easy DIY

DIY – Stair Runner Upgrade

| The Bee Life

Our first project of the year is complete! After being sick most of January, we finally had enough energy to conquer this project which was a quick 3-hour project with a huge impact. After seeing Peony and Honey’s stair runner makeover, the wheels were spinning, but nothing started to move. It wasn’t until we put our removable stair treads back on our bare wooden steps that I was not loving the look anymore! So I did a little extra research, found some runner options, and pitched the idea to B.

We had a two-tiered staircase with a larger landing with bay windows going up to our second floor. So there was some debate about how to treat the landing – which may still be coming, but for now is going to be bare wood floors. Regardless, we needed to get two runners for our project to account for the two runs. We figured out our length needed by measuring the stair height and tread and then multiplying it by the number of steps to get our total length in feet. Oh! And this is definitely a two-person job if anything to help keep the carpet tight while the other staples in place.

DIY Shopping List:
– Runners according to your measure length – we ordered a 2x10ft and a 2x12ft rug
– Electric Staple Gun
– Staples
– Pliers
– Exacto Knife

I was honestly hoping this project would be a little more affordable, but we ended up picking out runners that were more expensive, which drove the majority of the budget. The runners are definitely more plush, which was good for hiding the staples. This one couple, which was part of my research did theirs for $100 – so it’s definitely possible to do this on the cheaper end with some more affordable rugs and different nailing tools. This DIY project was around $360 for us.

Before we got started, I vacuumed and washed the steps with Murphy’s Oil Soap to make sure they were super clean (& dry) before we put the runners on. After all of our construction, they definitely needed it! The smaller of the two stairs took us a little over an hour to get the runner on, and then larger steps, closer to 2-hours because it was a little bigger and these are the main stairs you see from the first floor.

Step-by-Step:
1. First you start at the top of your stair, with the flat end of the rug – make sure it’s centered within your stair with equal length on either side before stapling into place. Stapling along the sides of the rug and top is key to getting it secure!
2. Make sure it’s tight, as you work into both back of your stair to fold over top on the stair topper.
3. Once you get to the first ledge, it’s important to fold over and staple along the length to keep it in place and tight! Ours was tricky because it was very plush, so finding the sweet spot in between the plush was crucial to getting a tight and secure staple in.
4. Basically rinse and repeat down your stairs! You definitely get the hang of it after the first couple of stairs.
5. Once you get to the bottom, get an exacto knife to cut your leftover rug. We put a piece of wood underneath as to not damage our flooring and get a good straight cut across. Using heat along the cut edge will help from fraying – I suggest a heat gun. (We ended up cutting a little longer, and folding under to avoid the fraying).
6. Afterwards, I went back and replaced any staples that were super noticeable, or hid them by adjusting the rug with pliers ever so gently. I also went and reinforced any sides and areas that moved more than I liked.

  • Dog Sitting on Stairs

B and I love how this turned out – and it is definitely an upgrade! As I mentioned, we may add a runner to the landing that matches or update the landing rug on the second floor to match this as well for a little more cohesion. I also feel like we need some new curtains for the bay windows… *immediately opens the Target app*.

DIY – Easy Fall Floral Hoop Wreath

| The Bee Life

The fall hoop wreath trendy train drove by my house and I jumped right on! And I’m so glad that I did. To be fair, I was planning this for awhile — but I like to wait until October to give in to fall, and I always love a good statement piece for my Sherwin Williams Commodore front door! Best part? I purchased everything online for contactless delivery or pick-up and everything came straight to me!

Two key decisions were made early on; (1) I went the embroidery hoop route vs. a metal hoop, why? Because I felt it was a little more homey and sturdy. Decision (2) I wanted a big hoop, like double the normal size to really fill up my front door. So, because I went oversized with the embroidery hoop I needed to make sure I had enough florals to fill it in, and that they were proportionally sized to the hoop. I also picked colors that were fall inspired, but also would pop and coordinate with my blue door – orange seemed perfect with a mix of pinks and creams.

