DIY Blessed Home Decor Upcycled Shutter

      I love upcycling old shutter doors into home decor! I usually find them at the Habit for Humanity Restore and periodically find them for free on Craigslist. The one I used for this piece was part of a set of three that I got off Craigslist for free. They needed to be free too. They were tore up! They had at least three layers of paint of a variety of colors, none seemingly done well. Because I wanted the stained wood look, I sanded off all of the paint. It can be done with chemical paint stripper but I really don’t like working with it. It ends up being such an icky gooey mess. Anyways, here is a short video / slides telling you how I made this piece. 

Distressed DIY Coat Rack

I love how this turned out! We do not have a coat closet in our new home so I decided to make a coat rack. I took a cabinet door I found at a Habitat for Humanity Restore. First, I put the hardware on the back for hanging it up. Then I cleaned it and applied sander/deglosser according to the instructions. I then spray painted it with a couple coats of Rustoleum spray paint in the color “seaside”. I then used sandpaper to distress the painted finish in certain areas. Then using a paintbrush I applied stain to the entire surface after which I wiped it down with a rag leaving stain in the crevices. I did the stain process a couple times. At the end I applied a polyurethane finish. I got the instructions for distressing furniture from this link. https://www.addicted2decorating.com/diy-project-accent-furniture-how-to-paint-distress-and-antique-a-piece-of-furniture I then glued the cross hooks on that I bought at Hobby Lobby. Wanting a very strong adhesive, I used Gorilla glue to do this but you have to be really careful with Gorilla glue. It expands so use it sparingly, otherwise it might overflow around the edges. I left the original door handle on the bottom right to hang our dog leash from.

DIY Christmas Stocking Hanger / Holder

Very excited about this project I recently finished, just in time for the holidays!! We do not have a fireplace to hang our stockings from. Usually we lay them out neatly on the tree skirt underneath our tree, however we have recently taken in a stray cat and we were worried that she would scratch them up. That left me trying to figure out what to do about our stockings. So of course I got on Pinterest and found a plethora of fabulous ideas.  The inspiration for my idea came from The Happy Housewife blog and her DIY No Mantle Stocking Holder which you can see here. http://thehappyhousewife.com/home-management/stocking-holder-no-mantle/ 
She used a solid plank of wood 12 x 36 inches but we all know my affinity for upcycling shutters and I happened to have half of a shutter closet door left over from a previous project.

I cut out every other slat and sanded the piece down, leaving hints of the white paint here and there.

Then I made some strong, steeped tea, and using a cheesecloth "painted" on a coat of tea over the shutter. I did this a couple times, letting the piece completely dry in between. In order to make the wood look distressed or aged, I used a solution of steel wool and vinegar. I soaked a steel wool pad in white vinegar for couple days and then strained the vinegar. Again using a cheesecloth I wiped on the solution over all the surfaces. Once it was totally dry, I took a very fine grit sandpaper and lightly went over some of the areas that I thought needed it. If you want a lighter color, you can soak the steel wool for less time or you can skip using the tea. The tea itself does not darken the wood much at all but the vinegar solution reacts to the tanins in the tea making the look darker.  This project took a relatively short time to make and I am so happy with the end result.