And that’s exactly what happened with this gorgeous lamp! All it had was an unsightly shade, which looked it may have been burned or otherwise dirtied in some way.  All it needed, though, was a little makeover to be as good as new. Whoever threw it out did not know this, but that’s why I have a DIY blog and they probably don’t. I live for finds like this.

All it took to get this lamp gorgeous again was a stretch of fabric, a pair of scissors, and a hot glue gun.  That’s it!  And it only took about 40 minutes.  Read on for the step by step and end result.

Step 1: Remove the outside fabric. When recovering any lamp, this is the toughest part. Oftentimes, the fabric is stuck to the shade, so just take this process very slowly.  Also, if you can – the old shade makes the perfect pattern for tracing onto the new fabric, so bonus points if you can remove it all in one piece. In this case, the fabric was lightly glued onto the shade, so removal was slow, but finally, I got the ugly fabric off intact.

Step 2: Place your old fabric on the wrong side of your new fabric. Using chalk (I had tailor’s chalk handy), a pen or some other tracing instrument that won’t bleed through, trace around the old fabric.  THEN! Go back around and make the pattern one inch bigger so you have room to anchor the fabric to the inside of the shade.

Look closely - see the original lines? Cut one inch around those!

Step 3: Once your pattern is traced, cut carefully! And then give it a good iron so its nice and flat.

Before the ironing board!

Step 4: Now you’re ready to put on the new fabric.  Place the shade in the center of the fabric and make sure you have it centered between the top and bottom edges, as well.  Then, using your glue gun, place a few dots of glue on one edge and secure the edge of the fabric to the center of the shade.  Press it down and then pull the other edge tight.

Step 5: Working your way around the shade, place a dot of glue (close to the top or bottom edge of the shade so that it doesn’t shine through when the light is turned on) at regular intervals to secure the fabric.  Soon, you should have the entire thing covered – with enough fabric hanging over the top and bottom.

Step 6: Working your way around again, but this time inside the top rim, place a dot of glue on the fabric and then secure it to the top of the shade. Before you do this, if you notice that the fabric is long and will reach deep inside the shade, give it a quick trim.  Otherwise, when you turn on the light, anything inside the shade will show up as a shadow within the lamp. Instead, cut the fabric so that it’s close to the edge. See below on how it hangs over just the littlest bit.

See? Hangs over just a little bit.

When you get to the wires inside the shade, give the fabric a small snip so you can fit it over the bars.

Step 7: Do the same on the bottom.  See how much more this hung over? I trimmed just more than half of it away so the overlap was the same as the top of the shade.

Step 8: Glue down anything else that is sticking up a bit and then place the shade back on the lamp, cause you’re done!

Don’t you feel bad for the person who threw this away now?? If only they knew!

Yay! DIY reader Tracy recently sent us this beautiful and super easy tutorial from Style Me Pretty on how to make your own coasters using inexpensive tile, cardstock and Mod Podge. Take a look at these gorgeous sets they made:

And not only is the end result so pretty – the entire cost is negligible given how much use you’ll get out of them – whether it’s for your own home or a gift.  A must do!

It actually reminded me of these super-cute coasters I spied during my recent trip to the Mall of America.

All this takes is a few swipes of chalkboard paint over some tile and voila! – an adorable new set of coasters that can be personalized by guest or occasion.

After looking at these projects, think a little trip to Home Depot is in order to pick up some new coasters!

I decided to make my day even better by making my favorite afternoon snack from scratch:  

And washed it down with my favorite summertime beverage:

My guac recipe after the jump. It’s easy, quick and a crowd-pleaser, I promise.

This recipe will make a very generous serving for one person, or a tasty appetizer for two. I ate the whole thing myself, but felt a bit guilty after. It depends where you fall in the “are avocados healthy debate,” and factoring in whether you think this is an acceptable serving for one, (especially since it may be better for two.)  In any case, double/triple the recipe as needed for groups or parties.  Avocados turn brown quickly, so its best to make it the same day you’ll be serving it, as close to serving time as possible.

You’ll need a few fresh ingredients :

• 1 avocado
• 1/2 small white onion, diced very small
• 10 -15 leaves of cilantro (just a few pieces from the bunch – not the whole bunch shown here.)
• 1 small Roma tomato diced very small
• Juice of 1 lime
• Garlic salt, to taste
• pinch of sea salt, to taste
• Optional: 1 jalapeno chopped small

Directions: Be sure to select an avocado that’s soft, but not TOO soft. Cut open the avocado and scoop out the center, all the way to the skin.  Tear a few cilantro leaves (10 – 15) off the bunch, chop fine and add to avocado. Add diced onion, tomato, lime juice, and a bit of garlic salt and sea salt.  And jalapeno, if you’re adding them.