DIY Shopping List:
– 23″ Embroidery Hoop
– (1) Jumbo Cream Peony Stem (my focal point)
– (2) Sunset Orange Peony Stem
– (1) Cream Peony Bush
– (2) Orange Pom Pom Stem
– (2) Mauve Spider Mums Stems
– (2) Blush Chrysanthemum Stem
– Hot glue gun and glue sticks
– Burlap ribbon / left over ribbon

Estimate project cost: $60

Step-by-Step DIY Instructions:
1. I started with my oversized cream peony to determine the focal point of my hoop wreath – so I plucked it from the stem and glued it on the rim of the embroidery hoop. From there I used the orange pom stems to help add a baseline for where the rest of the flowers would flow. I glued these right along on top of the edge of the hoop and bent the blowers in the arch shape.

2. Next, I plucked the orange peony and cream peonies and played around with arranging them to flank the larger peony. I put the orange peonies on either side of the oversized cream peony and then started to fill in with the pink spider mum and chrysanthemum. I also made sure to pull off some of the peony greens and filled in and layered between flower placement.

3. I made sure to raise one side up higher with more of the orange pom stems and greens! The best part to remember is you can play around with the flowers before finally putting them into place with the hot glue and take it one at a time to build and fill in your hoop wreath. I also didn’t want complete symmetry so made sure to keep it a little mixed up!

4. To finish off the floral hoop wreath, I found some old burlap ribbon and cut a little piece to tie around the gauge part on the embroidery hoop to cover it up to hang on the door hook and on our front door!

I really love how it turned out, and that I went with the oversized hoop — it really makes a statement on the front door, just like I wanted! If you decide to go with a smaller hoop, you probably won’t use as many flowers or need an oversized one and utilize a few smaller floral stems.

DIY – Painted Cork Board Makeover

| The Bee Life

Whenever we travel back to visit my parents, I always try and snag some of my childhood things to bring back or get rid of! So when I saw my old high school half and half white-cork board, I initially thought I didn’t want or need this — but I still grabbed it and brought it back home. With my new semi-permanent home office, I realized I could definitely use a space to post inspiration, write important to-do’s and hang a calendar, so as the wheels kept turning, I decided this could use a little face lift!
DIYCork(4)The best part was I was able to cover up my high school doodles that have lived on for over a decade *cringes a little* and give the dated wood grain a fresh and affordable update with the craft and paint supplies we already had. It just required a few coats of paint and a little patiences.

Craft Supply List:
– Old Bulletin Board
– Craft Paint, Colors of your Choice
– Foam Painter
– All Purpose Cleaner
– Goo-Gone
– 3M Hangers Strips
DIYCork(1)Step-by-Step:
1. Once you’ve figured out your colors, it’s time to prep the space. I chose to go with a pretty pink and white!
2. Before I started painting, I had to do some cleaning to remove old dry erase phrases that have been sitting on here for over a decade, so upon doing some research I found that an all purpose cleaner would do the trick – and it did. I left the cleaner sit on the dry erase writings for a little bit and then wiped off, I repeated this a few times until it was all clean!
3. I also had some sticky residue on the wood frame, so goo-gone helped clean that up before it was time to paint. It cleaned off well with a little elbow grease and a few scrubs.
DIYCork(2)
4. I wasn’t entirely sure how the craft paint would go on the bulletin board part — but it went on relatively easy and surprisingly helped cover up some of the missing chunks and the written phrases, initials and numbers I had scattered throughout. It just took a few coats, especially where I had writing. I did sadly cover up ‘The O.C.” — RIP.
5. Next, it came time to work on the wooden boarder. I used some white wall paint for this, that had a bit of a gloss. This went on slow, since it did require about 4-5 coats – but it really helped make the pink pop and refreshed to something that would work better in my office space!
6. Once it was all painted, it was time to hang it up! I hung this with 3M strips and it has stayed up well! It’s the perfect space for my monthly calendar and a few other fun reminders. Although — I have not been great about getting my to-do’s crossed off!DIYCork(3)
Since I updated this old cork-white board, we’ve given the office space a bit of an update too — I’m excited to share next week as I’m just waiting for a few pieces to arrive in the main to finish up the gallery wall! The 3M Strips also worked great for already moving the placement already. It’s been great having a monthly overview calendar at a quick glance that has made this update so worth it, on top of having a fun pop of pink!

bee (1)

