That Looks Like Craft

Upcoming projects...

2011-01-08T08:23:00.000-08:00

First up today, I need your advice! :) This is the entry from the back door at the home we are in the process of buying. I was thrilled when I walked in the door and saw this! We have 4 kids in school, so it works perfect! They will each have a place for their book bags, coats, etc. The mural is not my style, so I would like to spiff this up pretty quickly when we close. I have visions of molding, bead board and paint.......

Here is my dilemma: I want to paint it, but what color? I don't want it to be the same blah color as the walls. (The next picture below shows the current wall color in the kitchen-it will be changing- which is visible from the entry area.) Any suggestions on how to paint this up?

Here are my current thoughts on what I MIGHT do:

White-this one is where I am leaning right now. It will brighten the area, and flow with the moldings through the house since they are white. I am concerned it will get dirty and dingy quickly. If I paint the framework white, should I paint the back wall a different color to make it pop?(In the bottom I plan to use black or dark brown baskets)

Black-the surround over the cook top is black, and since this area is visible from the kitchen it would also work ok. The entry area is about 4-5 feet wide, and does not have a lot of natural light. The floors are already dark. Painting it black would darken the space considerably. (For the bottom i will use either vintage locker baskets in coated white or canvas baskets.)

Blue-I LOVE blue and would probably use a color similar to what i have used on other projects. My kids may protest b/c until we have the kitchen painted a color other than orange, it would resemble Auburn colors and we are a decidedly Crimson Tide family. :)

Seriously though, I am worried I will tire of the blue quickly, but it would be fun until I got tired of it. If I do the blue, the baskets for the bottom will be either a deep brown or the vintage locker baskets I have that are coated white metal.

Those are the three colors I am chewing over right now.

The kitchen is also a project....you can see in the above pictures that the walls are a glowingly bright orange. This color is carried from the kitchen into the dining area and into the attached hearth room. The ceilings are also this lovely shade of pumpkin. The floors in here are wood. The cabinets are distressed/glazed cream. The look fine except the clear coat is yellowing considerably. The counter tops are granite tile. I am considering painting the bottom cabinets black to match the cook-top surround. Not sure about the upper cabinets.I was thinking of leaving them a lighter color? Thoughts????? Seriously, I want to hear your opinions!

Is it sad that I had a dream about that tub last night? I am quite certain I will be soaking in it our first night in the house if all goes well!

And now, this is what I am working on today:

I've only had it on my list for like 4 months (maybe longer, but denial is a wonderful thing). I am sanding now! I got this desk for 7.50. The drawers are in need of repair, so they are in the garage getting some first-aid.

Check back Monday for the finished results! :) And don't forget to leave me a comment with your opinion on the paint dilemma!

New Year, New Projects, New Posts!

2011-01-04T10:50:00.001-08:00

Happy New Year! I am blowing the dust off the blog and have a lot of fun projects planned!

I had hoped to keep posting through the holidays, but we were so busy, I had no time. Here are a few of the fun orders I had over the holidays.

We took old cabinet doors and made stocking/picture hangers. They looked so good! I was tempted to make one for my home, but ran out of time and cabinet doors.

Teacher's gifts.......aren't these fun!

A nod to patriotism.

These next 2 smalls signs look great hanging on BIG wreaths! Or just as they are....

And another cabinet door.

The holiday season was a busy one! Fun and busy! Our vinyl business heats up from Sept. through Christmas, but now we will have a lull until about March..

This is good because......we are buying a house! It is a Bank Owned property and there are things to be done! Lots of fun things! :) The inspection is today, so as long as it passes inspection..this blog will be hopping with lots of projects for both homes!

Don't ya love the front door!!!! (That is my dad looking at the missing entry lamp....I am going to put him to work!)

oh crap....my crate!

2010-10-28T13:36:00.001-07:00

The holidays are getting closer, and the weather is finally cooling off! That means CRAFT FAIRS. We are always looking for ways to bring stable height to our display. Building a wall is not a feasable plan when our shows are usually outdoors. Wind is often a factor. I decided to try building a few things for the tables to give height. My criteria were: cheap, stable, not too heavy, and easy to transport. Sounds doable right?

My first attempt was to build a primitive step. (if you look at the pictures at the end, it is the blue object the crate sits upon).

I did not square anything up, and kind of threw it together. The end result is a leaning step with uneven boards. I am going to use it on my porch to house flower pots (b/c no one will see it that way). It was a total FAIL!!!!!!!!!!!!

My next attempt, I decided to search the blogs for inspiration. I found some wooden crates on Ana White's blog. I based this loosly on the crates she built.

We built a privacy fence and had to cut about 2 feet off the top of the boards. We kept all the chopped off pieces, thinking I could use them for something. They were perfect for this! I grabbed a couple furring strips at Home Depot and got to work.

I cut the fence scraps to 18 inches. I needed 2 of those. I cut the furring strips to 12 inches for the top and bottom. I used screws to attach the wood b/c we are going to be using these for heavy products.(Plus I really didnt want to hammer)

On the back, I used the furring strips and 3 sections of 1x3 also cut to 18 inches.

Once the crate was assembled it kind of looked like a crate (which is good because the step kind of looked like a bunch of boards haphazardly nailed together).

I cut our company name in vinyl and applied it to the side.

Painted over it then removed the vinyl stencil.

My next step is going to be sanding. The image is too dark for what I had in mind.

I love my little sander. Makes things go so quickly.

I sanded both sides. I am feeling pretty good about now.

Looks old and worn just how I wanted it. The wood was a little too bright and new looking. I decided to do something about that.........

BIG MISTAKE> Instead of just going straight for my antiquing glaze, I decided to try an old stain i had on hand.....dumb, dumb, dumb. I knew I had 3 different woods and they would take the stain differently. I did not, however, count on what would happen next.

Yikes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Can you say "hurry and get that off....."? Nope, because it was TOO late. The fence panel sucked the stain like a sponge. IT WOULD NOT WIPE OFF. The only thing getting this off was stripper or sandpaper. Argh......

So what did I do? I flipped it over and finished the other side. I made a thin wash with 2 parts water to 1 part antiquing glaze (I use the Valspar glaze). This is more of the effect I was going for.

(see the funky little blue step) Now the sad part is that the backside is still a hideous purple stain. The only think I am going to be able to do to save this to use on our display is either replace that piece of wood (not happening) or paint the crate (happening). So, tomorrow, I will be painting this black (or maybe blue?). I wish I had left that dang stain alone!!!!! I thought about pretending I hadn't done that, but I think part of the fun in sharing on the blog is sharing what went terribly wrong as well.

I really do like how the crate turned out. I would estimate it cost me a buck to make (all I had to buy was the furring strips). It is solid and will make a good riser on the booth. I have tons of wood left so I plan to make quite a few more of them. I am thinking on the next ones, I'll just leave the stain alone!

This was my other success of the day. I have a close full of "stacker " wood. Left over from the stacker craze of 2007. I hate letting something sit unused, so I took 4 of the small stacker pieces and then cut a scrap of 2x6 to match their height when stacked.

This would have looked great in my last kitchen! I'm still pretty happy with it, especially for a quick little craft that cost nothing out of pocket.

So does anyone else want to own up to making a big mistake on an project? I think I will be able to paint it and salvage my crate, but man did I learn to TEST the stain on a scrap piece first.

Absentee blogger.....here is why!

2010-10-24T18:34:00.000-07:00

I have been a bad blogger this past week or so. Life here has been hectic. No, crazy is a better description. But this is a fun crazy, hectic life! We had our first booth of the season this past weekend. The past few weeks have been a flurry of preparations, planning and making fun things.

I got this antique frame and made the above whiteboard. I LOVED IT. Then I broke the glass. :(

No time to get glass cut, so I made it into a memo board. It didn't sell, so now I am going to cut glass and remake the whiteboard.

We are having fun with burlap this season. The menu board above was popular. It is a fun idea for any kitchen!

My partner made the board above and below. I love them both!

We have brother/sister boards.

Several different hanging signs....

These are the hanging sentiment signs that people seem to LOVE!

Chunky picture frames, industrial but fun.

Another favorite. Reclaim your fridge....The kids love these and the moms do too.

The magnetic photo boards have always been one of our better sellers. It is so interesting how what is a hot-cake sometimes is a cold fish other times. This was a cold fish this week.

A new project we experimented with and we like.

And here is one of MY favorites. It is busy but I want it for my house! We make all these fun things for our booth, and seldom make things for our own houses! I do think I'll be making myself one of these.

