Home Decor Archives - The Latina Next Door

March 22, 2020 By Yami 2 Comments

Ballard Designs Dupe

Hello there! It’s Monday again and that means back to homeschooling. Please wish me luck this week. This is hard! I will be taking it one day at a time, but I can only hope that I don’t screw up my kids with my terrible teaching skills.

For today I have my latest Look for Less project. I host this challenge on my Youtube channel every month and it’s an open invitation to anyone who wishes to join.

See my first ever Look for Less Dupe here!

My inspiration for this month’s Look for Less was the following faux paper whites that I saw on Ballard Design’s website.

At the time I saw it, it was on sale for $103.00 but the funny thing was that this was just for the floral portion, not the container. If I had wanted a container for them, I would have had to pay another $63 for a similar one they had on their site. So in total I would have had to spend $166.00!

But you know me, and that wasn’t happening. So I decided to head to my nearest Goodwill to see if I could come up with something.

They didn’t have any similar containers, but I was able to find the following… a candleholder and a bowl. The bowl only cost me $0.39.

I also had some 3D round stickers that I had gotten at Dollar Tree and I knew just what to do.

For the video tutorial you can always go HERE.

First, I gave everything a good cleaning with alcohol.

Next, I took some E6000 and glued the pieces together.

After they were dry, I gave the piece one coat of spray paint.

As you can see, it still needed more paint, but I needed to make sure the surface was a little more porous for the next step.

I needed to add the 3D stickers. It was super to easy to since they came in strips.

Once I was happy with the placement, I gave the entire piece several coats of spray paint.

Now, it was time to work on the floral portion. For this I needed the following…

A styrofoam round, some floral bushes (from Dollar Tree) and some Easter eggs.

First I cut the bottoms and tops off the eggs.

I started with an exacto knife, but then I changed to my wood burning tool (with the cutting attachment) and it worked better.

Next, I placed each egg on a square of wrapping paper. It was from Hobby Lobby from when they wrap your delicate purchases so they won’t break, and hot-glued it on.

I glued the rest of the paper onto the egg until it covered it completely. And then I painted over the paper with brown acrylic paint.

Then after they were dry I hot-glued them onto the Styrofoam circle.

Next I added Dollar Tree moss and the floral stems ( individually cut from the bushes) into the 3 different bulbs. I used 2 different type bushes: one was a floral bush and the other was long stem greenery to mimic the long leafs on the original paper whites.

Once I was happy with the flowers, I placed the floral piece inside the white container and then added a little bit more brown acrylic paint (this time a little lighter) to give the bulbs more dimension.

And then I was finally happy with how it turned out!

I was so pleased with how it came together. You can’t tell that the bowl was 2 different pieces and the Easter eggs are well camouflaged by the crinkled paper (which was basically trash).

Comparing the two, I think I did pretty good. The only supplies I had to buy for this were 3 bushes, the 3D stickers, the spray paint, the bowl and candleholder. So my cost was only $9.

My daughter loved this so much that she wants it in her room. Makes my heart so happy that she actually appreciates my creations.

Don’t forget to PIN and share with your friends…

Let me know what you think below and I will see you in the next one!

Until then… adios!

March 20, 2020 By Yami 2 Comments

DIY Spring “Spanglish” Sign

Hello everyone! I usually don’t post on Saturdays, however, it has been a while since I had written a post and I thought it would be nice to share a little bit of a positive distraction with you.

With the recent developments in our country and changes to our school situation, I have had to find a new normal and it has been adjustment indeed. I don’t think I was ever meant to be a teacher. And I am sure my kids will tell me that someday. 😂

Fortunately our kids go to an amazing school and their awesome teachers are trying their very best to make this as easy for us as possible.

And since we are now staying a lot more inside our homes, I thought it would be totally appropriate to share this “Home Sweet Casa” sign that I made a couple of weeks ago (and only now getting to share it here🤦🏻‍♀️).

I was part of a fun Dollar Tree Mystery Box Challenge on my Youtube channel and this was one of the DIY’s I created out of some of my items and here is how I did it.

There were several items in my box and I did a total of 6 DIY’s out of all the items and you can see the entire video here.

This little arrow was one of the items in my box…

Some of the links below are affiliate links. Please see full disclosure here

The first thing I did was remove the jute string and turn it upright.

It resembled more of a house upright so I cut some dowels to create a roof. I used my new shears and they are amazing at cutting dowels! You can see how they work in this video.

Next, I painted the house white with some Home Decor Chalk Paint in White Adirondack.

I used my favorite antiquing wax (watered down) in order to stain the dowels.

Once they were both dry I used hot glue to adhere them together.

I wanted it to really resemble a house so I went ahead and added a little door. I just taped off a section with washi tape and used some Apple Barrel paint in black.

Next I took one part of an embroidery hoop and a Dollar Tree sign that I already had on hand…

And I stained the hoop with the same watered down antiquing wax and I Mod Podged the sign with some scrapbook paper from Hobby Lobby.

I glued the embroidery hoop with E6000 onto the perimeter of the sign and then the house onto the bottom of the sign as well.

Afterwards I created a little decal (which will also be available in my shop) to add to the little house.

I use this vinyl.

Next, I took some leftover roses from my Valentine’s DIY’s and added them to the top along with some greenery.

My mystery box also had some pearls so I strung some large ones and used them to hang the sign and that was it!

I was so happy with how it came out. It’s the perfect piece to brighten my space and bring some much needed cheer into our home.

Let me know what you think! What colors would you have used? Flowers? Would you add a different saying?

PIN this on Pinterest to share with your friends and I will see you in the next one!

Until then… adios!

January 24, 2020 By Yami Leave a Comment

How to Make a Mood Board

Some of the links in this post are affiliate links. For more information on that, please see full disclosure

Happy Friday everyone! We made it!

I will be honest, I almost thought I wouldn’t. This week was super stressful, my littlest is getting sick and I don’t feel so great myself. I am looking forward to wrapping up the housework for the week today and spending a quiet evening relaxing with the family.

