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March 31, 2012

My version of the "spring" wreath

Guess what....it's not a wreath and it's not round. About the only thing that would qualify it as a wreath is it hangs from my front door and it has some flowers on it. I will post a tutorial on how this came together tomorrow. Enjoy tonight!

Wanna see?

A Silver Tray!!

You can even check yourself before you come into my house.



Sneaky peek

I wanted to create a romantic, woodland feel. Do those things even go together? Maybe if you love the Twilight series.



Originally had no bow on the bottom. 


Added another ribbon on the bottom to make it more secure

Is the bow better or the tether? I decided that the bow looked better

silk flowers from my wedding dress train (Those brown spots are not a mistake, these were made that way to make them look "old" and I guess rusty)





Welcome Home


Always being renewed,


Todays Creative Blog

As always, please visit my Link Party Page to see where I submit my projects. Please stop by these hard-working ladies and give them some love!


March 30, 2012

Roadkill Rescue

Just wanted to let you know that tomorrow my tute on the little black side table is being featured on Roadkill Rescue tomorrow! Please make sure you stop by and see it. You should also stop by Beckie's other blogs, (yes she does 3!) Infarrantly Creative and Knock  off Decor. You will be totally inspired and you might just get your awesomeness featured!! Go for it!

Always being renewed,

March 27, 2012

Black Side table tutorial

Realized that I had not done a tutorial on how I added the burlap to the little black side table I rescued. You can also see my tutorial on adding fabric to a table top here. Super easy the only problem is that I hadn't taken any pictures! But I had another table at home that was also a roadside rescue that would look just as great with the same treatment so I worked on it today and here it is!

Before


 After

I used Behr Black Onyx semi-gloss paint to refinish this girl and Rustoleum brass spray paint for the hardware. I had the burlap already.

Here is how I did it using my cute little side table as my model.

You'll need 180 grit sandpaper, paintbrush, painters tape, Mod Podge, and black paint

Take your measurements and cut your burlap to size. Dry fit it on the table.


Once the burlap fits well, put a thick coat of Mod Podge on the table top.

Fold your burlap and starting at the top smooth it down from the middle out and top down.

Those creases will work themselves out and just keep pressing on them as it dries.

Wait until this dries before adding your top coats or your burlap might move. I put on three top coats. Lightly sand in between using 180 grit sandpaper. 

Do not worry about those stray threads until you are all done with your top coats. Then cut them. If you cut them before you have sealed the burlap, it will unravel. 

Now tape your edges and press the inside edge down firmly.


Add your inside rectangle. I just eyeballed this. Press the outside edge down firmly.

Super cute distraction!! How can you resist?!?

Using the same paint as the body of your piece, paint inside the tape.


The reason you do this after the topcoats and not before is because it limits the bleed under the taped edge   


My model table finished! 

My roadside rescue redone






So Recap: Before...

After

What do you think?


Always being renewed,

March 26, 2012

Sunday morning visitor

It's Sunday morning. I am laying on the couch because my son generously shared his common cold with me and I feel lousy. Can't breathe, coughing, feel bad for me yet? The ugly blue bathrobe might push you over the edge into the sympathy realm.

Ding-Dong.

Kids go see who is ringing my doorbell on a Sunday morning at 9:30am after I haven't slept all night. I am not a very christian person when I haven't slept. Ask my husband. He knows all too well.

My son creeps around the corner to tell me it apparently requires my attention because it is a complete stranger.

Meter reading on Sunday mornings? That's just not right.

No. Instead a sweet little middle aged woman is standing there, looking expectantly at me. This lovely woman explained that she just had to stop and could she take a picture of my framed initial that I have hanging beside my door. Shut the front door!...literally, it was cold out, thank goodness I was wearing that robe.


 Really? I felt terrible that I had silently cursed her not 10 seconds ago!

So there I am on the front porch, in my bathrobe, hair wiggin, nose running, casuall  explaining to her how I did it.

Are the buttons glued or sewn on? Just glued.

Did I use cardboard or foam core? Just old cardboard although now I think I need to change it into foam core as I hadn't thought of that. Thanks for the suggestion.


Upholstery tacks? Yes  plain old upholstery tacks and burlap.

Yes, very easy had everything on hand.
No, No, you didn't catch me at a bad time. Thanks so much for stopping.

