Day 26: Mod Podge Picture Frame

I have a lot of photo frames.  Sadly, they are all from the era in my life when I was just setting up my first house/apartment and I was afraid of patterns and colors.  I am no longer.  I decided it was time to add a little pizazz to my frames.  I started with a plain, black frame.  I followed the Mod Podge frame tutorial over at TidyMom.net.  I did change it up a bit because I didn't have one thing that her tutorial required.  Also, she used new frames that she stained herself.  I'm saving time and money here.  A month of Pinterest could make someone go broke if you don't watch it!  My goal was to spend very little money on my projects!

 Supplies:

Mod Podge

Cute Scrapbook Paper

Utility knife or exacto knife

Sponge Brush

Old frame

Old Credit Card

Cutting board

Sand Paper

Step 1:  Brush Mod Podge on frame.  Let "set" for 30 seconds.  Put another layer on.  Turn over and put frame onto the back of your scrapbook paper.

Step 2: Rub out all of the "bubbles" and bumps with an old credit card.

Step 3:  Cut along the edges of the frame.  Three slots for photos was kind of hard to cut around.  I don't recommend that.

Step 4:  See all the rough edges.  No need to worry!  Smooth out the edges with...

...your piece of sandpaper.  If you want to, you can scuff up the edges a bit.  I did, so the scrapbook paper ended up blending in nicely with the frame.

Step 5:  Cover front of frame with one last layer of Mod Podge to seal it.

Enjoy!  I think I may be doing this to a lot more of my frames!  This is much much better than just plain old black!

Day 20: Mod Podge Letter

Today I wanted to do a simple, yet creative craft.  A Mod Podge pin came to mind, so I cracked open my first bottle of Mod Podge.  Is it true that it's just glue and water?  Did I just pay five bucks for that?

Seeing that he could get into that white sticky stuff, my five year old was eager to help.  This craft is very easy---perfect for kids to help out with.  They can practically do the whole craft themselves!  This is well worth the total of 10 minutes it takes to make!

Supplies:
12" Paper Letter (I got mine from JoAnn's for $3.99)
12" x 12"scrapbook paper
Matte Mod Podge
Acrylic paint
Sponge brushes
Scissors

Instructions:
1)  Trace letter onto scrapbook paper.
2)  Cut letter out.
3)  Paint sides of letter.  Painting the back is optional.  It depends on where and how it will be displayed.  Let dry.
4)  Apply Mod Podge to letter and put the letter cutout on top.
5)  Apply Mod Podge all over top of letter, working out any bubbles from underneath.  Mod Podge can be applied over the side of the letter, so everything looks nice and even.
6) Display and enjoy!

Jackson was a super-duper Mod Podge applier!  Just had to even things out a bit!  :)

Pretty, isn't it?

Day 19: DIY Chevron Striped Lampshade and Lamp Redo

Troy and I inherited a unique milk glass lamp from his grandma a few years ago.  I had visions for it ever since.  Unfortunately, it spent a while in the garage.  So, now it is time to bring it into the light!  (Again, pun intended.)  My plan for this lamp is to make it somewhat modern and nautical at the same time.  This is how I desire our "bonus room" to look.  

I found a clever pin on how to paint chevron stripes on a plain lampshade.  (View tutorial here.)  I followed the tutorial exactly, except I added tape to the top and bottom of the lamp shade because I wanted to keep that white.

I then taped off everything but the wood and whipped out the dark primer.  I used dark primer because the paint lady at Home Depot told me to use dark primer for dark paint.  

I then painted the shade a nice hue of yellow.  I was sure to paint gently, in a dabbing kind of motion.  The tutorial I followed said to use a stencil brush, but that costs money.  A sponge brush worked just fine! 

I painted the the base with a navy color.  I used a sponge brush on the base as well.  It left a smooth texture, but an uneven color.  I ended up liking the way it came out!  Next, I took the tape and paper off....

I love it!  I love the contrast of the navy, the milk glass, and the brass.  Nautical.  Classy.  And, of course, the chevron shade adds the "modern."

Oh!  And I forgot to add the best detail of all!  For this project, I only had to purchase the paint, which cost less than 3 dollars!