But before I do that I wanted to share how I create my mood boards for my home decor projects. This tutorial has been a long time coming and I have been asked so many times to share this on my YouTube channel, so today is the day!

Now, these are called so many things… mood boards, design boards, vision boards… and they are all okay.

If you have been here a while you would have seen these a time or two (or three of four). Like when I did my great room in my last house…

My kitchen in my last house…

And even my sunroom for our current house… (the list goes on).

And since I still needed to create one for my laundry room, I thought I would take you along so that you can see my exact process and how easy it is!

Now, you are probably wondering why I do this and if it is necessary.

Well, there are 2 main reasons I like to create them.

I have what you call the “squirrel” syndrome and I get distracted by all the pretty things. So I like to take all those things that I like and put them together in order to see if they actually go together well. I get that actual visual that either tells me “Yes, girl! That’s what I want!” or “Eh, you might want to keep tweeking.” And since I am a visual person, this helps me to create a cohesive look.
Again, the”squirrel” syndrome comes into place here as well. A Mood Board keeps me on track! I get distracted and tempted to buy things that I don’t need. By having this board, I get to stick to my key design elements and actually finish the entire project. Imagine that!

So if you are like me, and need a little bit of structure this is for you.

I created a video tutorial for this so you can actually see me in action. How I get images, crop them, add them and place them on my board.

So grab your coffee and take notes.

And here is what the final laundry room mood board looks like!

I think it turned out pretty well!

And if you are wondering about any of the sources above, here they are:

Barn Doors
Laundry Room Sign
Washer & Dryer
Mosaic Tiles (If you don’t know how to tile (or don’t wish to, I have a tutorial on how paint your floors to look like them and share where to get the stencils).
Rustic Shelves
Sage Cabinet
Laundry Basket
Metal Lint Bin
Grid Wire Small Bin with Canvas Liner
Glass Spray Bottles (Get a 5 Piece Mrs. Meyer’s Set for FREE with purchase)

Let me know what you think of the tutorial and how you like my vision board for my laundry room!

Don’t forget to PIN and share with your friends!

I will see you guys soon!

Until then, adios!

August 1, 2019 By Yami 1 Comment

Trash to Treasure Farmhouse Storage Box

Hey there friends! How are you?

My two older kiddos just went to their open house and we are almost ready for school on Monday! Woot woot!

We have been cleaning out their closets and taking out anything doesn’t fit them anymore. I want to start this school year clutter free!!!! I have been getting rid of stuff around the house too (and let me tell you, the boxes we have to take to Goodwill are overflowing!).

However, while going through some things I came across this box from our purple sheets that came with our Purple Mattress. It is a box I can never bring myself to throw away. It is too nice with magnets and everything.

Of course while the outside isn’t pretty, the inside was a nice lime green color too.

So of course, I couldn’t bring myself to get rid of it. But I had to do something with it, so here is what I did and what I used in order to make it look less like trash and more like it belonged in my home.

Some of the links below are affiliate links, please see full disclosure for more information.

Supplies:

An Old Box
Contact Paper – I used this floral one from Dollar Tree
Scissors or Box Cutter
Hot Glue/ Glue Gun
Chalk Paint or Acrylic Paint
E6000 Glue
Farmhouse Style Cabinet Pull – I got this one from Home Depot

First, things first… I cut the inside tab off as it wasn’t necessary.

Next, I gave it one coat of white chalk paint. I wanted to mute the colors because my contact paper was mostly white and I didn’t want the box’s original pattern to show through it.

After the box was dry, I took the sides apart so I can add the contact paper more easily.

*If at any point you are confused, you can check out the video tutorial on my YouTube channel or scroll to the end of this post and watch the video on this page.*

Once that was done I began adding the contact paper. I cut the paper to better fit the box and I did the outer part first making sure there was about an inch to fold in and over the edges.

Then I began cutting the slits on the folds. I cut them at an angle so that each corner edge gets folded over.

I did this to the entire exterior of the box and I made sure to smooth out any bubbles or creases as I went.

Contact paper can be a little tricky to work with but if you take your time with it, it will come out super smooth.

After that I added the two sides and made sure to fold the excess over each opposite edge.

Then when all of the box was covered, I hot glued the sides I undid, back together.

And then I added this sweet farmhouse cabinet pull from Home Depot that cost $1.58. I found the center of the lid’s lip and glued it on with E6000 and used a bit of hot glue to hold it together while the E6000 dried.

And that was it!

Paired with some black and white books and in front of shiplapped shelves, it looks like it was meant to be!

Now I want to cover ALL.THE.BOXES!

What do you think of this trash to treasure transformation?

I would love to know!

And here is the video tutorial as usual in case you wish to see this done in action.

Be back with more inspiration soon! And don’t forget to pin to share with your friends!

April 30, 2019 By Yami 3 Comments

Coastal Farmhouse Great Room Reveal

This post was sponsored by Sherwin Williams and some of the links below are affiliate links for your convenience.

In my last post I shared all about what my great room used to look like and what my plans were for the space.

It was a pretty tall order since the great room was a 2-story great room and there was a ton of purple paint to cover up. But we got to work and I think we pulled it together.

As always you can view the video of this on my Youtube channel here.

Here is everything we used:

M-1 Paint Deglosser and Pre-Paint Cleaner
FrogTape Multi-Surface Painter’s Tape
ScotchBlue Pre-Taped Painter’s Plastic
American Line Pro Mini Roller Tray
Contractor Series Microfiber Mini Rollers
HANDy Paint Pail & Liners
Angled Paint Brush
3M Dual Grit All Purpose Sanding Sponge
Standard Paint Rollers
Purdy Standard Paint Tray
Purdy Standard Paint Tray Liner
Big Time Products Firm Grip Pro Paint Disposable Nitrile Gloves
Intex Precision-Fiber Cloth Rags
Purdy Premium Flexible Joint Knife
Wall Spackle

So the first thing we did was prep the room. We removed as much furniture as possible and took down all those drapes and curtain rods as well as any art or décor in the room. We filled any holes in the walls with spackle and sanded them smooth.

