Vintage in Color…DIY

In college I picked up a vintage cabinet from a garage sale down the street. It had sliding doors with glass green panels and my favorite part: chicken wire (hard to see in the picture below)..  I am guessing the glass shattered and the previous owner replaced it with chicken wire… BRILLIANT!

There are to many memories to chunk my favorite piece of vintage, so instead  I decided to give it a little face lift , a splash of color and attempt the “distressing” technique on it.

 “Before“. (Post Sanding)

After

(Above: I couldn’t part with the chicken wire!)

The Process:

Step 1: Sand the heck out of it!

Step 2:  Clean off all dust and sanding particles, wipe with a wet rag. (I was to impatient for this one.. But now I see why it was so important, I painted dust onto the cabinet.. I always let my impatience get the best of me!!!).

Step 3: Paint a base color of white and then run through it with a wire brush. Let dry and run some sand paper over the edges. *Note: Remove all drawers and paint separately or they will be painted closed (Mistake two)

Step 4: Let dry for a day or so (And don’t leave it outside, I woke up to a soaking wet piece of furniture and had to wait a few more hours for it to dry)

Step 5: Remove glass panes, replace with wood panels (I would have prefered a clear or crackled glass.. but I was workin’ on a budget!)

Step 6: Add color! Then to begin the distressed look, use a dry brush to go over it (Don’t do it immediately while it is still wet, but don’t let it dry completely) . Let dry before Step 7

 Step 7: Distressing the vintage piece: 

More Sanding… Sand the edges and random spots. Sand anywhere where there is raised detail of the wood. Also, I incorporated a brush I used the day before to stain wood (I did not add any more stain, there was enough residue left on the hairs of the paint brush and after a night of hardening the hairs where very coarse which cut into the paint, adding to the distressed look). I applied the “stain residue” randomly over the cabinet.

Step 8: Add the knobs

Step 9: Dress it up! I added a chic mirror to counter act the “shabby” cabinet and a vase filled with bamboo sticks!

**Note: There are many other ways to distress furniture. I more or less winged it and used some techniques I picked up from an episode of  HGTV. However, I now know the real technique thanks to YouTube and other bloggers and will attempt to do it correctly next time… Stay Tuned…

Frugal.. Why yes I am:

Cabinet: $5

Paint: Martha Stewart Seaglass $1.50

Scrap Wood: $1.50

Paint Brush: $2

Silver Knobs: $2 a piece = $6

Total: $16

Crafty Christmas… DIY Xmas Wreath!

Oh,  How I love the Holidays!!!

My Simple Christmas Wreath

DIY Xmas Wreath:

  Materials:

• Wire Hanger
• Christmas Tree Clippings (when purchasing your tree- if at a tree farm- ask if they have any extra tree clippings)
• Fishing wire or jewelry wire (I suggest jewelry Wire- the thicker the better)
• Pliers
• Wreath Door Hanger
• Big Red Bow (Optional)

Bend your wire hanger into a circle (Do not bend the top of the hanger). No need to make a perfect circle- As seen below:

Use your pliers to coil pieces of jewlry wire & tree clippings to the hanger.

I start by coiling tree clippings around the entire hanger (keep the hook clear). Just use your judgement and keep coiling the clippings on. Eventually you can start tucking into one another to complete the wreath and “bulk” it up.

Here is a closer look of my final “masterpiece”:

I chose a simple red bow, however, be creative and dress it up! Maybe some red & green ornaments, or even glitter!

I  kept my wreath a little “messy” with the trimmings sticking out, just my preference. If you prefer to have a wreath more circular and “clean”, tuck in the pieces sticking out and trim the outer trimmings down. However, you may need to add more tree trimmings.

Happy Holidays!

Sea Glass Stud Earrings

Simply elegant DIY Sea Glass stud earrings:

Material:

• Sea Glass
• Some Strong glue
• Packet of Stud earrings (Found at a craft store)

Choose your two pieces of seaglass. Then glue the earring studs to the seaglass:

Let sit for the glue to dry.

 

 

Jewels from the Sea…

A beach girl myself, I love to go seaglass hunting! Hidden among the shells and sand every once in awhile I find a Gem-Sea Glass! My collection grew after my trip to Dominican Republic. I ventured to the local beaches for my morning walks only to find polution and trash (which is how they may have seen it) but to me their trash became my treasure- SeaGlass GALORE! I went crazy, filling my suitcase with as much seaglass that would fit. So it began….

From my collection I decided to take on the art of creating seaglass jewelry- some for myself and some for my 2011 “Crafty Christmas” project.

Step-by-step instructions on creating a sea glass necklace:

Materials Needed

Sea Glass

18- 20 Gauge Copper Wire

Necklace Chain

Appropriate tools: Round nose pliers, side cutters, flat nose pliers, bent nose pliers, long nose pliers (optional)

Step 1: Cut 1 to 1 and half foot of wire with your side cutters. Use round nose pliers to create the the top loop used to string in your necklace chain. Coil the copper wire around the nose of the pliers- seen on thesecond to last photo. After wraping the wire around 3-4 times use the flat nose pliers to tighten the coil- Seen on far right photo.

Step 2: Create the spine. Slip the loop back onto the round nose pliers and twist ( twist it as long as the sea glass peice you are about to wire). It should now look like the photos below. You are now ready for “wire designing”.

Step 3: Wire Wrapping/ Designing. Take the one of the two wire legs and begin wrapping. Wrap 2 times and then secure by coiling around the neck (below the loop). Cut off sharp edges with the side cutters. Repeat with the other wire leg. Tighten the wire by crimping portions of the back area (spine) with the bent nose pliers.

Step 4: Chain it!