I’ll never forget the sparkle in my dad’s eyes when he’d open one of my handmade cards. It meant so much to him that his little girl took the time to create something from the heart. He told me time and time again how they were far better than any other gift that could be purchased in a store.
Apparently that planted a seed
because my entire life,
I’ve treasured hand crafted items
From a very young age, my brother, sister and I were inspired to make something out of nothing.
This is my sister Cathy some time back in the 70’s. While every other kid on the block was building a snowman, Cathy came up with this! Seriously, she was way ahead of the game!
Think Outside the Box!
The neatest thing about creating your own gifts is the flexibility to customize it. Any space, personality or style can be built into the design. Here are some of my own creations for inspiration.
An easy and functional gift you can make is a a simple coat rack. I love to give these as house warming gifts and wedding presents. Creating things with hooks is an obsession that started years ago with addition of one simple hook.
Just One Hook ~ That’s All It Took
My family prefers hooks over hangers. Apparently we’re just far too lazy, I mean busy ;), to open the closet door and put our coats onto hangers. Since our entry closet wasn’t used for it’s intended purpose, I turned that into a pantry which was a much better use of space for our 100 year old Craftsman style home ~ but what about all those coats?
Well hooks of course! I wanted something that matched the character of our 100 year old home and stumbled upon the perfect hooks at Hobby Lobby. This was probably twelve years ago, but the hooks are still one of my favorite things in our house.
For our Family, Hooks are the Way to Go! 
Don’t have an open staircase? No worries, use an entry wall. All you need is a piece of wood and some hooks and you’re on your way to a cool and function drop zone.
Create your own Custom Coat Rack
I painted, dry-brushed & distressed this piece of wood, Shizzle Style, using chalk/clay paints.
Ready to give it a try?
Awesome!!
Just hunt through your garage & find something you can use as a base!
For a more rustic look, use a piece of barn wood. It needs to be strong but not too thick and long enough to fit your space.
Once you find a piece, measure out the right size for your entryway, bathroom… then lop it off with a miter saw. WhAAAAAt? You’ve never used a miter saw? but but but, they’re so much fun to use!!
Here’s a quick video to show you how easy it is to use a miter saw
Click: My Video to watch
If you’re not comfortable using a saw, then by all means, go to Home Depot and choose a piece from their leftover bin. They’ll even cut it to length for you. See, you’re all set, now you just need your hooks. These are cool because all you need to do is screw them in.
My sister Cathy and I are fortunate in that we paint furniture for a living. That means we end up with off all sorts of leftover hardware. We also end up with leftover pieces of furniture. Everything is up for grabs at Shizzle Design!
Take this small headboard for instance. To me, it looked like the perfect focal point for someone’s mudroom so I started playing around with ideas.
Great Mudroom Welcome – Easy Peasy!
I painted this piece with one of my Signature Finishes, then glazed it to perfection using our new Vintiquties Brushes.
The way I save pictures has evolved so much over the years. My boxes upon boxes of photos have been replaced with sharing them online. I no longer have to spend hours meticulously putting together one scrapbook because I can bust out a much more professional, long lasting & high quality picture books quickly and easily by downloading my pictures to Shutterfly.
Create Awesome Picture Books on Shutterfly!
It’s still fun though to create cool picture displays for our home. I made this photo display with a piece of reclaimed barn wood, some thrift store picture frames, belts and miscellaneous drawer pulls.
Create a One-of-a-Kind Picture Hanging Display Board
Create a Bling Thing ~ Shizzle Style
Nothing’s off limits at Shizzle Design. A few years ago, I scored a large, solid wood door which came out of an old hospital in Kalamazoo, Michigan. I loved the vintage Fire Escape that was on it, we just cleaned it up and added one of my favorite hooks to create a unique architectural piece.
I found a bunch of these on trip to the World’s Longest Yard Sale
and turned them into Unique Coat Racks
This was BIG ~ Over 5′ wide
The colors in this belt inspired my latest picture display
I started the design process by laying out some ideas
I kept messing with it on and off and thought was finished…
Now that I see the pictures side by side, I think the center frame should be changed back to a piece of barn wood.
What do you think?
A hui hou ~ Shelly
For more inspiration and Painted Furniture Makeovers, Click on Portfolio at the top of our website
![painted-furntire-makeovers3[1]](https://i0.wp.com/shizzle-design.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/painted-furntire-makeovers31_thumb.png?resize=366%2C177 "painted-furntire-makeovers3[1]")
also linking up to these great parties!!
Domestically Speaking – The Power of Paint Party
Miss Mustardseed – Furniture Feature Friday
Funky Junk Interiors – Saturday Night Special
These are my all time favorite paint supplies both for my own workshop and also as gifts. Give me a call at 616-438-2644 if you have any questions while shopping our Online Shizzle Shop. If an item shows "out of stock" please, check with me because new product arrives several times a week and I don't always get the inventory updated right away. Thanks so much for shopping Shizzle!! Shelly Andrade ~ Owner / Furniture Painter
Featured Products
These are my all time favorite paint supplies both for my own workshop and also as gifts. Give me a call at 616-438-2644 if you have any questions while shopping our Online Shizzle Shop. If an item shows "out of stock" please, check with me because new product arrives several times a week and I don't always get the inventory updated right away. Thanks so much for shopping Shizzle!! Shelly Andrade ~ Owner / Furniture Painter
Featured Products
I would not change the frame back… I love this idea!
Thanks for the feedback Sabrina!!
Shelly, you know I think your the best and most creative painter I know! I love everything you do! I remember seeing your red sideboard that you added legs to several years ago- I was amazed and hooked on you and your blog! You and you sister are so talented! Love the ideas with hooks, frames and trowels! Merry Christmas, friend!
Merry Christmas to you too Betsy!! I never could have added those legs to that piece years ago if it wasn’t for my friend Tim. I would have never calculated the cuts correctly or have been able to make it as sturdy as he did without his help. He has so many fancy tools for woodworking, I never even knew existed. I did some of the cuts, but I don’t know if I could do it again unless it had 90 degree corners on it
Shelly…I have a Habitat builder’s chandelier I thought would look good with the patina’d copper finish but the patina part was disappointing and the color is also too dark for the dining room. Do you have any ideas on how to paint chandys? I can’t visualize anything but aubusson and that seems pretty dark, too. If you have a tute, I’d sure appreciate a link. Thanks MJ in NC
I have painted lots of chandeliers. You haven’t seen our portfolio? Just click the link at the top of our page and then go to Painted Furniture Makeovers; they’re super easy to paint. http://www.shizzle-design.com/portfolio
PS Whether you change that center feature or not would depend on the ultimate location you visualize for the piece. But that picture hanging display board is one idea I’m stealing….it looks great…..even unpainted……and i already have the frames and colored leather for hanging…..and two friends who NEED this for Christmas (after I make my own)…….you are prescient, on top of being a decorative talent of note……. TKU & Merry Merry…… MJ
Thanks MJ! I had to look up the word “precient” to find out what it meant, lol ~ thank you; that’s quite a compliment!
I so love this post!!! I love love love DIY and crafts and paints and this one hits ALL of them! Merry Christmas to me was what I thought when I read it 🙂 Thank you for all the inspiration and feedback you and your sister offer on this blog and your FB page. I realize and appreciate all the time you put into social media!!! Merry Christmas to you and Cathy and your Families as well.
Lori
I love it just as it is, love you website as well, I can tell I’m going to be spending lots of time here.
Ando
Beautiful color scheme on that last project. I think it would look great as is or switching it to a barnyard piece. I adore your eclectic collections. Beautiful!
It is great as is since if truly used the greens will be a bit covered.