It’s that fun time of year again!! Swap it Like It’s Hot, where a whole bunch of us get together and find thrifty randoms and send them to our friends to transform into whatever they can reimagine and I love it! This year my items came from our fearless leader, Charlotte, from Ciburbanity, and I decided to use them to spruce up our bar cart for fall.

Our antique bar cart got a little make over during the One Room Challenge that you can see here but it was time to change out a few things to try and entice fall to head into Texas;)

Charlotte sent me several fun things but I decided that these two were the stand outs to help in my mini make-over. This little tray and a wooden stand.

I actually liked the pattern on the tray, but the colors just weren’t working for me, which is the beauty of buying things and seeing them in different ways! All this tray needed was some black spray paint to get me started… and yes, this may be one of my children completely wiping out in the background of this photo… no children were harmed in the spray painting of this tray!

I used some glossy, black spray paint and gave it a shiny fresh coat! Then I decided to add my personality into the project… a few white stick on letters accomplished that because I got jokes people! My husband may not think I’m as funny as I do but he’s got the rest of his life to figure that one out.

So a man walks into a bar… and he says… can there ever be enough blue and white in a house? No! and that’s not even a funny question! You know I had to have my blue and white but I love the mix with the black and white and peach… yes, peach! I brought some peach accents with my DIY curtains into the dining room and love the soft contrast it brings.  That peach, velvet pillow cover though, was a recent Target purchase (lots of colors) for under $10- you can find it here and you’re welcome… love! 

The wood base was perfect with an old glass cylinder I had.  I simply filled it with these wood beads that once again, I found at Target, and then added some of my little, Christmas battery powered lights for some fall ambiance! So easy but added great texture and interest! For you locals out there, I am not going to lie… there were two boxes at my Target and I snatched them both up- I’m sure they will restock soon but they are on sale online and it is an unbelievably good deal if you compare prices to the wood beads they sell at Pottery Barn, etc, so I suggest you nab them if you can.

Best advice on decorating I can give… decorate for you… this isn’t going to be everyone’s style and that’s why I love seeing what other’s do with similar things because to some a tray is just a tray but to some it’s way to remind their husband that they are funny every time he sees it

And FYI in case I haven’t encouraged you to spend enough moola at Target already, that is in fact a fake fiddle leaf fig tree… and I couldn’t be more proud of a fake plant if I tried.  I actually had to ask our store manager and these will only be sold at some stores so once again, if you can grab it online I would for sure- they are so real looking and obviously for me the biggest plus is you can’t kill it!

So now I get to send you on your way to my friend Laurie over at Vin’yet Etc. who I sent this little group of thrifted finds- I can’t wait to see what she did with them!

And here are the links to all of the participants for today and I will come back each day and add the new participants as this will go on all week!

Monday

| Ciburbanity | Windgate Lane | Vin’yet Etc. | Casa Watkins Living | One Mile Home Style |

Tuesday

| Reinvented | ConfettiStyle | Confessions of a Serial Do-It-Yourselfer | Addicted 2 DIY

|Restoration Redoux | I Am a Homemaker | Maggie Overby Studios | PMQ For Two |

Wednesday

| Two Thirty-Five Designs | 58 Water Street | Create & Babble |

| Dogs Don’t Eat Pizza | Gourley Girl and Guy | The Charming Farmer |

Thursday

| This is our Bliss | Southern State of Mind |

| Two Purple Couches | My Life From Home |

xoxo

B

**affiliate links are included in this post to both ease in the sourcing of materials and Windgate Lane does make a small stipend off of purchases made through click throughs**

The post Bar Cart Styling | Swap It Like It’s Hot appeared first on Windgate Lane.

This framed, hand stenciled quote was such an easy project! And I am so excited that I got to make it for the sweetest family!

