Goal of the Day: Wall sign

I really do love doing projects. My husband informs me I don't know how to relax (and I'm pretty sure he's right...sort of, I don't know how to do nothing, but luckily I find all my craft projects incredibly relaxing) you'd think I would have an enormous amount of crafty items around my house, but surprisingly I don't keep many of them. Most head out to others as gifts (which is great because I don't have the room, or the money to provide store-bought gifts at most occasions- so it's a win-win for me).

So in a secretive plot we shall call...operation incredibly thoughtful gift I wish I had thought of...my older and wiser sister (who coincidentally reads this blog every now and then... hi!) decided she wanted to surprise my parents (who are currently without internet access- so I'm not spoiling it) with a beautiful photo wall with the words from their song in a sign. She had looked at several sources for window-cling like signs and other items, but I had offered to make it as we wanted it to be exactly the words to the song- Anne Murray's Could I have this Dance. We had also discussed colors and what my sister was hoping for. Here's the process I went through and the finished project (did this in about 2 hours total).

First, I bought a sign appropriate stretched canvas (24 x 8) and broke out the rubber cement. I drew with the rubber cement a few dandelion-like poofs to make it kind of fun. Once that dried I painted the entire canvas with a coat of plain water and used water color paints to wash the background in blues, greens and burgundy (though mostly the blues and greens as I thought they looked the best).  When that dried, I rubbed off the rubber cement which left the white poofs on the colorful background.

Next, using the magic of photoshop I selected a font (Edwardian Script always looks nice if you want a fancy sign) and scaled the words to the size I wanted them to be on the sign (yay using that Graphic Design degree away from work too). Then I printed it out, taped together the sheets to cover the area that would be the sign. This is the fun part and the secret part to get a really nice clean looking sign- using a piece of carbon paper (ironically I had been given a piece with a cashier's check the day before) I traced the majority of the type onto the canvas and then free-hand the rest that didn't show up so I would have nice straight lines. It's a bit tricky to see on there...so hopefully you get the idea.
Next I got out my deep brown acrylic paint (I want this to be permanent after all) and filled in the lines (I'm a lefty so I started at the right of the sign and worked my way to the left to be sure I didn't smudge any of the text as I went along- also a little trick I've learned from experience).
Once that was dry I took a picture and Voila! A lovely sign that could pass as store bought, but is much nicer because it can EXACTLY match your decor.

Goal of the Day: The yard sign!

  So, what's more fun than doing a projects for your own house? Doing them for someone else's! So, my parents have had a sign that has been in their front yard for years. It was a metal sign that had a bird bath and several birds perched on it and it had definitely seen some better days. I took it from their house back at Easter (I know that was a heck of a long time ago) and have spent some time here and there sanding off the rust, and fixing the metal to be one whole sign again and then I hit a wall. I didn't have any paints that worked on metal (and I knew I don't do many metal projects so...I wanted something that would work on other items too). Remember when I got really excited about the Martha Stewart new craft paints - this was why. So after the structural integrity of the sign was restored I primed it with the metal primer in the above mentioned Martha Stewart line. It went on nicely (a lot like Gesso (or a really thick acrylic if you haven't used Gesso), but did a great job covering all the metal work and sanding and previous paint to make a completely white 'canvas' to work on (see above picture). Then I set about painting the sign to be a fun little colorful display. (I wanted to add some little elements that would be entertaining for the grandkids (so I put in some fish (which I know would never survive in a bird bath without a water source...but hey, it looks cute), a snail, a monarch butterfly (mom's favorite) and a lady bug) then I did birds that are local to their house (and are colorful so that it would be entertaining to look at too). Check out the finished sign.

