Emerald Green Garden Stool

 I couldn't believe my luck while perusing Goodwill several weeks ago, I happened upon a pretty little garden stool. A garden stool has always been on my want list, but some of the prices of them are cray-cray...so I practically ran when I spied this one.

 It wasn't the color I would have chosen, but if you are here reading, you know of my love of spray paint-heck, your love of spray paint-we have that in common I'm sure. I liked the unique style as well, so no chips or cracks and this baby came home with me.

 As with EVERYTHING I spray paint...clean metal primer is what I use as a base. I let it cure overnight.

 This botanical canvas from Ikea became my inspiration as soon as I hung it, so my color choice was pretty easy.

I used 'Meadow Green' from Rustoleum and I really liked the finish. I typically use Krylon, but I decided to try something new this time. I barely used the whole can even with the three coats it took for total coverage.

 Once it was totally cured (it's sooo important to be patient with the painting process) I brought it inside to use as a little accent table next to our charcoal chair.

 I did some foo-fooing, of course, but in reality, it will remain empty to actually be used.

 I love, love, love how it turned out and really excited how the bold green is looking.

 As you know, Emerald is the color of the year for 2013 and leave it to me to wait until practically the end of the year to incorporate it! Have you used Emerald some way in your home?

I will be sharing my Fall Mantel with you tomorrow, see you then!

DIY Starfish Art

Since Summer is quickly approaching, this project would be a great way to add a beachy feel to your decor. A really easy technique that can be accomplished with any variety of starfish and of course any size frame. Also, I chose burlap for the background, but you could use any cloth you like.

This frame was a steal at the thrift store and I grabbed it up because 1.) It is a great size, 2.) Came with matting, and 3.) Has a great paintable frame in a style I like.

I found this bad of starfish at TJ Maxx and I grabbed it up thinking I would use them for bowl fillers, but then this art project came to mind-luckily, they was enough left over to do both.

First, I spray painted the frame in a glossy black, then proceeded to do a dry run with the starfish. Keep in mind to use starfish close in size for a nice uniform look.

I decided to use burlap in the background, so after finding the perfect starfish, I used Mod Podge to adhere the burlap to the foam core that came with the frame. You can also use spray adhesive......

...just remember to cut your cloth bigger than the matting.

Finally, with a glue gun, glue down the starfish. It will depend on the size frame you find or have, but 6 is what I used and it wasn't too crowded. I tucked a couple of vintage postcards under the matting, but you can use pictures, or leave it without...since the glass isn't there, why not stick some extra memorabilia in there! Completely optional.

I figure I will use the glass in a different project, the glass that came in the frame isn't used with this project-unless you use a shadow box style frame, which would look great too.

Such an easy project! You can have this done under an hour...depending on the spray paint you use. ;)

I am getting chemo this morning, so I will talk to you much later. Hope you will give this project a try! Happy Summer!

More Before and Afters, The Power of Paint

I have been neglecting the blog a little, but since the booth is up and running, I hope to get things on track again (hopefully!) I've gotten my skirted desk in the works and continuing in the bedroom so be looking for that soon.

I wanted to share a few more projects that really show the power of paint and I hope it inspires you!

As you all know, I love a good lamp....so while the color on this one is far from my choice, it has a fantastic shape. I liked the gold base, so I masked it all off, including the cord and went to town with spray paint. Clean metal primer strikes again, I started with that first....then on with the paint.

Didn't she turn out fab? I've been cheating on Blue Ocean Breeze (Krylon) with Exotic Sea (Valspar). Shame on me. :) Exotic Sea is one of the great colors in spray paint at Lowe's. If we had been going into Spring, I might have chosen Ocean Breeze....but this deeper, richer (and exotic:) color is great going into Fall. New fluted lamp shade, I usually go for drum shades, but it just didn't work for this lamp.

Next, a couple of the dressers we repainted....sorry the pictures aren't straight shots, I wasn't thinking about proper 'afters'.

This baby dresser was actually Keegan's, I bought it before he was born for his nursery. It's not very big at all. Later, when Keegan was going through his Spiderman phase, I let him chose the paint color...red and black. Lord.

