Junky Vagabond

Waiting, Waiting, Waiting...

2012-02-13T04:00:00.002-05:00

There was so much activity last week, and now we wait; we wait for home inspections, loan approvals, negotiations to play out. This is the non-fun part of buying/selling a house.

The home we're selling passed the home inspection with flying colors and I wish the same could be said of the home we're buying. There's a possibility there is asbestos and we have to wait for that to be tested before we can approve the home inspection.

Here's to hoping the buyers of our house have a solid loan in place; here's to hoping that stuff wrapping the heating ducts in the basement of our new house isn't asbestos and if it is, it's not too expensive to remove.

All my things are in storage and I'm waiting to get my hands on something, anything, to get creative with...waiting is always the hardest part of anything, isn't it?

OMG! Moving Part Three

2012-02-07T15:22:00.000-05:00

Today is Tuesday. This time last week, we were on a two hours into a ten hour drive to our new state of Maryland.

In those seven days, we have received 6 offers on our house in Michigan and have just received word that our offer was accepted on a home here in Maryland. I'm in shock. There's a weird calm about me right now. I'm betting this won't last and I'll spontaneously break out in a spazzy dance.

We have to pass inspections on both ends, but it looks like we're well on the way to being buyers and sellers all in the same week! Woo Hoo!!!

How did the house generate that much interest and over-list offers? These are some basic principles that everyone can use to help sell a house (pictures are from my awesome Realtor - Stacy Miletti of Real Estate One in Troy):

1) Declutter
2) De-personalize
3) Clean
4) Here's one especially for this market; listen to your real estate agent about realistic pricing

Living Room Before:

We angled two chairs into a large tv as that is how we live...

..but it does nothing for the flow of the room and cuts it off.

Living Room After:

In the after pictures, you can see I took out the large tv and added a loveseat (part of the sectional from the basement). This created a more open space and a conversation area, without blocking the bay window. I also moved one shelving unit to another wall.

Kitchen Before:

This is unfortunately what our counters looked like most days...can't use the excuse of 'we were moving'!

Kitchen After:

The main difference is take away ALL clutter. Pack up any non-essential cooking items. No one cares if you have the latest Keurig coffee maker, or you make floral arrangements, or your little one's artwork. Pack it away for your next home; not everyone has your taste :) Take everything off the refrigerator and leave your counters clear and open.

Bar Before:

Lots of personal photos, and misc. bar items

Bar After:

All personal items gone and same clear counters as in kitchen

Basement Family Room Before:

Can you tell we like to watch tv? Half this sofa went upstairs...

Basement Family Room After:

Taking away the return opens up the whole space.

This is actually the Master Bedroom After, but all I did was take the bed and angle it, and put the storage bench over on the wall. It didn't fit at the end of the bed anymore, but I liked the way the angle looks, and it opened up a built in bookcase blocked by the bed before. Not much else changed up here.

I'll have pictures of the other two bedrooms when I get back to Michigan; they were cleared of everything but a desk in each, and yes, my Gator office was neutralized with beige paint :)

And in this market, the realtor knows what the price should be. Not what you paid for it. Not what you think you should get. What someone will be willing to pay for it. That's the hard truth. We took a hit, but it's SOLD...in 6 days. That's realistic.

In a nutshell, the home you love and have decorated to your personal taste is now a house that you'd like to sell. In order for that to happen, you have to take 'you' out of the house.

Not everyone likes faux painted walls, huge ficus trees, or aquariums. Those are your tastes...and just might turn off a potential buyer. Think hotel room. Think model home. Both of these are spaces people can walk into and start to envision themselves putting their things into the rooms.

You have to pack anyway, start with your 'stuff'. You saw my pod...it was filled with random junk from my business, personal items, and extra furniture.

And after you've made your home model-home-worthy, clean that sucker! If the home is dirty, or if little things aren't fixed (like a broken light or switchplate), it makes a buyer wonder what bigger things might not be taken care of. It can be done in this market; it takes some hard work and detaching yourself from this house and looking forward...to your new home.

As for the home here...we were in serious sticker shock arriving here from the SE Michigan area. The home we chose has TONS of potential. Yep, that means it's kind of a wreck now :) Livable...if you're from the 1960's :)

Here's a little sneak peek of my (hopefully) new home:

Check out that floor! And the paneling!!

The realtor thought I was crazy, but that bar is so retro-cool! Can you see it? We actually wrote that bar and the three stools into the contract...no one was taking any of that from me :)

Obviously, there is going to be a lot of work to make this house uniquely ours (and bring it into this century), but it has good 'bones'.

Looks like this blog is going to take a little turn into 'Rehabbing a 60's Era House Into a Modern Home' :)

Whew! What a Whirlwind!

