Desk Redo and visits from Arendelle

Another birthday under my belt...

The little princess turned 4 years old this year, and my husband and I had decided she needed a desk to get her ready for school. We found this old school desk at a local antique shop. It was exactly what I was looking for cause I have been dying to try chalkboard paint.

It had a few cracks and scratches, but we only wanted to fix issues the might hamper the use of the desk. Keeping most of those cracks and scratches is what gives the piece character.

Next I sanded both the chair and the desk and started painting the chair.

It took several coats of paint to cover the chair, but that is my fault as I failed to prime the chair first. The more I refurbish furniture, the more I realize that if I just take a moment to prime a piece with spray primer the actual paint goes on much easier and takes a lot less time to cover.

I did not make that mistake with the desk. I took 5 minutes to spray prime the desk the was able to paint the desk much quicker than the chair with only 2 coats....the chair took 4 coats plus touch ups.

After all the pink paint, I got the top painted with the chalkboard paint and got the desk put all back together. My husband felt all the pink needed something, so we added a few decals along with the name on the back of the chair.

 

Finally finished and off to the "Princess" birthday party. There were little princesses everywhere, and even a visit from Queen Elsa and Princess Anna.

 

 Kelli

 

Old books...new looks

I have been a terrible blogger and business partner this week. My fellow Homespun and Redoner, Laura, has been on a well deserved and needed vacation this week, and I promised I would take care of the blog and do all the posts this week. Well...I didn't get it done. This is the only post I have gotten on the blog this week, all thanks to my sick and whiny husband. Next time I'm going with you Laura!!

 

Anyway, I did get a couple projects done this week. This easy project only took me about 45 minutes to get done, and turned out so cute!

 I went through and found some old paperback books that had seen better days. (No worries, this was an old book with missing pages. No classics were used.) I tore out some pages and got out my glue gun.

Next I made little cone shapes with the paper and glued the ends so they would stay together.

After I got several made, I grabbed and old cardboard crate and used a plastic bowl to trace a circle.

I cut out the circle and then used an x-acto knife to cut out a small opening for the ribbon I will use to hang my wreath.

Next I started hot gluing the paper cones to the cardboard. I glued at each quarter point first, then went from there.

Within 20 minutes I had a beautiful wreath that can be used in any décor. For me it looked perfect on the inside of my front door.

 

 

 

Kelli











One footstool at a time...

Many of you may recall when I recently repurposed a couple of dining chairs into a bench for my brother-in-law and sister-in-law. When we took it to them, my brother-in-law asked if I would redo some cute little footstools he had picked up from his neighbors yard sale. Of course I said yes.

First I removed the top from the legs and began to remove the fabric.



The legs were a little loose and needed some extra glue to hold them in place.

They wanted the footstools to match the bench, so I lightly sanded and then painted the base black.

Then I replaced the foam and batting, securing it to the top.

Finally I added the fabric, attached it to the base, and voila!

Such a cutie if I do say so myself!

Kelli



Getting ready for fall!

Last week I posted about the hoop art I was creating for my bedroom wall. Well, one of my embroidery hoops didn't fare to well when I ran over it with the wheels of my chair in my craft room. Oops!! 

I didn't want to just throw it away so I decided to make a fall wreath out of it! I took out all my fall colored scraps of fabric that I have been saving up from various projects and cut 6 inch x 1 inch strips out of it. I just eyeballed this part so some strips were different widths then others.

Then I just started tying the strips of fabric around my embroidery hoops. I pushed my strips together tight to make my wreath more full. After you complete your wreath twist the fabric strips different ways to fluff it up more!

Here is my finished wreath ready for my door for fall!

Here is another example of an embroidery hoop wreath I made back in the winter with scraps of fabric. There are endless ways you can spruce up your door with these hoops!

Laura

Frame By Frame

I'm headed to a family reunion this week, so I didn't have a lot of time to work on projects. I decided to do a quick redo on another one of the picture frames from my stash.

I found this picture at a yard sale, and though my husband liked the duck in the picture I decided I could put the frame to better use. So I removed the picture and lightly sanded the frame to make sure the spray paint would stick.

Next I spray painted the frame again in a shade of blue (if you can't tell...blue is my favorite color). It took a couple turns to get all the little nooks of the frame covered, but I love this blue!!

I spray painted the mat a light gray, but not sure how I feel about it yet...may repaint it white. Then I printed one on my favorite quotes on some map paper and here you have it! Just remember the meaning and enjoy each day.

Sorry to cut this one short, but I'm off to visit with family. Have a great weekend y'all!!!

 

 

Kelli

Fun Hoop Art!

I love decorating my home with homespun decorations and artwork. A cheap and easy way to spruce up any wall is with hoop art. The sky is the limit with what you can do with the inexpensive wooden embroidery hoops that you can pick up at any craft store. Above my bed I have started putting together a hoop art collage. 

On the ones I have hanging so far, I simply cut a square of fabric, placed it tightly into the embroidery hoop and then trimmed the excess fabric. I can't wait to add more hoops to this wall collage to make it a focal point of my room.

This hoop was made by centering up a quilt block I had made in a quilting class and trimming off the excess fabric. This will be a perfect addition to my bedroom wall collage!

To get started making your own hoop art. Pick up any size embroidery hoop and go through your stash of fabric scraps to find some coordinating prints.

I laid the inner ring of the embroidery hoop on my background fabric and marked it on four sides with a red marker so I could better center my design on my fabric.

I cut a variety of scrap fabric I had on hand into bunting flags and strips and arranged them on the fabric to get them aligned.

Then I sewed down the bunting on my sewing machine to create the string of the bunting design.

Place your fabric in the hoop and tighten it up. Then flip it over and trim the excess fabric closely to the edge of the hoop.

I simply love the finished product. A simple, cheap and easy way to add a little homespun charm to your home. 

Laura

Easy Picture Frame Redos

Ever noticed when you go to a yard sale or browse through a thrift store the number of old pictures and picture frames people have decided to get rid of? Maybe the picture in the frame no longer matches their interior, or they just decided they don't have room for that picture anymore. Well, I have found that every picture frame has a purpose and can be repurposed into many things. I recently picked up several old picture frames, and hope to show you several ways that you can redo those pictures before you just though them out.

Picture Frame Haul....

And More....

The first project I decided to do is super easy that anyone with a computer or a quick stop by your local craft store can do. I decided to work with this little frame first. The lady I bought it from at the flea market said the picture inside came free with the frame. LOL

 

 

Seems all picture frames are either brown or black, but I can easily change that with some spray paint in one of my favorite colors.

 

 

After a couple coats, and cleaning the glass she was ready for something special.

 

Thanks to my trusting computer, I decided to print up a little saying that I know to be fact. I love my family!

 

 

Only thing about taking a picture of a picture is it never shows the details as they really are, and there is always a glare or a shadow or your reflection. It was such a beautiful day outside, so I decided you could best see this picture off of my back deck.

Stay tuned for more great picture frame projects!!!

 

 

Kelli