Of course after that was done we had to make sure room we dusted and cleaned the room prior to commencing. We laid down ScotchBlue Pre-Taped Painter’s Plastic which is our favorite form of protection for our floors and baseboards.

Next we began to paint the walls with a my favorite neutral gray: Repose Gray SW7015. With Sherwin Williams’s SuperPaint line, all we needed was 2 coats of paint over the dark purple color.

Since we had 20’ walls we decided to split the work in 2 sections so painted the lower level first.

So, we removed the shelves & cabinet doors and gave them a good cleaning along with the units built-into in the wall.

In order to clean them we used M-1 Paint Deglosser and Pre-Paint Cleaner then wiped them down with clean water & a rag and let them dry.

Next we sanded all rough areas with a sanding sponge.

And then we wiped everything clean again with a damp cloth.

Alright, so then we taped the necessary areas off with painter’s tape.

I used ProBlock Interior Oil-Based Primer to prime the built-ins and prevent any knots or stains to bleed through the paint. There were several on them as you see below…

I applied 2 coats of that primer and here is what it looked like on a cabinet door.

Then as the primer dried, we wanted to add trim above the fireplace. We cut it so that it would fit like a square frame above the mantle.

As you can see the fireplace needed a focal point above the mantle and something to tie in the 2 built-ins on either side.

So we built a square frame.

And used a combination of liquid nails and a nail gun to install the wood.

Then we added faux “shiplap” inside the frame. We cut thin floor underlayment in 5” wide pieces and used liquid nails and brad nails to adhere them onto the wall.

You may choose to caulk any gaps or nail holes after it has been installed or you can leave as is for a more rustic feel.

We primed this wood with oil-based primer as well and then when fully dried we applied 2 coats of Emerald Urethane Trim Enamel – Extra White SW 7006 Semi Gloss to the built-ins, shelves, and cabinet doors. (This is my FAVORITE paint for cabinets. The finish is perfect and doesn’t need a sealer. The paint even gets harder over time. I love how durable it is! The combination of the oil base primer paired with this paint makes an amazing bond).

I applied Emerald Extra White SW 7006 in Satin to the shiplap so that it was not as shiny.

I made sure to let everything dry overnight.

You can add a polycrylic if you wish, however, I have found that as long a you use an oil-based primer, all you need is the Emerald Urethane Trim Enamel – Extra White SW 7006 in Semi Gloss on your cabinets and built-ins since it dries to a strong and durable finish.

Then it was time to finally finish the upper walls.

We applied 2 coats.

So it looks like the hubby is doing all of the work, but I was the one who did the trim at the very top… TWICE!

I also repainted all the trim, window casings, and baseboards.

And even used a small artist brush to get into tiny little areas…

And OMG, after all that I was able to bring in some new furniture, new curtains and some decor to decorate the built-ins and these are the final results:

I love the fireplace and built-ins now!

I still have to practice my styling but these shelves definitely look better than before!

Well, that’s it for now… What do you think? This place looks so much better now that the

April 22, 2019 By Yami Leave a Comment

Great Room Transformation – BEFORE

As bloggers, one of the things we try to do to capture interest when posting a new blog post is to get your attention with a gorgeous photograph, even if it is a “before” image. However, with THIS great room that wasn’t happening.

Nope!

Uh uh.

So I decided to share my design board FIRST and then the ugly room. LOL!

But then again perhaps going with a terribly ugly image of what my great room used to look like, might have still gotten your attention. ?

Let’s be real…

You are definitely entitled to having your own style in your own home, but this was too unbearable for me.

IT HAD TO GO!

For being a 2 story great room it was just too dark…. almost cavelike….

The blinds were old and discolored and those medieval curtains going all the way up to the second story were just too much.

It was so dark the room itself was hard to capture.

But here is a better lit image.

PURPLE.

Need I say more?

No wait, 2 stories of purple!

In a sea of purple-ness the fireplace and built-ins were lost.

And here is the other side.

Not that any side of this room had a “good side” but at least there was some gray on this side of the room.

Let’s face it, if you know me, you know this is not my style.

But I could see the potential.

The fireplace was a good start with the stone.

And the built-ins were very well made.

So I decided to get my creative juices in order and I came up with this!

If you have been here a while, you know I have shown bits and pieces of this room (just not the whole she-bang!)

So, just like for my master bedroom I decided to create an inspiration board. It really does help put everything together visually for you. I have included sources for the items I was able to find as well.

I knew I wanted to marry farmhouse with a coastal feel so blue accents were a must!

Great Room Transformation – THE PLAN

So in my head this what was going to go down!

Some of the links below are affiliate links, please see full disclosure here

First, I was going to take down those medieval curtains. Off they go!!!!
Next, I was going to paint the walls Repose Gray by Sherwin Williams and give all (yes, ALL) of the trim a fresh coat of paint
Then, I was going to paint the built-ins white and add shiplap above the fireplace.
I was getting a brand new sectional from IKEA
A shoe cabinet for the hubby was a must (cause I prefer them NOT to be all over the house)
A quatrefoil mirror which I already had was going to make its way in.
This awesome farmhouse inspired topiary set which I talked about in this post was going to be perfect on the mantle (I shared a discount for them in the post as well).
New curtains to add a little blue (I was able to find the exact ones I used here).
Farmhouse greenery throughout.
And of course a rustic wood mirror had to be a part of the design (I can’t find the one I have, but the one in the image is very similar to it and you can find it here).

Did I make it happen?

Oh you bet I did!

I can’t wait to show it to you in the next post!

So be sure to stay tuned!