2012-02-05T04:00:00.001-05:00

Wondering where I've been? Well, it's not been in Michigan for the last 5 days...we drove out to Maryland last Tuesday with two doped-up cats, one fully-packed truck, two bikes on the bike carrier, and a lot of hopes for an easy transition.

Before heading out, we were packing a Pod, having the carpets cleaned, a room painted, closet doors hung, packing last minute items, and doing a ton of last minute errands.

This was a life-saver:

The snow melted by packing day, but just as we got going, it started up again:

Needed to shovel a path at this point - it's about 6:30 a.m.

I think we even shoved a few more things in here after this pic was taken...

And this is the stuff that didn't need to be in the house to show it - mostly personal items, clutter, and a lot of my 'junk' ;) It's important to show a house like a model home - something that looks like a buyer could move their stuff in and live in it right away.

We were packing right up until noon on Tuesday and we had to get on the road...so I didn't have time to take the staged pictures - SORRY!! I'll have them when I head back home...soon...and I may even have some news to share with you!

Keep your fingers crossed that my house sells and we can find one in Maryland quickly!

Wordless Wednesday - Moving, Part Two

2012-01-27T08:58:00.000-05:00

Delayed Gratification

2012-01-26T04:00:00.008-05:00

My middle name is not Patience. Nor is it Self-Control, or Forbearance. Imagine my chagrin when this came right in the middle of our moving saga:

You wanna know what's in that box?

It's the Holy Grail for some crafters...

Via

The Silhouette Cameo, a die-cutting machine that cuts designs from paper, vinyl, and fabric. Here are some examples of what it can do, all from the Silhouette site. It does fabric, glass etching, scrapbook pages, temporary tattoos, and vinyl decals. Can you hear the angels singing?

Via

Yep, I won this in a giveaway from Amy of The Idea Room! Thanks Amy - winning was quite a surprise.

I won it back in November, but it came while I was in Florida, basking in the warm sunshine of the Sunshine State. This is so exciting...especially since I only entered that one giveaway and figured I would never win it. I even bought one on Black Friday (since winning one was a long shot anyway). The ordered one was on backorder and came about two weeks ago...

...so now there are two in the house. And we're in the middle of moving. And my office is packed up and looks like this:

Yes, this is getting painted before putting it on the market; not everyone likes Gator colors :)

I'm going to sell one of these for what I paid for it - $230 plus shipping. If you'd like it, just send me an email and we'll work it out.

As for my own Cameo, it'll stay in the box and will have to wait to be played with until we land somewhere...can you imagine anything more agonizing??

The Process of Moving, Part 1

2012-01-25T10:13:00.000-05:00

We're moving. It's really happening. I'm surrounded by boxes filled with the 'stuff' of living and am still coming to grips that Michigan, my home since six years old...home for 42 years...a Michigander for over 4 decades...will no longer be my home. *big sigh*

Since we got the news, I've been busy, busy, busy with packing and making arrangements. Of course, there was a side trip last week to Florida, but it's back to reality now :)

Ever face a move and realize there's going to be a lot of boxes in the immediate future? Take a look at this:

After three full days of packing, it now looks a little more like this:

There's still some work to do in there, but I'm running out of room for boxes. The storage unit is to be delivered tomorrow morning, which will help with the overcrowding going on.

Here are the 'befores' of my living room:

dirty dishes and all - June Cleaver I'm not

Yes, it's a strange arrangement but this arrangement works for us. The room is basically just a tiny rectangle with a walkway through it. All my neighbors with this same floorplan have issues with where to orient furniture and tv. That's where staging will come in handy. I've got some plans to fix the layout, but right now it looks like this:

there's a story behind one of these boxes...but that's for another day

It's like an episode of Hoarders! *bigger sigh* More to come on the other rooms and on the staging...

Things They Are A-Changing

2012-01-13T11:29:00.000-05:00

Well, you might have wondered where I've been lately...or not...maybe you didn't notice at all...I've been known to disappear before :)

Here's my ~~excuse~~ reason for the lapse in posting: ~~I'm lazy~~ We're moving! After many ~~many~~ years in Michigan, my husband has accepted a position in the Washington D.C. area!

This is such an exciting, sad, wonderful, scary time and the ~~purgatory~~ limbo I've been in, waiting to hear about whether or now we'll have to pull up stakes and move has been the real reason for the lack of crafting, furniture redos, and general artistic expression.

And guess what? No, not 'chicken-butt' as Ms. Gwen of The Bold Abode pulled on me once. I'm going to be super busy for the next few weeks.

You'll see 'before' pics of the changes that need to be wrought on the house that needs to be sold. The home staging journey will be documented, so if that interests you, please stick around. You'll see what needs to be done before a house (hopefully) sells quickly in this housing market.

My moving/packing list is a mile long, and the staging list is even longer so wish me luck and if anyone's in the DC area - I am taking suggestions for places to live - please share!

