Month: June 2013

Mail Call: Upcycled, Decoupage Mail and Key Holder

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I found this little wooden mail and key holder for two bucks at an outdoor swap meet.   I decided to use it by our front door so we could have a centralized place for our keys, cell phones and any other small items we take with us to work each day.  Initially, I was unsure of the design I would choose.  Then I remembered,  I still had some of the recycled gift bag I had used for my living room switch plate and outlet covers.  It became evident , the key/mail holder would be hanging  in close proximity to the switch plate and I thought it would look better if they matched.

Decoupage Switch Plate, Outlet

I measured and cut the gift bag to fit the mail slots. I then applied Mod Podge to glue the gift bag tracings to the slots.  While drying, I painted the rest of the piece black with acrylic paint.  Once the paint was completely dry I applied about three coats of Mod Podge over the entire piece to seal it. This was a very simple project with dramatic resulst!  It really stands out nicely against the Sandstone background and keeps electronics and other important items out of little toddler hands.

Before

Materials:

Mail/Key Holder

Mod Podge Matte finish

Gift bag/Scrapbook  paper

Black Acrylic Paint

Pen/Scissors/Paint Brushes

Decoupage key holder

The Pillow Case Makeover: Upcycled, Pink and Brown Hand Painted Decoupage Chair

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I am always attracted furniture bargains.  On this day, as I often do, I took a quick look around the local Goodwill on my lunch break. It just so happened that all red tagged items were 50% off.  In the corner, toward the back of the store,  I noticed a wooden chair with a ladder back, red sticker taped on the front.  It was a little diamond in the rough.  I was surprised the original price was only $4.99, and with the discount this chair would only cost $2.50!  I had been wanting to try a full-sized chair project for a while, and this chair seemed like the perfect candidate.

It just so happened my sister had noticed some of my furniture projects the last time she was over the house. She asked me to make her something, but was not sure what she wanted.  When she saw this chair among the other furniture candidates, she thought perhaps I could design it based on her bedroom which is pink and brown.  It was then I came across a pink and brown flowered pillow case while looking through used textile bin and I thought it would be perfect for this project.  I texted her a picture of it to see if she liked it, and she did. I then began to plan…

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Fast forward to today…I went to JoAnn fabrics and bought some Apple Barrel Acrylic paint.  I matched the pink and brown pretty well against the pillow case.   The pink appears slightly darker in person than in the photos and matched it nicely.  My daughter managed to open one of the bottles of pink paint with the plastic still intact!  Thank goodness the store had wipes handy!  It was some sort of miracle she only managed to get it on her hands and avoided her clothes entirely!

When we got home, I put the princess down for a nap, and got to work.  I traced the chair seat onto the fabric with a black marker.  I carefully cut the tracing with a sharp pair of scissors.  I then applied Mod Podge, using a medium-sized paint brush to the seat.  I spread the fabric out over the seat stretching and smoothing out any creases with my hands.  Once dry, I applied another coat of Mod Podge over the top of the fabric.  While this dried, I used a white latex primer to paint the chair so that I could apply the acrylic paint onto a good base.    I then carefully hand painted the chair and used several coats until I achieved my desired result.

I sat the chair in front of a fan to dry and waited.  Once the paint was dry, I could apply the Mod Podge.  I  allowed it to dry between coats.  This chair needed about three coats over the entire piece to seal it.  I am hoping my sister likes the result!  I had seen the color dipped legs online, on other crafted chairs and I  love this design! I decided to incorporate it into this chair.  Now she has a stylish place to sit and read or put on a favorite pair of shoes, and it perfectly matches her bedroom decor!

$2.50 chair Before and after:

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Upcycled chair

Materials:

Wooden Chair

Pillow Case for decoupage

Mod Podge Matte Finish

Scissors/Fine Tipped Marker

Pink and Brown Acrylic Paint

Paint brushes various sizes

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Crazy For Half Tables: Table Restyle using Mod Podge

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I love half tables!  I was so excited when I found this one at a thrift store while shopping one weekend with the family.  It was the first item in my cart.  I was also ecstatic over the reasonable price- only $5.99! I knew exactly where I would put this table in our house, at the base of our stairs.  Space is limited in this area and this half table would be a perfect space saver.

