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Wood Cake Stand

August 9, 2013 By Erica Deuel 6 Comments

unique_cake_stand

I have an obsession with natural elements. Sometimes I wonder if I really was supposed to build a Swiss Family Robinson tree house, rather than buy this new house. Not really…but can you imagine!? That place has always been a dream to me.

If you remember my log end table, you know I love working with logs and sticks. The latest project I incorporated them in is this unique cake stand. If you have a chain saw (or a dad with chain saw like me), than you can do this project!

The first step was to have my dad slice me some slivers of a larger piece of wood while I stole a piece of his firewood.

Slice_wood

I picked the sliver of wood that I liked the best and used some of my amazing Haven swag sandpaper from 3M to make the top smooth. Side note: I love this sandpaper and the back no slip grip sold me on this product! They aren’t paying my anything to say that. It is legit. Good stuff.

sanding_wood

I cut my piece of firewood to the height I wanted for my cake stand with my new miter saw (that I will be sharing with you next week).

Tree_woodI then squirted a little wood glue into the center of my wood sliver and pressed the stand tightly into it. I then hammered a small nail in from the top of the cake stand to add some extra strength, and it kept the two pieces tight as the glue dried.

using_wood_glue

Hammering_a_nailMy last step was to stain the top. I used Early American for a nice dark color. It soaked in immediately to the raw wood. There wasn’t much brushing the stain on or wiping it off. It kind of soaked right in and stayed, but it worked!

staining_wood

wood_cake_standOnce the stain was dry, it was done! I love the way it turned out! I must note that I placed these strawberries on the stand for like two seconds for the picture. If I was to really place food there for longer periods of time, I would seal the top with something that is safer for food. I think my stand might end up holding jewelry, but the possibilities are endless!

natural_cake_stand

What do you think!? Do you like adding natural elements to your home too? I mentioned in my Haven conference recap that I wanted to share some of the swag love with one of you! O. Sing, you won!!!  I am so excited you finally won something since you enter ALL my giveaways! I will be in touch!

Thank you for stopping by, and I hope you have an awesome weekend!

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My Craft Desk {a special furniture revamp}

May 24, 2013 By Erica Deuel 2 Comments


craft area

Do you ever buy things…like big things…pieces of furniture, not knowing where they are going to go? It seems like a piece of furniture should be a big purchase that requires lots of thought and consideration before buying. It usually isn’t for me. When I find something that I like for a good deal I usually buy it (assuming that by the time I refinish it I’ll have a use for it).

That is the story of this desk and chair. I really fell in love with the chair more but for the pair only being $30 together, I knew I wanted it. They weren’t always so pretty though. When we got them home they were a nice dirty, ugly brown. I saw the potential though.

I want to quickly show you how I revamped this piece of furniture, so you too can find an old ugly piece of furniture and give it new life.

My first step in revamping old furniture is to remove all the hardware and give it a nice Clorox bath. I like to know that any germs, dirt, or dust on that piece came from me or my family.

old desk

cleaning used furnitureThe next step is to sand it down. Although the desk is real wood, the top of my desk is some kind of laminate/coated wood. I went ahead and sanded it too with a piece of 60-Grit sandpaper, since it had dried paint, pen, and glue stuck to it. Sandpaper Tip: The lower the number the rougher the grit. 40-60 = stripping. 80-120 = general use. 150+ = fine tuning and finishing. Change out your sandpaper based on your project stage. I often use 60 at the beginning to strip down and rough up my pieces. I then move to 100+ for smoothing and finishing. 

sanding furnitureAfter everything was sanded, I primed it with a nice coat of Kilz. Since I was using Kilz paint, I could have skipped sanding my piece (for my paint to stick) except that I wanted to create a nice even base for my paint. There was a lot of discoloration in the wood. Sanding it helped to give everything a more even start to then prime and paint.

priming a wood deskI didn’t know what to do with the top, since it was not real wood. Around this time I was thinking this was going to be my craft desk at our new house. I decided to not paint it because of how this desk was intended to be used. I knew as a craft desk that it would get scratched and things would get stuck to it quite often. The original laminate covering would wear better versus a coat of paint on top of the laminate. I then used left over paint from Reagan’s dresser makeover to paint the rest of the desk. My color is Disney Paint’s Pluto’s Paws.