A Lazy Start to the New Year

2012-01-02T14:05:00.000-05:00

No, I haven't fallen off a cliff or anything, but something similarly horrible has happened to me...my butt seems to have been super-glued to my chair ;)

While I'm not doing anything new to speak of...but a few interesting things in the works...I came across a fun party that allows me to show off my favorites of last year:

Now, I could've done a retrospect of my fav projects and posts of 2011, and lots of you have done that as filler until you get your crafty mojo back after a busy holiday season (you know who you are), but doing that doesn't get me a chance to win stuff! Two birds, one stone and all :)

Honestly, all of my projects are my babies so go ahead and browse my archives and let me know which are your favorites...that's more interesting...to me anyway :)

I hope all of you had the best holiday season, and are enjoying the second day of the new year!

Quick and Easy Gifts

2011-12-22T05:00:00.001-05:00

Need a quick and easy gift to give your neighbor or co-worker this Christmas? These are all over the place in bloggyland and now I've got mine made too...they are so cute!

Take some of those glass pebbles - these weren't perfect circles, so my 1" circle punch wasn't going to work, but it's so easy with just scissors, you won't mind.

Grab your leftover Christmas cards, gift wrap, or anything with cute designs. Mine were all going to be Christmas themed, so the cards worked perfectly.

Trace around your circle and cut it out a little smaller (you can also trim later, so no biggie on being perfect). Mod podge the paper to the back of the glass, and let it dry. I went over that one more time with mod podge and then it was ready for the magnets.

I've made other projects with the regular ceramic magnets with mixed results, and I've been hearing these are super strong....and oh my gosh, they're so strong they're extremely hard to pull apart!

Gluing the magnets down with a little shot of E-6000 industrial glue (very stinky) and letting that dry made it easy to work on other projects...once a multi-tasker, always a multi-tasker :)

And here are the finished products on the fridge! Cute (and the magnets are super strong too)!

These took about an hour to put together, with drying time. Super easy and cute to give away as gifts! I'm going to be making another set for myself with some different designs...look for them to show up sometime in the future!

So Stinking Cute!

2011-12-20T05:00:00.004-05:00

Storage. We all need it and I'm no exception; but maybe this is starting to be an obsession? I'm buying things like spice racks and crates to store stuff and this next one was home made, but with a little paint, turned out super cute:

Keep reading to see what the heck this is...

It started out just raw wood, and from the holes in the shelves, I'm thinking this might've been made to show off golf balls. Just a little home made chalk paint, some contrasting color for the inside, and a pop of color for the handle.

The contrasting color wasn't enough, so I cut out some scrapbook paper for the back and instant wow!

And here my little cabinet sits, looking cute in a mess of a room! See those walls? I've been hinting at a big project and that's what I'm working towards...once I get the room cleared. I don't know about you, but clearing this room will be an undertaking of epic proportions - you all understand what I'm talking about, don't you? ;)

Playing with Paints

2011-12-18T05:00:00.003-05:00

While waiting for paint to dry, glue to stick, mod podge to cure, and other assorted projects to be ready for the next step, I've been playing around with some paintings.

I don't really have a style, nor do I usually have an idea of what the painting will be before I sit down...sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.

Here are some of my recent paintings - hope you enjoy!

Just a little aqua chickadee :)

I have a bit of an obsession with dots :)

Kinda oriental looking, right? Hope that symbol is appropriate for a PG audience!

This is my favorite!

There were a few others that were the 'didn't-work-outs'...they'll get painted over to start again. I'm thinking I might try something new and add some other media or textures...so many projects, so little time!

Thanks for stopping by :)

Sheet Music Display Cubby

2011-12-16T05:00:00.006-05:00

I can't believe it's so close to Christmas! There hasn't been any decorating at La Maison Junky, but lots of projects are getting done :)

Since there is still lots of sheet music on hand, I figured I'd make another display/cubby/tray/shelf thingee as they turned out nicely in white and black. These little wood shelves are in every thrift shop -when you see the after, bet you won't pass them up next time!

For you photo skimmers - here's a little close-up luv :)

Sheet music looks fantastic as a backdrop for just about anything, and here's how this project started out:

Look past the country hearts people!

This got a nice coat of cream paint, distressed, glazed and waxed. I cut out a backing for it the same way I did for my other two trays. It's just that 'wood' panel that pegboard is made of, but is solid. The same 4x8 sheet has been very useful for a number of projects. It's light enough to use as a backing and easy to cut - I use a table saw, but it would probably cut with a box cutter or Dremel tool.

This next step is probably the hardest part of the whole project...and I'm sure I'm making it harder than it needs to be, but this is the way I think it looks best:

Take an individual page of sheet music and line it up within each divided cubby.

oops, that second from left might be a little off...

