I love my little collection of curiosities.
I love finding cute little antiques and adding them to my collection.
Test Tubes Holder turned Sand Keepsake
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Category Archives: Furniture DIY
Making Contact Paper Stencil DIY
Today I have Jeanie from Create and Babble
she had a wonderful idea of using contact paper with her silhouette cameo to make a stencil. She decided to use her homemade stencil on a free side table she got for free at an auction. Jeanie also made chalk paint to be used on the table. She is very crafty!
Jeanie also has a home solution to clean old wood. Have you heard of vinegar and water solution? I have not, I usually just use a dampt towel to clean it. I might try it sometime. She swears that it does not smell like vinegar the next day.
If you want to see the finished product you should stop by Create and Babble to see the fantastic tutorial and after pictures!
I need to try the contact paper, are you?
Stay Crafty!
Cabinet Doors made into a Bench
Vintage Serving Cart Makeover
I have the wonderful Nicole from Design it Girl Blog and she has a makeover for a vintage serving cart she got her hands on. I so wish I lived closer to her cause I would love to have one of these in my home.
The yellow of this serving cart is not so pretty but Nicole is on the job to turn it from ugly and fabulous.
Nicole sells all her furniture redo and her client wanted the vintage serving cart painted a beautiful Aquarium/Turquoise color. Turquoise is the color of the summer.
I just love the transformation and the color is fantastic. Please stop by to see the entire process from start to finish. You really don’t want to miss it!
The Design it Girl
Stay Crafty,
How to stencil your wall top five tutorials!
Refurbished Vintage Chairs DIY
We have Nicole back with some wonderful chair painting. Today she is working with the popular color for the season. What do you think about gray and yellow?
I am having so much fun refurbishing these two chairs for a client. The designitgirl team is taking these chairs from drab to fab, with some primer and paint for a new lasting look for years to come..
The photos you will see below are before & during the after reveal will get posted soon, so stay tuned, follow me here and don’t forget to come back for the REVEAL.
Before
Sanding and ready for primer with the help of my daughter and her friend
Teen help! 
I was able to work on another project for a client.
I was able to work on another project for a client.
My clients inspiration, I love it!
Teen sanding, a big help.
Primed and getting ready for painting, but first sanding in between coats provides
a smooth final finish after applying the final coat.
A collage to see the chair in action from different angles.
Chair #2 is waiting to get her prime on.
Here they are primed and ready for paint, I love the way they are turning out.
Painted two coats of Warm grey Flannel after priming.
What do you think of this shade of gray?
What do you think of the dramatic change?
another coat and they are ready for a little distressing and wax.
what do you think of the Yellow? I am loving this shade of Yellow its chic.
Pretty yellow.
How about the inspiration, I love the chair on the left and my client is loving my
chair on the right. The color is the right shade of Yellow, chic, traditional, with a hint of modern.
YELLOW WITH A GREY UNDERCOAT, THIS TWO PRETTIES WERE IN NEED OF SOME TLC…Painted Buttered Sweet Corn Yellow, with a Warm Flannel Grey, undercoat this chair will warm anyone’s heart and room in your home!.
A quick look at the before…
The two yellow chairs are in great condition, but I think the fabric seen better days.
What do you think? and the color a tad out dated, so freshening them up with some paint and new fabric made a huge difference.
Happy Designer happy client!!!
Drum roll plzzzzz…
The Reveal
Two Yellow Chairs
Slightly distressed, Grey undercoat
I am loving the way the turned out.
The fabric by Waverly; “Set In Spring”
Pretty!
I love this pattern, large flower print mimics the detail on the back of the chair.
Thanks for stopping by
So what do you guys think about her redo? I love the color and the fabric she used for her client. Make sure to stop by her blog and show some love!
Restoration for a Dresser into a green beauty
Now it looked pretty horrible when we picked it up. It was also very heavy. But it has great lines. The top two drawers stick out further than the bottom two (intentionally). It had fantastic hardware on the bottom two drawers, but the knobs on top were missing. I found 4 different, really cool, vintage knobs that give it character.
I used Sherwin Williams paint in Paradise as the base for my chalk paint, distressed it, glazed it with brown glaze and waxed it.
It has been sitting in my dining room for a few weeks, I’m having a hard time parting with it. If I had a speck of green anywhere in my house this baby would be mine.
Vintage Sideboard Redo DIY
Nicole out did herself with this new painting tutorial for a vintage sideboard redo. She is very talented with a paint brush. I wish she lived near me so I can have something like this in my home and trust me I am not a big fan of white especially since I do have pets and a child. However, Nicole has me rethinking white.
What a great find, this piece made me smile from ear to ear when I first saw her. But, I drove past her on my way to work I didn’t have time to stop and lug that huge piece of vintage into my truck. So, on my way back home I prayed she would be waiting for me and the (bad) garbage man didn’t take her. Sure enough there she was waiting for me, and I drove straight home, got a few more hands to help me load her into the truck. We did it and boy was she a heavy one…before I go any further take a moment to view the previous posts, this will show you her before look. click the links below
VINTAGE SIDEBOARD: PART1
VINTAGE SIDEBOARD: PART2
As you can see I put a lot of elbow grease into this one, she was tough, just the little things. Like the drawers were placed in uneven, the doors seem like a weird setup and the hardware…we had no idea how beautiful they really are amazing…copper and brass underneath all the beautiful aged patina (that I do like) and that is why I decided to not clean them up completely.
Here she is, gorgeous I think.
Excuse the mess She was too heavy like I said to even move her another inch,
plus I would like to keep my ovaries, the next move is in the customers home!
I hope you enjoyed my before & afters in my previous posts (linked above)
This was a fun project with no time restraints. Thank goodness…
The Gorgeous Hardware
I left most of the patina, I think it looks great.
