Magazine Material!

This summer, I lost my sweet maw maw Lois, who was my last surviving grandparent.  I was fortunate to be able to visit her one last time to say goodbye as her health was quickly declining.  It was a great loss, however it did bring together our large family; my dad is one of nine siblings and each sibling has at least two children of their own.  Her estate was divided amongst all of us and I ended up with a few of her things.  One in particular was this magazine rack.  My dad didn't think I would want it but somehow my aunts were convinced I could do something with it.  Not wanting to let them down, I took this as a challenge and a fun project for my new apartment in Austin, TX. 

 Before: not so good looking, but good bones!

 Step 1: Remove particle board top (it was not attached, rather it rested on top).  Prime it up!

 

Step 2: Spray paint in your favorite color.  My aunts had decided it would look good in a blue or turquoise.  I really liked this idea!

Step 3: I took the particle board top (which was surprisingly sturdy) and gave it some mosaic tiles!  To do this I started off by making sure the surface was smooth and dry.  Then I used a special tile glue to attach the tiles, leaving about 1/8" space between.  The space between can vary, just check the directions on the grout for recommended use.  Speaking of grout, it's very messy but kind of fun.  Basically you just spread it on there and push it down into the cracks using special spreading tools.  Use a wet sponge to loosen it up a little bit and smooth it down.  Once it gets settled, you can use a wet paper towel to polish each tile and get excess grout off.  I let it sit overnight outside. 

The finished product!

I 'Mustache' You A Question: How Do You Like These Chairs?

Sorry for the cheesy title, but everyone who has seen this picture has told me how much these chairs look like they have little mustaches... I'm glad I can finally dine like a sir!

Ok, enough goofy stuff.  This was a real project that required a leap of faith...actually, more like a dive into a dumpster.  Ok, fine.  I made my boyfriend dumpster dive for me because I was wearing a dress.  So not hardcore.  Anyways, I came across these chairs on a rainy day after work.  Next door used to be a tanning salon, but that went out of business and the owner pretty much left everything to be tossed, including tons of these little metal chairs (and a broken tanning bed).  I honestly don't know how many were thrown in that construction dumpster because I saw a dad pulling out some chairs for his daughters before I was able to claim a few for myself. 

Oddly enough, the original colors of the chairs perfectly match the color of the tile and paint in my kitchen! But there's matching, and then there's designing.  I obviously took the designing route and transformed these trashy, tanning oil stained disasters into sleek and sophisticated seats like Professor Henry Higgins transformed Eliza Doolittle into a lady.  And on a budget! $10 for more than 2 yards of fabric, and $10 for two cans of spray paint!

Here's a breakdown of the steps I took:

First step: take apart the seats.  Pro tip: don't loose any of the screws and try to keep the same seats with the same chairs.

 

Second Step:  Upholster the back.  Naturally, the upholstering part takes the longest, especially the back cushions.  These were the most complicated because 1. the fabric is visible from the backside as well as the front and 2. if you aren't careful, too much layering of fabric will keep the seat from fitting back into the frame.  I really didn't want to take the cushions apart, but doing so allowed me to have piece to act as a pattern for the new fabric I was cutting out.  Because of the millions of staples, I wasn't able to get all of the old material off, but it made it easier for pinning the first layer down.  Once I had that first layer in place, the top layer (for the back) was easily sewn on top and into place.  Sewing is always a great option because you can really keep a fabric tight around a cushion. 

  Third Step: Upholster the seat cushion.  I basically just wrapped the cushion, held it in place with pins and bolted it back onto the frame.  Very easy. 

One down, 3 to go! 

"By George, she's got it!"

Seasons Greetings

Here's a little design quickie for you folks out there who err on the side of caution when it comes to D.I.Y.  Wreath making is something that can be fun, simple, inexpensive, and can completely alter the appearance of the front of your house.  Here are two examples of wreaths I have done, with different levels of difficulty, but all for around the same price... around the $30 range, if you use your nifty Hobby Lobby Coupon (which by the way... http://www.hobbylobby.com/weekly/weekly.cfm ).


