getting crafty

slumber party

21 May 2013 by Andrea Leave a Comment

You know I love numbers and letters. I just love the look of vintage zinc letters, but of course don’t like the price. Or waiting to find the perfect font or the perfect combination of letters to create the word I want.

So I decided to make my own. Let’s go faux!

My bedroom has a giant vaulted ceiling behind my bed that acts as the focal point in the room. Sort of. Not much to focus on. In fact, it’s…

Please ignore the unmade bed. This pic is originally from a post about messiness.

I decided to come up with a word appropriate for the bedroom. So what are you supposed to do in a bedroom? Um, no, not that. Geez. Get your mind out of the gutter. The other thing. Yes, that’s right. Sleep. Catch some Zs. Rest. Slumber.

Slumber…a calming word. Perfect and peaceful.

What do you think? Doesn’t it look awesome? I just love it!

The letters look perfectly metallic!

Can you believe that they’re just paper-mache letters that you can get from Michael’s or Joann for a couple of bucks a pop? To be honest, this project, like most others, has cured for a couple of months, so the receipt has escaped me. But rest assured that I used a 50% off coupon and/or got these letters on sale. So including paint, definitely less than $25 spent for an awesome wall hanging that has now turned my bedroom wall into a focal wall!

Here’s how I did it.

Cleared off only enough of my craft table to fit this project, because that’s just how I roll. Perhaps you might enjoy having a fully cleared craft area, but that’s your call.

Took some paper-mache letters…

Painted a base coat using black craft paint…

Let them dry. Took a nap. Seriously. This project is perfect for a lazy Saturday afternoon.

Using a small piece of a rag, did a dry rub of a silver metallic paint over the black paint, being sure to smooth and buff out any visible lines in the paint. When the rag got too saturated with paint, I cut and used a fresh piece of rag.

Rubbing on the paint…

How the letters looked after one coat of silver metallic paint…

One coat wasn’t quite enough because there was still too much black showing through and the paint still had lines and looked “painted.”

Took another nap while the second coat dried. When it was completely dry, I used 3M velcro picture hanging strips to adhere the letters to the wall.

Yes, in fact, I was standing on my bed when I took this photo, precariously balanced as I hung the letters!

As for placement on the wall, I just eyeballed it. I’m just kind of cool that way. I also like to hang and rehang things due to the eyeball method, but this one turned out pretty well. One time was all I needed. But you could go all out and take some measurements if you want to just be accurate and do things once.

I love how the drop cap “S” sits down in the crook of the headboard a bit…

Overall, a successful project, wouldn’t you say?

affirmation art

31 December 2012 by Andrea 6 Comments

Recently I found an awesome and inspiring pin on Pinterest…

While the room and colors are great, I was really moved by the inspirational art work. And of course I thought, “Hey, I can do that!”

In the spirit of daily affirmations and getting my single ladies groove on, I decided to create a similar art piece to hang next to my bathroom mirror, so I can read it and feel the love every day.

My tools were simple. An 8″ x 24″ canvas and a black Sharpie. But you could use any color Sharpie. And you could paint your canvas if you’re not into the black & white scene.

Then I started writing “I love you” repeatedly, being careful to space my wording so that the words didn’t line up perfectly line after line. You can use any phrase or affirmation that’s meaningful to you.

Here’s the awesome result…

This was a super-quick project…it only took about 15 minutes, including hanging the canvas. About halfway down the canvas I threw in an all caps “I love you” just for extra emphasis…

Looks super-cute, and the best part is that every time I step into the bathroom I’m reminded that I’m loved, which makes this single girl feel great.

What are you gonna write on your canvas?

little things :: switchplate edition

8 July 2012 by Andrea Leave a Comment

Sometimes, it’s the little things that make your place uniquely your home. The little touches that no one else has. Small statement pieces…eye candy!

In the eat-in dining area in our kitchen I kicked up the punch on the switchplates, adding pops of color where you least expect it, using vintage advertising art stickers that I got a while back at the dollar shop at Target.

It was a pretty simple project. Quick & easy, just how I like my projects!

I unscrewed the switchplate, then applied the stickers in a collage-like fashion.

Using an exacto knife, I cut the stickers over the holes for the switch and screws and folded it under and stuck it to the reverse side of the plate.

For extra protection, I applied a layer of clear contact paper over the stickers and cut and folded the contact paper to the back of the plate as I did with the stickers.

Also, I painted the screw heads with orange and red nail polish to match the stickers so the white of the screws doesn’t blare out.

The vintage advertising stickers were a perfect match for my kitchen with their bold, rich colors, since the cabinets are dark wood with black chalkboard paint, creating a vintage schoolhouse look.

