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
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!
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.
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
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!
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!
Lately I've been in love with serape blankets. Remember my Margarita Chair & Fiesta Trays from a few weeks back? I love the mix of bright colors with black and white and how they ombre from light to dark. Recently I found just the colors of serapes I wanted on Amazon and decided to create an entire outdoor dining room set with them. As it happens, I found a set of comfy dining chairs (purchased at a thrift store) just perfect for this project. Now all I needed to do was figure out how to get the color-to-color ombre effect I wanted. Turns out I had just the tool. I've been working with HomeRight for a bit now and realized my Finish Max would work perfectly. Check out the video to see just how I did it! Remember to use tons of color, go bright or go home and always
1. I smoothed out the table top with DecoArt Wood Reclaim which is a heavy body acrylic coating that smooths out bumps, scratches and worn out veneer
2. After I washed off all of the dirt and dust from my chairs I filled my Finish Max paint container with Outdoor Living in Harvest and then screwed it back to the sprayer
3. Only after you've filled the container with your desired color and attached it to the sprayer, you then plug it in
4. Spray the chair with smooth even strokes leaving the top 6" of the chair unpainted
5. I put my chairs inside of the HomeRight Spray Shelter to dry to keep leaves, dirt and dust from getting on them while they dried
*Follow the instructions for cleaning the Finish Max
6. Fill the paint container with Sunset and paint the top 6" of the chair using large piece of cardboard about 4" away from the chair to block the paint from spraying too much on the lower painted area
*You want to he paint colors to blend from one to the other
7. Next I sprayed the bottom of the 2 remaining chairs with Outdoor Living in Ladybug
(This is such a hot beautiful color)
8. Spray the tops of the 2 remaining chairs in Pansy
9. & 10. Spray the bottom of the table in Turquoise Sky and the top in Adirondack using the same cardboard method
11. Remove the upholstered seats from the chairs and then remove the fabric from the seats
12. Trace and cut 1/2" foam the size of the seat
13. Place the foam on top of a larger piece of batting and then place the seat face down on the foam
14. & 15. Staple the batting on the underside of the seat trapping the foam between the batting and the seat and then trim the excess batting
16. Cut the serape fabric about 6" wider and longer than the seat measurements