Then mod podge the individual squares down.

And hope that you lined it all up properly. I do it this way to get the most music displayed; it would be easier if I didn't care so much to show the prettiest design, but it just wouldn't look right to me.

I add handles on the ends to make it into a tray or just for decoration...this package somehow was missing two screws :( I hate that, but seriously who checks to make sure there are enough screws in the individual handle packages? (Me from now on, that's who...this has happened to me more than once!)

Screw and glue the backing onto the shelf, add some cork backing and then decorate!

Making sure the glue has good contact! Oh, and that Mythic paint can? It's a clue to a big project going down...

Some cork on the bottom to project surfaces.

It was an overcast day, so there was no way of getting a good shot inside. Back outside to take advantage of the light...

Look who showed up - Hootie!

And there it is - isn't it purty? Didn't I tell ya? You'll think twice before you snub that homemade-lookin', country-heart painted, bare-wood shelf next time you're cruising the thrift aisles! On second thought, leave them...more for me :)

Playing with Rocks

2011-12-12T11:48:00.002-05:00

So, I'm not really getting into the Christmas spirit this year. I see all the fabulous decorations in my neighborhood and in bloggy-land and am appreciating the Christmas cheer that surrounds me :) You probably won't be seeing any Christmas-related posts from me this year...soooooo...

Now that it's a little too chilly to really do a lot of outside work, I've been working away at some smaller projects inside. Some jewelry projects, some painting, some crafty organizing things. Which one to show you first? Oh, you want to see the jewelry? Well, anything for you :)

I've made a few necklaces for my sisters, nieces, and the neighborhood girls, and they went so well that I got a few requests to create some custom pieces! This is very flattering and I'm honored.

This is what I started with on the first set:

Two pretty rocks that were picked up on a vacation 'up north'...which if you live in Michigan means anywhere north of say Grand Rapids or Flint. For a visual, nothing beats pointing to those cities on my hand...which Wisconsin can't do...Michigan is the Mitten State and we own that one...Wisconsin has cheese heads all wrapped up, so you can't have Mitten State too. (No offense to any cheese heads out there, but c'mon, Wisconsin is not shaped like a mitten.)

Sorry for the blurry picture, but it's tough to take a photo while your two hands are occupied! Grand Rapids is located on the left, Flint on the right. Points are approximate ;)

Ok, geography lesson over; on to the jewelry!

Since there were no handy dandy holes to thread wire or jump rings through, I had to learn (quickly) how to wire wrap found objects. Off to YouTube for a few pointers and here's the most helpful group of videos. If you want a clear how-to for basic wire wrapping, these are the videos to get you started!

The first stone was wrapped in a fine silver wire, and hung inside a square pendant thingee that I had on hand, and set off with a Swarovski crystal (also on hand):

yep, thats a layer of snow in my backyard - boo! And yes, that's the entire back yard...lol!

The second stone was freckled and I wanted to try the actual wire wrapping techniques in the video to set it off without covering it. Thank goodness I tend to collect craft items and had 20-gauge silver wire, black necklace cording, and silver ball chain on hand (I know, I know, it's actually called hoarding, but humor me and let me think it's my special ability to know something will be needed for future projects...)

This was fun to wrap up and add the little scroll 'ears' and really isn't all that hard or time consuming. I encourage you to try it!

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Another lovely neighbor wanted me to create a necklace for her little girl out of the beach glass she's collected. Beach glass is so pretty to work with! I might have to get a few more pieces to play with...

She wanted a simple setting and this glass was notched a little, so it didn't need the full cage:

Pretty right? I couldn't resist making another dangle out of a little piece and came up with this:

These can be switched out according to Ella's mood for the day :) I'm so honored to be able to create for other people...and that they like what I come up with! HA!

Plus, now that I have the basics on this, just think of the possibilities for found objects that can be made into jewelry! What would you like to wear as a pendant? I need the practice...and ~~come cheap~~ have extremely reasonable rates :)

Here's a sneak peek of what else I'm working on:

More Spice Rack Luv

2011-12-07T04:00:00.006-05:00

One of my recent posts was about how I seem to be collecting these spice racks. This one was at an estate sale, in the basement with all the other unloved items. (I find a lot of stuff in basements!) What I really love about this one is it held really big spice jars (which weren't with the rack) and was half off as it was the last day of the sale.

Here's how it started out (of course I labeled everything but the spice rack...I'm such a dork):

My homemade chalk paint recipe was used with my favorite creamy color and now the rack is a beautiful creamy color, perfectly and lightly distressed, and glazed and waxed.

~~I wish I had the photo staging skills of other bloggerinas...whaun, whaun.~~ Update: Due to some very nice feedback from my blogging peeps, I have just crossed that negative off! Thank you!

