All You Need is...Valentine String Art | Pretty Handy Girl

All You Need is...Valentine String Art | Pretty Handy Girl

All you need is some scrap wood, and maybe a little string. And a few nails. And how about a gum wrapper? If you had all those you could be like MacGyver and build some kind of cool device that would catch fire. But, since I had everything except the gum wrapper, I decided to make a Valentine art project. Follow along and I’ll show you how easy it is to make your own heart string art and engraving art for Valentine’s Day. If you need any of the materials, you can pick up most of them at your local Lowe’s Home Improvement store (probably the same place MacGyver shops because they have gum at the registers.)

(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.)

Materials:

Instructions:

Start by painting your wood red.

All You Need is...Valentine String Art | Pretty Handy Girl

After the paint has dried, draw a heart with chalk. Read more

double ribbon heart wreath on door 1-l

Hi, this is Cristina from Remodelando la Casa, I’m so glad to be here once again, sharing with you a cute and easy project just in time for Valentine’s day.

While walking through Costco (it always happens there, you go for groceries but come back home with so many things that weren’t on your list!), I spotted some gigantic spools of ribbon that for only 8 bucks, so I grabbed one and my project began taking shape inspired by a wreath created by Jessica.

2 ribbon spool

Materials:

  • One wire hanger
  • 15 yd. wired edge ribbon (1.5″ wide)
  • 15 yd. wired edge ribbon (.62″ wide,  a contrasting color from the previous one)
  • Pliers
  • Awl
  • Small decoration to hang in the center of wreath
  • 2 yd. decorative ribbon to hang the wreath in place
  • Scotch tape or glue gun

Instructions:

Using pliers, unravel the coil on the hanger.  Make a heart shape out of the hanger. Read more

DIY Aged Chippy Paint Technique | Pretty Handy Girl

DIY Aged Chippy Paint Technique | Pretty Handy Girl

This is another one of those tutorials that I’ve been dying to share with you! Like sitting on my hands and anxiously waiting to type it out. But after taking 2 weeks off from blogging, I’m back and ready to give you this fabulous tutorial for achieving the aged chippy paint look on your next project.

DIY Aged Chippy Paint Technique | Pretty Handy Girl

Before I give you the chippy gritty, I want to give you the background story on those gorgeous corbels.

If you’ve been following along, I finally completed my 13 month kitchen renovation. The last task was installing two open shelves on the full tile wall. Finding the perfect corbels to use as shelf brackets was not an easy task. I scoured eBay, Craig’s List and salvage shops. I was really getting discouraged. That was when I met Garlan from Southern Accents Architectural Antiques at Haven. We talked for a few minutes and he showed me some of the corbels he had in his store. There were some wonderful old ones, but I felt a bit like Goldilocks. One was too tall. The other not big enough, but the biggest problem was that I needed four of them. Garlan showed me some new corbels that he had. He told me he has a guy that can duplicate any corbel design and can customize them to meet any size requirements. It was as if the heavens parted and angels sang! I was elated and couldn’t wait to find an image of a design I liked. But, again, the Goldilocks in me couldn’t find the “perfect” corbels. So, I opened up Adobe Illustrator and started to design my own unique corbels.

Chippy Paint Technique

PHG Corbel Design for Sa1969.com

 

I designed a scroll pattern based off of one corbel I saw, but also added some relief portions inside the corbel. I sent the image to Garlan and a week later he sent me a picture of one of the corbels. It was love at first sight! I quickly approved the initial one and waited anxiously for the corbels to arrive. When I opened the box, they were beautiful and exactly as I had pictured them in my head.

Southern Accents Architectural Antiques corbels

I set forth to give them an appropriate aged chippy paint look to fool people into thinking they were actually antique salvage. Here’s how I did it. Read more

Christmas journal

Need an easy DIY gift idea that any kid will love?  Jaime from That’s My Letter here to share DIY Christmas journals made from inexpensive kids composition books.

There’s still time to make this Christmas journal gift for all those kids on your list who love to write and draw, it makes a great small gift or a nice add on to a larger gift.

Christmas journal 1

Take a peek inside and you’ll see the kids composition books are printed with lines just their size and bonus!  a place to draw pictures above the writing:

Christmas journal 3

Kids can use the journal to keep track of gifts received for thank you cards, adventures and travels during the school break, all the exciting events surrounding the holiday and on and on.

