Tuesday, February 22, 2011

Bedside Table Before and After

I got this awesome cheap bedside table.  But the paint was kind of wearing off and I really hated the hardware on it.  This is the beginning of our bedroom transformation that is happening this month.

We are kind of a strange couple because when we get gift cards and stuff for birthdays or holidays, we never go out and spend them just cause we have them.  We wait till there is something we really want and then we use them.  So we were able to get a new bedspread and curtains so next to nothing.  Patience is wonderful! 
It looks white in the picture but it's really a subtle cream


Cream curtains





The inspiration for out bedroom is black/gray, cream
with little pops of.... Yellow
It's definitely something new for us.
 If you go into our apartment it's pretty much browns, 
red, and neutrals.  Just because that's what we had.
 But I want to be ADVENTUROUS with our
decorating.  So we're going out on a limb here.
Let me tell you Mr.  Stanly is a little 
bit nervous for this transformation.













    I like the subtle yellow though, so really not to much of the 
bright sunshine.  

This is what Ben is afraid of:


We are definitely not going that far.
UGLY!


Back to the bedside table that I was talking about.





Sand it down
Paint it
Add new hardware
Make a cute frame (spray paint and add rosettes)
Make decoupage books
Spray paint a .25c vase 



Saturday, February 19, 2011

Steals and Deals

Yup I'm in full nesting mode.  No, I'm unfortunately not pregnant but I am finding many new ways to occupy my time along with school and work.  Since my crafting addiction as begun I've focused mainly on places only guests can see i.e. living room, kitchen, and bathroom.  I haven't really done to much to our bedroom until now.  But I found some killers sweet deals on some new bedroom furniture so I decided that now would be a nice time to start redecorating!

1st Killer Deal 
 I got this little beauty on the college bulletin board.  I took the drawer pulls off and I'm going to get some new ones.  I'm going to be keeping the color, but I'm going to go over it with another coat and sand it a little to give it a weathered look.  Steal cost...........$20! Yup and it's not made out of cheap-o particle board.

2nd Killer Deal






This here is a lovely little fabric headboard.  It's got a pretty design but I'm not a huge fan of the color.  I only had to pay $20 for this baby! OH YEA! So what I'm going to do is upholster it in a new fabric.  It'll be much easier to just reupholster an already made headboard rather then having to build on from scratch.  I'm thinking of doing it in a fabric like this....



Gotta Love Mustard Yellow! 




I'm leaning more toward the solid just because the new
bedspread we got is a damask pattern of cream and 
black, and because its only........$2 a yard!  Bedspread is being shipped now
as I currently type.  I'm sooooo excited!

Anyways I'm sleepy and have had a very very long week.

Between work and midterms I've burnt the end of the 
candle stick and I'm exhausted!

ATE LOGO!

Wednesday, February 16, 2011

Cheap and Chic Decor

Pretty much this blog has turned into a place for me to show some of the things that I have created and to pass the directions onto others who like it.  I'm going to try to include an inspiration photo for every one of my projects.  To be honest, there is really nothing that I come up with completely on my own.  So I want to give credit where credit is do.  I do however usually change things or add a little somethin' somethin' to get it my own personal flare.  It make it feel more unique to me.

So the tutorial that I got here is quite the little experiment, but can I just say that it is completely worth it! I learned a very important lesson when working on this project the last couple of days....SPRAY PAINT IS A GIFT FROM GOD! Seriously though.... this was my first time using spray paint and I absolutely love it.  I'm been converted.  It's so easy and gives it just this nice even coat, looks like I bought it....Your probably thinking that I'm off my rocker, but really just go out and buy some.  I was able to get a whole can of black spray paint for only $2! I still have a ton left, and I plan on using it!

Stepping off my soap box now.....Back to the tutorial.  So this is just a cute little knick knack that I put together.  I convinced Ben tonight that we needed some change in our living room.  He's pretty against it, due to my terrible sense of straightness and putting little holes in the wall.  And we rent an apartment so that's not the best idea.  So when spring comes, and I'm not in school that semester I'm going to be working on redecorating our living room, all I have to do is help Ben patch up the little holes in the wall (there really aren't that many)!!! I'm sooooo excited! It's going to be a nice change.  I just had to promise that if something needs to be hung that he get's to do it.  And I'm completely on board with that! It'll just test my patience a little!

