Year in Review 2016

2017 was a slow blogging  year for me due to the opening and closing of my booth. Maintaining inventory was more work than I anticipated and not having a dedicated work space complicated things. Where do I make dinner when the counter top is covered in small crafting parts with drying glue or paint? Where do my kids play when their play room is literally covered in dresser guts and other pending furniture projects? It was an experience for sure!

Anyways, despite the minimal blogging and linky partying, a few things managed to gain triple digit views.

More or less in order, here they are:

1. Reclaimed Wood Stars

 2. Blue Furniture

3. Cigar Box Checkers

4. Faux Fireplace  & more here

5. Bottle Cap Flowers

6. Door Table/Shelf

Here are a few of my favorites that didn't quite make the most-viewed list:

Map Topped Nightstand
I really really wanted to keep this piece for myself and secretly hoped it wouldn't sell but this beauty flew out the booth door fast! I've looked for more of this fabric, it was a remnant piece from ???? I forget, so I can recreate the look. So far no luck, but I'll keep looking.

Around the World Mid Century Dresser Makeover

Made this for my husband...I kinda wanna switch dressers with him! 

and lastly: 

Small Bench Makeovers

This one, the broken chair bottom, I did keep all for myself. :) The bench itself sold. I'll be keeping my eye out for more broken chair bottoms, especially after seeing this idea from ML Furniture Designs.

Out with the old...and into my stash for a new makeover! Happy New Year!

Starbucks Lid Garland

A simple DIY gift for the coffee enthusiast in your life. 

The hardest part of creating this project was drinking all the Starbucks...sigh...the things we do for projects, right? HAha! IT WAS THE BEST PART! Especially after I realized that I needed two more matching lids and had to drink more delicious coffee to get them. Awww bummer (sarcastic font), that I had previously bought two packs without checking to see that they had matching lids.

Materials: 

Burlap Garland from Target $3

E-6000 & weights OR

One could try a hot glue gun...I just didn't have any on hand.

More Ribbon for garnishment 

Patience...that glue takes its sweet time

I chose not to use all the ribbon in the package, it conflicted with the envisioned color scheme. Instead I grabbed a couple rolls from my stash and played around with it until happy. 

Its Christmas-y enough for the season but not so much so that it can't be displayed after. Still works through Valentine's Day. 

Excuse the blurry pictures below, had the coffee shakes. :)

I have a few leftover lids in mismatched colors, maybe a set of ornaments?


Featured Here

Reclaimed Wood Ornaments & Homemade Stencils

I'm gearing up for another craft fair for this weekend and wanted to add a little Christmas color to my booth as well as a few "smalls."  These reclaimed wood ornaments were fairly easy to make. I honestly can't remember if these are from fence board or pallet planks or a combo of the two . Just dug out pieces from my scrap wood heap, washed and sanded them, then eyeballed the cuts into no particular size.

I used acrylic white paint for the base and a metallic acrylic in red for the candy cane stripes. Sealed with Mod Podge.










Homemade Stencils: 

Cardboard:

1. Printed off a candy cane pattern from the internet.
2. Securely tape the print out over the cardboard.
3. Slice along the pattern, essentially gives you two stencils, one of paper and one on the cardboard. The paper may tear a bit if your knife is dull.

I don't anticipate using this stencil often so the fact that it is made of cardboard won't matter too much. I have made stencils from cereal boxes in the past and have yet to have one fall apart on me, but these are always minimally used stencils.

Lampshade Styrene:

The nativity and reindeer though are sliced into an old lampshade found in a "treasure hunt," it had a small hole punched into one side but the rest was usable real estate.

1. Print out design onto paper.
2. On these stencils I cut the pattern out of the paper first with the exacto knife so I have a paper stencil.
3. Then, traced the stencil design onto the styrene with a sharpie.
4. Cut along the sharpie line with the exacto knife.

I recommend using a very sharp exacto knife for this approach. The lampshade styrene is very thick and took f.o.r.e.v.e.r to cut through, but now I have durable, long-lasting stencils that I know I will use for other projects. A plus to using the styrene stencil over a cardboard stencil is that you don't have to wait for it to dry before stenciling more pieces. I'm more cautious with my cereal box stencils so the paint doesn't saturate and cause tears.

I just love the knots and hole in this piece. So much character.  And that rusty coil hanger! ~love~

For a more subdued and rustic look I layered a couple reds and added twine. See the coil hangers on top? Taken from a rusty crib mattress, just perfect for this project!

This one is a hybrid between the two designs that I'm keeping for myself.