DIY Projects

DIY: Frosted Type Mirror

Jan 22

After years of haphazardly hanging random frames all over my walls, I have finally committed to a gallery wall. I assumed before I started this project I had enough art to cover the entire wall, but when it came down to it, I don’t have nearly enough odd sized art for my liking. I did have this mirror that had been hiding in my closet for years and it was the prefect size. I did a similar tutorial last November for Frangelico and I thought I’d utilized materials I already had at home.

What you’ll need: Old mirror/ Frosted glass paint/ Xacto knife/ Self-adhesive vinyl/ paint (optional)

Step One: I started by painting the mirror black. and scarping off all the excess paint.

Step Two: While waiting for the frame to dry I printed out what I wanted my piece to say. I chose to use the font Silverfake.

Step Three: Slide your print under the self adhesive vinyl, cut out the letters using your Xacto knife.

Step Four: Peel off the top layer of adhesive and adhere to mirror.

Step Five: Paint over adhesive with frosted paint. Let dry and repeat.

Step Six: Slowly peel the vinyl off the mirror. Use Xacto knife to clean up edges. Using a paper towel and bit of Windex, clean off paint chips.

I’m kind of in love with this project. It didn’t take me long and it really add dimension to my gallery wall.

Upcycled Bar Stools

Jan 08

I’ve had these hideous bar stools for years. I’m pretty sure I got them on sale for $12 a piece, and at the time, I thought the best solution was to spray paint everything black. Five years, a move, and two dogs later, they didn’t hold up very well. But, instead of buying new ones, I figured I’d give upcycling them a shot. It still feels a little weird to look over and not see crappy black stools, but I’m slowly getting used to it.

I started by sanding the entire stool. In retrospect, I could have gotten away with sanding the top and then lightly sanding the legs. Why do I make things harder on myself?

I then painted the legs with 2 coats of silver and one coat of Martha Stewart’s Satin Peashoot. After the paint dried I lightly sanded, trying to focus on exposing the silver underneath rather than the wood.

I then stained the top of the stool with two coats of Miniwax Wood Finish on Golden Oak. I also ran a coat of stain over the legs to give it a more vintage look. Then finished it off with a satin varnish.

I have one more stool to do, but my hands are sore from sanding. I’m hoping it won’t take another five years!

DIY: Cross Stitch Pillow

Jan 02

It’s 2013! And what better way to start off the new year, than with a new project! I’ve had my eye on the Mima Pillow from BluDot , but unfortunately they don’t have any colors that really work with my living room. So I figured I’d make my own, since I wasn’t really excited about buying one for $80. Mine cost about $25, mainly, because I used Liberty of London fabric for the back, which it’s really expensive but SO pretty. I also wanted it to match my new Shapes & Colors pillow, so I chose neutral colors for the front. I love the way they look together.

What You’ll Need: 1 Yard Osnaburg Natural Fabric/ Martha Stewart Roving Wool Yarn in Snowdrift/ 1/2 yard Liberty of London Tana Lawn Fabric/

Tapestry Hand Needle/

Ruler/

Washable Pen or Pencil/

Needle and Thread/

18×18 Pillow Insert

Step One: Fold the front piece of fabric (in this case, the Osnaburg) in half. Cut into a 19″x19″ square.

Step Two: Using a ruler and your washable pen or pencil crate a 1″ grid over your fabric. This will be the back side of your front piece.

Step Three: Thread the yarn through a tapestry needle. Decide how you want your stitches to look on the outside. I wanted wide, but short stitches, so I decided to make them 2″ wide and 1″ tall.

To get the wide, but short look, I used the pattern above. I then eyeballed the vertical stitch, using the grid.

Step Four: Press both pieces of fabric. Taking care to not burn the yarn ir pull too much in any one direction.

Step Five: Pin the finished front piece together with the backing fabric, right sides facing each other.

Step Six: Sew three sides together, leaving a half inch seam allowance. In addition sew the outer 2″ of the bottom corners to give all four corners consistency.

Step Seven: Turn the pillow right side out. Insert pillow, by folding in half to fit through the sewed edges smooth out once placed.

Step Eight: Slip stitch the remaining side shut. Michelle Patterns has a great visual tutorial.

Admire your work and enjoy!

My Favorite Posts of 2012

Dec 24

DIY Fish Scale Wall Art

DIY Dipped Leg Side Table

DIY Frosted Candle

28 Anthropologie DIY Knock Offs

Retro Braided Updo

Door Mat Revamp

DIY Fall Feather Wreath

DIY Flannel Throw

DIY Reindeer Card Display from Emma Little of Made in Emmarica

DIY Bumble Plywood Display by Tymn Armstrong

Nana’s Winter White Chili

Guest Post: Tymn Armstrong

Dec 19

Every year around Christmas time, it helps get me into the spirit by making something.

When I was little, my family and I would always drive around the neighborhood and admire the lights and the Christmas displays. I always loved the handmade displays.

I remember one year seeing a large woodcut of “The Bumble” from Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer fixed on a rooftop and thought if I every ever had the chance to make one myself I would do it.

I was talking with Jenna about this idea and we decided it would make a good post for LGS. Thanks again Jenna!

For this project I created artwork of The Bumble, but you can use any artwork you make or find.

What you’ll need:

1. Birch plywood

2. Pencil, fine tip marker and ruler

3. Orbital Jigsaw (earplugs optional)

4. Sand paper (150 grit)

5. Acrylic paint & acrylic brushes

6. Clear coat finish (Satin or light gloss)

Step one: Begin with a piece of plywood, whatever size you need. You can pick up 50x50in piece for under $20 at your local Lowe’s or Home Depot.

Create of find artwork that you can draw a square grid on top of. I used Adobe Illustrator to create the artwork at actual size, then created the grid of 12x12in squares (the size of the plywood I chose was 48x48in so this so I made the grid 12x12in squares) but you create the grid any way you like. The purpose of the grid is to make it easier to draw the artwork onto the plywood.

Use the ruler and pencil to transferred the grid onto the plywood. For now, just draw the outline of the artwork. You don’t need to worry about the inner details just yet.

I go over the pencil lines with the marker so to have a good solid cutting line.

Step two: Now that you have the artwork outlined on the plywood you can begin cutting it out. I recommend an orbital jigsaw because it’s fast, easy and accurate. You may also want to buy some earplugs because it gets really loud.

Once you have it cut out, take your sandpaper out and sand down all the outer edges till they’re nice and smooth.

Step three: Before you begin painting, mark the grid lines on the outer edges so you’ll know where they’re at after painting the first coat of white. Also, try to use brushes intended for acrylics (they should say on the packaging) as this will help evenly distribute the paint across the wood surface and prevent the paint from soaking into the wood. You may still need to apply more than one coat. Don’t paint the outer edges just yet as you still need to be able to see the lines.

After the paint has dried, take out the ruler and redraw the grid lines from before with a pencil, using the marks you made earlier as guides. This is so you can draw the rest of the details: Face, hands, teeth, etc.

Once you’ve completed the rest of the drawing, paint in the other colors. I find it’s best to paint one color at a time. Also, try to think ahead about which color can go on top of the other. As a general rule it’s best to paint the lightest color (first) to the darkest color (last).

Step four: Touch up any areas or mistakes where paint might have dripped, paint the outer edges and cover up any remaining grid lines.

Finally, you’ll want to seal the entire piece (front and back) with a coat of clear coat finish to protect it from the weather. I use a satin finish so to minimize light reflections. You can use with glossy but you’ll have glare when viewed at certain angles outside. Display and enjoy!

Check out more of Tymn’s awesome work on his website or send him a shout out on Twitter @tymnarmstrong