If you have one of these nifty mortars, you can mix it together and small the avocado in here. (I added one to the registry!!!)  If you don’t have one, you can use a regular bowl and the back of a spoon – that will properly mash the avocado so you can mix it with the ingredients. Add more cilantro, garlic salt or sea salt to taste.

Enjoy with chips and a cold beer!

We linked this recipe up to Southern Hospitality’s spring/summer recipe party!

We spied our friend Lauren wearing an absolutely adorable pin in honor of the holiday and best of all, when complimenting her on it, she said her aunt made it. Right up our alley! Giving it a quick study, we saw what she did – and you can make it, too.  Pretty quickly at that, which is good if you forgot to wear green today.   Instructions below!

A close-up of the pin.

And a shot of the outfit:

Lauren kindly modeling her festive accessory.

Here’s how you can make one of your own!Step 1: Find some green-colored or green-accented craft paper (just a small square), as well as some matching papers.

Step 2: Using a pencil, draw out the shape of a shamrock two times per paper.

Step 3: Glue the papers wrong-side together to create a thick shamrock.  Splay them and connect them to each other with hot glue.

Step 4: Accent using ribbon, wire or even a button would look cute.

Step 5: Hot glue a safety pin (or a magnet, store name tag style) to the back and you’re good to go!

Take this picture frame for example:

From the street!

Walking down the street one day, I saw a couple lean it up against a signpost next to a pile of garbage and walk away. My eyes flicked around nervously.  Almost two feet tall, solidly constructed – just in a weird shade of gold with a cheap print inside – I mean, you’d have to be CRAZY to throw this thing out. It was gorgeous!  I made a run for it, darting like I was being chased, and ran it back to my house before I continued with my day.  And good thing I did because now it funkily decorates my kitchen like this!

How-to, you say?  With just a little  bit of spray paint and the fortunate accident of breaking the glass in the frame all over the living room. The whole project was like a crafter’s dream – from finding the materials for free to the cool mistake that actually improved the project.  Keep reading after the jump!

This project is so simple it’s ridiculous. To make this, I used fabric and a spare piece of shelving I had lying around, but you can literally use just about anything for the backing: a book, a piece of cardboard, a poster board – literally anything is the size and shape you want. After the jump, what you’ll need and the how-to…

Here’s what you’ll need:

• Some kind of backing. I used a piece of wood – formerly an old shelf- and bought at Home Depot for under $10.  You can also use cardboard, a canvas, an old book, thick cardstock – whatever has the depth or length you prefer.
• Fabric of your choice
• Scissors
• Tape (I wound up using packing tape we had around the house.) Masking tape or duct tape will also do!  Scotch tape might work – but only with certain fabrics.
• A nail
• Wire, twine, string or or something somewhat strong (dependent on the weight of your hanging) to hang from the wall.  If it’s light enough, you can even use dental floss or thread.

Step 1: Lay your backing down on your fabric and cut around so that it’s just wide enough to cover the front.

Keep in mind - you don't need to wrap it all the way around - just enough to cover the front.

Step 2: Basically you want to wrap the backing like a present. Start on one side and pull the fabric tightly onto your backing.  Then, tape down into place.  Repeat on all four sides.

Ready to start wrapping.

Starting to wrap.

Getting everything pulled tight.

Step 3: Flip your wall hanging over.  Are there lumps and bumps on the edges? Flip back over and smooth down any buckles or wrinkles and tape into place. Don’t be afraid if the back looks like crap. No one will ever see it!

Look for lumps and bumps. Pull again tighter on the back in those areas.

Step 4: Take your string (I used floral wire) to form your “hook.”  Fold it in half so that it forms an upside down “U.”  Lay it down on your backing, so that the rounded part of the “U” faces up.  Tape it down very securely.  Basically, the top of the U is going to hang on your nail.  Don’t be afraid to use a ton of tape to keep it place – if the string slips and falls out – your wall hanging will fall.

The "hook" fashioned from floral wire. Tape this down good!

Step 6: Find the place on your wall that you want to hang your art.  Drive a nail into the wall just below where want the top to fall.  Hang up and that’s it! Blank walls no more.

Hello "artwork!"

Basically, it’s 365 blank happy face circles and at the end of each day, you fill in how your day was! How stinkin’ clever and cute is that?

To make your own, all you really need is a piece of posterboard and 365 round labels (like these from Staples) – and voila! What a great gift for a tween-age relative.  In fact, may just make my 12-year-old cousin one.  It’s such a neat way to look back on your year and see how you felt through most of it. (Hopefully it’s mostly happy.)

