May 10, 2010
I don’t profess to be an artist, but I really like to paint. My grandma loved painting. She got into it late in life, took art classes, and copied famous paintings. She worked with oils. They’re too intimidating for me, so I like to work with water-based craft paint and inexpensive canvases. That way, when I inevitably mess up, at least I didn’t lose a lot of money.
My sister had a printed canvas she’d picked up for $5, which had a bold tropical flower print. She was going to toss it, but I said I’d take it, prime the canvas, and start anew. I decided to make a painting for Mother’s Day. Unfortunately, once I got past the sea star, things went downhill. I wanted to paint over everything but the sea star and start over, but Boyfriend thinks the painting is great and won’t let me touch it. I am very sad about this but felt it was worth sharing for posterity.
Happy update! My good friend Macy decided she would like this painting for her guest bedroom. Yay! (6/24/10)
Listed in Decorating + DIY Tagged crafts, painting, upcycling | Leave a comment!
April 23, 2010
Glass votive holders are a common favor at weddings, and I often have mismatched ones around the house, sporting ribbon in someone else’s wedding colors. They look great in the scheme of a table setting but not so much in my living room.
After taking off the ribbon and stickers (and in one case getting a half-melted candle out of the thing), I used mosaic tile glue to affix glass and small ceramic tiles. I worked in small sections because tile doesn’t always adhere well to a curved surface. When all tiles were in place and the glue had dried for a good day, I used a no-sand grout. Finally, I used a mosaic tile sealer to protect them from water and dust. Voila!
In-progress pictures
Listed in Decorating + DIY Tagged DIY, Mosaic tile, upcycling | Leave a comment!
March 31, 2010
I often receive votive holders as wedding favors, but they sometimes have stickers bearing the bride and groom’s names, or ribbon in the wedding colors that in no way matches my decor.
I gave the one pictured below, which was from my cousin’s wedding, a quick makeover by wrapping it in textured brown wrapping paper and securing with tape.
Listed in Decorating + DIY Tagged quick fix, upcycling | Leave a comment!
My favorite piece of furniture is my black and white toile footstool (below) that my sister gave me for Christmas the year I bought my house. I wanted to repeat this pattern on TV cabinet inserts to create a consistent look in my living room.
I was in luck one day when I went shopping and was given my items in a pretty black and white damask shopping bag. I decided to cut the bag up into squares and attach them to cardboard pieces cut to fit the back of my TV stand.
Cost: $0
Materials: pretty paper, cardboard, tape or glue, scissors
Time: 15 minutes
The damask pattern distracts visitors from looking at the PlayStation2!
Listed in Decorating + DIY Tagged Damask, upcycling | Leave a comment!