It's going to look so pretty in its new location in my home...which isn't ready for public viewing at the moment.

I'll update you...sometime in the hopefully near future...promise :)

Linking up to the parties on my left sidebar.

Estate Sale Jackpot!

2011-12-04T04:00:00.001-05:00

Some days it really pays to hit up an estate sale on it's last day...heck in the last few minutes. This one was literally packing up when I finally made it over there and nicely asked if I could pick through what was left. The estate sale person said there wasn't anything left, but go ahead.

This is what I found:

The sewing kit has vintage wooden spools, and the little brass urn will get a spray paint makeover as soon as the weather warms up.

Check out those feet!

So what's the jackpot you ask?

Again, in the basement was this little table with a chipboard tabletop. Nothing special right? And with a price of $20, there was no way it would have gotten bargained down to a price I wanted to pay...unless it was the end of the sale. I hauled it upstairs all by my lonesome, with the kit and urn (both unmarked) and boldly asked for a bundle price of...

...here's a pic of the whole bundle again...

...how about $5? For all of it!

Can you believe I got these legs for $5?? Yep, those are the only things of value here folks. Vintage steel 22" hairpin legs. Sturdy as heck, expensive to buy new, and awesome to boot. Yessiree, the table was passed over for three days by estate sale shoppers who couldn't see the potential past the cheap top.

That sticker reads 20.00! Um...no thanks at that price.

You can always tell somethings vintage cuz NO ONE uses slotted screws anymore! What a pain they are!

I'm going to make something special with these legs and you'll be among the first to see it! Like all my projects though, please don't hold your breath waiting for me to finish something quickly...I like to take my time and let a project ~~speak to me~~ sit around for awhile before going for it. So, all in good time and I hope it'll be worth the wait :)

You'll find me sharing this here:

I Party on Tuesday

I Party on the Weekend

More Antiqued Mirrors

2011-12-01T04:00:00.002-05:00

I picked up these frames at the same thrift store as this little spice rack and loved the carved wood insets. Knowing painting and glazing would bring out the detail, I was excited to make them over.

Then I saw the antique mirror tutorials from here and here and gave that a try on this project. For these mirrors, I actually tried EZ-Off and it didn't really take off the silvering until I used some fine grade sandpaper. One of my readers, Aimee of Twigg Studios, suggested I try lime scale remover and acetone nail polish remover...isn't it wonderful how helpful you all are? ;) And go check out her blog - beautiful!

Here's how they looked at first:

Then they got a coating of homemade chalk paint in a creamy color

Then they were glazed to bring out the detail

See how a little glazing with a brownish tint really brings out the detail?

Then the mirrors got their treatment

Trying EZ-Off and wiping it off on the right...it doesn't work so well

While wet, a little 400 grit sandpaper helped the whole thing along...

...still not quite what I wanted, but with the addition of nail polish remover (acetone) and a lot of scrubbing with fine steel wool, I was able to get the look I wanted.

and some antique sheet music was placed behind the mirrors

Then I tried some fabric

Sorry about the reflection of my lovely garage, but mirrors are tough to photograph!

Pretty, right? It would be even prettier if it didn't reflect my grass and garage, but you get the idea ;)

Linking up to the parties on my left sidebar.

I Seem To Be Collecting These...

2011-11-29T04:00:00.021-05:00

I saw this little...chest of drawers? wall hanging? spice rack?...let's go with spice rack...in a little thrift shop near me. This was my first stop at this particular one, and there was a lot of wooden pieces for me to pick through. Oh, how I love wood frames, shelves, spice racks and the like to make over!

Cute, but I had plans the instant I saw it

It was in the standard pine finish, but had cute little ceramic knobs already. Did I have a use for it? Recently, I decided I did...but that's not the point of this little post.

After painting it a pretty blue color, it needed a little something to snazz it up a bit. Using a stencil bought with a 40% off coupon, I painted it with my collection of craft paints in happy colors.

Ta-Da!

Isn't it cute? The stenciling isn't perfect because it was too hard to use standard stenciling techniques on the little circles but after a little cleaning up, it makes me happy. I love the bright colors in the fun pattern, don't you?

I'll update you on where it ends up in my home when that project is complete...don't hold your breath as this might take awhile :)

Linking up to the parties on my left sidebar.

Antiqued Mirror Project

2011-11-25T05:00:00.007-05:00

In the interest of being real, one of my recent projects took a couple of tries to get it to where I wanted it to be. Well, how about taking a look at another of my recent projects inspired by other awesome bloggers that didn't end up exactly like I wanted...

Here's the finished Anthropologie-inspired mirror:

Some mirror is still left, some sheet music can be seen - cool, right?

These were my inspiration files:

Vintage Revivals - using muriatic acid for great results

Ramblings of a Gypsy Nomad - using EZ Off oven cleaner

Since EZ Off was already under my sink, that's what was getting used.

