Month: May 2013

Bedside table restyled with decoupage

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In this little table, I saw much hidden potential.  I can’t remember how I came across it.  I found it up in our attic. It was the perfect little project.  I brought it down, and it sat in my bedroom, waiting it’s turn to be upcycled.  Tonight seemed like the perfect night!  While the little toddler apprentice slept, I gathered all my materials together.  (Including my mess of a table cloth strewn with paint and Mod Podge of projects past.)

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First I tightened the table and cleaned it removing any dust or dirt.  Once dry, I primed the areas I planned to paint with a latex primer. I put aside the table to dry.  I took the scrapbook paper and cut it into the various sizes,  In this case the drawer could not be removed.  I could remove the knob,  so I pressed the paper up against the outside of the drawer creating a crease in the paper where it would need to be cut. Once the paper was cut I glued it down to the surfaces I wanted to decoupage.  I then painted the remaining areas black with black acrylic paint.  Once the entire piece was completely dry, I  covered the entire piece with Mod Podge Matte finish.  I used a medium sized paint brush for the larger areas and a smaller brush for the smaller areas.  Once dry, I applied two coats to the smaller painted areas and four coats to the decoupaged areas. The result is what you see here:

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Little tip: I had a few air bubbles appear on the table surface.  I used a sewing needle, poking a tiny hole in the air bubble.  I  smoothed it out and then applied more Mod Podge over top of it. Definitely helped!

Before and after:

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Upcycled Wine Cork Garden Markers Made with Outdoor Mod Podge

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This weekend my little toddler and I planted our first vegetable garden together.  She loves playing in her sandbox so I had no doubt she would love digging in the dirt.  When I began digging, she grabbed her plastic shovel and pretended to dig.  She was fascinated by the whole gardening process.  I wanted to start out small.  I did some hunting  in our side yard and found some plastic fencing.  It was enough to keep our little Bichon Frise at bay, as well as keeping Miss little legs from crushing the plants. I bought three plants, a tomato, cucumber and red pepper. (I know this will barely make a salad!) At little E’s age it is more the concept of a garden that is most important.  I have seen various tutorials on the internet on how to make garden markers.  The spoon markers are adorable, and I loved the wine cork ideas.  So, I am throwing my virtual hat in the ring and gave the idea a try.   Here is my take on the wine cork markers.  I painted each a different color with acrylic paint.  I let dry.  I found pics of veggies online and added text in word.  I then printed out those vegetable images on photo paper.  I used the contact sheet setting on my printer and this small photo size worked perfectly.  I cut the pictures out and glued them to the corks with outdoor Mod Podge.  I repeated this process several times coating the entire cork.  One finished I inserted a bamboo skewer in the cork to anchor the markers into the ground.  A cute little detail in the garden.  Never hurts to add a little color!

 

Materials used:

Wine Corks

Outdoor Mod Podge

Vegetable images/Printables

Bamboo Skewers

Scissors

Acrylic paint

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Welcome to our mini garden!

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A toddler in the garden

What’s in the glove, Love?

Crafting is worth the Risk! Restyle your Smart Phone with Decoupage

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Restyle your cell phone/smart phone

I was driving into work the other day and this crazy thought popped into my head.  What if I could decoupage my smart phone?  Sure it may seem like a strange and risky idea at first and If I had a super fancy expensive phone I may reconsider.  I have an entry level phone so I felt I  had nothing to lose. I had gone through about six different cell phone covers.  Many cases never correctly fit the phone and the others broke easily.  I popped the back cover off and thought to myself I could do this!  First, I tried using wrapping paper.  It was a nice pattern I bought from the dollar store.  It proved hard to work with because it was super thin and I scrapped that idea after a failed attempt left tears and wrinkles.  I used instead, scrapbook paper which is thicker and more durable.  I traced the phone cover onto the paper making sure to trace the various openings on the phone.  I used an x acto knife to cut the tracing, carefully cutting the openings for the camera and speaker on the phone. I used Mod Podge Matte finish to adhere the scrapbook paper to the phone cover smoothing out the edges.  I then sealed the outside of the cover with seven layers of Mod Podge allowing each layer to dry thoroughly between applications. I was pleasantly surprised with the result!

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Materials used:

Mod Podge Matte Finish

X Acto knife

black fine tip marker or pencil

Scrapbook paper (design of your choice)

Medium sized artist paint brush

Sesame Street: Abby Cadabby Decoupage Jewelry Box

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I had this piece for a while as I was not sure what I wanted to do with it.  I picked it up at Goodwill for $2.99.  The last week has been focused mostly on my daugter’s birthday party.  It was a nice smaller project for me.  Most of this project was completed before she woke from her afternoon nap.