painting a wood desk

I then layed out the stencil I had bought (Learn how to use the stencil over here: a colorful stool).

laying out stencilsUsing Disney’s Cool Marine, I started filling in the stencil and was then forced to decide how much of my new color I wanted to be on the desk. The answer would decided which way I used my stencil as you can see in the picture below.

using a stencil

using stencilsI stared at those two wider drawers for the longest time, trying to decide which one I liked better. I struggled to decide. I’m not usually a “yellow” fan, so I opted for the design on the right that featured more of the Cool Marine. I really liked the look of the design on the left though, so I used that technique on the middle drawer. I like how the mix all looks together.

I think it’s important to realize that everything doesn’t have to be exactly the same so it “matches”, and different things together can really be beautiful.

small sewing deskI then sanded the edges of my drawers and desk. I wanted the desk to look more rustic. I was going to be staining this piece to tone down the brightness of the yellow a bit and knew the rough edges would help to hold the stain’s color better.

sanding painted furnitureMy stencil job is not perfect as paint smeared under parts of the stencil where it was not supposed to. I think the sanded edges go with that “imperfect” look better. It kind of makes the whole piece imperfect and rustic with charm.

difference in sanding

wood sanding projectI like to paint the back of my projects to have an area that I can test things out. On this project, there were a couple different stains I was thinking about using. I tested a gray stain out on the back and didn’t like it so I went with Early American by Minwax.

I think the wood color stain compliments the warm yellow color better than the cool gray would have done.

testing stain color tip

small wood sewing deskI went ahead and stained the top laminate as well. I don’t think it changed the color much, but it did give the desk back its shine (that I had sanded off during the cleaning and stripping process). After my stain was dry, the last step was changing out the hardware! This is an old desk and I couldn’t find hardware that fit the exact width of my horizontal holes. I used carpenter’s wood filler to fill one hole then drilled a new hole to line up with my new hardware. It was a couple of extra steps but totally worth it. The newer slick handles allow for the stencil to be the major eye catcher rather than the old handles. I also used three different handles on this piece and I love how they all look good together but are different.

mixed drawer knobs

My new desk was then done! I simply had to move and set it up! Although I didn’t totally know how it would fit in our new house,  I knew I could use this piece. I love how it turned out and it is perfect in the corner of our bedroom. (a.k.a. my new area for creating!)

craft deskI have found a few of my favorite things to help decorate this area.

  1. One of my favorite pillows I have made.
  2. A new, sweet reminder embroidered hoop art that I made right before we moved. I also really like how I can use my Ikea hanger as an old school (before Pinterest) memo inspiration board.
  3. The week we moved in, we found this bird’s nest with three little eggs just a few feet off our deck. We got to watch the birds hatch, feed, and learn to fly away that first week we were here. It was such a special and exciting time as a family discovering our new place and experiencing joy together in our new house. It is one of my first memories in making this house our home, and I love the reminder of sweet family moments the nest brings.
  4. Scrap sewing pieces and an awesome light that I won from Red Head Can Decorate.
  5. Fun metal tin to hide my paperwork, receipts, and patterns.
  6. Vintage playing cards from my favorite childhood movie that helped inspire my blog’s name.

craft desk itemsThis area is not done. I have to hang up some of my organizers and figure out a shelf system I like. I’m making progress though and was so excited to share with you a new piece and place that will help me bring lots of creations back here to show you!

my crafting spot

Thank you so much for stopping by! I am excited to show you next week the piece my husband was making over simultaneously as I was working on this one!

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Take Steps Upward {step stool}

May 17, 2013 By Erica Deuel 6 Comments

step stool makeover

Have you walked by those pretty step stools in home decor stores and started drooling? I have…well almost. It’s been border lined between lusting and spontaneous buying, but the price tags always scares me off. I seriously have seen these small pretty step stools priced at $50. No joke. I just couldn’t pay that for something that I could create something similar too.

So, I took my daughter out on a date one afternoon and we ended up at Michaels and I bought a plain, raw wood stool for about $6.00 (with the use of a coupon from Michaels’ website).

