Upcycling

Fabric and Mod Podge Mania- Upcycled Kids Wooden School Desk

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What to do? Yesterday, the hubby had to go off to work so it was just me and the daughter dear all day. I decided to take a trip up to the new Joann Fabric  mega store that just opened up down the street from my house (I now have a craft store practically within walking distance, this could be dangerous!)  Usually, as you all know, I am a “thrifty” shopper, but today I had a few crafting supplies I had to pick up and I figured why not give it a look?  They had a great coupon I found online,  30% off total purchase (except for sale items of course) Which was icing on the cake –if I decided to buy anything.  I walked into the store and it was HUGE!  The place was filled with aisles, upon aisles of fabric.  I am used to Goodwill prices, so I was shocked at how expensive fabric can be! One fabric in particular  was $49.99 per yard… yikes!  Thank goodness they had good sales and aisles filled with fabric at $4.99 a yard phew!

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I found this great school themed material. I had purchased a wooden school desk at an outdoor flea market some time ago, and had no idea how or with what material I was going to restyle it.  Now it was no question the winner was… fabric! I picked up a yard for about $5.89 on sale.  Once me and the giggle-goo got home, nap time was approaching so, I put the little one to bed and gathered my materials I would need to get started.

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First thing was to make sure the piece was clean and free of dust.  Then I used a black marker to trace the desk top and seat onto the fabric.  Once this was done, I carefully cut the cloth with a pair of scissors. I then generously applied the Mod Podge Matte finish on the desk top and on the seat using a larger paint brush to smooth it out.  Then I applied it to the fabric, using my hands to smooth out any air bubbles.  Messy you say?  Absolutely, but I feel with fabric it gives me more control, than using the Mod Podge tools.  Besides, I have never been afraid to get my hands dirty!  Once it was smoothed out, I then applied a layer of Mod Podge over top of the fabric. While that was dying, I painted the piece.  I used Red, Black, and Blue all colors featured in the fabric. The wood was ready to paint and not in need of priming, but it was very dry and soaked the paint in initially.  It took about 3 coats overall to get the desired result. I brought the piece back upstairs and allowed it to dry for several hours under a stand up fan.

Fast forward to later in the evening.,with the daughter asleep for the night and the hubby finally home, I worked on finishing the piece. I decided to cut out some swatches from the material and Mod Podge these onto the sides to add a little more life to that area.  I then covered the entire desk with 2 coats of Mod Podge.  I usually add more coats to the areas that will get more use and where the cloth was applied.  I used 4 coats on the seat and the desk top areas.  Pictured below is the wooden desk before and after:

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The hubby loved how it turned out and I can’t wait for the little one to use it!  She loves sitting at her little table and chair so I think she will enjoy this just as much and it will grow with her.  I also love the neutrality of the desk a boy or girl could use it!

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Stay calm and happy crafting my friends : 0 )

Breaking Bread: Decoupage Bread Box Restyle

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Decoupage Bread Box

When I was growing up, the one thing I remember we always had in our house was a bread box. So, naturally, when I moved out and acquired a home of my own, I immediatly bought this breadbox. Yes, this ACTUAL bread box! That would make this breadbox over 18 years-old! As far as bread boxes go it was typical, a wooden box and that was it.  No color, no style.  For years I thought of doing away with a bread box all together.  It took up a lot of counter space and it was nothing special, but where would I put the bread? When I started experimenting with Mod Podge and decoupage, This bread box was on my to do list.  Many projects have come and gone and it was finally time to decoupage the box!

This project was not as easy as it looks.  First, I measured the scrapbook paper I wanted to decoupage to the door,  I only had one piece in this style and in order to make it work, I had to trim, line up the design,  and fit it together in a few spots.  After the bread box  was cleaned, and primed, I glued the paper down with Mod Podge, and let dry.  I then painted most of the Bread box blue with acrylic paint and let it dry.  Next challenge was the number of coats of paint!  Cleaning it only helped so much after many years in the kitchen there was still a bit of grease on it.  I applied as many coats as it needed about 4 in all.Once the entire piece was dry, I applied the Mod Podge Matte to seal it.  I find the more layers of Mod Podge the better.  Yet another challenge was the door and not leaving enough room between the paper and the opening.  I had to carefully trim this with an X Acto knife.  Despite all this, I am glad this project is finally finished and the bread has a restyled box to call home

Decoupage Bread Box Mod Podge

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

Wooden Basket Restyle using Mod Podge

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I like little wooden baskets.  They can be used for just about anything and hold a variety of objects.  When I came across this one for 50 cents, I thought I could redesign and repurpose it.  The price was certainly right.  It appeared to have been an Easter basket.  It had blue rabbits painted on it’s side.

I had this nice red and black floral print I wanted to use.  I traced the bottom of the basket with a black marker onto the print.  I cut it out and glued it down to the inside of the basket with Mod Podge.  I then painted the entire basket with acrylic paint following the red and black color scheme.  Once dry I applied three more coats of Mod Podge.  Gotta pick more of these baskets up if I see them!  I love how this project turned out and I have so  many uses for them!!

Restyled Wood Basket

 

Materials:

Mod Podge Matte

Red and black acrylic paint

Printed paper for decoupage

scissors and a black marker

Paint brushes

 

Before and After…

 

wood basket

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?

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

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

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