Kitchen Mini Makeover ~ Paint

One weekend I decided I needed something fun to do.  Actually, back up...a couple of years ago, we bought our first house.  The window in the kitchen looks like this, with the original red paint.  I like red paint, but these shelves needed some love.  The top shelves usually sit empty except for major holidays (mostly Christmas), or they have something weird sitting on them.  I have had a really hard time coming up with a way I wanted to decorate them. Well, I was so sick of how boring it looked and decided this was the something fun I needed to do.

I have been planning on doing my kitchen red and teal for about a year now, and just haven't really done anything to add some teal.  So, let's meet the teal...

Well, the first coat at least...

I was a tad bit worried after the first coat I must say.  I was really hoping I didn't just make a big ugly mistake.

Once all the red was covered up though, I knew I loved it!  It is so bright and fresh.  I used to sort of hate...not entirely hate...the "fancy" woodwork bordering the whole shelf/window.  After the paint, I love it.  And I like it even more now that things are completed!

Come back tomorrow for the Stache Party, and then on Wednesday, I will be sharing a topiary I made!

Another Chalkboard

We all love chalkboard paint! 

I made a HUGE new chalkboard for my den.

I had kept my eye out for a really big picture or painting that I could turn into a chalkboard and I found one at a yard sale for only $2.00.  I thought the details of the frame were perfect. 

I had forgot take a "before" picture.  The frame was a gold leaf and I had already started spray painting the painting before I went to grab my camera.  Here is what I started with.



( I don't know why blogger keeps rotating the picture.  Ugh )


This is what I ended up with.

I  am in LOVE with how it turned out.  This is also my first time using a glaze and I think it all works together nicely.  Please ignore the notty pine...I have plans to change that.  Just give me some time.



Painted Water Color

I'm a little behind in posting this.  Back in November I particpated in the Gift Exchange that Craftaholics Anonymous put together.  This is what I sent to Mandy.

I cut out some embossed paper to make the cross and glued it to something similar to card stock.  I used greens and blacks water colors and painted this:

Where I partied this week:

http://betweennapsontheporch.blogspot.com/

http://craftskeepmesane.blogspot.com/

Brass Lamps + Spray Paint = New Lamps

I had picked up two rusty brass lamps from a flea market for FREE.  I took them home not knowing if they worked or not.  To my delight when I plugged them up, the light bulb came on!  Sweet!  (that really is what I said)

I failed to take a before picture.  I wish you could have seen these lamps.  The bottom was rusted and by all means, they should have been headed to the dump.  I cleaned them up the best I could.  I used a wire brush to get the loose rust off.  I primed them and painted them a glossy black. 

I painted several things this day.  Stay tuned for the other stuff.

I LURVE the glossy black!

The finished product!  They are so sleek and pretty.  The lamp shades were only $5.00!!  You cannot beat that price either.

Now I just have to find a place for these two lamps. 

I don't really think that will be too much trouble.





Apple Re-Do

A couple of weeks ago if you will recall, I hit the JACKPOT!  I passed by an old flea market that had a

FREE FOR ALL

sign out front.  What is a girl like me to do other that stop and go in?

I want to show you the first item I have done something with.  (Let's face it, it was free for a reason. You just have to be a person that can see beauty in those things...and I am.)

These are 5 wooden apples I picke up from the free store.

Here is their before picture. Really faded and with some cracks.

I painted these apples bright green an they are now sitting on my kitchen island.  It is a nice touch of color as you walk in our back door (because no one uses our front door).

 Even with the cracks I love how they look in my kitchen.

My Candy Corn Door Hanger

 I had posted the other day how I love the candy corn door hanger that blogger Sew Totally Smitten had made.  I went home and made one for my front door too. 

Here is my version of it.

I realized after I started this project that I didn't have any black ribbon.  In order to add a touch of black, I made two ruffles out of an old back t-shirt I had.  Adds a bit of whimsy don't ya think?

Beautiful.

Painted Back to School Jeans

Back to School Jeans are fun.  These are some overalls I painted for my little one.  They have crayons on the front and the back.  A little chalkboard on the back pocket.  Some apples and books on the front.

She is ready for school (in a few years).

I also like this look on jeans.  Something fun, colorful, and simple.



Painted Candy Corn Jeans

Here is a cute painted outfit for the fall.  It was easy to paint and really cute.  If you can paint straight lines and triangles you can do it too!

This is a pair of jeans I made as well.  I always paint something on the back of the jeans.  It makes it that much more interesting.

Getting ready for the fall!

Where Painted Studio Started

I thought I would give you just a little bit a history as to why I call my blog "The Painted Studio". About 6 years ago I had seen custom painted kids clothes on eBay. No way was I going to pay the prices on eBay so I bought some paints and gave it a try. It was alot of fun and my kids and I enjoyed making the clothes for my kids. This is the first painted outfit I made. I was liked how it turned out so I started painting this design on lots of different jeans and overalls and sold them on eBay. At that time my eBay name was allyrnelson, it was a shared account with my sister so that is the name I put on my photos. After I started selling more and more I took the name
"The Painted Studio".

Here are a few more exaples of the work I had done.

If you like these, I will show you some other designs on another day.

Have a good one!

testing testing

Ignore this post...I'm trying something out.

:)

Dresser Drawers Redo

As I posted a few weeks ago, I have been looking for ways to

recycle, reuse, and redo.

I have come up with a way to do that with an old small dresser we had sitting in the attic. I had purchased this dresser for $10 from a garage sale a couple of years ago and we no longer were using it. So I thought I revamp it and make a bookcase for my living room. I took the photo in bad lighting...so the glare is in from my flash. Sorry about that. I started out with these dresser drawers. (I already have another plan for the dresser.)

I removed all the hardware and stacked the drawers on top of each other so dear hubby could get an idea of what I was wanting to do.

You get the idea?So I took the drawers outside and started putting on the base coat. A flat black.
I screwed the drawers together, added some paneling to the backside to help stabilize it, and put on the final coats of paint. Wallllaaa.....I have new bookcase. (Pay no mind to the accessories. Some of them are projects I'm working on.) I now have an extra piece of furniture and it was not cost to me. I used stuff I had on hand to make it.

Ideas from other Blogs

I like this simple idea of being able to display a few bible vereses that I love. I like the canvas...it makes it look more artistic and simple. This idea came from here.

I really love these floor candle sticks. I don't have anything beside my fireplace and I think these would look lovely. I found this idea on another blog. They were able to make these for $12 each. Not a bad price compared to PB's $149 price tag!

Cool Vintage Looking Letters

I was in the store Earth Trader a couple of weeks ago and they had these letters that I just loved. Below is a picture of what they sorta looked like. Except in the store, they were just single letters and they sold for $5 each. Now I could have paid $20 but I am trying to stick to my budget and I thought I could make them on my own. So here is what I did....

I got my supplies together:

Mod Podge

Paint Brush

Cut Magazine Strips

Stain

Scrap Panel Boards

I cut HEEB out of my scrap panel board using my jig saw. Then, using my mod podge,I applied my magazine strips to all of my letters and let it dry.

After about 24 hours, it was good and dry. So I used my a sharp razor blade and cut off the excess magazine strips. I applied a thin coat of stain onto of the letters. The white didn't look so white and the letters had more of vintage look. I then applied 3 coats of mod podge on top waiting for each coat to dry.


Here is my finished project. I like it and that is all that matters.

A friend of mine had the idea of using newspapers. I like that idea too.