Monday, September 30, 2013

Halloween Dollar Store DIY


This is my first installment of the Dollar Store Challenge, Halloween Style!

The Dollar Store (Dollar Tree in my case) is a treasure trove of inexpensive DIY goodness, including Halloween decorations!!!

Check out what I created for 10$ (plus some black glossy spray paint):


I purchased all of these adorable mini pumpkins at the dollar store along with a box of 100 silver thumbtacks which I used to create this classy typographic display.

First, I had to spray my pumpkins black. (I had this glossy black paint on hand. I used Rustoleum brand glossy black spray paint from Home Depot, $3.87)

9$ for 9 pumpkins for the 9 letters in "Halloween"

Then all that was left to do was spell out my word. I choose to spell "Halloween" because I knew I wanted to place these on my extra long TV stand. For smaller spaces you could use some other Halloweeny words like "BOO", "SCARY", "SPOOKY", etc, etc!! (less letters would also reduce your pumpkin cost!)

I did not trace out my letters first, instead I just winged it, and it turned out fine, but if you don't trust your lettering skills you could always outline in pencil first. 

And that's it! Soooo simple! Making these took me about 30 mins start to finish (minus drying time of course!)

Originally I planned on using all tall pumpkins, BUT my dollar store only had 6 tall ones, so I had to get 3 of the shorter, fatter ones! And I am so glad I did, I love the staggered look it creates! 

Close-up

Some Halloween-style editing :)



Thanks for stopping by!

-Liz :)


Thursday, September 26, 2013

DIY Mosaic Stool




I have had this previously shabby, and now 100% CHIC vintage stool for over 2 years, so it was def time for it to get some TLC!!

Over the years this stool has taken a beating! It has been my go-to piece for every random job I could think of, serving as a plant stand, a spray-painting station, and basically just a catch-all for whatever random item I wished to display. BUT, when I originally purchased the stool I loved the adorable legs and had every intention to upcycle it! So I think this little stool has definitely earned it's makeover!!

First, I sprayed everything but the top a lovely olivey green!

Then I started sanding!! I had to sand down the top to have an even, clean surface to adhere my tiles. Check out all of the layers of paint!:


BUT wait! I skipped the best part...

Making the tiles!!! 

Mosaic tiles can get expensive quick, even for a small area like this so, I decided to go a different route and make my own using...


SUPER CHEAP THRIFT STORE PLATES! YAYY!

As you can see I got most of these plates for a mere $0.50! This isn't all the plates I used, there were about 3 others I also used ($0.50 each), bringing my grand total for tiles to $5.00! 

Now comes the fun part... Smashing Plates! 

I smashed my plates by sandwiching them in an old bath mat and smacking with a hammer! I have seen other methods online including throwing a pillowcase full of plates off a balcony! Just remember to be safe!!


After making my tiles, the next step was to glue them in place! You could prearrange them before glueing if you have a certain pattern in mind; I did not so I did it on the fly and started glueing! 

I used this clear tile adhesive I got at Michaels, that works pretty much like glue:


Almost done glueing!


After all the tiles were glued I let it dry overnight as the bottle instructed!

Last step is the grout!! After a mishap with some unmixed grout I bought at Home Depot (I might have misread where the fill line was and added twice as much water as I was supposed to... oops!!!), I splurged for the pre-mixed kind:

about $12 at Home Depot


Pre-mixed grout is ready to use, so with the help of my Dad :), Thanks Dad!, we got to it! After the whole top was grouted we removed the excess and let it dry for about an hour. Then I came back with a big yellow sponge (also from the tiling section at home depot) and cleaned the remaining grout of the tiles. After 24 hours, the grout to fully set and my stool was ready to use!

Check it out:

My plant is in a small Delft Planter I got at Goodwill :)


Close-up :)



This is the newest edition to my patio garden and I absolutely Love how it turned out! The broken plates are the perfect alternative to store bought mosaics, and they have so much more character :)


Thanks for stopping by!

-Liz :)

Tuesday, September 24, 2013

DIY Vase Gem Jewelry


Introducing...

The Dollar Store Challenge!!! 

This is a new segment, I am introducing to my blog because of my new found OBSESSION with the dollar store (I usually shop at my local Dollar Tree). I mean what is better than walking in a store and knowing that everything costs a mere dollar??!!!

The Dollar Store is a gold-mine of DIY and crafting inspiration/supplies, and recently perusing the aisles for potential projects has become one of my favorite pass-times!