This is just a little taste of what we had. I didn't get a chance to take pictures of the whole booth b/c we were busy ALL day. We had a great day. The weather was perfect, lots of friends came by to say hi, and we did brisk business all day. We have 2 weeks until our next show. We'll spend this time making all the custom orders from this past weekend and remaking the things that sold this past weekend. I have several projects here at home that are waiting for me. I LOVE this time of year! Getting to make fun things everyday makes me a happy mom!

End table Re-fab

2010-10-11T16:23:00.001-07:00

Here is my latest rehab project. I picked this little end table up at the local Salvation Army for a few bucks. The drawer was missing and the paint job had seen better days.

I loved her lines and size, so I over looked the fact she was empty inside.

As I began my sanding, I discovered the green/gold color was some kind of treatment over white paint.

She has lots of gouges and scratches (and plenty of dirt too).

I sanded to the bare wood in some places and only till the shine was gone in others. I was trying to get rid of the chippy layer. I would learn this was a mistake when I went to spray paint.

Why is it a mistake? The paint takes differently to raw wood vs. painted wood. I was pretty ticked at myself b/c I have done enough furniture to know you either sand it all off, or at least evenly on the whole piece.

Here is an up close shot of how rough the edges were. It was not in great shape. I guess that is why I got lazy. I figured I didn't want to put a few hours worth of stripping and sanding into a $5.00 end table.

First coat of spray paint is on. (Of course, i used Krylon Blue Ocean-my favorite color ever!)

It was very uneven. Raw wood peeking through. Not good. I think I ended up doing like 4 coats.

Next I cut a piece of 1/2 inch MDF to make a bottom for my storage area. I then sprayed the inside white as a base coat.

I smeared the edge of the MDF with some construction adhesive to give the paint a barrier (otherwise the MDF would just soak it up). I thought about using some dollhouse molding, but I was trying to make this one quick! (hahahahaha....i worked on this in my spare time over 4 days vs. the 1 day I thought it would take)

I know the construction adhesive is a tacky solution, but honestly not every project is worthy of the time and energy the perfectionist in me wants to give. I knew this was going in my bedroom, and that the edge would be good enough.

Here it is painted. Not perfect, but it'll blend with the rest of the table's imperfections! In the picture above you can see I also painted the interior blue.

A few more coats of paint and I am happy with the coverage. It is smooth and even and nearly perfect. That means it is time to bust out the sander again.

There goes the paint job. Sometimes I hesitate before I start sanding b/c I love a nice, smooth, perfect paint job. However, I am a realist and anything in my house will get worn. I have 4 boys that make that a guarantee! At least this way it gets started on my terms.

So I sanded in the areas most likely to get bumped and battered. These happened to be the areas that were already pretty bumped and battered prior to the makeover.

Now comes the fun! My friend -Valspar Antiquing Glaze- and I got down and dirty!

I used a stiff paint brush to push the glaze into the groves and onto the edges.

I work on one side at a time. On larger pieces, I do small sections. This one was small enough I could do an entire side at one shot.

Here is a closeup to show you the groove I mentioned earlier. I left the glaze heavy in most areas of the groove.

Here she is finished and ready to go to her new home. I found a perfect sized basket at Michael's to hide my junk.

She is still pretty battered and worn. Only now she is beautiful too!

And now for her new home. I can't believe I am showing this next picture.

This is what I have been using for a nightstand. It is tiny (and not very pretty). Our bed is a king sized bed and we have high, boxed ceilings. The scale was all wrong. I also need to get something on our walls! We have lived here for 3 years, but I am scared to commit!

I am much happier with the end table as the nightstand. I need to make up the bed, work on the accessories and the wall, but this is definitely a step in the right direction. And certainly for a $5.00 investment, it couldn't get much better!

I like to give a side-by-side before and after.

So what do you think?

Feeling a little funky....

2010-10-01T15:24:00.000-07:00

Today I happened upon a storage unit sale. There was a lot of stuff there! All of it was old. I got this blue jar with a zinc lid and iron wall plant thingie (how's that for a name) for $4.00! I think I'll go back tomorrow with my garage sale buddy to dig through boxes. I had my 4 year old with me today and I was so afraid he would break something. This is the plant thingie. It is metal and ugly.

I decided to give it a coat of spray paint.

I was very tempted to go to my old favorite....blue ocean. I decided to be different and use Pistachio. It is a close favorite, and I was out of blue ocean! :)

*My daughter call's my dad Pistachio...why I have no idea?

First coat and I am second guessing. (Do you like the dog toy holding down the paper? It got windy as soon as I decided to paint!)

I was not thrilled with the paint job alone, so I broke out the antiquing glaze. Am I addicted? I think I am!

This is what I used. It is really easy to work with. Goes on smooth and comes off easily!

Before the glaze.

After the glaze.

After it dried, I hung it near the front door.

Just the right size to hold keys, phone and little things!

I think it is a big improvement!

What I've been up to...

2010-09-24T14:04:00.000-07:00

I haven't fallen off the face of blogland. Life had the nerve to get in the way! :)

This little guy has been really sick since last Friday. His fever finally broke today, so I am hoping we are on the upswing. He is not a fun sick kid. Lots of crying, whining and holding. The good part is the cuddling. He is only cuddly when sick, so I'll take what I can get! :)

This is one of my favorite finds lately! I got this at a yard sale for two bucks! It is kind of funky, but so am I. The lady told me they got it when they were stationed in Japan and that it just didn't go with their decor anymore. I came home and took down my plain framed mirror and smile every time I pass it!

I haven't cleaned it yet (and you can tell in these pictures) but I love the details!

There is a small crack in the mirror (you can see it to the right of the flash), but I think it just adds to the charm. I am so glad I didn't pass this up! I almost did b/c it was tucked up under the table and wasn't looking spectacular!

In addition to tending to my sick little guy this week, I have been busy getting caught up on orders for my business. My partner and I have a great system down. She cuts the wood, paints and distresses it. I do all the vinyl work and final finish then deliver the goods.

We are vendors in 2 local stores and here are a few of the orders we had due this week:

This is one of the favorites for scrapbook rooms!

Grandparents boards are a twist on the family boards. This is a new design and is already quite popular. I am thinking my inlaws will be getting one for Christmas

This is another grandparents board.

This is the traditional board that inspired the grandparents board.

And for fun, a little pink sign! I did an undercoating of chocolate brown paint, and where I sanded the brown comes through. I don't think you can really see it in the picture, but it looks neat!

That is just a sampling of what we have been up to this week! I am looking forward to getting to play in the garage tomorrow! I have a dresser transformation that I can not wait to finish up and get posted! Also a 5 dollar side table! I need to get a basket for it tomorrow! I'll be back Saturday evening or Sunday with some real project posts!

For the birds....

2010-09-13T19:32:00.001-07:00

I forgot to take a picture of the frame before. I just primed, then sprayed an old ugly frame from which the glass was broken. Since this was for a baby girl, I did the light pink I used on a previous project.

After the pink was dry, I glazed it. You know I love that stuff! :)

This little bird will be in the center. I simply modpodged the paper onto the mdf birdie. Sand around the bird to tear away the excess paper and get a smooth edge.

I was trying to decide where to go from here. My original plan was to mount the modpodged bird onto some covered chipboard.

Instead, I drilled a hole in the bird.

Selected some pretty ribbon and tied it onto the frame. I didn't want the bird to slide around a ton, so I used a staple gun and stapled the ribbon to the frame on the back.

Here it is hanging on my wall. I think it turned out kind of cute and I like the depth it has hanging there vs. being mounted on chipboard.

Wouldn't an initial look cute like this too!

This project cost nothing since I had everything on hand. I would expect it would cost you less than $3.00 to make if you had to buy it all.

The past week has been unbelievable crazy, but things have settled back down and I have a TON of great stuff up the shoot! A few side tables, a dining room table, the dresser I have been putting off forever, and much more! Plus, I am getting ready for our fall show season, so I'll be sharing some new designs we are working on for our vinyl signs!

The Force was with me!

2010-09-06T18:28:00.001-07:00

This Saturday, my yard sale buddy and I sat out on yet another grand adventure. Luck (or the Force....) was with me this weekend! I have four boys. Three of which are still into all things Star Wars. One of the later sales we stopped at on Saturday was a guy selling off all his old childhood toys. He had a computer box marked $5.00 for the box. It was full of ORIGINAL Star Wars toys. Like from 1977. The "newest" one is marked 1980. He also was selling all his original GI Joe toys. I immediately took interest in the Star Wars toys b/c some of our storm troopers had recently died at the mouth of our dog. She loves to chew their heads off then leave them for dead.

