Reduce Reuse Repurpose

Awesome Garage Sale Trunk

2011-05-14T16:05:00.000-07:00

This last weekend, while checking out some garage sales, I found this awesome trunk. I envision this being a toy chest for one of my children's rooms, but as of now it is in the entryway waiting to get it's insides upholstered :)

This is the trunk as it was when I bought it.

There was rust running down the sides, blue paint peeling off of it, and it was just kinda ugly. I first had to sand her down to remove the peeling paint, and get the surface roughed up for priming. Then I put on a few coats of Primer.

Here she is after a coat of primer. Keep in mind, there were a few more coats after this one.

After the primer (I use Krylon spray primer) had dried, I started painting (with Krylon Ivory Gloss spray paint) light coats of paint on her. You will need to let each coat of paint dry before you begin the next coat.

Here she is after her paint had been applied

After the paint had dried completely, I got out my Valspar tintable glaze (that I have tinted with black) and brushed glaze into the creases, and detailed pieces, then wiped away the excess with a damp cloth until I had the desired amount. As a note, it is better to start off with light coats. You can always add more glaze if you would like a more dramatic look. I did one side at a time, that way I could quickly remove the glaze and not allow it to dry.

This is the finished result, after the sanding, priming, painting and glazing had all been finished. I am very happy with the outcome of this piece. If the hardware would have been removable, I probably would have opted to remove it, and paint it with a brushed bronze, but since it wasn't, and it had already been painted, I just painted right over the top of it. If you wanted to, you could tape off everything that wasn't metal, and spray the metal pieces with a metallic finish.

There are really great Painting Tutorials and Glazing Tutorials given by Brooke, over at All Things Thrifty, that are very easy to follow and are a great start for anyone wanting to learn some best practices for spray painting, and glazing.

Re-purposed Windows Galore

2011-05-14T15:41:00.000-07:00

When looking for vintage windows, it is common to find them with panes of glass missing. There are many ways to repurpose your "broken" window into a functional and awesome feature for any room. I love the idea of using a "broken" vintage window as a corkboard, like the one I found at Doris Today Designs.

I also am in love with this window mirror from The DIY Club. This is a project that I will definitely be taking on!

Or you could create a wonderful vintage sign for your kitchen, entryway, or pretty much any area in your home using a tutorial from The DIY Club

There are so many awesome things to do with Vintage windows, and I will be adding more as I find them, or make them.

The Jewelry Armoire

2011-04-29T18:14:00.000-07:00

I was in need of some storage in my tiny bathroom, and decided a jewelry armoire would be just the thing. I wanted a fairly simple style, and something that was cheap (of course), so I went onto my favorite shopping site, Craigslist, and found this little number. Isn't she a beauty ;)

She's a looker huh! I primed her with some spray Kilz, then sprayed her with Krylon's Ocean Breeze, threw some glaze on there, and voila! So much better, and sooo cheap. Love it!

The Ugly Butterflies

2011-04-29T18:09:00.000-07:00

So here are the ugly butterflies that I found at an estate sale recently. The only reason I got them is because my 2 1/2 year old is really into butterflies right now. I knew I could paint them, so I decided what the heck, they are cheap. Here is what they looked like before.

Here they are after a couple coats of paint, and a touch of glaze~

Much better, and now my daughter can see butterflies everyday.

Garage sale chairs

2011-04-29T17:27:00.000-07:00

Here are some of my garage sale find chairs that I have refinished. Chairs are so easy and fun that I can't resist one if I find it (for the right price of course).

Before~

After~

Before~

After~

Before~

After~

Before (these chairs are part of a dining set that is shown below)~

After~

My free chairs

2011-04-29T17:05:00.000-07:00

Back in October I found a set of 4 free ladderback chairs sitting on the side of the road, so of course I snatched them up. When I got them, the woven seats were falling apart, the stain was rubbed off in some areas, and they weren't in the best shape, but they had serious potential. I haven't totally finished them, but I did finish priming them, and it is getting me a little excited!

Here is what the chairs looked like when I first got them~

Here are the chairs after removing the weaving, and giving them a rough sanding~

Here they are after priming~

Now I can't wait to get them painted and glazed, hopefully this weekend if all goes to plan, then it will be on to making a new upholstered seat for these bad boys! Yayyy

Child's couch recovered

2011-04-19T19:24:00.000-07:00

I am just beginning the process of learning to sew, but I think I did a pretty darn good job recovering this garage sale couch that my daughter wanted. This couch was pretty stained, and the foam pieces were pulling apart, and it was in serious need of some TLC. I took before and after pictures, but didn't get pictures of the process since I am new to the sewing world, and was kind of learning as I went along. I am glad that this is now something that I can have in my living room that doesn't make my eyes hurt! On the bottom of the couch, there is a zipper, so the cover can be removed and washed (necessary when you have young kids!). I removed the zipper from the original cover to use on the new one. You could also just use elastic, and make a casing around the bottom of all of the fabric, thread the elastic through, sew the ends of the elastic together, and just leave it open at the bottom.

