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Marbled Soup Can Canister Tutorial

November 12, 2019 By Erica Deuel Leave a Comment

Do you love recycling trash into treasures as much as we do!?

Art doesn’t have to be expensive. Using things you might normally throw away as art supplies is one way to create in an inexpensive way! Soup cans are one of our favorite recycling materials to repurpose into a fun craft. It is sturdy and strong and be a great base for something else.

Today, we are excited to show you how you can turn those cans into marbleized storage canisters.

The first step is to collect your soup cans. We have gotten in the habit of just saving all our soup cans, so when a project idea arises, we are ready with cans on hand. I take the paper wrapper off our soup cans and run them through the dishwasher with our dishes to get clean. Once you have your dry cans, you are ready to create! We spray painted our cans white to have a nice matte base coat for this project. While the tin cans were drying, we collected our spray paint cans and filled a bucket with water. For each can, we choose two different spray paint colors. We added one color at a time.

All you have to do is spray the water with your spray paint color. The spray paint sits on top of the water. You then lay the can on top of the water and the paint will adhere to the can like a sticker might grab onto your hand. After one color was added, we simply looked at the can, maybe rotated it a little to figure out what side needed some more color, and did this step again with the second color of paint.

The can comes out of the water looked marbleized and super fun! After you get the hang of it, you can play with how much spray paint you spray on top of the water to create a more thick or less thick look on your can. We had so much fun doing all four of our cans that we prepped!

After the cans were dry, we used ours to hold art supplies. You could do the same or turn it into something else! A wind chime, flower pot, vase, or candle holder are fun ways to use your new canister too. You can personalize this craft using colors that fit your taste or the size can that fits your need best.

Sometimes it is easier to understand the steps to a project to see it actually happen. To see this craft in video form, you can watch the process on our YouTube channel here.

We love how quick, colorful, process art base, and inexpensive this paint technique can be! We had so much fun doing it to the tin cans that we bought some inexpensive raw wood candle sicks to paint this way too!

How fun are those!? We think they look like they belong on shelves in World Market or Anthropologie. We found some white candle sticks that make the colors pop even more, and we are going to use them as Christmas presents for family this year!

What do you think!? Will you try this paint technique? Do you like making Christmas gifts too!? We’d love to hear from you! Find us on social media by tagging us with your pictures #spoonfulofimagination

Thanks so much for stopping by!

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Colorful Desk Lamp Tutorial

February 7, 2018 By Erica Deuel Leave a Comment

Colorful Desk Lamp TutorialWant to add a pop of color in your house without purchasing anything new? This is a project you can do!

In our last house, we had this small desk lamp in our boys’ bedroom. We haven’t used it in our new house, so its just been sitting in a closet. I loved the shape and it worked so we have just held on to it. If you have boys who occasionally turn the living room into a football field, you know it’s important to keep a few items on the sideline should a picture frame or lamp take a direct hit. Just saying.

Now, that we have the art studio, I am finding a lot of days where I am working on setting up workshops, emailing, and spending more time on the computer. I needed a functioning desk with a lamp.

Colorful Desk Lamp Tutorial

I pulled out my old lamp and put it back to work. The only problem was it had a lot of white on it, and the lamp shade I wanted to use also had a lot of white. It was easier to change the lamp base than to find another lampshade that fit and looked great. Here is what I did to my lamp base.

First, I used painters tape to cover the light bulb socket and switch section of my lamp.

Colorful Desk Lamp TutorialNext, I pulled out a couple of my leftover spray paints that I liked and did a light coat of each color all around my lamp.

Colorful Desk Lamp TutorialI let each color dry completely, before I sprayed the next color. I overlapped the colors a little as I sprayed to create a natural ombre look.

For this project, it was easy to hold the light bulb socket area and rotate the lamp to create the even coat. Please note: To avoid drip downs of paint, it is better to do two light coats of spray paint than to do one thicker/heavier layer.

Colorful Desk Lamp TutorialIt’s always a little more challenging to do spray paint projects during the dead of winter. It’s been hovering around “Brrrr, it’s cold” to “I can’t feel my face” this past month. Which means spray painting is happening in the garage. While it’s certainly warmer than outside it still feels like “I’m losing feeling in my toes” after about 20 minutes. So all that to say, it takes things a lot longer to dry. Be sure to let your lamp dry completely, so you don’t get fingerprints or scratch marks on your new colorful project.

Colorful Desk Lamp TutorialOnce your lamp is dry, add a light bulb and lampshade and you are ready to go! I love the way that my white lampshade looks with this new colorful base. It’s such a fun mix!

Pssstt… did you notice I left the gray layer on the base of my lamp base? I liked that color, so I used it as the first layer and just added more color to the middle and top!

Colorful Desk Lamp TutorialI’m hoping this little desk and lamp helps me to have a focused workspace. Maybe it will help my kitchen counter from becoming an office.

Colorful Desk Lamp TutorialDo you remember when I made these rustic mirrors? They may be one of my favorite crafts of all time.

What do you think? Do you have a lamp, basket, or flower pot that is hiding away in a closet, basement or garage that could be brought back to life with a little color added to it? Have fun! Use your imagination and have fun giving old items, new life. This is also a great way to make someone a special and customized gift without spending lots of money.

