Updating Ikea Nightstand with Marble Adhesive Paper and Black Chalkboard Paint

This Ikea Tarva night stand started its life as an unfinished piece of pine. I painted it silver. Yes, silver. The color didn't thrill me. What to do? I had left over black chalkboard paint which is essentially flat black paint. Paint the whole object or part - that was my dilemma. I fell in serious like with some marble adhesive paper from Lowe's. It was Duck brand and available locally. I left the inside cubby and a bit of trim with the silver paint job. Then I cut a section of adhesive marble paper to fit the top of the table, a.k.a. nightstand. To finish the project, I found a screw that fit into a brass finial top, again from Lowe's, and used that as the drawer pull.

Blue and Purple Flower Painting

I had a special request to paint this watercolor picture. I really like how it turned out.

IKEA RAST Dresser Hack

IKEA sells a Rast pine dresser that is begging for a creative update. It doesn't hold a lot of clothes, so I made mine into a night stand or bed side table.

After assembling the wood dresser, I painted the drawer fronts with a semi-gloss white paint. Next, I stained the top and sides using a dark brown stain. Once the drawer fronts were dry, I attached brass angle brackets. The handles were scavenged from a dresser on garbage day and painted gold/bronze to match the brackets.

Suddenly, this $30 dresser was elevated into the three figure range.

Chair Covers from Curtains

These chair covers remind me of "Gone with the Wind". You know the scene where Scarlett is meeting Rhett Butler after the war and she has nothing to wear. Scarlet can't greet him in the ragged dress she is wearing and she spies the green velvet curtains. Devising a plan, she makes a dress from her mother's drapes.

I got a great deal on these blue paisley Waverly curtains.  Love the material, but the drapes didn't work with any of my windows. What to do? That's when a glue gun and stapler came to mind and like Scarlett, I formed a plan. I recovered two chairs using the curtain material. The top chair was completed using a glue gun. The second chair, I stapled and draped the material.

I actually like the second chair's results more than the first. And the second chair was also easier to assemble. Both projects took less time than sewing the fabric.

Gold Thumbtack Art

Want hip and happening art for less than $5? Check out these two pieces I made. Both use black foam core from the dollar store along with four boxes of gold thumbtacks.

Hawk Feather

While walking the dog I found this hawk feather. I think it's from a Cooper's Hawk. The bird must has been in some kind of struggle to loose this feather.

Made from Scratch Suede Purse

I had a suede jacket that had seen better days. Portions of the jacket were still in good shape. I considered tossing the clothing and then I thought, "re-purpose, re-use, recycle". I cut the jacket apart and used the side pockets as the front and back of the purse. Since I don't have a heavy duty sewing machine, I glued, yes, glued the suede pieces together. I purchased brass chain and grommets to match. Making four holes, two on each side of the top flap. I installed the grommets and threaded the chain through the grommets to form a strap. Since I had a magnetic clasp in my sewing kit, I sliced two holes on either side of the suede and glued a piece of fabric over the folded down prongs. To finish the piece, I glued a leather flower to cover the magnet. So stylish!

Candle Making

I had a couple pillar candles that weren't too straight anymore. rather than tossing them, I melted the candles down and added 10 drops of essential oil to the wax along with a cotton wick. I used clean glass containers to house my new candles. To hold the wick in place as the wax dried, I used paperclips and binder clips. The wicks were wound around a pencil to hold the wick upright.

Homemade Bread

Something about cold, snowy days that makes me bake bread. And I bake it from scratch. I enjoy the whole process. Nothing better than fresh bread and unsalted butter. Happy Valentines Day!

Sketch for Baby Shower

Going to a baby shower and I decided to make a quick sketch of a baby with a bunny toy to go along with the Beatrix Potter, "Peter Rabbit: book and pink stuffed bunny.

Copper and Pearl Necklace

I was going to a fancy function and wanted a new necklace to go with my outfit. As always, I try to save money on non-essentials so I went into my stash of jewelry making supplies and found what I needed for my latest creation. I stripped wire to expose copper wiring and took apart a necklace made with imitation pearls. Everything on the Lilli-Anne necklace was made including the clasp/closure mechanism. The necklace got rave reviews and it has become one of my favorites.

Bavarian China with Crowley's Department Store Name

I found this sweet sugar and creamer set at a thrift store. The information on the bottom indicates it was distributed by Crowley Milner, a former department store based in Detroit. Looks like it's Bavarian china that was sold in different patterns to major department stores. I saw a different pattern for Macy's and for J. L. Hudson stores. How cool is this?!

Time to Start Growing Plants for Spring

After I brought my gerbera daisy in for the winter, I ignored it.I placed a plastic bag over it and almost all the leaves fell off - except for one small green leaf. That was a week and a half ago. Today, there are a couple leaves and new growth at its base.

I also started to grow micro greens. The little shoots are showing their heads after the third day. (see photo above) Soon I will have fresh salad greens. After winter is over, I plant the micro greens outside and they last well into July.

Sequinned Skirt Turned Pillow

This teeny tiny black sequinned skirt was just begging to be turned into a pillow. Total cost? $1

Succulent Watercolor Painting

Another wedding, another painting. This time the bride loved succulents and decorated her new shabby chic home with the plants. Part of the wedding gift included this painting.

Fabric Flower Pin

Chicos had a lovely leather flower pin, but I didn't want to spend the money for the item. Instead, I made a flower pin out of drop cloth material. Since then, I have made flower pins from black leather and brown suede.

Speaking of pictures, I was having difficulty posting pictures on my blog. Since I couldn't post photos, I couldn't see the point in sharing my kreations. (wink) 

I found out what the problem was and I am back to posting on my blog. Yay!

Painting A Rug

I purchased a gray indoor/outdoor rug from a store at the end of summer. What to do with the rug? I decided to paint it and all I had was latex paint. Taking a bowl, I sketched a simple pattern on cardboard. Then, I cut the pattern out and traced around it using chalk. After that, I painted over the chalk lines and got a stylish 5' x 7' rug for $5 total.So far, the rug has withstood foot traffic very well.