As my daughter gets older, she is accumulating quite a bit of jewelry, hair bows and other various adornments.  I thought this box would be great because it consisted of three fairly deep drawers for storage.  I wanted to make it girly and restyle it using a character that Erin loves.  I chose Abby Cadabby from Sesame Street.  I love the pink and purple colors that make up her character. I printed out some Abby images along with a nice purple and pink floral inspired background on photo paper.  I removed the drawers.  I had already primed this piece previously, so it was ready to paint.  I painted the top surface dark purple and the sides pink with acrylic paint. I set aside and to dry.  I cut out the Abby images first and glued them to the drawer using Mod Podge Matte Finish.   I then measured out the floral background.  The biggest challenge was applying the paper around the knob.  The knobs on the drawers did not appear removable so I lined it up with the paper and cut a small round hole carefully feeding the knob through.  I then used a smaller paint brush and applied the Mod Podge to glue the paper down to the drawer surface.  Once dry, I applied the Mod Podge generously over the drawer and photo surface and the painted  jewelry box.  This seals the entire piece.  I used several coats to seal.  Letting dry between coats.  I usually sit them in front of a fan to speed up the drying process.   The result is what you see here and I like overall how it turned out.  For some reason when taking a picture it appears more blue than purple!

Abby Cadaby Girls Jewelry box

Materials used:

Mod Podge Matte

Old wooden jewelry box

Scissors

smaller artist paint brushes

paper for decoupage

pink and purple acrylic paint

Abby Girls Jewelery box

DIY Walkway Character Happy Birthday Signs

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What a day yesterday! There is nothing like a 2 yr old’s birthday party! Fun and Exhausting.  Certainly worth it to make our daughter’s day as special as possible!  Our theme this year was “American Sprout”  My daughter is a HUGE fan of the PBS run Sprout channel.  http://www.sproutonline.com/

Since it was Memorial Day weekend, we decided to incorporate her favorite Sprout characters with a Patriotic Theme.  Our original plan was to have an outdoor BBQ.  We changed this because as incredible as this may sound, It was cold and windy outside!  (Yes, I did say it was Memorial day weekend!)  Not very summer like weather.  Of course the kids could still play outside, but not your typical summer activities. It became an indoor/outdoor event. The kids didn’t seem to mind.

One of the home made decorations I wanted to share with you are the Sprout character pathway signs.  I was very happy with how these turned out and they held up extremely well despite the windy weather.  I found some great birthday character pictures.  I used cardboard, cutting the pieces into squares.  I painted the front various colors (Erin’s theme was red, white and blue) and the backs I painted black for continuity and to cover the cardboard.  I glued the images to the cardboard.  In this case, since I had the Mod Podge handy I used a light coating to glue them down.  I then tried to think of a way to anchor them into the ground and I am not sure what made me think of it, but I had these wooden BBQ skewers that I thought would work perfectly!  They are basically just a long toothpick and I slipped the skewer through the middle of the cardboard leaving half exposed to go into the ground no glueing required!

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I also recycled some some old party decorations.  I made this Birthday sign featuring Chica from the Good Morning Show and Jim Henson’s The Pajanimals.

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Remember that Mod Podge character tray?  Well it went to good use and the cupcakes didn’t last very long!

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It was a great time to celebrate Erin!  Happy Birthday to me XOXOXO

P.S. Do you like the dress?  Another money saving tip: Once Upon A Child. Great bargains on kids clothes and toys gently used.  Erin is wearing spring dress with detachable bolero jacket and  pink tights only $9.50 at Once Upon a Child http://www.onceuponachild.com/ check them out!

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Upcycled Wooden Pedestal Bowl

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Recently I came across this great wooden pedestal bowl at a flea market.  The first thing I noticed wasn’t the bowl.  Their was a big cardboard sign stating “Everything on this table only a dollar!.”  A buck seriously? I have to admit most of the items on the table were junk, but the little wooden pedestal bowl caught my eye.  I had nothing to lose!  I had some of the scarf material left, I could use this to decoupage the inside.  I had used this same material on a side table in a previous post. I had a vision when it came to this little bowl!  First, I primed the bowl with a white latex primer.  Once dry I used black acrylic paint and painted the entire piece.  Next was the tricky part.  I couldn’t measure the fabric for the inside surface of the bowl.  Instead I took a larger piece of fabric than I needed and using Mod Podge glued it to the surface leaving the extra fabric to hang over the edges.  Once dry I carefully trimmed the fabric and applied Mod Podge to the edges to mold it to the wood.  I then sealed it with four coats of Mod Podge applying it to the entire piece.  I really liked how this turned out and will be sure to keep my eyes open for any wooden bowls that cross our path in the future!

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Restyled Celestial Decoupage Portable Lap Top Desk

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Their is nothing I love more than trolling around in our attic!  I call it re-shopping. Before I go out and buy something new, I always check in our attic for items that have long been forgotten, stored away and are one step away from the trash can.  It was on this day that I came across an ugly old lap top desk.  I find myself more often times than not, blogging from my bed on my laptop . This would be perfect, but boy was it an ugly eye sore! Mod Podge to the rescue!  I had these cool celestial prints I had printed out and had no idea what to do with them!  I like the pattern and thought I would tuck them away and use someday.  I thought to myself someday is now!  You can use wrapping paper, scrapbook paper, magazine cut outs, the possibilities are endless! It really depends on your personality! The biggest challenge with this project was the size of the laptop table surface.  Matching up the design was a challenge as was gluing the paper to the curved edges of the surface.  Otherwise this was a fairly simple project.