Inspiration:  My inspiration for this came from Shanty 2 Chic, go on over and take a look at Whitney's awesome projects.  She's truly inspiring!

Materials Needed for a set of three:
  • 1 large candle stick ($3)
  • 2 small candle sticks ($2 for both)
  • 3 coordinating scrapbook paper (I had a leftover scraps so I didn't need to buy any)
  • 3 round flat wooden disks ($1 for all)
  • 3 decorative toppers ($1)
  •  3 wooden plaques ($3 for all)
  • Gorilla Glue (this is the best! I already had it so no need to buy it)
  • Spray paint of your liking (I got mine for only $2! A nice black so I know that I will use it again, you get alot of uses out of spray paint) 
  • Scissors 
  • Lined Paper
  • Pencil 
  • Mod Podge
  • Sponge 
  • Small vinyl word
  • 2 small pictures
  • Embellishments (I just used old scrap booking supplies I had)
  • Craft Sticks ( I already had you can get like a bag of 100 for only $2)

TUTORIAL TIME!

Disclosure:  In Whitney's tutorial she was able to get wood from Lowe's and have it a rectangle about 1/2" thick.  Since I live in the middle of nowhere and have to rely on Porters Crafts for all my crafting addictions I had to make due with what I had.  So the construction of our is different and you'll be able to see the changes that I have made.  More details will be included in the instructions


First things first gather all your materials and make sure that you have everything
that you need.  Wash off your birch wooden candle sticks, the wooden plaques, 
flat disks, and the decorative topper.  After it's dry then got ahead and start your 
spray painting.  Your going to want to do at least 3 coats.  Wait 30 minutes before
you do each one.  I chose to spray paint all my wooden I didn't want anything to show.  
Thankfully though you only have to do one side of the small disk.  Everything else
I would do both sides. 


After they are good and dry add some of the gorrila 
glue to the unpainted side of your flat disk.
Then place it on top of the candle stick holder.
This is a MUST! Because you are working 
with an uneven wooden plaque you have to have
a stronger base then just the little candle stick.


As you let all of this set and dry start working on your 
wooden plaque.  Your going to want to start out by tacking
a sheet of light lined school paper (or something that you can 
easily see through) and trace the border of the plaque that you want to cover.
*If your plaque doesn't have beveled edges you don't need to do this, just trace it onto the 
back side of your scrap book paper

The next step is super easy.  All you have to do is 
place the make-shift stencil onto your scrapbook paper
then cut along the lines.



 Decoupage! The wonderful gift of mod podge
has made my life so much better :) I love this stuff
Simple decoupage the scrap book paper onto your plaque

BEAUTIFUL! 

The take the small picture and cut it how you'd like it to look 
and mod podge that sucker again.  See isn't it fun! 
I did another coat on top of the whole thing to weather 
it a little bit.  Then add your embellishment.  I had this 
two little round metals so I did one for each picture.   


I did two plaque like this and one larger one with the vinyl


So this is where your crafting skills are put to the test! 
Your going to lay the plaques face down.  Then take the candle stick and lay in
down where you would like it to meet.  Take your gorilla glue and add just a small
amount on your plaque and and the candle stick where it will meet.
Hold it Down for about 30 seconds.  After it's dry,
Your going to take your craft stick and gorilla glue it to edge of the flat
disk, and the make sure it's straight and gorilla glue it to your plaque.
This is what it will look like.

Then gorilla glue the decorative toppers.  
Let it dry and WABAM! Your done!






Friday, February 11, 2011

Jewlery and Hair Accessories Holder

Lately I have been on a total crafting kick! It's the only thing that relaxes me lately is creating something out of bits of pieces of little somethings.  I've really loved making fabric rosettes and flowers for headbands and hair clips but I had no where to put them! Tragic, I know.  Well I found this snazy picture of one that I found on I heart naptime 
She's amazing right?!

Well I used this as my inspiration and hit the DI and found a sweet wooden frame, and went to work on decorating!