So, on every post where my lovely "Dollar Store Challenge" logo appears (above), the majority (if not all) of the materials used in that project were purchased at the dollar store!!


For my first $ Project...

Drumroll Please...




If you are not familiar with them, vase gems are just that, small glass gems that are meant to be used in vases for decorative filler! But why limit their use to filler, when they can be used for so much more, like DIY jewelry!!

In essence, the vase gems are being used as replacement glass cabochons, which usually cost about $0.50 each (I know not a lot, BUT at the dollar store you can get a bag of about 50 vase gems for $1!) Also cabochons are not readily available at craft stores and usually need to be ordered from an online supplier.


First, I made a number of cabochons:


I used a few different techniques to make these cabs, but the sky is the limit! 

Nail-Polish: 
The top gem in the pic above was made by painting the back with two kinds of nail polish! 

Decorative Paper:
The music note gem was made by adhering the gem to a piece of patterned card stock with clear jewelry glue (see below). 




Once dry, I cut out around the gem and then sealed the back with Mod Podge to protect it! 

Glitter:
These are my Favs!! They are so easy! First dip the back of the gems into regular Elmer's glue and then sprinkle on glitter to completely cover the back. After they are dry, seal over the glitter with Mod Podge! 




Next, fashion your gems into jewelry. As you can see above I made a necklace, a ring and a pair of blue glittery earrings! 

Necklace:
To make my necklace, I used lettered cardstock and glued my gem over just the upper and lower-case E (for Elizabeth!) 

 Then I glued a flat-back loop to the back (available at Michaels) and attached a chain I already had.


:)

Ring:

For my ring I used a gold glitter gem and glued it onto a broken ring I had. 


Great way to reuse broken jewelry! You can also purchase ring blanks off of etsy or an online jewelry supplier.


Earrings: 

For the earrings, I again used glitter gems (I love this glitter!) and glued on blank studs (Michaels)! Blank studs and backs are very affordable and each package comes with about 50 of each!



I love how this jewelry came out! And the possibilities really are endless! They can be totally customized with any material or design!


 More ideas:
- Print a custom design!
- Use old maps, or book pages
- Use material or even experiment with lace!
- Try painting on a design
- Use colored gems for a funkier look! 
- Personalize with family photos

ETC, ETC! 

I can't wait to make more of these!! 

Thanks for stopping by!

-Liz :)




Monday, September 16, 2013

Placemat Crafts

I am always on the look-out for unique crafting materials so when I came across two packages of vintage placemats at a thrift store I knew it was a major score!

Here are just a few of them:


Some of them are your standard restaurant placemats with floral borders, but many are actually pretty cool! As you can see from the picture above, there are ones showing different kinds of seashells, flowers, and leaves, one showing patterns of bird migration, one depicting the solar system and another with about 20 optical illusions! And the graphics are awesome!

So I started brainstorming inventive ways to use them. So far I have thought of two (I think pretty awesome) ways...

First 

A Placemat Tray!!

This placemat features recipes for some common cocktails. Perfect for a tray!


I used a wooden tray from Michaels that I sprayed black, and then Mod Podged the placemat onto the bottom! 
Second

Placemat Notebooks!!


Back Covers!

I used super cheap composition notebooks from target for this project, total cost: $4! I simply Mod Podged the placemats onto the front and back covers and secured them on the inside of the covers like so: 



More Pics :)


I used a placemat with an Asian-inspired scene for this mini composition notebook. This is going to be a birthday gift for my Mom :)
Another mini notebook done with a leaf identification placemat!  
Full-sized Comp. Notebook with a North American Birds placemat
I made this one for my boyfriend using a Florida map placemat!

I still have a ton of these placemats left, so I'm sure I will find some other ways to use them soon! 


Thanks for stopping by!


-Liz :)



Thursday, September 12, 2013

Easy DIY Lampshade



Believe it or not, I made this lampshade with only a stencil and a blue marker! 

I needed a new lampshade for an Ikea floor lamp that we just moved into our living room from our screened-in patio (the old one was paper and it was filthy from being outside!) So, I went shopping! First I checked out targets website and found a number of graphic lampshades that I loved, but when I got to the store I was disappointed to see none of the shades I loved online :(. I didn't want to go through the process of ordering online, paying for shipping, etc. for a lampshade, so it was time for plan b! I grabbed a large white shade ($20) and took it home to brainstorm! 

I knew I wanted some kind of geometric pattern, so I went straight to my stencils and pulled out this star pattern. The actual stencil has 5 stars in a square shape, but instead of just stenciling the whole shade I randomly placed my stencil and only colored in parts of the stencil (3-4 stars). To color in my stencil I used this blue marker from Recollections:

This is a blue opaque marker from Recollections that I got at Michaels.