We have not been buying the boys any toys b/c of the state of their rooms. I'll translate that for you: their rooms are F-5 tornado messy. Bad....But I just could not pass up this box of toys. The guys was pretty desperate to sell, and told me if I was interested he would bargain a little. I offered $3.00 and he accepted. I got all these goodies below for three bucks! I have been told the above is some kind of obscure medical ship. I don't remember ever seeing it, but I'll bow to the knowledge of my Star Wars nerds.
This toy still had the original R2D2 in it. The R2 was in rough shape, but still usable. The stickers are just very worn.

See what I mean. Poor R2 has seen better days. But hey, it is over 30 years old!

I have no idea what this is called. It looked brand spankin' new. I am guessing it wasn't a favorite.

This and the one below are small and metal, about the size of my hand.

An original lightsaber. Unfortunately it is just the handle. The saber portion has been long gone. My boys still thought it was cool!

Here is a 1977 Blue R2D2 (the other one that was in bad shape had the orange stickers)

I just love R2D2. I would have been thrilled if the loot included a C3PO.

Here is some more of the gang...I didn't realize that the original action figures heads were not movable.

And the whole gang together.

My boys were thrilled when they spotted the box and their new treasures. Their excitement was quickly dashed when they were informed the Star Wars contingency would only be moving upstairs when their room was clean. Today is Monday and they are still waiting to be moved to their new homes. My boys do come and visit the box regularly. But I am a mean mom and they don't get them till the room is clean.

My husband was even excited about this yard sale find. He actually said I should have bought the GI Joe stuff! It was a HUGE rubbermaid full of all the original guys, vehicles and accessories for 20 bucks. I remember my brother having all these toys back in the day! A bit of nostalgia and lots of future fun for my boys....and all for $3.00!

Recent thrifty finds

2010-09-03T10:23:00.000-07:00

My favorite local thrift store has occasional sales where furniture is half off. I happened to stumble by one day not too long ago and grabbed this desk for $7.50. The drawers are falling apart, but I think this piece will be adorable when it is redone! I am tempted to forget about the drawers and make each opening a shelf. It most certainly needs a good cleaning, sanding and some paint!

Today, I was out running errands by myself and decided to pop in. I was actually looking for a large frame for a project for church, but never one to pass up a sale, ended up in the furniture depart because of the 1/2 priced sale. I was hoping to find a dresser, but there was nothing good left. On my way out, I spotted this desk from the corner of my eye.

The veneer has some peeling, there is some rust, and it needs lots of work. But it was marked $5.00, so for $2.50 it was going home with me!!!!

I love the thick tubing on the arm of the desk. Now to decide what colors and treatment to do!!

My little four year old thought this was the coolest thing! These are the kinds of desks we used when I was in school! I don't remember the actual desk top being so small though. Do you?

Two Faced.....it's a good thing! :)

2010-09-01T13:10:00.001-07:00

I know it is only September, but I am already planning for the holidays! They'll be here before we know it! :)

This is a fun little project! All the supplies you need are listed below.

I started with the wood. I didn't even bother sanding it prior to painting b/c I knew I was going to do a really distressed finish on them.

The science behind my paint choice is an exact one....I had 2 nearly empty cans of spray paint. It was not enough to do a piece of furniture and I couldn't stand to throw it out. So...the entire piece was painted my favorite Krylon Blue.

This sign is going to be "two-faced" so it can be in use longer. I love seasonal decorations, but storage is a premium. The back side got a coat of green spray paint.

Next create your design (assuming you are cutting your template from vinyl). I have a commercial machine, but you can certainly do this with your cricut or silhoutte or whatever you have. :)

When weeding, treat this like a negative. Take out the parts you want to show on the final product.

Now that your vinyl is prepped, apply your transfer tape and remove the backing.

Apply the vinyl mask to the wood. Make sure you get it down onto the wood REALLY good. If you don't the paint will bleed under.....trust me on this one.

Next, I drybrushed paint onto the mask. I did it very lightly as I want the final product to look very aged and worn. You can decide how much paint you want on yours.

Here is a closeup detail shot of the tree. I flicked the ends of my white paint brush to create a speckled look on the tree. I wanted to give it a hint of "snow".

Allow the paint to dry to the touch, then remove the vinyl mask. It is already looking so good! I was tempted to clear coat it and call it a day.

Flip the sign over and repeat on the backside. I used orange and red paint on this side to bring in some deeper fall colors. Again, I used a dry brush and minimal paint. I did red on the top and bottom and orange through the center and blended them into each other.

Remember how I said make sure you apply the vinyl well......I was rushed....the paint bled. I wanted to sand it down and start all over, but decided to just press on and see how it turns out.

After both sides were dry, I got my orbital sander and hit the edges. On the green side, I sanded it so some of the natural wood and some of the blue came out. I love it!

Next, I applied my Antiquing Glaze.

I started in the upper left corner and worked my way over.

Here is the Merry Christmas side after glazing.

I love how the glaze gives it a dirty look. The glaze settled into the wood's natural eyes and grooved, just like years of dirt and wear would.

Here you can see how the blue peeks through.....I love that!

And here is my disaster of the day! This side just did not want to cooperate. I wanted aged and rugged, but I think this is a bit on the overboard side.

See how my wiping the glaze away took most of the upper portions on several letters......I am twitching to repaint and start this side over.

The paint bled under the vinyl mask, I over glazed and over wiped.....

The perfectionist in me hates it! The sloppy laid back part of me kind of loves it....I am not sure which one will win out. But for today, it is staying this way.

* if you would like the vinyl for this project (or the file if you have a vinyl cutter) let me know! :)

Birthday and Business

2010-08-26T19:13:00.000-07:00

This week has been on full of birthdays and business. My little guy turned 7 years old! I can still remember holding him the day he was born. He was my smallest, sweetest and hairiest baby! He is still small and sweet. We try to keep the hair to a minimum.

Wonder what he is wishing for!? I sure hope he gets it. He asked for a red velvet cake for his birthday! I don't think I even liked red velvet cake as a child. My grandmother makes a mean red velvet cake though! Yummy! (Publix made this one and it was great!)

He was happy with his loot. He got toys and clothes. He is such an easy to please child. He was thrilled that we brought cupcakes, airheads and juice boxes up to the school for his birthday (but I forgot the camera).

As you can see, mommy obligations have kept me really busy this week. That and a little business. We had a couple custom orders to turn around and have been planning for the upcoming holiday season.(Below is my favorite order this week!) This is the time of year that I LOVE!!!!! We do outdoor craft shows, indoor holiday markets and home shows. I LOVE talking to people (as does my partner Candi) so we thrive on the shows!

This is a sign I took to the shop today. There was a canvas painted sign like this one in the store (not for sale). Someone wanted one done like it so we replicated it on wood...I love how it turned out and think I am going to do a pink and green version. I have to admit I cheated on they diamond pattern. I made a harlequin pattern on my vinyl machine and cut it from vinyl. Then I placed the diamonds on the board which had been painted blue. I painted the board green, then peeled off the vinyl diamonds and poof.....a "hand painted" background.

I have several big projects in the chute...I just need to find time to get to them! This is going to be a full weekend with my parents in town visiting, my sister and her kids coming to hang out and of course yard sales! I promise to have several great projects next week! I am going to start giving you guys some Christmas gift ideas!

Baby Gift Idea...Custom Frame

2010-08-25T14:07:00.000-07:00

This was a custom order for the local store! The baby was being born on Tuesday...thus the saying. Here are the supplies I used:

Ballet Slipper Pink Krylon Spray paint

Unfinished Wood frame from Hobby Lobby

Vinyl

Glass and backer from another frame

sandpaper

Here is the frame after the paint, but before I applied vinyl.

I laid it out to make sure everything was how I wanted it.
I used Valspar antiquing glaze on the edges. I love the depth it gives the frame.

Here it is with the glass in the frame. (See my cute cast iron birds....fifty cents each at a yard sale!)
I think it is a fantastic baby gift!

Do you think my bench can be seen from the road?

2010-08-16T17:17:00.001-07:00

I got a great deal on this beat up bench. My favorite local thrift shop was having a "Name your price" sale on furniture when we popped in. I almost forgot about the bench. It was on the front porch when we came in. I was just about to get my total when I asked how much it was. I was thrilled when she told me I got to name my own price.

The metal was in great shape, the wood was saggy, but looked ok.

