A Fun Way to Use an Old Frame

March 3, 2021March 2, 20212 Comments

Good morning! I have a new project for you today! Lauren and I have been participating in some local vendor fairs and virtual fairs. She has been selling Disney Trading Pins and I am making boards to display the pins on. It’s been fun selecting all the different colors and characters. Of course, this doesn’t have to be done with Disney characters, but anything you like! Let me show you how!

I started with a frame from a thrift store. It doesn’t matter what kind of picture or if the frame is scratched. I like to look for frames that are a little different or have a design in them. I liked this oval one, because the curved ones are a little harder to find. This frame is just a plastic material.

The first step is to take apart the frame. Throw away the glass (unless you have another awesome idea to use it for!). I keep the back. It is good to use for tracing on the cork board and also to give extra support to the whole thing in the end. Make sure to keep any screws too.

Be sure to wipe off and clean your frame before painting. Then decide what color you want to use. I love the Rustoleum 2X Spray Paint. Since this frame is such a smooth surface, I used a primer first to give the paint something to grip. Once the primer was dry, I sprayed 2 light coats of the green.

This is where your back piece come in handy. I bought this corkboard from Hobby Lobby. I laid the back on top of the cork board, traced around it and then cut the cork with scissors. Depending on the thickness of the cork, you might have to use a razor blade. I found that 1/4 to 1/2 inch cork is the best. I really just depends on how thick your frame is and how thick of cork will fit inside and still be able to get the back of the frame back on.

For this board, I picked Tinkerbell. I looked up Tinkerbell silhouette in Google and then picked the one I thought would be easiest to cut out, without to much detail. If the design is too detailed, it’s difficult to be able to cut it out cleanly.

Once the design is cut out, place it on your corkboard. It might help to tape it down if you are afraid the paper might move too much. I used black acrylic paint to fill in the design.

I use a small brush that is pretty flat on the end. I start by daubing around the edge of the design and then I go back and fill in the whole design. Be sure to hold down the edges of the paper as you paint, so the paint doesn’t leak under. You may have to go over some of the edges with a small brush to smooth and even them out.

Doesn’t she look cute?! I love the bright green!

I’ve been making quite a few of these lately. Here are a couple of others. You can see that I used all different size frames and colors.

Princess crown…

and small oval.

These are fun to paint and the designs are endless! What would you put on yours?

Using Vintage Fabric to Bring New Life to Chairs

February 22, 2021February 20, 2021Leave a comment

Good morning!

I know I haven’t posted for a bit, but I am so happy to show you this project today! Thank you for stopping by! I am going to show you what a difference a little paint and fabric can make!

I bought these chairs several years ago at a ‘Junk’ sale. The seats were covered with burlap, but as you can see, they were very stained and dirty. I had bought some vintage fabric at an estate sale and knew they would be perfect for these chairs.

I spray painted the chairs with Rustoleum 2X white semi-gloss paint. I didn’t even take the burlap off when I painted the chairs because I knew the seats would be covered anyways.

I debated whether or not to leave the burlap on the seats and just put the new fabric over it, but I was afraid the stains on the burlap would go through, so I started to take out all the staples on the bottom of the chair. I used a flat head screwdriver and a needle-nosed pliers to take them all out. It definitely took awhile! Thankfully the foam underneath the burlap was still in good shape.

Once the burlap was off, I used it as sort of a pattern for my new fabric.

I used 1/4 inch staples to attach the new fabric to the chairs. I pulled the fabric taut and then stapled all the way around.

As you can see in the photo below, the wood under the seat didn’t get painted. That’s because the burlap covered it before. I was going to cover the chairs the same way as before, but then decided to not cover that part of the wood. I like the chairs much better this way, but I did have to go back and paint those front pieces.

I set up this little table last fall on my back porch. It was such a lovely, sunny day. You can see the chairs with the table set for two!

The sun was a little bright over here. The fabric is much more vibrant.

I set up this little sitting spot on the other side of the yard. Can’t wait for all the grass to start coming in as spring gets closer!

I hope you all have a great week and stay safe!

DIY Dog Costumes for Halloween!