April 21, 2019 By Yami Leave a Comment

Rustic Sunburst Mirror DIY

Happy Monday! I hope you had a wonderful Easter Sunday. Our day started off a little chilly but it warmed up nicely. The day was gorgeous without a cloud in sight and with gentle wind. We spent half the day outdoors as my kids could not get enough of the beautiful weather.

I am not sure you recall, but I have a fun series on my channel called the Look for Less Challenge and it’s an open invitation to anyone who wishes to participate. Basically I ask you to find a home decor item that you love but is out of your price range, and recreate it for less. Like this Pottery Barn mirror dupe I shared previously.

Well, I decided to tackle another mirror in my latest challenge and I think this one is even better than the first.

For a while now I have been wanting a sunburst mirror, but most are not my style and are overpriced. I did a recent search of rustic sunburst mirrors and there are several options out there now. They’re still out of my price range, so I decided to finally tackle it on my own.

I went to my local Home Depot and came up with an inexpensive idea.

Here are the supplies I used:

the links below are affiliate links for your convenience, more information here

Wood Shims (16 packs of 12 shims each)
Wood Glue
Clamps
Embroidery Hoop 8″
Round Mirror
Wire Hanging Kit

How to make…

Rustic Sunburst Mirror DIY

Heads up! This tutorial is actually a little complicated and quite repetitive. So, I am sharing a couple of up close pictures of one of the 16 sunburst “flares” (I think that it what you would call them ??‍♀️) and the rest of the tutorial is in the video below. It will show you exactly how much wood glue I used and exactly how I put all of them together.

I also show different methods of holding the shims together that might work for you depending on what you have available in terms of supplies.

Each pack of shims comes with 12 shims. You will use all of them in a pack but you will first take out 3 and glue them together like this:

Make sure to use a good amount of wood glue and clamp them together for several hours before removing.

Next you will take the next 8 shims and glue 2 sets of 4 of them together like shown below.

After those are glued together you will glue them all together like shown below.

***Please note, that because of the shape and size of the “flare” you will NOT be able to glue them all at once and hold them down with clamps, so please make sure to go by these steps and glue them in the 4,3,4 groupings first and then the entire piece together like below.

After you make one of these, make 15 more of them and you will notice you will use 11 shims for this “flare” but you must keep the 12th shim because you will need those for the final assembly.

Okay, now for the rest of the tutorial, I suggest you watch the video as I will show you exactly how to put it together and how to reinforce and eventually hang the piece on your wall.

This is a large and heavy piece and I want to make sure you don’t miss a detail…

I hope you like this as much as I do! It couldn’t have turned out more amazing!

I preferred to leave mine rustic and not paint or stain it, but you can do so depending on your preference.

Don’t forget to pin!

March 25, 2019 By Yami Leave a Comment

Dollar Tree Spring DIYs

I hope your start to Spring has been wonderful. Warmer weather has been able to peek through here and there and I cannot tell you how excited I am for a new season (the allergies not so much!).

A little while ago I shared my Dollar Tree Spring Haul and I finally got to use some of my supplies for this and 2 other DIY’s. I love how they all turned out so I am just going to jump in.

*Some of the links below are affiliate links, please see full disclosure for more details here.”

Here is what you need for this beautiful flower topiary or as I like to call it “flower ball”…. You will see why in a bit.

First we are going to start with the base.

You will need:

3 wooden dowel packets (I got mine from Dollar Tree)
Hot glue
An old tape roll (or something rounded like a can of food, minus the food).
Twine or ribbon

You will glue the dowels onto the tape roll.

Make sure they are glued tightly together and all the way around.

After this you can add twine or a ribbon around the center. I also added hot glue along the top (pictured below) so the dowels wouldn’t separate and be a little more stable.

Then I took a soccer ball from the Dollar Tree kids aisle (cause they are cheaper than a stryofoam ball and it was the perfect size) and placed it on the top of the base. I did not glue it on though.

Then I took all of those yellow roses and attached them onto the ball.

I simply cut the stems short, added hot glue on the tip of the stem and base of the flower, poked the ball and inserted the flower.

I did this in rows making sure that the roses on each row above were placed above and between the roses below (in staggered rows).

Easy peasy! If there were any areas where the ball poked through, I just would hot glue a couple of petals together slightly so that it would cover it up.

Last, I added a row of leaves to the bottom of the flower ball to add a little green and to hide the top of the base that had the hot glue on it. And that’s it!

Simple, yet elegant.

This can go on a side table, bookshelf, or even as a centerpiece at a wedding.

And the best part about this is when you get tired of the yellow roses, get another ball and do the same thing with another type of flower!

#winning

And of course, I couldn’t just stop there. I made a beautiful wreath for my front door…

And spruced up my winter arrangement for my great room with a set of Spring flowers…

Make sure to check out how to make those in my video tutorial below!

I would love to know which one you liked the most!

Also, don’t forget to pin and share with your friends ?!

Be back soon….

March 11, 2019 By Yami 2 Comments

Farmhouse Spring and St. Patrick’s DIY’s

Some of the links below are affiliate links, please go here for full disclosure. I am a Plaid Ambassador and some of the products used here were supplied to me

Hey there! I know it has been a while since I’ve posted, but I am sure you’ll appreciate the DIY’s I’m sharing with you all today. I’ve been so busy at home getting rid of unwanted and unnecessary things that I’m making sure I only make what I really want and is truly necessary as far as my decorating is concerned. Since reading the book and seeing her show, I’ve taken the Marie Kondo thing seriously and I don’t plan on going back now.

So while taking that into consideration I am trying to make DIY’s that can be used for multiple occasions or seasons and used in different places throughout the home.

While St. Patrick’s Day is not a Latin American holiday it’s actually very special to me and my husband since my he asked me to be his girlfriend on St. Patrick’s Day (apparently he had some liquid courage that day)…. so it’s kinda nice to celebrate that occasion.

I knew I wanted to add a few touches of green here and there, but I’m not fond of all that green glitter and decor you see out in the stores. So I began looking for alternative solutions and I came across some dried split peas at my local grocery store and had an awesome idea.

