Recycled Book into a Flag Decoration
I love free projects. I didn’t spend any money on this design. All the supplies were already in my craft room. You can find the tutorial here.
restyled
3-D Blue Jean Star-Tutorial
This star worked up into a charming country decor accessory. It’s humble beginnings come from a cardboard 3-D star from the Dollar Tree and blue jeans I recycled from my closet. You can find the tutorial here.
Wall Shelf-Restyled
After my last painting project, I decided I needed something easy-peasey.
I had picked this shelf up at a yard sale last summer. Not terrible, but I could tell it was one of those items that was purchased in a box, and put together with those funky screws that click into something when you turn them ‘just so’. I don’t like the screw heads. They are big and annoyingly obvious. Camouflaging them is what I was going for…Not sure if I succeeded, but I like the way it turned out anyway.
I painted the shelf using a light green paint I had on hand. I them sanded all the sharp edges to give it a worn look.
It wasn’t quite there yet. Finally, I randomly dry brushed a light touch of white paint to the outside of the shelf. Sanding the entire surface blended it all together.
All done! And I didn’t spill a thing! 😉
Western Style Quilt Rack-Redo
I am so relieved pleased at the way this turned out. This transformation should have been simple, but I had one disaster after another. No one was around, so I was able to clean up the messes and move on before anyone could catch me in the act. So why confess now? Eh, it’s more fun if everyone is laughing with you.
This is what I started with. I bought this last year at a yard sale. I think it was $2.
The pink paint and the froufrou bow had to go.
There was a screw that held the bow in place. I figured I could just remove the screw and the bow would magically lift off. Not quite. Somebody had decided it needed a stronger hold. They had also glued the bow to the rack. I was able to pry the bow loose using a putty knife and a hammer. Whew! I added a little wood putty to fill in a few gouge marks.
I made a muddy mess of my first application of paint. I had debated whether to just let it dry and paint over the goofed up paint job, but the paint was so thick and textured, it would have required re-sanding the whole piece. Uhm…No. I was able to wipe it all off while it was still wet. Ugh! I looked like I had been in a mud fight. It wasn’t pretty.
Finally I painted the entire rack using a gray/taupe paint I had in my stash. Much better, but it wasn’t quite there.
I allowed the paint to dry and applied walnut stain over the paint. My plan was to work in sections, wiping off the stain as I went. That, of course, did not happen. Not satisfied with making a mess of the first paint job, I had to tip over the can of stain. I am so thankful it wasn’t full and that I had a vinyl drop cloth under the rack. Have you ever tried to wipe up a large pool of stain? I tried, but the mess just got worse. Since I needed the stain, I dipped my sponge brush in the puddle and continued to stain the rack…fast and furiously. I didn’t even bother with trying to save the drop cloth. Normally I would have been able to wipe up a few drips on the drop cloth and put it away for another job. I didn’t even bother with trying to save it. It went directly into the burn barrel.
Anyway, the stain provided just the right amount of weathering and age to the painted surface, bringing out the western charm. I topped it off with a clear coat without any mishaps.
This iron star was the icing on the cake. Once I glued it to the area where the bow had been, I completely forgot what the original rack looked like, and the pain it took to restyle. Kinda like childbirth! 😉
What do you think?
Windows, Paint and a Cricut…Oh My!
I’ve been working on these windows for longer than I want to admit.
They both had decaying issues on one edge.
Most people probably would have tossed them, but I have had them since they were removed from an old barn/garage.
That was about 20 years ago. The garage was torn down and replaced with a newer garage, but I couldn’t throw out these windows.
In their rustic glory, they were hung in a grouping on a wall in my bedroom. There are actually three, but the third one is missing a pane or two. I’m sure I will do something with it eventually.
Just winging it, I covered the decaying parts of the frames with thick glue. After it soaked in and dried, I repeated the process a couple more times. It felt pretty solid! I painted each window with three layers of a base coat, a layer of crackle medium and one top coat. These windows are definitely not going to fall apart now.
I positioned the windows so the funky edges were at the bottom. I wanted the hanger wire on an edge that was solid. That’s where I stalled out for several weeks. I’ve painted and decorated windows before, but these windows had six panes that made creating a design somewhat challenging.
I finally settled on a simple sign quote thanks to Kammy’s Korner. While perusing her stenciled projects, I fell in love with the hymn title “It Is Well With My Soul”. Perfect! One word for each pane!
I didn’t stencil it…I “Cricutted” (I’m sure that’s a word) it. I used my Cricut to cut the letters from wallpaper scraps and simply decoupaged them on. I finished the windows with a rusty metal heart glued on a corner.
I love how they turned out!