October 12, 2020October 11, 20205 Comments

Hello! How is everyone doing this week? We’ve been having some wonderful fall weather here! We usually don’t have much of a fall, so this is a welcome change. On Saturday night, our little family went to a corn maze and had so much fun! We actually were able to find all 12 checkpoints and only got lost a couple of times.

This week we are looking forward to Halloween (it is only a couple weeks away if you weren’t aware). And we are taking a look at some Halloween costumes for our furry friends! Now, my cats would think that it’s the worst thing in the world to be dressed up in a costume, but other people will dress their pets up for each Halloween. So here are some ideas for you if you have decided to dress up your pet but you don’t have any ideas. Enjoy!

This is so simple, but so cute!

Ty Beanie Baby Tag from Dream A Little Bigger

My Maggie would look perfect as a lion!

Lion Costume from Instructables

Yummy! I’m actually dressing mine up as snacks this year, so this one might be a possibility.

Hostess Cupcake from Sew Doggy Style

Aww! So sweet!

Flower Costume from DIY Network

For this one, you can use a jacket you already own and just add felt to the back!

DIY Dinosaur Jacket from Crafty Carmen

Here is another snack costume. She looks good enough to eat!

S’mores Costume from Studio DIY

Wouldn’t this be cute on some little tiny puppy? It would be all loofa!

Loofa Dog Costume from Crafts by Courtney

Argh Matey!

Pirate Costume from Luigi and Me

Perfect addition to your little Elsa and Anna!

Easy Sven Costume from Ella Claire Inspired

Soooo Cute!!!

Puppy Fairy Wings from Instructables

I hope you all have a safe and happy Halloween!

Day of the Dead Hoop Wall Hanging

October 6, 2020October 4, 20202 Comments

Good morning! It’s October! Fall is coming quickly! I hope you have been safe and are enjoying some fall weather where you are. I think of all of you every day and pray for you and your families. I love having you come by and visit! Thank you!

I have another Day of the Dead, or Dio de la Muertos craft idea today, but this could be easily adopted to other holidays or colors. Think fall colors with pumpkins or even Christmas with ornaments. So many ideas!

I started with an embroidery hoop, chunky yarn, silk flowers and Day of the Dead sugar skulls.

I cut several pieces of each color of yarn and then started tying them on the bottom of the hoop. I folded the yarn in half and laid it over the hoop.

I took the two loose ends of the yarn, wrapped them around the back of the hoop and then thread it through the loop.

Pull the yarn tight to form the knot. Keep adding yarn for as far as you want it to go.

I added four strings of each color that I was using.

I trimmed the bottom of the yarn to make it a bit more even.

I hot glued three flowers on the hoop over the knots of yarn.

Then I took three skulls and glued them to the top of the hoop. I chose two white ones and one with color.

This is such a simple little craft! It’s perfect to add to my other Day of the Dead items- shadowbox, Ofrenda.

I have this in my entryway right now, but I will move most of it outside to my Ofrenda just before Halloween. Have you ever decorated with Day of the Dead items or put together an Ofrenda? I would love to hear about it!

SEASHELL SPECIMEN WALL HANGING

August 4, 2020August 3, 202015 Comments

Good morning! Have you been able to get to the beach this summer? Maybe you collected some seashells. Here is a great way to display them!

Hello! Is spring here yet? I can hardly wait for warmer weather. After being in Hawaii, I am so ready to wear shorts and tank top again. To help get in the mood, I created these Seashell Specimen Pictures. I collect lots of seashells and had divided them up in little baggies and I had found these frames at Goodwill a while back, but with the holiday, I just didn’t get to it. So now that I had a little time, I decided to get this project done!

Here are the frames I found. I was able to find 3 of the same ones.

The first thing to do was take the backing off.

I used scissors to cut along the edges to get to the inside.

After the back was off, I removed the picture and the glass, so I was left with the frame, mat and cardboard backing.

I didn’t want the cardboard to show, so I used a piece of brown paper looking scrap paper for behind the shells. I laid out the shells the way I thought I would want them to go. Once I had a pleasing layout, I used tacky glue to glue them onto the paper.