 I was lucky to find this for only a couple of dollars.  It was in perfect shape so all I had to do was sand it down and I painted it over with a charcoal color.  It looks navy in the pictures, but that's because I have to worst camera on the planet.  It's much prettier in person.

The next thing I did was measure out the Styrofoam and add to inches.  This then gave me the measurement for how much fabric I needed.  It was about 1/2 yard, so you don't really need to get that much.  Make sure you have the bottom side of your fabric facing up.

After I made sure it was all smooth and I ironed it out, I simply hot glued the fabric to the stryofoam.  WATCH YOUR FINGERS!  I'm pretty sure I burnt off at least 3 layers of skin.  Fold the corners in first and try to get it as tight and smooth as possible.  But don't worry, it a craft!
Imperfections= Perfections!



Then decoupage and add embellishments to your hearts content! I had a really long frame so I had a lot of space left on the top.  I just got a small piece of wood a had a ton of these wood letters from a previous project.  I added the hardware on the corners to keep the fabric from sticking out and it worked out perfectly.  Then I decoupaged this little clip board and then made some matching clothes pins.  I added ribbon to it, so I could hang hair accessories from it.

Then lat everything out and see what you like!  After your happy with the look attach with hot glue gun.  The last thing you need to do is attach it to the frame and hang it up on the wall

FINISHED!  I really like the way it came out, I just wish that I didn't have these white walls!

Oh well it gives me something to look forward to in the future when we get our own home and stop renting :)

Friday, February 4, 2011

Subway Art

 Something that I've never heard before was Subway Art.  Who else didn't know about this?! Well shame on you all you haven't told me about it because not only is it eclectic but it's versatile too.


The very talented Jen over at Tatertos and Jello gave a wonderful tutorial for a Valentine's Day inspired piece of Subway art.





Isn't she so talented?!  Well I took just a little bit of a spin on it, mainly because I'm poor and vinyl lettering is EXPENSIVE!  She said that you could decoupage words that are printed out from the computer but I wasn't sure how to do it and not have the paper show... Here's my attempt at another tutorial...this time with pictures!

Materials Needed:

  • 11x14 canvas
  • Acrylic Paint Sealer
  • 5 colors ( I did cream, red, light pink, bright pink, and black)
  • Light pencil
  • Fine Sandpaper
  • Painters Tape
  • vinyl words
  • 11x14 frame
  • Paint brushes and sponges
Instructions:
  1. Paint the entire canvas the lightest shade you have.  Do this at least 3 times.  You'll be sanding later on so you want to make sure that not to much of the canvas is showing.
    
      2.  After you've painted it a few times take some painters tape and make different rectangles and   
           squares.





        3.  Now paint each square a different color.  Be careful not to glob on the paint but try to get it as
             smooth as possible because you'll be putting vinyls on later.  You'll want to do 3 coats 

       4.  After the paint is completely dry take the painters tape off.  NICE JOB!



   
      5.  Take the light pencil and very lightly outline whatever you'd like to paint on.  I chose hearts
           because it's for valentine's day.  After your happy with the designs paint the insides first staying
           about 1/4 in. away from the edge.  After you've done all the hearts, then go and do the borders.
           Once the borders are done and with the smallest paintbrush fill in the gap between.  Your going
           going to go over the insides one more time because you really want the colors to show through.


       6.  Now make sure the paint is completely dry.  While you wait your going to get your last coat
            ready by adding just a small amount of water to a light shade and mixing it really well.  Now
            take a sponge and paint it all over.  Try to get as smooth of strokes as possible, but don't stress
            you'll be sanding later.

 
      7.  So now it's completely dry your going to go over the whole thing with a small sheet of fine sand
           sand paper.  I went until there were little white specks coming off.  I did a little more because I
           wanted more of a weathered antiqued look.  After you've sanded to your liking, then take a wet
           paper towel and wipe off the excess dust.

        8.  Let it dry for a few minutes then arrange your vinyls were you'd like them placed.  After your
             set apply the vinyls





        9.  After the vinyl is applied them place the canvas in the 11x14 open frame (so remove the back
             and the glass.




Your all done!