For football season and LSU fans:

Anyone been on Etsy lately?  It seems like so many people are making these cute, colorful, cuddly-looking yarn and felt wreaths. (Here's one!) Naturally, I had to hop on that fuzzy bandwagon and use my crafting skills to show my favorite team some love.  Did I mention, GEAUX TIGERS!!!!
So here's the basic steps that I took:
Supplies: you will need some sort of Styrofoam/plain wreath; one or several yarn colors; a couple of pieces of colorful felt; sparkle sprays (I'm pretty sure I made that name up, but it's basically sequins on several pieces of wire that are tied together at the base); a few seed beads; small straight pins (they are like sewing needs but with a small flat head on one end).
Step 1: Wrap, wrap, wrap!!! Take your yarn an wrap it around the Styrofoam.  Get comfy, because this is going to take a while.  It took me about 45 minutes to wrap the yarn around enough times to hide the styrofoam base.  And don't be stingy with that yarn!
Step 2: Cut, cut, cut!!! Take your felt and cut it into various sizes of circles.  I used four circles per large flower (the dark purple).  Take one circle and fold it half, then fold it once more on either side to make two parallel folds.  Make sense? Probably not.  How about this? Fold the circle in such a way that it looks like a tiny bow-tie.  Cinch it in the middle with some thread.  Repeat 3 more times.  Now take all 4 tiny bow-ties and sew them together tightly at their centers.  Add some seed beads to the center.
Step 3: Similar to step 2, except that you should use smaller circles, and make just 3 tiny bow-tie shapes.  Sew them together in the center.
Step 4: Pin, pin, pin!!!  Take your sparkle spray and anchor it into position with a straight pin or two.  Then pin your larger flowers into positions.  Finally, fill in with the smaller flowers.
Step 5: Breath! Your wreath is done! Although you might want to take extra measures to waterproof/scotch-guard if you actually intend on putting it outside.


The Transitional Seasonal Reasonable Wreath

Strapped for cash, time, money, etc., yet want your front door to look fab for months on end?  Create a great wreath that will look awesome for all those lovely seasons during the cooler months of the year!  It can't get any easier, actually! It may look like I spent hours carefully arranging faux florals to have a completely customized look, but in reality it only took 15 minutes.

Here's the materials:  a plain twig wreath, a pre-made small floral wreath, several "sparkle sprays" (I used four), thin metal wire. 

Step 1: Arrange sparkle sprays and attach to twig wreath with metal wire.
Step 2: Lay tiny pre-made wreath onto top of sparkle sprays and twig wreath and attach with metal wire.
Step 3: Hang on door, because you're done!

I chose these colors because there are yellows and oranges which look like Fall, yet there are some deep reds and metallic golds that look like Christmas.  I'm really excited about this wreath because it makes my tiny house look so much more inviting! I can't wait for trick-or-treat this year!!!

Where Has The Time Gone?

Literally!

  Just to clarify: salvaging this clock from the side of the road was not my idea.  I think this is one of the tackiest clocks I have ever seen- from the excessive carved body to the fussy gold trim... it's a clock that wants to look like an antique, but it's not.  There's a million of this style of grandfather wall clock out there, which is why this one was tossed to the curb.  What was found next to it was a greater treasure in my opinion: the small roll-top desk.  But my boyfriend decided we should take this clock, because he thought it was "kinda cool".  I really hated this clock.  It was stored in the spare bedroom, and it always seemed to get in my way.  It would fall on me occasionally then chime about 4 or 5 times to spite me.  One day I decided to store the thing in a box because my boyfriend would just not let me get rid of it.  I was storing it in a cardboard box that had originally contained kitchenware when I had a wild idea! The image above is the clock before I started ripping into it like a mad-woman...I practically gutted the thing like a fish!  I ripped about all the parts because I was turning it into...a spice shelf!

