Gotta Love FREE DIY Spray Paint Caddy!

Ohhh blog-land how I have missed you!  These past few weeks have been filled to the brim with projects big and small that I have been dying to share with you guys.  But first things first, who doesn't love a 100% free DIY project that solves clutter issues AND packs a punch of pretty?!  I know this girl does.  So today I'm going to show you how I tamed a portion of my ever-growing spray paint collection completely free with things I'm sure you already have laying around your house as well.

Step 1: The Realization
This whole endeavor began as I was clearing out my storage closet and simply had too many spray paint cans to fit into my normal storage hide-aways (i.e. craft box, magazine files, etc.).  I didn't want to buy anything because 1. I'm cheap and 2. I knew it would probably either end up looking plain or manly, neither of which were on my agenda.  So I started looking around the casa, when my eyes landed on THIS...

My husband brews his own beer and as he has been getting more interested in beer in general, we've always got one of these containers laying around.  I saw the empty case and wondered how a spray paint bottle might fit.  The answer? Like Perfection! I was so excited.  After a quick coat of valspar satin white paint + primer I was half way there.

(and yes I am fully embarrassed at how poorly this photo turned out...It's a work in progress)

Step 2: Beautifying

Organization is great but, at least for me, if it's pretty-it's permanent.  That is to say if I add a pattern or cute label or anything that rings my beauty buzzer, it is approximately 874% more likely to remain organized and in use.  So for this guy I wanted to keep it simple but still add a bit of panache.  I wondered what sort of word would be a cute decorative addition for my blank canvas? I went with the word "Spritz" but anything works as long as it fits really.  Using pictures if you have younger kids around your home can be helpful too.  Maybe even add a piece of clip art in the corner of a parent and child so that they know to ask for mom or dad's help before digging in? The sky's the limit really!  But for my simple "Spritz" label all I did was grab a piece of plain cardstock, chose a font, and put it through my electric cutter to make a template.  I love this cutter but if you don't have one, Michaels and Jo-Anne Fabrics and all of those stores sell stick on letters you can paint around as well for cheap!  So I taped on my template,

desperately attempted to crop out my hot mess manicure...failed, then used a sponge brush to pounce (love that word!) on some pretty aqua colored acrylic paint.  Pulled my template away and this is what it looked like!

I loaded my brand spankin' new caddy up with paints and here it is in its new home,

And since I know you all came to see some sweet caddy action...

BOOM! Clean, organized, portable (cough...adorable...cough) and best of all FREE!  I hope this helps you guys tame some of your own collections and I love to hear from you, so if you have a method that helps keep your DIY materials together please let me know!  :)  

Get Hooked

So it has been a whirlwind July complete with visitors, vacations, and all sorts of adventures.  I am currently in the process of creating a well deserved vanity area (mostly because sitting on the floor at the end of the bed next to the dog stairs and trash can weren't exactly putting me in the mood to perfect my cat-eye...).  But until I can unveil it to you in all of its glory, I want to share one of my favorite types of projects with you.

You gotta love quick easy DIY fixes that take no more than 10-15 minutes because they can make such a difference in a space and keep your motivation/inspiration levels tip top.  This project was aimed at providing us with some desperately needed cabinet door vertical storage so I wouldn't have to make a 5 point star around my kitchen every time I needed to slice an apple, and  at the whopping price of $1 you really can't beat it!

So to start I went to one of my favorite spots, the 99 cent store.  I along with many of you I'm sure am constantly amazed at the things you can buy here for only a dollar, including this little gem

These were in the shower hook section of the store and give you a lot of hold for heavier kitchen items as opposed to the single adhesive hooks you can buy there.  That being said, I've never been much of a fan of white and beige, it needed something to make it stand out. So I just took a little ink pen and was able to pop off those little beige buttons like so.. 

 

Initially I tried to cover them in washi tape as they were, but the tan was a bit too dark to let the patterns show through, but a quick coat of white out later they were ready to wrap.    

