Upholstery Tack Crown

So.

I almost didn't post this.

(Just wanted to let you know)

This is one of those projects that looked amazing in my head.

But once done... I keep looking at it.

Sometimes I like it.

Sometimes I don't.

Just decided to put it out there.

Don't tell me if you hate it.

(I might cry)

Just don't lie and say it's wonderful either :)

Here goes nothing loving blog friends...

I started with these:

A blank wooden board and several boxes of upholstery tacks from lowes.

First all I did was give it an under layer of a turquoise-green color.

Then painted over that with a mixture of beige and white paint.

Here's what I got:

I'm actually in love with the paint color.

It may be my favorite part.

Then I sanded it...

Like I said... LOVE the paint.

Probably the only reason I didn't just throw it away on my 'I don't like this' moments...

I grabbed my boxes of tacks:

and put a stencil of my crown over my board:

And went to town.

Two problems:

1- I was tired... too tired to probably be hammering tacks into something. But I had determination.

2. If I ever attempt this again... I"ll be more OCD about getting them in straight on. I like the whole vintage-y messy look but not really on the tacks:

So.... can you tell what it is?

I can... but then again, I have the vision.

My husband knew.

Hm.

It looks good from a ways off. lol.

Too many dots? Something missing?

Just don't know... don't have that LOVE IT moment.

But nevertheless... I'm putting it out there.

Don't make me cry, fabulous followers. :)

Hope everyone is having a fantastic memorial day!

I made it to the CSI Top ten!

I am so excited!

Remember this post?

With my cabinet door turned welcome sign?

I entered it into the

The CSI Project

(which stands for Create, Share, Inspire)

and it made it into the top ten!

I was nearly jumping out of my seat!

Go here to check out all the amazing winners!

"Trust in the Lord' Wall Hanging

So I loved my California signs so much that I had to go and make something that resembled them.

I actually do want to do favorite places or something along those lines.

But I did something a little different.

I started with this:

It's actually a sign that I picked up at Hobby Lobby... I think I got it for like a dollar on sale.

The quote was cute... but I was wanting to make something and this was fair game :)

I primed it.

Spray painted it yellow

Then Espresso Brown (yumm!)

Then sanded.

Love that technique.

So worn. Vintage. Warm.

And then I did my design...

It was a reminder that I've been needing to have for a while.

I painted the swirls first... sanded... then glazed them a bit.

Then the words I just stenciled on in white.

I'm quite fond of it : )

Wanna see some sweet pics I got of little man this week?

Of course you do...

Playing on our swingset..he's learning the art of keeping his feet up.

This picture is my favorite.

Him and his puppy, Kaos.

It's a constant love/hate relationship.

Love you guys... sorry my posting has been so sporadic lately.

Classes have been hectic. One more week and it calms down...just a little.

Happy Memorial Day weekend!

Linking too:

Saturday Night Special @ Funky Junk Interiors

Trunk Re-do

Remember this picture from this post?

I promised a reveal soon... and then promptly forgot to show it.

Sorry about that.

Apparantly school has messed up my head. Ironic, no?

I successfully made it through my first whole week of OT school.

Overwhelming but doable... at this point.

You will all be very happy to know that one of my classes is called 'therapeutic activities' and consists of CRAFTING.

Yes... I was happy too.

So far, we've done mosiac tiling, woodworking and sewing. Decoupage is tomorrow.

It's much needed stress relief.

Loving it.

And it DOES have a therapeutic purpose. Absolutely.

Moving on to this lovely I found for 8$ at a local antique store:

I was in love.

The handles... the hinges.

It needed  a lot  of love though.

Dings, scratches, chunks of wood missing...

So I promptly took it apart... it also had a tray inside that lifted out but I put that to the side for now.

Beautiful wood, huh?

Too bad it was marked up everywhere. Poor thing.

I grabbed my favorite color:

And got to work spraying it down.

Here's the bottom... isn't it crazy how it pulled out that grain?

Kinda like it.

Here's the purty top:

Then my amazing find came into action... my amazing friend, Amanda, and I were browsing through Hobby Lobby when we discovered this:

I was in.love.

Spray crackle? Ummmm....yea.

You control how much crackle you want by spraying lighter coats or heavier ones.

None of that making sure you don't coat over a second time or it won't work kinda deal.

Love love love it.

And it's Valspar, my fav.

Here's what it did for me:

Amazing.

I really needed two cans but I made this one work cuz I was too excited.

It did it beautifully.

And aren't those hinges just amazing all by themselves?

I didn't mess with their color.

Here it is all put together and with it's new face:

Soooo much better.

I added a knob to the front and took the side handles off.

I wasn't going to be moving it around much and it needed to open from the top.

So I'll use the handles for it's little tray I still have :)

I'm pretty sure I grabbed that H cheap at Walmart. I just sprayed it with Hammered Bronze and on it went.

Love it in my living room.

It holds my blankets perfectly.

Sorry it took so long.

I think it was quite worth it :)

 

"California" Wall Hangings

I heart California.

Let's just open with that.

I fell in love with San Diego on a youth choir trip and still am enamored by it today.

It's beautiful... it's beachy... it's sunny... it's peaceful.

Coronado Beach is my favorite place to be in the world.

Cayman Islands are a close second.

But there is something about that California Beach.

So when our friend Chris moved into his beautiful, first brand new house, I knew exactly what I wanted to do for a house-warming present.

He's a native Cali and loves it with all his heart.

He's from Orange County/Laguna area so thus my idea was born.

He needed something to hang on his bare walls other than bachelor Corona posters. Ick.

And I had these:

(Don't know why some of these turned sideways... sorry)

But I found these lovelies in my favorite place...on the side of the road.

Which means FREE.

Love that.

(But you can pick up scrap pieces of lumber anywhere...check your local hardware store)

I mean, they're awesome...why throw them out?

Yes...they're rough and scraggly but soooooo?

I grabbed my amazing little mouse sander:

Can you see the difference?

One- scraggly. Other- smooth and purty.

Next, I decided to do a light layer of color on each... I chose to paint them in the color opposite of what I wanted the top coat to be in the end.

So the one I wanted brown, I used blue in this layer and so on:

After I lightly sprayed them down, I let them dry.

Then put their top coats on:

Pretty and vibrant, huh?

But a little TOO pretty and vibrant... they are going in a guys house after all.

So my mouse sander did it again:

All I did was lightly sand and the bottom layer popped right out!

Makes it look all vintage-y and beat up.

Perfect!

I love how the brown turned out:

Then I used Word to get the fonts I wanted

(Sure Cuts a Lot software would make this so much easier, huh??)

But I went old-school and cut out (yes, handcut!) each word:

I decided on "California", "Laguna" and "San Diego"

His three favorite places.

Then they each got their fab word painted on:

Love this yellow and brown combo!

Didn't they turn out pretty?

I sanded the letters a little too... just cuz.

I love them.

My favorite is this one:

I am so in love and so jealous that I don't have a reason to sport California words...

maybe I just don't have to have a reason :)

So they were stacked up, packaged (manly of course) and given away:

He loved them.

And I love that :)

This post was featured here:

Thank you so much, Rachelle!

She has a fantabulous blog...check her out and all the other fabulous things she featured!

Also featured here:

Also...here:

The Craft Cave

Linking too:

Saturday Night Special @ Funky Junk Interiors

New Blog Button!

So I've spent the past hour working on this:

 

And it is done!

Thanks to about a million tutorials... the best one I found was here.

So... make good use of it, pretty please??

Go ahead, grab the code on the right and make me smile! :)