Wall-to-Wall DIY Hook Board

A custom hook board can help control clutter that comes with everyday life. This one we put together for our laundry room makeover has helped our jacket/backpack/hat/anything-that-hangs-mess tremendously.

I wanted a board with hooks that spanned the entire blank wall in our laundry room. Our previous hooks were on a one foot board with only four hooks...it was always overloaded.

This new one has more hooks than we'll probably ever use...but I'm soooo okay with that. I even have a hook for the little wall pocket I keep my plastic bags in.

The other day my dad was over and he referred to it as a hooker board. Three times. Without batting an eye. Bless him, Lord. He's too pure of heart to even know the humor the rest of us gutter-minds find in that term. I snicker every time I think of it. 

This hooker board started out as a 1x4 piece of pine {cut to size} that I slapped some of my blue oops paint on. I like to work with pine since it's a bit softer and easier to distress.

 I distressed it with my palm sander.

Used some stain with an old kitchen sponge I had laying around in the garage. It's laziness at its finest. I couldn't even take the time to find the proper tool.

I let the stain sit for a couple of minutes and then wiped it down to remove the bulk of it. 

Then the men hung it. It was a three person job. Apparently.

We managed to get it in studs so we didn't have to use wall anchors 

{the bain of my existence}.  

And you'd think, between the two of us, doing math to hang hooks to put on the board wouldn't have been as time consuming as it was. But, this was seriously the hardest part. We had charts and graphing calculators {that hadn't been used since college} and rulers and phone apps and everything under the sun. I have no idea how we finally got them up there in some semblance of even spacing. At one point, I walked away in frustration and said "call me on hook seven so I can take a picture". My husband really puts up with a lot from me sometimes.  

But I think it turned out great, in spite of our poor math skills. We got the hooks at Lowes...they were the cheaper ones that are toward the bottom of the display.

We're still a considerable way from calling this room done.

If you remember, this room-redo was a product of a broken washer that our warranty replaced for us. The issue that washer had left a streaky mess {from humidity and leaking} all over the walls.

This is the other hook board in the room...it was a HobLob find. I considered duplicating its pattern on the larger board...and then said nahhhh. 

Above the hook board, Board Dudes from RoseArt is sponsoring my new command center that I'll be putting in {hopefully next week}. Can't wait to show you everything when it arrives.

Annnnd...on my top shelf {which I now can't reach since my new machines are taller}, I splurged on the vintage metal letters from HobLob. I can't wait to show you guys the entire room when it's all done! 

This was where this room started...almost six years ago when we moved in.

Shortly after moving in, my dad helped me redo the room and add the shelving {and remove the cabinetry}. This was a great set up for us, and would've still been had we not encountered washer issues. But, stay tuned...more laundry room adventures to come!

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Neglect your chores like me and don't miss a thing:

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Board & Batten on a Budget

This post for a board and batten tutorial contains affiliate links. I make a small portion when these links are used, at no additional cost to you.

Board and Batten is a great way to give a new place a classic and timeless look. But, it can get a bit expensive. By using a thin underlayment instead of heavier lumber or boards, we achieved this fun look on a very tight shoe string budget. See the tutorial below!

In the summer of 2011, we did our first board and batten project in our hallway bathroom. You can see the post on that here. While it was a nice project and still looks great, it was a bit pricey (we used the Cadillac of lumber...apparently). And, it was very labor intensive. We did things completely different this time...and LOVED the result (and our pocketbooks are super happy, too). See our complete step-by-step tutorial below.

12 Days of Christmas Crafts {with kids}: DIY Snow Globes

Hi there, friends! So excited to be a part of a group of 11 other bloggers for the 12 Days of Christmas Crafts for Kids series. And thanks bunches to Claire form Polka Dot Pretties for organizing such a fantastic time!

The 12 Days of Christmas Crafts for Kids series is a blog hop. You can visit each blog on their special day to see a different holiday craft designed to create with your kiddos!

Our Schedule of FUN:

Dec 1st – Fancy Frugal Life
Dec 2nd – Alderberry Hill
Dec 3rd – House on the Way
Dec 4th – Scattered Thoughts of a Crafty Mom
Dec 5th – I should be Mopping the Floor {woohoo!}
Dec 6th – Season Gredings
Dec 7th– A Night Owl Blog
Dec 8th – Mamma Marchand’s Nest
Dec 9th – Cherised Bliss
Dec 10th – Little Inspiration
Dec 11th – Aubrey Plays
Dec 12th - Polkadot pretties

Today, I'll be showing you how my boys and I put together these super easy {and very budget friendly} Snow Globes.

