Gallery Wall Pt 3 - Wall Shelves

Check out our Gallery Wall Shelves! I decided that we needed to jump on the wall shelf bandwagon since I loved the idea of being able to swap art work in and out at will.  Plus, the reality is that I was being too pokey about figuring out the layout to actually hang the art and this seemed like a way to actually get something on the wall before 2013.

You can see that the coin art and the sea biscuit shadowbox are included in the mix.  I also added some family photos, a silhouette of me from kindergarden, a rubbing from a church in London and some state love art (tute coming for that soon).

I used Ana White's Ten Dollar Ledges as the start for my project. Though I modified it to fit our needs.  

Our ledges are 5 feet in length and I used 1x4's, 1x3's and 1x2's.  While I used cheaper wood for the 1x4's and 1x3's, I splurged on 1st quality 1x2's so I wouldn't need to worry about knots.

 
I used our Kreg jig so I could hide the fasteners making the finishing that much easier.

  
Some wood glue, screws and caulk - and I had 2 gallery wall shelves. (it is the table that is wonky crooked, not the shelves)

I gave them each several coats of white semi-gloss paint and then they were ready to hang. 

Some help from D to get a couple of long wood screws into the studs and we were ready to go. 

 It fills up the space perfectly.

We hung it high enough so that we can put chairs, a bar or a small bookcase underneath without any problem.  There is space on either side soany pieces that need to be hung, like shadowboxes, can easily added.

 

Plastic Horse Bookends - A Guest Post

I was happy to do this project for a guest posting on Adventures of a DIY Mom.

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I was horse-mad as a kid and had horses all over my room. Over the years, they were given away, broken, or donated but a few managed to get boxed up.  I had previously turned one into an art piece and when I found this beautiful palomino in another box, I knew I had to transform him as well.

This project is a bit time consuming, mainly because of the wait time for the caulk and paint drying, but I really like how it turned out.

You will need 

• a large plastic horse
• tape
• hack saw
• sanding block
• 2 small pieces of wood
• gorilla glue
• kreg jig
• wood glue
• 4 larger pieces of wood
• screws
• caulk
• spray primer
• spray paint

1.  Start with your large plastic horse.  Mark with tape where you will want to make your cut.

2.  Make your cut. If the edges are a bit rough, sand them with the sanding block. Give each side a quick spray with the primer.

3.  My horse was hollow so I needed to add an additional support to screw into the wooden part of the bookcase.  I cut 2 small pieces to fit inside, rounding the edges. I used the gorilla glue to secure it inside the horse.

4.  I used my Kreg jig drill the holes to secure the pieces of wood for each bookend.  I used the wood glue for a little extra insurance.  If you don't have a Kreg jig, just make sure to pre-drill your holes so the wood doesn't split. 

5.  To secure horse pieces to wood, I pre-drilled a hole and screwed everything together.

6. Using caulk, fill in any gaps. 

7.  Give everything a spray and you are all set. I used Krylon Ivy Leaf.  It is the same green that is in the fabric for the chair I am reupholstering.

So if you come across a plastic animal from your childhood, don't throw or give it away, turn it into bookends so you can see it every day.  I like that a piece of my childhood has been re-imagined in my present.

My 1st Chalk Paint Adventure - An End Table Makeover!

I have been seeing chalk paint makeovers everywhere in the blogosphere. Of course there is Annie Sloan, the original, fabulous to be sure but expensive! And limited in color. So the crafty and ingenious women and men of the internet have come up with tons of recipes for DIY chalk paint - some use unsanded grout, some use plaster of paris, some even use baking soda.

For my table makeover, I went with a plaster of paris recipe from Elizabeth & Co. 1 part plaster of paris, mixed with just enough water to make it smooth and 3 parts paint. That's it. Easy peasy! Now according to the info I found online, apparently flat paint is best however, I was planning on using oops paint to get just the right shade of light greenish grey and some of that paint was, well, unknown.

Here I am with all my supplies. I am a messy painter so I usually try to paint outside.

I started with this "lovely" table that I got off Craiglist for free.  I had bought a desk and the seller decided to throw in a couch table and end table for free. Not a  bad deal since I got all three pieces for $15.

While it has these cool finials on the bottom, it also has this so attractive plastic brass. I tried to pry it out and that just didn't work. I was afraid I would damage the wood if I tried to remove it.  That "brass" was part of the reason why I wanted to try the chalk paint. It apparently sticks to everything, even without priming.

You can see from the photo below, it took me a while to get the color just right. Yes, you are counting right, there are 7 different color tries at getting the color just the way I wanted it.   I used white, dark grey, light grey and green paint. Thank goodness I made enough to do the 2 coats because I wouldn't be able to recreate it again.

Once I got the color right, things progressed very quickly.

The first coat went on with great coverage. It was a bit rough but the second coat seemed to even it out.