I asked if they would take five bucks. They did, and the bench came home with me.

I got it home, and immediately took it apart. At this point I was worried I would have to replace the seat pieces.

I got out the wire brush and scrubbed them really well. I made sure to keep them in the order they went on the bench. JUST IN CASE that might make a difference with reassembly.

You can see in this picture the metal parts are a dark green. After they dried, I painted them a glossy black. Because the lattice piece is plastic, I used Krylon Fusion for plastic on the metal and lattice pieces. I love that stuff! It goes on very evenly and dried quickly. I went back and forth on what color to do the wood. Blue ocean or cherry red.....Our house is brown brick with brown shutters. We have black metal hardware and light fixtures. I was really leaning towards the blue, but at the last minute decided to go red. There is just something about the black and red. It reminds me of the old red phone booths... which reminds me of the college my husband and I went to (they had them on campus)....which reminds me of meeting, falling in love and all that stuff....why, I don't know?

So red it became! I lined them up together (in order) and painted them all at one time. I turned them on their sides and did the same. I painted the backs of the upper bench, but not the bottom. The only reason I didn't paint the bottom of the seat is b/c I ran out of paint.

I reassembled the back piece. The lattice is actually plastic. Just in case you were wondering.

I was tempted at this point to forget the bench and just hang this (minus the seat straps) on the brick wall.....I was overruled.

I borrowed my 13 year old son to help me old the ends up while i put the back on and one seat piece. Once that was finished, I was able to put it back together by myself. And I only cut my hand once.....don't ask how because I do not know.

Here is a shot of the underside. I scooted the seat strap over just a bit to make new drilling holes. I was afraid with the age and condition of the wood, if someone plopped on it the screws may just pop out.

Both sides got tightened. Then it was finished! It is going in my front garden. It is really a flower bed, well no, a bush bed? The builder just randomly planted a bunch of bushes with no pattern or spacing. This will all be changing really soon!

So, here it is! All put together, shiny like a fire truck and waiting for someone to come take a seat. As I work on redoing the landscaping I'll post pictures of the progress. I am too embarrassed to show you the whole thing now.....it is just ugly.

I think it looks lovely! I am quite pleased with the change! One of my concerns when I bought it was if it would show from the street or not. So what do you think? I am pretty sure it will show up! Not bad for a $5.00 bench!

Funky Frame Redo Part 1

2010-08-10T20:51:00.000-07:00

First up today is a new sample sign for the store. I am not sure if I am loving it yet. Sometimes it takes me a few variations before something seems right.

We are in the heart of Bama country! Houndstooth is a commodity right up there with bread and water! (ofcourse there are those who bleed orange and blue...that's Auburn for you non-locals!)

My husband thinks I need to make the houndstooth print smaller. I am thinking he might be right, but I am also not wanting to weed a smaller print houndstooth! Does anyone want to volunteer to be my weeder? :)

After I finished the sign, I moved on to this funky, ugly frame.

The size on this is GREAT! It is 24x48 inches. I paid $3.00 for it at a yard sale this past weekend.

The inside picture had water damage and was warped badly, but the frame was in *decent* shape. Unless you consider the below:

It had this ugly, fuzzy strip of green around it. THAT HAD TO GO! It was rubbing off with my fingertips, so I grabbed the wire brush and scrubbed!

Much better! There is a backing paper there from the fuzzy stuff, but I decided to leave that b/c it did not want to come off. You can see in the above detailed picture that the wood part of the frame is rough. Not smooth and even like most frames. I thought to sand it, but decided to leave the more rustic looking wood. I think once I have it distressed and glazed it will give the frame nice texture.

Here it is after one coat of my favorite Blue Ocean paint. I love this paint. That color is so perfect!

Here is the frame as it is now. This is three coats of spray paint. I think one more coat and I can move on to the inside of the frame. I am torn about what to do. I have a few choices....1. blackboard 2. chickenwire to make a message center. If I do the chicken wire I have a funky small frame I would tie into the chicken wire. The third option is to leave it as an empty frame.

What do you think? I think hanging it 24 across and 48 down would look great on a narrow wall or even on a fridge! My yard sale buddy is the one who thought of the fridge and I have loved the idea ever since! Just hanging there on the fridge with funky magnets and papers inside! Hmmm....

Tomorrow we are heading to one of our favorite thrift stores a few towns over. I hope it does not disappoint!

Monday Estate sales and Thrifting!!!!

2010-08-09T14:13:00.001-07:00

School started back today! My little guy and I headed out with Suzanna and her mom to check out an estate sale. The house was set back off the road and into the woods. When we pulled into the driveway it was like a swarm of ants surrounding a cookie! There were people out in force! Estate sales always make me kind feel a bit melancholy. I guess it just makes me sad to see some one's life sold off to strangers trying to buy their memories for pennies on the dollar. (And yes, I am definitely one of the masses looking for a deal!)

(This white trivet was only $1.50! The silver serving spoons came from Goodwill today for $1.50 as well!)

Today's estate sale was a good one! The people had great taste in furniture and decor (for the most part). There were a lot of furniture pieces that I was very tempted to splurge on, but managed to leave having put a bid in on only one. I doubt I will win it, but a girl can dream. There was a ton of everything and very little junk! I found this old framed tin ceiling piece that will be mine if it is still there tomorrow morning at half off! Suzanna found several things including some Christmas ornaments, a roasting pan, a faux fur collar, and a wooden decorative hanging. (If she puts up pics, I'll put a link...her blog is The Mermaid and the Astronaut linked on my right bar)

I left with only the trivet above and the decorative piece below.

(This little pineapple was only a dollar! It is quite heavy too!)

Shopping with Suzanna is fun! (and her mom too!) We have shopped with one another enough now that we keep an eye out for each other and for the most part knows what the other likes and looks for. My recent addiction is furniture.....maybe I need to find a smaller (in size) item to collect.

After the estate sale, I had to do a little work. Something has to pay for all this fun! :)

We have always had the cute little monogram boards, but the houndstooth background is new (and popular). I have a few variations I am working on to make the monogram easier to read.

This is another take on the zebra print sign. I like the thick chunky font!

(Osh Kosh shoes $.75)

After doing a little work, Sam (my kiddo) and I hit a few of my favorite thrift shops in the area. I was supposed to go grocery shopping, but food can wait! (In truth, I want to go to the commissary tomorrow b/c the thrift shop on base will be open tomorrow!) I got Sam the above shoes for 75 cents! They look as if they have never been worn! He loves loafers, boat shoes, sperry's....he's four. He doesn't like socks. They get stinky. REALLY stinky. The above will be his 4th pair in this size. I am thrilled to throw out the funky smelling shoes he took off in my truck today.

(Vera Bradley bag and wallet $2.00)

Next up is the local Good Will. I forget about the good will in my little town. They do not have a furniture section (they truck it to Montgomery) and really have mostly clothes and dishes. Today I found this cute little Vera Bradley purse.

Inside was the matching wallet. Both are in excellent condition.

I really love the colors! I bought it thinking my 12 year old daughter might like it. She did. But it isn't her style. I only paid $2.00 for the purse and wallet.

I am thinking it will either end up in the consignment sale or on Ebay. The bag is too small for me and I couldn't break up the set to use the wallet. I am weird that way.

I also got a pair of 8 slim jeans for my son for 75 cents and a pair of jeans for me for a few bucks. Overall not a bad day! I managed to leave the estate sale spending only $2.50. I did put a bid in on a really lovely round coffee table. I also am planning to be there when they open in the morning to try to get my hands on that tin ceiling hanging thingie. There is also a banana yellow buffet/hutch with tempered glass that I might see if I can work a deal on. I could have some FUN with it!

I spent $3.50 at Goodwill today on the Vera Bradley set and the silver serving spoons.

At the local Rescue mission I spent $6.49 on pants and shoes!

The only disappointment of the day was Salvation Army. There was nothing of interest there today (unless you count the 3 grocery carts FULL of smutty romance novels!).

Coming up this week I have several projects! An ugly frame from this past weekend's garage sales will get a face lift and become a rather LARGE chalkboard. I will finally get around to the white dresser in the garage that has been patiently waiting for me for some time now! I am also contemplating reorganizing my laundry room. If only I could make it grow somehow!!!!

Back to School Teacher's Gift!

2010-08-07T19:32:00.000-07:00

Our vacation week is over!

I am sad because it means school starts Monday.

I love summer vacation and it seems to have been so short this year!
But, I am looking forward to the school year too! Fall gets to be so busy, but it is the kind of busy I LOVE!!!!!