DIY – Painted Valentine Table Runner

| The Bee Life

Ohhh, you guys!! This was a fun, easy and affordable craft and I just love how it turned out! This custom Valentine-inspired painted table runner is a spin on an everyday piece and not one that I really ever thought about making, at least one that didn’t involve buying fabric, sewing or investing a ton of time on. Read more to see my supply list, project cost and step-by-step for painting and creating your own X’s and O’s table runner, just in time for a Galentine’s brunch!
DIYTableRunner(3)Craft Supplies:
– Off-white plain linen table runner from Amazon ($14.99)
– All purpose craft paint: Pink / Rose from Michael’s ($0.79 each)
– Smaller paint brush – I have this 7ct Paint Brush set from Target

Project Cost: $17
(not including paint brushes)

Step-by-Step:
1. I order my linen table runner from Amazon, there was a brief though to try and make my own with buying fabric – but I quickly saw that being a disaster. Two-day shipping and $14.99 on Amazon, sounded way better! I compromised on the size (14″ x 72″), as I like a wider table runner since we have a larger dining room table, but found a off-white linen that looked to be perfect.
DIYTableRunner(1)
2. Paint color was my toughest decision – I initially planned to do black, but thought red could be fun and then ultimately decided on a lighter pink as that worked better with dining home decor and I love how it turned out! Now to the fun stuff…
3. Before I got painted, I did have to iron my table runner to smooth out some of the fold marks! I didn’t get it as smooth as I would’ve liked, but it was much better than before – this was definitely needed before painting.
4. Get ready to paint! I put paper bags down in order to paint, and painted on my dining room table — which was a good feel for the space while I painted and scaling my X’s and O’s. Starting in the bottom corner I kept it simple and fit four across and repeated the pattern by alternating which letter I started with and worked my way towards the center.
Pro-tip: I eyed my spacing and letter size, but you could use a ruler to keep spacing even between lines and/or letter height!
DIYTableRunner(2)
5. Keep going until you finish up the length of your runner! Keep in mind as you’re painting if you mess up, or have brush strokes showing, it’s OK — it’s suppose to look hand drawn and painted which gives it a unique look. Besides, from a distance you can’t really see any of the imperfections.

I let this dry overnight before styling this up! I had another pink table runner that was a little wider than mine, so I was able to layer underneath and the pinks complimented each other perfectly! I then added a few jars with conversation sweet heart candy, some fun colorful garland, this table was just needing a few finishing touches for a Galentine’s brunch!

Besides just completely loving how this came out (slightly obsessed!) — the price can’t be beat for a custom piece that fits EXACTLY what you were wanting.  $16 is about the going rate, if not more for you’re every day or holiday themed table runner, so I imagine I’ll be doing this in the future for more holidays or special occasions! Plus it only took me about 45-minutes to iron and paint.

What do you think!?

bee (1)

Valentine Floral Letter Door Decor

| The Bee Life

With the last few days of January, I’m starting to get the house ready for the holiday and love! And our front door is always my starting point. Over the summer I finally made a floral letter craft that I’ve had on my list for year’s (and was a gift) and was inspired to create my own floral letter’s only for some new Valentine door decor. I was pumped when I snagged some seriously discounted pink and white florals over the holidays along with an oversized wooden X and O, this was just what I needed for some pretty and festive Valentine decor!
Valentines_Floral_Final(4)Ok! Here is what you’ll need to get started, in addition to a step-by-step guide to filling in your letters with florals and then securing for a stunning statement piece for your front door!

What You’ll Need:
– 13″ Wooden Letters from Michaels for $5.49 each
– Florals of your choice (7-9 stems)
– Hot glue
– Pink ribbon or color of your choice, make sure it’s at least 3-feet long if you’re working with 13″ letters

Pro-tip: Keep an eye out for discounted seasonal florals in the off season to stock up for future projects or gift ideas!

