Fridge Redo

I'm going to preface this post by saying, this is not a project I made myself. This is something my Mom did for her store, Country Road Treasures (info at bottom of post). That being said, I don't have any in progress pictures, but I know how she completed the process.

Mom needed a fridge for storing things at the store (pop, lunches, etc). They had a old Frigidaire from the 60's era. It was originally white, but the door had started rusting and was very stained. Mom also wanted a place to display the different fonts and things she could cut with her Cricut for custom orders. The fridge door was already divided into panels, so Mom just used those to make this:

She taped first spray painted the green color (not sure which colors she used.). When that was dry, she taped off the green part to spray the blue borders. Finally, she cut different words and silhouettes out of vinyl using her Cricut and applied them to the panels. Pretty simple!

I'm not sure if you would want to do this to a newer fridge in your house, particularly one that gets a lot of use. But who says that garage fridge has to stay ugly? I would be interested to see if anyone could transform a golden harvest colored fridge!

If you are interested in mom's store and live in South Dakota or Minnesota near the border (Big Stone City, SD) sent me an email (ehinders[at]gmail.com) and I can give you directions.

Don't settle for dull, live a refinished life!

What I've Been Working On Lately

It's been awhile since I've posted anything. I've been quite busy at work and with some community obligations, but I have managed to get a few projects done lately. I just completed a swap for Craftster (go check this out if you haven't yet. It's a great site where you can view lots of crafts by medium. Okay, short commercial break over! :) )

 I sewed two applique pillow covers. I haven't done much applique, but these turned out pretty good (minus the crooked sewing lines!).

These were based off of some Pins on one of my partner's boards. I think they turned out pretty good. Here's a closer look at the bunting one:

I also crocheted some fingerless mitts (a mini tutorial coming soon on this) using cotton yarn.

Here's one on:

That's mainly what I've been up to lately. This next couple of weeks, I am planning on a full tutorial post, a couple of mini tutorials, sewing my daughter a Halloween costume and hopefully a continuing series of organizing all my craft supplies in my basement.

Don't settle for dull, live a refinished life!

Chevron Side Table

I've been in love with chevron patterns on furniture for awhile now, but too nervous to try. I got a set of side tables at an auction recently and decided to try it out. I'll do my best to lay down how I did it step by step in case any of you out there are brave enough to try it as well! :)

I'll start by saying this project probably would've turned out better by rolling on latex paint and not using spray paint, but I had the spray laying around in the colors I want.

Here's a before shot: (well, not technically as this is the other table which you will shortly see is a hexagon shape and not square like the other one, but you get the idea)

I really like the rope detailing on these. I wanted to do the rope detail white and alternate with the blue. (Of course I would pick colors to make for a lot of tape work!) The first thing I did is tape over all the sides I wanted to be blue (which I forgot to take a picture of) and painted the white base on the top.

Then I tried to cut out a chevron pattern with my cricut on freezer paper to use as a stencil. Total fail. But I did get a small chunk of it to work and just traced it on my top:

Until I had this:

Then I started taping the pattern:

After I had everything taped, I sprayed over it with my blue (Krylon Oxford Blue). I let it dry a minute and peeled the tape to reveal this:

Not too bad. Way better than I hoped for sure! If you go around and measure the lines, they are crooked, uneven and not at all the same size. But, I'm not worried about perfection.

I was going to paint the base white, but I decided I liked the blue better. (I mean is it just me, or should this blue really be called Tardis blue?) So I painted the bottom, distressed it and rubbed a super light coat of poly + stain (Minwax Polyshades in American Oak) over it to seal everything.

Here's the final results:

Some details:

A tip to note on this one: I just barely sanded the bottom before spray painting. Just a quick rub with a sanding block to make it a little rough. The result of this is when I used the sanding pad to distress the paint, the original finish showed through quite nicely. If you were not distressing the piece, more sanding before painting would be required to make sure the paint adheres without flaking or peeling down the road.

What do you think? I love the chevron and I think I need to do more pieces that way (but not the sister table to this one. I think chevron on a hexagon is my limit!).

Don't settle for dull, live a refinished life!

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Knot Too Shabby Wow Us Weekends

Chenille Pumpkins

I had an old white chenille bedspread I decided to make fabric pumpkins with. I dyed a chunk of the bedspread orange and away I went. They are really quick and easy to cut, sew, and stuff. They only take about a half hour start to finish.

What a great trio of pumpkins! I decided to leave the white one inside out because I like how shabby it looked with the raw seam edges.

A little stick and some hot glue, and I have stems!

Don't you just love fall?

Don't settle for dull, live a refinished life!

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What Should I Do With It Wednesday? #4

I found this beauty attached to a truly horrific plastic flower arrangement in a free box:

On second thought, I wish I'd taken a picture of the flower arrangement before I ripped it off just to show you. It was fluorescent pink and very plastic.

