aging furniture

I went to a class on distressing or aging furniture about a month ago and I thought it would be fun to try out. It ended up being really easy and mistakes turn into beautiful things!! There are some supplies that you need to get.
Than comes the fun part finding the piece you want to do. I would recommend second hand stores, consignment stores, garage / yard sales, Craig's list, or old furniture that you have that you don't want any more. I found this desk that I could tell had lots of personality. It cost me a whole $4.50. I had a place in mind that I wanted to put it (I didn't end up putting it there, but have some place in mind). I started by sanding. There was a lot of grime on the top so I sanded the whole thing really well but I was told that you only need to rough it up a bit.

Next is choosing a color. For this piece I chose black, but it was a toss up with red....really you could do any color that would go with where you are going to put it and the look you are trying to go for. I painted the whole thing with a primer. Then I put 2 coats of black paint. I went back and forth wondering if I should do another coat but decided against it.

We than sanded all the edges with a palm sander. Some of the spots we brought all the way down to raw wood but then others we just did lightly. I decided not to sand any spots on the top but you could do that if you desire to make it look more worn. We than coated the desk lightly with a gel stain. Make sure that you apply it with the grain.

We then applied a copper paint in random spots to add texture a dimension to the piece.

I ended up putting it in my front entry way. I am very pleased with the way it turned out and can't wait to do another one.

Sweetest thing.....

A friend of mine thought this up and I couldn't resist making a couple for my girls!! It is vinyl put on a 12x12 mirror then put in a 12x12 frame that I got at Micheals. You can choose from a varity of colors for the vinyl. I ordered it from Writing on the Wall. Be careful when putting vinyl on a mirror or glass.....once it touches it, it's there for good!!
Also to make cleaning easier I left the glass in the frame.

It's about time!!

A while back a friend and I got this crazy idea and we decided that we could indeed paint a clock to look like marble. We ended up having to cut our own wood which was a pain in the neck but the end result was gorgeous!! We used vinyl lettering to make it look clean and crisp. It was amazing how the clock was transformed after putting the vinyl sticker on. I LOVE my clock!! We ended up helping over 30 friends and neighbors to make these clocks for their homes. At that point we never wanted to see another clock again.
It has been a couple of years since then and I still continue to get compliments on my clock! I have recently moved to a new area and it seems like people have taken interest again in my fabulous clock. So once again I have started to help people make them. It has been so much fun to make them on a much smaller scale and to see the individual beauty of each one. Even using the exact same paint you can end up with something completely different.
I have a friend that posted the technique on her blog, so I am just going to post pictures!!

Flower Power

When I saw this clock, I just couldn't resist!! I gave it to my 10 year old for Christmas. She loved it!! This Clock is made from an 18" wood circle, yellow and white paint, and a vinyl sticker!! I got the round wood pre-cut from Lowes drilled a hole in the center hollowed out a small sqare in the back with a router for the clock mechanism to fit into to. I also lightly sanded it with a palm sander. I painted it all one color then where the petels were going to be I lightly sponged white and then in the center made it a darker yellow by adding a darker yellow color then with just a simple brush stroke that you can see the lines I added a goldish yellow to add depth to it.
I am really very pleased with the way this turned out!!

Seeing Stars

The kids and I made these together and hung them to give some color to our house. We had put them up for Christmas, but don't want to take them down now that Christmas is over!!
I got these from Stamping Up. They came in sheets that were already to punch out and fold. They were easy enough for the kids to make and have fun with.

I have gotten many compliments on them!!

Let it snow....Let it snow....Let it

SNOW!!!

My 5th grader showed us how to make these easy snowflake. You need 6 square pieces of paper any size. Fold in have to make a large triangle. Then fold in half again. You end up with a medium triangle. Cut lines / stripes into the folded side that does not go all the way through. Open up the piece of paper. Bring the points of the cuts together making tunnels. Every other one on opposite sides. You end up with a three dimensional diamond. After doing all 6 connect the middle with a stapler. Fan them out into a circle. Connect all mid points of the diamonds with a stapler. Presto!! A fabulous rendition of a snowflake!!

I am a person who LOVES spring, but I am having a hard time taking down these beautiful snowflakes!!