Here is the couch before~

Here is the couch after~ (I still have to attach the velcro to keep the seat fabric down when the couch is open, but it is much better)

Look at these lines though, perfectly aligned. Way to go me!

Hutch transformation

2011-04-17T19:26:00.000-07:00

I found this hutch for FREE on craigslist! It wasn't the best looking thing, but I knew it had potential. These are the steps I took to achieve this look

1. I started off by sanding it down with fine sandpaper, just to rough it up a bit

2. I sprayed it with Kilz primer

3. I did another fine sand to get a smooth finish

4. I sprayed it with Ivory colored Krylon spray paint (All Things Thrifty has a great tutorial on spray painting technique)

5. I decided that I did not want it white, so I spray painted over it with a blackish brown color (can't remember the name of it at the moment)

6. With a fine grit sandpaper, I lightly sanded the flat surfaces, and the edges until I got the desired amount of wear

7. i sprayed the knobs with the black/brown color, let the dry, then painted over them with the Ivory, let that dry, then I lightly sanded over the knobs to give them a worn look as well.

8. I sealed it with a gloss lacquer.

Here are some before and after shots

I will get better pictures posted soon, but these were the only ones I could find at the moment.

Decorative Balls

2011-04-17T17:10:00.000-07:00

As a weekend project, I bought some styrofoam balls and made them into decorative balls. These are so easy to make, and cost soo much less than the ones you buy at the store. The 6 styrofoam balls were around $5, and the rest of the stuff that I used was stuff that I already had at my house.

The first ball was made out of branches from a bush in my back yard. I cut a bunch of the branches from the bush, took all of the leaves off, and got to work. For the first pieces, i attached each end to the ball with a straight pin. Once you have enough branches on the ball, you can just start weaving the remaining branches into the ones that are attached. Also, as you can see in the picture, there is some white showing through, so you may want to cover the ball with natural colored coffee filters, or something along those lines, or you can just add a lot more branches until it is totally covered. I was too anxious to get started, so I didn't do this :)

For the next ball, I had some fake flowers, and just hot glued them all over the ball until it was completely covered.

Next, I had some fake leaf/thick grass looking stuff, and pinned this so the ball at each end. I continued to pin each piece until the ball was completely covered.

The next ball, I covered in lace. I had gotten a bunch of strips of lace at an estate sale, and just wrapped the entire ball in it. Once the ball was covered, I used a straight pin to secure it (I also used a straight pin at the beginning).

For the last ball, I sprayed it with an adhesive spray (I used an elmers glue spray, which is super sticky!) and I sprinkled it with glitter. Once it is dry, you may want to spray it again with the adhesive spray to prevent too much glitter from rubbing off, or you could spray it with a clear lacquer (I'm not exactly sure how well this would work, since I didn't try it, but I imagine it would work pretty well).

So, here is the group. I still haven't figured out what I want to do with ball #6, but I'm not in a hurry. Any ideas?

Knock off Decor

2011-04-14T09:24:00.000-07:00

This site is great. It shows all sorts off knock off decor that you can make for your home. Check it out.

Knock Off Decor

Reuse your old lights

2011-04-12T19:42:00.000-07:00

I love the old brass hanging lights! My neighbors recently updated their light fixtures, so I took this beauty off their hands. I didn't get before pics, I wish I would have, but oh well, you will be able to picture it. This light was shiny and gold, and not very kind to the eyes, but now, it is a light that I love! When I painted this, I spray primed it first (which I don't think was necessary), then I spray painted it with a red paint. Once the 2-3 layers of paint were dry, I glazed it, and voila!

Re-purposing Wooden Windows

2011-04-12T19:27:00.000-07:00

I have been on the hunt for some vintage windows, and recently found some! I was so excited about re-purposing these, and using them in my home. The windows I found had 6 panes in them. I used one of them as a weekly calendar, and the other as a picture frame. Below is a picture of the calendar, and as soon as I add some pictures to my other frame, I will post a picture of it as well. The vintage window is perfect for a weekly calendar because the dry erase marker comes off clean and easy, so it doesn't leave those annoying streaks like a while board does. After I picked up the windows, I used 2 screws, one in each of the upper corners, and screwed them about half way in. I then used picture hanging wire, and knotted the end around the first screw, and then finished screwing it in the rest of the way. After the first screw was in, I decided how much wire I needed for hanging, and cut it. I then repeated what I had done with the first screw, and then I twisted the remaining wire tails around the main wire to give it a clean look.