I've already started sanding here:

After, I've turned it back into a baby dresser with a gender neutral green with sweet little painted knobs. Sorry, not a full on pic.
(Lettuce Alone from Olympic.)

This dresser was another one of Mom's, actually really well made and solid wood. A deep top drawer and three standard, really great size too. Someone had done a horrific faux treatment on it. I don't mind faux, but this was a bad job. Also, it didn't match the style of the dresser either....the handles are clearly art deco in style, which just does not go with faux. Bad, bad faux.

Here are the original handles that I kept. They were looking their age, so I freshen them up with rub-n-buff (antique gold). That stuff is awesome.

I painted it glossy white and did a bold stripe in green. Again sorry, I should have moved that tapestry....I love the handles against that green! (Asparagus from Olympic) Now, I think she is showing her true colors!

I couldn't resist adding this picture (or on my new fall banner)! A colorful friend hanging out while painting, luckily he landed on dry paint! Can a grasshopper be pretty? :) He looks great on blue.....

The weather has really wonderful here, it's really got me in the mood for Fall! Can you believe Summer is over?

How I Did The Chairs

Well thank you all for all the loverly comments on the new-to-me chair transformations, they are already a great help to our family, I didn't even realize how much we needed them! I wanted to get into the deets of how I did them. For the primer, I used Rustoleum Clean Metal primer. Yes, you read that right...primer for metal. Why? Just cuz. No. I'm kidding....I discovered metal primer covers all sorts of slick surfaces from ceramics to well, chairs. It covers like a dream. You'll see. I get it at Walmart and it will be next to the 'Rusty Metal' primer, don't get that, get 'Clean Metal' primer, it's white. For the paint I used Valspar Gloss white. Have you seen that Valspar has a line of spray paints at Lowe's now? It's not a super new thing, I just think it makes sense, I use the Valspar line of paints often and now I like the spray paint too. I'm glad they've dabbled in the spray paint realm. If you are a spray paint fanatic like me, go check out all the different colors.

I considered buying a paint sprayer, but honestly, I just don't paint enough furniture to justify the expense. I did invest in a spray paint handle though, this baby is a gem! It was practically like using a sprayer! This really saved my hands, I think it was under three dollars. I highly recommend grabbing one.

Now typically I'm a Krylon girl, all the way, but this is a little different than spraying my latest knick knack. These are chairs that will be used, moved, hit, scraped, kicked, knocked over, dragged, jumped in, etc, because I live with a bunch of heathens boys. They are rough on furniture, especially that little one. I have used the Valspar spray paint before and noticed that the finish seems thicker, for lack of better word. It says that it is quick drying, I have to disagree with that....compared to Krylon, it took twice as long to dry. But that's ok, in my opinion, I traded dry time for durability. Oh, and look at the shine. That's what I was after. It says it has the 'perfect finish', I do agree with that.

On to the seats. The foam on the existing seats were pretty wimpy so I wanted to add some foam to beef the seats up. I bought the foam at Hobby Lobby, but I saw it at Walmart as well. I bought the 1" roll of foam and cut it out using the wood as a template.

I used linen to cover the seats in an oatmeal color. It's neutral but has lots of personality with texture. The only real challenge is making sure it is straight, but it wasn't too bad. I used the original fabric as a pattern and used a staple gun to attach. The corners were a bear...I tried to get them as neat and straight as I could and stapled a lot.

The piping, for me, made this project really special. I use a lot of green and when I found this fabric, I was really excited to figure out how to incorporate it with the chairs.
However, out of everything....this was my problem area. See, I'm not a seamstress. There is a reason why the word STRESS is in the word seamstress, because it can be stressful!

At first, I cut the green fabric on the bias. After doing some research I found that fabric goes around corners better if it is cut on the bias, so that's what I did. Plus, I thought the weave of the linen would be contrasted beautifully if the piping was biased. So I cut all my fabric, joined all the ends together, and proceeded to sew the piping.

