Christmas Trees!

Do you love them?  I really like the way they turned out, but let me warn you, this is a time consuming project!

I saw some trees on Pinterest and decided to give it a try.... They had used paper plates for the cones.  I didn't have any paper plates, so I improvised and used some scrapbook paper.  Card stock would have probably been better, but I was anxious to get started.  So I made my cones in three different sizes using regular tape to form. 

I started with the green tree.  It was by far the hardest!  It took quite a long time.  Here is what you need.

I cut the green paper into strips about 1 and 1/2 inches wide.  Then I went ahead and twisted a whole bunch.  Many more than pictured here. I used a glue stick to form the little rosettes.  I used the length of the tissue paper for about half and cut some in half to make smaller rosettes. 

To make the rosettes, just twist the twisted paper in a circle.  To keep your form from showing, glue them very close together.  I used a hot glue gun for this, but BE CAREFUL!  Tissue paper is very thin.  I suffered some pretty good burns on this project!

On to the red one.  Again cut your tissue paper in strips 1and1/2 inches wide.

Twist them just like the green ones.  Then start wrapping them around, hot glue as you

go.  I didn't go in one continuous strip, I cut them on the back so my rows would be lever. 

After you get those done, and it may be awhile!  On to the silver.  this one went much faster! 

Here are the things you need....

Start by cutting the same 1 and 1/2 inch strips.  The cut them in squares.  It will take alot.  I think I used a whole pack of silver paper.  When you get your squares cut, fold the over and then again.  Now take the corner and pinch them. 

Now start gluing!  Be careful!  I still don't have some fingerprints! 

Keep going til its completely covered.  I want to display mine on candle sticks!  I am headed to the dollar store to get some now!  Have fun!



Craigslist Makeover Dresser and Chest

Its all coming together!  I have used all the same techniques as with the bed and nightstand, so I won't bore you with the details.  I am just going to post a few pics and tips.

You remember before?  Shiny and brass handles???  It now looks so rich and warm.  Nothing like the 1970's look of before. 

I had quite the assembly line going!  Remember, the only thing I had to sand were the tops.  Everything else I simply used a de-glosser and primed. 

Love  <3

another view...



$7.00 Make-over

I love my bamboo barstools, but the seats were looking a little worn. 

I went to Hobby Lobby and purchased a remnant upolstery fabric for $7.00 a yard. 

It only took one yard to recover these stools. 

This is a picture of the "tired stools"

I took the seats off the stools, laid the fabric out flat so the pattern of the new houndstooth would be straight and pulled it tight and stapled with a staple gun.  Because the original fabic was not torn or stained, I left it on.  No need for backing! 

I didnt take pictures of all the stapling, but it was pretty easy.  Just started at the beginnng and worked my way to the back.  I did pick a fabric that was easy to work with.  I think stripes or too much pattern, would be a little harder to keep straight. 

yay! finished product!

Craigslist Makeover part 2 Nightstands

Love the way the night stands turned out!  Yay!  These are also part of the Craigslist redo.  We started by using the deglosser to avoid a lot of sanding.  We did sand the tops down pretty much all the way using the black and decker mouse.  Eveything else just got a couple of coats of deglosser. 



We cleaned it up with some mineral spirits to get rid of any residue.  Then we painted the top with PolyShades by Minwax.  The color was antique walnut. 

You have to work fast and keep the edges wet.  I think when we do the larger pieces we are not going to use the same product.  It is great for small surfaces, but we are afraid it might dry to fast and be difficult to work with.  I guess we will see.  After one coat, we let it dry overnight.  Lightly sanded and applied a second coat. 

Now its time for primer.  I used two coats on the first one, but when I started distressing, the paint was so thick, I decided to use only one coat of primer on the second nightstand.  They both turned out beautiful.....

Next comes the black paint.... I love Sherwin Williams latex enamel.  Goes on really smooth!  Get a good brush!

Next the fun part! The distressing!  We used the sander.  Do the edges first and then add more if you like.  You cant do it wrong.  I like to use stain and a sponge to go back over the bare wood.  Really easy and looks so good. 

The hardware that was on the furniture was in really good shape, however it was gold.  I liked the look but not the color. I happened to think about some Rub N Buff I had bought for some picture frames.  It comes in a lot of different colors.  I got it at Hobby Lobby.  The color is copper. 