I should have directed her to my blog and then she could have seen the tutorial on it. Thought of that one too late. Do you think she would think it odd, or desperate, of me to have ran down the street after her with my card?

Always being renewed,

March 22, 2012

Upholsterying your walls

So you want to learn to upholster do ya'? This ain't not furniture upholstery tute. This is for you gals that love fabric so much you want to put it on your walls! I upholstered my entry way for a different reason. I had to! See why here, here, and here . I finally covered the staples so I thought I'd show you how easy it was. I did it without any help if that tells you anything. It might just tell you I am stubborn or crazy or both but after you see how easy it was, you will go for it too.

This is what I had to cover up....

Materials I used: (you will need to calculate your area to figure how much of each to purchase)
level and pencil
high loft batting
6x9 drop cloth  
staple gun 
staples spray adhesive
scissors
hot glue gun
gimp/trim or make your own like I did (in which case you also need a sewing machine)
wood trim for the top ( I used what was already there)
finishing nails
awl

How to:
1. Using the level, draw a line where you want the wood trim to end. You will upholster to just underneath that line


2. Spray your adhesive on the wall and apply your batting just underneath the pencil line. You do not have to go too crazy with the spray. Just enough to get the batting to stick. Cut off the excess batting from the bottom


I had to piece together some of the wall with the excess. I would have also used 2 layers of batting if I was doing this again.

3. Wash, dry, and iron your drop cloth. My 6x9 worked perfectly cut in half.


This is where the photography won't win any awards. I was doing this at night and there is no light in this little entryway so I was using the work spotlight.

4. Starting in the corner near the door frame, staple your finished edge to the wall and then go along the baseboard. Staple close the the edge of the cloth. You will be covered in the cloth and most likely bent over and stapling upside down. It worked that's all I know. Next staple the edge near the door frame. Staple about every 10 inches until  you are sure everything is lining up right. You will fill in when the cloth is tacked all the way to the wall. Now pull the cloth into your first corner and staple the corner tightly.




5. Now go along the next baseboard and then the other corner and the other side near the other wall.  Make sure you pull and staple tightly or you won't get a nice smooth look. Once  you have everything tacked in place smoothly, fill in your staples about every 2 inches. Again, make sure to staple close to the edge of the cloth.


It should look like this when you are done.

Staple the end and THEN cut the excess material off. Save it for later. I used mine to make my edging.

This is the other wall of the entry way.

6. I painted the trim that was already there in the same color as the rest of the wood trim. Then I nailed it in place using the pencil line as my guide. Countersink the nail heads using the awl and a hammer and then fill in with spackle. Touch up those spots with your paint.




Here it is all finished. It took about 1 hour to do the whole thing. The trim to cover took a might longer.

So here is your BOGTT ( Blog one get two tutes!) of the week:
How to make your own gimp/trim to cover those staples.

Material you'll need:
leftover drop cloth material
sewing machine
matching thread

How to:
1. Figure out how much trim you will need. I figured on about 13 yards but only needed 11. Gimp was gonna cost me $15 WITH the 40% discount so that motivated me to get sewin'!

2. Lay out the left over drop cloth or what ever fabric you want to use for trim. Contrasting fabric would also look great. It all depends on the look you are going after.

3. Mark off 1 inch increments equal to the number of yards you'll need. My fabric was over a yard long so I marked off 13. 




4. Now using your level again, mark the lines all the way down the fabric and then cut your strips.




5. Sew all of your strips together at the ends. Line up your fabric edge with the edge of your presser foot and sew, and sew and sew, and sew. You get the picture. Make sure you sew all of the ends together the same way or you will have your seam on the wrong side.


It should look like this.

6. Now fold your fabric like so. Like you fold a letter to go in an envelope. Your outer edges will meet in the middle and just slightly overlap. Sew the entire length of your trim like this. It only took about a half an hour to sew all 13 yards. 

Turn it over and it will look like this. Now you can hot glue it into place



How I turned the corners. I did not cut the piece, I folded it like a miter cut and glued in place.

You have officially upholstered your walls!! Nicely Done!

Cost of this project?
$10 drop cloth
$45 paint ($15 per quart and I used 3 quarts)
$8 batting
----------------------
$62!!!


Not bad for a transformation from this:






To This:

Awe-some!



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