So, like most of you, I see things I want to make then run out and get the stuff and then it sits for a while

However, this one didn’t get to sit very long.  This is a burlap (loose burlap weave) and ribbon wreath that I made for my Mother’s 83rd birthday.

 

 

I started out with a green foam circle and a roll of burlap garland.  Both of these I found at M’s.

Wrap the foam circle with the burlap to cover the green foam.

 

 

 

I cut a length of 14″ (or so) from the burlap garland and a wide ribbon.

 

 

 

 

 

I used my tape runner to put down some thing to stick the ribbon to the burlap.  Then I folded the burlap over the ribbon so it looked layerd….burlap, ribbon, burlap.

 

 

 

 

 

Then I put another layer of ribbon after the layered burlap.

To save you some time you need to gather both ribbon and the burlap.  Just makes it easier to get everything looking uniform.

I hot glued the day lights out this thing.

 

 

I just laid down a bead of hot glue and layed the burlap or ribbon on top of that and worked my way around the wreath.  Cut, gathered , hot glue, attached over and over until you get the circle covered.

 

 

 

 

Then I needed something to add a little extra and these flowers did the trick.  They are made with a Sizzix’s die cut and out of hyms from an old hymnal.  I found some silk leaves and used my Copics to put a little fall colors on the leaves.

 

 

 

 

I put some gems in the flowers and a Happy Birthday tag to finish it off.

 

 

 

 

 

It came out great and Mom loved it!  Hmm, now I need to go more “stuff” and make me one.

I found this cute and simple board at Hobby Lobby.  It is family rules and I think it will be a great addition to my new dining room renovation.

Of course I can’t leave it alone so this is just a teaser as to something better when I get through adding to it.

I’ve got several ideas, so you will have to wait and see what I come up with.  Did I tell you I used my 40% off coupon……….sweeeet and totally a score!

Here it is the final product.  I took this and hung it in my office at work; however, this picture was taken in my home before I took it to work.

 

 

 

 

Started off with 4 canvases (20″ by 16″), I bought them when they were on sell @ M’s.  I will tell you that if you want a more sturdy piece don’t go cheap on the canvas.  While I was putting the various coats of paints on the cheaper canvas stretches and gives.

The first thing I did was coat the canvas with 3-4 coats of magnetic primer.

 

 

 

Martha Stewart came out with a new line of acrylic paints that can be used on anything and I decided to give them a try.  I think they are a little pricey, 1 bottle of the acrylic paint is about $1.99 compared to $.59-$.69 of other acrylic paint.  Let me say right here I’m not getting paid or sponsored by any one so this is just my opinion.  I think it took me 3 bottles of her paint to get the coverage on 4 canvases I wanted.  If memory serves me right I used “something” Linen.  Can’t remember the full name.

 

 

I started off using a roller, but I switched over to a foam brush.  I lay the coats down as follows, coat 1 the way the object is going to be hanging (in this case horizontal); coat 2 vertically; coat 3 horizontal again.  I do this to get a good coverage.  

 

 

 

 

Here we are all panels painted.  You will notice they still look splotchy but that is ok, this is not the final cover of paint.

 

 

 

 

Next I used Sure Cuts Alot program and my Cricut and picked out various numbers, fonts and symbols I wanted to use on the board.  I used some old shelving paper with adhesive on the back to cut out the item.

My suggestion here is to use some good shelving paper, or contact paper or vinyl.  The stuff I used did not stick very well and I had to do a lot of touch up.

 

 

 

I placed the vinyl around the 4 canvases (overlapping some from one canvas to another).  This will help bring all 4 canvases together when you go to hang it.

 

 

 

 

 

This is not my original idea. I wish I could remember what blog I saw this on; however, there are multiple post and multiple ways to do this project and I’m sure it is probably on Youtube.  Somewhere I read that if you painted around the vinyl first it did better.  I couldn’t tell with the vinyl I used that it made any difference.

 

 

 

Once all the vinyl was in place I started the process of painting. I wanted this to be a magnetic chalk board so now I am applying black chalkboard paint.  I use the same process of putting on the coats of chalkboard paint….except this time I knew I was using 4 coats to get a good coverage so I did vertical, horizontal, vertical and horizontal.

 

 

 

Nice coverage.

 

 

 

 

 

Removed the vinyl and discovered the chalkboard paint had seeped under the cheap vinyl.  Not a huge problem, but it is time consuming to “doctor” up  the mishaps.

 

 

 

 

I found these wood joiners at Home Depot.  They worked ok but when I hung the 4 panels they bow out from the wall a little.  I’m working on a fix for that issue.

 

 

 

 

I got super magnets at Home Depot also (you need super magnets..as strong as you can get them).

 

 

 

 

 

Yep, they work!

 

 

 

 

 

I like it and it is working great.  Now, if I ever need to bring it home it will work in my home decor also!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ok, I’ve finally finished this but I have to upload the pictures.