I continued moving my stencil around the shade until I was satisfied with how it looked! 

Note: I used a LINEN shade, and although the marker did bleed a little it isn't enough to be noticeable. DO NOT use a SILK shade for this it will definitely bleed. Or you could use a paint pen or sponge on paint to avoid this! 



Close-up!

This lamp stands in my entry way right next to my sewing machine-entry table and my awesome new turquoise mirror from HomeGoods! 

Looks great on too!! 


And that's it! This took me about 20 mins total! 



Thanks for stopping by!

-Liz :)

Tuesday, September 10, 2013

Flower Box Upcycle



As promised, I wanted to share this before and after of a vintage flower box I picked up at an antique store for $8!

The columns are what attracted me to this planter, but unfortunately they were in terrible shape with pieces literally crumbling off :(

So I had to get creative when restoring it! As you can see in the before picture, the red paint was falling off, so my first task was getting all the old paint off. I removed all of the columns (which were each attached by just 1 giant nail!) and then took a hand sander to the box. After a considerable amount of sanding I finally had all the paint off.

I went through a couple ideas of how to refinish this box. Originally I was going to spray the whole thing, but I didn't want to give up the vintage feel completely. Then I decided to try staining it since I had already done the work to get all of the old finish off :). So I brushed on a coat of red mahogany! It didn't look bad but it didn't "Pop" like I wanted it too.

Thats when I decided to try a technique I had used before to give it a rustic "weathered" look. This is so simple to do! I brushed on a coat of paint and then used a sanding block to "rough it up". I used a white paint with a hint of blue (I know you can't really seen the blue!) and then I sprayed the only intact columns with a dark gray to contrast the white box.

More Pics!!


I planted Zinnias, Aster, and Mexican Heather  :)

To label my flowers I used pieces of clear and green sea glass I bought at Micheals and wrote the flower names on with a sharpie :)

I love giving old items new life, like this planter! 

Thanks for stopping by!

Liz :)

Friday, September 6, 2013

Upcycled Printer's Tray



It all started with the printer's tray! I found this awesome old tray about 6 months ago on a family vacation to Branson, MO!! (Branson is amazing for antiquing! There are a number of "flea markets" downtown with hundreds of dealers in each! Mom and I were in heaven, Dad not so much!) Being from an antique store, I paid retail for it at $38, BUT totally worth it! I had been eyeing these up on etsy for awhile, so when I saw it I couldn't pass it up!!

This is a Hamilton tray manufactured in Two Rivers, WI (another reason I couldn't pass it up!!
Love the old handle!

As with many antiques this tray was VERY dusty. It took about an hour with a toothbrush and a razor blade to get all the dust and dirt out of each cubby! 

I knew I wanted to use this to display trinkets, because I have what can only be referred to as a "trinket surplus". One day after coming home from flea market while unpacking my new finds, my boyfriend walked by and after one look at my new display, dubbed me "Queen of the Trinkets"! But I like my trinkets and I knew he would too once I displayed them properly! 

Although this tray is beautiful as is, I wanted to break up the wood a little and give it a modern touch with some color and pattern. This is where I struggled a bit. I considered decoupaging craft paper or fabric or even busting out the washi tape, but then while reading an DIY magazine one day I found my answer... 


If you haven't already discovered this website, you must check it out (www.chicshelfpaper.com)! Chic shelf paper is just that, its contact paper taken up a notch, with awesome patterns for every style. AND best of all they offer free samples! The first 4 samples are free and every one after that is $1! It just so happened that the sample size was just enough for this project so I kind of took advantage of this and the shelf paper only cost me $2! (Don't worry I plan to order much more, for a number of drawers that need lining!) 

I got 6 different patterns:

I chose a combo of traditional and retro patterns to compliment my retro/modern living room! 

 I measured the cubbies with a flexible measuring tape and then cut the shelf paper to size with a paper cutter

Before trinkets!


Some of my trinkets include (from left to right): An occupied Japan shoe shine figurine, old cracker jack toys (plastic animals), old stamps, an old cast iron toy soldier, a vintage pill box, old car, miniature globe, and two vintage bottles on top!

Since I live in an apartment, I decided to lean the tray on a shelf rather than trying to hang it and risk major wall damage. 



I think this project turned out great! Now I can display all my tiny treasures, in clutter-free, boyfriend approved way!


Thanks for stopping by!

Liz :)