Cute Upholstered Ikea Pompom Stools

While wandering aimlessly through Ikea a few weeks ago, I stumbled upon the Frosta stools and decided they were just way too cute to pass up.  I bought 3 of them because one just wasn't going to cut it.  Since I couldn't really decide on a fabric I decided to hit Ebay to bid on some embroidered table cloths from India.  I got them for less than $20 with shipping included!  If you ever need something colorful & bohemian (and amazing), THIS is where to go!  Thanks to my friends at FairfieldWorld.com I had some foam and batting at the ready to hack the hallelujah out of these stools!  Now they're just my style.  Remember, hack everything, use beautiful fabrics and always Make Your Mark! 

Like colorful mushrooms on my lawn

Watch how to make them here!

STUFF I USED

1. Embroidered tablecloth from Ebay

2.  Matching heavy cotton

3.  Pompom trim

4. Craft knives & Staple Gun

5.  Americana Decor Outdoor Living paints

6. Sewing machine

7. Ikea Frosta Stools

8.  2" Cushion Foam & Cushion Wrap from Fairfield World

9. E-6000 Fabri-Fuse  

HERE'S HOW

1.  Cut the tablecloth into for equal pieces

*If the pieces are large enough to cover the stool seats, skip steps 2. & 3. 

2. & 3.   Cut 4" strips and sew them to the edges of the squares to even out the pieces 

and make them bigger

4. & 5. Trace the stool seat on the 2" foam and cut out with a fully extended craft knife

6.  Glue the foam to the top of the Frosta seat

7. Cut a piece of batting large enough to wrap the foam and wood seat and staple it around the base of the wood seat

8.  Trim the edges

9. &10. Center your fabric on top of the seat, flip over and staple around the underside 

along the edge and trim

OPTIONAL IF YOU WANT TO COVER THE UNDERSIDE OF THE STOOL

  11.  Trace another seat on poster board and cut

12.  Trace the circle on fabric and cut

13.  Cut 1/2" from the poster board circle all the way around

14.  Press the fabric around the poster board to create a clean, crisp edge

15.  Glue to the underside of the stool to cover the staples and let dry

16.  Paint the legs with Outdoor Living in colors that match the fabric

17.  Screw in the legs

18.  Glue pompom trim around the edge of each stool and pin in place until dry

Done!

Too cool for stool!

Unicorn SPiT Backsplash DIY

I've been wanting a backsplash for a while now but didn't want to commit to something that I would get tired of in a few years...... Finally I sat down and figured out how to make one that I could remove!  This is a terrific project for renters if you want to add some spice to your kitchen and take it with you when you leave.  Plus, I used wood for my tiles and they were easy to cut and super light compared to tile!  The fun part was painting the tiles with Unicorn SPiT with my fingers!  Who knew finger painting could look so chic?!  Remember, take risks, think of alternatives and always 

Make Your Mark!

Gorgeous glossy wood tiles

An up-close of my finger painting skills

Watch how I made it here!

STUFF I USED

Unicorn SPiT

Walnut Hollow Marrakesh Plaques

Americana Decor Metallics in Copper

Bandsaw

Famowood Glaze Coat Epoxy Resin

E-6000 Glue

Plywood (cut to size you're tiling)

HERE'S HOW

1. Figure out how many tiles you'll need to cover your backsplash

2. Create a paper template to use as a guide for cutting your tiles to fit the corners and edges

3.  Carefully cut on a bandsaw, scroll saw or jigsaw with a fine blade

4.  Finalize your pattern

5.  Edge each tile with Dragon's Belly

6.  Squirt Zia Teal, Blue Thunder and more Dragon's Belly

7.  Use your fingers to blend the colors

8.  Paint the 1/4" plywood in copper and let dry

9.  Place the painted tiles back on the plywood and glue down with E-6000

10.  Mix the Glaze Coat according to directions and pour over your tiles

*Lift the boards a bit so that the extra Glaze Coat can drip off the edges

11.  Smooth out the Glaze Coat with a sponge brush

12.  Pop the bubbles with a small torch or long arm lighter

Double stick tape to your wall and you're done!

 Love it!

Done!

Flow Painted Dresser Ikea Hack

There is nothing more fun than dripping tons of paint on a canvas and watching it flow together.....NOTHING!  Lately I've been seeing tons of "dirty pour" paintings and flow paintings and thought it might be fun to incorporate the technique into a furniture piece.  So, that's just what I did.  I grabbed a RAST dresser at Ikea and went nutty bananas.  Because I wasn't exactly sure how I wanted to paint the drawer fronts, I had 1/4" plywood cut to about the same size so I could experiment.  If you're more confident than I am, I say go for it on the drawer fronts and skip that part! Just FYI, it's much easier to flow paint a thin piece of plywood IF the dresser you're making over is already assembled.  Remember to get messy, use tons of color and always Make Your Mark!

Getting messy!

Watch how fun it is to make here!

