The Secretly Awesome Crafter Protection Program (SACP²)

If you visited my blog yesterday then you saw that I featured my friend "C" who did some super crafty/DIY things in her house. BUT she is not a blogger and has no desire to become a blogger but it got me thinkin'....and we all know how dangerous that can turn out to be.....there are people out there who do not blog but I know are creative but they have no desire or time to show others and inspire others. 

So everyone you don't have to be a blogger to have talent! We all have secret talents that are worth having someone shout about. And I love to shout so if you do something but don't have a platform like a blog to post ad tell others about it..... 

Friendly Features

Can you believe I got another cold!! I am sure I am coughing so much there is a germ attached to each letter that I type! So don't touch your screen! But what do ya' think of my new look??? While in bed yesterday I figured I might as well try to learn how to make a custom banner/header. It only took me all day. But at least I can check that off of the  Spiffing Up  the Blog List.

Anyway, while I am sitting here letting my Teeny Tess watch boatloads of TV as I crawl out of the mountain of tissues surrounding me, I thought I'd highlight some things today.

I had the coolest thing happen to me about 3 weeks ago. I had another blogger email me to share a piece of furniture that she had re-done using my reverse stencil technique.

Trashy Tables

I have been working on a few tables for the shop. I am loving how they turned out!

First up are a set of tables that I had around the house taking up space. They were fake "verdigris" and the finish was flaking off of the wood tops. I painted the bottoms in homemade antique white chalk paint. So far love.

 I then sanded the rest of the flakiness off and I was just going to stain and reattach. I apparently did a great job on one and sanded a bit too far on the other because when I stained them.....one looked great and the other looked splotchy. To try to save them I thought I might stamp them.

I did like the stamping but they did not go with the table bottoms. So now what?

I grabbed my tin snips and made them into planters!

I took chicken wire and made a basket and attached it to the frame with more wire. Then I layered moss in between the chicken wire frame and the frame of the table and hot glued more around the top.

I distressed everything pretty well and then added my one and only plant that is still alive.

You could fill it up with potted plants or seasonal items, like gourds and pumpkins. They are in the shop waiting for a good home. Let me know if you want them!

Next came a table that I am not sure I am going to be able to sell. No, it's not weird...it's delicious and so much so I may have to keep it. I styled the photos in my living room and it looks way too good there! 

I found this gem on Trash day on the way to work. It is pretty sad when I leave early for work specifically to hunt for trash around the burg on Tuesday mornings! oh, I am so glad I did. Picture me doing a donut in the middle of the road just to get back to see if it was as glorious as I had imagined driving by the first time. 

Actually the donut wasn't all that impressive considering I was only going about 20 MPH. That would make it a U-turn, and frankly, that just does not sound as exciting as me making a full fledged 60 MPH donut for the sake of junk!

What do you do with free junk? Add more free junk to the top of it! Free Pallets fit the bill.

 I did purchase the belts for $6.00. So yes, you can have an awesome, junkified, but classy coffee table for $6.00. That would amount to be one huge real Donut from Dunkin'! And I would do a real 60 MPH donut to get one of those babies! But forget the pastry.....let's get back on the road to my wood table

I staggered the wood instead of making it all straight and normal like I had done on my farmhouse table. It just said to do it and I always listen to my furniture. I also do not seal the wood as it will change the color and I like the ashy gray. I do give it a light sand to take off the rough edges and that is it.

I wanted to show you how I attached the pallet boards to the legs. So do you see the yellow wood slats peeking out from the bottom of the pallet wood? If you notice in the first picture of the legs sans wood, you will see that each curl has a hole. I laid the legs on top of the wood and attached them with 1.5" wood screws and then laid the whole deal on top of the pallet wood pieces upside down. Once I had them how I wanted them, I screwed each pallet piece to the boards. 

Then Tess and I made a trip to the Thrift and got us some belts! I choose the woven kind because I thought holes might be too hard to make work and I didn't want to have to add holes to make it tight and make it look like I added holes to make it tight. 

Woven worked like a charm.

While it is upside down, cut your belt how you want it, and use 3/4" nails to attach the belt to the back. I used 4 nails per side as I did not want the belt to unravel so I nailed each braided section individually.

Now the hard part....parting with it. Doesn't it look nice in my Living Room!

You can keep it simple and put your treasures right on top .......

or add some metal to take the look into even more of an industrial country vibe.

Either way Junk Rocks.....

and so do 20 MPH donuts!

Always being renewed,

Please see the link party page to see where I link arms with those blissfully beautiful bloggers that host every week. So gracious they are along with these other sweet ladies!      

 

 

Shade Slipcover

Now that you made your lamps and shades, it is time to add another layer of fun!
I wanted to be able to change up the look of the lamps so I decided to make a shade slipcover.
You will love how easy this is and how you can whip it on and off in mere seconds. You will feel like a decorating superhero  but without the the phone booth or the annoying tights!

I love the modern look of the dry erase poster board but what do you think of the drop cloth slipcovers?

This is something that you could make for each holiday, season or week...depending on how ADD you are.

I used left over drop cloth, hooks and eyes, and some covered buttons to make my slipcover.  

My shades are 11 inches wide so I cut my drop cloth 12 inches wide and then washed it so it would fray.  If you do not want frayed ends, still cut it 1" wider but hem it. I would use iron on Stitch Witchery so that it lays flatter than sewing it in place. Iron it and then wrap it around your shade.

Clip it in place and mark where you want the overlap to be on the top and the bottom.

Since drop cloth can be used on either side it will not matter which side you mark. If you use regular fabric mark it on the wrong side so it doesn't show on the finished product.

Lay it out like so on a flat surface

Fold over the the other end to just cover the opposite end

Now I made my covered buttons, see here for a full tutorial. You might like two buttons per shade....

I thought three looked tidier

I used an adjustable hook and eye for the top and a regular one for the bottom. You can add one in the middle if you like. I sewed the eyes in place because they would be underneath the overage. I hot glued the hooks in place after I repinned to make sure of exact placement. It is pretty hard to stitch and not have the stitches show.

Place on your shade and turn it on.....

Remember you can see everything once the light is on?  Take off the slipcover and trim back the bottom portion. You can also fray the end that has the buttons on it if you like. I liked so I frayed.

Whip it back onto your shade. Personally, I love the frayed edges and the buttons.

Now give your tights a snap or someone close to you who won't mind..... 

Always being renewed,

Please see the link party page to see where I link arms with those blissfully beautiful bloggers that host every week. So gracious they are along with these other sweet ladies!