I searched through my available scrapbook paper and went through several styles before I settled on this one.  I turned the table upside down onto the backside of two sheets of paper and traced the table top onto the paper.  I cut the tracing and used Mod Podge Matte Finish to glue the paper to the table top. I used my rubber Mod Podge tool and my hand to gently smooth out any air bubbles.  While the table top dried, I painted the rest of the table black with acrylic paint. One of the things I like about this table is, it had some etched details on the legs and top.  I accentuated this by painting the floral etching white.  Once all the paint dried I used about 4 coatings of Mod Podge to seal the piece.  I skipped priming the piece because the table felt rough almost like it had been lightly sanded before I bought it. The paint covered well with about two coats. I was happy with the design and the neutral black and white design goes well with our living room walls which are painted with Behr paint and primer in one sandstone color.

before and after

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Materials:

Two pieces of scrapbook paper design of choice

Black Acrylic paint

Mod Podge Matte Finish

Rubber Mod Podge

Scissors, Paint Brushes, Black Marker

Table top close up

Summertime Crafts- Restyled Flower Pots made with Outdoor Mod Podge

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This my favorite time of year. Our living spaces expand and we can now utilize backyards, patios, and balconies. Flower pots are an inexpensive addition to any outdoor space, and look just as good inside the home. Flower pots can be found at your local dollar store or just about anywhere, and restyling them is a simple, and easy craft.   I had this one hanging around and thought a little sprucing up was in order.  I had some Jacquard style scrapbook paper scraps I had used from a previous project.   As you can tell I love Jacquard designs!  I have just about used up this book of  scrap-book paper designs I purchased from Michael’s Crafts.  I will be our searching for some new scrapbook paper designs in the near future.  I simply cut the paper into a long strip and used Outdoor Mod Podge to glue the paper to the top rim of the ceramic pot.  I  then applied the Mod Podge to the outside, applying a few coats.  A very simple project that you can share with the kids.  You can use fabric, wrapping paper, magazine clippings, personal photographs just about anything.  I recommend using Outdoor Mod Podge even if you plan on keeping your flower-pot inside.  Every time you water the plant you run the risk of getting it wet, and the Outdoor Mod Podge works great under these conditions and will seal it beautifully!  The key is to have fun no matter what design you choose!

Another Large Wooden Tray Restyle

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I picked up this tray for just a couple of dollars at Goodwill and had no initial plans for it.  I admit I love rescuing old trays even if I have no idea what to do with them.  It sat in our spare room for quite sometime primed, but unfinished.  I then picked up some Victorian inspired black with white fabric during a second Goodwill trip.  I liked it because it had trees on it with children playing.  It reminded me of some of the decor we had in my house growing up in the late 70’s early 80’s. I decided to use the fabric on the tray. I thought it would be a great way to display the fabric and keep the scene intact. I painted the tray with white acrylic paint and then applied the Mod Podge.  Since the fabric was dark, I couldn’t trace it, so I applied the fabric I had to the tray, and when the Mod Podge dried and the fabric hardened I used a box cutter knife to remove the excess fabric. Once dry I used about two more coats of Mod Podge over the entire piece.  If you are just starting out working with Mod Podge, trays are definitely the way to go!  They are a great starter project and the possibilities for styling are endless.

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Materials:

Mod Podge

Tray

Fabric

Box Cutter style knife

White acrylic paint and primer

Nuts and Bolts: Re-Purposed Plastic Container Earring Box

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We have all seen them in hardware stores, or down the home improvement aisle. Those nifty assorted nail, nut and bolt sets housed in those plastic containers. I had purchased one some time ago and after using most of the nails, I was left with the plastic box.  I held onto it thinking I would eventually use it for something. After some thought,  I had the perfect use for it, an earring holder.  Sure, I have a jewelry box, but the nice thing about this plastic box were all the individual compartments.  There is nothing worse than digging through a jewelry box drawer trying to find a matching pair of earrings.  Using this box would eliminate that problem.  It worked great, but lacked an aesthetic appeal, so I decided to do a simple restyle.  I traced the top of the box onto the scrapbook paper, then used Mod Podge Matte finish to glue the paper to the top of the lid. Once dry I used two coats of Mod Podge to seal the lid and the paper.  This was a very simple project, and works great!

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The Gift Bag Makeover: Wooden Box Re-purposed and Restyled with decoupage

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Utensil Holder Repurpose with Decoupage

Some time ago my husband purchased a box of silverware from JC Penney for me as a birthday gift.  We had just started hosting Christmas at our house and we realized we did not have enough place settings  for everyone when it came to eating utensils.  I was so happy to get these!  I finally had a matching set.  I love getting new things for the house.  They came is a wooden box with a felt/cardboard insert inside for storage,  I knew I would simply just store the spoons, forks and knives in my kitchen drawer for everyday use so I didn’t really need the box.  I didn’t want to throw it away so I did the thing I always do, put it up in the attic.  It then resurfaced on one of my “attic shopping trips”  I thought I could repurpose it to store things in.  Sewing supplies, stationery, arts and crafts, you name it.  You can never have enough storage boxes.  It was fairly easy to rip out the inside once this was done, I lined the inside with scrap-book paper and Mod Podge.  Any areas that were unpainted inside once I ripped out the utensil holder I painted black.  I then moved on to the outside.  I had this wonderful gift bag.  I held onto it for quite sometime I thought it would be perfect for this project.  I cut it measured it, and applied Mod Podge to the surface gluing down the gift bag.  I then sealed with three layers of Mod Podge Matte finish. Now I just have to decide what I will put in it!

