Rake Wine Glass Holder

I've been seeing this everywhere on Pinterest and in the blogosphere. Taking this:

and making it into this:

Here's a few tips for making your own. First, figure out how you're going to hang it. My rake head was pretty bent, so if I wanted to put the nail in the middle of the handle on top, I had to bend it. Remember that this will get pretty heavy with glasses on it, so either make sure you hit a stud, or put an anchor in the wall. I actually ended up putting three nails in, two in studs on either end and one in the middle. Before you put glasses on it, it's best to seal it in some way. You could either spray paint it a fun color, or leave it rusty (like I did) and just spray it with a matte clear spray paint.

Now you have a fun, fairly inexpensive way to display your wine glasses. You can make a bar anywhere in your house, just by hanging one of these on the wall above a buffet, countertop or table.

I had the perfect spot for it in my kitchen. I had this music cabinet in this weird corner already and it seemed like the perfect spot for a wine bar.

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

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Fabulously Creative Friday: Jennifer Rizzo

Leather and Burlap Toy Box Ottomen

I had redone an auction toy box find previously here, but it wasn't doing it for me anymore. Here's a quick recap of the original box:

Ugly contact paper. Ripped off to reveal this:

*Shudder* Recovered with batting and slipcovers to make this:

Not bad, but even though it was a slipcover, it was a pain to get off, it stained instantly and I didn't wash it frequently enough. Then, I scored this vintage leather coat at a thrift store:

It's a nice burgundy color trench and soft as butter. I would've worn it as is, but sadly the size small didn't fit well. I decided to cover the top of my box with the leather (easy to wipe off clean) and the bottom with some burlap potato sacks I've been saving. I didn't really take any in progress pics, but it mostly involved the staple gun (and occasionally when the staples didn't go in all the way, the hammer). Here's the result:

I forgot to mention, I measured the outside of the box and then sewed sacks together for the right width before stapling on.

The result of which, means that wherever the cut mark for the side of the bag was where the seam went. I kind of like the hodge podge look though. It gives it a very depression era, make do with what you have look, don't you think?

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

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Burlap Coffee Sack Chair

I got a chair at an auction recently for $2.50. That's right, $2.50! It was in okay condition, the legs in the back were split (nothing some wood glue couldn't fix) and it was covered in an ancient ugly vinyl. On the plus side, someone had already stripped the wood arms and legs (No sanding? Bonus!). Here's what it looked like before:

And here's what it looked like after I was all done:

*Sigh* I am in love. And what's not to love? Distressed gray arms and legs:

Burlap coffee sacks for fabric:

I managed to get the back looking good for once:



And I managed to use some of the original rusty upholstery tacks I pulled out:

Yep, it's most definitely love! Have you done any upholstery projects lately?

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

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Gypsy Skirt Turned Dress

Awhile back I saw this tutorial from Martha Stewart on Pinterest. I thought it looked pretty easy and decided to give it a try. It took awhile for me to find a skirt that I thought was long enough from the thrift store. Finally, I scored this one:

It's a cute layered gypsy skirt with lace and tulle. (Ignore the fact that I already cut the waistband off. I get eager to start sometimes before I realize I forgot to take a picture.) So, I followed the video instructions above for cutting and sewing. Here's what it looked like when I was done:

The only problem with it is, it's white. I decided to try ombre dip dying the skirt. (Don't worry, that ric rac is not going to be the actual ties.) I used a Rit dye color called Scarlet. I thought that would give me a nice deep red up to a pink shade. This is what I got instead:

Pink, pink, and more pink! It's not bad, just not what I expected. I obviously didn't put enough dye in the bucket. (So much for the dump method of measuring!). It's hard to tell in the pictures, but it is ombre. The effect is pretty subtle.

Here's an example of what it could look like tied with a belt:

It's very gypsy, cowgirl-esque. It would look great with boots! I will be updating this post with an actual pic of me in the dress later. I didn't have anyone to take one of me earlier. Word to the wise, if you attempt this, try to find a super long skirt. The longer the better. This one is a little shorter than I'd like. I might add some extra lace or ruffles at the bottom for more coverage.

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

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Tobacco Cabinet Redo

I'm not sure why this didn't post yesterday, but here it is a day late. I had this little table with a door in my garage forever.  It was given to me by my father-in-law. Here's what it looked like pre-redo:

I always wondered if this little table had a particular purpose, as the entire inside is lined with copper sheeting. I did a little digging and found out it's actually either a smoking stand, tobacco cabinet or cigar humidor. (I'm not sure which, Internet search returned all three descriptions.) Either way, the final result turned out great! I sanded it, painted it dark grey, distressed it (fancy word for sanding the edges), and stained over it. Here's how it turned out:

I love how the distressing turned out on this piece. Here's a shot of the top:

And for anyone wondering, here's how the inside with the copper looks:

So, what do you think? I think this piece turned out great. I have it in my new office uptown.

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

Mirror Frame

I recently refinished a mirror frame for a friend. She had found a mirror with a great frame around it. The problem was it didn't match the set of furniture in her daughter's room. I of course forgot to take a picture before I sanded the mirror, but you'll get the idea:

Usually when I spray paint I don't worry too much about sanding. This frame had a pretty heavy varnish on it, so I did give it a quick go-over with a stripping sponge. I spray painted the base coat of ivory, then touched on some gold accents:

(Ignore my feet in that one!) :)

Finally, to age the frame a bit to match the bedroom set, I went over the whole thing with a light stain on a rag. (Wipe on, wipe off!) This is a good way to get an antique glaze-like effect on your piece for cheap (stain is way less expensive than those fancy glaze finishes and does pretty much the same thing.) If the piece is something that gets a lot of use (like a chair) then you probably want to seal it as well. A mirror that hangs on the wall doesn't require any sealing. Here's the whole finished mirror:

The mirror turned out pretty great. It matches the bedroom set perfectly (Whew! *wipes nervous sweat from brow*). I probably wouldn't have chosen the gold accents on my own, but I have to say, they look pretty nice on the frame.

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

Vintage School Chair Turned Funky

One of my most recent projects (as in finished it earlier this week) happens to be one of my favorites. I found this vintage school chair for cheap at a local thrift store. It originally looked like this:

The seat and back weren't too bad, but those legs were in rough shape! I've wanted to try the spray paint over lace method for awhile now, and thought this chair would be a great project to try it out on. For those who are unfamiliar with the technique, you find something lace (a tablecloth, curtains, doilies, etc.) and lay on the surface of your project and spray paint over it. Easy! So many coats of spray paint later, I had this:

I love the result! However, I do have a few tips for anyone who attempts to spray paint over lace. First, if you want a clean line like I did, you must tape up everything else! I thought I could get away with just taping the line and then laying a piece of paper over the rest of the seat. This did not work. I had drips and spots that I had to repaint the white over again.

Second, if you don't want a slightly (for lack of a better description) blurry lace pattern, less is more. Put on a very thin coat of spray paint, let it dry and then see if you need a second one to cover more spots. I did a thicker spray which made my pattern a little fuzzy. I happen to like it that way, but if you're looking for clean lines then don't do what I did!

Third, figure out the order of your painting (if you are doing several colors on different areas) before you start. I saved all the metal parts until last.  I think it would have been faster and used less tape and plastic if I had done those first and then just taped off the little bits of metal that touch the wood.

Finally, don't forget to seal your hard work with a sealant. (I use Krylon Matte Clear spray) Otherwise, your pretty pattern could start to wear off, especially on places like the seat.

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

Party Time: (I've linked to these parties.)