STUFF I USED

Americana Decor Outdoor Living Paint

E-6000 Glue

RAST Ikea dresser

1/4" plywood cut to the size of the drawer fronts

Small cups and spoons

Drill

Optional:  Decorative Glass Bubble Knobs

HERE'S HOW

1.  Pour your colors into small cups and add about 10% water to each color and stir

2. & 3.   In 2 colors, spray a shot of silicone lubricant into the paint and stir

*This will cause a chemical reaction with the other paints and give some terrific "cell" effects

4.  Paint the edges of your plywood in a solid color

5.  Drip the paints on the plywood

6.  Move the plywood in all directions so that the paints blends together and covers the entire surface of the plywood

7.  Drip some other colors on your piece if you feel like there is a blank spot

*Let everything dry for as long as it takes

8.  I painted the edges of the drawer fronts black so that each plywood piece would look like it was framed

9.  Paint the rest of the dresser

10.  Glue the dry painted pieces to the drawer fronts with E-6000 Glue

11.  Assemble the drawers and extend the original drilled holes through the painted plywood so that you can add the hardware

12.  Screw in the knobs and put in the drawers!

Go with the flow!

Agate Stained Glass Window

 When I was a kid I would beg my dad to let me buy polished rocks at those touristy trading posts you find in every mountain town.  Now as an adult (some would argue) I'm seriously in love with polished agate slices.  So much so that I printed out tons of different agate images to make this funky stained glass window for my yard.  Guess what?!  I love this just as much as if it were made of the real thing.  No way would I be able to afford all of these agate slices for a project like this.  Also, it would weigh a TON.  Instead I found a way to make it look (almost) like the real thing!  Remember to search out different ways to get the look you want and always Make Your Mark!

Letting the sun shine in...

I painted the glass black in between the images here.

Maybe an entire wall of these?

Watch how to make it here!

STUFF I USED

Old window

Americana Decor Decoupage in Gloss

Agate images

Allure Dimensional Design Adhesive Paint in Crystal Glitter

Glaze Coat 2 part epoxy resin

HERE'S HOW

1. & 2.  Print and cut out enough agate images to cover your glass

3.  Lay them out and figure out your design

4. Decoupage them on the glass using a generous amount of Americana Decoupage

5.  Add Allure Crystal Glitter to the centers and let dry

6. & 7.  Mix and pour the 2 part epoxy resin on top of the glass

8.  Spread evenly with a sponge brush

9. Pop the bubbles with a small torch or long arm lighter

10.  Cover and let cure overnight

11.  Optional:  Flip the window and trace in black marker around each shape

12. Paint black acrylic in between the agates to give it a Gothic look

On the back porch.....LOVE IT!

Sugar Skull Decal Dishes

 GraphicStock.com recently asked me to create a project using a few of their 350,000 royalty free images and I couldn't resist.  Not only do they have a zillion images, they have tons of beautiful sugar skulls and super cool adult coloring book pages to download, too.  Once I picked my images, I whipped out my ink jet decal paper and immediately went to work.  The awesome thing about ink jet decal paper is that you can print any image you want and apply it to almost anything!  Once they're cured they're dishwasher safe, but to be double sure, I coated them with some Americana Dishwasher Safe Decoupage.  Awesome stuff, BTW!  Remember to turn your favorite images into decals, plaster them on everything and always

Make Your Mark!

So ready for summer!

Mugs with mugs!

Watch how easy they are to make here!

STUFF I USED

GraphicStock.com images of sugar skulls

White ceramic mugs and plates

Americana Dishwasher Safe Decoupage

Krylon Crystal Clear Acrylic Coating

Sponge

Ink Jet Water Slide Decals

 HERE'S HOW

1.  Print your images on the ink jet decal paper and let dry

2. Seal with Krylon Acrylic Clear Coat and let dry

3. Carefully cut around your images

4.  Moisten the area you want to apply the decal

5.  Place the decal face down on the damp area

6. Generously wet the paper decal with a sponge being careful not to shift it 

7. & 8.  Carefully slide off the decal and let the decal dry

9.  Coat the decal with Americana Dishwasher Safe Decoupage

Some images for you to print!

Just love my new coffee mugs!

Let's Make Art!

I wanted something a bit more whimsical for my kitchen so I decided to give the new DecoArt Premium Acrylics a go and paint something bright and happy.  Gotta be honest here, I'm not really a painter and when I sit down at a canvas, I'll use any paint that's within my reach.  We're talking house paint, outdoor paint, multi-surface.....whatever is in reach that has the color I want.  A few weeks ago DecoArt sent me their new line of tube acrylics and WOW are they lovely to work with.  The colors are just beautiful, too.  This painting was pretty easy and you could easily change the colors to match your decor.  Remember to sit down and get creative every once in a while, get your Bob Ross on and 

always Make Your Mark!

Why not hang art on the fence?

Watch how I painted it here!

