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Aged, art, arts and craft, dark wood, distressing, floor protectors, painting, Painting & Antiquing Techniques, sander, stain, Tutorial, wood grain

How to Paint a Giant Mandala Deck Tattoo

How to Paint a Deck Mandala Tattoo | Pretty Handy Girl

As promised, I’m back today to show you how to paint a giant mandala tattoo on your deck. Painting a design on your deck can turn an ordinary deck into a beautiful retreat. Add a few colorful accessories and you’ll have a backyard Bali getaway! Creating the mandala is a lot easier than it looks. Ready to get started?

Materials:

Thompson’s Water Seal Semi-Transparent Deck Stain – Acorn Brown
Chalk
Tape measure
Circle object to trace (dinner plate, paint can, etc.)
Push pin
String
Damp rag
White Farmhouse Paint (Or other chalky paint)
Sander
Small and medium round paint brushes
Deck Stain Pad

Instructions:

Pre-stained your deck with one coat of Thompson’s Waterseal Semi-transparent stain. (I used Acorn Brown.) Allow the stain to dry.

Choose the location for the center of your design. Trace around a small circular object or use the tack and string to trace a small circle.

Place the thumbtack in the center of the small circle and draw circles radiating out from the center. Try to add more distance from the previous circle as you go outward. (i.e. 3″ from the center, 6″ from the inner circle, 10″ from the 2nd circle.)

Divide your inner circle into eight sections and make a chalk tick marks. Read more

March 27, 2015/18 Comments/by Brittany Bailey

art, arts and craft, Build It, clamps, Contributor, Crafts, desk, framing, graphic letters and numbers, Home Decor, Home Office, Kids Room, nailgun, organizational tips, painting, silhouette

Knockoff PB Personalized Pinboard

Hey everyone! If you remember, last month, I shared with you how I updated my boys’ desk in our den with a wood plank desktop. The den is just about ready for the big reveal and now I’m just working on adding little details. This includes these fun personalized bulletin boards I made for each of my boys. I was searching for desk organization ideas one day and saw these personalized pinboards on Pottery Barn Kids. I knew they would be perfect for my boys and that I could knock them off pretty easily. I made two of these pinboards, but my supply list will be for one pinboard.

Materials:

12″ x 12″ wrapped canvas (mine was 3/4″ thick)
12″ adhesive backed cork sheet
Adhesive vinyl
Transfer paper
Die-cutting machine
Acrylic aint
2 – 1″ foam paintbrushes
1″ x 2″ x 6′ pine board
Wood stain
Sander w/ 220 grit sandpaper
Miter saw
Brad nailer
1″ Brad nails
24″ Bar clamps
Hot glue gun

Instructions:

Start by designing your stencil. To make it look just like the PB Kids version, use the Varsity font. (FYI, the letters are all capitalized, but when you use the shift key or CAPS lock, it will add the outline.)

Cut your design out on the 12 x 12″ sheet of vinyl and weed the negative pieces out. Remember that this is a stencil, so make sure to weed out the correct parts of your design. Place your transfer paper over the design and use a scraping tool or a credit card to get out any air bubbles.

Peel the backing off of your vinyl and very carefully center it onto your cork sheet. Use the scraping tool or credit card again to firmly adhere the vinyl to the cork sheet. Carefully peel the transfer paper off. Stencil your design using the acrylic paint and foam brush. Read more

March 25, 2015/5 Comments/by Addicted 2 DIY

accessories, art, Beach, Before and After, dark wood, Destinations, floor protectors, flooring, Furniture, painting, Painting & Antiquing Techniques, Rub n' Buff, stain

Thompson’s WaterSeal Bali Dream Deck Reveal

Bali Dream Deck for Thompsons Water Seal | Pretty Handy Girl

Last month while most of the US was under heavy blankets of snow and ice, I flew to Dallas. I was hoping to find warm temperatures and lots of sun. And if I couldn’t find any, I’d create my own with my sister, Caitlin’s help. Thompson’s WaterSeal asked me to design a dream deck and told me to bring an assistant. Normally I work alone, but when I need help with design and décor I know I can always count on Caitlin. Some of you may remember when Caitlin and I worked together on renovating this beach condo. Caitlin is the talented designer behind Symmetry Designs.

When we arrived, the weather was mild, but we were still craving some warm sunshine. We decided to create a Bali getaway destination on our Thompson’s WaterSeal Deck. We started with a clean slate deck pre-stained with Thompson’s WaterSeal Semi-Transparent Water Proofing Stain in a beautiful Acorn Brown color.

Joining us were Beckie from Infarrantly Creative with her assistant Erin and Ashley & Jamin from The Handmade Home. They also had a blank slate deck to design.