I had these candle holders from Dollar Tree that I had left over from last year… ( you can totally use any candle holders you have on hand or even thrifted ones).

And I decided to give them a coat of my favorite Martha Stewart brown paint in Tilled Soil (I have used it here and here as well).

After 2 coats I then took some Folkart acrylic paint in the color Country Twilland used a chip brush to dry brush on some streaks.

They’ll look like this when they are done.

Then afterwards, I used one of my new FAVORITE products… It’s called Antique Wax by Folkart .

All you do is take a lint free cloth and rub it on these candle holders.

And it will deepen the color and make these candle holders look like wood!

They look just fine the way they are and you can totally leave them this way, however, I wanted to add glass hurricanes to the top.

So I took one of the extra tall vases from Dollar Tree, one of the regular size vases and finally one of my leftover Yankee Candle jars (cause DT does not carry any in these size)… I cleaned them and adhered them to the top of the candleholders with E6000 and a little bit of hot glue…

Of course, I did not get a picture of this ??‍♀️ but I am sure you can figure it out ?.

Once they were adhered I added those split peas I talked about earlier along with some Dollar Tree white candles and they make the sweetest Spring/St. Patrick’s Day themed center piece for my breakfast area.

And you would never guess most of the items used were from Dollar Tree!

These are going to be so versatile. I can add orange lentils for Fall, sand if I want a more coastal theme or moss for Summer. The options are endless and I think they look so good together…

Of course my love for this farmhouse version of “green glitter” (as my dear friend Marie from The Inspiration Vault calls it) did not stop there and I made 2 of the following wreaths…

Yeah, I went a little nuts! ?

If you are interested in how I made it you can check out tutorial for the wreath in my video below…

Hope you all have a wonderful week and I will see you soon! Don’t forget to pin this and share with your friends!

January 24, 2019 By Yami 1 Comment

4 Farmhouse Valentine’s DIYs

You guys have no idea how excited I am to share some more Dollar Tree DIY’s with you all! And while I have never been into decorating for Valentine’s Day in the past, I can honestly say that I have been enjoying it this year (did you see my Berry Suspended Heart!?). Especially because I have found a way to get away from all the in-yo-face red glitter and sparkle you see everywhere around this time.

I have never really been a fan of the color red in my decor, but a teeny bit here or there won’t hurt, however, I would much rather create buffalo check hearts and fill my world with them… and that’s pretty much what I have done lately.

Like, fo’ real!

Anyways, we are going to start with that pretty flag you see above and then I will share 3 more coordinating pieces you will love!

So here’s the basics for what you need:

Some of the links below are affiliate links for your convenience, for more information please go here

Valentines Day Flag from Dollar Tree
Large Wooden Heart from Dollar Tree
Scrapbook paper ( I had some leftover from my Christmas stash)
Burlap
Faux Greenery ( I used some from Christmas but these are a great alternative if you want the farmhouse look)
Scissors or Box Cutter
Glue Gun & Sticks
Free Heart Printables that you can access here
White Paint – I used this one cause I already had it on hand
Matte Mod Podge
M od Podge Roller
Card Stock in White

So first thing’s first, you will need to paint the letters and images on the flag white. Even though I will be placing the burlap on top of the flag, I don’t want the letters to show through.

While that dries cut your scrapbook paper to the same shape as the wooden heart.

Then apply the Mod Podge on the wooden heart with a small brush, adhere the paper. Use a small roller to get all the bubbles out and flatten the paper down. Then finally add the top coat of Mod Podge.

Then while that dries cut your burlap fabric about an inch smaller that your flag all around and glue it with some hot glue.

Once the heart is ready, glue it onto the center of the burlap.

Then take my free heart printables that you can access here and print the language and font of your choice onto card stock. Cut it out and glue it onto the center of the buffalo check heart. You can use a glue stick for this.

Then take some faux greenery (make sure it has small leaves) and start cutting them off into groups of 3 – 4 leaves and begin hot gluing them all around the border of the center heart.

And viola! You have the cutest Farmhouse Buffalo Check flag EVER for Valentines Day!

I was impressed at how it turned out. I don’t see a smidge of Dollar Tree, do you?

Oh and if you love this, you will love these!!!!

Buffalo Check Garland

Buffalo Check LOVE sign

Buffalo Check Wreath Clip Ons

And for the sake of NOT making this the longest post ever, you can see the quick and easy-to-follow tutorials for the rest of them in my video below!

See you next time and don’t forget to PIN!!!!!

4 Farmhouse Valentines DIYs Long Pin 4 Farmhouse Valentines DIYs

Yami Signature 4 Farmhouse Valentines DIYs

January 15, 2019 By Yami 11 Comments

DIY Dollar Tree Valentines Day Decor

Okay, so first off I cannot believe it is already halfway through January! Time is flying and I haven’t been on here at all since December basically because my little one has been so sick and of course I had to get whatever she had so I have been battling this dry cough that just does not want to go away and keeps me from my much needed sleep.

The worst!

I have been able to share my first VLOG of the year about the happenings right now in our home as well as how I took down my Christmas decorations on my YouTube channel. It seems to be easier to film most days. I plan on sending out notifications on my blog for any relatable content on my channel that may be of interest. If you want to subscribe directly to my channel you always can do that here.

However, I thought the best way to light a fire under my butt and get to writing again was to join a sweet little blog hop hosted by my dear friend Cindy over at County Road 407. She is an absolute hoot and I can definitely say one good friend (although she’ll probably give me hell for not saying “great friend”?).

So… she created this fun event!

Yep! We were supposed to take this lovely Pinterest image from Christina over at THE DIY MOMMY and recreate it with our own style.

At that’s just what we all did… make sure to scroll all the way to the end to see what everyone else’s projects look like!