Day 15: Tea & Coffee Bar

Anyone who knows me knows I love tea.  I drink it everyday, several times a day.  Yesterday I realized that I walk across my kitchen to put the kettle on, then walk across it again to get the tea on the other side.  Then I cross it again to get the mug and once more to get my stevia sweetener.  That is serious MADNESS!  For something I do several times daily, I need more efficiency than that!

In comes Pinterest.  I have looked up several coffee/tea bars to get ideas before, but for some reason I never pinned them because I never found one that suited me.  I looked them up again and decided to take bits and peices from each pin to form my own idea about what my coffee/tea bar should look like.

The best thing about this project is that I had everything I needed already.  And, to make it even sweeter, everything I used in the project was either a gift, dollar store find, or a garage sale find.  I started with where my tea was stored and decided to put the "bar" on the counter there.

In the midst of doing all this, I used a few tricks I learned on Pinterest.  My kettle was SUPER dirty with calcium.  So, I followed a pin on Pinterest and put 1 part water, 1 part vinegar in the pot (about 1 cup of each), and swished it around until the calcium started to come loose.  Then I let it sit for a few hours.  I just had to rinse the kettle until the vinegar scent left and it was as good as new!

Before vinegar/water...

...and after!  What a difference!

The next pin I used was one that I wish I had found years ago.  To drill the holes in the wall in the right spot without having to risk measuring the distance of the holes wrong, you just put some tape over the holes on the shelf (a $1 garage sale find!).  I made a mark over each hole and transferred the tape to the wall.  In one swift effort, I was able to drill the holes in the correct spot.  I hate to admit it, but, if you look under some of my mirrors or shelves already hung, you may find more than two holes.  I'm so glad I found this pin!

The last specific pin I used for this project was using contact paper to make a label.  I bought some contact paper at the dollar store the other day that I love.  How perfect to label my tea jar (a $2 garage sale find!) with this contact paper!  It was super simple.  I just cut the contact paper with scalloped shears and used a Sharpie to neatly write "Tea" on the label.  I peeled the backing off and stuck it on the jar. 

I also printed out a jpeg from a pin that says, "Keep calm and drink tea" in a color that matched my kitchen decor.  I brought in my kitchen decor by adding the lemon garland.  Lastly, I added the silver tray, another garage sale find.  I think perhaps I was inspired by all the tea trays on Downton Abbey.  I think it adds a nice touch.  I love how the whole thing turned out!  And now I'm going to go enjoy a cup of tea!

Before

After

(If you are wondering where the coffee comes into this, I don't drink it, but my hubby does, so the coffee grinder and Chemex is in the cabinet above.)

Day 13: DIY Verse of the Week Chalkboard

I'm so excited about this project because I've wanted to do this for a while!  The cost of one of these on Etsy is 20 bucks.  That is a few dollars too much if you can do it yourself so easily!  I bought the frame pictured above for two dollars at a garage sale a couple years ago and never have used it.  I bought dark primer (as recommended by the lady in the paint department at Home Depot) and chalkboard spray paint for around 8 dollars.  That cost and the little effort put into this project is much worth having a different verse each week hanging up in the middle of my home!  Troy get's John Piper's Fighter Verses on his iPhone each week, so I think I will just put those verses on the chalkboard.

Now, just to forewarn you, if you are planning to put this chalkboard within the reach of children, find another chalkboard tutorial!  We are turning the glass into the chalkboard, which is perfectly fine if handled by adults.

Without further ado, here is how you do this simple project!

You will need:
Dark Primer Spray Paint
Chalkboard Spray Paint
Old Frame with Glass
Newspaper
A safe place to spray paint (open-air, not windy, not wet.)

How to:

1.) Take the glass out of the frame.  Clean and dry it.
2.) Lay out newspaper, making sure to secure it with tape or something heavy to weigh the ends down.
3.) Put the glass on the newspaper.  Follow the instructions on the primer can.  Prime the glass.  Let that dry and repeat with another coat.  Let dry.
4.) Follow the instructions on the chalkboard paint can.  Spray glass with paint.  Let dry.  Repeat for a total of three times.  Let dry 24 hours.
5.)  Take a piece of chalk and turn it sideways.  Rub chalk evenly into chalkboard.  Wipe clean with dry cloth.
6.)  Write your verse or whatever you wish to on the board.  Put back in frame and put it out of children's reach!  Mine is going to hang on the end of our upper kitchen cabinets where everyone can see, but not touch! :)