Use a heavy object to hold the two pieces together as they dry over night.

7. Time to fill the cracks! Grab some wood fill and fill the seams.

8. After the wood fill has dried it’s time to sand off the excess fill.

 

Now it’s time to paint!

Hand paint the roof and walls and perch stand. Inserted the perch stand and used a little glue to secure it. String the rope threw the top hole and tied a large knot at the end.

With the house fully assembled it’s time to glue it onto the painted cedar hatteras. Painted the hatteras and turned it upside down making it the perfect base for the house.

Now it’s time for some detail work! I hand painted a shingled roof using a tooth pick! This step took me an hour (YIKES!) but I think it added such a charming look!

Broken and painted craft sticks make a perfect picket fence!I used wood glue to adhere them onto the house!

And there you have it! A charming and simple home for your chirping friends! And YES!!! That is my view from my front door! Pretty amazing huh!

Lowe’s has some fun and impressive bird house ideas in this months Creative Ideas Magazine! Have you signed up for your free subscription yet? If not jump on it!

 

Filed Under: Becca's posts, DIY, Lowe's Projects
13 Comments

Sprucing up a basement bathroom!

February 26, 2012 By 19 Comments

We moved out two oldest girls down to a larger room in the basement this last summer. They love it down there but still won’t use the bathroom down there! They would much rather trek all the way upstairs to use the bathroom then to as they would call it “Use the scary bathroom!”

Ok! I can’t blame them. The basement bathroom may have recently been remodeled (about 5 years ago) but it was far from warm and cozy and welcoming to young kids who are more afraid of spiders and cold tile!

*** Pardon my less then wonderful photos. Again, this is a basement bathroom with horrible lighting so I struggled to get good photos!

This bathroom has a really beautiful furniture piece but it was under accessorized for sure! To be honest this room was only used about 20 times a year when we had house guests so I never really put any thought into the decor. Shame on me!

Here’s an awesome decorating “No-No” example! What the heck, Becks! Now that I have to look at it here I am so embarrassed! I had all intentions to add a panel to the bottom of that curtain panel. Looks totally lame all short but 4 years later I never got around to it and let’s face it…it probably would not have made it look any better! Sigh!

See! Nothing about this space screams “Hey girls! Come on in and sit a while!” So when I had a chance to  spruce up a bathroom space I just had to start in the girls bathroom in hopes that they’d feel totally moved in down stairs!

Color!!!! I knew I had to start with fun color for this space! This darling paisley rug from Lowe’s was the perfect starting point! Pinks, yellows, greens, purples, blues, reds! It had it all! It’s whimsical and playful design helped make this space bright and fun and perfect for a set of sisters who will grow up curling their hair and putting on shades of pink lipstick that are way to bright for their own good!

It was high time I took advantage of this sink! Because it’s the focal piece in the room and an actual piece of furniture I thought I better treat it like  a piece of furniture! Take advantage of its countertop and play on the fact that it looks like a dresser! Cue the candle stick lamp and pitcher full of roses! This space is decorated just as I would had this space been not been in a bathroom. I created a vignette that added height and bulk.

Lowe’s carries a huge variety of Bathroom accessories! Tons of finished to chose from and I totally fell in love with the Allen and Roth line that matched my existing finishes perfectly! Towel Racks, tooth brush holder and this stylish soap dispenser, thank you very much!

Ahh yes! A much improved shower curtain! This shade of blue is for sure my signature color! It’s found in every, yes EVERY, room in my home so why not in the shower downstairs! Allen and Roth have done it again!

I also made sure to grab while at Lowe’s some organization tools for the space! These plastic trays are going to make organizing hair bands, tooth paste and other girly accessories a breeze!

Finally a space my girls are no longer afraid to go into! The last thing this space is begging for is a little art work for the walls! I smell a project coming on!

Thanks to Lowe’s for providing me with the means to create this new space! Be sure to check out all that Lowe’s has to offer when it comes to making your bathroom space fantastic!

Filed Under: Becca's posts, Lowe's Projects, My home
19 Comments

Getting organized

January 16, 2012 By 449 Comments

Now that I had my new craft room painted and new furniture assembles it was time to fill it back up! This part of the makeover process was a little overwhelming for me becasue I wanted everything to not only look great but be functional and accessible! This was going to take boxes, bins, jars and canisters! After looking at what felt like endless options I finally found what I wanted!

To recap…

My old craft room started off with green walls, hand painted button walls and wood toned storage.

After using Valspar Signature paint and IKEA furniture I now had a space that was fresh and bright and ready for filling!

These Allen and Roth Baskets from Lowe’s were the perfect fit for my new bookcases. Like PERFECT fit! This is where my inspiration began! I new I wanted natural elements and these baskets were a great find. Anything Allen and Roth I adore! Remember my Allen and Roth Paintable Wallpaper toy chest! So fun!

Add some Metal buckets, white boxes and red pots from IKEA to the mix and now I had the perfect organizational team!

Next the fun part began! I love to organize so finding the perfect place for everything was a fun task for me! I started by placing my baskets, boxes, jars and bins in the places I thought looked the best. Then I made sure what I filled them with made sense. I shuffled around a few things once I realized I wanted paint over here and ruffles over there but all in all it was a pretty easy process.