This last fall, I was invited by Charlotte, at Ciburbanity, to be involved in the furnishing of a Habitat for Humanity home.  It has been such a neat experience and I loved working with a special group of ladies and fellow bloggers to make this happen! The primary room I worked on was the master bedroom.  Because all of this was taking place in Connecticut though, I primarily concentrated on what we needed to buy rather than what had to be made.  Charlotte at Ciburbanity and Jilliam at I Am Home Maker were my amazing partners and bless them for the amazing build projects I will link to below!

After traveling out and meeting the family last fall with Charlotte, I was struck by the sweet Momma’s quotes all over her home.  All about love and family- and it was crystal clear that those are the most important things in the world to her.  So it occurred to me that I could create a larger version of one of her favorites for her Master!

“The best thing to hold on to in life is each other.”

I lucked into finding a perfect frame at the thrift store!  The family loves a county taste in their decor and the existing wood frame would tie right into that.

It originally had some birds on it so I primed it with Zinsser first to get a clean slate.  After that, I found some 1 inch letter stickers and placed them on, traced around them, peeled them off and took a black sharpie to color them in!

A fresh beginning for such a precious Momma and her family!

(photo cred Ciburbanity.com)

I’m so excited to keep sharing more and more of this project with y’all! There was so much heart in this that the outcomes in each room were just overflowing with love.  We have also been so lucky to have HomeTalk and Wayfair sponsoring this with amazing donations, not to mention RugsUSA with some of my favorite rugs!  If you would like to follow along with all of the projects, hop over to Instagram with the hashtag: #bloggershearthabitat.  And I will be back soon to share more inside looks and sources.

And to see all of the other amazing rooms, you can jump to all of these amazing women!

LIVING ROOM:
| Jaime from That’s My Letter  | Laura from Finding Home Farms

DINING ROOM/ DECK:
| Kris from Driven By Decor | Annie from Most Lovely Things |

MASTER BEDROOM:
| Jillian from I Am a Homemaker | Charlotte from Ciburbanity | Bee from Windgate Lane |

KIDS ROOM:
| Kristin from A Thrifter in Disguise |

GUEST ROOM:
| Evey from Evey’s Creations | Lynn from On Fern Avenue |

FOYER/ MUDROOM/ BATHROOMS:
| Sarah and Nick from Nestrs |

TEEN ROOM:
| Michelle from Weekend Craft | Stephanie from Sandpaper and Glue |

xoxo

B

The post Framed Quotes: Habitat for Humanity Projects appeared first on Windgate Lane.

The big reveal in my One Room Challenge was last week and the master bedroom is so much lighter and brighter thanks to my new bed skirt! (you can see the reveal here).  The good news is that no sew sewing has become my best friend! I spoke about using Stitch Witchery on my Dining Room Curtains here and decided to use that on the bed skirt as well.

I decided early on that this could be a simple project because the bed skirt isn’t going to be roughed up by little hands and is not in a high traffic area.  So now we turn to the best invention besides the Stitch Witch… velcro strips! I felt like doing an evil laugh when I came up with the plan (and I might have). And then seeing this fabric come to life in the room? priceless!

Ironing and measuring… I can handle that.  I measured how long I wanted the bed skirt to drop- most are 14, 15, or 17 inches- I wanted mine to be a bit dramatic so I made it 16inches (I added an inch on each side for the seems).  I then measured the length of each side (I did each side in individual pieces).

Once I knew the hight and length, I gathered the fabric into folds in about 5 places to have extra length for the pleats I wanted to create.  I was going for a gathered look rather than a clean look.

To Use the Stitch Witchery:

1. Fold your seams and iron at about an inch.
2. Cut your length and put Stitch Witch in-between ironed seem.
3. Start out giving a shot of steam from the iron and then immediately turning the heat down to medium with no heat and hold on one section for about 10-15 seconds.  (The directions do not say to use steam but I found that it holds better for me to give it a quick shot)
4. Let sit and cool completely.
5. Done!

Now that my seems were done, I gathered my sections that I wanted to add pleats and used about 2 inches of Stitch Witch to fold over the fabric at the top seem.  This gathered the fabric and gave me the look I was hoping for!

