{Pottery Barn Ceramic Easter Bunnies-knock off}

You're probably thinking, TWO posts in one day?! Yep, today is a special day, not only do you get your weekly Find A Friend Friday post, BUT you also get another great PB knock-off! Yay for Friday! 

Honestly though, I have a few other Easter projects that I've had in the works, and well...there's just not enough day's to showcase them all, sooo...you'll be getting them all crammed into the next two days. :)

For some reason I've really been enjoying the Pottery Barn Easter Decor this year. It just seems so classic, clean and timeless. Here's a few photos of the Glazed Ceramic Bunnies from this year (which are now sold out according to the PB website). 

When I first saw these I knew I could duplicate them, so I searched high and low for quite a few weeks at the thrift store for the right ceramic bunnies. When I found a matching pair, they were painted matte white, with black eyes, and black dotted whiskers. I picked up a .96 cent can of glossy white spray paint at my local hardware store and went to town spraying the duo. I had to do several light layers (i'd say at least 5) to get them covered completely. Make sure you let each layer dry before doing the next. 

Let them dry thoroughly, and there you have it! An almost identical match to the PB glazed bunnies. If you want a more high gloss to them you could take a high gloss clear coat and spray them, but I think the glossy white paint is enough. 

I love the way they look, and the were SOOO easy to duplicate.  I can't wait to see them with the whole easter table set up and am going to look forward to pulling these timeless little guys out every year. 

Come back tomorrow to see two more easter projects, and don't forget to link up to Find A Friend Friday- Week 10!

{Pottery Barn Easter Door Sign-knock off}

Ok, next up in the "how can I get the Pottery Barn look on a budget" project list are these: the Easter Door/Yard signs. Aren't they cute? Yes they are, and expensive. I tried my hand at recreating one of these (the green bunny sign) and I think it turned out to be a dead ringer for the actual thing. 

Here's the actual Pottery Barn versions:

And here is my version. Total cost for this bad boy... .50 cents!!! yep, you read right, FIFTY CENTS!

How'd I do it? Well, I went to Home Depot and scoured the remanent section of the lumber dept (my new favorite place!) and found a scrap piece of plywood for .50 cents. The gentleman that worked there was kind enough to cut it down to 12x18 inches for me. 12x18 inches was the dimension specified on the PB website for the door hanger. The yard post was much larger but I opted for the smaller size.

As for the rest, I painted the board with Benjamin Moore's Urban Nature green. The color is part of BM's paint line for Pottery Barn. I already had it on hand, so i'm not including it in the project cost. 

My camera and the lighting outdoors when I took this picture really distorts the color. I'd say its a dead ringer to the green on the actual sign, somehow it didn't translate well in the photograph. Here's the swatch from the website:

See, its really close to the actual sign's color. All the other paints I used were just your run of the mill craft paints I already hand on hand (not included in the cost either). I printed a picture of the sign off the internet, blew it up on my copier, and used it as a stencil to fit the size of my wood, then I just painted away. I'm no painter, but I think I did pretty good! 

When everything was painted and dry, I took some sandpaper and lightly distressed some areas of the sign, like the PB one (again, my camera makes the distressed areas look really harsh, their more subtle in real life). I haven't yet, but I plan to spray the whole thing with a light coat of polyurethane to ensure it stays in good shape for years of use. 

Overall, the project was fun, I love the way it looks on our door, and I think I may just try my hand at the other "egg hunt" sign.

Again, The Pottery Barn version:

My .50 cent version!

Happy Easter!

{pottery barn easter egg filler knockoff tutorial-part 3}

 Ok, as promised here is the tutorial on how to recreate the Easter Egg Filler from Pottery Barn's easter catalogue. Its not that hard, and not nearly close to the $19 cost of the actual ones, but with all the same goodness of the real thing.

Step 1:

Gather your faux eggs (I used paper mache ones I found at a local boutique, they were sold in packages of 6 for $2.95). Spray paint your eggs white. Make sure you cover them really well, so they have no underlying color visible (this may take a few coats).

Step 2:

Print out "HAPPY EASTER" onto plain white copy paper. I used the font "Attic" at 140 pt. You can download the font for free here. Cut out each letter. It's ok if you have a bit of the white edge around the letter, once you put it on the egg it'll blend in. 

Step 3:

I used Mod Podge attach the paper letters to the egg. (If you're unfamiliar with the product or any decoupaging medium just read the back of the package for full instructions). Once the lettering is dry cover the face of the egg and the letter with the Mod Podge to seal everything.

 That's it! Your done! Now just use it in a glass container for decoration, or you can attach ribbons and hang them from branches as a centerpiece (i'll be doing that closer to Easter). Hope you all enjoy this project, the total cost (I already had the Mod Podge and printer access) is about $6.00, that's less than half of the Pottery Barn price tag. 

{pottery barn easter egg filler knockoff tutorial-part 2}

Ok, I know i'm teasing, again. But today i'm leaving you with another little visual peak at the Pottery Barn Easter Egg Filler Knockoff project I've been working on (take a look at Part 1 to catch up). This time I promise if you come back on Thursday you'll be treated to the full tutorial. Promise! See you then!

{pottery barn knock off pillows}

Pottery Barn, ahhh...the catalog I love browsing through a million times, wishing I could afford things from. So when a friend recently asked if I wanted to do a little project with her inspired by something from the catalog of course how could I say no?  

Our inspiration came from the ever popular Pottery Barn monogram pillows and numbered pillows. Except that we are both on a budget and didn't want to pay the PB price, we're more of Ikea price kinda girls.

Our adventure started with a trip to Ikea where we each picked up two white pillow covers. The covers measured 20x20 inches but we decided to go with the 26x26 inch Ikea pillow forms instead of the 20x20 inch ones. We both agreed that we like our pillows "fluffier" and after cramming one of the larger inserts into the cover, we both agreed that the larger was more flattering.

Then we made our own templates. Easy to do in any word processing software or photoshop. (We did ours in photoshop) After printing out the letters and designs on card stock, and cutting them out with x-acto knives, we taped the stencils onto the pillow covers using blue painters tape (be sure to stick a piece of cardboard in between your layers to prevent bleeding). Then we went to work painting the stencils with black fabric paint. Easy, easy, easy!

Photos courtesy brooketrogdon.com

Cute eh? It was a great project to do, and it got me thinking that I really need to try my hand at knocking off some other Pottery Barn items, so be on the lookout for those...I already have a few in the works. 

{Pottery Barn Easter Egg Filler Knockoff-Tutorial Pt. 1}

Can you believe that April is just around the corner?! Where has time gone? Easter will be here in just a few short weeks so i've been trying to come up with some new decor ideas for the holiday, which will be Ella's first! 

I'm all about making a big "to-do" over holiday's, and am planning some new traditions for us as a family now that we have a little one. Kids make holidays so much fun, and it's really about getting them into it and making it memorable for them. Anyways...I've been browsing the catalogues as of lately for decor ideas, and am LOVING this set up from Pottery Barn. I'm going to give you a bit of a tease and just leave you to simmer on these photos. I've been working on recreating the easter eggs (the ones hanging from the branches) and am almost done. Full tutorial to follow soon, I promise. 

I've also been trying to get my hands on any wooden or ceramic bunnies. Color and design don't bother me. I just plan on painting them all white anyways. So far i've come up empty handed at the thrift stores in town, I may have to venture out a little further. 

 Check back soon for the tutorial!