Problem. The fabric kept twisting...it wasn't smooth, and was not tight around the piping. I was sick to my stomach not to mention mad. I did some more research. Found out that I should be using a piping foot on my machine. Along with doing research, I emailed Suzanne. She suggested that I might be pulling and stretching the fabric while sewing, causing it to twist. Well, I didn't want to invest in a piping foot (30.00) for a little bit of piping for six chairs. SO. I decided to re cut all the fabric NOT on the bias. Don't worry, I've come up with an idea to use up all of the fabric I didn't use...So here is how I sewed the piping, not on the bias, and with a zipper foot. :)
Cut 2 1/2-3" of fabric:

Fold piping into the center of the fabric and slip under zipper foot:

I found that letting it sew a little on the angle got it tight enough. With the fabric just cut (not on the bias) there was no stretching and the fabric didn't twist.

To attach the piping to the seat, I used the staple gun, right over the linen. I started at the back and stapled around. I used my hand to feel the edges and flipped it over every so often to make sure it was looking good.






And look at this, the corners turned just fine! The bias cut wasn't even needed anyway! Although, I am trying to stop being so anal about the piping weave and the linen weave not contrasting like I wanted...I know no one would have noticed but me! :)

It turned out great and I love how it gave it a really finished look, and of course a great pop of color.

I was concerned about getting the piping to fit around the arms on the captains chairs, but it was completely fine! I just had to push it down a little bit and it looks really natural.

The groove in the wood looks like it wanted some piping! :)

Thanks so much for stopping by! If you have any additional questions, let me know in the comments.



6 Chairs...........Goodwill
Spray Primer.......Walmart
Spray Paint...........Lowe's
Spray Paint Handle...............Lowe's
Cotton cording for piping......Walmart from Wrights

Foam..............Hobby Lobby
Linen..........Fabric.com (click HERE)
Green Fabric...........Walmart



Did you miss the 'Before' pictures? Click HERE.

Wanna see a video on creating piping with a piping foot? Click HERE.

Dandy Chandy

Since the remainder of the fabric for my chairs has yet to arrive, I thought that I would makeover the chandy that I recently bought for the master bedroom. Let's start another project while we're waiting right? :) This isn't necessarily the most dramatic chandy makeover, but the added drama to the room is what I was after. And I do like a big chandy. I liked what I had up there before, it just wasn't big enough. I Justin will be hanging it in the walk in closet. You can catch a glimpse of it HERE.

I found this baby at the Goodwill for a steal....great piece, just not in my favorite finish. I looked past the shiny brass and knew it was the shape and size I was looking for.

I wanted something big, dramatic, and lantern-ish. It's definitely big, 30" long by 17" wide. This would not have worked had it not been for the tray ceiling in the bedroom.

On to painting. There are a lot of different ways to use spray paint and here is what I find works best for me. I always, always, always prime, especially metal. I use clean metal primer and it covers like a dream. I like to leave it over night to really cure, by the next day, the surface is ready to accept paint. For spray paint, I typically use Krylon, in this case I used glossy black. I find that I use less paint when I prime, not to mention a much more durable finish. Again, I like to let the paint cure another night. After lots and lots of spray painting projects, this is what works for me.

I chose to mask off the glass instead of taking it out. I was afraid I wasn't going to get the chandy put back together right, so I masked. Here is a tip: Once I had unscrewed the little triangle screw caps and taken out the lighting part, I screwed them back on. Not only does this make it easier to prime and paint, it protected the threads from getting sprayed.



Goodbye brass, hello black! I primed, I painted, I happy! :)

My guys hanging the chandy, don't they look so happy about doing it! Ha! I don't remember what they were talking about, but I'm sure it wasn't about being happy hanging this heavy thing!

It works! I had this vague fear that after all the work I put in it (and the work in hanging it) that it was at the Goodwill because it didn't work. Luckily, that fear was unproven! Shew!

I cleaned it all up and it looks fantastic in the room. One other step that I did, which was hard to photograph. I used Rub-N-Buff (in antique gold) on the little triangle screw caps. It was really a great detail that talked back to the other gold in the room.
You might ask yourself why didn't I just leave them the original brass, well I wanted them to be antique gold and wanted some of the black showing through. It's really a detail that isn't noticed right away, but I think it helped it stand apart from just a standard black paint job.



I think it was worth all the effort!

If you've got one, I hope you are inspired to paint that brassy chandy!

The bedroom is coming along, I can't wait to show you everything that's been done, and see how far it's come (and see what will still need to be done :)! Here's a little sneaky peaky!