*Simply June has Downton Season 4 up! I may or may not have watched them all in one night when my husband was out of town last weekend…

* top 5 paint colors for every room in your home.

I thought Emily at JDC was brilliant for using these military wool blankets in her boys’ bedroom makeover.

* I loved this look of overlapping pictures in this bedroom:

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.