Art Deco Dresser- Lace Pattern Tutorial

I've actually managed to get a big project done! It's almost a miracle. My husband pointed out this dresser at a garage sale for $5!

For $5 how could I go wrong? The art deco handles alone are amazing! Hubby had to do some repair work to it. It needed a few boards replaced. Then it was my turn to paint it!

I decided it needed it's art deco roots highlighted. So, I painted the whole dresser a light gray color as a base coat.

Then I decided to use a lace and spray paint technique on the drawers. First I draped my lace curtain over the drawer:

Then I sprayed over the drawer with a silver spray paint. I removed the curtain right away to find this:

Beautiful! After spraying the handles to match, the finished product is very nice if I do say so myself!

What a fun project!

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

What did I do with it? #5

Remember this post, where I asked what I should do with these three aluminum pans? I decided to make a three tiered storage piece to hold craft supplies.

First, I painted each of the pans a fun color. I used spray paint and painted them upside down. I decided I didn't want to spray the insides of the pan to leave some fun contrast.

A side note here; I tried using a different white spray paint on the top initially, but it turned out horrible! I didn't like the color (too white), the paint dripped badly and all around, it looked terrible. This happens for me almost every time I use a-brand-I-shall-not-name. I've since noted to myself, stick to RustOleum Painter's Touch!

Meanwhile, back to the project: I found some candlesticks that I had in the basement and spray painted those as well. (Pretend I actually remembered to take a picture of this step, mmkay?)

Next, I printed out numbers (1,2 & 3) using a font I liked and cut them out. I Mod Podged them on the front of each pan. (I was going to do something clever, like cut a funky stencil or use a transfer technique, but this was fast, easy and looked great.)

Finally,I used E6000 to glue everything together. I decided because of the way the candlesticks were that I would just glue the tops of them to the pan above it. That way I can take one level out and move it elsewhere if I need to.

What do you think? I can wait to start putting bits and bobs in it. This is the first of many projects to help me organize and contain my craft supplies into one area in the basement (a monumental task for sure!).

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

*Planning to share at:
Metamorphasis Monday; Time To Sparkle Tuesday Linky Party; Trash to Treasure; The Power of Paint Party; Wildly Original Linky Party; Transformation Thursday; What have you redone?; Shabbilicious Friday.

Little Plant Stand

I picked up a little plant stand at the thrift store awhile back for $2. It was just stained a plain light oak color. Nothing too special. In fact, it was so non-descript, I forgot to take a before picture.  I sprayed it with a very light coat of RustOleum's Colonial Red. I like that the grain of the wood still showed slightly.

I found this graphic from The Graphics Fairy and printed it in mirror image (the words appear backwards). Then I copied the image with a toner copier (ink jet printouts will not work with this method).
I put the image printed side down (which is why you need to print in mirror image) on the plant stand.

Then I took a "blender" pen (Can be purchased here for $2.82!) and went over the image multiple times until the paper was soaked. I let it dry and then went over it again. I did the several times until I felt like toner came through enough. I just peeked under the paper to see how it was doing.

Here's the result:

Now I've got a nice time-worn looking image. I did spray the top with a clear sealant to protect the image. You can get a darker image by darkening the image on the copier several times. It will also look darker against a lighter paint color.

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

*Planning to share at:
Metamorphasis Monday; Brag Monday; Time To Sparkle Tuesday Linky Party; Trash to Treasure; The Power of Paint Party; Wildly Original Linky Party; Transformation Thursday; What have you redone?; Furniture Feature Friday; Fridays Unfolded; Shabbilicious Friday.

Last Minute Wedding Gift

I needed a last minute wedding gift last weekend (we were invited last minute because they weren't sure there would be enough room at their venue). I has seen this tutorial on Brassy Apple where she took letter stickers, put them on fabric, painted over them and then peeled them off to reveal the fabric underneath. I was in the thrift store and saw an ugly print in a frame, when it hit me. Why not use the same technique on a print you would never in a million years hang in your house?

I bought a print in a frame for $1. I cut letters out of clear contact paper using my Cricut and SCAL software (no sense in wasting vinyl on this).  I put the letters on the print like so:

Okay, I know it's hard to see clear contact paper, but if you look really closely, you can see a few of them toward the top.

Then I spray painted several thin layers over everything:

After it dried completely, I peeled off the letters to reveal this:

I love the result. The vintage tone of the print underneath is really neat. I did spray over the whole thing with a clear coat for a little extra protection. I probably would have put an extra something in vinyl on either side of the date (a heart perhaps?) but the couple I was giving this to is a little more minimalist than I. This project might be my go-to wedding gift from now on.

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

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Crocheted Fingerless Gloves

I thought I would post a tutorial of sorts on how to make those fingerless mitts I showed you here. I worked a granny square using single crochet for a tighter weave to retain a little more warmth.

I started by making a granny square. Instructions for that are:

• ch = chain
• st = stitch
• sl st = slip stitch
• sc= single crochet

Chain 6. Join with a slip stich to make a ring.
Chain 2; 2 sc, ch 2, (3 sc, ch 2) 3 times, sl st to join to the 3rd chain stitch from foundation loop.

Ch 2, 2 sc in space, ch 2 to form corner, 3 sc in same space, ch 2, (3 sc in next space, ch 2 to form corner, 3 sc in same space, ch 2) 3 times, sl st to join to the 3rd chain stitch you crocheted at the beginning of the round.

Ch 2, 2 sc in space, ch 2 to form corner, 3 sc in same space, ch 2, (3 sc in next space, ch 2, 3 sc in next space, ch 2 to form corner, 3 sc in same space, ch 2) 3 times, 3 sc in next space, ch 2, sl st to join to the 3rd chain stitch you crocheted at the beginning of the round.

Then you just keep repeating this around until it's big enough to fit around your arm when folded in half:

Knot off your granny square at the desired size. I then decided to add a row of single crochet to the top and bottom of the sqaure to make them look more finished.

Then you can either sew up the sides with yarn and a needle, or join them with the crochet hook (which is what I did) be sure to leave a hole for the thumb. (I marked where my thumb fit best with saftey pins before joining the sides.)

Please let me know if this pattern makes any sense. For those who are familiar with crochet, ignore these instructions! :) All I really did is make a granny square with single crochet until it fit my hand, folded it in half and joined the sides, leaving a hole for the thumb.

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

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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!

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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