This year so far I have been really applying the KonMarie Method at home (I swear this will make sense in a bit!). I read the book last year, and took a light turn with it, but now with Marie Kondo’s Netflix special it has motivated me even more to use what I already have on hand to decorate instead of going out and getting more crafty things and cluttering my home some more, so I started to get really creative with this project.

The project you will see today is made of items I already had on hand (with the exception of one thing) and leftover Christmas decor so I am really proud of it.

DIY Dollar Tree Valentines Day Decor

Some of the links below are affiliate links, please see full disclosure here

Supplies Used:

Wooden Frame
Berry Bushes from Dollar Tree
Linen White Chalk Paint
Red Acrylic Paint
Artist Brushes
Glossy Mod Podge
Foam Board
Jute String
Box Cutter (or scissors)
Heart Template
Marker or Pen
Hot Glue and Glue Gun

So the first thing you want to do is cut out a heart shape out of foam board. I used some hearts from a decor piece I bought at Dollar Tree.

As always you can view the tutorial below if video is more your jam! ?

Once the heart is cut out, mark an inner heart on the foam board.

Cut that out as well so you make a frame.

I had a red berry bush leftover from my Christmas Dollar Tree supply stash and I begin taking the berry bundles apart into much smaller ones, even single berries at a time.

I simply hot glued them onto the heart shape, making sure to cover all of the white foam board.

Next, after all of them were on, I used some red acrylic paint to cover some of the white spots on the berries from where I took them apart. If you recall, I did the same thing with my DIY farmhouse ornaments this past Christmas.

Once that was dry, I painted all of the berries over with glossy Mod Podge.

While that was drying I took a wooden frame that I have had for a while (longer than my husband would like) and started sanding the edges. I had painted it with Linen White Chalked Paint a while back, but wanted a more rustic feel so I distressed it a bit.

Now the reason I hadn’t used this frame before was because of the two holes it had on one of the sides. I really didn’t know what to do with it… until now!

So, I turned the heart over and glued some jute string to the back. You can paint the back red or cover it with poster board since it’s not so pretty but since it wasn’t going to be seen, I just left it.

Then I looped the jute string through the holds, tied them in a bow and voila!

An adorable farmhouse berry heart in a frame!

Isn’t she so cute?!?!

And she cost me $0! (I can say that cause that Dollar Tree heart is actually for another project, LOL!)

And look at what everyone else created! Aren’t they precious!? This was too fun! Thank you Cindy for hosting!

Don’t forget to pin this and share with your friends if you love my berry heart as much as I do!

I will see you back here soon!

September 12, 2018 By Yami 1 Comment

Dollar Tree Buffalo Check Tray

I don’t think I have ever made so many Fall DIY’s in one season… and here’s another one!

I showed a sneak peak of this tray in my last post when I shared my Dollar Tree succulent pumpkin planters. I decided to continue a neutral color scheme for Fall this year, but at the same time I wanted to add a pop of copper which I find so elegant and really works well with the season.

Never did I imagine it would go so well with grey buffalo check! I mean, look how cute everything looks and how well my buffalo check mini stand goes with it!

And just like that little stand, I painted the buffalo check onto the glass of an 11 x 14 inch picture frame I got at the Dollar Tree. The only difference is that this time, I had to work backwards.

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And those little handles… they were made with some dowels I had leftover from my Pottery Barn Mirror Dupe.

The spray paint I used was Rustoleum’s Metallic Series spray paint in Vintage Copper.

And since I already shared the step by step for a traditional buffalo check paint I thought it would be best to share a video of this process since we do have to work backwards and it might get a little confusing…

So grab yourself a cup of coffee, tea, glass of wine (I won’t judge) and enjoy my video below!

Let me know what colors you would pick for your tray in the comment below!

See you back really soon,

August 22, 2018 By Yami Leave a Comment

The Best Farmhouse Topiaries

This is a sponsored post but all opinions are my own. For full disclosure please go here.

>>Make sure to make it to the end of this post for a special treat just for my readers!<<

Okay, so I have a confession to make… I have a black thumb….

Like the worst, EVER!

So bad that my husband has to remind me to water my own plants. Maybe it’s because I have 3 kids and things just get busy, so I forget. Who knows!? And while I have always preferred the faux ones I don’t really have that many in my home either. Perhaps it’s because they always look so “fake” to me and I feel I would get called out by my guests, HA!

However, I do understand that greenery is nice to have around the home and I am slowly starting to incorporate more throughout, both real and faux plants.

If you recall, I created DIY floral farmhouse sconces and I made a coastal wreath for my summer mantle.

So you can imagine my delight when I had the opportunity to work with Plantscape Inc. , who offers an amazing variety of interior and exterior landscaping products and services. You can get florals, different types of plants and even faux trees from them!

They are best known for their commercial application of faux greenery with high quality interior landscaping.

As a former commercial property manager I can tell you that greenery is a huge part of office buildings and commercial office spaces. The nicer the the accents the more high end and welcoming a property feels. I cannot tell you how many times we had meetings with our landscapers throughout the course of the year.

It really is that important, which is no wonder why we should apply those same principles to our homes as well.

So, when it came time to test out one of Plantscape’s faux plants I really had to make the right decision as to what would suit my home best. As you know I love me some “Hamptons Farmhouse” style and something that will NEVER go out of style are topiaries.

They truly are versatile, but hard to replicate into a faux plant in my opinion, so I had to test them out…. and let me tell you how amazed I was when I got my package in the mail.

The were packaged so tightly with styrofoam and plastic, there was literally nothing you could do to that box that could have damaged these babies, so we were off to a good start right off the bat.

Cause you know those mail carriers can reek some havoc into those packages, amiriiiight!?

So once I pulled them out I noticed they did not leave out a single detail… just look at that bark!

It looks so real! And that soil! Just wow! I swear if I didn’t know they were fake, I would totally take some water and water that plant. LOL!

Then there is that cute galvanized pot that goes perfect with any farmhouse decor. I was in love!

