Make A Simple and Rustic Snowflake Garland

It was a tough day today.  A day of profound mourning for the 26 people killed at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut on Friday.  Twenty of them 6 and 7 year old little angels.  I was born and raised in Shelton only about twenty minutes from the sight of this horrific event.  With a lump in my throat today I made this simple winter garland for my stairway banister.

I started the process by hanging the holographic snowflakes I purchased at Michael's Craft Store on my clothes line.  They came in a package of 4 for a $1.00.  I then spray painted them with diamond dust Krylon Glitter Blast glitter spray to give them more of a snowy texture.

I tied one end of the burlap garland I purchased in a 10 yd. roll at Michael's to the top post.

I weaved the burlap in and out of each rail.

I then cut the burlap to the length needed and tied the second end to the bottom post.

I first began gluing the snowflakes to the burlap using my glue gun, but I found that they weren't sticking as well as I would have liked.  To insure that the  snowflakes stayed put, I chose instead to tie them to the burlap using white garbage bag ties.  With the small holes in the burlap material, it was easy to thread the ties in and then through the small hole in the top of each snowflake to secure them.

I think the final product in its simplicity and sparkle is fitting.  It will always bring to mind for me those little angels and their teachers who left this world far too soon. 

Make A Colorful Candle Trio Out Of Tin Cans

Weekends are for projects.  This particular weekend though I was feeling a bit lazy so my project had to be simple.  A while back I had seen pillar candle holders made out of what appeared to be tin cans on hautelook.com.

In anticipation of undertaking this project, I had saved one Bush's 28 oz. Baked Beans can and one 14 oz. vegetable can.  In order to have three cans of differing heights I would need one more.  I headed to my local supermarket and picked up a squat can of niblets corn.  The can was the perfect size for my project and the corn would go well with dinner.

I pulled off the labels and washed the cans out thoroughly.  When they were dry I laid out some newspaper and pulled out some leftover cans of spray paint.  I chose green, orange and white to match my decor.  I gave each can two coats of paint.

After the cans were dry, I brought them in and placed them on my dining room table.  I then either inserted or topped each one with a cream, brown or maroon colored candle from my stock.

I think the final result makes for a colorful candle trio don't you?

Another Furniture Project

Enjoyed another busy weekend feeding my project obsession.  You see if
I don't complete some sort of project, I feel my weekend was wasted.       

This past weekend I decided to tackle the 3-drawer chest our neighbor gave us.  It had been sitting on the back porch for a while.

First I headed out to Lowes to pickup some stain and new knobs.  I purchased six 1.5 inch round wooden knobs and a quart of Sunbleached Rust-Oleum Wood Stain.

I went with plain wooden knobs since I planned on spray painting them green any way.

I then used my Black & Decker Mouse to sand down the existing finish.  Sadly my Mouse blew up before I could finish forcing me to finish sanding by hand.

This is what the dresser looked like after sanding.

I then applied the stain and topped it off with a coat of polyurethane.  I expected more of a gray like driftwood but ended up with more of a slate blue finish.

 Once I placed the dresser in my foyer though it actually looked good.  It picks up nicely on the color of the slate flooring in there.  The extra storage will be great and it is a handy place to lay down the mail too.

Painting Upholstered Furniture

Did you know you could spray paint upholstery?  It was a new idea for me.  I had dyed fabric before using RIT dye packets but that tactic obviously wouldn't work on furniture.  During one of my daily browses of the web I came across a spray painted wingback chair.  It actually looked really good so I decided to give it a try.  A while back I had purchased a barrell-shaped swivel chair at my local Salvation Army Thrift Store.  It was in good shape though a bit faded. 

I recalled reading that the paint could be found in craft stores.  So last Saturday I headed to JoAnn Fabrics.  I found a product called Simply Spray.  They carried it in 2.5 oz. spray cans.  I wasn't sure how much each can would cover but since they only had (3) packages of the Poppy Red that is what I got.  When I got home I carried the chair out into the back yard and began spraying.  After emptying the (3) cans I had only painted about half the chair.  Already knowing that JoAnn's didn't have more of the color I needed this time I headed to A.C. Moore.  There I picked up (3) more cans.  Sadly the paint was $1.00 more per can.   Once I got home I finished my chair and left it out to dry for a few hours.

I think the chair came out great.  The chair originally cost me $25 and for another $30 or so in paint I have a brand new chair.  If I had sent the chair out to be reupholstered, it would have cost me way more than that.  Below you can see the finished product in its final resting place in my living room.  The chair now matches my $5.00 vintage ottoman perfectly.  This was a really easy DIY project and one I would do again.

My Favorite Furniture Make-Overs

I love shopping flea markets, yard sales and auctions for great furniture pieces.  This past summer I came across two great finds.

One was a chipped green painted chair with a stained fabric seat.  I picked it up for $1 at a yard sale.  I saw great potential here.

I painted it glossy black with a can of spray paint.  Then with my husband's electric stapler I recovered the seat with animal print fabric I picked up at JoAnn's Fabrics.  Now this beautiful Chippendale-style chair can sit with the best of them.