With the three sides finished, I put on a cheapo white bed skirt that I found here.  I did this to add some fluff behind mine and also to attach mine to.  I can easily go back and sew them together later but for now this was my fast no sew solution.   I simply attached the sticky backed velcro to my skirt and then pressed it firmly onto the other bedskirt.  I really don’t think you can get any easier than that! It has been on for almost a month now and no problems!

I even had enough left over fabric for a coordinating pillow… icing on the cake!

Now for the talented sewers out there, I tip my hat to you.  I truly wish I was a better sewer and that it came more naturally to me, but it sincerely doesn’t! Maybe some day I will do a whole tutorial on how not to sew… that’s about the limit to my helpfulness in that arena.

Pin here for later!

I hope y’all are having a wonderful day!

xoxo

B

The post Bed skirt: No Sew Sewing appeared first on Windgate Lane.

If you are just joining this craziness, welcome to the One Room Challenge! You can find details here, but the quick story is I am trying to finish a laundry list of items in not one, but two rooms in my house in just six weeks! So each week you will see two posts on Wednesdays, one for my master bedroom and one for my dining room.

The dining room is moving along.  Do I wish I could cross off more on my to do list, yes, but I’m happy with what I accomplished this week! I started gathering all of the art work I want to use for the feature wall and am pretty happy with my little collection.  I may hit up some more antique and thrift stores this week to find a couple more, but I would be ok with what I have.

The big project I finished this week was refinishing my antique tea cart.  I got this years ago at a garage sale and of course had no idea what I would do with it, but loved it to much to leave it!

I loved the gold, but it was the gold with the black veins running through it that I didn’t love.  So I decided to correct that with some simple rub and buff.  Super easy and took about 5 minutes.

Next I needed to replace the glass.  It was the thinnest piece of glass I have ever seen and I was constantly afraid it would break under any pressure, so I decided to go with plexiglass.  Cost effective.  Strong.  And waiting for me at Lowes! Take your measurements and they will cut it to size for you.  Perfect!

Last but for sure not least… is the fun I needed to add! I have been in love with Society Social’s Bar Carts for forever! The caning and the different pops of color with the gold are so fun.  I still had some caning (you can buy some here) that I found in a thrift store left from this project, so I simply cut it to the size of the perimeter, used some painters tape to make it into a square and then spray painted it.  I went back and forth a million times on which color I wanted to do because there was room for several different accent colors, but a beautiful blue won out!  And I can always just take it out too so it’s the best of both worlds.

I’m pretty smitten with this project and it’s definitely helping motivate me to get the rest done.  So excited to see it all come together!

Check back next week to see more progress and jump over to the Master Bedroom to see what’s been ticked off the list there this week too!

xoxo

B

The post |One Room Challenge| Dining Room Tea Cart appeared first on Windgate Lane.

I see old shutters at thrift stores all the time, but it wasn’t until I was sent some by Jeanie, at Create and Babble, in our Blogger Swap Group, that I realized what a pretty lantern they could make!

Our fearless leader, and organizer, Charlotte, from Ciburbanity, got us all set to swap our $10 or less thrift store items with each other and off we all went! I received a few things but really narrowed in on the shutters and now all I can think is to look for more!

At first I was leaning towards white, but decided a fun green, spring color would be better.  Spray paint was a must for me because of all the nooks and crannies I didn’t want to have to do with a brush.  I knew I would probably spray some touch up once I was all done, but figured it would be easier to get the inside before I attached it all.

I measured and cut a piece of scrap wood to attach to the missing side of the shutters and used L-brackets to hold it in place.  I decided to leave the bottom open knowing that I wouldn’t be moving it around much and placing a flameless candle in it for safety with my little ones.

I wanted to attach some kind of handle but debated on what kind.  I considered wood and metal but finally decided a braided rope would be fun and give it a bit of spring and summer feel! I simply braided three separate strands and then braided the three together to give it a thicker look.

