October | 2014 | This Old Colonial Home

October 28, 2014
by This Old Colonial Home 8 Comments

New to Me Nightstand

In my last post I admitted I was addicted to discounts. But I have another confession: My name is Kelly and I’m addicted to garage sales. Phew! I’m so glad I got that off my chest. (As if it was really a secret.)

I have been lucking out lately and I’m so giddy about a recent find that I just had to share!

Here she is.Isn’t she a cutie?! And it was only $5! Whaaat?!

We have been in need of replacing the nightstands in the master bedroom ever since we painted and I stenciled an awesome accent wall. (Read about it here.) So I was very excited when I came across this piece.

It needed a good, deep cleaning (I think I used half a roll of paper towels), but then it was good as new again!

It’s a nice solid piece made of real wood and it already has that distressed look I love! I’m not sure if that’s intentional or not, but at least I don’t have to do anything more to it. Wahoo!I think the yellow goes well with the pillows on our bed and helps brighten up the room. Even though it doesn’t have drawers, I like the uniqueness of the tiered shelves.I even love the little crescent moon cutouts on the side. It truly is a “night” stand. Haha!Now we just have to find something for my husband’s side of the bed (and replace the lamps).We — and I mean he — may end up building a nightstand, but that doesn’t mean I’ll stop looking around. The hunt is half the fun! Don’t you agree?!

Linking up with Dagmar’s Home

October 20, 2014
by This Old Colonial Home 24 Comments

Halloween House Tour

Our house always gets decked out for fall. Halloween not so much. But when Stephanie over at Sandpaper and Glue invited me to take part in a Halloween House Tour, I couldn’t say no. I knew it’d be a fun challenge so I graciously accepted.

Making use of items I already had and picking some things up along the way, I’m pretty happy with how it turned out.

Let’s start in the living room.Originally I was only going to do a banner on the mantel, but when I went to Michaels the other day for ribbon they were having an awesome 50 to 60% off sale. So of course I bought some stuff. (I think I’m addicted to sales! The first step is admitting it.)The pumpkins, crow, and cage were part of that deep discount, so in my basket they went. I then managed to put this display together at the last minute. I think it adds a nice, subtle Halloween touch.As for the banner, it was super easy to make. I just cut out flags using leftover scrapbook paper I had and used double-sided tape to attach it to the ribbon. (Yes, I did actually buy ribbon too when I was at Michaels.) I also made the bats, but there’s more where that came from … as you’ll see in a moment.Next, let’s move over to the dining room. I had some fun in here. First, I made a centerpiece using a witch’s hat.I stuffed the hat with grocery bags to keep it from flopping over. Then I just laid a leaf garland around it, added a little black bird, some faux black roses and this adorable spiral pumpkin that I found in the dollar bins at Target. (I wish I could say I made it, but I didn’t. Boo. <— No pun intended!) I also added two gold candles and put a spider on one of them.(Source list in case you’re wondering: hat, bird, spider – dollar store; roses, candles – Michaels; garland, candlesticks – already had.)

Second, I put together this fun display.The wooden chest I had picked up at an estate sale over the summer. I filled it with blankets and then used a leaf tablecloth we had to cover them. I put sticks, pinecones, leaf garland, and a pumpkin on top of that. I then added cobwebs and spiders from the dollar store.As for those bats – they were really easy to make. I printed a template I found online (I can’t draw to save my life), traced it onto black cardstock and cut them out. I then bent their wings just a little to give them some dimension and so they look like they’re flying.Last, but certainly not least, let’s walk through our back hallway where I dressed up a bookshelf. I had the most Halloween fun with this!I started by lining the back of the bookcase with green wrapping paper. Then I added cobwebs and different pieces that I had collected. Here’s a closer look at each shelf.I love using Scrabble tiles to spell out things for holiday décor. I also love using empty wine bottles. The black and orange label on this one was perfect. You could also use them as candle holders!I love the Boo sign. It was a free download here and even prints with that aged look. Another free trick I used was taking a wine glass, filling it with popcorn kernels and inserting a votive candle. Easy, yet festive.I used another wine bottle with a cool label here. I also used a cake stand for the pumpkin to sit on. And I found a skull and bones template online and traced it onto my DIY chalkboard platter.I could have bought fake spell books, but being a Harry Potter ~~nerd~~ fan I knew these books sans dust jacket would be perfect for Halloween. Brilliant!

And there you have it. That’s my Halloween House Tour. Thanks for stopping by! Be sure to swing by the other bloggers’ homes to see their spooktacular décor!