 STUFF I USED

Canvas

Americana Premium Acrylics

Allure Dimension Design Adhesive Paint in Gloss Black

Paintbrushes

Template

 Print and use to sketch out the design

HERE'S HOW

1.  Using the template, sketch out the design on your canvas

2. Paint the lower half of the canvas in Pyrrole Red

3.  Paint alternating stripes in a mixture of Yellow Green Light and Titanium White

4.  Paint the rest of the stripes in a mixture of Cobalt Teal Hue and Titanium White

5. Paint several of the flowers with a mixture of Quinacridone Magenta and Titanium White and the outer edges with the pure Quinacridone Magenta and blend where they meet

6.  Paint the centers of the rest of the flowers with Vermilion Hue mixed with Titanium White

7. Paint the outer edges with Hansa Yellow Light

8. Blend the orange and yellow flowers with more Vermilion Hue

9.  Add more white to the mixture of Quinacridone Magenta and Titanium White and lighten the centers of the pink flowers

10.  Paint the leaves with Green Gold and Yellow Green Light and Titanium White

11.  Paint the stripes on the vase with Carbon Black

12.  Outline the flowers, leaves, stripes and vase in Allure Dimensional Design Adhesive Paint in Gloss Black

Nothing like an afternoon painting flowers in the back yard!

Sugar Skull Beanbag Chair and Skull Pillow

A few weeks ago I decided to treat myself to an outdoor movie projector and I LOVE IT!  My first movie night was a smashing success with all of my friends drinking wine and snuggling up in blankets on the lawn in my backyard.  The entire night I kept thinking how much I would LOVE to be sitting in a beanbag chair......So I thought, how hard could it be to make one?  Let's just say I was not prepared!  Sewing a pillow is one thing.   Sewing a pillow the size of a human is another thing altogether!  If and when you tackle this project, give yourself some time and some room.  In the end, I'm really glad I challenged myself.  The most crucial part of a beanbag chair is the insert (aka bladder) for your beanbag filler.  It's crucial if you ever want to wash the beanbag cover and it keeps the beans nice and safe.  Remember, challenge yourself, go BIG and always 

Make Your Mark!

Just in case you're wondering....

Julie is sitting BY the beanbag chair so that you can see it!

I even made the tiny skull pillow!

See the video

Watch how I made everything here!

STUFF I USED

DecoArt SoSoft Fabric Paints

M Squared Stencils by Tracy Moreau (25% OFF with MARKMONTANO as code)

E-6000 Fabri-Fuse and Stitchless Glue

Fairfield Classic Bean Bag Filler and Poly-fil

*This beanbag needs 9 cubic feet of filler

Sewing machine and Iron

24" zipper

2 yards black and 1 yard white 54" wide fabric (heavy duty)

2 yards 54" wide stretchy fabric (for insert)

Skull inspiration

Pattern for beanbag and skull pillow

 HERE'S HOW (PART 1)

1.  Cut to pieces of black fabric 36" long then unfold them and stack them

*You now have 2 pieces of 54" x 36" pieces of fabric

2. Measure up 6" on the 54" and mark

3.  Draw a curve down to the 36" side toward the center and cut

  *Use the scrap as a pattern to cut the other side

4.  Repeat on the insert fabric cutting 2 matching pieces with a curve

5.  On a 40" x 40" sheet of paper, draw a 36" long skull

*Fold it in half and cut out the best side for a symmetrical pattern

6. & 7.  Pin on the cream fabric and cut out

8.  Center the skull on one piece of the black fabric with the chin 8" above the curved edge

9.  Spread E-6000 StitchLess Glue on the underside of the skull and press to set the glue

*This insures the fabric skull doesn't move during your next steps

10. Carefully zigzag stitch around the entire skull, the eyes, nose and each tooth

11. & 12. Grab some stencils (or freehand if you want) and start painting sugar skull designs on the skull using the DecoArt SoSoft fabric paint

 HOW TO (PART 2)

13.  Using 1/2" seam allowance, stitch the 54" sides and the curved edge leaving the top 36" end open

14.  On the open end, match the seams and lay flat

15.  Center the zipper (with the seams in the middle) and mark the top and bottom of the zipper and then stitch both ends to where you marked

16. & 17. Pin each side of the zipper face down and stitch in place using a zipper foot

18. Using 1/2" seam allowance, stitch the 54" sides and curved edge of the insert fabric

19.  Fill with the Fairfield Bean Bag Filler

*Let gravity do the work! I stapled the bag to the fence and cut a hole in the bottom

20.  Stitch the insert shut when it's filled

21 Stuff it into the beanbag and zip closed

LET'S MAKE A SKULL PILLOW

1.  Make a skull pattern that is about 18" tall and 13" wide

LINK TO PATTERN

2.  Cut it out in black fabric

3.  Cut 2 pieces of fabric the shape of the skull but 3" larger all the way around

4.  Stitch the edges using 1/2" seam allowance leaving a 5" hole for stuffing

5.  Clip the curves up to the seam but not through the seam

6.  Turn inside out and press

7.  Glue the black skull on the white pillow with E-6000 Fabri-Fuse

8.  Stuff and pin closed

9.  Stitch closed and enjoy!