                               

Note: the coat of white out doesn't need to be perfect because it will be covered by the washi tape and you won't be able to tell which parts got a thicker/thinner coat) 

So next I cut small squares from my sheets of washi, ( this packis from The Paper Source) and tucked the corners in underneath.  Because these hooks are going to be used for kitchen items with some weight to them I wanted to make sure they were extra sturdy so I just secured them with a dab of hot glue for good measure.

 Easy breezy right?!   Here it is in its new home already being put to work, such a fun pop of color against the dark wood.  I just love little design surprises like this.  What about you though readers, any quick 10 minute fixes that brighten your days? I'd love to hear 'em!

Bright Idea

   So once upon a time my beautiful niece Riley was into all things PINK.  A pink bedspread, pink curtains, and even a pink Snuggie that her aunt Lissa someone bought her, were only a few members of her impressive collection.  But as we all know, tastes change, items get used less and less, and it's time to either donate, sell, or.....place and intervention!  Which was just what I had in mind for an iHome lamp/speaker that was no longer being used and sat lonely at the end of her dresser in all of its fluorescent pink glory.

  Now I love pink just as much as the next gal, but I also know how quickly it can go from pretty to Pepto...  Plus I try and make the house as gender neutral as possible so the Hubs doesn't feel like he's living in a dollhouse, which means we have a lot of yellows, greys, greens, etc. adorning our home thus leaving our flashy pink friend to stick out like a sore thumb.

So I decided a fresh coat of paint was in order.  Had I ever painted a plastic, metal, glass combo lamp before? Heck No!!! But there's a first time for everything and I had the perfect guinea pig in front of me ready for a make-under!  First things first, I knew I'd be using it as a bedside table and that I would want it to pull in the color of our bedroom curtains, so I snapped a few pics of the color green I was looking to match and headed to Michaels.  Sadly, none of their spray paints fit the bill.  So as I wandered the aisles aimlessly waiting for inspiration to strike, the plethora of acrylic paint colors began calling out to me.  Wait, what was this?! A "Multi-Surface" tag? Having no other options, and a whopping 67 cent price tag I was sold.  I opted for Craftsmart Acrylic Paint in Light Green (exotic sounding color I know)

I got home and began taping off all of the metallic bits and bobs that I wanted to keep, wiped down the base with a bit of rubbing alcohol, and got to painting!  Here it is mid-way

Next up was a quick coat of sealant. I used this product in the hopes of it giving it a harder finish but if I had it to do over I'd use a plain clear coat spray as this one accentuated my brush strokes and make the paint a bit darker :/  Anywhoo after the sealant I gave it another coat of paint, mainly because I wasn't sure how it was going to adhere in the long run and, this way, if it got scratched it would have another layer of the sealed green underneath. I removed the painters tape Aaaaaaaand PRESTO~! Our previously pink table lamp had a whole new look! Here it is in its new home and ready to glow! (...sorry I couldn't help myself)

I know it sounds simple, but so often we hesitate to revamp items because we're not sure how. But always stop and ask yourself what is the worst case scenario here?  I sand it off and start over? I can live with that. And before you know it, you can create a beautiful new accessory that makes you smile every time you see it, because it reminds you of your own resourcefulness :) So how about you guys? Any quick and easy presto chango projects that gave a perfectly good item a second chance?  Please, do tell!

Deep breath and HERE GOES!

Hi guys!, 

Thank you so so much for checking out Gotta Love DIY!  I am beyond excited to get to know you all, and to share my own adventures with you along the way.  So much of creativity is personal, for me it's essentially a reflection of everything going on inside my heart and mind.  So the decision to share my projects with all of you was equal parts thrilling and scary. What if things don't turn out? What if people don't like my ideas?...(you get the idea).  But then I realized, I learn just as much (if not more) from the projects that tank as I do the ones friends and family could swear I had custom made, and that is just one more reason you gotta love DIY! It's all a part of the process, and I want to share it all with you, the beauty and the beastly :)  But the other ingredient to this site's success is going to be you! I have been so inspired by the many incredible blogs out there that I'm fully looking forward to basking in the rays of your creativity and DIY brilliance as well. 

SO!...Deep breath, check. Best intentions, check. Host of DIY ideas, double check. Lets get this party started guys!

~Melissa