Step-by-Step:
1. Floral buying tip — always buy a few more bunches than you think! I used about 4-stems of the pink poppy flowers and 3 stems of the white flowers, and I was running short! My initial plan was to do all pink, but did not have enough… which leads me to an important step #2.
2. Once you’ve dead-headed all your faux flowers (removing flower from the stem) — it’s crucial to map out your placement before any gluing! This can help you determine if you need more fillers or need to switch up the design.
3. Now that you have your florals mapped out on your letters, it’s time to start gluing your flowers on! It’s important to be generous with hot glue on the base stem of the flower in addition to the petals if needed to help with coverage. Cut off any additional stem that might make your flowers stick out more than you want! Repeat, until letters are filled in.
4. Allow for plenty of hot glue dry time for your X and O flower filled letters before flipping over to add the handing ribbon. This ribbon will connect the two letters in order for them to hang. Make sure the length of the ribbon is long enough to span the X and O with some extra, to be able to tie a loop/knot for hanging — stretch out over the back of your letters before gluing to make sure you have length. Again, be very generous with your hot glue with this since your floral letters will be hanging from the ribbon. Allow this proper time to dry before trying to hang. Valentines_Floral_Final(1)
Once you have your letters filled in and the ribbon attached, tie a loop to hang on your front door — it’s time to hang! This would even make fun wall decor that could hang inside your dining room or in place of a photo.  I added extra ribbon at the top to have a bow for a nice finishing touch on the door – and love how the pink and white pops on our blue door! Our front door is now ready for the Valentine holiday and spreading love to anyone who passes by.

bee (1)

 

Looking for more Floral Letter Inspiration? Check out my $25 Floral Letter for Baby Shower decor.

DIY – Holiday Snow Globe Place Settings

| The Bee Life

Spoiler! I love decorating and hosting get togethers and I especially love transforming our house into a Christmas wonderland.  Included in that Christmas wonderland is playing around with our dining room decor and making a statement with our tablescape. I love shopping on Pottery Barn, we registered for our wedding there and I always find a few gems, especially seasonal ones that I grab when they’re on sale or occasionally splurge on. So long story short, I saw these Village Snow Globe Place Card Holders and was about to splurge — until I was like, wait it would be super fun to make those!
SnowGlobeDIY-beelife(6)
What You’ll Need:
– Plastic ornaments
– Mini wire brush trees, animals or houses – shop Christmas Village decor at Michaels. I bought (2) mini white trees and (2) green tree set
– 12×12 Glitter scrapbook paper/card stock, silver glitter and glue
– Craft sparkle pipe cleaners, same color as glitter/paper, I used silver
– Cotton balls
– Uline knife
– Hot glue and mod podge

Estimated total project cost: $25

Step-by-Step:
1. First things first, you’ll need to cut a opening in the bottom of your plastic ornaments. This was a bit tricky to figure out, and should be done very carefully!  I used a sharp mini philips head to poke a hole in the bottom. Once I had a hole, I used a Uline knife to cut a smaller circle for the opening, go slow and wear gloves to protect your hands. Repeat based on the number of place settings you’re making – this is the least fun part of the whole project!
SnowGlobeDIY-beelife(1)2. Woo! We have our openings, so now it’s time to cut our our bases and start planning our wintry scene. I used thicker card stock, that I ended up painting and putting glitter on — I would highly recommend buying scrapbook 12×12 glitter paper. This would’ve saved time and a mess. *smiles*  So using your thicker paper, trace a circle using a drinking glass that is rounder than your ornament, trace and repeat to cut the same number of circles as you have ornaments. These are your bases!

3. Working from the center of your circular base play around with your mini trees/houses or animals. Once you have your scene figured out it’s time to glue in place! I started with my larger wire brush tree in the center, and flanked either side with smaller ones. Pull a cotton ball apart and shape around the base of the trees and glue into place. Wah-la, snow! Repeat, or switch up to have different variations.

Pro-tip: Don’t go to far from the center, so that you’re ornament can fit around your wintry scene especially the cotton ball snow

4. Once you have your bases decorated, glued and secured — place ornaments overtop, making sure everything is fitting within the ornament.  Glue and secure the base of the ornament with hot glue!
SnowGlobeDIY-beelife(2)5. Now, depending on if you bought glitter paper or not, this step may not be needed.  Using mod podge glue I painted the top of the white paper bases and then covered in silver glitter over a paper plate to catch the excess. I had to touch up a few spots once the glue dried and I dumped the remaining glitter off to see emptier spots.  If you bought glitter paper, you are 10-steps ahead of me!