The Foof

2011-04-12T19:08:00.000-07:00

Recently, I saw a tutorial on jones design company that illustrated how to make a "foof" out of a foam ball, and coffee filters. Since this was such a cheap activity, I had to give it a try! I am thinking that I used wayyyy more coffee filters than were used in the tutorial, I am talking hundreds of coffee filters here! I still love the way it turned out, and even though it took quite a while to finish, I am glad that I did it. This "foof" is now hanging in my daughters room (for now).

To see the tutorial, and make your own "foof", go here coffee filter foof tutorial

Mod Podge Letters

2011-04-12T19:01:00.000-07:00

Ok, so these letters are super quick, easy, and cheap. These can also be easily made to match the decor and color scheme of any room in your home. I initially bought the plain unfinished (the cheapest) wooden letters. I then went to good old Hobby Lobby, with my daughters comforter, and bought various designs of scrapbook paper that matched with the colors, Ink chalk pads, and ribbon. Once home, I:

1. Decided which order I wanted the papers to be in

2. Traced the letters onto the back of the appropriate paper

3. Cut the letters out of the paper

4. Covered the wooden letters in Mod Podge and carefully placed the paper letters over top of them

5. I used Ink Chalk pads around the edges (to give a more worn feel to them)

6. I mod Podged over the finished letters, and allowed them to dry

7. Attach your ribbon of choice to the back of the letters (the ribbon may need to be attached slightly off center to allow the letters to hang straight. If you look at my "L" you will see what I mean.)

8. Hang and enjoy

Here is the Finished product~

You can also do a multi pattern letter, which I will explain and show very soon. Actually, the only reason I don't right now is because I am too lazy to go and take a picture of it at the moment :)

So many great ideas

2011-04-12T14:47:00.000-07:00

So, from the same site that I found the storage locker, I found many more amazing pieces of furniture with DIY shopping lists and instructions. This lady is seriously an inspiration to me. I dream of the day when I can build some of these amazing pieces, but I guess until that time comes, that's what husbands are for. Anyway, check out this site, browse through her DIY furniture creations, and get to work creating amazing furniture for your home.

This is one of my favorites!

Check out Ana's furniture here!

Great storage project!

2011-04-12T12:46:00.000-07:00

I was browsing around today, and found this awesome Storage shelf/locker on Fresh Home Blog . Isn't this awesome! I may need to make a trip to the Home Depot! Visit this blog to get your shopping list and detailed instructions on how to make this awesome piece of furniture for yourself. Enjoy!

Plan illustration:

Great shelving!

2011-04-11T12:04:00.000-07:00

This is such a genius idea! I found this on Neon Fox Tongue this is made out of dresser drawers that are set upright, painted, and have the interiors upholstered. I'm sure this would need to be secured with brackets or nails, but what an Inexpensive and awesome idea! I hope you guys enjoy this as much as I do.

check this out!

2011-04-08T14:40:00.000-07:00

Talk about turning trash into something amazing! I happened upon this site, and was blown away, and totally inspired to go dumpster diving ha.

Cottage Elements

This is an old broom/mop holder that is holding mini glass bottles with flowers. Genius!

Estate Sales

2011-04-08T12:39:00.000-07:00

Happy Friday!!! With the weekends comes garage sales, estate sales, and craigslist. I went to my first estate sale for the weekend, and made some fabulous finds. My daughter loves butterflies, and at this sale, I found the coolest butterflies that hang on the wall. Ok, so they aren't that cool right now, but they will be! I also got lots of different fabrics, laces, elastics (for those awesome skirts and diaper covers that I showed you on "made"), different glitters, and more all for $5!!! It makes me want to get to work right now! I will post some pics soon, but right now it is time for a couple of children to take their naps! Stay tuned :)

Such cute clothing

2011-04-06T06:38:00.000-07:00

Dana over at "Made" has so many tutorials for adorable childrens clothing! If you are looking for cute ideas for DIY clothing, you must stop by and visit her tutorials!

Made tutorials

My favorite thrifty DIY blogger ever!

2011-04-05T06:40:00.000-07:00

one of my favorite DIY bloggers is Brooke over at all things thrifty. Brooke provides step by step tutorials on painting, glazing, reupholstering, and so much more! All things thrifty is really the blog that inspired me in a lot of my furniture creating. If you like shabby chic, a variety of colors, sewing, upholstering, repurposing, this lady is the queen in my book. She can literally turn trash into amazing pieces of furniture! If you enjoy cooking, this blog has that too!

Click here and check her out!

Kids swimsuit tutorial

2011-04-04T16:49:00.000-07:00

With summer quickly approaching, we are all thinking about the darling swimsuits that we will pick out for our youngsters. If you are having a problem finding that perfect suite, why not make it?! Check out these ideas from Dana at "Made".

Swimsuit Tutorials

Still under construction

2011-04-04T08:58:00.000-07:00

Hello crafty people. I am hoping to get everything up and running very soon, so please visit again!