The Craft In Me

A blog devoted to all my crafty endeavors.

Saturday, March 27, 2010

Furniture Makeover

From this...


To this!


This was a dresser bought from one of those used furniture shops and I currently house it for my craft supplies.


So it really wasn’t too bad to start off with, it probably had seen some good days maybe 10 years ago - but I’ve got my hands on it now…



Steps:


I quickly unscrewed and removed those old plain drawer pulls.


Then sanded with sandpaper which was not the most fun. If I could have gotten away without it, believe me, I would have. But the old paint was glossy and the wood needed some smoothing out.


After wiping off the sanded areas, I spray painted with primer. Primer is another step I usually don’t mess with, but there were a lot of dents and dings so I needed to get the paint even as possible.

Spraying on a couple even coats of black satin Valspar spray paint I then impatiently let that dry.


Now, the fun part!




I halved a piece of scrapbook paper to be centered on the front of the drawers.





Using Mod Podge I coated the front and back of the scrapbook paper. (This diamond checkered paper I got on sale at Hobby Lobby for only .17 cents!)


I Mod Podged on a plain black ribbon to give the edge of paper a finished look.




Then simply screwed on new drawer pulls and voila!



This project kind of reminded me of a transformation from pajamas to a nice new suit! :)




Linking to...

Furniture Feature Fridays





Keeping It Simple

DIY Day @ ASPTL


Monday, March 22, 2010

Wine Bottle Revamp – Second Series


What I had scheduled for this week was supposed to be a dresser makeover but the snowy weather among other things slowed me down.


So I revamped another bottle instead…


I started with an empty Paul Masson wine bottle.

My original plan was to give this a Native feel with turquoise & brown paint, adding some twine, and maybe some feathers.

Here’s the first layer, sponging on the turquoise color.



Note: To add some dimension and depth, I used a turquoise colored paint with a darker shade of turquoise mixing in a splotch of white. That keeps it from being boringly one dimensional.


Same color technique with the rusty brown. I used two tones of brown plus some white.

Sponging on a heavier and thicker layer at the top and bottom ends, and thinning out towards the middle of the bottle.


Now here’s where I said, “hmmm....”


This was taking on more of an old Spanish feel instead of my anticipated Native theme.


Sometimes you’ve just got to let projects take their own twist, especially when it’s a good twist! ;)


I’m not sure what’s the deal with me and dots lately but it seems to be working out quite nicely…

For the dots, I just took a thin wooden dowel, dipped the end of the dowel in white paint and dotted away!




Super easy!



And of course, it needed a companion.



Using a clear glass candle holder, I covered it with white paint first.

Then the turquoise…



Then sponging on the brown, following with the dots.





What a perfect match. I can see these placed outside on a patio or porch. Or this effect can be done on a flower pot.

Use a clear spray coat to seal it all in.



Linking to...

Keeping It Simple




Sunday, March 14, 2010

Darling Pincushion Bed


I started with a basic ready made paper mache box which has a nice curved top perfect for this project. Simply pried off the tiny clasps on the front.




Sorry there are no step by step pictures of the process. Although it turned out good and it was fun, this project had a lot of revisions. This was one of those tasks that, let's say, took a bit of patience.


Materials:
Paper mache box – ready made
Scrapbook paper
Ribbon
Fabric
Basic school glue
Hot glue gun
Pillow stuffing

First I wrapped and glued the scrapbook paper to the lower portion of the box.

Then glued the black and white fabric onto the top.

Line and glue ribbon, this hides all the ugly edges.

And I hot glued the ruffle trim around the whole box, which I think pulls it all together.

For the pillow.
I simply used iron on adhesive to make the pillow form and filled with stuffing and then hot glued on to the bed fabric.


Linking to...

The Girl Creative

Making


Keeping It Simple



giveaways

Monday, March 1, 2010

Awesome Wine Bottle Revamp

I'm linking this project to...




Check out were this craft was featured!
Keeping It Simple





I’'ve seen a few decorated bottles before so it was my time to give it a shot.

I have always loved the curvature of these bottles. They are made from Paul Masson, an inexpensive, but not bad, wine.


After soaking the wine bottle overnight in a tub of water the label is easy to scrape off.



Then used rubbing alcohol with a cotton ball to rub off the remaining label glue.

A bit of glue was left on so then I used one of those metal pot scrubbing things with soap and that got the bottle totally clean and clear.



So far, so good.


With a foam brush and plain white acrylic paint, I painted my first coat.
Then used a sponge to apply two more coats of paint.





By hand I used a pencil to draw my circles, it’s very easy to erase at this point if you find a circle looking a bit lopsided.





Here I used black 3-d paint in a bottle, simply and carefully dotting around the circle. I have to admit that I do have a nice steady hand so I really enjoyed this part! But be careful not to smudge what you’ve just painted.
I also have to admit that I can be very impatient, so to speed up drying time, I placed the bottle in front of a fan.


After the paint is dry, you can then go back with an eraser and erase the pencil markings between the dots. I used one of those attachable erasers that sits on top of the pencil, because it’s somewhat pointed, it made going between the dots very easy.




This is exactly how I imagined it would look! I so love when that happens!





Next:

Here is a glass container to match.



This glass bowl had been laying in one of my craft bins for a while. It was supposed to get wrapped in twine, but it wasn’t quite working out so after a few months of time out, it was time to get back in the game!

That’s one of my favorite things about crafting, if a project doesn’t work out, it’s bound to have another purpose sooner or later!

I thought it would be a perfect match with the wine bottle.

Instead of painting first, I applied the black doting first because I was only painting the outside.

Here’s the bowl upside down as I began the dots on the outer side of the bowl. No pencil this time, so I had to be very careful!



After dotting the whole outer bowl and letting dry, I sponged on the white acrylic paint.




I love how it turned out. You really can’t go wrong with polka dots!



They make such a cute couple!








Linking to....

Keeping It Simple



The Girl Creative