Hello! I am thrilled to be joining Lindsay from Makely and 25 other bloggers for Knocktoberfest 2013! We’re on a mission to make less expensive versions of our favorite designer décor items and today is Day 4. If you are coming from Remodelaholic and her amazing table knock-off, welcome!

We are Star Wars lovers in this house. I saw this death star LED artwork in Pottery Barn kids catalog and thought: hey, I could probably make that for less than $299!

- image from Pottery Barn -

Here’s how I did it:

I picked up a piece of 3ft X 3ft particle board at Lowes. Guess what? I found a sheet of particle board in their damaged pile and they gave it to me for free! Thank you, Lowes-we’re off to a good start :)

Did I mention they will also cut it for you for free? Love them.

Paint around the edges with some black craft paint.

I found a high-resolution picture of the death star on the internet and ordered a 36”X48” engineer print from Staples for $7.

(UPDATE: it’s hard to find a high resolution image these days. Some have had luck ordering a poster from Amazon and using that instead of the engineer print)

There will be some white on the top and bottom, but just cut it down to size.

Attach the print to the board with spray adhesive (leftover from projects here, here, and here) : I rolled up the bottom to the middle, sprayed, and then smoothed it out as I unrolled it. Then repeat for the top part of the print until it’s all nice and stuck on.

May I give a bit of advice here?

Don’t use mod podge!! Well, maybe if you are mod podge expert.

I am not.

And then I had to order another print. Boo. I just turned it over and used the other side.

Moving on…

I used a 1/4” drill bit to make holes in the print/board from the front to the back, trying to follow the picture in the catalog. Then,

 

I took some LED Battery Operated Lights and stuck them through the holes from the back. This is the perfect time of year to do this project because holiday lights are in the stores! I ordered mine here , but you could also do the plug-in version if you won’t be hanging it up and can hid the cord. (UPDATE: I got tired of changing out the batteries, so I found some 50 count plug-in cool LED lights that stay cool to the touch during Christmas that I switched these out for. There are quite a few I didn't use, but they just light up behind the board and kind of make a cool effect. I'm still on the lookout for 30 count LED plug in.)

It’s okay if your holes aren’t perfect, it’s like a Christmas tree. When you turn on the lights, everything looks pretty.

It’s looking gooooooood. Let’s take it downstairs to the boys’ room.

Our grand total (let’s just forget about the print I messed up with Mod Podge, kay?)

large engineer print: $7

particle board: free

black craft paint: 75 cents

LED battery operated lights: $8

Yessssssssss. A savings of approximately $283!

Now witness the firepower of this fully armed and operational battle station:

Dun Dun Dun

Dun-DA dun

Dun-DA dun.

And may the force be with you.

Always.

Are you ready for more? Head over to Vintage Revivals where the amazing Mandy will show you how to make an $800 West Elm rug for around $60! To see all of the projects, click over to party central at Makely.

Happy Knocktoberfest!

We needed some organization around here. I’m missing our back entryway in our previous home with a place for everyone to drop their junk! Our rental has a tiny entryway that is actually part of our living room and I’m trying to come up with some creative methods to keep everything somewhat orderly.

After yesterday’s post, I thought I’d share some of my favorite photo display ideas that I’ve come across:

*arrange them on and around a shelf – image from Heather Chadduck/Cottage Living

* string them on a wire and use mini clothespins – from House of Smiths

pic source

Five years ago, 320 Sycamore began with a blog-warming and a giveaway (you can read my whole blog story here) We’ve been through a couple of blog re-designs,

some awful flash pictures, lots of makeovers, 2 moves, a baby, Favorite Things Parties, Under $10 Under 1 Hour Parties, Some Things I Have Learned About Being a Mom series, 1063 posts, 14,446,509 pageviews and about 30 gallons of paint. Whew! What a fun ride it’s been though.

After my first year of blogging I pretty much knew it all, so I wrote a post about what I had learned my first year blogging :) Do you know what? It is still true and relevant to me today, but I want to take a little different direction with this post. I often fall into the same comparison/I’m not good enough because I don’t make homemade marshmallows for my kids/I’m fat/why doesn’t my house look like that trap. Here are a few things I’m learning about looking at blogs, Pinterest, Facebook, Instagram, you name it.

1. Start your day before you turn on the computer.  If the counters are cleared and wiped, my bed is made, dinner has somewhat of a plan, I have some good smell from a candle or warmer burning, a load of laundry is going and I am dressed then I am usually inspired from being on the computer. I pin, I comment, I bookmark recipes, I think of future projects and I move on. Awesome!

If I’m in my pajamas, eating fritos and marshmallows (sweet + salty=yum), dishes are all over the counter, clothes are everywhere and I haven’t exercised in 3 days I all of a sudden feel overwhelmed and miserable. And begin to feel bitter towards my favorite bloggers. And make fun of what people are making on Pinterest. And click on every video and article anyone is sharing on Facebook. And get sucked into makeup videos! It’s not good and is just better for everyone if I begin my day right. Just taking notes from myself here, don’t mind me.

Here are some things that caught my eye this week that I wanted to share with you!

* I love Erin’s meal planning ideas! Because I always seem to get in a rut and I love new food ideas from others :)

* Some great TED podcasts/talks to listen to while you are doing the mundane around the house. Or driving. Or whatever.

* Love this photo gallery from Emily A. Clark. I just bought a whole slew of gallery frames from Target at 70% off that I’m brewing up plans for. I love hers!

We have lived in some tight spaces. Our first was a one bedroom basement apartment,

 

and since then we have bulged some houses right to the seams. Right now we are renting a 3 bedroom duplex while we are building and things are feeling a little uncomfortable again, so I thought I’d share some favorite tricks for squeezing out every inch of space.

10. Under the bed: this is a perfect spot for toys in bins, out of season clothes, suitcases

9. Use vertical space. Think up! Install shelves, find pretty baskets, use the space above your cars in the garage, and in closets.

need to catch up? Here is

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

So, I had discovered the world of blogs. The first blogs I was hooked on were: Nesting Place, Our Best Bites, and Simple Mom. I checked every morning to see if they had updated and I had their buttons on my sidebar. I loved the world of blogging, it was fairly small back then and I got to “know” other bloggers fairly quickly, but my blog was still mainly a family blog with my projects interspersed here and there.

I chopped my hair off.

Here it was before I went in:

When we were moving, I did a dumb thing. (Lots of them, but this is just one I’m sharing today.) I was trying to see if my favorite lamps from our bedroom would fit into a certain box. I just folded it together (no tape!) to test it out. They fit, so I went along packing and forgot about it. I taped up the top of the box, slid it across the kitchen floor to the garage and then picked it up to add to the stack of boxes.

You guessed it: the lamps came crashing out of the bottom of the box onto the concrete floor. Even though they were wrapped, the top of one broke off. Sadness. These were from my Grandma Reeva for my birthday (well, she gave me the money, I picked them out) and she always, always lives true to the saying: “use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without.”

Hello, friends! I’m back to share an easy storage solution we came up with for the bathroom downstairs. All 5 of my kids are sharing it, there are no drawers and very little storage, we are renting so we can’t do anything too crazy to the walls, so we had to figure out an inexpensive solution in a jiffy.