I should caution you though, that if you are going to be using a real candle inside you should not use any materials that would become a fire danger.  I had some string like this on hand that worked out great!

It was an easy project but I couldn’t love it any more! The pop of green with all of my blues looks really pretty and it’s just perfect on our mantel!

and yes, everyone should keep a disco ball in there home, I mean what if you need to dance?!

This whole week will be filled with fun blogger swap projects which I will come back and be linking here, but for now hop over to Jess at Gourley Girl and Guy and see what she did with this fun stuff I sent her!

Have a great week and don’t forget to check back for more links every day! Oh and pin here for inspiration later! –>

xoxo,

B

Monday Swappers

| Windgate Lane (you are here!) | Gourley Girl and Guy | Dogs Don’t Eat Pizza |

| Hearts and Sharts | 58 Water Street | I Am a Homemaker |

| Prim and Propah | Create and Babble |

The post Old Shutters into New Lantern appeared first on Windgate Lane.

This week I was so excited to share some of my new Christmas Decor and that included my DIY Cardboard Christmas Houses on my mantel!

I wanted big impact and no surprise… low cost… so as I was preparing to do wood cut out houses, I realized that it would A.  take more time and B. would have to be seriously attached so as not to fall on my children’s heads.

I decided to use my once a year Lightbulb Moment and came up with thick foam cardboard- easy to cut, and half off at Hobby Lobby Score (similar found here)! After I cut out the house shapes and some windows, it occurred to me that you can buy window forms for doll houses.  I popped back in to Hobby Lobby and sure enough- little windows, doors, and even shutters- why not add a little personalization?! (similar windows found here but more choices at Hobby Stores with coupons!)

I ended up not using the shutters because I liked the simpler look, but all I did was trace around the windows and then use an X-Acto Knife to cut out the foam.  I lightly pushed the wood window frames in and voila!

The doors and larger windows I cut looked a bit boring after the cute windows were in so I grabbed some Balsa wood trim that I used to create my Faux Tobacco Basket.  It is super thin and can be cut with scissors so I just measured, cut and hot glued it around the doors and windows! (also found at Hobby Lobby)

I also cut down the edges of the houses but not all the way through the foam so that they could stand on their own and block the view of the twinkle lights taped to the back.

The next step was to tape some battery powered twinkle lights up to the backs to add a nice glow!

See all of those fun accents that make the scene come to life? All found at The Container Store! The wood cut out trees, the red pom pom ribbon, the adorable little gift boxes… between those and their gift wrap, I was in that store for a long time and beyond excited!

To see the rest of the Holiday Decor, including my festive dining room, Click Here!

Let me know if you have any questions!

xoxo

B

The post Cardboard Christmas Houses appeared first on Windgate Lane.

This year I was thrilled to be invited to join the Home for the Holidays Tour, hosted by the amazing Sondra Lyn from Sondra Lyn at Home! It’s 5 Days – 30 Blogs, sharing everything Christmas for one whole week! I will try to limit my exclamation marks but it’s hard…

I’m going to primarily let the pictures do the talking in this post and I will elaborate on a few DIY’s that I did this year later in the week!

Let’s start in the dining room.  I recently made this live edge table for under $80 and it has been so fun decorating this holiday season! (details here)

I used my favorite blanket scarf as a table runner and re-used the DIY faux fur placemats from my Thanksgiving Table Scape.  The mixed metals and small plates (all thrift score finds) just keep the eclectic feeling going- while the large striped vases add a modern element that I love!

The hanging branch was an easy DIY that I will share soon but adds a touch of whimsy.   It is similar to all of the branches I used last year in our Christmas Decor.  The bar cart is a recent addition that I found on Craigslist that I still need to do a little work on but I decided it should be dressed up for the holidays regardless!

