Christmas Countdown 2014 - Sharpies to the Rescue #3

Ready or not Christmas is only a few days away.  No, I am not ready.  I still have lots of projects to finish so I am always looking for a quicker way to do things.  I like to use small wooden shapes in some of my projects but do not like to get out the paints to paint only a few.  So the other day I found some small wooden Christmas stockings and lights.

These are the thin balsa wood type shapes with no color.

 

The shapes needed some color so instead of getting down all the paints I grabbed my Sharpie pens and started coloring.  The Sharpie provides a solid color but still allows the wood grain to show through.

 

The white top of the stocking was done with a Sharpie paint pen.

I used regular Sharpies in green and red,

the silver is a metallic and the white is a paint pen.

The metallic Sharpies work well on the wood shapes

to give a little more depth.

I am not sure what I will do with these shapes yet but they have much more character than the unpainted originals.  I think it would be cute to add some glitter to the tops of the stockings to give them a little more sparkle.

Just a thought on how you can speed up some of your crafting process if you are wanting to add color to wooden shapes.  Only 3 days left!

Danna

Finished the Last Few Projects - Planter Redo

You know how when you redo a room you are going along strong and then you get close to finishing the project and you totally run out of energy?  That is the scenario I have in my master bathroom.  Several years ago we redid our master bathroom.  We kept the same wall color but we painted the cabinets black, took off some doors to the upper cabinets and changed the theme of the room.

The overall project turned out great.  But there were a few projects I told myself I would get to later.  Well now, three years later I am finally getting around to them.  The first on my list was to repaint a metal planter that holds the silk ivy and sits on top of the upper cabinets.

Below is a picture of the before color.  It was your basic terra cotta color which is nice but did not coordinate with my black and pink color scheme.  I painted the base black and it made a huge difference in the appearance of the planter. 

See the terra cotta color. 

I used a grey primer coat since I was limited on the amount of black paint I had.

Here is the planter painted black.

 



The planter had some really nice raised embossing on the sides I have always wanted to highlight.  So I took some silver paint and brushed on a light dry coat.  By painting the silver on with a dry brush it really brought out the details of the embossing.

The raised embossing before I added the silver highlight. 

The embossing with the silver added.

 

You can now see the raised embossing on the planter.  I love the way it turned out.

 



The planter now looks like it belongs in the room.  I have a couple of other projects in this room I need to finish.  I am hoping they will not take another three years to complete.

Danna

Chalkboard Crazy

Okay, it is official.  I went chalkboard crazy this year.  It was fun to see what items I could paint with chalkboard paint and give it an "upgrade".  I think at one point my husband was a little frightened that I might paint a whole wall with chalkboard paint.  I assured him that this time I did not have enough paint.  But who knows what will happen the next time I get a little addicted.

Here are the items I painted this year.  Most of them were for Christmas gifts but not all.  There are a few that I tried out not knowing exactly what I will do with them.




An old salad plate and silver tray

My garage sale find above my stove



An old cookie tin from my cabinet

Charger plate from the dollar store



Clipboard for my husband's niece

Cupcake tin for my friend




Old tiles made into trivets

Large tile tuned into sign for front porch

Small wooden shapes

Matboard labels

I made 14 cookie tins for gifts

Dominos

Some of the photos have links to the original post with instructions. Check out 16 days left! for the basic chalkboard paint instructions.  Hopefully you can find some chalkboard projects you want to try.  But, be warned it can be addicting.

 

Danna

Christmas Countdown - 9 days left!

Oh my, we are now in single digits.  Time is running out.  Hopefully you have found a few gift ideas from this countdown.  

Today's project is one that I saw at school and it was a "What a great idea." moment.  Our PTA treats our staff to a luncheon at the end of each month.  We are very blessed to have such supportive and generous parents.  One mom brought in her dessert for the luncheon.  It was in a simple tin but the top was painted with chalkboard paint.  She had written what type of cookies the tin held.

