Guest DIY Post!!!

My sister, Reno Queen, puts my DIY skills to shame. Actually, compared to her, I have no skills. I am a total and complete n00b. In my family, we all agree she is Bob Vila’s fraternal twin, only prettier and far younger. You need new screens? She builds them for you. New backsplash? She will cut tiles to fit and make a mosaic that would rival those of Pompeii. I’m telling y’all: the gal can do almost anything.

And I say “almost” because she never got around to working for SpaceX™.

Anyway, she was gracious enough to write a tutorial on making a beautiful work of art for your home. So without further ado, here you go!

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How I Planned to Paint Furniture and It Turned Into Some Other Craft 🙂

Supplies: Cabinet door, sander with 60 grit sand paper, Krylon™ Fusion paint in Satin Black, Paper towels, 180 Grit Sanding block, Stencil, Precious Metals liquid leafing, sponge paint applicator, E6000 and a Cross.

First you take your piece (in my case it was a sample cabinet door) and using 60 grit sand paper you sand off the original finish. (Image 1) I used my mouse because it is easier and faster, but if you don’t have one you can do it by hand (but it will take forever). Make sure you sand the grooves well. (Image 2) Make sure you do this in a well-ventilated area because dust will be everywhere!

Image 1

Image 2

Tacky is the In Thing

It’s that time again. HOMECOMING!!!

This is Eldest’s senior year, and she really, really wanted a tacky Homecoming mum for her last year in high school.

I could not pass up the challenge. I purchased the required flower, backing and ribbons, and added to it feathers, a boa, Christmas strands, and a gaudy chandelier drop I found. I would have used LED lights, but that was sooooo 2011.

And my niece’s will have zebra striped ribbon, huge bells, and glitter!!

Very tacky, and I for one love it. I’m of the opinion that one should stand out. One should not go through Life unnoticed 😉

Industriality

Well, since Eldest still hasn’t finished purging her room of the unwanted, I thought I would share an idea I got from the Lowe’s Creative Ideas site. It came out so cool, I will make another for Son’s room.

You’ll need:

• Amerimax Flex-a-Spout in white
• Utilitech 6′ Incandescent Rope Light
• Strong scissors to cut through plastic

The original link said to use a 12″ LED rope light, but guess what? Lowe’s no longer carries it. Also, in my opinion the 12″ would have been too short (shut it, people), as you will see.

First, take the Flex-a-Spout and cut off the square part. I chose to cut it off right where the flexing of the tube begins.

The directions at the link tell you to fold the light in half and place inside the tube, then bend the tube into the shape you wish. But I found it easier to bend the tube first, and then push the folded rope light through. Once done, you have this:

BEHOLD THE AWESOMENESS!!!!

The total cost for the light was less than $20. And Lowe’s gives the military a 10% discount, so it came out to less than $17.50 with tax. I think it goes well with the whole Steampunk vibe in her room, plus it gives her another source of lighting without breaking the bank, since the lamp I originally wanted was a whopping $90.

I love my kid, but there are limits.

Hopefully she will be done this evening, and the furniture moved and situated the way I want it where it needs to go. If not, I will treat y’all to a food hater’s recipe. Or bad Youtube videos. Whichever strikes my fancy and drowns out the gnashing of my teeth 😉

Do-It-Yourself: Steampunk Accent

It is amazing the stuff you can use to give a room a Steampunk vibe. So far I have concentrated on the Victorian side of Steampunk, and now I will show you an easy tutorial on how to add a large Steampunk accent.

Because with Steampunk, you have to have presence!!

You will need:

• PVC pipe, 4 inch wide, 5 feet long
• PVC 4 inch coupling
• PVC 4 inch 90* elbow
• Rust-Oleum Universal Hammered in Copper
•  Two corks
• Sharpie™ marker
• E-6000

Set up the pieces of PVC on a tarp in a well-ventilated area.

Once you wipe them clean of dirt and dust, apply a thin streak of E-6000 to the inside of the coupling and the elbow, and connect the pieces. Allow them to set for about 30 minutes.

Do-It-Yourself: Old to New

Note to self: I will NEVER undertake such a room makeover again. At least until next Tuesday.

One of the items Eldest needs in her room is a small bookcase. It was a piece we acquired in Germany, solid wood and unfinished. It took a beating and kept on…. holding books just fine. But it didn’t really fit in with the look she wants.

Nice, plain, utilitarian… boring. But really, all it needed was a nice coat of paint and something that made it pop. Her room furniture is a nice espresso color, so I went with Rust-Oleum Universal in Espresso Satin, which is a very close match. Just painting it wouldn’t give it the Oomph! it needs to stand out though, but I didn’t want to put decorative pipes and stuff on the top, when she needs to use bookcase to hold her lamp as well. And then it hit me: decorate the inside of the bookcase!!

And so, I did!

I found a backsplash option that was bronze in color. The backsplash is sold in sheets, and fortunately made of flexible plastic. This was the second most expensive item I purchased at about $20, but since it was going to make a big impact, it was worth it.

And yes, I did adhere it with E-6000, but you can use any silicone glue made for it.

Total work time was about two hours plus curing time, and total cost of the redo was about $26. I had a few pieces of the façade left to fashion part of her wall display. It was a bit more money but well spent, and now I’m thinking of redoing the other unfinished bookcases in the same manner.

I just hope I’m done getting stuff at  Lowes’. They already know me by name 🙂

Do-It-Yourself Fun: Chapter 1

Well, I know I was supposed to have pics up of Eldest’s room today. Unfortunately, she was ill on Friday, which meant “convalescing” all weekend, and by “convalescing” I mean playing Skyrim™ with her dad while her mom finished off the projects.

