OCTOBER DIY PROJECTS FOR THE HOME

     I was feeling extra creative this week, and decided to complete some projects I’ve had in the back of my mind for awhile.

PROJECT 1: TISSUE HOLDER

     One of my pet peeves in my own house is tissue boxes. For some reason I just don’t like them out in the open. I think they look a bit sloppy. But I also don’t like to have to open or close cabinets or drawers to get to the tissues! I am always looking for ways to create a cover for the boxes. I don’t know if you’ve ever priced the tissue box covers in the store, but I think they are way too expensive. I could buy 30 boxes of tissues for the price of one cover! 

     While trying to figure out what to do, I saw Cottonelle’s commercial for “Respect the Roll”. The ad basically implies that bathroom tissue that good needs to be respected with a cover. If you go to respecttheroll.com, and enter in the UPC code from a package of Cottonelle Bathroom Tissue they send you a free roll cover. Be patient -- it did take over 6 weeks to receive the item. However, it was completely free.

     After the box arrived, . I used a razor blade to slice a hole in the top cover. Then I got out a new tissue box (the square one). I took the stack of tissues out of the box exactly as they were and placed them into the new box, and put the modified lid back on. Voila! I now have a stylish tissue box cover. Of course you can do this with any similar items you may have around your house. 

     The website is www.respecttheroll.com. You can choose from three colors – blue, green and orange.

 Copyright 2012 by Kristen DiNobile

PROJECT 2: UPDATE A WHITE LAMP SHADE

     My second project involved improving a plain white lamp shade. I used some leftover paint that I had used to paint that room. First, I gave it a full coat of white paint. After it was dry, I measured out stripes at various heights. Then I used small brushes to paint the stripes. The shade did need 2-3 coats. 

     And don’t worry about the stripes being perfectly straight. It has a more organic feel if the stripes aren’t crisp. I really love the way it turned out. It is definitely not something you’ll see in the stores. I love having unique items. You could also create painted vertical stripes; apply grosgrain ribbon; add wallpaper; use paint and stencils; or even attach buttons or beads.

 Copyright 2012 by Kristen DiNobile

I Hope these projects have given you some inspiration for your own space! I have 2 more that I’ll be sharing later this week.