You just take the Rub and Buff and rub it on with your finger.  I just rubbed over the shiny gold areas.  I took the picture backwards..... the finished ones are on the left.  When they dry, your just shine them up with a clean cloth.  This saved us tons of money.  There are about thirty!  If we had to replace them all it would have added up quick!..These look great and the copper color matches the wood perfectly.

Its all coming together! Stay tuned!

Craigslist Makeover!

Craigslist Bedroom Makeover! 

I am going to post the finished pieces as I do them.  We found a bedroom suite on Craisgslist for $200.00  It consisted of a Full/Queen size headboard, 2 night stands, chest, dresser and mirror.  It is solid wood and very heavy!  We thought it was a great buy! 

I started on the headboard.  I hate to sand! I really hate to sand!  Soooooo I decided to use a liquid sandpaper trick. 

I will post the picture here later.....

You just rub the liquid on and rub it off.  It leaves the furniture kind of sticky and in ten minutes you are ready to paint!  

I used two coats of primer.  I primed  on two different days, allowing for plenty of drying time.  My husband went to Sherwin Williams for me a picked up some black enamel paint, and two really good paintbrushes.  go ahead and splurge for the good ones.  It will be worth it. 

I painted the bed with two coats of the black paint as well.  It goes on really nice and smooth.  Only water to clean up!  I decided I wanted to use the furniture in my 14 year old son's bedroom.  I decided distressing would probably do best.  I usually distress by hand, but there is going to be so much to do I decided to use my Black and decker mouse sander. I also used some stain I had laying around and a small sander block to smooth it out. 

I start our by distressing the edges.  I usually get carried away with this step and end up distressing alot.  You can't do it wrong so don't worry.  After I have sanded to satisfaction, I use the stain and rub over the exposed wood. 

I used a sponge off of a craft paintbrush to rub it on, and a clean dry cloth to rub it off.  alot of my primer white came through.  I like the way it looks.  If you prefer just the wood, you could probably have your primer tinted.  Might be fun to use a color?? Red maybe? Anyway.  When you think it's enough, clean everything off and use a coat of Polycrylic. 

Twin Headboard Makeover

We forgot to take the before pics!  Oops!  We started by spray painting the headboard black.  It didn't have a very shiny finish, so we just lightly sanded and cleaned it up, and started painting. 

We went to work with the mouse sander on the edges, "Ballard Design" style.  I was a little nervous at first! I sanded for awhile and then my husband, Robert, took over.  He used the sanding blocks and roughed it up a little more.  It started really taking on some personality!  I went back with some stain that I had laying around and rubbed it over the distressed areas.  I used the sponge on a craft paintbrush and then rubbed it off with a clean cloth.  I have used a q tip too.  Whatever you have around. 



yeah! All we need is Polycrylic!

Love <3

 

Distressed Table

Pretty Table Top

I wanted to try my luck at distressing some furniture.  I really like how this turned out, but as usual, it didn't go as I had originally planned.  I wanted to keep it really light and not glaze or antique.  I just wanted to distress the corners and places where normal wear would occur.... I decided I had sanded my dining room so much and maybe it wasn't all that necessary?  I have been following a few blogs and decided to try my luck at with liquid sandpaper.  Turns out to be a pretty good plan!  You just rub it on and rub it off!  You are just trying to get the shiny top coat off.  It really cleans up the wood nice too!.  The table felt a little sticky after several times of wiping on and wiping off.  I think that is what you are after, something for the primer to really stick to.  I primed a couple of coats and then painted the table a tan color.  (I will have to look up the name.)  Then the second coat I painted a soft cream.  I let it dry overnight.  I took a sanding block and sanded down through all the colors.  It looked great.  You could see the colors really blend together. 

After I finished sanding, I really had the look I originally wanted.  Then I decided it needed some detail around the top.  I used some latex based stain and a sponge brush to get in all the little cracks.  Well when I did that, some of the stain started to run...yikes!  So I decided to glaze it with the stain.  I really like the look that the stain added.  Remember, there is no wrong way!  Sometimes you just gotta go with what you got! 

I rubbed the stain on with the sponge brush and then wiped it away with a clean dry cloth.  I finished off with a coat of polycrylic. 

Before and After

Before

After