Magazine File Box Facelift | Pretty Handy Girl

Magazine File Box Facelift | Pretty Handy Girl

It’s a new year and I want to give a few rooms in our house a fresh new look. Our office was one of the first spaces I completed when I started this blog (has it really been 5 1/2 years!)

I’m tired of staring at the same room day after day. I know many of you feel the same way. You have that itch, or a burning desire to hop in the car and drive to your nearest Home Goods, World Market or The Container Store to buy cute colorful decor or storage bins. I almost caved into that desire because I was tired of looking at the two tone boxes I bought 6 years ago.  But, that would mean discarding the old ones. You know how I feel about throwing things away! If I can upcycle it, I’m going to!

Magazine File Box Facelift | Pretty Handy Girl

Within 10 minutes you could give a Magazine File Box a Facelift (or a storage box)! I saved a lot of money reusing the old. Factor in the gas money I saved by not driving to the store. And the time I saved by not leaving the house. I think I deserve a big fat high five! Put ‘er there fellow savers!

Here’s How to Give Your Magazine File Box a Facelift: Read more

Pretty Handy Girl Holiday Home Tour Mudroom & Foyer

Last up on my holiday home tour is my mudroom and foyer. This year, I re-used the same wreaths for the front door, but I jazzed them up with silver holly leaf floral picks.

Pretty Handy Girl Holiday Home Tour Mudroom & Foyer

It’s incredibly easy to change the look of your wreaths. Try tucking in fresh clippings like these mahonia leaves:

Pretty Handy Girl's Holiday Home Tour 2014

Or tie ornaments onto your wreath to add some sparkle and shine. Get more ideas for updating your wreaths here.

Pretty Handy Girl's Christmas Home Tour

Inside the front door, I set up the advent calendars on our rustic IKEA hacked chest. Read more

Holiday Home Tour - Kitchen | Pretty Handy Girl

Holiday Home Tour - Kitchen | Pretty Handy Girl

One of my favorite rooms to decorate is our kitchen. There is something about the combination of aqua with green that makes me happy. Welcome to the next room on my Holiday Home Tour, the kitchen!

Holiday Home Tour - Kitchen | Pretty Handy Girl

Updating the window seat with aqua and snowflake pillows is the first thing I do when Thanksgiving is over.

I love adding a little bling to the chandelier during the holiday season. Last year I hung a beaded garland from the chandelier, this year it’s white buds and gold painted eucalyptus leaves.

Holiday Home Tour - Kitchen | Pretty Handy Girl

The open shelves get a new vignette. It’s such an easy swap that gives us something new to look at throughout the season. Read more

Galvanized Metal Star Garland | Pretty Handy Girl

Galvanized Metal Star Garland | Pretty Handy Girl

Remember when I told you I’ve been on a galvanized metal kick? Yes, you may have noticed my Rustic Metal Magnetic Window Frame on Monday. When I put the windows over our fireplace mantel, I knew there was something missing. I tried a few different garlands in the space, but nothing felt quite right. When I gazed upon the leftover galvanized metal, the idea to create a Galvanized Metal Star Garland was born.

Galvanized Metal Magnetic Windows | Pretty Handy Girl

Today’s post is part of the Deck the Halls DIY-Style tour hosted by Jen Woodhouse, If you are just hopping over today from Sawdust and Embryos, amazing vignette, right?! My favorite is the monogrammed scroll snowflake. Welcome to my little slice of DIY Blog heaven. I can’t wait to show you how I made several elements over our fireplace mantel.

Deck the Halls DIY Style | Pretty Handy Girl

The Galvanized Metal Star Garland is so incredibly easy to make. You’ll be looking for more places to decorate with a garland of stars.

Ready to get started? Grab these things and let’s make something stellar!

Materials:
(contains affiliate links)

Instructions:

Draw stars on your galvanized sheet of metal. If you prefer a beautifully aged metal patina, you can follow this tutorial to make your metal age quickly.

Galvanized Metal Star Garland | Pretty Handy Girl

Cut out the star shapes with tin snips.

Galvanized Metal Star Garland | Pretty Handy Girl

Rub the pencil marks off the stars with a gloved hand. Read more

Rustic Metal Magnetic Window Frame | Pretty Handy Girl

Galvanized Metal Magnetic Windows | Pretty Handy Girl

I was really inspired by Laura Putnam’s new book: DIY Rustic Modern Metal Crafts. I love the look of aged galvanized metal and knew that our home needed more of it. Today I’ll share with you a tutorial to create your own Rustic Metal Magnetic Window Frame, inspired by Laura’s Vintage Window Memo Board. But, you’ll definitely want to get a copy of Laura’s book to learn how to make 34 more storage and decor items using galvanized metal!

Materials:
(contains affiliate links)

Galvanized Metal Magnetic Windows | Pretty Handy Girl

Optional: Silicone Caulk (for more secure metal)

Instructions:

Ready to make your own Rustic Metal Magnetic Window Frame? If you have newer galvanized metal, you can easily add an aged patina to metal following this tutorial. Prepare ahead of time, because it might take up to 8 hours to get the look you want. The sheet you see below was left overnight in the solution to get a nice white patina.

aged-galvanized-sheet-metal

Remove the glass panes from your old window.

old-window-pane

Measure the size of each pane.

measure-window-panes

Transfer your measurements onto the galvanized metal sheet. Read more