And then there were those gorgeous boxwood leaves. They have a beautiful green color and were so full and luxurious.

Plus, they even had cute little branches like a real tree would, eek! The topiaries even looked great next to my DIY Pottery Barn vases.

I even loved the fact that they weren’t your average “ball” topiaries, because you can easily add fairy lights and use them for the holidays.

Seriously, the possibilities were endless and the attention to detail was second to none!

I love my little topiary trees – they really are the best farmhouse topiaries ever!

If you think these are as amazing I as I do you can purchase them here and if you use the discount code BLOGGER10 you will get 10% your order (except for custom orders). There are so many plants you can spend days just looking at them.

I am completely amazed and 100% recommend them with their prompt shipping, excellent packaging and amazing attention to detail with their faux plants. Please note I would never recommend something if I didn’t 100% believe it. I really hope you will give them a try!

Let me know in the comments what you love most about these. Were you as amazed as I was with the bark?!

August 21, 2018 By Yami Leave a Comment

DIY Pottery Barn Vases

Some of the links below may be affiliate links, for full disclosure please go here

Happy Hump day! I am so happy half the week is gone because I have been painting like crazy all week and I am determined to finish before the weekend approaches… I need a vacation!

So, if you recall I started my monthly Look for Less Challenge in July where I created a dupe for a Pottery Barn mirror. And it was finally time to do the challenge for this month, but unfortunately because of the water leak that I mentioned in my last post, I was not able to do what I had originally intended… so I opted for another Pottery Barn dupe!

And while it was not planned, I totally love how they turned out.

So it all began when I saw these beauties online…

Beautiful right?

Well the vases were, but the price not so much… the smallest was $49 and the tallest was $79!!!!! What in the world!?

Yeah no, that was NOT going to happen…

So I remembered I had these not so lovely vases that I have been ~~hoarding~~ saving for about 10 years now, and I thought it was the right time to give them a facelift. I also went ahead and decided to makeover my large vase in my last thrift store hall as well…

Ick, I know! These were so outdated, but they had a great shape… reason why I just could never let them go.

Also, remember you can always view the tutorial below as well…

So, I took them and gave them several coats of white spray paint.

I added painter’s tape and painted the bottom portion with Martha Stewart’s Vintage Decor Paint in Tilled Soil.

I gave it at least 2 coats. I even took a fan artist brush and add little strokes throughout to resemble clay poking through the paint.

Then afterwards, I used Americana Acrylic Paint (from Hobby Lobby) by DecoArt in the color Prussian Blue along with 2 stencils I also purchased there with my 40% coupons., to add a pattern throughout.

I did a round stencil for the round vase and as you can see they didn’t turn out perfect because of the shape of the vase. I tried spray adhesive, but the stencil still wouldn’t stick very well.

I didn’t mind the messy look though, since I was trying to make these look kinda antique and old.

I used the other stencil pattern on both the other vases since they were a set. I purchased these.

I basically eye-balled the pattern… and worked my way around the vase.

The square vases were perfect as is, but the round vase looked little empty so I took a light blue acrylic paint and used craft match sticks to add more freehand dots on and around the original stencil and I love the final look!

Since I already had the paint and the 2 square vases, I only needed the stencils. The round vase only cost me $5.95 so I was all in for 3 vases at $11!

These are great for bookshelves:

On a mantle:

Or by themselves in a vignette:

Tell me, which style is your favorite?

Here is a look at them side-by-side…

I think I did pretty good! Do you have any vases that need a makeover at home?

Don’t forget to pin this and share with your friends!

Be back here very soon!

July 19, 2018 By Yami 1 Comment

Pottery Barn Inspired Mirror DIY

Please note that some of the links below are affiliate links. For full disclosure, please go here

Hello dear friends! I am so excited because today is the first day of my new monthly Look for Less Challenge that I mentioned to you a couple of weeks ago. However, I must apologize right away because I only have the video tutorial ready for you (life happened this week and I am a little behind), but rest assured I will be updating this post in a couple of days in order to include the step by step blog post as well for those of you who prefer that method.

So…..I have been wanting to create a trellis mirror for a while now. They are not only gorgeous, but they are timeless as well. However, these mirrors can come with a hefty price tag.

I have been eyeing one particular mirror at Pottery Barn… the one below to be exact….

Isn’t she dreamy?

And while it’s currently on sale, it’s still too much for my budget!

So, I thought I would recreate it myself.

I headed off to my local Goodwill and with the help of some 3/8″ square dowels, a thrifted mirror that cost me $5.95, a hand saw (I recommend this one for dowels), some chalk paint in the color Linen White here is what I came up with…

and here is how I pulled it off!

Pottery Barn Inspired Mirror DIY – Video Tutorial

Don’t forget to make sure and check out the playlist of the other talented YouTubers who joined this challenge this month and see what amazing pieces they created!

Oh and my co-host Heidi Sonboul upholstered a thrifted chair to look like something you would buy at Pottery Barn as well. Definitely check her video out too!

I hope you enjoyed the tutorial above and I hope this inspired you to recreate something you have been eyeing that is totally out of your budget. Just because you can’t buy it doesn’t mean you can’t “have” it!

See you real soon!

July 12, 2018 By Yami 6 Comments

Summer Coastal Farmhouse Mantle

TGIF! It has been a crazy week as we are starting to work on updating our great room and we also found out about a leak in our home this week. I am exhausted, however, I wouldn’t leave you without a fun blog post this week!

I have joined 24 other lovely ladies in bringing you all some great summer decor inspiration. I was so excited when Kendra from Joy In Our Home invited me to be a part of this collab, and if you have not checked out her blog yet, definitely do!

If you are visiting from Jenna’s blog over at Lantern Lane Designs, welcome! So glad you are here!

Before I start on my mantle, I want to just give you a quick overview of all of the other topics that have been covered this week. See them below…..