I came home and started digging in my cabinets for those tins that get shoved to the back and you bring out every Christmas to take to the parties you attend.  I am sure we all have several of these.  These tins are very functional but not always the most attractive, at least the cheesy pictures they put on top. 

Here is the "new" cookie tin I created Before and After:

Santa is cute but he had seen a few too many parties.

 

Since the sides are a red plaid I can use this tin all year long.  By changing the contents and the greeting on top I have a new container each time. 

 

The instructions for painting the chalkboard paint are on the 16 days left! post.  I did lightly sand my top with a fine grit sandpaper to make sure the paint would adhere well.

 

I think after Christmas this year I will search the clearance bins for those left over tins and create a few more for gifts.  Another nice addition would be to include the recipe for the goodies you make.

 

Danna

 

Christmast Countdown - 17 days left!

Can a girl ever have too many bags.  If you answered no to this question today's project is for you.  I love bags of all shapes and sizes.  My husband is always asking the crazy question "Do you really need another bag?"  I always respond "I use all of my bags just not at the same time."

I made a canvas bag for my friend Kay using my Cricut and the freezer paper stencil method.  Here is her bag when finished. (Sorry for all the stuff in the background I was in a hurry and didn't have time to tidy.)

My friend loves birds so I thought this one was really fun with the top feathers.

 

If you are not familiar with the freezer paper stencil method here are the directions in a nutshell. 

1. Using a Cricut or other method cut out your pattern on freezer paper.  It is best if your pattern is a silhouette type.  You will be filling in the middle portion.  So any small details will have to be ironed in place also.
2. Take the sheet of freezer paper with pattern cut out and iron onto the bag, tshirt, towel etc.  I did have a little trouble getting the paper to adhere to the canvas bag.  It took several tries and patience.  Be sure to keep the iron moving slightly so you do not scorch your canvas.  Use the setting for your fabric type on the iron. 
3. Using a fabric paint and a stencil brush. Paint your design.  I used the Tulip Soft Fabric Paint.  It seems to really work well on fabrics that will have a fair amount of use. (Check out my painted shoes using the same paint)
4. Let the paint dry completely and then remove the freezer paper.  

Be sure to get all the way to the edges to make sure you have a clean sharp edge on your stencil.  (Sorry for the blurry picture)

 

This method works similar to any stencil painting method, the added bonus is that if you have a die cut machine of any type you can create your own stencils.

 

Adding the small jewels to the name and the bird's eye gave the silhouette some necessary bling.  I used plastic jewels and tacky glue to attach them.

 

To complete my bag I added three coordinating fabric ruffles to the bottom and a small ribbon on the top ruffle to give it a finished edge. 

 

You can make your own bags or use a purchased bag for this project.  The possibilities are only limited by your imagination as to the embellishments you can add.  And remember "A girl can never have too many bags!"

 

Danna

Painting my Shoes!

While cleaning out my shoes I came across several pair of white (well once white - now dingy white) flats that were very comfortable.  The shoes had a lot more wear left but they looked really bad.  I had seen on Pinterest that you could paint shoes.  Why not try to salvage my old dingy white comfy shoes?  I washed them in the washer and let them air dry first.

The first pair was a white canvas shoe.  I used Tulip Soft Fabric Paint in Lime Matte.  Since the front was gathered I left it white along with the top edge.  I let them dry for several days to make sure the paint had a chance to cure well.  I then sprayed with Scotch Guard to hopefully keep them somewhat clean.  I think they turned out pretty well. And I can get at least one more seasons worth of wear out of them, hopefully more.

 

 

 


The blue pair are a mesh type fabric.  I used Tulip Soft Fabric Paint in Turquoise Matte.  These were a little more challenging to paint.  The paint bled through to the inside but has not been a problem.  I painted the elastic on the top and it doesn't show any white when I wear them. 

 



It was fun to have a "new" pairs of shoes to wear in really fun colors.  And they only cost me about $5.00 in paint for both pair.  So get to digging around in your closet and see what shoes you have that need a new color.  I would love to see what you come up with.