Cute right :)

To make it a bit more weather resistant I then sprayed it with two coats of the satin finish enamel spay (also from the Martha Stewart line. I really found the paint to work well, however a word of caution- because this paint works on all surfaces it is particularly unforgiving if you get it on anything. Turns out I had some wet paint on my hand when I sat on the couch and hit one of my new pillows. I got most of it out before it dried, but because it works on fabric...once it's dry. You've got a new color. Definitely put down the newspaper and wear painting togs with this stuff!

The extra long craft project- refinishing the cabinet and some applesauce too

I hope you didn't think I was gone again. Oh no, I've been busily doing the most recent project at my house, but wanted to save all info until I was done. I think I had mentioned sometime about how I work from home and watch my daughter full-time. I have been doing this since about 2 weeks after her birth (the working...the watching started pretty much immediately after) and it makes for a busy, yet fun day now that she is 14 months old! (Where did that time go!) It really is a win-win situation for me, but the one downside (or at least the one I notice) is I rarely leave the house/yard during the week. So, I have been in the same house and practically the same 4 rooms for 14 months. This has gotten a bit old and I got stir-crazy as my 30th birthday approached at the end of September.

before

Well, to deal with the crazies, I determined to update my house a bit. The big piece which I was really nervous about was this larger than life china cabinet.
[backstory: I liked the overall look of this cabinet at an estate sale across the street from my house 5 years ago and had commented to my husband on it was a nice piece -not intending to purchase it because of the price and the lack of need, so you can imagine my surprise when later than evening someone from the sale knocked on my door and asked if I would take it so they wouldn't have to haul it and offered it for the wonderful price of free! (can't beat that!) So, I gained a very functional piece of furniture. However, it was pretty beat up and not quite my favorite style, but it was free, so how could I complain.] Well, I had been reading one of my favorite blogs centsationalgirl and basically everything she does is inspiring so check her out (...as soon as you finish here of course :) ) so it got me thinking, why not update this piece of furniture to be more fun and fix all those dings, scratches and wear to make this less, just there and more me. So I finally got up the courage.

First I removed all the hardware that was removable (that was pretty much the hinges and I was able to remove the glass and copper lattice work from the doors (not a fan of lattice work personally), so that made painting a lot easier. The handles and other details on the drawers were attached very well and I don't hate them so I got out my handy artist brushes to get around those. Next was the fun part...removing the railing!

before railing....without railing, but with arch....without railing and arch!

This was done using a fun the Dremel Multimax tool. This took me about 2 minutes to take off the whole railing and spot sand the area below to make sure it was flush with the bottom. (If you don't own dremel tools I highly recommend all of them- I got the original dremel for a birthday present and this one last year when I needed to remove grout from the floor when we replaced a few tiles and it has saved me hours of work already). After that, I had decided I wanted to remove the arch at the top of the railing because I wanted to put the small stereo up there that used to be on the cabinet I just painted black. That took a bit more effort...there were screws to remove and then it had tongue and groove work, but I was able to break it and get it out. I then filled those holes with a portion of the tongue (after removing the small nails which were causing trouble) and some wood putty. I then drilled three holes in the back for cords to go through. 1 in the back of the top shelf, one in the back of the bottom shelf and one down by the buffet area for cords should I want to put fondue sets or a lamp or something to prevent having to drill later (I made all holes in hidden spots so they aren't really noticeable as well).

boiled down apples

a few jars of the good stuff.

Next we primed...this was hard to do because we were pretty certain once we did it we couldn't go back. I actually did the painting right there in the sitting room while my daughter napped or was in bed for the night so we wouldn't have to try to carry this beast, but that made the project go slowly because we had to paint for an hour and then let it dry enough so she wouldn't get covered in paint when she was up (at least on the bottom portion (she can't reach the top)). And of course, all paint and primer had to dry enough for the next coat to go on well.

