Cornice Box Tutorial Using $1 Foam Board!

 

The door to our back patio needed a little love...

Of course my first choice would have been to buy a new door altogether, but that is just not in the budget right now! So, what does any designer do in this situation? Dress it up! 

I decided to make a cornice box to add some pattern and color. I thought about making a roman shade, but we don't really need the privacy, and I had about 1/2 yard left of the fabric I used to cover my couch pillows, so I thought a cornice was the best option! 

Not only did I use fabric I already had, but I built the box out of a large sheet of foam poster board from the dollar store! 

Since this project turned out so well and was sooooo cheap, I wanted to put together a tutorial for you! This is definitely a beginner level project that anyone can do! Let's get started!

STEP 1: Measure your door window opening and decide what size you want your cornice box to be. I made mine about 1" larger on each side of the window and about 9" long. Using a ruler, mark the large front piece first, then the top, and 2 sides. You can use an exacto knife to cut along each line.

These are the 4 pieces you should end up with. 

STEP 3: Tape your pieces together. I used a heavy duty masking tape to secure all of the seams and corners. *Tape until your heart is content because you will never see it!

More tape!!

STEP 5: Lay your fabric out under the cornice box and begin wrapping it like you are wrapping a gift with paper. I used a staple gun to attach the fabric. 

You won't see the inside, so don't worry about raw edges or messy folds. 

And here it is! You can use small "L" brackets, Velcro, or 3M tape to secure your cornice box to the door. It weighs nearly nothing, so you do not need heavy duty hardware. 

The fabric I used is Spring Mix Aloe by Robert Allen. One of my favorite fabrics!!! You can see it used on my couch pillows here.

Now the door ties in with the valance over my kitchen window! (you can see my window panels here as well)

I am so pleased with how this turned out and how easy it was!! You can use this simple cornice box tutorial for almost any window in your home! 

So, what are you waiting for!?

DIY Mirror Makeover!

 DIY Mirror Makeover! 

I bought this solid black framed round mirror from Ikea over 8 years ago. It was under $20 and it has gone through many transformations over the years. I am such a huge believer that you can pretty much turn anything into what you want it to be, or at least try before you sell it or trash it!

The very first time I changed the mirror was back in 2009. We had just moved into our first home and I wanted something dramatic in our formal dining room. Of course I didn't think to take photos of our home back then, so this is an image of a mirror that I took my inspiration from... 

I bought a ton of tiny wooden dowels from the craft store, hot glued them around the edges, and then spray painted the entire thing gold. It was beautiful!

Then my style changed a little...I wanted a lot more white in my home, so a few years later I changed it to this!

I pulled all of the dowels off and gave it a coat of white spray paint. I then bought dryer hose clamps in multiple sizes and hot glued them around the mirror in an odd pattern. It was finished off with a coat of glossy white spray paint!

A year or so later, I decided to turn my dining room into my office. I removed the circles and left just a clean white surface. 

So, now we are caught up to date! We recently moved into a little farm house in the country and my style is much more vintage, shabby chic, and rustic. To say I love burlap is an understatement! After starring at my little round mirror in the garage for 7 months, trying to figure out what I would do with her next, it finally hit me! 

I began with a roll of burlap ribbon from Hobby Lobby ($5). 

Pick a starting point and hot glue it down. From there you just weave the ribbon back and forth in a zig zag type pattern, gluing each edge down as you go. This part probably took me about 30min. 

I noticed that the closer I got the ribbon to each edge, the more it looked like the ribbon was actually wrapped around the entire mirror!

And here is the final product! I am just obsessed with how easy this was and how gorgeous it turned out!

What do you own that could use a DIY makeover? I would love to see your projects, so please share them below! 

Want more?

Check out these other easy DIY projects that I have done in the past to up-cycle items in my home!

Just click the photo to see more!

           

Chalk Lettering 101

 

I bought this cute chalkboard on clearance at Kirkland Home and I was determined to learn how to write in chalk (and not have it look like my 3 year old wrote it). So, after researching many different techniques, I decided to try it out! It worked so well that I just had to share! If you are looking to decorate a cute chalk board in your home, this tutorial is definitely for you!

I began by looking for what I wanted the chalkboard to say. Since I knew I would be hanging it in the kitchen, I thought this quote by Julia Child was perfect! I typed up the quote in a couple of fun fonts, and traced it from my computer screen to regular printer paper (you could print it too, but I was lazy). The paper was cut and pasted together to the exact shape of my chalkboard since it was larger than 8.5x11.

You will first need to "season" your chalk board. This simply means to take a piece of chalk on its side and rub it all over the board. Then lightly dust it all off with a rag. This gives the board a more worn/used look and allows the chalk something to adhere to. 

Next you'll want to do the same thing on the back of the paper you just wrote your quote on. Literally turn the paper upside down, and rub the chalk on its side all over the paper. Then very carefully lay the paper right side up on your chalkboard. (chalk side down, pencil side up)

You will then trace over each letter and design with a pencil and the chalk you rubbed on the back will magically appear onto your chalk board. Once you have finished, remove the paper. You will see that it is not perfect and needs some touch up, but it gives you a really good outline!

Make sure you have a sharpener, a bowl of water, and q-tips near by. Dip the tip of your sharpened chalk pencil into the water and begin tracing over the letters on the chalk board. The wet chalk helps to give a smooth finish. It may look funny while it is wet, but it will change to perfection before you eyes as it has time to dry. Use a q-tip dipped in water to clean up any mistakes. 

This was my final product and my very FIRST try! I am pretty proud of the way it turned out! SO of course I am now obsessed with chalk lettering and I want to buy every cute chalk board I see lol!

Try it, it is so easy and such a fun custom craft to do!