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When A Project Bombs

August 11, 2013 By Erica Deuel 8 Comments

when_a_project_bombs

When a project bombs, you want to…

admit you never tried it…

crumple it up and stomp on it…

keep going till you perfect it…

do anything but admit it didn’t work…

at least that was me tonight.

I stared at that alphabet and silently threatened it. “I will beat you,” I kept thinking to myself.

It’s my own fault. I waited till the night before we start our school year to try to make a new alphabet poster. So, maybe that is part of my frustration. Since most of our school supplies are going to be stored in our foster care bedroom, I want the decor to be some what educational but still really cool and fun.

I saw this alphabet poster at Ikea earlier this summer, and I just loved it.

ikea_alphabet_posterI loved the simplicity and that the vowels were in red. The only thing was it’s a Danish alphabet and it doesn’t have the lower case letters, which are important to a new writer. So, I used it as my inspiration tonight to try to create my own.

writing_the_alphabet

painting_the_alphabet

alphabet_cards

Attempts 1, 2, and 3 did not work. The stencil was too fat, the free hand was too ugly, and the cards were too “school room” type. I angrily stomped to the computer where I decided I would just google and buy a simple looking poster. I. Could. Not. Find. One.

There were no cute, simple alphabet posters with the capital and lower case letters (with out cartoon images and letters being thrown all over the page in a twisted out-of-order way).

I was stuck trying to figure this out. So, I browsed dafont.com and downloaded a whole bunch of new fonts. I am sure you will be seeing them in coming posts, but here are a few of my new favs, in case you want to download them too!

Font_favs

I decided I would go with a font that I already had, and created this poster.

8x11Why did I have to make that when it’s such a simple idea!? I do not know, but now it’s out there. I am gonna blow this sucker up. Stick it in a frame. AND try to pretend this project did not hurt my crafter’s ego.

Hopefully, this school prep project is not a foretelling sign of our school year!

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The Graffiti T-shirt

May 29, 2013 By Erica Deuel 5 Comments

little girls alphabet tshirt

Sometimes the basics are just the best. A soft comfy t-shirt + the alphabet = a wonderful item for any little ones wardrobe!

My little girl sings the ABC’s all the time. That song and “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star” are her two favorites. I made this graffiti type design shirt for her, and she and I both love the results. I love the faintness of the design. It’s subtle by striking. You only need a few items to make a screen print type shirt like this one and here they are:

Materials:

  • T-shirt
  • FabricMate Chisel Tip Fabric Marker, Black
  • Alphabet Stencils
  • Piece of cardboard (to insert shirt while designing)
  • Iron (to heat set design)

materials to screen print

I found my t-shirt on clearance for about $4.00. It was soft and I knew it would be a great basic piece for my daughter’s wardrobe or I could spice it up a bit. I decide to add a little subtle but fun life to it with the alphabet. This DIY shirt is so easy and really can be done quickly and modified for so many other designs.

The first step I did was bend an old cereal box to go inside my shirt. This way my design did not bleed through to the back of the t-shirt.

Next, I laid out my alphabet stencil onto the t-shirt. I needed to see if my stencil would fit or if my letters were going to be too big. They fit! Depending on the size shirt you have will depend what kind of size stencil looks best.  The important part is to just configure the placement of the letters that will fit per line across the chest of your t-shirt.

stencil a tshirtOnce you have your stenciled layed out like you like it, carefully move it to the side of your t-shirt. That way you will remember how you liked it lined up, but you can adjust as you go with one letter at a time being painted on.

alphabet tshirt

Carefully hold your stencil down and your t-shirt stretched and take your paint pen and start filling in the letter stencil. It is important to say here, to follow the instructions of your paint pen. My paint marker said to pre-wash my t-shirt, allow my design to dry for 24 hours, and to heat set the ink to preserve the design. If you use a different kind of paint pen/marker be sure to follow the instructions to get the best results. I love the paint marker I used. It transferred the color ink nicely and didn’t leave a hard, stiff result that would make the t-shirt uncomfortable to wear.

stenciling a tshirtOnce you fill in that first letter, place the next stencil and start filling it in as well. I didn’t want my design to be straight across and perfect, so I placed my stencils slightly higher or lower and tilted different angles ever so slightly all the way down the alphabet. I think it creates a more graffiti look and is more forgiving in not having to be “perfect.”

the letter aKeep adding stencils and filling in the letters. I didn’t worry about filling my stencil in to be a solid black filled letter. I liked the look of it being a little more worn.

stencil the alphabetOnce I finished my alphabet, my t-shirt was almost done! I waited 24 hours for it to dry, gave it a quick iron to help set the design, and it was done! I love how quick and easy this craft was. I made my daughter a fun t-shirt for less than $7 ($4.00 shirt + $2.70 marker). I now want to make a bunch of shirts with fun quotes and maybe even a Minnie Mouse silhouette like the sign I created for her bedroom. There are so many possibilities!

DIY screen print tshirt

make your own screen print type shirtI adore my little model! She was so excited about her shirt. Here’s a few pics that capture her fun personality…

DIY shirt for little girl

She’s a blast! Have you ever painted a t-shirt and actually worn it? The only shirts I had ever painted till this one had been done as a kid with acrylic paint and always left a hard stiff feature to the design that made the shirt uncomfortable to wear. There are so many fun fabric type markers and paints now that prevent that effect. The possibilities to becoming a clothing designer are at your finger tips! 🙂

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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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