When it came to thinking about how I wanted to set up the room I thought about how I was going to use the room. At the desk I knew I knew I wanted certain things at an arms reach. The small metal buckets were perfect for organizing my gel pens, markers, pencils and pens. The Red pot is perfect for task tools I’ll be using while on a projects; things like scissors, pliers and rulers.

Forever I’ve been looking for a great ribbon display to hang on the wall but in the end I really liked how all my ribbon, ruffles, lace and tulle looked on the shelf.

My Allen and Roth narrow baskets were great for storing my lose ruffles and collection of glitter! They tucked perfectly into their shelf.

Kerr jars make the perfect storage for  my buttons and gems!

Paint moved in and made itself at home!

These metal buckets each hold different collections that include broaches, premade felt flowers, magnets, and more!

This pretty red dresser is on the wall when you first walk in! It soon will be filled with more supplies as I finish up organizing. For now it displayed my great vintage Blue Singer Sewing Machine I found at a thrift store for $6!

Great storage products make all the difference! Do you have a space in your home that could use a little organizing? I found great luck with the tools I implemented into my craft room to help create this new space I am loving!

Lowe’s wants to make one lucky readers Organization task that much easier with a $100 Lowe’s gift card!

To enter leave a comment in today’s comment section telling me what space in your home needs a little Organization TLC! For additional entries you can Fan Lowe’s Creative Ideas on Facebook! Let me know you did so in a separate comment!

Winner will be announced on the Blue Cricket Designs Facebook page on Monday Jan. 23rd!

Next up I’ll be tackling the walls! I’m working on a cork board and s few other fun details! In the mean time don’t forget to sign up for your FREE Lowe’s Creative Ideas Magazine where you too can get inspired to make your spaces shine!

Filed Under: Becca's posts, Before and After, craft room, Lowe's Projects, My home, organization, Uncategorized
449 Comments

Beethoven meet Valspar

January 10, 2012 By 18 Comments

Beethoven and I had a little moment in a thrift store in Arizona. Our eyes locked and it was like the universe put us together! He had to be mine! This foot high busk of the talented Mr. Beethoven was $5 and I knew he’d be moving in and setting up shot atop my piano in no time!

If you looked close you’d notice Mr. Beethoven had a few dings and a chip on his shoulder, no pun intended! Nothing a little Valspar spray paint from Lowe’s couldn’t fix.

The key to a great spay paint job is distance, constant movement and two even coats!

Now these are the projects I love! Fast and easy and makes me smile! I have to say my two year old and her friend were a little scared of this guy while he was in the garage getting his makeover! He is now lovingly referred to as “The mean  guy!” It’s ok, Chuck! She has let to learn that he’s just freakin serious about great music!

Check out Lowe’s for amazing Valspar Spray paint. Endless colors that can help you spice up a thrift store find! And don’t forget to sign up for your FREE Creative Ideas Magazine from Lowe’s!

 

 

Filed Under: Becca's posts, Before and After, decor, DIY, Lowe's Projects
18 Comments

Craft Room reveal part 1

December 27, 2011 By 10 Comments

Say good by to Green! This craft room is getting a make over and I’m finally ready to let you have a little sneak peek!This has taken me SOOOOO much longer then I ever thought, I blame the holidays but here I am ready to share…. AND no!It’s not done yet but I am getting so excited that I need to share!

You all know my issues with picking paint colors! I SUCK! So it’s no surprise that I went back to Lowe’s 3 times to have them retint my paint! I settles on the darkest color and to be honest I couldn’t tell you what this color is called becasue it’s a combination of THREE! Lets just call it “Craft Room Blue!” After what felt like hours of sanding off the hand painted tuffted buttons and stripes I was ready to paint! And May I add I had to paint the ceiling, walls, floor boards and door! My blisters had blisters!

After a WHOLE lot of this…

I finally had the blue colored room I dreamed of! I used Valspar Signature paint from Lowe’s! Let’s just say the Lowe’s paint department knows me pretty well by now!

Next comes the HUGE task of assembling furniture from IKEA! 3 bookcases, 1 desk, and one dresser to go! And then the organizing! I LOVE this part!

Lowe’s is the perfect head quarters for organization! Baskets, shelving, orgnaization trays! They have it all!

More to come in the great Craft room reveal! Be sure to sign up for the FREE “Lowe’s Creative Ideas Magazine for more ideas on makeovers, organization and inspiration!

Filed Under: Becca's posts, craft room, Design, DIY, Lowe's Projects
10 Comments

Toy Box Makeover

December 6, 2011 By 24 Comments

Seems like we’re always on the hunt for great storage solutions around the house. When it comes to helping kids stay organized and motivated to keep their space neat the classic toy box might just be the perfect solution!

This toy box called my name when I saw it at the thrift store but the stars and moon cut out were not its best feature! But for $12 I knew I could work some much needed magic on it and turn it into a real storage solution that looked great too!