The framed mirror was an ornate plastic frame made by Syroco, which made a lot of wall decor back in the 70's. I generally like their pieces as candidates for makeovers and this was no exception:

Painted and glazed and it's already much prettier. Now for the mirror...

I used that orange paint stripper to take off the paint; it's not so noxious and is supposed to be less harsh. With mirrors, there's a layer of paint on top of the silvering that provides the reflective qualities. Be careful with older, vintage mirrors as they may have mercury in them and this would not be a recommended project.

Coated with paint remover

*Note: be careful with metal scrapers - they can scratch; plastic would be better!*

The paint remover was left on overnight...no reason for that length of time other than I got involved in another project...why do one project when you can do 16?? The paint came off just fine, and even a little of the silver at this point. I used a razor blade to scrape off some of the softened silver.

*Note: any scraping works much better while it's wet.*

Didn't even need to get to the EZ Off or acid or anything else. Since the razor blade left a rather hard edge on the scraped off parts (think squares instead of an organic wearing of the silver), I wondered what else would soften those hard edges without scratching the glass. So, out came the extra fine steel wool I use in furniture projects.

A little extra scrubbing and now there were nice worn spots in the silvering. Maybe a little too much, but for my first effort, it looks pretty good.

I mod-podged some vintage sheet music to the backing of the frame. Attaching it to the backing instead of the glass leaves the option to change out the design inspiration.

Here you can see how the razor blade scraping looks

What do you think of this project? Would you try it for your vintage-inspired mirrors? What would you want peeking out of your antique mirror?

I did a few more mirrors actually using EZ-Off for a different look and will update you on those tries soon.

Knick of Time Tuesday Party
Boogie Board Cottage Masterpiece Monday
The Idea Room
A Picture is Worth 1,000 Words 2nd Time Around

Freezer Paper Transfer/Homemade Chalk Paint Tutorial

2011-11-22T14:00:00.012-05:00

There are tutorials for all kinds of things out there, and whenever there's something awesome that someone has made, the project gets put on my to-do list. And my list is loooooonnnnggg, let me tell you!

Like the post title says, this is a tutorial of sorts for a freezer paper transfer and for homemade chalk paint...try these techniques at your own risk...read on and you'll see what I mean.

Here's Part One of a recent 'inspired' project:

This started out as a dark wooden wall box thingee. I sanded it down (along with some cheese plates - that's another post), ready for some paint.

I tried my hand at some homemade chalk paint - three shades of it: cream, lilac, and yellow. Since I'm ~~lazy~~ thrifty, and baking soda was already on hand, that's the recipe I made. About a ~~handful~~ tablespoon of baking soda to a ~~small splash~~ half cup of paint, plus a smidge of water...are you getting the picture that measuring ain't my thang??

One tip that seems to work well is to dissolve the baking soda in water before adding it to the paint - it makes the paint smoother, but still has the same sanding properties. Anyway, back to the box thingee...

Painting like crazy on one of the last warmish days in Michigan!

See that yellow thing on top of the paint can/on top of the box/on top of the table? Well, that's the painted box. Painted with some buttery yellow oops paint (thank you Home Depot! Oh, and this post isn't sponsored by HD - I just end up there every other day, but I digress, as usual). Which was made into homemade chalk paint. Which was painted over a lovely lilac homemade chalk paint. So the lilac would peek through after distressing. Except for one thing...

After sanding the lovely, buttery yellow...it turned into a horrible, putrid chartreuse color. It truly was awful and thanks to the magic of paint, it was quickly repainted back to lilac. Whew!

With distressing, the yellow shows a little but isn't obnoxious. But the box needed something...

Part Two of this post:

One thing that I'm always on the look out for is a good transfer method. Overhead projectors, carbon paper, homemade carbon paper, citra-solve - there are many methods out there and I've tried a few with ok results.

That's why I was excited when I read about a method using freezer paper and an inkjet - both of those things I already had! I used freezer paper for my curbside table stencil and it worked ok, but this was for a transfer of a detailed image.

Wreath image compliments of The Graphics Fairy. I added the text on Picnik.

I read the directions: adhere freezer paper waxy side out to a sheet of paper. Print out your image, place it where it's to be transferred, burnish with a spoon, and instant detailed image. Easy, right?

Well, late at night is not the time to be trying new projects.

I forgot to mirror the image with the text; fail.
I didn't use spray adhesive to glue the freezer paper to the regular paper (the first time); fail.
I thought I remembered the directions, but forgot about dampening the wood before placing the image on it; fail.
I was able to wipe off the backwards text, properly adhere the freezer paper with spray adhesive, print out new text, dampen the wood...and smeared it completely; fail.