Vignettes on Monday

Joy In Our Home | The Painted Hinge | Honey n Hydrangea

My Creative Days | Follow The Yellow Brick Home

Front Porches on Tuesday

Country Road 407 | Chatfield Court | Starfish Cottage

Noting Grace | Sanctuary Home Decor

Recipes on Wednesday

Live Laugh Rowe | Love In My Oven | The Sugar Coated Cottage

Countryside Cravings | Chocolate With Grace

Tablescapes on Thursday Hood Creek Log Cabin | Making It In The Mountains | The Crowned Goat

Timeless Creations | 2 Bees in a Pod

Mantles on Friday

DIY Beautify | White Arrows Home | Repurpose and Upcycle

Lantern Lane Designs | The Latina Next Door

Some of the links below are affiliate links, for full disclosure please go here.

Summer Coastal Farmhouse Mantle

You may not believe this, but mantles scare me… not that they are spooky, ha! But rather I have never been good and decorating them. In fact, I have never shared a “pretty” mantle post on my blog, because… well, I just never thought they were good enough.

Honestly, I was a little intimidated when I was asked to do a mantle for this blog hop. However, my good friend Cindy over at County Road 407 insisted I should give it a shot… yes, I totally called you out Cindy! LOL!

So, since my new home has 2 fireplaces, I figured it was as good a time as any to put my big girl panties on and give it a try.

Okay…

So as you know I have been incorporating more Navy into my decor with my DIY fabric paint chargers, my son’s bathroom makeover and the items I purchased in my latest Michael’s Store Haul. This was going to be no different.

Alas! My very first Summer Coastal Farmhouse Mantle!

I just threw confetti everywhere! Ha!

Since my fireplace is all stone, I needed to add more white to it to brighten it up (and I totally would have panned out more, but the walls have spackle spots everywhere since we are about to start painting this room). #thebloglife

Not too shabby if I say so myself…

So let’s start with the center of the mantle. This frame is so old! I have had it forever (like over 5 years) and never did anything with it. It was silver, but it wasn’t really doing much for me so I painted it with Rust-oleum chalk paint in White Linen and distressed it with some sandpaper to bring out the details.

I made a hoop wreath and added palms to give it that coastal look and hung it with some leftover navy ribbon from my DIY farmhouse inspired American Flag I made for 4th of July.

Next, I added a blue vase and topped it with a topiary ball. The carved frame was on clearance at Big Lots for $8! Say what!?!

That small white vase below was $3 on clearance at At Home and the candlestick was from my latest Thrift Store Haul that I will share soon (you won’t believe what it looked like before!).

On the right, I added a mirror to add more light and the greenery square is from my Michael’s Store Haul video. The bottles were also from Michael’s and the “Love” sign was from Dollar Tree.

I painted half of it white to give it more of a farmhouse feel (that part was burgundy).

Then finally, it felt like it need another detail so I added a simple burlap banner with navy and white ribbon to add that little extra touch.

It was so easy, I just needed a hot glue gun, ribbon and burlap that I had on hand.

And that’s pretty much it! I literally had everything I needed to put this together and I was pleased with how I was able to make them work.

I hope you enjoyed my first summer mantle post and I hope to share more as the seasons change.

Shop a similar look here:

Until my next post!

For the video tutorial you can always go HERE.

There were several items in my box and I did a total of 6 DIY’s out of all the items and you can see the entire video here.

*Some of the links below are affiliate links. Please see full disclosure here*

*Some of the links in this post are affiliate links. For more information on that, please see full disclosure*

Well, there are 2 main reasons I like to create them.

And here is what the final laundry room mood board looks like!

Some of the links below are affiliate links, please see full disclosure for more information.

Supplies:

*This post was sponsored by Sherwin Williams and some of the links below are affiliate links for your convenience.*

*As always you can view the video of this on my Youtube channel here.*

Great Room Transformation – THE PLAN

*Some of the links below are affiliate links, please see full disclosure here*

Here are the supplies I used:

*the links below are affiliate links for your convenience, more information here*

Rustic Sunburst Mirror DIY

*Some of the links below are affiliate links, please see full disclosure for more details here.”

*Some of the links below are affiliate links, please go here for full disclosure. I am a Plaid Ambassador and some of the products used here were supplied to me*

*Some of the links below are affiliate links for your convenience, for more information please go here*

Buffalo Check Garland

Buffalo Check LOVE sign

Buffalo Check Wreath Clip Ons

DIY Dollar Tree Valentines Day Decor

*Some of the links below are affiliate links, please see full disclosure here*

Dollar Tree Buffalo Check Tray

*Some links below are affiliate links*

*This is a sponsored post but all opinions are my own. For full disclosure please go here.*

>>Make sure to make it to the end of this post for a special treat just for my readers!<<

*Some of the links below may be affiliate links, for full disclosure please go here*

*Please note that some of the links below are affiliate links. For full disclosure, please go here*

Pottery Barn Inspired Mirror DIY – Video Tutorial

*Some of the links below are affiliate links, for full disclosure please go here.*

Summer Coastal Farmhouse Mantle

Instagram

Some of the links below are affiliate links. Please see full disclosure here

Some of the links in this post are affiliate links. For more information on that, please see full disclosure

This post was sponsored by Sherwin Williams and some of the links below are affiliate links for your convenience.

As always you can view the video of this on my Youtube channel here.

Some of the links below are affiliate links, please see full disclosure here

the links below are affiliate links for your convenience, more information here

Some of the links below are affiliate links, please go here for full disclosure. I am a Plaid Ambassador and some of the products used here were supplied to me

Some of the links below are affiliate links for your convenience, for more information please go here

Some of the links below are affiliate links, please see full disclosure here

Some links below are affiliate links

This is a sponsored post but all opinions are my own. For full disclosure please go here.

Some of the links below may be affiliate links, for full disclosure please go here

Please note that some of the links below are affiliate links. For full disclosure, please go here

Some of the links below are affiliate links, for full disclosure please go here.