DIY: Numbered Coasters

I had been wanting to make a set of numbered coasters for a while but wanted them to look more vintage than shabby chic.

 

I found these blank wood coasters at Joann for $1 and I used a coupon that was about to expire on them...making them just $.60. Sweet!

 

I found a font I wanted to copy (this one is EcuyerDAX from dafont.com) and I printed the numbers out to create stencils. I traced each number with a sharpie marker and then free handed the boarders and lines.

 



I gave them two coats with a clear satin sealer that resists water and then one more coat of matte Mod Podge so I think they are well protected from our cold drinks;)

 



Now we have a new place for our newly thrifted owl glasses.

 



 

Hope you are having a lovely Tuesday!

DIY: Potholder Hook

 

This craft was actually a failure as far as what I intended it to be (a mug rack), but it ended up serving a better purpose (a potholder rack).

 

You see, I kind of have an obsession with vintage mugs. I wanted to make a mug rack, but after I assembled this, I realized that most of the handles on my mugs wouldn't fit over the hooks.

 

Bummer.

 

But, then I spotted my potholders and realized it would be perfect for those. Plus, the rack can hold one of my smaller mugs (and my favorite!) so I have a quick cup to grab for cooking on the stove.

 

STEP 1: I took an old piece of wood from the garage and sanded down the edges.

 

STEP 2: I nailed in some picture hooks onto the back of the board and then used some silver hooks onto the front that I had leftover from my necklace holder.

I love the simplicity of it and that it was made with stuff I already had.

 



Have a lovely weekend!

DIY Play Kitchen (from a nightstand)

I am finally getting around to posting the play kitchen my dad (and husband) and I made for my daughter! I am really ashamed at how long it has taken me to finish this. Oh well...it's done now, right?

I started with a nightstand that I got off craigslist for $5 and pulled the drawers out. Luckily there was a board between both drawers..so we didn't have to build one for the "oven" bottom. My dad took the front off one of the drawers and attached it to front of the nightstand with hinges at the bottom so it could swing down like an oven door.

The backing of the kitchen is just a large piece of wood with two smaller pieces nailed in through the back for shelves. My dad already had the wood in his scrap pile...but I also priced it at Home Depot for about $5.

Here is a view of the top. I used a wooden letter "J" from Joanns for the faucet and a round cake pan from the dollar store from the sink. I didn't want anything too deep, otherwise nothing would fit in the oven compartment. Also, here are the burners I showed earlier. The burner knobs were also made with pre cut round pieces of wood. I just layered them, glued them, and then cut pieces of a dowel to put down the center to make them look more like knobs. The faucet knobs were something I already had. All the knobs are attached through the bottom with a screw and a washer so that they can turn.

Remember these cups, saucers, and canisters? I love they way they look on the shelves:)

The nightstand had two drawers...so for the bottom part, we took the drawer out and I made a little curtain to go across it for storage. My daughter keeps her play food in there. I attached it on the sides with sticky velcro so that it can come off. I got the material while in California. I think it adds to the retro look of the kitchen.

Finally, on the inside of the "oven" we painted everything with silver paint:

I really love the way it turned out! My daughter loves playing with it too...so that makes me happy:) I am in the process of making her some more accessories to go with the kitchen for Christmas such as oven mitts and dish towels....but more on that later:)

Price:

nightstand: $5

spray paint (2 cans): $6.00

wood for burners and knobs: $3.50

letter "J" for faucet: $1.00

material for curtain: $1.50

cake pan for sink: $1.00

all other materials I already had

Total: $18.00

I'm linked to:

Sugar and Dots

Someday Crafts

Sew Much Ado

Tatertots and Jello

DIY Chevron Wall Art

I have been a busy crafter lately. I got all my the squares for my daughter's baby clothes quilt sewn together (pictures to come), finished some curtains for our dining room (using the same material as these curtains from a duvet), completed my first custom order, and also finished up some projects for my friend's upcoming baby shower! I'm on a roll and I don't want to stop because I'm afraid I may never tackle my "to do" list again:)

On my list was something for our dining room. I wanted something large...but neutral since my curtains are a bright color. It's no secret that I love chevron. I love everything about chevron and I would even drape myself in chevron if it were socially acceptable (Seinfeld lovers will get that). So, a large piece of chevron wall art seemed to fit our style and my budget of zero point zero zero dollars (Bronx Beat shout out).

I started by finding an image of a chevron pattern and enlarging it on my computer screen. Then I took plain white computer paper, held it up to the screen, and traced the pattern. To make my stencil more precise, I went over each line with a ruler and a black marker.

