Vintage Chair Make Over

 

 I bought this great/ugly vintage chair for $10 and couldn't wait to spruce it up. Just a couple coats of yellow spray paint and some new faux bois fabric on the seat. Voila! An updated chair for $20 and an easy half-days work. 

Unfortunately, I couldn't quite get a yellow that matched with the art in my bedroom (more on that next time...) so I sold it. For $40. Woo Hoo! I love DIY. But I am still looking for another chair...

Before and After: Updated Vintage Dresser Project

Now that my handsome handyman has installed the new handles, I have a before and after photo to show off. My $10 thrift store find had a face lift, and it looks 20 years younger!

The hardest part of this project was filling in the screw holes for the old handles, since they were not a standard size. I just used drywall mud, let it dry well, sanded the holes, primed the whole thing and painted it with 2 coats of high gloss paint. The paint and primer cost me about $25, the handles another $25 bringing the total to $60!

I was planning on putting this dresser in the hall by my bathroom, since we don't have a linen closet, but I changed my mind. I painted it in a friends garage and when I brought it home and saw it in the living room/entry (oh, the joys of small space living) I knew it was a perfect fit. It gives us extra storage for mittens, work bags, sunscreen and all those things you need when you're heading out.

I added a slightly retro lamp from Ikea, a mail sorter and invisible bookshelves by Umbra and a little tabletop organizer with compartments for our phones and wallets. Thanks to all my friends and FB fans for your color advice!

Thrift Store Find

Here's a little before photo of my latest project. I'm still trying to decide on a color, but I can't wait to see what it looks like once it's revived! The great thing about it is that it isn't real wood, which means it has some great faux bois etching. I'll post the after photo as soon as I finish.

Tutorial Trial: Dyed Mason Jars

I've been loving all the gorgeous vintage Ball jars in green and blue, but I figured that there must be a way to DIY it, and there is! There are lots of methods and tutorials all over the place and I read a ton and tried it myself.

Materials:
Mason Jars
Mod Podge
Food coloring

1) Mix your color. I used about a 1/2 cup of Mod Podge and added 3-5 drops of blue food coloring and 2-3 or green. I had to wing it a bit to get the shade/depth of color I wanted.

2.) Thin your mixture out a little with water. I swirled it around the jars and let the excess drip off. I should have painted it on though, I think. Mine had some drips and I think I'd rather brush strokes than drips.

3) Cure them in the oven for about an hour on the lowest setting it has. I'm pretty happy with how they turned out, although the real deal is way cuter!

Vintage and Salvaged Frames into Chalkboards: Tutorial

I ended up with an extra table to fill in a week at my last craft sale (don't ask...) and I wanted to make grown up things for a change. I went scouting at a few thrift stores and found some awesome frames. The plan was to spray paint the frames in nice lively colors and spray paint the glass in chalkboard paint, but as you know, something always goes wrong when I'm crafting something new!

What you need:
Frames
Chalkboard paint (spray or paint on)
Spray paint
Drop Cloth

It turns out that vintage frames are often made a lot differently than modern ones, which mean ripping out nails and hammering them back in and accidentally breaking glass that was seemingly permantently affixed. On one frame, it seemed that the glass was actually trapped in the wood somehow. On that one, I taped off the frame and painted, rather than spraying.

On the ones without glass, or where I broke the glass (wah!) I tried many things. First I called Michael's to ask about custom cut glass, but it was super expensive. Then I went to Home Depot to look for small cuts of sheet metal (magnetic!) or plywood, but no one could help me troubleshoot. I eventually came home and used some fiberboard/poster board from my office supply stash and it worked like a charm.

There was lots of troubleshooting, but the results were great, and people loved the big ones! I think I'll try it again, now that I know what I'm doing!

Thrift store finds!

So many treasures! I've been scoping out thirft stores for a month now, trying to find some fun things for a vintage swap I am doing. I hit the jackpot at the MCC thrift store today! I have been looking for something enamel with a lid to use as an outdoor washbasin and almost spent $20 on one I found online. Today I found one for $3! Perfect for rinsing hands off after a play in the sandbox.

And some awesome vintage linens that are just crying out to be transformed into something cool. And those square baskets? 10 cents!!!!! I am so happy!