I thought about getting pictures of each of these failed steps, but honestly you get the picture. It didn't work, so pictures were not taken. The image was wiped off with a damp rag, and then painted over, and I'd try it again when in my right mind :)

Part Three:

After a few days of not thinking about this at all, it was time to try again. I almost gave up and stenciled the project, but ~~I'm not a quitter~~ ~~I wanted to show off my mad skills~~ I really, really wanted to figure this out so I could do it again!

Image of properly adhered freezer paper, with a properly mirrored image:

You can see that this paper has been through the printer a few times because of my mistakes...it wipes off, but leaves a ghosted image. Seems to be fine though.

After properly dampening the box and ~~after looking around for where I put down the image~~ after letting it dry just a bit, I carefully ~~lined up and centered~~ guessed on placement for the image (maybe putting it on a transparency would've been a better idea? Ya think??) and burnished it really well with the back of a spoon. For even longer than 10 seconds. Like for 12 seconds at least. 40 seconds probably would've been best.

Now it's very important to not move the image around or you'll get a smeary image. Trust me on this one (see above...way above...like in Part Two of this obnoxiously long post...).

Here is the transferred image:

With dampening, the image turned out much darker than my first try.

It smeared just a little in spots, but a dampened q-tip cleaned up those areas.

Best shot on a cloudy day - sorry it's tilted, but this is the only way I could get the whole box in the light.

My little 'La Poste' box will live on my kitchen table for now. That's where I do all my mail sorting/recycling, plus I'm not sure where else to put it ;)

And see that picture of my and my hubs? It's a pretty funny story about how that all happened...maybe I'll tell ya sometime.

Here are a couple of thoughts on the transfer method and homemade chalk paint:

Mixing the baking soda with water before adding the paint makes the paint much smoother, but doesn't affect the chalky qualities of the paint. I did try it without dissolving the baking soda in water first, and the paint was very thick and lumpy. Makes for more sanding. Just sayin.
Putting the image on a transparency would've been a good idea for placement - will try that next time...and no sticky mess with spray adhesive - bonus!
Dampen where you need to transfer, but be careful not to get it too wet or the ink will just smear.
Putting the transfer onto chalk paint doesn't leave a perfect transfer because chalk paint is a bit textured to begin with; transferring to a smooth surface would leave a better impression. If you're going for a distressed, old-ish look anyway, then transferring onto chalk paint is fine.
Make sure you let the transferred image DRY before touching it!!
Make sure you don't seal it with anything water-soluable or it will smear!! Use an oil-based sealer and test it on another piece first just in case.

And there you have it! Learn from my mistakes if you try this - and remember that with these projects, there's nothing that can't be fixed with a little more paint ;)

Knick of Time Tuesday Party
Boogie Board Cottage Masterpiece Monday
The Idea Room
A Picture is Worth 1,000 Words 2nd Time Around
Blue Cricket Design's Show and Tell

Another One to Love

2011-11-17T05:00:00.005-05:00

Remember a little frame I redid and gave away? Well, I miss that little frame and its cheery colors. So what's a junker to do? Get herself another one, of course!

Found this in a garage at an estate sale and love the shape of it, but not the color and certainly not the padded fabric picture! Yes, It's a piece of fabric and has foam underneath to make it puffy. Um, no thanks.

Better already

I loved the orange and aqua combo of my inspiration piece:

But wanted to change it up just a little bit. No sense doing the same thing twice, right?

A little spray paint, some antique sheet music, another fleur-de-lis stencil and...

The paint's a little flat and the paper isn't. Not a good look.

...hmmm...not exactly right just yet. Back to the shop for this one.

A little glazing to bring out some of the detail, a little de-padding to make the sheet music lay flat, and now it's blog-worthy.

Just a tiny bit of glaze brings out details in a painted piece. Now I'm on the hunt for more of these ornate frames - what's on your 'must buy' list these days?

Linking to:

The Bonnie Burrow - $20 Thrift Challenge

Hoot and Go Seek

2011-11-15T05:00:00.002-05:00

Sometimes while thrift shopping, I get lucky. It's that Luck of the Irish again...

Found this little guy and snatched him up before anyone else had a chance to. At the checkout, the person behind me commented on how cute he was...BACK OFF SISTER! HE'S MINE!! (That part was with my inside voice)...I smiled and agreed.

Here he is hanging out in my crabapple tree

Trying out a different branch

Sometimes he likes to sit and smell the lavender

Other times, he likes the top of the garden trellis, way up high

And then there are days he doesn't want the paparazzi's attention

Don't worry, he came inside with me as he likes it warm and cozy :) Haven't seen him since yesterday...wonder where he got himself to now...

Whoooo's your favorite right now? Ever pick something up and upon arriving home with it, realize it's exactly what you wanted?

