Furniture Painting Tutorial and Tips! « The Cerniks
Over that past year, I have tackled several painting projects. Some have gone well…and other terribly wrong. I spent so much time online searching for tutorials and trying what each recommended. We have finally mastered our technique and I wanted to share what we find the best. P.S. As newlyweds and new home owners, we have an empty house that needs A LOT of furniture. 4 steps and you are done! Step 1. Every piece of furniture must be prepped. We needed to get rid of the pre-loving on our tabletop, so I sanded it with our orbital sander. For pieces with deep ruts or dents, I suggest Elmers wood filler with a little sanding after it dries. If you have a piece that doesn’t require sanding (or if you just don’t want to), give the furniture a good cleaning with a TSP product. Step 2. Priming is very important…don’t skip it! We have tried several different primers, even spray can primers and 2-in-1 paint and primer. Everything can go wrong at this step…so listen carefully! Step 3. Step 4.
Peg Board and Accessories Station
This project believe it or not is for my sweet husband. … We have been married for almost 14 years! My poor guy has not just put up with me but with my jewelry all over the place. Now I have to be honest it is not just jewelry since I admit to have an “accessory problem” that includes belts, scarves, purses and shoes. Well… those messy days are OVER honey .… because I made a jewelry station that sits right inside of our walk-in closet. Let me start with the Peg Board. Before anything else you need to frame the back of the board since it has to come out from the wall… Yo can use any thin board, 1″ wide is good enough… Just make sure all corners are covered for best support. After the backboards are ready all you have to do is attach them to the peg board. The next thing I did was paint the board. While drying I decided that it needed a little EXTRA, something to try to make it… EXTRAORDINARY. I had a bunch of molding from a previous project in my garage. . Just like this! Now let the FUN begin!
Paper Weave
I thought I'd give you a wee respite from all of the holiday crafts. Although this would make a wonderful Christmas or Hanukkah present. Never too early to start. This is one of those art-projects-for-kids that can be adapted for a sophisticated look. I didn't have any old paintings so I wet a piece of white card stock, dropped food coloring on it, tilted it back and forth, ran it under the faucet again and dabbed it with a paper towel. I placed a long piece of double-stick tape at the top of a piece of copy paper and put the vertical strands next to each other, then wove in the horizontal pieces. I love putting these in large frames with big mats and small openings. Pretty elegant art made from food coloring - who would have guessed?
Out-of-Season, In-Demand: Tutorial
If you are here from Pinterest, I'm so glad to have you here at Capital B! This little blog is what it is, to some degree, thanks to this stunning little wreath... It's easy to see why, eh? When my friend and I made these wreaths originally, we were just wanting to spend the afternoon making something cute. If you might be more interested in purchasing one instead, please email me through the button in my sidebar. Ok, lets make it already! That crumpled baggie there is what is left of the exact wreath that I made originally... truth be told, it got split to pieces just a few days after I hung it on the door! I love taking pictures of stacks of things- just makes me smile for some silly reason. :) Ok, so take your sheets of felt- I got mine and all of the supplies for this project at Michaels- and cut them into squares about 2"x2". Instead, I got a box of straight pins and wow! Work with just one square at a time, folding corner to corner in half and then half again. And there you have it!
How To Mix Chalkboard Paint in Any Color
We love using chalkboards as backdrops for displays and parties (like this one here!). So we were super excited to learn that you can create your own custom colors-and it's really easy! We first learned how from Martha Stewart whose tutorial you can read here. Supplies: 1/2 cup acrylic paint (choose any color you like, or mix colors together to make the perfect shade!) 1. 2. Once your chalkboard has fully dried be sure to slate the surface before using it for the first time. Have fun creating any color combination you like!!
Here is the Church, Here is the Steeple
Here is an interesting way to make a photo album with all of those wedding pictures. If you are going to a wedding, bring your camera and give this to the bride and groom when they come back from their honeymoon. They will love you! Materials: 2 pieces of mat board (or chip board) 8 1/2" x 11" piece of card stock large photo of church 20 long, thin photos printed on heavy-weight paper (mine were 1 1/4" x 3 1/2") glue stick Tools: paper cutter, scissors or Exacto knife Glue photo of church to the back of the mat board so that the nice color side of the mat board shows when you open the book. Do not glue photos to the front and back pleats. Place 1/2" of glue on the back left hand side of one of the thin photos. Glue the front and back flaps of the pleats to the inside of the front and back covers. It should look like the above photo. This gift will last longer than those skinny stemmed wine glasses they asked for in their registry.
The Quaint Cottage: DIY Copy Cat Nesting End Table - Part 2
During the week, I finished it with a weathered finish. And you can find that link here. So, now I finished the smaller of the two tables. Here is the finished set. You might notice I tweaked the color of the smaller table. This little table is such a simple project. Cut four cross boards. And cut and install the top. Cut all the pieces, nailed together... Filled holes and sanded. Painted (without primer) and let dry overnight. Used the stain to glaze. And here it is with it's larger friend. Thank you for your kind words on the finish. Take care, Karen Link parties - & & & &
Friday Faves: Halloween DIY Roundup « Poor & Pretty
Halloween is 16 days away! Are you doing anything fun? I’m trying to convince Stan to go to Salem, but I’m not sure it’s in our budget. I’ve never been there for Halloween! Anyway, it’s Friday Faves time and here are some awesome Halloween-inspired crafts & DIYs I’ve found around the interwebs: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 20 Unique Pumpkin Ideas via c.r.a.f.t. 7. I can’t wait for Halloween Knights tomorrow at the Renaissance Faire! Like this post?
Putting a Name to the Face
I first saw this Photoshop tutorial here. It was wonderful but used CS4, a program that I can't afford. I knew I could do this with PS Elements (it doesn't have all of the bells and whistles as the CS series or the cost) and went about adapting and hopefully simplifying this lesson. There are a number of steps and photos so bear with me. Take your photo and cut out the background. Open a new document and type the person's name. With the rectangular marquee tool select a name then go to EDIT>DEFINE BRUSH and name your brush (in this case - aj3). Go back to your posterized photo and select just the black with the magic wand. Add a new layer above the background layer. With the brush tool select the boldest name brush. Make another blank layer. Make a new blank layer and the magic wand for the light gray areas and, using the lighter name brush as above, fill this selection even sparser. Click the eyes on on all of the layers except the background. What a colorful child.