 What  a difference some paint and wall paper can make! Enter LOWE’S! With just  a few supplies and a little time this toy box became a new piece of furniture I’m proud of.

I gathered a few items from Lowe’s to help with this makeover! My newest favorite craft product has to be the Allen and Roth Paintable wallpaper (under $20 for 11 yard roll!) This stuff is amazing!  It’s like embossed paper that would look beautiful on a wall and it was perfect for this toy box. More projects with this wonder stuff to come! I also grabbed Krylon spray paint and new hardware!

1. I first cleaned the wood toy box and got rid of dust, dirt, and the sticky price tag.

2. I measured each recessed panel and used my cutting board and rotary cutter to cut the wall paper panels for each side.

3. I used 3M spray adhesive as my glue. I sprayed a layer of glue on each panel and waited about 20 second before I added the paper. That gave it time to get extra tacky.

4. I added a wallpaper panel and pressed it down evenly. I used a wet cloth to scrub off any of the excess glue.

5. For the back of the toy box I measured out my panel and cut a piece of wall paper slightly taller then I needed. Once it was glued on I used an X-Acto knife to trim off the top. It was a smooth flush cut.

6. Once my wall paper panels were dry it was time to move the toy box outside to get ready to paint!

7. I did a few coats of spray paint and let it dry over night before I moved it back in!

 

Much improved right? I replaced the missing hardware inside and now have a darling toy box for my little girl’s room. The painted wall paper adds such a fun texture and so much charm! Now I have tons of leftover wall paper that will be put to great use for other projects!  Man I love that stuff!

Don’t forget about the FREE Lowe’s Creative Ideas magazine! For more fun and inspiring project ideas using great Lowe’s products…

Filed Under: Becca's posts, Before and After, Lowe's Projects
24 Comments

A Thankful tablecloth

November 15, 2011 By 76 Comments

 

During this time of year we seem to have thankful hearts! Why not turn our thankful attitude into a fun and functional reminder of all the things we have been blessed with, appreciate and want to celebrate this season! Creating a Thankful Tablecloth is an easy  way to get your entire family in on the fun.

Start by gathering your family and ask them to help you make a list of all the things they are thankful for! The more words the better! List loved ones names, special dates, personal luxuries, hobbies, vacation locations…the skies the limit!

Next….

Head on over to Lowe’s for your tablecloth supplies! YEP! Lowe’s! This darling project comes straight to you from Lowe’s! A drop cloth and some Sharpie markers and a steady and patient hand are all it takes to create this thankful look!

1. Drop cloths aren’t just for painting projects anymore! I have  a square table so finding table cloths that fit is already a difficult task for me! I love the natural color of these drop cloths and knew it would make a great starting point for this project! Lowe’s sells a 9′x6′ drop cloth for under $11. You will also need broad tip Sharpie Markers also sold at Lowe’s for under $3 for a two pack.

2. Cut your drop cloth to fit your tables need. In my case I made mine 6′x6′. Hem your cut edge.

3. You’ll want to iron out the creases in order to have a smooth writing surface.

4. Before laying out your drop cloth onto your table you will need to add butcher paper or newspaper to help avoid getting ink on your table.

Now comes the fun part! I started with my most important words! You’ll want to spread them out, have then face different ways and use different “fonts” when you write them! You’d think it would be hard to keep your printing straight but the thread grain make it super easy to keep your lines straight! You will adjust your printing size to fit sections of the drop cloth. Have words facing upside down and sideways! The more fonts and styles of writing the better!

And all of a sudden…4 hours later (Yes! This is a little time consuming but SOOO worth it!) you’ll have this awesome keep sake that will be a fun conversation piece and a lovely reminder of all the blessing you and your family have! And don’t freak out if you misspell a word or TWO in my case! I could have spit nails when I misspelled GRANDPARENTS and FOOTBALL! I know right! Trust me…do the writing with no distractions! Don’t be talking on the phone or helping your 2nd grader with homework! If it does happen just keep working! It will blend in and now you have a fun game to play at dinner…” Who can find the misspelled word!” Grab a prize or two for the winner!

Lastly I added this beautiful Quatrefoil Mirror also from Lowe’s for a centerpiece. I love the way it adds weight and reflection to this look!

 

My girls loved finding their names and all the words that they suggested! Certain things that tug at my own heart strings are my wedding date, special friends, vacations and inside jokes! It really was a fun way to realize how blessed I truly am! I hope you and your family can create a table cloth as meaningful as this is is to us!

 

Thanks Lowe’s for being a hot spot for inspiration! After reading the latest issue of Lowe’s Creative Idea’s magazine I was totally inspired to get my Holiday craft on! Have you guys signed up for the FREE Lowe’s Creative Ideas Magazine yet? This free publication is beyond amazing! I have never seen such creative ways to put unsuspecting items to create beautiful holiday decor! You can get a peek at what I’m talking about here online but be sure to sign up for the free Creative Ideas Magazine so you can get inspired as well!

Filed Under: Becca's posts, decor, Decorating, DIY, Fall, Frugal finds, Kitchen, Lowe's Projects, My home, Thanksgiving, Uncategorized
76 Comments

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