The kids are excited to go to school and have lots of great memories from summer!
The past week I only did a little of this:

(I love how this sign turned out! It was a custom order for the store we are in here locally!)

While work was light this week, enjoyment was PLENTIFUL! It was HOT, but we still had fun! I packed up the kids and visited my parents in South Alabama. We spent a day at the Exploreum (this really fun hands on Science/Learning/Museum thingie!). We packed up and went to spend a day at the shore in Fairhope. We got there and within 5 minutes of making the trek from the car, unpacking and getting settled.....jellyfish. Big ones too! Lots of them. So we played in the sand, got a little wet, them packed it in and headed to the splash pad at the outdoor mall.

The picture below was before we found the jellyfish.

The splash pad was a great replacement. My older two went and read books at Barnes and Nobles (with their Grandpa), and Grandma and I hung out in the shade watching the younger 3 splash.

We went to the movies, did some shopping,returned to the Exploreum for a second dose, ate out and refereed lots of sibling fights! Now we are home and I owe you guys a project!

This is a quick one! It was a custom order from the store for a Back to School gift for a teacher! What teacher wouldn't love to received one of these for her door?

I cut a 1/4 inch piece of MDF to 8x8 inches.

Painted the front, sides and back white. Sanded the edges when it dried.

I cut a zebra background in black vinyl. If you don't have a vinyl cutter (cricut, silhouette, etc.) you could freehand and paint the background, or print off a zebra print using a laser printer. There are also lots of zebra scrapbook papers you could mod-podge on! After getting the zebra print on, I applied the name in Hot pink!

I had so much fun making the background for this that I also formatted the following backgrounds:

houndstooth

polka dot

checker board

damask

floral

To finish it off, I picked a hot pink coordinating ribbon. Prior to tying the ribbon on, I sealed it with a brush on clear coat (I prefer DecoArts Americana Satins)

To complete this project, you need the following

1- 8x8 MDF 1/4 inch board

White paint and foam brush

Drill (or stapler if you prefer to staple your ribbon on)

Zebra Print background ( Vinyl, hand drawn, printed or scrapbook paper)

Vinyl Name/monogram or die cut paper

Clear Coat (Decoart Americana Satins)

If you want the zebra (or other backgrounds) in vinyl just email me!

Thrifty Finds

2010-07-31T07:28:00.000-07:00

Summer is coming to a close. Like most moms out there, I am trying to cram the final weeks full of fun times and good memories! Unfortunately, this means I have not had a lot of time to spend on my projects/blog. But fear NOT! I have a garage full of project goodness waiting for the blog.

Here are a few of my recent thrifting finds. The frame below was a garbage pick. It was in a trash pile on the side of the road. I spotted it, stopped and backed up and my accomplice in yard sale finds (Suzanna) grabbed if for me! :) It was dark brown and scratched up, but has a coat of lovely green on it now. It is going to look great finished! So tune in....
This mirror came from the local Catholic church garage sale. I spotted it when I walked in the door. It was $5.00, but I think it is a great buy (considering the Pottery Barn price tag on the back!) I probably won't change it a bit, just have to decide where I am going to hang it and if I want to put our monogram on it in vinyl. I LOVE monogrammed mirrors!

This is a silver cake plate. Really it is. It looks almost black, and I am not sure it will clean up. I paid $3.00 for it. If it won't polish, it will get a bright enamel paint job! Probably a fire truck red!

This lovely little metal sign was $.50. It has already several coats of white enamel paint. I am trying to decide what is going to happen to it from there!

Those are just a tiny taste of the yard sale and thrift goodness I have found lately! I also found a $5.00 hardwood kitchen table.I yummy, chippy yellow frame. I think my sister wanted to steal it from me. But it is mine, all mine! I am not changing it a bit, but do want to seal it so it's perfect chippy-ness doesn't get ruined. There is also this:

(this picture is not of mine, but from a listing on an antique gallery, I'll post pictures of mine when I can get to it! )

When I bought it, I loved it! The woman who sold it to me told me it was an antique bedside step chest. When used in the past there is a door on the top that opens to hold your slippers, and the middle step lifts to hold your chamber pot.
Each step has inlaid green, tooled leather.

I paid FIVE dollars for mine! FIVE!

Check out this link:

http://design-atelier-antiques.com/antiques/Tables/Elegant-1820-s-Bed-Steps.html

I am thinking I may not paint mine!

Anyway, I am going to enjoy this last week of summer with my babies! We have great plans! They include grandma and grandpa's house, the lovely beaches of the Gulf Coast, and lots of shopping!

I love Hobby Lobby Clearance!

2010-07-24T19:37:00.000-07:00

I love Hobby Lobby clearance! I found some really good deals last week in their 80% off section. They had these 3 metal thingies for $1.20 each. I am starting to decorate the Master Bath and thought I might could do something with these. My walls are nearly the same color as the metal pieces, so I decided to mount them on squares of MDF.
I cut three 6x6inch square, painted them black, then distressed the edges.

I then centered each (somewhat) and screwed them in.

I painted the screw heads so they didn't stand out too terribly.

Above you can see all three assembled and screws painted.

Next, each one got a matte finish clear coat and a hanger installed on the back.

Finally, I eyeballed it and put three picture hangers on my bathroom wall. They aren't exactly level, but I'll fix them later when I am certain they are staying here. Depending on what I do below, they may need to come down some. I am thinking of putting some vinyl below it.

Hmmm......I like the height of the towel stand, but despise the thought of my bath towels in my water closet. Gross....

If I leave the bird cage on the tank, I'll have to either put a floating shelf under or lower them. Do you think I could get away with doing a large black frame with maybe an architectural photo under them? These would also fit nicely going vertical on a narrow wall.

This project took me about 25 minutes. I used scrap wood from some vinyl signs and paint I had on hand. The total cost was $3.60 for the metal emblems.

Check Out Christmas In July!!!!!

2010-07-23T20:26:00.000-07:00

Click on the link above to take you to Tip Junkie's

Christmas In July

There are lots of great ideas, tutorials and give aways!

We all love free stuff right, so head on over and check it out!

If you've never been to Tip Junkie (though I am sure you all have!), you are in for a treat.
Tip Junkies is always a great source for project ideas, TIPS! (go figure!) and links to great products/businesses.

I have already started a list of projects for Christmas! From what I hear, you might even be seeing one of my projects over there.....

Estate Sale Adventures

2010-07-22T08:25:00.000-07:00

This past weekend my garage sale buddy and I headed out to what had been advertised as an "estate" sale. In actuality it was a home that had been abandoned for the past ten years. When they moved grandma to a nursing home, they shut the door and didn't look back. Not on the house, the 2 trailer houses or the shed that was on the property. Now they have a short time to sell everything before the state takes the property to pay for grandma's care.

The entire visit was a bit comical. Suzanna and I in shorts and flip flops going through knee high grass, climbing in trailers with rotted out floors and encountering live objects. We found some SCARY stuff in that house! In one bedroom something living skittered across the floor. Suzanna was much braver than I. She shined a flashlight into the closet while I covered my eyes and squealed.

Maybe I am not cut out for this type of estate sale. While there were some things in the home that would have attracted some collectors/pickers (carnival glass for one!), Suzanna and I both left empty handed and feeling a little buggie.

However, my mind kept going back to this:

It isn't that I needed it....far from it! But it just kept creeping back into my mind. I wanted it! I had no idea what the guy was wanting for anything in the house b/c he planned to just burn what they didn't sell... I really wish I was brave enough to take a camera on these excursions we take....it was unbelievable!Our shopping Saturday was really lackluster...partly b/c we spent a good hour and a half on our drive to the "estate sale", rummaging in the depths of the abandoned mire, and driving back to civilization. I think I spent a total of $8.00 Saturday and couldn't even tell you know what it was I bought. But I can tell you my mind was back in that shack of a house thinking about this pretty iron bed!Saturday afternoon, I could take it no more and called the owner back and asked what he would take for the bed. He wasn't sure what he wanted for it. I threw out a ridiculously low offer (insulting) of $20.00. Of course he said no, but said he could take $50.00.
I told him I would have to think about it. I know even at $50.00 it was a steal. But I AM CHEAP.I hung up the phone and talked to my husband. He is used to me and my lunatic buying and selling of things. He said $50 was more than fair to call the guy back if I wanted it.

So I did.

Only I asked if he would take $40.00 because I just can't help it!(Who doesn't love a bargain?) He said he would and today I went and picked up the bed!