6. Time for finishing touches! Get that hot glue back out and glue the pipe cleaners around the base where your ornament meets the base. You’ll most likely need to trim for an even meet at the back.  I then used the left over scraps of the pipe cleaner to create a circle to loop into the top of the ornament to hold place cards for guests! I used old place cards that we didn’t use from our wedding, but you can cut and customize as you want or not include!

7. Once your mini snow globes are created, it’s time to set the table and get ready to host a delicious meal with close friends and family!

This was such a fun DIY and I love how they turned out. For $25 I created 8-mini place setting snow globes compared to spending nearly $60 at Pottery Barn — plus I made them! I must admit figuring out how I was going to cut and create this using ornaments had be puzzled for a while, and it took a few trial and errors before I figured out how to cut the hole in the bottom. And I really wanted to use ornaments vs. mason jars or other types of glass cylinders I saw online.  So once I figured it out and put it all together I was so excited! The best part is you can keep and use year after year or send home with guests as a little keepsake <3.

Happy Holiday Hosting!

bee (1)

 

DIY – Wooden Couch Sleeve

| The Bee Life

Ever have those pins that you saved at the beginning of Pinterest-time and have always wanted to make? I’ve wanted to make a wooden couch sleeve for a long time — it seems like an easy, practical solution without having side tables everywhere.  But our main living room furniture has rounded arms and these wooden couch sleeves definitely seem better suited for a squared off arm.
DIY_Sleeve_beelifeblog(6)
I knew I would be able to make this fairly inexpensively as long as we had some scrap wood laying around — and luckily we did! I was able to utilize tools that we already had, so this project cost me $0.  And with our basement makeover, our furniture downstairs had squared off arms with a lower side table that only serves part of the seating, I thought this would be a perfect addition to our ‘finished-unfinished’ space especially with the natural rustic wood piece.

What You’ll Need:
– Scrap wood
– Table saw
– Sandpaper
– Satin/Gloss Clear Coat Spray Paint
– Nail gun
DIY_Sleeve_beelifeblog(1)
Step-by-Step:
1. Determine the length of your main top piece based on your furniture. I decided on 13″ long and kept the original width of the board. You’ll want your sides to be the same length, width of sides can be all equal or shorter.

2. Using a tape measure and straight edge, draw a straight line for your top piece, then cut with table saw. For the sides because my scrap wood was older, I cut the same length and it pretty much split down the middle to make two smaller pieces.  I liked the more unfinished, raw edges as I wanted to keep the integrity of the older wood.

3. I then sanded the pieces on both sides and all of the edges.  Again, I liked the color of the wood – I just needed to work out a few rough spots and clean it up. After sanding, be sure to wipe down the pieces with a cloth to get rid of extra dust.
DIY_Sleeve_beelifeblog(2)
4. I then did a top coat with Satin finished spray paint — that I happened to have at the house already.  Spray top coats are a little trickier to see full coverage until dry – so for that reason you may need to do a few coats depending on the finish and coverage you want (above picture before spray, bottom after spray).  I did two coats on the main top and sides, and one on the underneath part.

5. Once I was content with the top coat it was putting everything into place with the nail gun.  I opted NOT to use wood glue for two reasons (1) being lazy (2) we don’t have clamps, so we would’ve nailed in place shortly after gluing like we did for our floating shelf. This was a two person job to ensure the nails went in securely.  We put the sides in a bit so they would be snug against the couch, since I opted to keep the top the original width of the wood, avoiding too many cuts.

Pro-tip: I made sure all my cut edges were in the back of my piece, so the original rough edges would be facing out. I also determined my top early on when measuring and cutting pieces.
DIY_Sleeve_beelifeblog(3)
This is the perfect addition to the space, and it’s sturdy for an afternoon cup of coffee, the remote or a glass of beer watching the game! Although we have a super cute trunk side table in this space, it’s much lower than the couch and chair so it isn’t exactly convenient for ongoing sipping. This couch sleeve is also portable, so it can move around depending on which spot you’re in or who needs it. I love how it turned out and it’s imperfections!  Plus — this could also be a sweet Christmas gift for just about anyone.

bee (1)

