Wednesday 2 October 2013

Union Jack Patio Table

My mom had this table for over 35 years and during that time it was yellow, black, blue, maroon and rusty! I have had it in all it's peeling glory for a few years until this summer I decided it needed to be stripped back to the metal. I don't have a before picture, but this is during and it gives you an idea of the layers of paint 
 

My husband drilled a few holes along the rim to allow the rain to run off and then I used black Rustoleum Spray paint to cover the top and base. After that I made two stencils to form the Union Jack (it is not exact I know, I did do a Union Jack Trunk which is correct and I love!) I sprayed one coat of a cream colour for the lines and three coats for the triangles using leftover paint we had so the total cost of this project was $0 which you can't beat!





Do you have any favourite outdoor projects?


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Saturday 4 May 2013

Ikea Hack For FREE!!

Yes, you read that correctly, this table was FREE! It is made from two different IKEA products found in the garbage.

IKEA hack wood table

 
 
First you take one Klubbo side table which looked like it had been left out in the rain...
 

Klubbo IKEA side table
 
Then you add the slatted bed base from the Fjellse bed...
 
Fjellse slatted bed base
 
 
and you get this gorgeous table all for $0.00!
 
IKEA hack side table wood industrial metal

 

 
 
I found the original table in a neighbours garbage and thought I would buy some wood to make a new top.  Later that evening I noticed the bed slats in another neighbours garbage and realized it would be perfect for the top. 
 
I started by measuring my wood so I have about a 3/4" overhang and I cut the wood  (using my husbands mitre saw all by myself for the first time ever!).  I used black satin finish Rustoleum spray paint and covered the base with three coats.  While that was drying I lightly sanded and then stained the wood using Special Walnut colour stain.  When dried I laid the wood on the ground and used some offcuts of the wood to join them all together on the bottom.  I attached the top using wood screws to the frame.  To finish off the table and to protect it, I used two coats of Polyacrylic in satin finish and left it to dry. 
 
I love the combination of the smooth, modern metal and the rustic, aged wood.





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Sharing With:

Funky Junk Interiors                                   French Country Cottage

Life On Lakeshore Drive                            The Thrifty Groove
Be Different Act Normal                            The Chicken Chick
Thrifty Decor Chick                                   The Dedicated House
Alderberry Hill                                           A Humble Creation
An Original Belle                                       A Pinch of Joy
Serendipity and Spice                                 The Tumbleweed Contessa
The Rustic Pig                                            Elizabeth & Co
Not Just A Housewife                                Kathe With An E
Coastal Charm                                            Fluster Buster
If It's Not Baroque                                      Savvy Southern Style
Creative Cain Cabin                                    A Diamond In The Stuff
Someday Crafts                                           I Gotta Create
The Shabby Creek Cottage                         Made In A Day
Common Ground                                        Embracing Change
52 Mantels                                                  No Minimalist Here
Live Laugh Rowe                                       House of Hepworths
The Pin Junkie                                            French Country Cottage
Miss Mustard Seed                                     Diana Rambles
Funky Junk                                                 Redoux

Monday 29 April 2013

Bedside Table

Three years ago when we bought our cottage it suddenly dawned on us that we had to furnish a full cottage and a guest cottage and had no money to do it! It's amazing what you can get for free. I will write a post one day with all of the items we were given and how we sourced them, but for now I wanted to show you the before and after of this cute little bedside table. Unfortunately the pictures don't show the full extent of the bad condition it was in, but it was free and we all love that, don't we?

before picture table

When I was sanding the piece I found the note below taped to the top of one of the cubbies.  I had to put it back in once the piece was finished as it's part of the history of the table. I will try to remember in 10 or 20 years to look up this little girl and see what she is doing for a living.


I hadn't heard about chalk paint so thought I had to sand it all down to paint it and as I started sanding I realized what a great solid wood piece it was and it became harder and harder to convince my husband that it should be painted. In the end we compromised and only painted the cubbies to save me the work of sanding those. 