This is a canvas magnetic chalk board.  I did four of these and then grouped them together for a huge wall in my office at work.

Give me another day and I’ll post the how to’s and what I’ve learned.

 

 

It is quick cool and it works, so I hope I have piqued your interest.

 

I bought a tray from Ikea and it only came in birch.  Well, you can tell by the picture I painted it.

Basically, I took some sand paper and sanded it a little.  Next I used some painters tape and taped off the inside and then put paper over the center and tapped it down.

I spray painted the tray (mainly because I was using the spray painter to paint the pedestal at that time).  Then I put the second coat on with a foam brush and then applied the sealer the same way.

I’m going to fill the tray with paper flowers (that is what is sitting in the tray now).  I also discovered I can use dry erase marker on the inside to leave a note or decorate…..how fun is that!

I know I have been showing you a lot of things that I have been using to decorate the dining room, but you know some times you start a project and you can’t find anything and then another time it’s everywhere.

This is one of those times it is everywhere.  I was wandering through Hobby Lobby and saw this painting.  I have one wall in my dining room I am going to do a gallery on and this painting fits so well, think Family Tree.  So the gallery will have various elements with family pictures mixed in and all the frames will be the same (Ikea frames).  The one lone bird is aqua.  I’m going to use aqua as my pop of color in the dining room right now but that will change as the seasons go by.  This is the 3rd black and accent element in this room

Come Christmas that bird  is going to be red and then next Spring it may be a yellow canary.  I’m going to take a picture of this bird and then pull it into my Sure Cuts A Lot program and cut it out of vinyl in various colors as the accent colors change in the Dining room.

The sweet thing about this painting is it was 50% off, which makes it very reasonable and brings a very contemporary feel to the decor in the Dining Room.

I am so in love with the look of mercury glass and it works perfect in the dining room redo.

I found these 3 Mercury Glass candle holders at M’s.  I bought one at a time using 40% coupons.

The candles are actually LCD candles.  I’m going to dress them up a little more with some craft paper and wire.

 

 

 

Then while I was Hobby Lobby I found this Mercury Glass lamp.  Absolutely fell in love with it and it was 50% off, sweeeet!

This pulls the Mercury Glass design element out of the dining room into the den.  Hmmm, can you guess which room is going to get a freshen up after the dining room is done?

 

So much to do, but I’ll keep at it a little at a time and eventually get it all done.

I need a decorating element on a huge wall in my office at work.  I also want this decorating element to serve both function and form.

I saw a piece done with canvas and numbers.  Being in the Financial Industry the numbers things would work perfect.  The other part is that if I ever needed to bring it home it would work in my home as well.

I went to Home Depot and bought some magnetic primer (approx $20).  To M’s to buy some canvas (got 18 x20 twin pack for $7.99).

 

Let me say, if you do this be sure and pick up some xylene for clean-up.  The magnetic primer is heavy (because it has shards of metal in it) and you need to be sure and stir it good and then stir it occasionally while you are using it.  

Thin coats is the best way to put this on and I also used a dense smooth foam roller.  I put on three coats, one vertically, second coat horizontally and the third coat vertically again.  It takes 30 minutes to dry in between coats.

 

The next step is to paint this with latex paint.  After I paint it with a cream latex paint, I’m going to cut out various sizes of numbers and symbols to put on the canvases.  Then you’ll have to wait and see what happens after that.

Lucky for me I’ve had this flower arrangement for several years.  This goes perfectly with the re-decorating theme that I’m doing in the dining room.

 

 

 

 

So, me and my BFF (Phyllis) was at M’s when we discovered this flower.  It was everything I needed for the arrangement to freshen it up.  The exact colors that the dining room  was done in.  This flower mimics the black and white color theme in the curtains .  In decorating you need to pull some of the same elements around the room.  This gives the room a cohesiveness and balance.

The problem is, it cost $7 for one flower.  How do you solve this problem?  You use the 40% coupons. I only need three, so it won’t be that difficult.

 

 

I’m telling you this dining room re-do is coming together.  Stay tune there is more to come.

I’ve had this little stool every since my girls were little.  I purchased this back with the country was the decorating style, notice the hearts cut into the end of the stool.

It was originally oak stained, then when I renovated the kitchen I painted it red.  Now, I’m going to completely change it up to go with the dining room make-over.

 

 

 

In order to cover that red up, I start out by giving it several good coats of Kilz.

 

 

 

 

 

Now it is ready to start painting the white.  The Kilz seals off the stool and keeps the red from bleeding through.

I’ll have to give this a light sanding before I start painting it white.  I’m going to use my sprayer to paint this since I need to get the paint inside.

 

 

 

So now we letting it bake in the 120 degree garage.  This will have to wait to be painted until the temperature drops or next Saturday early in the morning.