*Grumble, grumble*

Anyway, one of the things she wanted in her room was mercury glass. I myself love mercury glass. It is so pretty and old fashioned. But there was NO WAY I was going to pay $80 for a small vase at Pottery Barn™. Not. Happening. I thought about scouring the thrift stores, until I saw this tutorial at Katie’s Rose Cottage Designs, and I thought to myself, I can make that!!

You’ll need:

• cheap glass vases, votives, or whatever you can get at the Dollar Store.
• Krylon Looking Glass Spray Paint™
• spray bottle with a one-to-one mixture of water and vinegar
• paper towels
• well-ventilated area and plenty of coverage for the workspace

First, make sure you have cleaned the item well. I wiped them down with alcohol on a paper towel. Next, shake the paint vigorously, and apply an even coat, or as even as you can, onto the outside of the glass. I had tried doing the inside, but I didn’t get the old shiny results I wanted. After spraying the paint, just spritz the item lightly with the vinegar/water solution, enough to let beading form. Wait just about a minute, and then take a paper towel and gently blot the bubbles and beads of solution. Voilá!! The spray prevents the paint from adhering! Keep spraying paint and solution in as many layers as you wish. I did only two layers for the results I was wanting. This was the bottle before:

Those pretty bourbon bottles sure came in handy.

And this is the same bottle after:

I have plans for this….

I shall update the post with a pic after the Sun decides to make an appearance. Oh, and don’t think I stopped at just one glass bottle.

Can you say “Christmas decor??”

I didn’t go overboard. I just decided to do all of that particular project at once, so that I could concentrate on the rest of her stuff without distraction. All in all, I spent less than $5 on the spray paint, and had plenty of random glass stuff waiting for a ride to Goodwill, so the total expense of this project was well below $10, which is far better than one small vase for $80.

Best part? It was very therapeutic, sitting out in the hot sun, spraying, blotting, spraying, plotting…. 😉

UPDATE AS PROMISED!

Trash to Treasure

My neighbors are moving, and decided that their new abode would never contain the amount of furniture and sundry stuff they owned, so they decided to have an estate sale. He fixes and collects clocks, so you can imagine the bounty he had.

Also imagine being inside the house when ALL THE CLOCKS STRIKE TWELVE.

After the ringing in my ears subsided, I made my way over to the crafting room, which in truth is a detached garage. MORE CLOCKS!!! But boy howdy, did I score!

LOOK AT ALL THOSE GEARS AND COGS AND GOODIES!!!

Just the thing for a collage for Eldest’s room. Oh, and they had a small table that, with a bit of care, will fit right in. Time for me to jet, since I still have to turn my Dollar Tree™ finds into Victorian Steampunk masterpieces. I’m pretty sure I’m more excited than she is, but I don’t care. As long as she leaves some of it behind when she moves out 😉

Aggie Tam

If y’all aren’t familiar with the TV show Firefly, and the film Serenity, then the title means nary a thing to ye. So, to explain:

The character is River Tam, and she is deadly. Especially with a reaver sword.

Anyway, this Monday I was scrubbing dog barf from the carpeting when the doorbell rang, causing said dogs to bark and jump and wag and generally make a nuisance. I had been warned informed that I was going to receive a package from the Lemur Compound™. I thought it might be in retaliation a thank you gift consisting of chocolate or turducken, in return for the gift I had sent. I was so happily wrong.

Behold Serena, my very own reaver sword!!! Yes, I named her Serena, after Serenity.

Look at that blade. JUST LOOK AT IT!!!!

Makes you feel tingly inside, doesn’t it?

Yes, the photos were taken with my iPhone 3 GS, which does no justice to the absolute beauty of the steel. And yes, the blade is very sharp. This isn’t just for looks. It’s for life.

I think this would look great with my Steampunk costume, don’t you? 😉

SQUEEEE!!!!

The Nomstress is here, and we get to have some girl time today!!

Hubby: So, what are the plans for today?

Me: I am taking the girls to the Trollbeads store.

Hubby: Uh…

Me: *cuts eyes over to him*

Hubby: That sounds like fun for you!!

It’s a long weekend, and I need to relax. THAT’S FINAL!!

Anyway, gotta jet for now. I have an appointment with the felt department at Hancock Fabrics after the Trollbeads store, and after that, I have an appointment with a glass of wine lemonade. Hope y’all have a good one 😉

Pinterhell

I swear to all that is holy, I had to have been a magpie in another life.

A lot of my friends have Pinterest accounts. I don’t. But that doesn’t mean that I can’t access it. Anyone can, and it is made easier by the addition of sections, such as “home decor”, “foods”, “posters”, etc. A friend of mine posted a really cute idea for a table centerpiece, which necessitated I click on it, which then took me to a board called “Miscellaneous crafts & DIY for the home“.

Three hours later, I awoke from my daze. Two hours after that, I returned from the local craft and hobby store after getting supplies for numerous projects: felt flowers, “mercury” glass, paper flowers, tissue canvas project, lamp re-do, etc. The best part: I already have so much crafting crap, I didn’t need to buy a lot!

Courtesy of The Shabby Creek Cottage.

I’m not sure if that’s a good thing or not. Every single time I have good intentions on cleaning up my mess upstairs, something like this happens and all my plans go out the window, which is where Hubby wants to throw most of the mess, anyway. Seriously, y’all remember this, right?

From the mess upstairs that I still have to clean up before Nomstress arrives. Well, guess what? After Pinterest, it miraculously turned into this:

This Pinterest does not bode well for me, I can tell. On the other hand, it does inspire me to create new things with stuff on hand, and gives me ideas for gift-giving. This may be the cheapest least expensive Christmas season ever!!

I just hope no one in my family catches on 😉