First step (after ripping apart): add shelves.  I didn't want to add a lot of additional weight to this already too heavy clock, so I used balsa.  Normally I wouldn't recommend a flimsy material such as this, but it's actually held up really nicely!  Of course, I made sure to perfectly fit the balsa shelves and tested them for sturdiness.  The only thing I actually had to go and buy for this project was the balsa ($4)...remember when I said I bought way too much spray paint for my table? Good thing I kept it! Which brings me to the next step...

Prime the hell out of it!!! At this point, I had no clue what I colors I was going to use, so I decided to make it all one color first.  I actually almost left it all white, but that's not really me- I gotta have my bright colors!

I decided to coat it in a pretty sky blue color and do the inside black.  I was originally going to do a gray inside, but it just wasn't turning out too pretty.  In fact the spray paint was not sticking to the inside of the clock nor the balsa shelves.  I ended up taking some matte acrylic paint and hand painted the interior.  I was pleased with the way it turned out.  But I wasn't really to put away the acrylic paint!  I added a dash of color to the top of the clock (I call it the crown).  It turned into an art-deco looking piece that matched my vintage kitchen! (Note the pink and black tile)

And here is the completed project! This has actually proven very useful.  Before, I had all my spices on one shelf that was almost too high up for me to reach.  Every time I would go to grab a spice, all of them would fall on my head and then into the sink.  Now I can easily find every spice, and it is at a better reaching height.  I guess I should trust my boyfriend more often when it comes to these things!

The Cat's Favorite Chair

   Here is a tale of the cat's favorite chair, a.k.a. the tale of the chair that sat in my parents' carport since Hurricane Gustav.  Now, I don't want to give anyone the wrong idea: furniture adopting is not something that I started doing since the beginning of this summer.  No, no  it goes way back at least to my 16th year...the year that I got my drivers license and an SUV with a roomy trunk.  The year I started watching HGTV too much, and also the year I started thinking about my future in design.  First it started with a coffee table, then one chair, then another.  I had so many wonderful ideas, but I lacked the dedication to actually complete a project.  My parents eventually persuaded me to throw away some of this extra furniture that I had collected, and I actually did.  Except for one piece.  The chair pictured above.  I never lost sight of my original vision for re-upholstering and repainting.  I saw something in this chair...something like...potential. 
  So where did I find this diamond in the rough?  It was the day after Hurricane Gustav (whenever that was...several years ago?),  I was driving with my mom to go check on my great aunt.  We both saw it at the same time...someone had just put it on the side of the road.  It was actually her idea that I take this chair with me and do something with it.  I think I inherited my D.I.Y. addiction from my mother, come to think of it- you'd understand if you've ever been to my parents' house.
  We took the chair home and set it in the carport because it was kind of dirty and sort of wobbly.  Weeks went by, then months, then before I knew it I had graduated college and had not even touched the thing.  I hadn't even tried!  The only love this poor chair received was from my cat, Merl, who slept on it on a regular basis.  It became his chair.  But since all cats go to heaven eventually, it became in need of some real T.L.C.  Especially from someone with a lot of time on her hands.

R.I.P. Merl, the patron saint of neglected furniture!

First step: find some upholstery and some spray paint!  I probably spent close to $50 on supplies...fabric, spray paint, sand paper, wood glue, fabric glue, etc... I used coupons of course! This is probably the closest inspiration for my project: http://www.anthropologie.com/anthro/product/home-furniture/23789779.jsp



I also began by cleaning the chair, sanding down the rough spots, and taking off the cushions.  I actually tried to take apart the whole chair, but apparently the previous owner went a little crazy with the glue and staples and I couldn't take the back cushion off.