I used two coats of "Colonial Oak" coloured stain. That was okay, but not the colour I was looking for so I then added a coat of "Special Walnut". It didn't go as dark as I would have liked, but the wood seemed to be "full" of stain and wasn't absorbing anymore so I settled on this colour. I did two coats of Polyacyrlic all over and four on the top (I am obsessed about protecting the wood on pieces I refinish and don't even get me started on coasters, I have them everywhere!) I used homemade chalk paint on the cubbies and two coats of polyacrylic on those after to protect them.

 

 
What is your favourite freebie project?
 
 

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A Pinch of Joy      The Dedicated House        Crafty, Scrappy, Happy         An Original Belle
A Humble Creation   

Monday 11 February 2013

Hey Girl

At first I had no idea what all the "Hey Girl" fuss was about, but once I started following along, I was laughing out loud.  If you don't know what I'm talking about, check out the party at View Along The Way.  Such great fun and it motivated me enough to use PicMonkey to add text to my pictures so I could join in.

First there are Cookie's thoughts on the whole "create something out of garbage idea:

 
 
Then my youngest son:
 
 
 
My eldest son is so thoughtful and understanding:
 
 
 
And lastly my ever patient and loving husband:
 
    

What would I ever do without my loving family?
 


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Saturday 2 February 2013

Pallet Heart Art

I convinced my husband to pick up a pallet for me, but it had been sitting in our driveway waiting for some inspiration for quite a while now. Finally I decided to make some Valentines art with it, but now I like it so much, it’s going to stay up year round.


pallet art


There is some discussion on the safety of using pallets (see here).  I had my husband cut the pallet so I would have enough wood to make four boards each 12” x 12”.  I then soaked them in hot water with bleach (to kill any bugs) and used an old toothbrush to clean them off.  I left them to dry and then we used wood glue and clamps to glue three boards together to achieve the desired size.  I needed to stain the cut ends so I made some steel wool and vinegar stain, but it was very strong so I needed to dilute it a lot.  

I made a heart shape template from paper and used that as my guide for the first piece.  I nailed nails (appropriately enough) in a heart shape. 


pallet


That looked boring so I then used kitchen string and wrapped it back and forth across the heart until I was happy with the pattern and tied it off.
pallet string art


For the second heart I used some raffia I had and soaked it in water for a few minutes, I then shaped it into two hearts and weighted them down and left them overnight to dry.  I simply used hot glue to attach it top and bottom.

 

The third heart I shaped some thin copper wire around the nails on the first board and twisted wire to secure them leaving a couple of long ends at both points.  I drilled two small holes in the boards and put the ends of the wire through and covered them with hot glue to secure and to stop them from scratching the wall.  I was very disappointed with this one as it didn’t stand out very well.  I decided to put white glue on the board and covered it with some sand we had.  This improved it, but it does look better in person than in the pictures.


For the last board I laid out shells on the template and then slid them off onto the boards, adjusting as necessary.  Using hot glue, I attached them to the board.
pallet raffia


To hang them I drilled pilot holes (I actually made a template with paper to show where to put the holes and to speed up the process) and put in ¾” screws and tied string to them to create something to hang on the wall hooks.

I am so pleased with these and they look great in our master ensuite.  Total Cost:  $0.00

pallet free art heart

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Funky Junk Interiors #173         Crafty Scrappy Happy #21            French Country Cottage
The Pin Junkie                           Tater Tots and Jello                       Sunny Simple Life
The Dedicated House #35         The Francis Family                        A Pinch Of Joy
Debbiedoo's                                Fox Hollow Cottage                      The Thrifty Groove #94
Common Ground #125               A Little Knick Knack #31             I Gotta Create #37
Lamb Around                             The Chicken Chick #19                 Someday Crafts
Homemaker On A Dime #97      Alderberry Hill                              A Humble Creation
An Original Belle                        Or So She Says                             The Rustic Pig #20
Elizabeth & Co. #55           A Bowl Full of Lemons                 If It's Not Baroque #5
Serendipity and Spice                Savvy Southern Style #104            Someday Crafts
Embracing Change                     Made In A Day                              The Shabby Creek Cottage
Diana Rambles                           Sassy Little Lady #3                       The Creative HomeAcre
DIY Showoffs                            Costal Charm #150                        Not Just A Housewife
Fluster Muster
 