Here you can see where the arrangement was attached:

Another closeup:

The wood is very nice. Of course I could leave it as is and use it as a nice decoration. But where's the fun in that? I was thinking I should attach it to a shelf or something. What do you think?

Don't settle for dull, live a refinished life!

What Did I Do With It? #3

Last time on What Should I Do With It Wednesday I posted this. I was thinking about making into a lamp or pendant light some how, but after the suggestions in the comments, I decided to go much simpler.

A little burlap with some stenciling and this is what I got:

I got the image from Karen at The Graphics Fairy here. I printed it out as is, laid the burlap over top of the printout and traced it with a black fabric marker. Here's a close up of the bird:

I just tied the piece of burlap with a string I pulled from the burlap itself. I think it turned out great. What do you think?

Don't settle for dull, live a refinished life!

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What Did I Do With It # 2

A couple of weeks ago I posted this tray for What Should I Do With It Wednesday? As much as I wanted to go crazy and do something radical with it, I just couldn't figure out what to do. Most of the suggestions on Twitter were not to hack it and paint it. So, based on the suggestions, that's what I did.

Here's the final result:

Black spray paint, gold acrylic paint on the corner details and white vinyl and I've got a Halloween tray that folds up for storage. Or remove the vinyl and change it out for the seasons.

What do you think? I'm not completely satisfied with it, but it works for now. I'm still trying to figure out how I can turn it into something crazy, but for now it will make a nice decoartion for Halloween.

Don't Settle for dull, live a refinished life!

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To Paint or Not Paint....Part Deux

Remember this post, where I wasn't sure how to refinish the top of this table? Well, I finally decided. I admit, it doesn't look that much different than before.

The top certainly looks darker. I ended up using a nice darker stain.

I repainted the base an off white color similar to what it was already, distressed it and antiqued it.

I just love these brass claw feet!

I tried and tried to sand out this ring on the top. I couldn't get it out and decided to stain over it anyway.

At first, I was really disappointed with how dark the stain became with a finish on it. But now, I think it gives it character. What do you think?

Don't settle for dull, live a refinished life!

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What Should I Do With It Wednesday? #3

I'll be posting the results of the last What Should I Do With It Wednesday (#2) later. This week I'd like input on what to do with this:

It's a great wooden spool. It measures about 7 inches tall. I was thinking of making a lamp stand out of it. Or maybe a pendant light. What do you think?

Don't settle for dull, live a refinished life!

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Garage Sale Finds

This last weekend was city-wide garage sales. I didn't get to many, as it was my birthday (a momentous one and leave it at that!) :) However, I did score a few finds I thought I would share with you.

From left to right...a drawer made from an old wooden Fels-Naptha soap box!, a white and red tin, and small wood box. I have plans for most of this already. I want to hang the drawer on the wall in my laundry area in the basement (which needs some serious makeover love this winter!) for a shelf. The tin goes perfectly in my kitchen. The small wood box I haven't decided yet. I'm thinking about either hanging that one on the wall as a mini shelf or using it to organize stuff on my desk at my office.

On a different note, I apologize for missing last Wednesday's What Should I Do With It? I will be posting what I did with that fabulous tray and a new project tomorrow! Come back to check it out.

Have you found any great garage sale finds lately?

Don't settle for dull, live a refinished life!

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What Should I Do With It Wednesay? Week 2

Here's it is, a day late and a dollar short. (Well, maybe only a day late.) This week, the item isn't large and I know I can do the usual paint it to look cute and use it for it's original purpose, but I'm looking for something clever and totally outside of the box.

It looks like a book or photo album....

But wait a minute......

It's a nifty tray with a handle. This item could just stay a tray and be really cute painted....but I'm looking for some wild and crazy ideas...maybe I could try and convert it to an ipad cover or something (FYI: already tried, and my ipad won't fit) :(  Sky's the limit people, please help me with some ideas!

Don't settle for dull, live a refinished life!

What did I do with it?

Last week, I started a new series called "What Should I Do with it Wednesday?" (See original post here). I didn't get any comments with suggestions, but I'm not deterred. I took the gravel sifter, thingy and combined it with parts of this:

to make this:

Didn't that turn out great? I didn't take pictures of the process, but here's what I did. First, I sprayed the whole gravel thingy (yeah, that's what I'm calling it!) with clear matte spray to preserve the rusty wire and the wood. Then, I cut out a square in the wire mesh at the top to fit the lighting fixture through. After that, I unscrewed the pendent fixture parts, took off the ugly lampshade and fed the socket through the hole I cut in the mesh. Then I just had to screw the whole thing back together. I added this funky Edison style bulb I had cause I think it makes it look cool.

Here's some more pictures for your enjoyment:

I can't believe how easy that was! I'm starting to wonder what other stuff I can turn into funky chandeliers. Stay tuned for another installment of What Should I Do With It Wednesday later today!

Don't settle for dull, live a refinished life!

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