Upcycling Archives - Page 21 of 31

About Me, Before and After, bloggers, Chalkboard paint, decor, Decorating, Furniture, inspiration, painting, ReNew, Upcycling

Why My Grandmother Would Love that I Wrote All Over Her Coffee Table

My grandmother wouldn’t mind that I painted and then wrote all over her coffee table. She was one of the most giving people you’ve ever met. She truly was the type of person that would give you the shirt off her back if you needed it. I strive to live up to her legacy every day of my life.

She was also a very lucky lady. I mean lucky as in she could spot a four-leafed clover in a field of them. She was constantly finding money on the ground.

When I was living with her my freshman year in college, she made me do a U-turn on a street because she saw a five dollar bill in the middle of the road! She was a hoot and loved to make people laugh with her jokes or just dressing up as a bunny every Easter.

(That’s my sisters and me in the floral skirt.)

She also won several contests in her life. But, she rarely kept her winnings. One of the things she won was a solid construction coffee table. When I was moving into my first apartment, she gave it to me. We used it for years until my design tastes changed and I bought a new one. Grandma’s coffee table moved into our attic. It sat there for years, buried under bags and suitcases.

When the big tree fell on our house, we did some serious purging in the attic. I should have taken the coffee table to Goodwill or sold it at our yard sale. But, something made me keep it a little longer. Read more

August 23, 2013/22 Comments/by Brittany Bailey

adfree, Build It, desk, DIY, hole repair, kitchen, Kitchen Renovation, Painting & Antiquing Techniques, ReNew, sander, staining vanity cabinet, Trash to Treasure, Tutorial, Upcycling, wood putty

How to Cut and Finish an Old Tabletop to Create a Wood Desk Top

Have you seen my command center in the kitchen? It’s a beauty to look at, don’t you think? Especially that gorgeous wood desk top.

Well, I have a secret! It’s actually an old kitchen table top that was given to me for FREE! Yup, zero dollars, no moolah, nothing! And this is what the table top looks like:

I actually flipped it upside down to refinish it. But, I’m jumping ahead of myself. Here are the details: Read more

August 16, 2013/14 Comments/by Brittany Bailey

chair re-upholster, DIY, Painting & Antiquing Techniques, repair, Trash to Treasure, Tutorial, Upcycling, Upholster Chair

Curbside Vintage Step Stool Makeover

A few years ago, while driving back to work from my lunch break, I spied a very cool but sad looking vintage step stool sitting at the end of someone’s driveway next to their trash. I passed by, but it didn’t take me long to circle around the block and come back to pick up the stool. Unfortunately the step stool stayed untouched for at least 4 years. This time it wasn’t in my garage, I left the sad step stool in the back room of my office. Good thing I’m the only one who goes back there! I finally decided it was time to show this little vintage step stool some love. Check out this step stool makeover.

The structure of the step stool was in fairly good condition, but COVERED in rust. In some areas thicker than others. I thought about using the old school method and hand sanding the stool like Jeff talked about a few weeks ago (Painting Metal Patio Chairs ) but decided if I tried this avenue I would be sanding for a few months. I also considered using a sand blaster to remove the rust. And while it is a fast effective method, it is not practical for everyone. After much thought I finally decided on a 3M sanding disk that attaches to any drill. Let’s get to it shall we? Read more

August 14, 2013/25 Comments/by Jacque Knowlton

art, arts and craft, Build It, Crafts, decor, Glaze, Holiday decorating, Home Decor, July 4th, milk paint, painting, Painting & Antiquing Techniques, sander, Tutorial, Upcycling

White-Washed Patriotic Flag Sign Tutorial

Learn how to make this White-Washed Patriotic Flag Sign and hang it with pride in your home.

White-Washed Patriotic Flag Sign Tutorial

The other day I was at the fabric store but after not finding that perfect fabric for one of my projects, I went to the other section of the store to take a break from it all. While there I saw a little sign that read:

This Is A Place We Gladly Call Home…
and for that we are truly thankful

Those words totally spoke to me! I didn’t buy the little sign but I came home thinking about how to create my own version. The sign was more expensive than the materials to make my own sign ten times bigger!

My sign came out beautiful, especially with the large American flag on the background. I’m happy to show you how to create your own White-Washed Patriotic Flag Sign! Let’s make this sign.

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.)

Five boards – 1x6x6 or use pallet wood (6 ways to remove pallet wood)
White, Red & Blue acrylic paint (or leftover latex paint)
Star stickers
Pencil
Ruler
Graphite paper
Sander
Sandpaper
Brown Sharpie marker
Dark brown stain
8 Cup hooks
10 Screw eyes

Optional: Gold Sharpie marker

Instructions:

Cut off the tops to get rid of the “dog ears.” Mark the area for the blue square on the flag.

Add star stickers inside the square. Paint over the star stickers with blue paint.

Paint the red stripes next. After the paint dries, remove the star stickers. Give your boards a light sanding.

You can leave your patriotic sign like this or if you want to give it the white-washed look, continue.

White acrylic paint and water is mixed at a 50-50 ratio to create a white-wash. Apply three coats of the white-wash. Wait for the paint to dry between coats.

Print out your quote on the computer:

This Is A Place We Gladly Call Home…
and for that we are truly thankful

Transfer the lettering onto the boards using graphite paper.

Using a brown Sharpie, trace the letters and fill them in.

Do you want them a bit fancier? Use a gold Sharpie to create shadows.

After the letters are filled in, it will look like this:

Give the letters an extra two coats of the white-wash to make them blend better.

Lightly rub stain on the entire sign.

We’re finished making the White-Washed Patriotic Flag Sign. Now it’s time to assemble and hang the sign.

Assembling the Sign:

To hold the boards together, attach cup hooks and screw eyes between the boards. (I chose to paint mine silver since I only had gold.)

No need to pre-drill, the boards are fairly soft so the hooks and screw eyes will go in easily.

Attach two extra screw eyes to the top to hang it onto the wall.

This was a very easy way to put the sign together, hang it, and… it doesn’t take much space when it is time to store it away!

I hung some more patriotic decorations and our dining room is ready for a celebration!

What do you think of this White-Washed Patriotic Flag Sign Tutorial?

Thanks so much for stopping by!

~ See all Cristina’s Projects ~

June 26, 2013/19 Comments/by Cristina Garay

Before and After, Decorating, fabric, Holiday decorating, Home Decor, July 4th, mantles, Sewing, Upcycling

Patriotic Denim Bunting Tutorial

Summer is unofficially here and I’m back to share a patriotic sewing project that uses denim! Yes, another way to repurpose those old holey (or should we say too tight?) blue jeans.

Nothing says 4th of July better than red, white and blue and this denim bunting is just that. Blue denim combined with red and white gingham ruffle trim makes the perfect pairing and a great project to repurpose those worn out jeans.

I think you might just be able to use this idea at your next backyard party regardless of the holiday, it’s chic, a little bit country, a little bit western and everyone loves denim.

I started with a pair of holey jeans that had seen the dryer one too many times and quickly made them into the cutest bunting decoration anyone with a little sewing skills could tackle. Read more

June 19, 2013/15 Comments/by Jaime Costiglio