The second item was a mid-century modern night table I found at the Thrift Store.  I think this cost me $5 and actually looked pretty good as it was.

Nonetheless, I decided to give it a little extra lift with a can of turquoise glossy spray paint.  Now it is a real gem.

What is great about these older pieces is that they are made from real wood and not particle board.  Of course, the price can't be beat either.

How to Spice Up Bland Curtains

With the dreariness of winter upon us I decided to spice up my bland curtains.  I took the plain black curtain panel in my guest bath/laundry room and added black and white ribbon adorned with yellow buttons to the center of the curtain.  I attached the ribbon with velcro and the ribbon now serves to shorten the too long curtains as well.

A while back I made valances for my kitchen windows out of old sheets and fusible web since sewing isn't my thing.  To give them an update and tie in the color of my new antique kitchen cupboard I used a stencil and some green acrylic paint to create a vertical striped design along each valance.

Just these minor changes made such a difference.  Now my curtains are bright and cheery.

Adding Kitchen Storage

My bad!  My blogging schedule seems to have gone out the window.  I have gotten busy with many projects and the upcoming holidays.  So to get back on track let me tell you about one of my latest projects.

A couple of weeks ago I spent a Saturday at my favorite auction house.  Instead of getting carried away as I sometimes do, I had only one thing on my list.  I decided my kitchen needed more storage.  One small corner remained underutilized.  It held only a big bag of dog food sitting atop a heating register. 

My hunt was for a tall skinny cupboard to fit the space.  This particular auction advertised many primitive cupboards and I found just what I was looking for in the project barn.  For $35 it was mine.  On my way home I stopped at Lowes to purchase the items I would need to update it.   A couple of cans of spray paint, some small bun feet and metal anchors for the bottom and I thought some new pulls.  Instead I decided to use the existing pulls but to paint them with leftover bronze paint I knew I had at home.  As the unit had previously been used as a built-in it was missing portions of molding at the top.  To address that I decided to buy all new. 

The next day I got down to business.  I screwed on the metal plates to attach the four bun feet to the bottom.  I added some nails to the back to secure it where needed.  I removed the pulls and spray painted the unit and the molding piece satin leafy green.  I spray painted the pulls in bronze and left everything to dry.

The hardest part of the whole makeover was cutting and mitering the molding for the top.  I used a miter box and a hand saw.  Then I secured the molding with small finish nails.  Once complete and ready to go, I had my significant other help me get it into the house.  It fit perfectly and with the feet it was high enough off the floor to allow the heat out into the room.  We secured the top of the cupboard to the wall so it wouldn't tip.

I wrapped wood-look shelf paper around the shelves and installed them at the appropriate heights.    I left space at the bottom so I could fit in the large bag of dog food.  I also found wire racks to hang on the doors for my plastic wrap and garbage bag storage.  This allowed me to free up a whole drawer in another cabinet.  Check out the finished project below.

My Retro Bar Cart

If you find yourself one of these at a flea market or yard sale scoop it up.  I found this one at a yard sale for $1.00.  I believe it is an old Costco kitchen cart.  It even has an electric outlet attached that plugs into the wall to plug in your blender for mixing margaritas or your coffee pot if an Irish Coffee is more to your liking.  It would be the perfect retro bar cart for my new mid century modern decor. 

I cleaned it up with soap and water.  I unscrewed the metal shelves from the base for painting.  I scuffed up the surface a bit so the paint would adhere better.  I painted the two lower shelves a glossy black and the top shelf and the base with a metallic silver spray paint.  After letting it dry overnight I put it back together (of course, not after a trip to the hardware store to replace the screw I managed to loose somewhere in the garage).

All it needed now was a little set dressing.  I placed an acrylic tray with matching ice bucket, stainless drink shaker and blue corked glass bottle on the top shelf.  On the middle shelf I placed a small round ruffled silver tray with blue and white teapot and sake cups.  Finally, on the bottom shelf I placed a shallow rectangular  wicker basket and four black and gold retro tumblers.   All of the items used are items I found at yard sales or flea markets or that I bought at my favorite auction house.  It makes for a very collected over time look.  Check it out.

Lamp Renovation

Above are the before and after pictures of a small bronze lamp I found at my local thrift store for $2.99.  You would normally put a round shade on a lamp with a round base but I wanted to mix it up a bit.  I found the square shade for $2.99 at the same thrift store.   The shade was a bit dingy but I figured I could do something with it and I really loved the shape.

To update the lamp I picked up a can of silver metallic spray paint, a roll of adhesive shelf liner and some decorative ribbon that had elements of the green and pink found in the shelf paper.  I spray painted the base and the electric chord and when dry I cut a piece of the shelf paper to fit, pulled off the backing and adhered it to the shade.  I then glued the ribbon around the top and bottom edges of the shade.   I actually purchased two of the lamps and shades so for $12 and the cost of about $6 in supplies I now have a cute pair of bedside lamps to grace my guest bedroom.