Again I mixed my silvers and golds and then for a fun pop of color, I put antique Christmas Bulbs that I scored when I was in Connecticut at the Elephants Trunk Flea Market, in an antique silver bowl.  I feel like it’s those touches that make a room feel festive!

I can’t wait to serve our Christmas Dinner in here! 

Decorating in our Family Room was all about my kiddos.  We spend most of our time in the house there and I wanted it to be fun and cozy for us all!  The mantel is always my favorite place to decorate while also my nemesis.  I decided to create a town out of cardboard or foam board to bring in some more warmth and lights.  DIY Tutorial for Houses HERE.

I cut out some windows so that I could tape some battery powered string lights behind the houses and light up our little village!

The accents around the houses are almost all from The Container Store! The little trees, boxes, and red pom pom string can all be found there at great prices!

The rest of the room I just added other small touches to what is usually there.  And more Antique Bulbs of course!

The bookshelves got some punches of color too!

I am thrilled to be all decorated and able to really enjoy these spaces for the next month!

And one more of my view at night… So cozy!

I am so excited to see all of the inspiration this week and hope you will click back to follow along as each day will bring more!  Pin here to find later…  xoxo

Welcome to the 2nd annual Home for the Holidays Blog Tour hosted by Sondra Lyn at Home. Wow, do we ever have a great week of holiday celebration ideas lined up for you!

Join us each day for inspiration from nearly 30 of the today’s finest blogs!

You’ll see everything from gorgeous decor to yummy holiday recipes… and everything in between! Here’s a look at what’s coming up this week:

Monday – Holiday Decor

featuring…

Just a Girl and Her Blog | Lilacs & Longhorns | What Meegan Makes

Windgate Lane | Worthing Court

Tuesday – Holiday Recipes

featuring…

Duke Manor Farm | Graceful Order | Rhubarb and Honey

Snappy Gourmet | The Happier Homemaker | Two Thirty-Five Designs

Wednesday – Mantles and Tablescapes

featuring…

Dandelion Patina | {Home-ology} modern vintage | Organize and Decorate Everything

Sondra Lyn at Home | StoneGable | The Everyday Home

Thursday – Holiday Crafts

featuring…

An Extraordinary Day | Cottage at the Crossroads | Making it in the Mountains

Our Southern Home | 2 Bees in a Pod | Two Purple Couches

Friday – Gifts and Wrapping

featuring…

Addison Meadows Lane | DIY180 | Domestically Speaking

My Creative Days | Southern State of Mind | unOriginal Mom

Be sure to check back every day this week to enjoy all the goodies we’ll be sharing with you! Each day’s links will be posted that day and will go live at 7am EST/6am CST, so don’t miss a single day!

Cause we all know…

there’s no place like…

Home for the Holidays!

Monday – Holiday Decor

Tuesday – Holiday Recipes

Wednesday – Holiday Mantels and Tablescapes

Thursday – Holiday Crafts

Friday – Holiday Gifts and Wrapping

The post Home for the Holidays on Windgate Lane appeared first on Windgate Lane.

These 3 little wall hangings sent to me from Trisha at Black and White Obsession, had passed their prime.  It took me awhile to figure out what to do with them really, but when the boys started nagging about getting our outdoor Halloween stuff up I thought they could help me make a cute little sign!

First up was some black spray paint- and I didn’t let the boys do it- although they wanted to… #taggers.

Then I showed them some pictures of spiders and webs and gave them some white paint pens! I wrote the words Trick or Treat on them and then just screwed them into some scrap wood.  Pretty easy and the boys love that they made something special to add to the fun outdoor decorating!

Do y’all put up outdoor decor for Halloween? We do a little but it’s too much for me to do decor for every season Thats why I like my wreath (tutorial here) because it has spanned across several seasons!

Make sure you jump back to my Faux Marble Box post to find links to 40 other awesome thrift store make- overs!

xoxo

B

The post Halloween Outside Decor: #swapitlikeitshot appeared first on Windgate Lane.

