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!