The bed is complete including the rails. I am so excited about the potential in this bed! I think I am going to clean it up and see where to go from there. I am tempted to keep it for my own home, but really have nowhere to put it! When I was at the place picking it up today, the guy informed me that they had a week to get everything out before the state took over the property. He still has a couple more headboard/footboards, a claw foot cast iron tub in good condition, a Baldwin piano, a neat little wooden chair, a corner cabinet, and in one bedroom a really nice antique dresser and matching headboard/footboard. I was very tempted to buy it, but it was in the room with the skittering animal and I don't want the creature to come home with me! I will probably kick myself later b/c he told me today he would sell everything for $300.00! The dresser and bed together were probably worth that at least! There are also over 20 boxes of DISHES. Someone had a serious dish problem! Make no mistake the place was a PIT. Gross, nasty and inhabited by some very fast little critter, but if you had the inclination......you could find a few treasures (and maybe a new pet) in there!

Me? I am happy with the bed! I have also learned that one must be sure to have your shots up to date and to wear hip-waders to "estate" sales in this part of Alabama! :)

From Noah to the Chalkboard.....

2010-07-16T14:05:00.000-07:00

I finally have the Noah's ark frame completed. My crafting time has been limited this week. Enjoy the transformation :

My kids wanted to know why there was a dead oak looking tree, a palm tree, and coconut trees all in the same geographic area. Hmmm...I told them I didn't know. I guess Kirkland's artist couldn't what kind of trees would have been there so he/she put them all. They also noted that the trees were VERY tall b/c the elephants and giraffes looked tiny next to the trees. After all the discussion about this "painting", I was ready to get on with my plans!

I liked to have lost a few fingers taking that thing apart. I think they used enough staples on it to actually hold the ark together. But hey, a few cuts and gaping wounds can't keep me from my task. The inner piece came out completely. This made painting a lot easier.

I chose this "light sage" paint. I think they must have mislabeled. There was NOTHING sage about it. It was ivory. Very ivory. No sage. I got it on clearance at Hobby Lobby for a buck, so I'm not complaining!

The inner piece got painted first! I was blistering hot out and I was sweating like crazy! The good news was that the paint dried quickly and I was able to get several coats on quickly.

Next up the frame! In real life, this was almost purple. In the pictures it has a cherry appearance, but in actuality was nearly plum. Not pretty.

Aahh! Much better! Notice how bright out it is! I think I have mentioned before what happens when I am outside working.......

Here is a little close-up on the frame. I am already liking the change!

Now to the black board part. I tested chalkboard paint on the upper edge of the ark print. You see, the print was lacquered onto the backing of the frame. Then had a textured coating on it. I know I got several emails and comments telling me not to ruin the ark painting. Folks...no painting here. Just a paper essentially modge-podged onto tag board. Still I tried to respect the wished of the masses (ok...really about 5 people...but I can pretend, right?). I decided to used chalkboard vinyl for several reasons. 1. I was not happy with my test spray on spot for the chalkboard paint. 2. If I used the chalkboard vinyl I can always peel it off if I ever need to have a Noah's ark picture in my home. 4. I really didn't want to have to drive into town to buy a new backing piece, then come home and paint it. 3. I own a vinyl company and since I have a huge roll of chalkboard vinyl it made the most sense.

Bad news is the vinyl didn't fit perfectly, so there was a seam. Ugh......that really bugs me.

I set aside the chalkboard for a while and got to work glazing the frame. I love this part. It is FUN. I get to make something look dirty on purpose and not have to clean it up! I went heavy on the glaze with this.

As I was outside working on the glaze, the following came out of nowhere:

Seriously!

I have a perfect record going here folks! If I go out to paint IT RAINS! (Isn't my neighbor's house adorable!) I moved into the garage and finished up the glazing

Here is the finished product. The seam on the vinyl was really bothering me, so I painted a piece of dollhouse molding and glued it on. Here is my moment of honesty. I don't think I like the molding. I love the frame. I love the chalkboard. I do not love the effect the molding across it has. SO.....tomorrow I will be heading to home depot to have a new back cut to it. I will show you guys the for real finished project in a few days! This piece is not for my house, it is going into the shop here locally. I am very tempted to keep it though!

Oh, you guys weigh in......is the after better or should I have left the ark alone????? And should I redo the backing and loose the doll house molding?

Yard Sale Furniture Remakes

2010-07-13T13:05:00.001-07:00

I promise you guys the Noah's ark picture makeover is coming. It truly is. I have the cuts to prove it. Taking that thing apart was hazardous. But first, I have a few yard sale furniture pieces to show you. I have been on the lookout for beds for my guy. He is in a toddler bed and needs more space. I found these solid wood bunk beds this weekend for $40.00. We won't use them as bunk beds for now, but the pieces are really solid so I bought them! The stain on the wood is not my preferred finish, so I sanded and painted!

It rained while I was painting again. If you have a drought, buy me a ticket, fly me out, set me up in your driveway with paint and furniture and I can guarantee it will rain!
I painted both beds a satin black to match the bookcase from my previous post. Only one bed will be going in that bedroom, but I wanted to paint them at the same time so they would match.

Here they are finished. I think it updates them very nicely! I am still trying to decide if I am going to distress the edges. What do you think?

Next up is $10.00 dresser. I think we've all seen tons of these in thrift stores and at yard sales. I can't pass up a bargain and this was just the right height for my boys room! It is a bonus room upstairs, so the side walls are pitched. This will hit just below the slope! Perfect.

I forgot to take a picture of it before with the drawers in, so here is pieced together look.
I feel the need to mention it was like 100 degrees! At least it did not rain.
I think the furniture was even sweating though. Ugh it is hot.

This dresser is getting a blue paint job. I took the knobs from my boys beds and matched it to a Krylon spray paint. I again chose a satin finish.

Um....I have a blue square on my drive way. Ooops!

First coat is done and I am thinking it looks like the smurfs.

Thankfully, when it dried it was not so Smurfy blue. I sanded up the edges. This is going upstairs in boyland....much worse will be done to it I assure you.

Here it is as I came through the front door (yes my wood floors are dirty...I've been busy painting.) I got the pulls on sale at Hobby Lobby. They only had 6 of the ones I wanted. I needed 8. WHY does that always happen to me? I decided to get the more decorative ones for the top, skinny drawer. I hope it doesn't look too stupid, but I am too impatient to wait till next Monday when they get more. If it bothers me too much I'll go and get some later and switch them out. It would have bothered me to no end to be missing 2 drawer pulls!

My only complaint on the dresser is that the wood was pretty scratched up and it shows after being painted. There is a nice big gouge across the center of one of the drawers. I don't really mind though. It is a solid dresser that has obviously survived some abuse and starting today will be subjected to much more abuse at the hands of my boys!

Considering where it started and how it finished, I think it is a successful remake! I'll post a few more pictures when it is settled nicely into its new home.

Leave me a comment and let me know what you think about the pulls. Should I change the top to or leave them alone?

$3.00 Shelf makeover

2010-07-10T12:40:00.000-07:00

My son needed a small bookshelf for his bedroom. I found this little shelf at the same thrift store I bought the enamel cart. As you can see, it is a bit dirty. It was pretty stable and for only $3.00 it came home with me! ($3.00 seems to have been the magic number that day!) There is nothing special about it, but it will work for what we need it for.

I decided that it needed a back to keep his books and papers from falling through. It also helps to add a little stability to the shelf. It was pretty solid, but had a little wobble to it. I took a piece of scrap beadboard and cut it to fit in the shelving area. I did not want the backing to go to the floor, only to the bottom shelf. Both got several coats of Krylon Satin Black Latex Enamel paint.
I used the staple gun and attached the back. (Don't notice how lazy I was.....No one will see the back, so i didn't paint it!)

Here it is completed! I took a sanding cube and distressed the edges. My philosophy is that one of my 4 boys will distress the edges anyway, I may as well beat them to it!

And another view, just because I enjoy looking at it! :)

Total out of pocket cost for this project was only $3.00!
I used paint and beadboard I had on hand! I bought a quart of the Krylon Satin Black and have used it on about 4 projects now! It was only 7 bucks, so I have definitely gotten my money's worth! I have seen a shelf similar to this one at Hobby Lobby for $49.00. I would never pay that for it, but my $3.00 knock off will definitely work for me!

I added this project to CSI Project's Yard Sale Makeover challenge, follow the link to find more fantastic makeovers!

Enamel Cart Redo!

