Add Some Style with Stripes

This simple table was one we had bought years ago. It was just a basic black pedestal table that was fine but lacked pizazz. I wanted to brighten the kitchen up a bit so decided to add white stripes to my boring black table. I started by taping it off with painter's tape. I did it along the grain of the wood and got my stripes nice and even by putting the tape down side by side and then removing every other one.

I was careful to tape along the edges too.

Once I was sure the tape was adhered well, I loaded my roller with white primer and painted the surface of the table.

After the primer was dry, I added a couple of coats of good quality white acrylic trim paint.

Now it was time for the fun part: when the paint was mostly dry but NOT totally dry, I peeled off the tape to reveal the pattern. It looked great!

I did a little bit of touch up here and there with an artisit's brush.

Okay, I liked it pretty well.....but I thought it was lacking character.

So, I used a dry brush technique with a bit of burnt umber artist's acrylic mixed with glaze to give it the character and warmth I felt it lacked.

When it was good and dry, I went over the whole surface again with some clear polycrylic to add shine and to protect the finish.

BIG Bulletin Board

Looking for a good way to display your kids' art? I wanted to keep it simple and use a bulletin board but needed a far bigger board than I could find. So, I just bought four standard bulletin boards at the local office supply store and painted the frames black to add some punch. I nailed them to my wall to create the look of one large board. I bought wooden letters at the craft store and painted them with decorative patterns for added interest. I used push pins to stick the letters up at the top of the display. This hangs in the kitchen and gets changed up frequently. It's also a great way to display Christmas cards in Dec.!

Leafy Walls

I wanted to jazz up my master bath a little but wanted something simple. I decided leaves would be nice.

These are the supplies I used: a leaf, spray adhesive, a foam sanding block, acrylic paint, a paintbrush, styrofoam plates, and oh....and scissors too (not pictured!).






For the leaves, look for a shape you like and be sure the back of the leaf has good texture. Some leaves are much more pronounced in their veining than others!






Once you have a leaf you are happy with, give it a quick spray on the front side with some adhesive.









Next, place the leave on the foam sanding block (or another kind of foam, just so it's something you can cut). Sandwich the leaf and foam between styrofoam plates and pressed firmly.

Cut around the leaf carefully.

Apply some paint. Don't go too thick with it. Experiment by printing it on paper for practice until you are happy with the paint amount.

Press the painted leaf against your surface.

Scatter them wherever you like on your walls!
(I used different leaves in my bathroom than the one I showed in my demo.)

Kitchen Chalkboard

I had a little wall space in my kitchen that was calling for something fun and friendly. Since I have a little antique desk that fits just right there, a chalkboard seemed the natural choice. The problem was, with such a narrow spot, a chalkboard with the right dimensions was going to be hard to find. I opted to buy a quart of chalkboard paint instead so I could make it just the right size and give it a little character with an interesting shape.





I taped off the wall on the three straight sides first, then folded a piece of newspaper in half and cut a wavy shape for the top. When I opened up the paper, it was symmetrical and I just traced it with chalk and painted the chalkboard paint with an artist's brush up along the line to get it just-so. It's become a great spot for messages and of course the kids like to draw on it for fun sometimes too. It's also been a great place to write out the weekly spelling words during the school year!

Christmas Window Treatments

Before I start the daunting task of putting all the Christmas stuff away for 2012, I wanted to snap a couple of pics of how I "Christmafied" my windows this year. I removed my curtains since they competed a little with the theme, then just wrapped the rods in garland and added some red berries from the craft store with hot glue. They were super inexpensive and easy and turned out looking really pretty! They will also force me to clean my curtains before putting them back up, which is definitely needed. It was a great Christmas, but I am already looking forward to January's knack of getting me focussed on organization and decluttering. :)

Tree Stand Cover

I made myself a new tree stand cover this year. It turned out great---so much better than my old tree skirt that was always looking messy and getting tugged, dirty, wet, and pulled out of position. The best part was I made it out of stuff I had in the garage and attic.

FIrst, I found a container that I thought would work: a Halloween candy bucket!

I used a hack saw and cut up one side and then cut out the bottom of the bucket. I used tape around the edges since they were a little rough and wonky.

I sprayed it with some primer.

I brushed on some acrylic paints I had in my stash. Just used some browns and some metallic gold.

It seemed a little short, so I glued some greens to the top edge to give it a little more height.

Once dry, I placed it around the tree stand. Ahhh...success!

Project Porch Tree

Nothing gets me more jazzed up to attempt decorating magic like Christmas does. Pinterest has become my new best friend this year and I love, love, love my Christmas board! One of the first projects I found on there was a picture of a little Christmas tree made out of a tomato cage wrapped with garland and lights. I had priced the little trees while out shopping that week and was determined get some...but not at that price. Problem was, I did not have tomato cages and did not want to shop for any. So, I hunted around in my garage for an alternative. Ah-ha! I spied a number of beach umbrellas in a dusty corner. We had more than enough for any future beach trips. I picked out two the same size and cut the fabric off of them. They looked perfect for the job.



I stuck them in my planters and started to wind garland around them. (In hindsight, I wish I had added a quick coat of dark colored spray paint to them...they would have been easier to cover if not white.)

Next, I added lights and that was it: so pretty and made with stuff I already had on hand. Nothing puts me in the Christmas spirit like a successful and free DYI! (If you plan to try one for yourself and don't have tomato cages or old umbrellas laying around, another option would be chicken wire.)