DIY Printer's Block Art

(Have you met my favorite vintage owl plate? :)

While this concept is nothing new, I love the idea of creating printer block art for yourself using the letters that you've collected over time, it has so much more meaning I think. I finally got enough letters in my collection to create my own piece of art. Happy, happy, joy, joy.

What you'll need for this project:

Deep frame or shadow box frame

Matting without any openings

Vintage printer block letters

Glue gun

Depending on how large your block letter collection is will determine what size frame you'll need. I used 19 letters and my frame is 20 inches square. I would like to do some smaller ones too, after I do some more collecting.

I went to Hobby Lobby's framing department and had them cut some matting for me without any openings. They do charge for the cuts but luckily the matting itself was on sale, so it wasn't too bad. I used matting because it's nice and firm, anything else would be too flimsy. I think another neat idea would be to use fabric or burlap on the matting if you are not into the modern look. Next, begin working on the composition of the letters, this is not an exact science, just use your eye to get the composition right. I have a combination of big and small wooden blocks and a couple of metal ones, so yours will depend on what you've got. I did some upside down and sideways to keep it interesting. I recommend occasionally laying the frame down on what you've done to make sure it's looking right within the frame. I have had this frame for years and it just so happened to be deep enough to accommodate the letters, but shadow box frames will work too. Once the composition is perfect, begin to glue each letter down on the matting, carefully picking them up and quickly laying them back down making sure nothing shifts. Carefully put the frame back together and it is ready to hang! It ended up being kinda heavy! I hung my new/old piece of art among thrifted plates and photographs....using the vintage letters and the modern frame is like music to me! Here's a bonus project; I found a scalloped plate while thrifting, sprayed it flat black and glued a craft mirror in the center, I love it and super simple! I love how it turned out and is quite the focal point. I am still working on a post specifically focused on creating a gallery wall, so be sure to look for that soon. Thank you for stopping by, I hope you're inspired to create some art!

Whatever Wednesday: DIY Wall Shelf

It always seems like I start every article out with: "While I was at the Goodwill the other day...."
but second hand shopping is my really my favorite, so projects just naturally seem to be produced from some rescue item at my local thrift store. So while I was at the Goodwill the other day, I ran across a pair of curtain rod holders for a whopping dollar. Worth every penny too, nothing precious, just resin, fairly traditional in style.

I zeroed in on them because I have been wanting to add some dimension to my gallery wall above the sofa, and I thought these might do the trick after a little altering, of course. They certainly couldn't hold anything on their own (save a curtain rod, har, har) but I thought that I could beef them up and they might work.

I bought a couple of .99 cent wooden plaques from Hobby Lobby (in the unfinished wood section) to attach to the top of the curtain rod holder.

I sprayed everything in a glossy white, spray painting weather is finally here, Yay! I used gorilla glue to attach the plaques to the top of each curtain rod holder and behold, a perfect little shelf! I'm so easily entertained, aren't I? I thought about using both of them and make one long shelf, but in the end, I think they will be more versatile singly.

Now of course Keegan points out the big hole through each of them, but that doesn't
bother me a bit, does it you? Nah! :)




My curtain rod holder turned shelf is the the perfect size to showcase my coral and adds some dimension to the wall that I needed! Done and done.





What do you think? Will you look at curtain rod holders a little differently? Maybe you already have some old ones you can alter! I hope you are inspired! I am working on an article to show you how I tackle a gallery style photo wall for next week (or maybe the next) and a wonderful new piece of DIY artwork that I can't wait to show you. I will be out of town for the rest of the week so things will be quiet around here until next week. I'm going to take you on a couple more field trips St. Louis style!!!

DIY Paint Technique

Greetings! Are you ready to learn a little DIY paint technique? I couldn't wait to share this with you, it's the first time I've tried this method (with wax paste), so I hope you have successful results like I did. I won't kid you, this technique has a lot of steps, much like the Ball Finial Technique, but totally worth it in the end. Patience is good to have when starting a project like this, but honestly, I used my craft heat gun to speed up the drying processes. :) As I'm sure you know, the craft and hobby stores are packed full of garden accessories and that's where I found these great pedestals. I have no intention of using them outside and after this technique, it's indoor use anyway. They are made of Terra cotta/clay and have a painted finish already, but it's pretty wimpy and I wanted a more of a distressed finish.

