the ReFab Diaries

You know how you used to pooh-pooh the cuckoo? You know that horrifying, noisy old clock of your great Aunt / Grandma / Second-cousin that you never wanted?  You want it now, don't you?! Well, I certainly do. Be inspired by a sweet roundup of colorful cuckoo's and get the cuckoo makeover how-to at Vintage Revivals

If you've been anywhere near my Pinterest boards, you know I love turquoise/blue and orange together. I also love a retro, vintage, mod feel - in general. So how much do I love this project??? Scrap wood and a little paint ... awesome. Complete how-to at Oh So Lovely Vintage.

If you follow the blog, you've seen me write (repeatedly) "I love natural wood and white!" So how about this side table / end table refab? From alley find to interior designed. Complete how-to at Design, Dining and Diapers.

I'm on a kid-whimsy kick this week. And I LOVE this eye-popping upcycle from One More Mushroom. The chair has been yarn-bombed (!), the table painted entirely with chalkboard paint. Which one would you rather have in your home?  :)  Complete how-to (with great pictures) here.

If your little princess is eating a lot of frozen popsicles this summer, save the sticks and have her help you make one of these! And if she doesn't know the story, what a fun way to introduce her to it  :) Complete tutorial at Small World Land

Original images via the Farmer's Nest - Collage by me. Please use kindly

One day I will have to round up all the amazing DIY/Re-do play kitchens I've seen ... the transformations never cease to dazzle me!  This one is care of The Farmer's Nest - please click through for the complete how-to.  (via Life As a Thrifter)

Happy first Monday of July but...what happened to June? And half of 2012? Tick-tock, tick-tock. So... guess what the theme is this week? No, not clocks. Guitars! I got my first kid-sized acoustic guitar when I was 8, a not-quite-full-size and an actual teacher when I was 11 and I've had some version around ever since. I never trashed a guitar (I was a flaky, eccentric singer-songwriter). So, I'd never thought about repurposing the various bits and pieces of one until I found Stringcycle and saw what could be done with used-up strings. Since then, several posts have been brewing. They all go live this week. 

The first - turning a trashed guitar into a clock! Clock mechanisms are cheap and easy to find - I say this with confidence because I once churned out book clocks to make extra money. This dramatic transformation from My Repurposed Life is a lot of fun and I'd love to see a version done with book pages!  Please note that the clock face is an old CD. Note too the guitar picks used to frame the clock. Guitar picks will be a focal point this week!  Get the whole tutorial here. (Via Handmade Spark) 

I have a lot of creative, crafty friends - lucky me!  However, too many of them are blog-unfriendly. Or perhaps blog-inconsiderate is a better descriptor.  By this I mean, they are not organized enough to take good before, during and after shots of their projects. And then post their pics to Facebook where I can oggle them and say "hey - I want to share that!".  Perhaps it's time for some new, more me-oriented friends. Except Lynzie - she gets to stay. Because she's an energetic, committed teacher who, just this week, is on her way to a new life and a new middle school in Holmes County Mississippi (and I'm SO proud of her for 7 different reasons)... oh, and she also took pics of this awesome dresser makeover that I get to share with you today!

So... I've been a little lazy about my home tour. But this week I actually got around to taking pictures while the light was good.  So here's a bedroom project!  I'm not really a headboard person - I think the wall works pretty well.  But I do like the idea of making the wall above the bed a feature of some sort.  Especially if it's the wall you see from the room entrance.  We have very little color in this room - the walls are a green we love. Pretty much everything else in the space is wood (furniture) or natural fibers in neutral tones.  So I had no idea what I wanted above the bed. Consequently, the space was empty for a while.  Then one day we happened upon these place mats at CB2... yup - they're place mats.  They were on clearance, of course.  Since they don't really lie flat, they were never going to make very good place mats.  But I loved the wood.  

You've seen the $1400 Anthro bookcase right?  OK ... so the price includes 6 vintage books.  But what if you just want the bookcase?  What if you want a version customized for books you've selected yourself? And, er ...what if you don't have $1400 to drop on a cute bookcase?

Head over to whollyKao (loving the name!) for what might be my favorite tutorial of the 2012 ... it's a cheap, easy make!!  The only thing that would make it better: using "found" wood or something other than particle/chip board (click "Read More" for six more doable projects)

I think the pictures say it all really.  I am in awe.  Get the instructions at Paint on the Ceiling.

When last did you whittle a whistle by the light of a gas lamp?  Or carve a carrot by the wood stove? Duo Fiberworks is literally rekindling (!) these lost arts ... with some serious updating!  Pretend "cut-able wood veggies" are trendy toddler toys right now.  So, grab the nearest twig, your carving knife and some velcro and get crafty.