So while I waited, I made applesauce from a recent trip to an orchard. I had 1 peck of apples consisting (mostly Jonathons, empires and galas), which I peeled, cut up and cooked down with cinnamon and (shhh my secret ingredient) nutmeg with no added sugar, then I mashed with a potato masher and called it done. They made 6.5 pints of applesauce, so I got it into jars and put it in the freezer for safekeeping. Delicious!
Well, back to the cabinet I guess ;) I did only one coat of paint because I had had the store do tinted primer for me (this prevented bright white primer from showing through in spots that appeared more rustic), but I determined I loved the way it looked after just that first coat. So it went from plain brown to a fun green (remember my front door color...Mother Nature...well I used it here too because it matches the room).

So now I have a lovely cabinet...or at least one I can love for another 14 months or so!

September has been a whirlwind- Project 4- The record player

 So, my husband and I are old souls. We've known this for, well for as long as we've known each other I guess. We have a 1957 ranch for a house complete with a 50s reminiscent kitchen (in black and white check) with a payphone. We both own vintage clothing (as does our daughter (it's sweet to have hand me downs from when you were a baby to dress your little one in). And we enjoy the warmth and popping of records on a record player. Yes, I am talking those vinyl things you see at thrift stores for a dime. Because of this, we obviously had to have a record player to listen to these things on, and as luck would have it, Elliot's parents had a broken one in their basement. So after Elliot showed his skills at fixing record players and getting this one to work (and hooked up to our very modern entertainment center, I started wishing I had said no.  Definitely not because I disliked the sound, but the fake wood tackiness was starting to bother me (as if the cords coming from the TV weren't enough). Almost immediately I began asking Elliot if I could build it a box, repaint the wood, etc until I wore him down. He finally agreed to let it happen. Then all I needed to do was find the right paint.

I decided to go with a craft paint because I didn't feel sanding this down and refinishing it would be possible without tearing up the corners so I used the brand new  Martha Stewart Craft Paint, which if you are wondering is AMAZING! Check out my finished record player. Way classier and much more in line with the more modern fixtures.

Also, just for fun, I took one of Elliot's records that was damaged beyond use to make a clock for the entertainment room. I need to fix the colors (never been a fan of gold) and maybe repaint the label I think (red just doesn't go with anything in that room), but it definitely is a cool clock!

Well, that was a nice little session of blogging and remarkably I am all caught up! Guess I need to go do some crafting so I can post more :)

Update: The new record clock with white hands and a different record (with more coordinating colors for the room). I also replaced the gold numbers with white paint dots as well. (I used the Martha Stewart Craft paint for both the record and the hands painting as it works on all surfaces...so it works great!) Much happier with it.

September has been a whirlwind- Project 3- The glass front cabinet

I have big plans for painting some large furniture in my house because 1) they were free items that have seen better days (where the stain/finish is ruined (hence people got rid of them in the first place), 2) and the woodwork underneath needs patching (which doesn't work with staining, staining wood putty never looks good) so they are getting paint. I had two pieces in my front room that were going to undergo the treatment. The first was a glass front cabinet on which I kept my stereo. This piece had to be fixed first because it had a safety hazard- plate glass panels. This, of course meant my 1 year old thought this was the perfect thing to hit (and because I am a mom, who is sworn to protect her, my first reaction to the hitting was a look of terror, which must have been hilarious to my daughter...so the doors had to go get replaced with tempered glass (this is the stuff used in car windows that brakes into tiny squares instead of razor sharp shards). With the doors off it was time to finally refinish this lovely. (see it above on the left in all it's displaying glory, and on the right with the doors gone and all the goodies removed).

The top of this cabinet had at one time seen some serious water damage and the sides already had some significant wood putty corrections so we sanded it down, and painted it a lovely Satin Black (rustoleum oil-based paint) which looks great! We even realized this cabinet is the perfect size to fit under our bar in the dining room (when we removed the odd feet that didn't match the cabinet anyway) to free up some space in the sitting room for toys and other such items as well as allow for some childproof arranging (we have an open staircase that a couch was against, with my daughter now climbing furniture- that won't fly). Here is the cabinet in it's new home in it's new color. I really think it looks elegant now and when my daughter hits the glass doors I have one less thing to worry about. Ah, sweet refinishing! Pretty good for a first attempt I think.