The first thing Caitlin and I did was paint a giant white mandala “tattoo” on our deck. Read more

March 23, 2015/12 Comments/by Brittany Bailey

Aged, art, arts and craft, Crafts, Door, faux finish, Home Decor, magnet, Metal Tags, painting, Painting & Antiquing Techniques, Spray paint metal

Inexpensive Faux Copper and Patina Metal

Do you love the look of copper, but the price makes your head whip the other way? Have no fear my dear! You can create inexpensive faux copper and patina for a fraction of the cost.

I was introduced to Modern Masters Metal Effects at Haven last year and the finish definitely fooled me. I honestly thought it was real copper. When I read up on the product, I realized that there are real copper particles in the paint which allows it to react and patina with the Metal Effects Green Patina Solution. (affiliate link)

The uses for this paint are limitless! Discount light fixtures can be transformed into luxury copper versions with a little paint and patina spray. Paint inexpensive statues to look like real metal. Even Virgin Records and Ceasar’s Palace have used the paint and patina on exterior roof surfaces to fake the look. You may have seen the copper panel on our family organization center door. Today I want to show you how to create Inexpensive Copper Metal and Patina using Metal Effects!

Materials:

(I’ve included affiliate links for your convenience. I earn a small percentage from a purchase using these links. There is no additional cost to you. You can read more about affiliate links here.)

Optional: Sea sponge

Instructions:

Cut your piece of sheet metal to size using tin snips. Be sure to wear work gloves to avoid cutting yourself on the metal. Wipe off any dirt or grease.

Coat the metal with one coat of primer. Let it dry and apply a second coat of primer.

After the primer has dried, add one coat of the Metal Effects copper paint. After that dries, add a second coat. Read more

February 27, 2015/83 Comments/by Brittany Bailey

art, decor, Decorating, gift wrapping, gifts, Giveaway, Holiday decorating, Home Decor

Starry Night Christmas Tree

This year I might have taken the tree decorating a bit far. I couldn’t stop at just decorating the tree. No, I had to decorate up the walls around the tree and onto the ceiling. The tree is literally surrounded by a multitude of shimmery vinyl stars!

What do you think? Overkill? Or do you like the emphasis those stars place around the tree. If you like it, here is a link where you can purchase your own set of stars from Leen the Graphics Queen (affiliate link.)

My idea started when I was gazing at my favorite tree topper I bought at Target a few years ago. At night when the light is turned on, it casts a multitude of lit stars all over the ceiling and walls. I was thinking how sad it is that you can’t see all those stars in the day. I wanted a more permanent way to keep the stars on the wall and ceiling 24/7! That’s when I called my friend Leen the Graphics Queen on a whim. That girl is the sweetest thing. She put up with my crazy idea and promptly shipped me several sheets of stars in different colors to create my vision. Proof that she’s truly a wonderful friend, she sent me both a set of gold and silver stars for me to choose from. As you probably guessed, I used the gold stars.

Now, behold our blue, white and gold Christmas tree! The gold is the prefect touch of warmth against the cool white and blue color palette.

The feather boas and icicles were from Michael’s last year. The larger aqua blue embroidered ornament balls and silver tree skirt are from Lowe’s (yeah—I know—Lowe’s the Home Improvement store!) The rest of the ornaments I’ve had for a while.

At night when the tree is lit, you can see that I wrapped the tree with several strands of white and blue mini-lights.

The British horse bridal medallions were a gift from a dear friend a few years ago. They have made the rounds in my home decor, but this year I added them to the Christmas tree.

What do you think? Do you like my idea of surrounding our tree with its own constellation of stars?

You don’t have to use them on the ceiling. You can use them to decorate your desk, your door, holiday gifts, your refrigerator, your kids (okay maybe not them) or anywhere you want to decorate for the holidays! Best of all, when you are ready to remove them they peel off and leave no damage behind.

Happy Decorating!

Disclosure:

Some affiliate links appear in this post, if you click on them I earn a small percentage from the purchase. You are not charged any more.

Here’s the scoop, I wasn’t paid for this post. Leen is a good friend of mine and I love her graphic vinyl. I approached her about using her graphic stars. Yes, she sent them to me for free, but she’s a sweetheart like that. Leen and her husband run a small shop near the coast of North Carolina. They are the type of business that you want to support around the holidays and the rest of the year. I’d tell you more about how wonderful they are and how they are raising four wonderful children, but then it would sound like I’m gushing. So, hey, just know that I wasn’t paid and I want to see Leen succeed ;-)!

Pin for later!

December 9, 2014/41 Comments/by Brittany Bailey