2010-07-05T13:52:00.001-07:00

I am really excited to show you how this cart turned out. About halfway through, I had my doubts. Painting the legs turned out to be a pain.

Here it is straight from the thrift shop. The paint was chippy and top was quite rusted.

It was DIRTY! But for a $3.00 find I'll scrub just about anything!
It got washed, scrubbed, washed again then sanded. I sanded to get rid of the rust and loose paint.

Here it is with the primer coat and taped off legs. Did I mention painted the legs sucked? Because it did. I used spray paint (seen below) on the tabletops and a brush on enamel paint for the legs. Spray paint probably would have been better, but I didn't feel like going to the store, and I had a good bit of white enamel paint on hand.

I really liked the Valspar spray paint. It was the first time I had used it. I was pleasantly surprised at the low odor. I chose to use a satin finish on the piece. And truthfully, I would have preferred a gloss, but this color only was in stock in satin.

Skipping ahead to the finished piece, because I know you all know how to spray a can of paint!

I had to use a fine tipped brush to touch up the white paint around the legs. I also had to wipe off excess white paint that found its way to the green. Bad paint! You can see in this picture, I decided to leave the wheels alone. I had thought to take them apart and paint the metal, but decided I liked them all rusty.

I think this is looking pretty good! It certainly looks better than the rusted-up version!

Here it is at home (in my daughter's room). She loves it!

The walls looks peach in this picture, but they are actually beige.

It is already filled with books! The cart is just the right height for bedside use. I was seriously tempted to keep it for myself and use it for plants on my porch. Then I remembered all my plants die, and decided it was best used in the bedroom!

Below is the before and after, and I think the after is a huge improvement! I would love to find another of these in slightly better shape to leave in the original white enamel and metal legs!

My next project I am feeling a little guilty about. The woman I purchased it from (at a garage sale) went on and on about how special this picture was. Granted, it came from Kirklands, so I doubt it could really be that special-not to mention she had it in her garage sale......Anyway, it is a framed print of Noah's ark. I bought it for the frame. It is going to make an AWESOME chalkboard! I hope she doesn't stumble across my blog, she would probably cry. I felt terrible bargaining down the price on it, but since I am cheap....I did it anyway. I still paid more than I would have liked, but I am so excited to work on it! Sadly, it wont go in the house, but will head down to my shop!

The week that went way wrong!

2010-07-03T12:46:00.000-07:00

This week got way off track! I had all these projects that I had planned. Some I need to finish. Then I got sick. It came on all the sudden and hit me like a ton of bricks! So, in the midst of this nasty kidney infection, I have abandoned my projects and enjoyed my time browsing other people's blogs! It has been very fun and VERY inspiring!

I did find a little time to mess around with that door sign I made last week. It just wasn't sitting right with me. You see, I decided to hang it outside on my door. My door is chocolate brown. But not the same brown as the sign. It just didn't pop or really look that great.

I grabbed a grapevine wreath from Hobby Lobby, spray painted it off-white and tied the sign on.

I like it a lot better than just the sign hanging on the door. You can see from this that it really would not have stood out. I am seriously thinking about painting my door. The color has faded over the past three years, but I am not sure what color I want. Any suggestions?

I think I am going to leave the sign/wreath for a while and see how I like it. It will probably have several more remakes before I get it how I like it!

I am excited to say I have been given my first award! :) I'll have a post about tomorrow. Also, I have the primer coat on that enamel cart and may try to get the first coat of green paint on it later today. It is really windy, so it may have to wait till Monday. I am really excited about it though. It is going to replace my daughter's current bedside table (which is currently one of those round mdf tables you cover). Her room is a continuous work in progress. Look for a post next week about her room! I found this HUGE Henredon armoire for only $75.00. It holds all her clothes-quite the accomplishment, believe me! Her room is not very big, so we have downsized her bed. I am trying to get it too look more decorated and less"1000 things thrown in by a 12 year old girl." She is a HUGE reader so we deal with book clutter constantly! If I get VERY brave, I may post some before pictures. Don't count on that though!

Have a great Fourth of July and check back soon to read about the award, the enamel cart, the room redo and SO much more!

Score at the Thrift store!

2010-06-28T20:22:00.001-07:00

I had a few minutes to kill today and popped into one of my local thrift stores. This store is hit or miss. They have reasonable prices (unlike one of the chain thrift stores in town) and are always willing to bargain with you! I think the manager recognizes me now when I come in. They know I am going to look at frames and furniture!

Today I got this awesome little enamel cart with wheels! (I left it outside so I will add a picture in the morning!) for only $3.00. I also got a cute rustic shelf that is perfect for books in my son's room. It'll be getting a coat of black paint ASAP.

The manager told me someone had bought the contents of a storage unit at auction, picked out what they wanted and dropped the rest off on the sidewalk in front of the rescue mission thrift shop. I wish I had my camera with me. It literally looked like someone dumped a trash truck on the sidewalk! I felt bad they were having to dig through it.....someones trash is definitely not always anothers treasure! Sometimes it is just TRASH!

Anyway, I can't wait for a little sunlight to show you my new little treasures! I was so excited about the enamel table that I stopped at Lowe's on my way home and got the perfect color green to paint it! Guess you guys know what will be coming up on here in a few days! :)

Etched Coasters!

2010-06-26T12:40:00.000-07:00

My little project today is so simple, but I really love it! I have made lots of tile coasters with vinyl initials, fleur de lis, swirls, etc.
They look great and are quite useful for cold drinks. I have seen the vinyl ripple and curl if you put a really hot drink on the tile.

Yesterday I was in Lowe's and found myself in the flooring isle. I found these glazed tiles on clearance for 32 cents each. Immediately I knew I had to try using the glass etching cream to see if I could etch a permanent design into them.

I bought 2...one light blue, one dark. I wanted to see if one showed better than the other. They have these tiles in numerous colors, but only these 2 were clearance.Cut your vinyl design then take out your design (leave the negative space). You want to leave the surrounding to protect your tile. I should have left a wider edge on the vinyl, but I wasn't thinking. I put the vinyl onto the tile. Make sure you have no bubbles around the edges of the design.

Cover the tile with a generous coating of the etching cream. I used a q-tip to apply it. Don't be afraid to lay it on thick. You can scrap your etching cream right back into the bottle (as long as it hasn't dried out).

Here is the dark blue. These were just samples to see if this would work, so I didn't worry too much about getting the design on straight. I am normally pretty anal about that.

See how thick that is? That is how you want it.

Here is the tile after I waited the necessary amount of time and wiped it down.
You can see it has lost it's shine! I was excited to get the vinyl off and see how it turned out.

Off it comes.....Here is the powder blue after it has been wiped off. The edges are still damp, but the rest has dried. You can really see the fleur de lis!

The darker blue worked quite well too!

Here is another shot of the powder blue. Now, simply cut either felt or a thin layer of cork to line the back. This step isn't 100% needed, but it will prevent your tile from scratching the finish of your wood furniture and give your tile a little cushion if your children are as gentle as mine are. :)

So that is is! All you need is:

vinyl or contact paper with a design cut out

etching cream (i have had that bottle for over a year, it lasts forever!)

glazed tiles- I used 4x4 tiles

cork or felt to line the back

q-tips or a small brush to apply cream

This only took about 10 minutes start to finish! Package 4 together in a cellophane goodie bag and tie with a pretty ribbon and you have a great gift!

New Door Hanger from scraps

2010-06-25T20:48:00.000-07:00

Tonight I was "cleaning" in the garage. This is the place where most of the creating happens in our house. I have been known to spread out at the kitchen table, only to hear later, "Why is your craft crap on the table again?" I should also mention at this point that I have craft amnesia. I forget I am in the middle of a project and abandon it on the table for ....oh....weeks! That is why I work in the garage. I can leave my stuff out and no one cares! And it is messy! (See proof below!)Here is a peak at some of my workspace. It is a mess right now! I love those old locker baskets. There is a story there on how I came to own them (and 7 other ones!), but I'll save that for another time. Hanging from the baskets are those black Ikea cups. They hold my knives, paint brushes, pencils, etc.
This is one of my closets! I found these at a yard sale and got them for a bargain! They are solid oak and are about 7 feet tall. This one holds frames, mirrors, tiles....things that are ready to have vinyl applied without any prep. When someone calls me to order a quick gift, this is my go to!

So...back to our project! As I was cleaning, I noticed 2 things:

I need air conditioning in the garage. Summers in Alabama are not really mild.
I had a lot of pre-painted scrap wood. I should make something!