The look was especially good for this switchplate, which was cut by the builder to fit flush against the cabinets. Before it looked kind of tacky, sort of like a switchplate that was cut by the builder due to poor measurements. But now it’s become a miniature art piece.

The little things mean a lot!

Showing off at Funky Junk Interiors.

design vacation – keeping it real in the master bedroom

20 February 2012 by Andrea 5 Comments

Sounds kind of scandalous! But when you see this, you’ll realize how completely scandalous it really is…

Messy-licious! And there’s more…

Nothing like watching an episode of Hoarders to jump start the spring cleaning bug.

And that, my friends, is my bedroom. Let’s just say it’s gotten out of hand. So I started with a big cleanup. Which took a surprisingly long time. I’m sure that had nothing to do with treating myself to occasional trips to Pinterest.

While it’s not quite ready for the full reveal, here’s a little something…

Nothing wrong with this vignette, but I’ve been trying to add a touch of mod around the house, so I want to mix it up a bit.

I found a terrific iridescent vase at Target, and it looks pretty good…

…but it could use a little more height. Something along these lines…

These are pieces of wood that my son broke when he was in tae kwon do. But the raw wood looks too, well, raw, so I painted it with a gray craft paint, not worrying about priming or if the woodgrain showed through the paint. Call it character and texture.

There, that’s better. The painted wood adds height and texture. Plus the wood pieces have special meaning to me, and now I’m using them instead of having them stuck in a cabinet. My son even wrote his name on one pieces, making it extra special.

Plus it looks great, don’t you think?

Don’t forget to enter the Spring Cleaning Giveaway!

Showing off at these link parties…

spinning a yarn

28 December 2011 by Andrea Leave a Comment

In the office of my home there is a large and boring wall that’s been crying out for help for some time now.

It really needs some paint, but that’s not happening this week. I already started to give the wall a bit of flair with this fabulous frame…

…but there’s still a lot of wall left.

So I decided to spin a yarn. Or at least use a skein of yarn to create a wall hanging. Here’s the yarn…

It’s some seriously gorgeous yarn, and I wish that I could knit a throw with it, but I don’t have enough and it seems that they’re not making it any more. So a wall hanging it is.

This was a really quick & easy project. I used embroidery stretcher bars that I already had at home. They are pretty inexpensive – a couple of bucks each at your local craft store.

I tied the yarn around the stretcher bar…

…and started wrapping the yarn haphazardly around the stretcher bars…

…and when I was just about out of yarn, I knotted the end of the yarn around the stretcher bar…

And that’s all it took to create this…

I love it! Adds some color, texture, and visual interest to an otherwise boring wall!

And cheap to boot! While this project was free to me, since I had everything sitting around at home, if you had to go out to buy the pieces and parts, you could probably make this for between $10-$15. Not bad! Perfect for decorating on a tight budget.

This project even won the seal of approval from my 11-year-old son, who said it’s “really cool!” Can’t beat that!

simple & inexpensive art work

20 December 2011 by Andrea Leave a Comment

This year a friend and I agreed that while we would exchange Christmas presents, since we’re both expense-ridden single moms, we would pick or make presents from something we already have at our houses. Terrific idea!

I’ve been thinking about a couple of different ideas, and if you’ve learned anything about me by reading this blog, you’ve come to realize that I’m a professional procrastinator. So it wasn’t until tonight – the night before I’m delivering my gift – that I finalized my plan.

For several years now, I’ve been hanging on to this fabulous fish-themed paper.

In fact, it moved from California to Ohio with me, curing, waiting for just the right moment and project. I got it for free, from a fabulous shop called Tuvalu, in Ladera Ranch, California, where they used it to wrap fragile purchases. I can’t recall what I purchased, but I loved the paper and asked if I could purchase some, but they gave me a pretty good length of it for free.

My friend and I both work as editors in our day jobs, and we both love anything with numbers or letters or handwriting. Plus we both love anything nautical or fish-themed. And anything with a hint of antique. This paper has all of that and then some.

It’s just gorgeous paper, but not over-the-top, hit-you-over-the-head theme-y.

Quite perfect, in fact.

So, for her Christmas gift I decided to wrap a canvas with the paper so she can have some new artwork for her new home.

I used a 12 x 24″ canvas that I already had at home.

I used the high-tech technique of gift wrapping the canvas and taping with Scotch tape.

Resulting in a perfect wall hanging!

I have to admit that I did have a moment of Grinchliness, because I loved this wall hanging so much I thought about keeping it for myself. But then I got over my momentary selfishness and decided that it’s the perfect gift for a dear friend! Hope she likes it!

funky zebra table

5 September 2011 by Andrea 2 Comments

Out of the ruins of my daughter’s room came a damaged occasional table…

…the top was ruined with nail polish and who knows what else…ew!