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     Made in a Day

Friday 1 February 2013

Power of Paint

I was so exicted to open an email this week from Maryann at Power of Paint and find out that my Union Jack trunk was selected as one of her features!  She has so many super projects from such fantastic bloggers that I'm honoured to be chosen.  If you haven't been to her blog yet, do stop by for a visit, you will be amazed at what you see.  Off to do my little happy dance now...


 
 


Featured At:



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Saturday 19 January 2013

With Love From The Dollar Store

You gotta love a challenge and using materials from the Dollar Store is an economical way to make a super gift box.

 



I bought this great box for $1 and then typed out a page of the word "LOVE" in all different fonts.  I made a few copies and then used a wet tea bag to stain the pages to look old. 


I was going to use modge podge, but the cost seemed a lot so I used plain white craft glue and watered it down.  After adhering the words I gave it one more coat of the watered down glue and left it to dry.  It's now the perfect box to wrap homemade treats, jewelry or any other gift for that special someone.




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Debbiedoo's Valentine Dollar Tree Party                          An Original Belle
Funky Junk - SNS #171                                                     Elizabeth & Co. #55
Crafty Scrappy Happy #19                                                If It's Not Baroque #5
 Be Different Act Normal                                                  Serendipity and Spice
Common Ground                                                               Made In A Day
French Country Cottage                                                     Diana Rambles
The Thrifty Groove                                                           Sassy Little Lady #3
A Little Knick Knack                                                         Not Just A Housewife
Petite Hermine #94                                                            Fluster Buster

 


Thursday 10 January 2013

Have a Drink On Us

You might have seen the stool my youngest son made and finished titled Bird On A Stool (okay so it wasn’t the most original name I came up with).  Now my eldest son who is soon to be 16 finally completed his stool that he also made about three years ago (we’re not actually very good at finishing projects in a timely fashion as you can see).


Matt was not about to spend a lot of time sanding or prepping the stool so homemade chalk paint seemed like the obvious answer.  He came up with the design and painted two coats of red paint, sanding lightly in between. 


Next, he took the logo we had photocopied and covered the back with chalk.  He secured it to the stool and traced the outline of the logo so that it left a chalk outline on the stool when he removed the paper.  Then he filled in the outline with white paint and touched up the red.  To make the stool more durable we used two coats of polyacrylic in satin finish.



I hope you agree it looks good enough to drink!! 
 

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 What about you, do you try to get your kids involved in your projects?
 
 
 Sharing With:
I Gotta Create Wildly Original Link Party #34                      The Pin Junkie
The Rustic Pig                                                                        Crafty Scrappy Happy
The Inspiration Link Gallery Party Week 17                         The Dedicated House
Elizabeth & Co. Party #51                                              Alderberry Hill
The Shabby Creek Cottage #186                                            A Humble Creation
Debbiedoos - Power Of Pinterest Party                                  An Original Belle
Funky Junk                                                                             A Pinch Of Joy
Savvy Southern Style WOW #101                                         Life On Lakeshore Drive
The Chicken Chick                                                                 Fluster Buster

Friday 4 January 2013

American Girl Crocheted Hats

My neices were over last weekend to celebrate Christmas with us and my mom and they brought along their new American Girl dolls. When they went out tobogganing I thought I would quickly crochet a hat for one of the girls. Of course if you make a hat for one doll, you have to make it for the other doll too. Then we had the brilliant idea of making hats in the same style as my neices which required a total of six pom poms. At one point my sister, my mom, my 15 year old son and my neice were all working on these hats with my husband making the pom pom forms!

crochet American Doll hat



I think they turned out great and as we used leftover wool the total cost was $0 so you can't get more budget friendly than that!!



crochet hat American Doll



American Doll crochet hat

Have you made any "family" projects lately?


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