I made this so quick and it captures the look and ability of those more expensive stools. It allows you to take steps upward while looking beautiful sitting there in the corner. Here is how I made it, so you can save some money too.

Materials:

  • wood stool
  • spray paint
  • acrylic paint
  • stencil
  • sponge paint brush
  • clear glossy spray/mod podge

The first step is spray paint the bottom of your stool. You could also use acrylic paint here, but because of all the different angles I decide to just spray it. I thought it would be easier and create less “dripping”.

spray paint wood stool

Next, paint the top of your stool. You can use any color, but something that compliments the color of the legs will help give a punch of “wow” factor to your stool.

paint wood stool

You might be able to tell I have used my stencil before. More on that project coming soon. 🙂 Any stencil will do. I liked this one because it was a circle shape and my stool is also a circle. I bought this at Michaels as well. Use your sponge paint brush to lightly dab paint into the slots. Remember you don’t have to use all of the stencil. As you can tell, I am not catching the scalloped edge of my stencil for how I am using it on this project.

stenciling wood stool

stenciling a wood stool

It was too boring for me left like that, so I wanted to add another color and used a small stencil that came with my larger one to go around it. I only used one of the flowers and just eye balled where the next one would go until I had filled the outer part of my stool’s top.

little girls painted wood stoolDon’t worry if you go over the stencil and get paint on the original base color. I did too! It is no big deal to go back, after the color has dried, and paint the original color back over it to cover the “oops” up.

fixing a stencil paint job

painted step stoolI really loved it, but I wanted to look more professional and finished. I sprayed a light coat of a glossy spray on top. Mod podge would work as well. The idea is to give it that finished shine.

Clear glossI love how it came out! My daughter loves to sit on it and draw on her chalkboard wall in her bedroom. What a cheap way to make a fun and functional accent piece. I am all about adding in pops of color!

What do you think? Will you save some money and try making one of these stools yourself?

diy foot stool

Thank you so much for stopping in! I hope you have a great weekend! If you haven’t entered to win a Mohawk rug yet in my giveaway, there is still time! Click over to see my dinning room rug and enter today.

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DIY Minnie Mouse Silhouette

April 26, 2013 By Erica Deuel 6 Comments

It’s crazy we are finally at the weekend where everything is happening! We will be closing on both houses and moving in the next few days. It is so exciting!

I want to give you a quick DIY project you could do over the weekend.

DIY minnie mouse silhouette

In my post about Reagan’s dresser makeover with Disney paint, I showed a few decor items I have made to help decorate her room. One of those decor items was this simple Minnie Mouse Silhouette. It was such a quick and easy project that you could knock out quickly! Here are the series of steps to do, so you too can create one of these subtle but fun Minnie Mouse vintage signs.

1. Find an old piece of wood.

piece of scrap wood

2. Sand the wood really good on the sides and top. This will lessen the cause of splinters and make it look more finished.

sanding a piece of scrap wood

3. Find bowls that look proportional to the size of Minnie’s head and ears.

drawing minnie mouse4. Trace the bowls.

drawing minnie mouse silloutte5. Paint inside all the circles to create a solid Minnie Mouse silhouette.

painting mickey mouse6. Draw a bow on a piece of paper and cut it out. Lay it where you want it to go.

minnie mouse bow7. Trace around the bow, so you have it stenciled on to your sign.

minnie mouse bow stencil8. Paint in the bow. I used Disney Paints’ Fashionista paint color to color in my bow.

painting minnie mouse bow9. Once the paint is dry, give it a nice coat of stain. This creates a more vintage, subtle, yet stunning design.

vintage minnie mouse10. Once the stain is dry, your sign is complete! Style it where ever you want! I think it makes a great decor item to a little girl’s bedroom, but it would also be an awesome gift to any age Disney fan!

how to make a minnie mouse signWhen I showed my little Reagan her sign, she squealed with delight. She was so excited and kept saying “my Minnie Mouse!” as she tried to hug the wood sign. 🙂

little girl love for minnie mouseI can’t wait to pull Reagan’s room together this next week! Be sure to follow me on twitter and instagram to get pics and updates of the whole moving process and sneak peeks of Reagan’s room getting pulled together. I hope you have a great weekend, and I will try to post again soon!

minnie mouse room decor

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