These were the basic supplies...a few jars, "friends" to fill the jars {purchased at the Dollar Tree}, bottle brush trees, glycerin, bleach and GLITTER {not pictured...how did I leave that one out?}!

After researching how other crafters had created their snowglobes, I noticed a lot of folks had trouble with their trees turning their water in their globe green after a few days. After seeing Amanda Jane Brown's Snow Globes {she linked them up to a Mop It Up Monday recently...and was a reader favorite}, I realized a great solution for this is to BLEACH the trees first!
Great idea, Amanda!

The bleaching process was very quick...we're talking ten minutes {don't blink}. I used a 5:1 water:bleach ratio and submerged my trees in a glass container in the sink. They literally changed colors before my eyes. I let them dry out for a few hours before starting the project.

Then I let my boys arrange the little people with a tree or two on the lid bottoms.
{Excuse our under-shirt and pajama-filled photos...that's how we get our craft on around here}.

I purchased a special water-proof adhesive.

Since the adhesive was a bit toxic, this was a mom job. After the boys arranged the figures, I glued them to the lids {the bottoms of them}.

To make sure the bushy trees didn't push each other away, I zip-tied them to keep them centered and "together" on the lids. My dad would be so proud of my use of zip ties. After the glue dried, I simply clipped the ties off.

You'll want to let your figures dry several hours before submerging into the globe.

Then we went glitter-crazy. I let the boys add the glitter to the bottoms of the jars.

The amount of glitter you use is totally your call...we went a bit, errr....overboard.

I added a splash of glycerin to each jar.
{Glycerin is inexpensive and can be found in the first aid section of any drug store}.

Fill to the top with water.

Add a bit of the adhesive to the top of the lid jar.
Invert the lid onto the jar. Try not to turn over for a few hours so your adhesive can cure.

Then....skakey-shakey!
The glycerin helps the glitter to stay suspended in the water longer...creating the "floating effect".

These can be dressed up and embellished even more. My boys are of the "as-is" sorts and didn't want mom to add her "fluff" to these babies.

Be sure to check out the other bloggers involved in this fun series! Yesterday, Jamie from Scattered Thoughts of a Crafty Mom, created the most adorable Paper Christmas Tree Ornaments. And tomorrow, be sure to pop by Gillian's place at Seasons Gredings to see the fun she has in store for us all!

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{Easy Christmas Craft}: Tabletop Trees

A few weeks ago, I introduced you to my craft group: the Hot Glue Hotties.
This was our craft from November. It is super easy and can be customized for any decor.


As you can see, we all did our own style and they each came out great!

You'll need:

• styrofoam cone base {can use green or white}, the size is up to you...but the larger you get in these cones, the more fragile they are and difficult to work with {and 99% of the time, the tops break off when they are taller}.
• scrapbook or plain paper {for the larger size that you see pictured above, I used six sheets of paper, for the smaller one, I used four}. You can mix and match or even do all one pattern/color. 
• floral pins {you can use straight pins, but sometimes the head goes right through the paper...floral pins are available at craft stores...usually with the floral styrofoam}
• ribbon
• hot glue

 I used a paper cutter, but it isn't required.

I cut my paper into one inch strips.

And then cut the strips into 2 1/2" lengths.
Your final strips will each be 1x2.5 inches.

Start by hot gluing your ribbon around the bottom of your cone. The hot glue tends to melt the styrofoam, so just a little dab will do ya!

Roll up one end of your paper strip on a pencil to get the curled end.

Then pin into place...just above the ribbon. Continue all around the tree, in a straight{ish} line. Perfection is completely optional here...uniqueness is the way to go.
Crooked lines=character.

After you get the first row done, you can switch patterns if you're using more than one paper design.
Start your next row about 3/4 inch up from the previous row.
Just make sure to cover the pins from the previous row.

The narrow, top part of the cone can be a bit tricky. Try to push your pins in at an angle so they don't poke through to the other side. This was a bit of trial, error and poked fingers for me.

Once you get to the top, use another strip of ribbon to cover the pins. Just hot glue it in place as well.

We finished ours with jingle bells on top.
Several of the ladies did cute bows on top, too. LOVE that!

Happy Holidays!

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