One of the best parts about this paint is that it dries amazingly fast. I got 2 coats on and dried in less than 3 hours.  It would have been less but I was working on other stuff at the same time. (I love multi-tasking!)

Once the paint was dry, I gave it a light sand with a sanding block. This really smoothed it out.

Here it one spot before sanding. You can see that it is a bit grainy.

Here it is after a light sand. The graininess is gone and it is so smooth.

A couple of coats of Minwax Paste Finishing Wax and the table was ready to go back inside.

It is also the perfect spot to put my foreign coin art while I gather the rest of the pieces for my gallery wall.

One other part of the table makeover - I painted the back of the glass top with liquid gilding paint in platinum, like this.

It adds a subtle shine to the table that I just love.

I think it looks fabulous in its new home! 

The paint color is a lighter version of the grey green in the wall hanging right behind it.

Check out the places I party.

Gallery Wall Pt 2 - Sea Biscuit Shadowbox

I was so happy to do this project a guest posting over at Makin My Apt a Home as part of the Trading Blogs party hosted by Serendipity & Spice.

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I finally whipped up another piece for our gallery wall.

It all started a couple of months ago my mother-in-law showed up with a tin.  When D opened it up, he found two sea biscuits that his grandmother had brought him from Florida over 30 years ago.  MIL had been toting it from place to place since he was a kid.  (Sea Biscuits are similar to sand dollars but are more puffy looking)

I knew that I had to come up with something special to display them so they wouldn't live in another 35 years in that tin. Plus, it was a cool old Coca-Cola Santa tin that I wanted to be able to use in my decorating next Christmas!

First, I had to bleach them.  I added some bleach to warm water and soaked them for 10 minutes.  Once they dried, they were nice and white.

Then it was time to make the box.  Mine was about 7.5 by 10.5.  I cut down some scrap and nailed it together with some brads.

A quick sand then onto priming and painting.

Once everything was dry, I needed to find a backing board.  Luckily I found another scrap piece that would work.

A quick trim and it was starting to look like a shadowbox.  Well, an upside-down shadowbox.

Then it was onto fabric.  First I spray painted the edges of the backer and let it dry.  Using spray adhesive, I applied the fabric to the backing piece.   Since I wanted to make sure that no fabric could be seen sticking out between the side and back, I trimmed the fabric just a bit, then let it dry for about an hour.

Now it was time to attach the back.  I predrilled the holes for the screws. 2 holes on each side, 1 on the top and 1 on the bottom.

Once everything is screwed down and the back has gotten a coat of black spray paint, I attached a tooth hanger. I don't think that is actually what they are called but hey, it is descriptive and you knew exactly what I was talking about before you saw the pic didn't you?

Now it is time to first up the hot glue gun.  Since this is ultimately going to be hanging on the wall, I didn't want there to be any chance of anything coming loose.

No pics of the actual gluing since that stuff starts to harden so quickly.  But I applied a generous bead of glue about 3/4" from the outer edge and then pressed it firmly to the fabric.

I think it turned out great.

Right now it is living on my half stripped mantle.  But it still looks pretty darn good.  My mother-in-law teared up when she saw the "biscuits" displayed so nicely.  D thinks it looks pretty nice but is still not convinced about how the gallery wall is going to look. 

I am so happy I was able to share my Sea Biscuit Shadowbox with Arod's readers.

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If you would interested in trading posts with us sometime in the future, let us know.  D would be thrilled because it might get me working on the million projects I have half finished in the basement!

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Check out the places I party!

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There is still time to sign up for my Blog-a-Pal-Loosa giveaway for a set of 4 hand stamped travertine coasters, a set of 4 Celtic stamped slate magnets and a set of 4 dragonfly stamped magnets.  Click here to enter.

From Freecycle to Fabulous Lamp

As I was scrolling through my Google Reader this post from Copy Cat Chic caught my eye. (I love that site! Reichel Broussard does the comparison shopping for you on home decor items. You should go check it out for yourself.)

The post in question white versions of these lamps.

The one on the left, the Robert Abbey Rico Espinet Fuzo Koffi Table Lamp, is a bit over $200. The copy cat, on the right, the Ashanti Table Lamp, is almost $100.

This is where it gets interesting…

Take a look at these ridges.

Don’t they look similar to the ridges on the lamps above? I thought so too.

I Love a Gallery Wall & the 1st Pieces for Our Own Wall

I love gallery walls. Love them.Love them.Love them. Did I mention that I love gallery walls? I especially love ones that incorporate other pieces besides photographs, turning it from a picture wall into a view into the people who live there.

Photo Sources: 1. Domino Mag 2, 3 and 4: Pottery Barn

As part of the ongoing (never-ending) overhaul of the living room, I want a gallery wall.  We have the perfect space for it - a 12 foot expanse with nothing on it - and once I am done, it will look fabulous.  Or so I hope.