September has been a whirlwind- Project 2- The Front Door

 In my effort to update my house I finally got around to painting the front door.
First, some background though. When we bought our house it has an interior door (aka hollow) door in the place where the front door should have been, so it was high up on our list of "to replace" and because it is ever so slightly wider than standard (ugh), we had to get a custom door. We selected this gorgeous pre-primed solid steal door that made the living room significantly warmer almost immediately. I love this door and the Charles Renning Macintosh-esque window at the top, but I had never painted it (we got the door in 2005) because I was scared to screw up this beauty.
So now, that I feel ever so much more confident with a house painting brush, and I wanted to update my world as it were, the door was on the list.

We had selected this gorgeous green paint called Mother Nature at Home Depot to paint a china cabinet that I desperately want to update in my sitting room that is also my entry foyer and it was a free piece of furniture that has been, shall we say, loved a bit too much and has some missing pieces in the molding and such that makes it a slight eye-sore to me (having stared at it every day while working at the dining room table probably didn't do it any favors). I already had the paint and realized it would match the stonework outside the front door beautifully. Since it was pre-primed the only thing stopping me was the actual painting so one Saturday morning when I put my daughter down for a nap, I got out the paint and an artist brush (and painted around the window and door knobs and therefore had to finish it. I think it turned out gorgeous and is ever so much more welcoming.
I will have to post a picture of it with my fall wreath on it (yes, I made all my wreaths (actually the one on the white door is my wedding boutique re-purposed). So now all I need to do is fix the cracking concrete issue in front to make it look stellar, but I will settle for a lovely door to start out.
Don't you love the green!

Update: Here it is with the fall wreath!

September has been a whirlwind- Project 1- The Kitchen!

 So to say that I seem to make my own life a bit complicated with my numerous projects is an understatement in most cases, but add in a significant birthday and you get a crazy level of craftiness/DIY from me. I am turning 30 in a few short days and I also have been working from home for over a year with a little girl in the house. I have gotten a bit stir-crazy and was dying for some updates in my house (I'm hoping this isn't a mid-life crisis because I was hoping to live longer than 60 years...but ah well).
After discussing my need for "new" with my husband (and assuring him I intended to only upgrade the house and not the husband) I set about removing the popcorn ceiling from my kitchen/dining room and hallway. This was one of the projects that you just know is going to be messy, so you avoid it. (Here are the before pictures), but I finagled an ingenious (if I do say so myself) tool to assist me. It required a wide putty knife (to do the scraping), a wire coat hanger (bend it out so it looks like a ball on a stick), and then a plastic grocery bag (fashion the bag and the hanger into what looks like a butterfly net). As you spray the ceiling with a lite mist of water (to keep the dust down) you run the putty knife along and catch all the bits in the bag hanging underneath. Remarkably, after I had completed the entire scraping project I only had one dustpan of bits to collect off the floor! Then, on to the refinishing of the ceiling. Luckily, ceilings look good with slight texture so this only required priming to seal the ceiling and then painting with ceiling white.

 So here, I got my husband involved in the  process (as he is significantly taller than I am, so I edged and he painted. Once that was all done, my kitchen looked significantly better, but not as great as I wanted it to. First, I thought the door looked out of place, so it gained a coat of (primmer and three actually) paint too. Better, but still not awesome.  So here, I got my husband involved in the  process (as he is significantly taller than I am, so I edged and he painted. Once that was all done, my kitchen was bright white and black checks and looks better, but now it needed some color. Enter, repainting the walls.

 We selected a bright red called Cranberry Zing (doesn't the color sound delicious too) that happened to match a funky set of picture frames hanging on my cabinetry. ( you can see those frames to the left of the door picture). Now, my kitchen has pizzazz!