Because the surface was damaged and the laminate was peeled in a couple of places, I was ready to simply throw it out, which didn’t thrill me, because without that table, other pieces of furniture would eventually be used for the very activities that ruined this one.

After thinking on it for a day, I remembered the zebra print Duck brand duct tape my ex-husband gave to me. Eureka! I could cover the tabletop with zebra print duct tape!

(If you don’t have an ex-husband giving you gifts of duct tape, you can get some at Target for about $5.)

Simply apply the tape to the tabletop, slightly overlapping each row of tape.

In less than an hour, the table was repaired, and better than ever!

Isn’t it adorable?

And easy as pie! (Well, actually way easier than pie, since I don’t find pie to be all that easy…)

There may be other pieces in my daughter’s room that may get the duct tape treatment! Stay tuned as the Great Clean Up continues…

beach in a jar

24 April 2011 by Andrea Leave a Comment

A friend of mine bought her first place a couple of months ago, and I recently got the grand tour.

I wanted to give her a little housewarming gift, but I wanted it to be meaningful to her. She has a beachy/cottagey style, and has said that she wants her home to be peaceful and relaxing, just like she’s on vacation. At the beach.

I thought, why not put the beach in a jar?

So, I purchased a glass jar with a lid, some vase filler – also known as sand – and I had a bag of seashells in my basement curing, waiting for just the right craft project.

First I filled the bottom of the jar with sand…

…then layered in the seashells, and voila!

A quick and easy (and inexpensive, yet meaningful) housewarming gift that will look great on a shelf.

(Hope my friend doesn’t read this post before I give her the housewarming gift!)

there’s a bird in my purse – tutorial

2 April 2011 by Andrea Leave a Comment

As you may know, I have a bird problem. So, in the event that you have a bird problem too, I thought I’d show you how to get a bird to nest in a vintage purse.

You will need the following supplies:

Vintage purse
Floral foam
Spanish moss
Floral pins (optional)
Decorative bird’s nest
Decorative bird’s eggs
Decorative bird
A couple of feathers
Hot glue gun

First order of business, find a vintage purse. Check your local Goodwill, thrift store, or garage sale.

Then take some floral foam and cut it to fit inside the purse.

No need to use special tools to cut the foam. Basic scissors will do. And take note…cutting the foam is not a tidy job. You will need to vacuum after this project.

Then insert the foam into the purse.

Next step is to cover the foam with the Spanish moss.

You can secure the moss with floral pins.

Next step is the nest. A nest from a craft store may have wire prongs. Position the nest where you want it in the purse and push the prongs through the moss and into the floral foam. If the nest doesn’t have prongs, you can use floral pins to secure it.

When the nest is secure, hot glue several eggs in the nest.

Place your bird in the nest. Your bird may have wires in the legs. If so, you can use them to secure the bird in the floral foam.

However, if you’re placing your bird in the nest, the wire may be too flimsy to poke through the nest. In that case, clip the wires and hot glue the bird in place in the nest or purse.

If your purse has a pocket, you can hot glue a couple of feathers in the pocket. And voila! A bird has nested in your purse!

I made this purse for my friend Claire, whose house I featured in a recent Road Trip. Since Claire has lots of blue in her house – from sky blue to Tiffany blue – and plenty of red accents, I thought this would be a perfect gift for her (although I did ask her in advance if she was afraid of birds, since some people are, like my sister). The good news is she loved it!

Showing off my bird problem at Funky Junk Interiors and Remodelaholic…

knife-wielding decorator

15 March 2011 by Andrea 4 Comments

Slowly but surely, I’ve been trying to add pops of color and a touch of mod to our family room.

Today, I happened to wander into Pier 1 Imports on my lunch hour. Always dangerous. Fortunately I got out of there with only minor expenditures!

I found 2 of these fun candles with battery-powered mini lights.

Plus, see that red clearance sticker? Only $4.18 each! Can’t beat the price! And they’ll definitely add some color here…

Plus, since they’re battery operated, I won’t burn down the house! What could be wrong with that?

Nothing. Except they’re way too tall. See?

Way out of proportion. Bummer.

No worries. Have knife, will decorate!

Even though they’re battery powered, the candles are still wax. So I figured that if I took a sharp knife to them, I could cut them down to a better size.

Well, it didn’t cut quite as perfectly as I had hoped, but I carefully cut through the other half of the candle, then trimmed it to perfection with a paring knife.

OK, now this looks better…

More proportionate, and the colors are even bolder without as much white at the top.

Looks nice “lit”…

A colorful improvement!

Check back soon for more family room updates!

Showing off this project at the link party at Funky Junk Interiors.