Buffet Beautification!!

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There is no formal dining room in our home.  Well, the room itself exists, it's just been repurposed.  Hubby and I decided a few years ago that a "lounge" was in order.
(Can't you hear the music and see us dancing cheek-to-cheek in the low lighting?  Yep, that's a joke).
Since the formal dining room had been used all of twice in 3 years, it was an easy decision.  We sold our nice dining room table, chairs and buffet on Craigslist. (ugh, what were we thinking?), put in a gorgeous bar, some comfy chairs and added some animal print, and vintage bar accessories.

The "jungle room" has been a place where serious and silly conversations have taken place and more than a few party pics have been snapped.  But mostly it's a place where you can relax and laugh and just BE, with no television or video games.  As a family, it worked for us.  I say "worked" because I've recently taken over the space as my place to stack furniture and other unfinished projects to the ceiling office.

My reason for telling you this is that I have no reason to own a buffet/sideboard.  There is no space for one, no need for one, and yet, when I saw this one I knew I wanted to give it a new life (for someone)!

The wood was solid, and the legs and curves were nice.  The backsplash was missing and it had some veneer damage, but it was minimal and you know I love a challenge!
I recruited routing help to give her a little tiara.  Thanks Dad!

I also considered new hardware, since the tarnished grey stuff wasn't doin' it for me, but then I remembered the greatest of all "de-gunkers" - Diet Coke.  After a quick soaking, they were back to their original beauty... and WOOO, they were bright and brassy!

This is after 2 coats of paint, with no distressing or topcoat.
(I was just giving that hardware a test-drive)

I distressed, glazed, dry brushed, and then sealed; some of which was overkill.  After trying about 5 different sets, I decided that the original pulls were what I liked, just not in their bright, brassy state.  So, rather than buying new and after all that de-gunking, I ended up painting them lightly with Rustoleum Hammered Brown.
(I know - "make up your mind, woman!")

In all her glory...

 

I'm very happy with the transformation!

 

 

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My makeover was featured here!  (Yay!)
 

This is one of my "befores", remember these?

Also linking up here:

One Project Closer

Wordle Work - More fun with Subway Art!

As you can probably imagine, I gave a very personal piece of Subway Art as a Christmas present to one of my family members.  I used a little different technique to create this one and I thought I'd share it here.

 My son's second-grade teacher introduced me to a website called Wordle and I think it's a really fun way to create!  It's basically a free "word image" generator created by some smarty-pants at IBM.  The possibilities are endless - you can decide on color, font, capitalization and make your words horizontal or vertical only or mostly... the list of options goes on and on.

Example: New Year's Resolution, by Anonymous

Source: Wordle

The frequency that you enter each word determines the words size.  In my example (at the top of the page) I wanted Dennis and Jennifer to be the largest words, so I put them in about 15 times each.  Then for the next size down I'd pasted the names 11 times each and so on. I found it helpful to just make tick marks to count and did a lot of copying and pasting.  In the example above, the author clearly used each word the same number of times.

Once you've decided on the font, color, sizes, etc, you can continue to "randomize" the words and until it forms a shape or is in the order that you like.

Here's another example I found today:

Source: Wordle Anonymous

Once you have your design the way you want it, take a screen shot (on my laptop it's function and print screen) and use "paint" or another similar program to save it to, then crop it in Picasa or other editing program.  Based on some copyright issues, you can't just save the document.
It's probably a good idea to read the FAQ's before you get started, just in case.

Then I uploaded my image to the Staples print center.  The print that was large enough to work with a 25 x 30 canvas cost $2.12 (cheap!).  From there I just adhered it to the canvas and glazed and distressed in the typical fashion.  

For the full tutorial on this, click HERE.

Another anonymous example:

Source: Wordle Anonymous

One word of caution: the gallery is public.  So, for example, when I made my nephew's birth sign, I took a screen shot once it was done but chose NOT to save it to the gallery.  The whole world didn't need to know his stats!!

I think all of these would make unique, personal art!  So, go to www.wordle.net and play around then come back and let me know what you've come up with!!