I had to be super careful when spray painting to not get it all over the back cushion...I actually did a really good job of covering it up and not a drop of paint went astray!
Upholstering the bottom cushion was a breeze! I decided to not rip off the old fabric for two reasons: I didn't know how fragile the foam core was and if it would disintegrate before my eyes if I ripped the fabric from it; and by having the fabric in place, it definitely would keep its shape.  I simply added an extra layer of foam on the top of the seat to give it an extra cushion, then wrapped the fabric around and held it in place with upholstery nails.  Easy peasy!
The back cushion was a bit more complicated.  I could not get that thing off for the life of me! Not to mention, it had a stiff ridge around it that contained staples.  So I started off by doing the back of the chair.  I cut out a piece to perfectly fit the shape.  Then I pushed the edge of the fabric up into the frame and sewed it to the existing backing.  Then I added some extra foam to the front part of the cushion, that way it would be more comfortable against my back.  For a while I sat there scratching my head what to do next.  Then I remembered I had fabric glue!  Normally, I would never recommend this, but it was my last resort! I simply glued a panel of fabric to the existing cushion!  And it worked!! It's still in place and I've never had to fix it.  It completely covered the old cushion.  Super success!!

Final Step: Stage a photo shoot!  And that awesome desk behind it? Totally salvaged it from the side of the road!  But that's another story for later on...

Stop! I Need That Octagon-Shaped Table!

  
Here's the story of my first-ever, real-deal, do-it-yourself furniture project.  At the beginning of this summer, a very dear friend of mine got a job in Texas and couldn't take a whole lot of her old furniture with her.  She was actually desperate to get rid of some of it.  Good thing I hardly had any furniture to my name and an empty house, so I was able to take a few things of her hands.  She gave me a table, a mid-century looking dresser, and a tiny nightstand.  I gave her a bottle of my homemade mead.  Pretty fair trade, if I say so myself.

   So, I did my homework and I came across this project idea for the table: http://www.designsponge.com/2012/05/diy-project-painted-glass-tabletop.html

 

The first step was to choose some colors I liked and create some sort of pattern.  I was dealing with an awkward shape, so I decided to draw my pattern in AutoCAD / photoshop first, to make sure I knew what I was doing.   (Pro-tip: never try and design something this difficult on your first try).  Next, I bought way to much spray paint.  As a noob, I had no idea how much I needed, so I bought too much.  Especially the orange spray paint, which was also meant to be sprayed on the wood frame and metal legs (which I decided against later-thank goodness!).  I'm guessing I spent around $40 for supplies.

 

The second step was so tedious, I felt like giving up right then and there! I took some clear contact paper and layered it over the glass of the table, and then I traced out my pattern very carefully with a ruler.  I slowly cut out each little piece with a small x-acto blade and stuck it onto the glass.  I realized later on that this is not the ideal adhesive material and next time I think I'd use painters tape and a less complicated pattern. 

 

The third step was the fun part: add color! I started off by peeling apart all the pieces of contact paper that were making the orange stripes.  Then I sprayed until I felt it had an even layer of orange.  I let that dry a little bit, then I peeled away all the stickers making the gray stripes.  Then the yellow, blue, and white.  In theory, when you flip the glass over, you will see your nice neat painted pattern.  However, for me that was not exactly the case.  All the while, I noticed that the paint bled a little bit so I never got those crisp clean lines that I wanted. I think the spray paint was actually causing the contact paper to un-stick and curl.   It was also a very humid evening. I corrected a few spots using a Q-tip but that still didn't solve the problem.   Fortunately, this table looks great in photos! Obviously I didn't mess up too bad!

 Final step: put glass back on table, awkwardly fit into your tiny kitchen. Good luck eating at because you don't actually own any dining chairs...yet.

 

Here is a staged photo.  See? I told you it looks great in photos!!

  

The End!

Or is it?  I am planning on experimenting with this table a little bit more.  This was just the first try, and luckily there is such a thing called paint thinner.  I plan to make a better version that will match my kitchen a bit better, and some kitchen chairs (in progress).  About those chairs...that's another story soon to come! Stay tuned! 

 

I Swear I'm Not A Hoarder!!!

Greetings! Upon request from some of my facebook friends, I have created a blog about the many do-it-yourself projects that I am usually knee-deep in creating.  I plan to include stories about the found objects, materials I used, rough estimate of the cost of the project, and all the things that when wrong and right.  I'll be catching up by adding some older projects for a while, but hopefully I'll just keep adding as I complete some more projects.  Enjoy!