Revamping a TV Tray

Before the move I revamped an old TV tray my parent's had in their closet so I could use it as a side table on the other side of my bed.  Really easy and cheap project so stay tuned!

Started like this

Sanded the whole thing down, unfortunately mine was pretty old and pretty cheap. It had quite a few water marks on the top which made painting a little more difficult. 

I gave the whole tray several coats of while spray paint.

I then taped off the top where I wanted the stripes and painted them.

Then all you've got to do is let dry and remove the tape.  You may have to touch it up a little after the tape is removed.  When I took the painter's tape off it removed a bit of paint.

Wah-La! Cute side table.

To see how I made the magnet board in the back you can go here.

Chevron Fail

This summer when I was spending time at my parent's house before the move I decided to to a couple of DIY projects for the new house.  One of them was revamping a cork board.  I had seen a few things I liked on Pinterest and thought it might be fun to do a chevron pattern on the cork part and paint the frame.  Okay, let me just tell you, I know that chevron is all the rage but I had never actually attempted to draw it out and for some reason I found it a lot harder then it probably should have been.  First off, let me just say I failed geometry in high school, angles are not my thing.  Secondly, Rose Art cork boards are cheap for a reason, the cork on the top layer comes off very easily when pulling off painters tape.  Anyhow, everyone has their DIY fails so I thought I would share mine.

Starting out

Tapping out the chevron

Clearly helping

Painting the cork

Crooked chevron pattern with some missing paint and cork.

It's really not all that bad.  The righthand side is obviously where it is most noticeable but I figured it's a cork board, things will be pinned to it and it'll be covered up half the time.  Plus isn't perfection overrated anyway?

But honestly, if anyone has any chevron pattern tips that may make my life easier in the future that would be awesome.

DIY Painted Jars

I hope everyone had a lovely 4th of July weekend, I'll post about mine soon but first, crafting!  Last weekend while at my parent's house I got this urge to craft.  I really haven't in a while but since I am moving again in a month I have been having this overwhelming urge again to craft and make things for the new house.  My mom decided to feed my jar fetish and bought me a three pack of small jars at the dollar store.  Of course I already have every size and shape of jar out there, but, despite seeing countless tutorials on Pinterest and other blogs I have not yet tried out the whole painted jar thing.  Since these were only a dollar I decided to give it a go.

The first thing that I learned about painting the inside of a jar is try not to look at the inside while doing it, the outside is what you are going to see so concentrate on how it looks from that angle.

The second thing I learned is to be very liberal with the amount of paint you put in that jar.  If you use little paint you are going to be able to notice, especially if you hold the jar up to the sun.  Because of this i decided to do several coats.

Besides those two things, there really are not rules.  I did mine by basically blotting the inside with a paint brush although I've seen a few people that put a drop inside the jar and swirl it around.  I cannot attest for that method but I can attest to the brush and blot method; mine turned out pretty cute I think...

I would definitely recommend running you your local dollar store and buying a couple of these babies to try it out.

DIY Fabric Magnet Board

So, I have been meaning to post this tutorial for a while but because I just moved this week, I just finally got to hang up my magnet board.  Now that it's completely finished and up I though I would share with you how I did it. So stay tuned to figure out how to make this...

What you'll need:

• Metal board of any size (got mine at Home Depot)
• Spray Adhesive
• 1 yard of fabric
• Buttons
• Extra strong magnets

1.  I laid the fabric face down on the floor and laid the metal board on top of it.  There was quite a bit of extra fabric surrounding the edges so I cut some off still leaving enough to fold over the board. I made sure I had enough fabric to folder over the board, act just like you are wrapping a gift, make sure to pull the corners tight.  

2.  Once I knew how I was going to wrap it I picked up the metal board and sprayed one side all over with the spray adhesive and put that face down onto the fabric again.  I let sit for about thirty minutes so the front could start to dry.

3.  Next I came back and started spraying the edges of the board and the fabric where I would be folding it over.  I folded the fabric for real this time, use extra adhesive spray where you think you need it.  Again be sure you all pulling the fabric tight especially around the corners.  I then let the board sit for a few hours while I moved on to the buttons

4.  Choosing buttons without backs makes this easier, however I couple of mine did have nubs on the back and I just sawed them off.  You can buy individual or bags of buttons at most craft stores.  Then, I used a hot glue gun to glue a magnet to the back of each button.  When letting these dry make sure to space them apart liberally so they do not stick to each other like magnets do.

5.  After everything is dry you are pretty much finished!  Hang it up and put pictures, reminders, art, anything you want on it!