I painted a large piece of thin wood white with acrylic paint since I already had some.

Next, I cut out my stencil and traced it over my whole board with an ink pen. I recommend tracing your stencil with something light so that it's easier to paint in later.

Finally, I painted in ever other line with some gray acrylic paint that I had and I was done! I found a foam brush worked best to get really clean corners and lines.

The wood I used is less than 1/4 of an inch thick. It was a piece of scrap wood my dad had and it was chipped and splitting in certain places and I really liked the texture of the design over each crack and imperfection.

I also hung it on the wall by nailing picture frame hooks on the back.

Also, you may have noticed that my red chairs are black again. Although I liked them red...I never thought to seal them and constantly wiping them down each day was starting to fade the paint (not the mention the movers scratched them up quite a bit). So, they are black again and I love them:) And a round of applause for my hubby for painting them for me without complaining one bit! I know he is counting down the months until I can paint my own projects again.

I'm linked to:

Sugar and Dots

Party Mindie Style

DIY Sunburst Mirror

Wow...I've been really slacking in the blogging department lately, huh? Our computer lost the Wifi function...so it has to be plugged in upstairs directly with the modem. What does that mean? Well, it just means I'm not on the computer nearly as much anymore...which I think my family is very happy about:) Plus I have been a busy little bee with getting projects done...you know those photos you save in the "I really want to do that someday" folder? I am actually getting those done! Yay me!

One of the projects I wanted to do was a sunburst mirror. I have seen a ton of examples online for DIY versions and thought I would give it a try myself.

Materials:

round mirror

bamboo skewers

hot glue

paint

First, I found a pack of round mirrors at Goodwill. I got 6 mirrors in different sizes for $4...but I had a giftcard so it was free! You can also get mirrors like this at a craft store.

So, I took the largest mirror (8" in diameter) and glued down some skewers in some symmetrical spots. I glued them with the pointy side facing in because I wanted the flat edge to be showing on the outside.

Note: When buying bamboo skewers, do not buy them at the dollar store...they are thinner and more of them are bent. I got mine at Walmart for $.94 a pack (of 100) and they were a lot thicker and very few were duds...plus it was cheaper than the dollar store!

I divided each of my previous sections with more skewers. I thought this would be the best way to get them the most even all the way around. You could measure all the way around and mark where they go...I'm just lazy:)

So, I continued with that method until I had the fullness that I wanted. I used almost a whole bag of 100 skewers.

I went through and painted the back of the skewers with black acrylic paint. Next, I flipped it over, covered the mirror with a circle piece of paper, and spray painted the front with black spray paint. The paper kept the mirror clean and the spray paint made it so that I didn't have to apply a top coat.

I hung it in our bedroom and I love it! I originally wanted it over our bed...but I didn't think to measure the small wall before making the mirror...so the mirror was bigger than the small wall space between our windows. Luckily it fits perfectly on the opposite wall and fills the space nicely.

I feel great getting one of my long time projects accomplished. I have finished a few others for our room that I can't wait to share:)

Price:

mirrors (pack of 6): $4.00

bamboo skewers (pack of 100): $.94

paint: already had

Total: $4.94

(plus I still have 5 more mirrors to play with!)

I'm linked to:

Sugar and Dots

Tatertots and Jello

DIY Play Kitchen Part 1: Burners

While my dad is busy adding a large piece of wood to the back of the nightstand I have for my daughter's play kitchen (and making shelves for it)...I decided to get started on the pieces I needed to make.

I liked these burners of a KidKraft kitchen, so they were my inspiration:

I found thin 6" squares of wood at Joann's. I also found a bag of wood circles (21 pieces in different sizes).

I sanded down the edges of all the pieces and glued (with wood glue) a larger circle in the middle of the square piece:

Then, I glued another smaller circle in the middle of that:

I used square dowels for the burner pieces. I cut them the size I wanted for the corners:

Then, I cut down the inner edge so that they would lay flat over the circle piece:

I cut them with an exacto knife.

I glued on all the corner pieces:

Then I repeated the same process with smaller dowel pieces for the other parts of the burner:

Finally, I painted it all chrome and then the burners were painted black. I didn't paint all the pieces beforehand because I wanted to make sure they glued together well while the wood was still bare.

I can't wait to show you the plans I have for the knobs and the sink! I hope to have it painted by this weekend...but with the packing and such...I'm not sure if that will happen.

Price:

Wood squares: $1.00 (with 50% off coupon)

Wood Circles: $1.50 (with 50% off coupon)

Dowels: $.100

Total: $3.50