Here are the links to my last projects if you want to see even more fun!

| Dough Bowl | Mid-Century Modern Side Table | Beverage Station |

This round I was thrilled to receive swap items from Trisha at Black and White Obsession, so if you are stopping by from her, welcome!

She sent me several things, this post is going to show just one, but later this week you will see the others so stay tuned:)

That little faux book box with angels on the front was the first thing I pulled out!  Sorry little angels, you had your day to shine, but don’t quite work with my decor.

First some white spray paint around the sides.  I didn’t bother to cover the top completely and will show you why in a minute…

After that I found my faux marble contact paper (purchased here and used on these side tables) and got to work!  I simply cut out the sizes I needed and made the top large enough to wrap around the edges for a clean look.

After it was wrapped, I glued on a fun leopard print handle I grabbed at Hobby Lobby in the clearance bin for $0.99!  I mean you just never know when you will need a single leopard print handle… obviously.  And I glued instead of drilling it on because I wanted the option of removing it should I want to stack something on the top of the box later.

But for now I love this pretty little box on the shelves in my family room that conveniently holds some extra charging cords that I need handy but love them being out of site!

Pin Below for tutorial later!

On Thursday I will be back to show you some of our outdoor Halloween and Fall decor and show you how I repurposed these little wall hangings!

I think you will be surprised!

NEXT STOP! –> Alice at Thoughts from Alice Run over to see what she did with the treasures I sent to her! Which included a small woodland creature…

And as for the 40 other bloggers!! Well here are all the links as it progresses through this whole week!

Search the hashtag #swapitlikeitshot on social media to follow along with all the fun or check out our Pinterest Board.

MONDAY

| That’s My Letter | DIY On the Cheap | Run To Radiance | The Gathered Home |

| Two Thirty Five Designs | Chaotically Creative | Decor Adventures |

| Homemade By Carmona |

TUESDAY

| Thoughts From Alice | Reinvented | Confessions Of A Serial Do-It-Yourselfer |

| Restoration Redoux | Always Never Done | I Am a Homemaker |

| Black and White Obsession | Windgate Lane |

WEDNESDAY

| Town and Country Living | brepurposed | The Charming Farmer |

| 58 Water Street | Designer Trapped In A Lawyer’s Body |

| Year of Serendipity | White House Black Shutters |Desert Domicile |

THURSDAY

| Two Purple Couches | Like A Saturday | Finding Silver Pennies |

| Artsy Chicks Rule | Something to Be Found | Shades of Blue Interiors |

| Simple Designing | Our Southern Home |

FRIDAY

| Evey’s Creations | Dragonfly and Lilypads | Weekend Craft |

| Ciburbanity | A Designer At Home | Polished Habitat |

| Blue I Style | Addicted 2 DIY |

Hope y’all have a fun time following along! so much inspiration!

xoxo

B

The post Faux Marble Thrift Store Box: #swapitlikeitshot appeared first on Windgate Lane.

While I have seen the baskets styled in more of a farm house fashion- I love them because they are grand in size and are so beautifully crafted as they were used to carry heavy tobacco leaves to markets.  Originally made from Oak wood, they held up very well!  I eventually would like to have several to use on the large vaulted staircase wall.  But here is an example of an original version!

I laid out a pattern that I liked and then wove the wood together.  I then hot glued any overlapping pieces.  And yes, I did do all of this on my good Persian rug because that’s where I landed and time was limited because the kids always want to be picked up from school for some reason

So to recap…

1. Buy soft wood (mine was Balsa wood from Hobby Lobby)
2. Lay out your boards and start weaving them (I used two different sizes)
3. Use hot glue or wood glue to attach in some spots to add stability
4. Glue thicker pieces along the edges to frame it out
5. Stain in the colors of your choice (I varied between several stains to get a worn look)

Hope y’all are having a wonderful day and let me know if you have questions!

xoxo,

B

The post DIY Tobacco Basket appeared first on Windgate Lane.