Rocking Chair Redo: A Rockin' Renovation

I was driving home the other night and saw this chair on the curb for my neighborhood's junk pickup day, I needed to breathe new life into it and make it a chair for my niece. when I got the chair there was an arm missing so I decided to go ahead and remove the other arm.

once I had a plan I went to Lowe's to get some spray-paint (I like Valspar) and then to Joann's to get a doily. I was ready to go!

Materials needed:
- spray paint
- doily
- drop cloth (I learned my lesson after I turned my driveway multiple colors with previous projects)

STEPS:
1. after laying out the drop cloth, spray the chair with a coat of white spray paint for a base coat

2. once the white is dry, use your main color (mine was a lovely blue) and spray the chair.

3. I used a lace doily (a real one, about $4 from Joann's) to create the effect on the seat of the chair. while the chair was white I placed the doily on the seat and sprayed the blue paint over it. once dry, remove the doily and you have a lovely effect.

4. I finished with a clear coat of acrylic spray.

 

 

Before

 

 

After a base coat of white spray paint

 

 

 

The finished product. the lighting's kind of crappy, sorry about that.

 

Up close shot of the seat. it's not super exciting but it's prettier than a solid color.

 

 

 

 

 
 

Bottle Cap Collage

like many of my wonderful craft projects I got the idea for this collage from pinterest. the minute i committed to this project i had everyone i know start saving caps for me. i got TONS of caps, they made for a fantastic (and colorful) collage. i didn't limit myself to just soda caps,if you look closely at the pic you can see that i have just about every kind of top/cap: detergent caps, medicine bottle lids, deodorant, marker caps, chapstick caps, nail polish tops, shaving cream lids...... you name it, i glued it.


MATERIALS:

• bottle caps/tops
• canvas
• spray paint
• hot glue gun

STEPS:

arranging the caps

1. i began by spray painting my canvas a lovely Tiffany-esque blue color. obviously you don't have to do this, i just thought the collage would look cooler w/ a colorful background.
2. i suggest arranging the tops on the canvas before you glue them down
3. glue down your caps as you see fit.
4. i didn't want the canvas to be too one-dimension, so i gave it some depth by gluing one cap inside another.

SPLATTER PAINT

Up close view of the finished product

I was perusing some blogs yesterday and came across some inspiration for my latest project on the Sketch 42 blog. The author of that blog made some kickass splatter paint shoes-- she used plain white TOMs and paint (duh!). Well, I don't have a pair of white TOMs (or other plain white shoes for that matter) lying around, SO I decided to do some splatter paint on a plain 'ole white canvas.

MATERIALS:

• paint
• canvas
• masking tape
• brushes
• dropcloth/large area in which to make a big mess
• I spread a dropcloth on my deck and did this outside. Most of the paint stayed on the dropcloth, however there were some paint casualities: a few plants and perhaps some outdoor furniture are now a tad bit more colorful...

The PROCESS:

Before I started painting, I decided that I would put masking tape in random lines across the canvas to make for an interesting looking piece when I was done. I could have used painter's tape but that tape was too wide for my liking...

To create the splatter effect I mixed my paints w/ a little bit of water and then flung the paint at the canvas. Although I had a variety of brushes in my arsenal,  I found that the best brush to use was a thick kid's paintbrush. For the majority of this piece I did just fling the paint at the canvas, but I did take some bottles of neon paint and just dribble/swirl them across the canvas.

Pre-Tape Removal

Wait for the paint to dry, take off your tape and VOILA! you have a beautiful splatter paint creation!


NOTE: GREAT PROJECT FOR KIDS! While I was working on this project my nephew (5 1/2 years old) was working right alongside me doing pretty much the same thing I did. Using the same tape technique (I did it for him) he used 8x10 canvases and made 2 gifts for Father's Day, one for his dad and one for his grandpa. They turned out really cute and of course they loved the paintings! We got really messy but had tons of fun doing this. we will most definitely be doing this again!

Headband Bonanza

Hello readers near and far across the globe! It's Lindsey, guest blogger and kin to Claire and Leslie. I am posting to show you my fabulous and inexpensive headbands. I notoriously hate the hair I was genetically blessed with so I try to jazz things up with styling my hair when I can. You can go crazy with decoration on the headbands or play it subtle (but fabulous) like I do.  

Braided headbands with added glitz

Flat satin headbands with added glitz

Materials Needed:

• Satin ribbon (get at least 2 yards per headband, less if you are not braiding)
• Black elastic
• Tacky or craft glue
• Hot glue gun
• Scissors
• Embellishments: rhinestones, seed beads, etc. Whatever you want to put on your headband.

1. Measure and cut ribbon according to be able to fit from at least ear-to-ear (the elastic will provide your stretch to fit over your head).
2. Braid ribbon after securing the beginning knot to your elastic and secure at the end AFTER checking for an appropriate length and fit for your head. **For extra flair, braid different colors together (as seen in my photo above on the left)**
3. Once your braid is complete or your ribbon (if not braiding) is cut, then ensure a good fit with the elastic for your head and make sure you test out the length before you cut to eliminate frustration. Make sure both knots of the ribbon and elastic together are tight and secure.
4. Very carefully, run a strip of hot glue on the back of your headband. Try to make it a smooth line and not let it settle in clumps. Let dry flat before continuing. This step really helps to keep the headband staying in place on your head.
5. Use the tacky/craft glue to put on the ends of your ribbon and elastic to prevent fraying. Make sure it dries clear and let it sit overnight or at least several hours.
6. I like to add the embellishments last. Use small increments of hot glue to glue rhinestones on if desired- use tweezers to place on if you want to decrease the amount of glue burns you get. **for the seed bead and pear clusters I put on my headbands, I used the tacky/craft glue and sprinkled them on for a clustered effect. Allow for at least 24 hrs to dry.**

Seed beads on black braided headband

Happy Headbands, love Lindsey

Rhinestone design on flat headband