Thanks for stopping by
I hope you have enjoyed another wonderful reveal by Nicole from Design it girl blog. Go stop by and say hi and see what else she is working on! Tell he Loren sent you.
Vanity DIY painting and Stenciling by One Artsy Mama
One Artsy Mama tried her hand at her very first furniture DIY! We can all remember our very first DIY, right?! The fear and excitement we felt about it. I remember my first DIY was my reupholstering chair and since I finished it I have not stopped. Let see the wonderful inspiration Amy has for us with a vanity painting and stencil design.
Guys, I am SO excited today!!!
I mean SERIOUSLY excited!
I’m about to share with you an extra super-special first ever in the history of One Artsy Mama kind of project!
Presenting…my first furniture redo!
I have to admit, I was really intimidated when I first started blogging and seeing all the amazing furniture projects out there. My comfort zone is more along the lines of sewing machines, beads, and pom-poms, know what I mean? But this ugly old vanity in our master bathroom has bugged me for TEN YEARS now! Meet “Mr. Ugly.”
Really. 10 years. Every time I look at it I think “ew.” The ugly gold trim, the places where the paint is coming off {I know distressed-looking stuff can be shabby chic, but only when you do it on purpose!} Ugh. Mr. Ugly, you’re just an eyesore.
I hated it but I just didn’t know what to do about it, and on the list of priorities for home purchases, a new vanity {for the bathroom nobody uses but the three of us} just wasn’t near the top. Then, oh blessed then, Cutting Edge Stencils came into my life. They offered to send me my choice of stencil to review {after I begged them} and I picked the Cassablanca Craft Stencil, size small. I used it for three projects already, all canvases, and I finally decided to take the plunge and try it on Mr. Ugly. Here’s what I used:
- my trusty Cutting Edge Stencil
- stencil brush and assorted paintbrushes
- gray and black acrylic paint {one bottle of gray, two black}
- Miniwax Polycrylic semi-gloss sealer
Let me preface by saying this is a “do as I say, not as I do” kind of project. See, I’m pretty sure I’m one of the world’s most impatient crafters. When I get me an idea, I can’t rest until it’s done, or at least started. Sooo, I tend to not always take my time and preplan and all that good stuff. In all honesty, as I worked on this, I did a little of this, then a little of that, then back to this…but I don’t recommend working that way. I also recommend taking the doors off before you start. Just sayin’.
STEP 1: Paint entire vanity with two coats of your base color. Again, a patient person would take the doors off, which would be much simpler.
STEP 2: Stencil doors and side of cabinet with black. Paint front of cabinet with two coats of black as well.
I also painted the knobs and hinges black. I may get some new knobs…jury’s still out on that one. Thoughts?
Again, this would have been MUCH easier if the doors were off, but, eh…
I have to confess at this point that stenciling the side of the cabinet was just plain hard. Why? Well, since I couldn’t move the vanity at all, I just had to work in the space the best I could. You should have seen me squeezed all in and around the toilet trying to get these perfect little stencil images. Oy. The ones at the very bottom, top, and back edge are a little um, shall we say “less than perfect”, but shhhhh! You can’t tell from a distance, right? Next time, I’m definitely stenciling something I can move! And I’m deep cleaning the toilet too. Pee-yuuu!
So far so good, right?
STEP 3: Apply sealant.
The last step was to seal my paint. Naturally, being in the bathroom, I know the vanity is going to get wet, whether it’s a splash from LC’s bubble bath, a drip from the faucet, or a little ‘aim accident’ when LC goes potty. So, I knew I needed a good way to make sure my paint job would stay in tact.
I was tempted to just Mod Podge it {that stuff can do just about anything!} and it probably would have worked, but I’m running low. So, I decided to go ahead and ask an expert. We went to Lowe’s, my favorite part of which was LC walking through the store yelling, “Ar, Ar, Ar, I’m in the man store!” They recommended exactly what I needed, Polycrylic semi-gloss, and after two coats, my vanity was pretty AND shiny.
I did finally get hubby to take the doors off at this point. Mainly because it was literally impossible to paint the very left side of the cabinet front otherwise.
The final step was reassembly. Ahhh. I love a completed project, don’t you? Mr. Ugly no more! Needs a new name, don’t you think?
LC’s reaction was, “That looks neat, Mommy. You did a good job.” Which is important since previously he was the only artist with work on display in that bathroom.
Yes indeed, friends, we’re LC tested and approved!
Well, what do you think of my first furniture project?
I’d love to hear your thoughts {unless you hate it, in which case, nevermind}! I’m super excited about it…and now I’m just walking around the house with my stencil wondering what to attack decorate next!
Happy Stenciling!
So tell me how did she do? I think she did a awesome job for being the first time stenciling her bathroom cabinet.
DIY Vintage Camera Tripod Lamp
I know I say this all the time but this DIY camera tripod lamp is super easy and can be made in just one weekend.
Here is what you are going to need to do your tripod lamp.
- wooden tripod
- vintage camera ( I got a Agfa box camera and Kodak pony 135)
- lamp rewiring kit
- 5/16 bolt
- black yarn
- screw driver
- Edison light bulb (home depot)
I began by putting together the lamp rewiring lamp. However, I still got my hubby to do it for me, hehe.
The lamp kit is super easy to wire and it comes with step by step instructions. Once the kit was completed I started to cover the wire with black yarn.
The vintage box camera was very easy to take apart, all you have to do is to remove the metal box from the inside of the cardboard camera. The kodak camera is a lot more complicated and I had to go online to figure out how to take it apart since it has a lot of mechanical parts. The good thing is that you can usually find anything online.
Since the vintage camera can not be attached to a tripod I had to add a bolt to the inside of the camera so it could be screwed into the wooden tripod.