Wrap your  journal with a fun holiday pencil and printed ribbon:

Christmas journal 4

Supplies required:

Christmas journal 5

Instructions:

Step 1: Give the exterior cover (front and back) a quick sanding to rough up the ‘shiny’ surface – this will help the kraft paper adhere better. Read more

Chalkboard Painted Mugs | Pretty Handy Girl

The holidays are fast approaching and the last thing I want to do is wander through the stores aimlessly looking for gifts for my friends or for the service providers in my life. Instead, I came up with the perfect gift idea: DIY Chalkboard Painted Mugs!

Chalkboard Painted Mugs | Pretty Handy Girl

DIY Chalkboard Painted Mugs

Have you seen those cute chalkboard mugs at Starbucks? They are so fun and I think it would be funny to write crazy messages on them daily. I decided to try my hand at a DIY painted version. Let me say upfront that I did a little test using Rustoleum Chalkboard paint on one mug and Porcelaine Chalkboard paint (made for glass and ceramics) on a second one. I expected the regular chalkboard paint to flake off, especially after seeing this happen after just one coat:

Chalkboard Painted Mugs | Pretty Handy Girl

However, after a second coat and baking it in the oven, it appeared to hold up after an initial dishwasher run. I can chip off some of the regular paint with my fingernail on the edges. But, overall the paint seems to be hanging onto the mug. That being said, based on the way the Porcelaine paint immediately took to the mug and appears to be harder to chip, I expect the Porcelaine painted mug to hold up much longer. So, if you want a chalkboard mug that will last longer, use Porcelaine paint.

Chalkboard Painted Mugs 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.)

Chalkboard Painted Mugs | Pretty Handy Girl

Chalkboard Painted Mugs Instructions:

Lightly sand the sides of the mug where you intend to paint. Wipe off any dirt and oils with a cotton pad soaked in rubbing alcohol.

Chalkboard Painted Mugs | Pretty Handy Girl

Creating Decorative Borders:

Lay a strip of painter’s tape onto freezer paper.

Chalkboard Painted Mugs | Pretty Handy Girl

Cut along one edge (or both) with craft scissors. Cut in the middle with regular scissors to give you two pieces of decorative edged tape.

Chalkboard Painted Mugs | Pretty Handy Girl

Using a Decorative Border Hole Punch:

  1. Cut along the top edge of the tape to create a straight edge.
  2. Align the cut edge in the border punch and punch along the top of the tape.
  3. Peel tape off of the freezer paper.

Chalkboard Painted Mugs | Pretty Handy Girl

Tape off the top of your mug to protect it from paint. (This should be safer because you really don’t want people drinking liquid against the paint.) Be sure to press the edges down firmly. You can also tape along the bottom if you want a centered band of chalkboard on the mugs.

Chalkboard Painted Mugs | Pretty Handy Girl

Pour a small amount of the Porcelaine paint into the disposable cup. Use the foam brush to evenly coat paint onto the mug. Check for drips before the paint dries. After the first coat dries, paint a second coat for complete coverage. (Occasionally three coats may be necessary.)

Chalkboard Painted Mugs | Pretty Handy Girl

After the paint has thoroughly dried (allow 24 hours to dry), remove the painter’s tape. Clean up any seepage or drips by scratching off the paint with the x-acto knife.

Chalkboard Painted Mugs | Pretty Handy Girl

Place mugs in a cool oven. Heat oven to 300F and bake for 30 minutes. Let oven cool with mugs inside.

Chalkboard Painted Mugs | Pretty Handy Girl

The mugs are ready for decorating now! Add some hot cocoa and marshmallows for an instant chocolatey gift.Better yet, you could make these yummy hot cocoa on a stick gifts!

Chalkboard Painted Mugs | Pretty Handy Girl

These are so incredibly fun! I can’t wait to use one and write something witty on it. At $1 each for the mugs and $10 for the Porcelaine chalkboard paint (enough to paint about 8-10 mugs) this is truly a thrifty gift idea!

Chalkboard Painted Mugs | Pretty Handy Girl

So, please tell me, what should I write on DIY Chalkboard Painted Mugs?

  • Fill ‘er up
  • Don’t Let Me Run on Empty
  • High Octane Please
  • Do Not Disturb until I’ve Finished this Cup
  • ___________________

PHGFancySign

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DIY Chalkboard Painted Mugs | Pretty Handy Girl