Materials used:

Old laptop desk

Mod Podge Matte Finish

Paper of choice to decoupage

Scissors and a marker for tracing

Mod Podge rubber smooth out tool

Restyled LapTop Desk

DIY Kitchen Sink Backsplash

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One day, my neighbor (gotta love him) offered me some free tiles.  He had just finished a project of his own and had extra tile he didn’t plan on using.  Of course I can never turn anything “free” down, so I happily accepted them and thanked him graciously.  Of course at the time, I had no idea what I was going to do with them.  I always wanted a kitchen backsplash, but I had never worked with tile before.  He had more faith I could do it than I had in myself.  He told me it was a relatively easy project to do.  My neighbor had suggested that I buy the adhesive and grout in one.  It worked out great and was simple to use.  The tiles my neighbor gifted to me were plain white.  I wanted to add more color, so I went to Home Depot, and purchased smaller blue mosaic tiles.  I laugh at this now, but I had no idea I could cut and glue and apply them on the mesh sheet they come on.  So, yes (are you ready to laugh at me and learn from my rookie mistake?)  I took every tile off and applied them individually!  This took forever and I wish I knew then what I knew now… It would have cut the project time in half!  It also would have been easier to measure and keep the tile from being applied crooked.  I had to fight to keep it straight.  You live and you learn!  I used a tiling trowel to spread out the grout adhesive.  I them applied the tiles.  I used the same mixture to grout the tiles and fill in the spaces in between.  Luckily, I didn’t need a tile cutter, which was a good thing, because I didn’t buy one!  Did it come out perfect? No, but it wasn’t terrible and gave me the confidence to try other things.  So I would say overall it was a success and cost under $50.00.

Since discovering Mod Podge I am thinking about decoupaging a few of the tiles to add more pop, but I just haven’t gotten around to it yet!  If I do, I will be sure and share.

Sesame Street Birthday decorations made from construction paper

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As we get closer to our daughter’s 2nd birthday party this Saturday, I thought I would share some tips from last year’s party.  One of the more expensive elements of throwing a party, other than food is the party decorations.  My husband and I always try to follow a budget the best we can.  We plan, make lists and try to keep costs down, but in this current economy that can sometimes be difficult.  Our theme last year was Sesame Street and since my daughter is still obsessed with these characters, I didn’t stray too far this year from her 1st birthday theme.  Her theme this year is all her favorite Sprout channel characters with a patriotic twist in celebration of Memorial Day.  Stay tuned for more on this idea.

Last year, I created most of her decorations from construction paper and glue.  I searched the internet for all her favorite Sesame characters and used the more basic cartoon images as a guide for making the different characters.  Most of the characters are based on simple shapes, so I drew these shapes onto the construction paper, cut them out and glued together to form the individual characters.  Pretty simple, cost effective, and I think they turned out great and are unique in their own way. I also summoned my old elementary school days cutting out strips of construction paper and making paper chains.  I also used re-cycled gift bags and anything else I could get my hands on, cut out and make into a party decoration.  There are so many great ideas on Pinterest as well, much more than I could ever try myself.  Let your imagination run wild and in the process save a little money!

Elmo Birthday Decoration

Sesame Street sign made from construction paper

Bert and Ernie Birthday Decoration

Oscar Trash Can

Sesame Street Decorations

Character Cupcake trays made with Mod Podge

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Sesame Street Cupcake tray

Ahhh ugly old trays! Gotta love them!  There is no shortage of them at your local thrift store, or Dollar Store.  I am on a mission to rescue as many of these trays as possible!  They make great decorations and are simple and easy to repurpose.  I will admit as great wrapping paper is to use when decoupaging, I always struggle a bit with the wrinkles and air bubbles, but the variety of paper and styles available keep me coming back.  In this case, I used Sesame Street, but you can use any characters you like.  My daughter’s 2nd birthday theme is all of the Sprout channel characters.   Sesame Street seemed like a great choice for this cupcake tray and I thought it would make a great decoration for her party.  These are pretty simple to make.  I simply traced the tray onto the wrapping paper, carefully cutting the paper along the line with a pair of scissors.  I used Mod Podge to glue the wrapping paper to the tray, doing my best to smooth out as many air bubbles and wrinkles as I could.  I then applied several coats of Mod Podge to seal the image onto the tray.  I find when using wrapping paper the more coats of Mod Podge the better so use the Mod Podge generously!

Materials:

Ugly old tray of your choice

Mod Podge Matte Finish

Character Wrapping paper

Scissors

Thin tip black marker