Thanks so much for stopping by! If you try this project, tag me on social media with #spoonfulproject so I can see your handy work!

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Recapping A Great Night

October 29, 2013 By Erica Deuel 18 Comments

mail holeI keep thinking about my Spoonful Lab and a huge smile comes across my face. It was so much fun. Yesterday, I showed you the ruffle aprons I made for it. Today, I want to show you the night.

girls_craft_partyWhen everyone arrived, they got to get a drink, browse my decor and supplies, and find a seat. They immediately got to mingle, talk and start creating a colorful fabric garland.

making_fabric_garland

making_a_fabric_garlandIt was open and relaxed and I couldn’t have been more pleased. I loved seeing how although I explained some things…everyone took my instruction and put their own twist on it. I am so glad everyone felt the freedom to create what they wanted.

making_garlandI love seeing the creative process take place, and being apart of it was just icing on the cake. These girls were creative and have skills!

i_am_beautifulWe enjoyed some amazing desserts made by my sweet friend and fellow blogger Libby at Lemon Grass and Green Tea. She really out did herself on the amazing and beautiful treats we got to enjoy!

fall_dessertsI shared some of my tips that I use and run through when I paint wood signs. I’ve walked you through a few techniques in different blog posts, but being live I got to babble and go in more depth. It was so fun to explain my creative process without having to worry about how many characters I said it all in. I loved it.

girls craft nightRust-oleum was so generous to supply the spray paint as the main supply item for our wood signs. The colors are gorgeous, and I loved seeing how almost every color I had was used.

rustoleum paint

stenciling

painting signsI loved to see the different personalities come out in everyone’s work. We had so much fun!

hear me roar

painting fabric

hand_painted_signsDon’t feel bad if you missed out on this one. There is another lab coming! I am already dreaming and planning for my next event. On December 5th, I have a lab in Alpharetta, Georgia. Out of The Box Art Studio is generously giving me their place for the night to host this event.

Handmade_Christmas_SpoonfulLab600We are going to create a white feather wreath that is perfect for your Christmas decor and can even carry over into the new year for winter. We will also be creating some Christmas ornaments. This will be a great chance to get out with your girl friends and have some fun and laugh, after (I’m sure) a crazy Thanksgiving weekend. Sign ups are now live! Please go here to reserve your spot today!

Also, if you want to get your hands on some of the woods signs I made to explain my painting techniques, they are going up for sale in my shop this week. A lot have already been added.

I will have swag bags again for my attendees at the Handmade Christmas Lab. Here is what was in our last lab’s swag bag:

swag itemsEveryone’s earrings, magnets, bookmark (that also acted as our name tag), and card were slightly different. I think they were a hit. I am already planning the next bag of goodies. If you would like to get your hands on the swag items above, please leave me a comment below. I will randomly select a winner this weekend. I would also LOVE if you share my graphic for my Handmade Christmas party around.

Thank you so much for all your support!

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Easiest Sewn Apron Ever

October 28, 2013 By Erica Deuel 13 Comments

Thanksgiving and Christmas are coming really quickly. I have come up with the easiest sewn apron for you to create and wear at your holiday parties. You can use it as a gift or as a simple way to dress YOU up for the festive meal. I made mine for my Spoonful Lab for me and my cute helpers to wear, so there are lots of possibilities for these pretty things.

I think the aprons cost about $1.50 each and took around 10 minutes (other than waiting for the spray paint to dry) to create. I know you are wondering “how!?!” Let me quickly tell you.

DIY_ApronThe first thing I did was buy some cheap premade aprons. These go for $1.99 at Hobby Lobby. I got mine when they were 50% off. I know you can buy this same sort of thing at a lot of dollar stores and Home Depot as well. I also found them here for $2.99, where they can be shipped to your door step.

I found that for the price and cost of time-I could not beat starting with one of these cheap base aprons.

plain_aprons

The next thing I did was lay some thin, pretty lace down over my aprons. I made sure to have the lace pattern laid on straight and that my whole apron front was covered by it. I then used some of my pretty Rust-oleum spray paint and sprayed right over the lace. Note: Make sure you shake your spray paint can really good before starting to spray. Spray about 8 inches above the apron, and spray straight down. Do not spray at an angle or the paint will go under the lace and damage the effect.

spray_paint_over_laceAfter the spray paint dried, I simply picked up the lace, and I had a really pretty decorative pattern on my aprons. I then cut three-inch wide strips of fabric and sewed them on to the bottom of my apron in the same way I did my ruffled shower curtain. I left the strips of fabrics’ edge raw, so there could be fray with wear. That is all there is to it!

My aprons were finished! I think the results are stunning for what I spent making them. I think you could easily do these with either fall or Christmas colors to make a simple festive gift or item to wear at your party. I picture a bunch of cute little girls wearing these for a Christmas cookie decorating party. So fun! There are lots of possibilities. They definitely worked great for me to wear at my Spoonful Lab last weekend!

Easy_sewn_apronI hope you are having a great week! Thank you so much for stopping in to check out this easy DIY!

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