Gift Bag

Wooden Box

Black Paint/Brushes

Scrapbook paper

Scissors

Mod Podge

Decoupage Mania-Restyling your home with Mod Podge

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I am starting to think I have a problem.  I am addicted to decoupage!  My husband and friends joke with me that soon all that I have will be decoupaged, (including my underwear) and they may be right!  I am hooked.  The reasons are it looks great, and is an inexpensive way to restyle a home.  I also admit, I am a restless soul who can ever seem to sit even for one moment, and when I do, I am busy contemplating my next project or idea.  One of these areas in our home is at the top of our stairs in the hallway.  I believe it was intended to be a vanity.  There is a mirror and an outlet close by.  I basically use it as an area to display my husband’s mother’s blue vase.  (She passed away many years ago, so it means a lot to have an item of hers displayed in our home) and a small lighted Christmas tree during the holidays.   For a while I had considered tiling the area, but that would be quite an extensive project, although I know it would have looked amazing! Then I thought to myself, Why not decoupage it?  It’s similar to wall papering after all.

I used some scrapbook paper with a fairly neutral design.  I simply cleaned the area as best I could and applied Mod Podge Matte with a large paintbrush to the area.  I cut the paper in sections, trying to match the design the best I could so that it would appear as seamless as possible.  I smoothed out any air bubbles using my hand this time. (A bit messy but it worked rather well , and luckily the bathroom sink was nearby so no permanent mess to deal with.)  I placed a fan in front of it to help it dry quicker.  I then used multiple coats of Mod Podge to seal it (about three full coats overall.)  Now it looks neater as the original surface, looked rough even when I had painted it.  I find it is safe to clean a Mod Podged surface with a damp cloth.  I have even used a Clorox wipe and it was fine!  Overall I am happy with how this turned out and I think it makes the area look neater and adds a little “pop”  I was imagining other surfaces this could be tried on.  Window sills instantly come to mind as well as the bathroom cabinet.  No surface is my house is safe from decoupage! ; 0 )

built is wall vanity before

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Mini Mystery Cabinet Restyled with Decoupage

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I picked up this little mini cabinet at Goodwill for $2.99.  Originally, It was navy blue with Asian lettering on the front.  I thought it was intriguing, but had no idea what it’s original use was.  It looked like a jewelry box, but inside were miniature shelves.  First, I primed the entire piece with a white latex primer.  Then I carefully cut the scrapbook paper so that it would fit onto the doors.  This was the biggest challenge, because I wanted to line up the design so that it would appear seamless.  Once I was able to do this, I used Mod Podge to glue the scrapbook paper to the miniature doors.  Once dry, I painted the piece black with acrylic paint. I then waited for the entire piece to dry, and used the Mod Podge matte finish to seal the piece.  I used about three coats, allowing the piece to dry fully in between coats. The result is what you see below.  Now that the piece was restyled, I still struggled as to what I would use it for. One of our biggest challenges is keeping our house safe for our two-year old.  My husband and I decided to hang this in our kitchen way above little hands.  We keep our daily medications in it and it is perfect for keeping smaller unsafe items out of her reach.  Mission accomplished!

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Materials:

Mod Podge Matte

Scrapbook paper

X-Acto knife

Black acrylic paint

Small Cabinet

Paint brushes/black felt tipped marker

When Crafts Go Wrong: Restyling the Upcycle

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On May 12th, I posted a Time Out chair I restyled.  Truth is I was never happy with how it turned out.  I think I know why it didn’t turn out as I planned.  I forced it. I was determined to finish the project even when I felt I should put it aside.  One thing I lack is patience and that can be a crafter’s undoing.  Sometimes it is just better to set a project that is frustrating aside to finish at a later date.The Time Out chair is an example of restyling a restyle.(You could say)

My upcycled 70’s inspired girls table has so far been Erin’s favorite.  It is the perfect size table, but lacked a chair.  We caught her pulling the table up to the step in an attempt to sit at the table. That is when I thought of the time out chair. We are very blessed so far.  We rarely have to put her in Time Out, so we haven’t really used the chair, and I thought if I restyled the chair, it would go great with the table.  I used the same 70’s fabric as the table, and re-painted the chair to match. Now Erin has the perfect place to sit and read her book, and I have a chair I can live with!

70's inspired KidsTable and Chair