Stephanie – Sandpaper and Glue

Gretchen – Boxy Colonial

Lory – Designthusiasm

Kim – The Kim Six Fix

Kat & Cam – Our Nerd Home

Partying with Bless’er House | DIY on the Cheap | The Shabby Nest | Live Laugh Rowe | Living Well Spending Less

October 16, 2014
by This Old Colonial Home 4 Comments

Something Wicked This Way Comes

Halloween often gets overlooked in our house. While I am a huge lover of fall (it’s the best time of year in my opinion), I usually focus my décor on leaves, pumpkins and mums, and incorporating oranges, yellows, and reds. You’ve probably already seen some of my fall posts here, here or maybe here.

But this year I’m not going to let All Hallows’ Eve just slip by. I’ve teamed up with some fellow bloggers for a Halloween house tour!It sounded like fun, and I was up for the challenge of bringing some spookiness to my fall décor. I’ll even show you how I was able to do so without spending a lot!

Here’s a little preview of what I’ve been working on.Be sure to swing by on Monday, October 20 for the whole reveal. You’ll also want to check out the other bloggers to see their creations. It’s sure to be a (trick or) treat for all!

Stephanie | Sandpaper and Glue

Gretchen | Boxy Colonial

Lory | Designthusiasm

Kim | The Kim Six Fix

Kat & Cam | Our Nerd Home

October 6, 2014
by This Old Colonial Home 4 Comments

Fall in a Bucket

A few weeks ago I snagged a rusty, metal bucket at a garage sale. (Where else?) It has this cool German and English writing on the side.I don’t know its history, but I loved it too much to pass it up, so I bought it even though I didn’t know what to do with it. (Story of my life.) I took to Hometalk to get some ideas. A few dozen people offered up some great suggestions. Danke schon!

My original thought was to turn it into a planter, and I decided to stick with that. It would be a great addition to my fall décor! So this weekend I finally tackled the project.

I started by giving the bucket a good cleaning – using the hose and bar keepers friend. Jamie then drilled some holes in the bottom for drainage.The bucket is kind of deep and I didn’t want to use a lot of potting soil (I had a limited supply), so I put some milk jugs in the bottom.Gardening is not really my thing, but since I don’t know what this container used to hold, I figured it wouldn’t hurt to use a plastic bag as a liner. I cut holes in the bottom of that too and then put the soil in it.Once I had enough soil in place, I inserted potted mums that I had bought and then filled in more soil around it.Afterwards I cut off the remainder of the bag that was visible. And that’s it! This was such a quick and easy project! That’s so rare. I just hope it works out for the flowers!

So — for now at least — we have this fun, new piece on our front steps among a few other mums and pumpkins. What do you think?What would you have done with this rusty piece?

October 2, 2014
by This Old Colonial Home 2 Comments

DIY Pumpkin Sign

Somehow I got it in my head that I wanted to make a wooden sign for fall. I’ve never made a sign before. But isn’t that kinda what DIY is all about? ~~Winging it?~~ Learning as you go?

I envisioned a rustic, vertical ‘PUMPKINS’ sign — thinking it could be a fun element to add to our decor. Luckily Jamie is usually on board with the ideas I dream up because more often than not I end up needing his help. His only request was that I didn’t put the finished sign on our front steps. (“People will think we’re selling pumpkins.”) Haha, I suppose that’s possible!

We started by taking two scrap pieces of board and lining them up vertically leaving a slight space between them.We then screwed the backs of the boards to another scrap piece at the top and bottom.Before staining the wood, I did a little sanding to get some markings off. Then I decided to try Minwax Weathered Oak for, you guessed it, that weathered look.The first coat came out pretty light even after leaving it on for 15 minutes. I did a second coat, again leaving it on for 15 minutes, which helped. A third coat probably would’ve been just the ticket. Oh well. As for the letters, I decided to save some cash by printing my own. In Microsoft Word I picked the font Franklin Gothic at size 630. You’ll want to measure how big to make your letters. My boards were about 52″ long and I had 8 letters, so I figured around 6″ per letter, allowing room for spacing. (Yay guesstimated math!) I printed each letter on cardstock paper. To save on ink, just print the outline of the letters.After I cut out each letter, I used two-sided tape to attach them to the boards.This turned out to not be the best idea because the tape stuck to the wood more than the paper. After I traced the letters there was a lot of prying up with my fingernails.

For painting the letters I used Pure Pumpkin craft paint (that’s the actual color name) from Michael’s and used a small art brush to apply it.I probably could’ve used a slightly bigger brush, but I worked with what I had. And then I realized — while trying to stay in the lines and getting visible brush strokes — I probably should’ve cut the letters as a stencil instead. (Shoulda, coulda, woulda. Learning as I go!)Once the letters were dry, I did a little light hand sanding using 220-grit sandpaper to dull the orange.

And here it is on display in our dining room (and safe from pumpkin-buying passersby).So all in all this project didn’t go quite as smoothly as I figured (does it ever?!) But I’m pretty happy with the end result and will now know better for the next time. Because let’s face it, there will be a next time!