Linking this idea up here:

My take on Subway Art - a tutorial

 In one of my last posts, I mentioned that I had several fun things I was working on and couldn't wait to share. I wasn't kidding.  I am currently somewhere between "wow, this is really going to look great in 20 minutes" and "this project is NEVER going to end", with 9 separate projects!!!  I get it - WHAT WAS I THINKING???  To tell the truth, it's completely typical of me (imagine Husband rolling eyes in agreement here)!

Part of the problem is this cold snap (hello, 33 degrees? what happened to Fall?) and therefore an unanticipated halt to all of my painting!  Another issue? I need to re-teach myself how to sew.  Um, yikes.  I'll get to that next week.....

So, here's today's finished INDOOR product!!

I love all the subway/text art out there right now.  I've been trying to find a way to make my own without shelling out a million dollars $500, or burning out my Cricut cutting vinyl letters, etc.  I stumbled upon a great tutorial at A Thoughtful Place and it was just what I was looking for!!  I'm going to try another process as well, but we'll get to that on another day.  (**update on 11/8, see bottom of post)

Hubby and I decided that our favorite vacation spots would be just the thing to put on our bedroom wall (of course we thought of 2 more after I'd already ordered the print!).

To make the art: I designed the print simply using Microsoft Word, varying the fonts and capitalization.  Make sure you change your background color to black and your font color to white (or whatever you prefer.)  Then I uploaded it to the Staples print center as an architectural drawing.  You'll have to upload it differently if you use anything other than black and white.  Also, it may help to determine the ratio of your saved document to the canvas or wood you're covering to make sure that none of your words will overlap the sides of the canvas.

  Props to the sweet ladies at the 135th St. Staples in OP, they printed and sent Hubby home with 2 of them last night because the first one had a few flaws!  Little did they know, I was going to give it a few more!! 

So, that meant I'd either have 2 identical prints or 2 chances to get one of them right!

I painted the sides of a 2' x 3' canvas black for a more finished look.  Then I Mod Podge'd the print onto it.  It helps to start on one edge, paint the Mod Podge on and just lay the print down a few inches at a time.  Don't worry about the wrinkles, most of them will smooth themselves out and any that are left just add character.  Once the print is done, go over the top with another layer.

Then when it was dry I coffee stained and glazed with both a black and a brown glaze and sanded it using the Dremel Drill I got for my birthday (dances a little jig here!).

This is the end result - on my first try!  I couldn't be happier!

I should also mention that because I already had everything but the print itself on hand, the whole project cost me $3.15!  Love!

Here's a close up showing a little more detail, the large photo doesn't quite do it justice.

Sometimes the least expensive art is the best, wouldn't you agree?


**11/8/11 Update:  I had a heavy piece of wood that was the perfect size for a narrow wall in our great room and I wanted to see if the outcome would be similar using the wood vs. the canvas (above).  I was able to add a few cities as the wood was longer, but the process was pretty much the same.  I actually did less distressing this time, but sanded the edges with a palm sander so that the wood would show thru.  I love the result (again).  I truly think this is the easiest and least time-consuming way to make Subway Art!!

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I linked my art here:

Kitchen Cabinet Glazing

I always get inspired whenever we make the trip to visit my brother- and sister-in-law and their children in Tulsa. They live in a beautifully decorated home with a Tuscan feel, great antiques, rich window treatments and amazing architectural detail. Yet it never feels stuffy or "over-decorated"; in fact, there's an ease and a casualness that comes from knowing that everything works together to make a happy home!! On our last visit, I noticed the detail of the glazed cabinetry in the kitchen. I came home and decided that my kitchen cabinets were a bit dull and sun-faded, so I went to work glazing the whole room.

Our cabinets are a medium/warm color, so I glazed with black. I'd never glazed anything before, but once I got started, I could see myself doing the whole house! I will admit that this is probably the only project I've ever done that I'd consider SUBTLE! But, the change is great and it really gave depth and warmth to the kitchen and toned down the "shiny-ness".  (is that even a word?)

Ugly Dresser Makeover

Ugly? Yes! $9.99? Yes! I had so much inspiration for this piece that I knew I could make it something special!

I especially love the amazing transformations from Brooke at All Things Thrifty!  

I always love what she does with color, but I ended up with a favorite, Blue Ocean Breeze, from Krylon - it's like an edgier Tiffany blue!

I had to repair two drawers and replace the center pull.