My "cleaning" now abandoned, I grabbed a piece of scrap wood. These pieces are pre-painted b/c they are trimmed off of standard size boards I keep on hand for orders. I just chop off however much I need, leaving me with small scraps. This one was 8.5 by 8.5. There was one raw edge where it had been trimmed, so I painted that and let it dry. Next, using vinyl scraps from mis-orders or mis-cuts, I applied my vinyl to the board. I know most people have applied vinyl, so I won't go into any detail.

Applying the transfer tape and vinyl to the board Remove transfer tape after rubbing over entire surface. When I positioned it, I intentionally had it overhang the edge of my board Trim the overhang with a sharp knife. Apply second color of vinyl. This is a pale yellow and one of my new favorites!
Here it is with all the vinyl on and all the transfer tape gone! My plan is to hang this on a large wreath on my door, so I then drilled holes in the upper corners. I also distressed the edges. I love distressed edges.Next up is the sealant. This is my hands down favorite! We use this for all our signs and even our tiles for our shop. I nearly cried when I went to Michael's and couldn't find it. Luckily, they had just rearranged and it was 2 isles over. Add a little ribbon (which does match in real life).
I like to get the flame to my ribbon edge. Just don't grab the ribbon after you do this. Not smart. Trust me. Owie.
And there it is. I need to paint my wreath then get this on the door!

This project cost me nothing. I had everything on hand, and even used vinyl that would likely not have been used. I love the cherry blossoms and hummingbird! Go take a peak in your craft supplies, I bet you can make something pretty cute out of scraps and cast-offs too!

I am excited about tomorrows project. I just noticed it is blue again.....oh well! I love blue. Check back and find out what it is and how to do it!

Isn't she ugly!

2010-06-23T10:04:00.000-07:00

In our first post, I gave a sneak peak at today's project:

Isn't she UGLY!

She may be ugly, but she is solid wood, is a great size, and has some real potential! Not to mention she was a pretty good deal. We found her Saturday at a local church garage sale. There wasn't much there to look at, and she caught my eye when I walked in. I have been wanting to find a smaller table for my entry. I love the table I have there now, but it is too big for the space.

At first look my opinion was that the piece was overpriced. It wasn't even 8 a.m., the church was trying to make money for a mission trip somewhere so I didn't feel like I could ask for a lower price yet. Suzanna and I talked about her and decided she was just too ugly for what they were asking! I wrote her off as somebody else's ugly treasure and we headed for the next sale.
I couldn't get her out of my mind as we shopped. Later in the afternoon, I had just left WalMart and saw a sign for that garage sale that listed the time as 7am-1pm. It was 12:45. I turned the car around and figured it wouldn't hurt to pop in and see if she was still junking up the place.

She was, I bargained and she came home with me for $15.00. Half of what they had asked for it.

Here she is after removing the doors and sanding. (FYI she fit in the backseat of my husband's Maxima....don't tell him)

The hardware had a nasty hue to them. I call it "20 year grunge...no cleaning"

The hinges and handles were painted using one of my favorite paints for knobs and hardware:
American Accents Hammered Finish

Instantly it updates the hardware. I thought of replacing the hardware, but i kind of like the BIG chunky look of these knobs!

Here is the body after one coat of spray paint. I used Krylon Blue Ocean. It is the same color I used on the foam piece in yesterday's post. I took a break after this coat and went inside to get a drink. I heard something hitting the windows and looked out to find a torrential downpour! I made my 13 year old son come help me drag it back into the garage! Thankfully no damage was done!
After drying, I began sanding. There were LOTS of edges on this piece b/c of that thick molding on the doors. You can from the top I wasn't too even on the coat of paint, but I didn't care since I would be distressing and aging the whole thing.
Sanding these doors took time. It was 95 degrees in 90% Alabama humidity. I was one hot, sweaty mama!
I tried to make sure to get into the grooves with my sanding block. In doing so I also scratched the smooth back. I have to admit it bugged me a little bit, but I decided it didn't bug me enough to go back and repaint.

I haven't even gotten any glaze on it yet and already I am loving it!

Before I glazed, I put the hardware and doors back on. The sun was really bright, so you loose some of the distressing, but I promise it is plenty distressed!

Here is a shot of the doors and how I actually got them to line up! When I took all the hardware off, I made sure to not which hinge went on which door and in which spot. I learned when I painted kitchen cabinets that this actually does matter! The doors close smooth, line up straight, and are nice and even!

The door before I started glazing.

The color is very pretty, but too bright for me.

Ahhhhh! That's better. I do have five kids! This finish is much more in line with how things should be in our house. Four boys......need I say more.
On this piece I used Valspar Signature Colors Antiquing Glaze.I watered it down equal parts water to glaze. This gave me the coverage I wanted in a glaze that was wet enough to do large areas in 95 degree heat but was still thick enough that it wouldn't run and drip.

Here you can see about how thick I applied the glaze before I began wiping it down. Don't be afraid to put a thick coat on there. You can keep wiping till you get it how you like. If you remove too much, just throw another coat on.

I used a brush to get into the tight spaces. I wanted it really antiqued, so I left a good bit of glaze in the detailed pieces.

My husband came home just as I was finishing the front. He was skeptical when he saw what I had bought, but even he admitted yesterday the piece turned out nice.

Storm clouds were blowing up, so i did the top all at once. It left it a little uneven, but that was better than getting rained on and ruined! (The picture above is with the glaze waiting to be wiped down)

Here it is after wiping down the top and finishing the bottom. I think it looks fantastic and can't wait to move her inside! Um....I just noticed I put the handles on upside down! Oops! Isn't the change dramatic! The starting picture shows exactly why she was at someones yard sale. UGLY. The wood was dry and had that "splatter paint" stain finish on it. I am sure it was lovely back in 1973, but it wasn't cutting it for today! I have great plans for her! Plans that include an old wooden window and some vinyl!

I think she has definitely gone from UGLY to lovely!

Did you notice that white dresser the glaze was sitting on? That is my next project! That was a craigslist find, no make that STEAL!!!

Edited 8/11: This project was on Better After (one of my FAVORITE sites! how exciting!) today in " Lotsa Aqua"

Edited 7/13: I am linking to CSI Project's Yard Sale Makeovers

I'm linking up with these:

Leave a comment and let me know what you think!

Check it out! This project has been featured:

Our Inagural Post!!!!

2010-06-21T15:08:00.000-07:00

Welcome to That Looks Like Craft! After reading, drooling over, gaining inspiration and ideas from tons of blogs out in blogland I finally decided to create a blog dedicated to my crafting adventures! My garage is one huge heap of projects in various states of completion so I should have lots of material to keep this blog running for a LONG time!

My first project is going to be a quick and easy one! Every Saturday my friend Suzanna and I sacrifice sleeping in to scrounge through other people's junk. Sometimes we find great things and other times we find....crap. This past weekend was a slow one. After two hours we had only spent 5 dollars combined and were feeling quite low. I love garage sales as much as the next person, but I also LOVE to sleep! If I am rolling out of bed at 615 a.m. on a Saturday, I want to find some good junk! En route back to Suzanna's car, we stopped at a few final sales, and this is were we found our treasures that made it worth it! Among our treasures was this beauty!I got this foam piece for only $1.00! It had a few bumps and bruises, but I knew when I saw it that it was getting a fresh coat of paint.

Here she is up close. You can see a few of the gouges in it. The lady who sold it said she has always gotten compliments on it, but it was too banged up to use anymore......NOT in my house! After her new paint job I felt she was a little too bold. I couldn't put my hands on my glaze so I just watered down a burnt umber paint and painted the surface.

You can see the watered down paint sat on top of the coat of spray paint. I got a cotton cloth and rubbed it into the groves and then wiped off the extras.

Here is the center portion before I wiped it off completely. Lots of little nooks and crannies! Here is after I wiped it down. I left a good bit of brown on there. I wanted to tone the blue down and leave a good, rugged finish.

Here is the finished project. I have not put a finish coat on it yet. I am going to live with a while to make sure it is just how I want it. When I do finish it, I will use a satin finish on it.

I'd say the change is quite a difference! I was so tempted to paint it black, but I really think I like the blue! What do you think?

Here is her new home. I got this dresser from a local thrift shop for only 20 bucks! I am still trying to decide if the dresser will meet with a paint brush or not. For now though, I need to finish decorating this area. I want to get some tall pieces to go in the iron pitcher and I have a tile project to go on the stand......

Here is a teaser for my next project:

I decided to link up with a few craft blogs! Check out everyone else's fantastic projects in the links below!