Here is what you are going to need:

Garden pedestal (your choice of size and style, these 2 are from Hobby Lobby, 50% off)

Acrylic paint (Burnt Umber and Sandstone) Wax Paste (for furniture)

Sandpaper, fine grit

Chip Brush

Old Towel Spray Sealer

After you've gathered all you supplies, start by painting out the entire pedestal in Burnt Umber. Depending on how detailed your piece is, two coats may be in order to get all the nooks and crannies.

Let your piece dry completely (or use the heat gun). Next, open your wax paste and use an old towel to rub over the pedestal specifically in areas that would naturally have wear. Let the wax dry completely, about an hour (I really waited an hour on this step). I hope you can see the wax in this picture:

Now you are ready to do the top coat of Sandstone acrylic paint. Keep the brush pretty dry, meaning not too much paint, and just hit the surface, leaving some of the burnt umber exposed. Let the top coat dry completely.

Now, using the sandpaper, gently begin sanding on the edges, concentrating on the areas where wear would naturally occur. Because of the wax paste, the top coat sands off really easy and appears to have "chips" out of the paint instead of a sanding appearance, although some of that is present, but it's not a bad thing.

Finally, a burnt umber wash is next. Dilute some burnt umber in a bowl with water and wash over the piece. Let it sit for a minute or two and use a towel to pounce off quite a bit of it, leaving it in the crevices.

I did one side at a time, you don't want it to dry on, just age out the finish a little more.

After everything is dry, give the entire piece a coat of sealer, I like to use flat vs. gloss.

The finished product!

Pedestals can be used for a lot of different things around the house, like under lamps, or bases for cloches, but I wanted to put a couple of my cylinder vases (that you've seen a kagillion times :) up on them for hurricanes.

I put a little sand (to catch the wax and level out the candle) and a little moss for a little springiness

It makes quite a dramatic statement, I loved it instantly, I hope you can see how big it is (about 20" tall). I think I want to do a smaller one too, I have smaller glass vases that would look great as well, and I'm thinking on the mantle would look great. I hope you give this technique a try, I know you'll love it! Thanks for stopping by, I hope you're inspired!

DIY Christmas Tree Planter

I have always wanted to create a Christmas tree planter. I love how neat and tidy it makes a tree look, a little unexpected, and of course, options are limitless. I've never done it, but this year, I decided to do it. Not to mention that the stand that comes with the tree that I've used every other year, had a missing leg. What happened to it? I have no idea. Yeah, yeah, I heard the " What are you going to do with that?" and "Why don't you just go get another stand?", but I had a vision that was going to come to fruition, so I ignored all of the non-believers in my household and got to work. This was one of the easiest projects I've done, but it was a little bit of an investment, but how it turned out made me feel all better.

What I used:

Large Terracotta pot

Manila roping (3 bags/rolls)

plastic utility bucket

50 lb. bag of concrete

Hot glue gun

jig saw

strong back

I put the pot up on the kitchen counter to make it easy to work with.

Starting from the bottom, I began gluing on the rope, keeping it nice and tight. I just glued randomly, every few rows or so.

Eventually, I made it to the top, beware of aching wrist though!

Initially, I though that I would put the concrete in the pot itself, but I like how it turned out so well that I certainly thought that I could use it elsewhere, not just for Christmas. So I bought one of those utility buckets and it fit perfectly in the bottom of the pot, I was so happy, but it was too tall. So I used the jig saw to cut off the top, which worked like a charm, and got the bucket down to the right height. I did it right in the house too, it took like three minutes and just a little plastic clean up.

This project took and entire 50 pound bag of concrete, I mixed it up right in the bucket, and stuck the legless tree stand, with pole, right into the mixture.

I let it cure over night, and I was really happy with how it turned out. I put the tree together (it's one of those hook on styles) and had a better looking tree than what I started with!

It makes my artificial tree look a little more real!

Now it's time to trim the tree!

I hope you are inspired to try your own Christmas tree planter!

Thanks for reading! I've gotten my mantle decorated, and will be showing you that tomorrow, see you then!