$12 Custom Bathroom Drawer Storage from the Dollar Store

| The Bee Life

With our recent bathroom makeover and having the addition of a second bathroom – a few floors below our main bathroom – I wanted to make sure it’s stocked just like our upstairs bathroom with all the essentials. The vanity is extra wide but is the only true storage for this space so I have to be smart with it!
StorageUpdate(1)beelifeblog
One of the top drawers has an opening for the sink pipes so it’s an odd U-shaped drawer. But since it’s the first main drawer under the sink, this seemed like a good spot to stock up with all the bathroom must-haves. In order to accommodate this unique space, I created custom drawer storage with a high-end feel using 3-inch square glass votive holders… from the dollar store! I use these for various things throughout the year, entertaining with snacks – votives – seasonal decor, so I gave these a try in the space and they ended up working out perfectly.
StorageUpdate(3)beelifeblog

After the glasses were in place, I tested opening and closing the drawer and noticed they were a little clanky.  To help with this, I added felt furniture pads in between a few of the glasses to avoid the clinking noises. On top of having high-end custom drawer storage with these glass holders, they can double for vanity decor holding goodies like cotton rounds, q-tips or cotton balls, especially if you’re having company coming over! Then you can pop them back into the drawer and easy peasy – storage is still on point. So for $1 per glass, you can truly make a statement while staying organized!

Shop the Pieces:
– (12) 3″ Glass Votives from Dollar Store
– Optional: Felt Furniture Pads

And then stock up with essentials like band aids, cotton products, tampons, floss, nail care and toothpaste!
StorageUpdate(2)beelifeblogI’m not used to having so much space to fill up, especially in my bathroom! But I love how this came together and is nicely organized while also having options for guests while the essentials for us — another drawer is completely full of toilet paper, but I still have a few more drawers that have extra space for more towels and other bathroom essentials!

bee (1)

DIY – $25 Floral Letter

| The Bee Life

This is a DIY I have had my eyes on for a long time and I finally got around to grabbing the supplies and giving it a try!  A floral letter can be perfect for hanging on your door in the spring with you’re families last name initial, hanging in a living space, bedroom or for nursery decor.  My initial inspiration for baby shower decor, with it doubling as nursery decor after the shower! The theme of the baby shower was Woodland glam, so I went with a bit more muted colors for my floral color palette.
9329A723-BE7F-4D51-B682-6604E5864AEB
What You’ll Need:
– Hot Glue Gun & Glue // Mod Podge would probably work well too
– Letter of Your Choice – I grabbed this 13″ B from Michael’s for $4.99
– A mix of florals – grab smaller filler flowers & larger florals
– Shop my Florals: Hydrangea & Rose Bundle ($6) | Green Wild Mum Stem ($5) | Toast Strawflower Bush ($6) 
– Ribbon for hanging or clip
Floral Letter - beelifeblog (2)
Step-by-Step:
1. When shopping for your florals, grab a good mix of size, color accents and potential filler pieces, you’ll definitely want more than not enough! I bought 5-different stems/bunches.
2. Start by de-heading your faux flowers from their stems and start playing around with placement on your letter.
3. I put larger/heavier flowers in the bottom corner to help anchor the piece and also did this in the top of the B to help add some equal weight.
Floral Letter - beelifeblog (3)
4. From there I filled in with smaller flowers and use my smallest flowers to really fill in smaller spots and make it feel lush and full – while still holding to the shape of the B.
5. As you work in sections and get areas figured out, cut underneath of flower stems as low to the flower as you can in order to keep it somewhat flush to the letter. Then, begin gluing your determined sections into place – I was very generous with the hot glue around the stem area, and even onto the underneath of the leaves to help secure in place.
6. Continue adding florals until the top part of your letter is completely filled! Let dry a bit to ensure florals are completely secure. Then you’re ready for decorating/hanging!

Don’t forget to have fun, get creative and use other pieces of your flowers like some of the leaves to help fill in the space – I was nervous I wouldn’t have enough flowers to fill the space and this helped even everything out.

Since I was making this as a gift, I’ll definitely be making one for us next to keep and use on the front door.  I can see this being a new go-to gift for a people this upcoming holiday season or would be an awesome housewarming present! A few other ideas for your floral letters would be spelling out smaller words like MOM for Mother’s Day or just using the same flower and color to really create a bold statement – this could also be done with numbers for a milestone birthday.  I also love how this completed a centerpiece statement at shower and can’t wait to see if in the finished nursery!

bee (1)