Luck of the Irish

2011-11-13T06:00:00.003-05:00

Do I have something to share with you and you're going to be soooooo jealous! I'm thanking the famed luck of the Irish for this one :)

Today I went for a run, trying to maintain some sort of fitness level for the winter months. I changed the route a little for no good reason and here's what I spotted, sitting on the curb, next to the garbage! Imagine my horror!!

I ran past,
stopped and went back to inspect,
rang the doorbell and asked the homeowner if I could pick her garbage (she must've thought the sweaty lady on her porch was KAH-RAZY!),
lugged it 1/2 mile home right then and there; I wasn't going to take the chance of going home to get the car and it being gone by the time I got back!!

It's rusty...

It's crusty...

It's heavy metal, and STURDY...

Hmmmm....

This is from some research on the web - same-ish sticker

So, I shortened the run and gained a weight-lifting session :)

After a little research, I found this is made by the Cosco/Hamilton Manufacturing Corporation out of Columbus, Indiana, circa 50's. I like the red and white of it, but it does need a little scrub down. It's just so crazy what people will throw out! This was made to last - no flimsy metal on this baby.

What do you think I should do with it? Repaint...same colors or different? Just scrub it down and seal it, keeping the rust and crust? I do think I'm going to put it on casters as the holes are there on the bottom of the legs. I'm going to let it speak to me before anything to it.

Don't be hatin' cuz you didn't find it first...

Showing this off at:

Type A Decorating Hunter Gatherer Party #2

Living a Charmed Life

2011-11-10T06:00:00.004-05:00

I've had some fun with metal stamping and need to work on spacing and getting things straight. Since my epic fail on stamping silverware, I'm sticking to jewelry until some silver plate silverware comes my way.

Both my sister and I run, so here's what I came up with:

I wanted a charm of Mercury's winged sandal, but once again my fantastic idea was limited to what was available at the charm store. So I settled for a running shoe.

Going with the theme of Mercury's winged sandal in an abstract way, a set of wings charm went on the silver necklace. It could mean 'run like the wind', but that certainly doesn't describe my running style - slow and steady! This one also gets a copper charm with 13.1 to signify my half-marathon, which I ran for the American Cancer Society.

I also made a charm necklace for my niece's birthday, which was just before Halloween:

Putting charms with the stamped blanks personalize each necklace and make them fun! I hope she and my sister like their necklaces!

Linking here:

Little Changes

2011-11-07T06:00:00.008-05:00

I've been looking for a tiered server or plates to make one for a while now and something always keeps me from remembering when I'm in the store...even though my phone list is updated. Must be my distractive personality - yes, I'm creating that term especially for me and I bet it applies to a lot of folks out there (you know who you are).

Look at what I found at my almost-local (45 miles away) Re-Store:

Love the autumn leaves, but not loving the brass handle/stem, plus the finish was worn. Thankfully, it all came apart!

I think this was Oneida Premier

Since this was metal, I figured automotive primer would work well:

It looks better already

But I thought this might look even better:

Yep - Oil Rubbed Bronze with those little metallic flecks. Love!

One more pic:

Can't have any of those cookies - I ate them all. No, not in one day! Jeez - it took three days - I'm watching my waistline ~~expand~~.

This was something that someone drilled and put together - anyone know if they still sell those handle/stem thingees still? I still want to make my own...

Here's a sneak peek into some projects I'm working on:

More on these coming soon...until then Happy Monday!

Spice it Up

2011-11-03T05:00:00.016-04:00

If I was a hoarder (I'm not...I'm almost 99% sure I'm not), one of my particular obsessions would be containers. No matter how cluttered, how scattered, how much stuff is in the house, there's never too much of anything if I have enough containers. Something about putting stuff in a basket or bowl or jar makes me feel more organized.

This ugly little spice rack was at an estate sale for $5. I passed it up at that price...until these magic words were uttered within my range of hearing...'Everything's half off'. I snatched that little baby up without a second thought!

It has 6 jars of spices, but I couldn't wait to take off the greasy labels. YUK!

Double yuk!

It was all greasy, spotted and YELLOW. I have nothing against yellow, but c'mon.

The labels came off, as did the grease on the jars in the dishwasher. After spray painting the rack heirloom white, I didn't mind the little bit of yellow that was left on the jars. I even sanded the rack back a bit to let a little yellow show through.

After a little waxing, my little spice rack still has that primitive look, but in a much cleaner, shinier, and less yellow, way.

Next come labels, and we all love labels, don't we? Since this wasn't destined to be a spice rack anymore, my labels would help me declutter my junk stash.

This is now the perfect place to organize all my little pieces of junk that aren't part of a project...yet.

Sharing at these parties:

Knick of Time Tuesday Party
Boogie Board Cottage Masterpiece Monday
The Idea Room
A Picture is Worth 1,000 Words 2nd Time Around