Over the next few weeks and months, I will be highlighting some of the art projects that will be hanging on our wall.  Starting with the framed coins.

Valentine Pillow

Valentine’s Day is right around the corner.  While I am not a full-on “decorate the whole house for every holiday” person, I do like to put a few items out and about.

I ran into a few problems with Valentine's Day though.  I am not a huge fan of hearts, I am not a big fan of pale pink and red isn't a color we use much of in our house.  So I knew that I would have to get creative.  And go bright with some hot and deep pinks.

Just Call Me Scrappy!! (or how to turn a pile of bamboo flooring scraps into rolling plant stands)

Scrappy. That is how I have described myself to more than one person. I meant to allude to the fact I would be a good person to have your back in a fight (even though I have never ever been in a fight) but turns out it means something else entirely.

You see, when we finish with any project we always have a box/pile/bag of scraps. I have a hard time parting with those scraps because I think to myself "I just know I will be able to find a use for that in the future." This reasoning is why we have several boxes/piles/bags of wood, bamboo flooring, tile and/or slate in the workshop. Along with the scraps, there is also Hubs' hope that I don't turn into a hoarder with my "I will be able to use that in the future" talk."

After Thanksgiving, when I was in the basement looking for some wrapping paper, I had a brainstorm. I could turn scraps from our bamboo flooring install (look for a post on that sometime soon) into some plant stands since I was tired of seeing my non-winter-hardy plants looking pitiful and sad just haphazardly arranged in front of our west facing sliders.

First up, hit the internet to figure out what type of wheel would work best. I ended up getting my plate mount ball casters from Rockler. They were about $11 for a set of 4. I went with casters like this because 1) the wheels are rubber so no damage to the brand new floors 2) all 4 wheels will swivel, making it easy to move these around 3) I thought the color of the brass complimented the caramel color of the floor and 4) I couldn't find anything similar for cheaper in my area.

Once they arrived, I headed down to our workshop to play with our power tools. With winter upon us, the table saw and miter saw have been moved from the unheated garage to the warm basement. This is where the "magic" happens."

Step 1: Gather all your tools.  You will need

• tape measure
• marker or pencil to mark cut lines
• straight edge
• a saw (I used both a table saw and a miter saw)
• safety glasses
• screwdriver
• drill with drill bit to make pilot holes for the screws
• wood screws (18 per plant stand) - whatever length will go through 1.5 pieces of your flooring (I used 1")
• Stain to match your flooring/wood
• 4 plate mount casters
• extra/scrap flooring 
• clamps
• orbital sander

Step 2:  Determine the size of your plant stand and make your cuts for the top

• I made two of my plant stands square. 
• To figure out the size, I placed 3 pieces together to get my length. 
• I then used that to get the length of each piece, cutting them to size. (in my case it was approx 11 3/4"). 
• Finally, I cut the tongue off 1 piece, the groove off another piece, keeping the center piece intact. 
• I didn't get all of the tongue and groove off so sanded the edged to smooth them out.  If the opposite edge is clean and smooth, the sanding doesn't have to be perfect since it can point to the inside.

Step 3: Make the cuts for the bottom pieces.

• You will need 2 cross pieces for the bottom of the plant stand.  These are the pieces that the casters will be screwed into.
• The length will equal that of the 3 pieces together (again in my case, it was approximately 11 3/4").
• The width of this piece will depend on the size of the caster plate since the wood should be at least 1/4" wider to cut down in the possibility of splitting.

Step 4: Clamp, drill and screw

• Line up your pieces for one side, clamping the 3 pieces across and then clamping the whole thing to the table. (the photo above shows what I mean)
• Mark screw holes for casters and drill pilot holes.  Secure casters with screws.
• Drill pilot hole for single screw to secure center piece and secure with screw.
• Repeat on the other side.
  
  If you don't don't clamp the three top pieces together, you risk having a gap.  How do I know?  I found out the hard way on my first go.  See the arrow, it is pointing to a visible gap between two of the pieces.  Notice how you can't see any gap between the other two pieces.

Step 5:

• Stain the unfinished edges, if you like. I chose not too.
• Let dry 24 hours.

You now have custom plant stand that coordinates with your flooring and used up scraps that might otherwise go into the landfill or molder in your basement.        

Cost for 3 plant stands
$ 0.00     Bamboo scraps
   0.00     1" wood screws (leftover from another project)
  33.00     3 sets of plate mounted ball casters
$33.00     TOTAL*

*While this may not be our most cost effective project due to the cost of the casters, I like that these coordinate with our flooring and they use up some of the leftover scraps.

The first stand I made took the longest, about 45 minutes, since I was still working out the process.  The last one I made took me less than 30 minutes from rummaging through the scrap box to putting a plant on it.

If you make some of your own "reclaimed" plant stands, I would love to see them and highlight them in a later post.
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