DIY Necklace Hanger

I am sure many of you have seen these idea all over Pinterest, I have seen dozens of bloggers do this and I thought the idea was brilliant.  The unfortunate part about this idea is that it involves power tools and me + power tools=disaster.  Luckily my dad helped me out A LOT with this because he is the wizard of woodwork.  So let's get started.

1. Buy some drawer knobs you like.  I got most of mine at Hobby Lobby except the key hole one I got from Michael's.  The knobs from Hobby Lobby were all 50% and the one from Michael's was only $1.50.  You will also need a piece of wood.  Luckily my dad has some scrap wood in the garage and I just used that.

2.  We measured the knobs about three inches apart from each other but it just depends exactly what you want to hang on them.  Since these will only be for necklaces they don't have to be that far apart.

3.  We cut the board down so it was smaller and drilled holes for the knobs.  

4.  After the board was cut and drilled I stained it with this Red Mahogany stain.  This is obviously optional, you may want to paint yours a color or leave the wood alone depending on what you piece of wood looks like.

5.  I screwed the  knobs into the desired holes and then my dad sawed off the ends of the knobs so I would be able to hang in on the wall.  If I had tried to saw this myself I would probably be typing this with four fingers, thank god for dad.

Let the stain dry a bit and you're done!  I've packed mine away now for my new house but I'll be sure and post pictures of it when it's hung up.

Revamping a Target clock

I've been looking for all sorts of cheap knick knacks to revamp lately because I'm moving in August and as most of you know twenty something students don't exactly have all the money in the world to furnish a home.  My mom gave me this old clock she got at Target a few years ago, she had broken the glass around the face and wasn't using it any more so I decided to redo it and make it look old and vintage.

Unfortunately I did not get a picture of the clock before I redid it.  I asked me dad to help me talk it apart so I could paint it and before I could take a before picture I turned around and the clock was in pieces. Thanks dad I guess for helping me out so quickly.  To give you a visual, beforehand the clock was a boring silver color and had cracked glass around the face.  It looked similar to this clock without the bells on top.

Because the glass was broken I just took it out and threw it away.  I then took all the silver pieces that I wanted to paint and laid them out on a piece of cardboard then primed them with a spray primer to help the paint stick.

I let that dry for about fifteen or twenty minutes before applying white spray paint over the primer.  I didn't need to worry about doing it perfectly because I was just gonna scuff it up later!

I let the white paint dry for a few hours while I went in to watch the hockey game. (Yeah LA Kings Stanley Cup champs!) After it had dried I took a piece of sand paper and scuffed up the edges, feet and some of the back to give it an old shabby chic look. Then I put it all back together and wa la! A cheap clock from Target is now a vintage decoration!

Mod Podge Jewelry Box

I had recently been looking around Pinterest and blogs for a tutorial on sprucing up a jewelry box from Michael's.  I found a few things that mentioned using adhesive fabric paper but they didn't have any at my local Michael's or Joanne's so I decided to try something a little different.  I ended up using scrapbook paper and Mod Podge and wa-la! Beautiful jewelry box!

Here's what you'll need:

• Mod Podge (found at your local craft store.)
• Plain wooden box (I found mine at Michael's. They have all kinds of sizes.)
• Scrapbook paper (I also got mine at Michael's for about a dollar a sheet. I used two sheets but it depends on the size of your box.)
• Scissors
• Small paint brush
• Slightly larger paint brush (optional)

First, you'll need to cut your scrapbook paper according to all sides of the box.  This can get a bit tricky if you have a clasp on your box like I did.  I just measured as best I could and cut very carefully.  I also measured all sides of the box accordingly and labeled on the back where I would like them to go so I didn't forget (front, back, bottom, side etc.)

After that it's time to use your Mod Podge!  I did each section at a time starting with the top and top front of the box.  I used my small paint brush to brush on some Mod Podge all over the section I was working on.  Be sure and work quite quickly because the Mod Podge does dry fast.

After applying Mod Podge all over that section carefully put the scrapbook paper you have cut out for that section on the box and smooth out to prevent any bubbling.  I pressed the paper down for a few seconds to make sure it would stick well.  And wa-la! The top part is already starting to look like a pretty jewelry box!

I continued to do this all over the box until it was covered with scrapbook paper.  I then left the box overnight to dry.  BE SURE AND LEAVE THE LID OPEN WHEN DRYING so that your box does not dry glued shut.

Twenty-four hours later I came back to my box and it was time for the finishing coat.  I got out my Mod Podge again and a slightly bigger paint brush.

I then painted a thin coat of Mod Podge all over the box to give it a glossy finnish and help seal on the scrapbook paper.  This took me a total of about ten minutes.  I again left it to dry overnight WITH THE LID OPEN. After it's finished drying you have yourself a vintage looking jewelry box for around $10!

Here's the finished product! Hope you all enjoy and find this this tutorial helpful!