DIY Fireplace Mantle and Shiplap

When we first bought our house everything was DARK, DARK, DARK. The mantle, stair railings, kitchen... and with my new obsession with HGTV's Fixer Upper, I knew I wanted to make everything light! When I saw the episode of the shiplap fireplace I knew it had to be done in my house! 

Here is what our mantle looked like before we started.

First we sanded down the mantle. Then nailed up the shiplap boards onto the wall (into the studs of course). We then filled in all the nail holes with spackle and once dried, sanded the spackle down so it was a smooth surface. 

We were then ready for the primer. Before you put on the primer, make sure to clean all the surfaces very well. We used a vacuum hose and then some tack cloth to make sure we cleaned up all the excess dust. 

After the primer dried, we lightly sanded the surfaces that had been primed. Remember to clean the surfaces again after this step.

Then we went ahead and painted the boards and mantle white. We used two coats of paint on the shiplap and 3 on the mantle because it was so dark. It has made a huge difference in our home and makes the room feel so much bigger and taller!

More pics just for fun...

DIY Star Wars Halloween Costume

Are you looking for cheap and easy DIY Halloween costumes? This R2D2 costume was super easy, cheap and ADORABLE! 

What you need is:

-white baby onesie

-sharpies

-tulle (if wanting to make a skirt)

-piece of fabric or elastic for tulle skirt

-hat (I found this one at Walmart for 98 cents!)

We started off by finding a picture of R2D2 and just drawing it onto the onesie with a sharpie. Make sure you put something inside the onesie so the ink doesn't leak onto the back. 

To make the tulle skirt I just tied the tulle around a piece of fabric I already had. Then we tied the piece of fabric around baby's waist. 

Put on a hat and you've got it!