Combined with some ingredients I already had on hand including fresh tomatoes and mozzarella, it was delicious and nutritious (a combo I don’t make as often as I should) and I’m obsessed because it was also so easy.

I should have food styled a bit more but I just wanted to dig in!

Here’s how I did it:

Step 1: Prepare the squash. This really couldn’t be easier. You cut it in half lengthwise and place the fleshy side down in a baking pan. Fill the pan with about 1/4 inch of water and bake it in the oven on 375 for about 40 minutes , cooking until tender.  When a fork goes clear through the skin into the squash, it’s done.

Place in the oven, fleshy-side down.

Step 2: Remove the squash from the oven. Using an oven mitt or something else to protect your hand, hold the squash toward you, flesh-side out.  Take a fork, and simply scrape out the squash.  The flesh comes away in cute little strings.  I scraped them right onto a plate.

The veggie just scrapes right out looking like spaghetti.

Step 3: Toss with your fresh ingredients! I combined the squash with just a little bit of tomato sauce and then topped with fresh tomato chunks, some mozzarella cheese and a few basil leaves.

And seriously, that was it. One thing to note on the nutrition front is that the squash is not as filling as a bowl of pasta – so don’t feel guilty if you need to have two or three bowlfuls to feel full. Just go light on the cheese each time so that you don’t wind up eating a ton of that instead.  Bon apetit!

Turn regular Google images into old-timey photos with Picasa.

Recently, I was in New York’s Central Bar, where I noticed wonderful old-timey photographs of well-known authors with some of their most famous quotes superimposed in the background. It looked adorable in the bar – giving it a real quirky feel. I thought about how cute it could be in the home – for example, how fun to have some photos of your favorite authors over your bookshelf? Or in a more unexpected place, like the bathroom or office?

Then, the lightbulb: you can do this using Picasa!  I recently discovered this great, simple photo editing program from Google. Picasa is great for people who want to eventually learn to use Photoshop but can only find the patience to learn it in little bits. After the jump, a short tutorial for the above project!

Step 1: The first step is the hardest one- the selection of just one image and just one quote! I highly recommend staying away from highly quotable authors like Twain, particularly if you love just about everything that particular author has said.  But once you get your picture selected, save it to your desktop and open it in Picasa. Here is the one I chose, found using a Google image search.

Hello, Mark Twain.

Step 2: Open the image in Picasa.  Get yourself to the editing screen.  There you should see three tabs – Basic Fixes, Tuning and Effects. First, we’re going to go to Effects.

Now, you should see several ways to edit the photo, one of which includes coloring it in Sepia.  Simply hit Sepia and wham, bam, thank you ma’am – an old timey photo has appeared. Your image should now look like this:

Sepia Twain.

Step 3: Now it’s time to add your quote. On the editing tabs, click the first one – Basic Fixes.  Click on the icon that has ABC on it – you’ll see a box automatically pops up for text – type or paste the quote of your choice there.  Here, you can play with everything including the text size and color, its placement, even its angle.  When you are done, make sure to hit apply to save your changes.

I chose something a little inspirational, turned it brown to match the sepia tones, and placed it in the lower-right hand corner of of the photo.

Now with words!

Step 3: Now, it’s time for fun.  Add any additional effects you want. I like photos that appear distressed and old. And Picasa has some great tricks for achieving that effect. For this example, I warmed up and played down some of the colors by going to the Tuning tab and fiddling a little with the light ratios. Then, I clicked back on effects and hit film grain a few times to get that real filmy look. Here’s how it turned out:

Now with a few layers of film grain added on.

And that’s it!  The last step would be to print out your final photo on a nice thick cardstock or laminate (should be less than $2 at a copy shop or print it at home), frame it and hang it in the place of your choice! I think I’d like this either near my bed to see when I get up in the morning or near the front door as I head out.

Happy editing!

See you tomorrow!

Several months ago, I happened across a link for a service called HipTix, in which the Roundabout Theater Company offers heavily discounted tickets to people under the age of 35 for some of their hottest shows.  I was extremely complemented by what they consider a youthful person to be, so of course, I signed right up.

After monitoring for several weeks, I can confirm that the discounts are indeed phenomenal and used today’s code to snag a ticket for just $10 to the show Brief Encounter! Can’t beat it! With Broadway tickets  running at least $60 (and often $100 or more) these kinds of deals must be taken advantage of – particularly by someone who loves live theater but reallllly had to be careful with such an expensive habit.

Sign yourself up for HipTix at www.hiptix.com.