31 diy

3.17.2011

Clock Makeover

See this clock?

It bought it from Walmart for $3. Kind of boring, right? (By the way, that's my lovely husband doing the hand modeling in this pic...hehe.)

I've had this on the wall for 4 years now - it was about time for a makeover! All I needed to turn this into a custom clock was a little leftover Oil Rubbed Bronze spray paint and some scrapbook paper. Piece of cake.

It took some prying, but I was able to separate the different plastic pieces so that I could take out the number plate. Once I did that, I traced it onto some pretty paper. Then, I simply cut it out, added the hand-drawn numbers, and placed it in the newly painted frame.

And here is the finished product!

Although it's not my favorite clock ever, I think it is an improvement. It was super easy! I should have done it years ago. If I had had some pretty number stickers on hand, then I would have used those instead of a sharpie for the numbers. I still like it, though. :)

Thanks so much for looking! If you have any clock makeovers you would like to share, please do!

Linking to Creative Juice Thursday; Beyond the Picket Fence; Paisley Passions; House of Hepworths; Transformation Thursdays @ Shabby Chic Cottage

I am participating in the CSI Project's $5 and under challenge. Please join me by clicking the button below to enter your project that cost five bucks or less into the contest as well. :)

UPDATE: Jen picked my clock! Yay! Thank you, Jen!

Do you like discounts and coupons? I do!

Although revamping and repurposing are my passions, I also like to to be thrifty and get a good deal. Who doesn't, right? I am always buying things online. I even buy a lot of my clothes online from clothing stores where I know that certain sizes and styles work for me. When I buy online, I often search around for discount codes if I don't already have one, because often times a discount is available - you just have to know to look in the right places!

http://www.couponchief.com is a good site for locating many of these coupons. You can either do a custom search for a specific store, or you can click a tag such as "clothing," and you will find many great coupon codes on stores - currently, there is a 40% off code for The Limited, a 20% off code for Payless shoe store, just to name a few.

In fact, I tried out the 20% off Payless coupon to buy a cute pair of tan peep-toe wedges. Suh-weet! I've also had a code not work, though, for a different store. But I only lost maybe 5 seconds trying it, so no harm done. The reason why some codes do not work is because individuals are posting the codes, and occasionally they are inaccurate, expired, etc. Next to each code that someone has posted, people who have tried using the coupons will respond whether it worked for their purchase or not. I have found that those having an 80% success rate or higher are usually valid, but you really just have to try it to see if it works for you and if it qualifies for your purchase.

Clothing stores are not by any means the only ones with coupons. If you're looking for fabric to make DIY curtains, pillows, or anything for a project, there are Joann Fabric & Crafts coupons.Yay! I need to use this one myself! :) Anyway, I wouldn't recommend you all check this site out unless I believed it could truly save you money without investing that much time, but I want to mention that I am being compensated for this site review, so I realize my perception may be influenced by that fact. But there are no gimmicks here or sign-ups required, so there are no risks if you want to search for coupons next time you're about to buy something. I know I will be doing just that!

3.09.2011

Quatrefoil Painted Desk {tutorial}

Have you ever owned a piece of furniture that just made you say "blah" every time you glanced at it? Guilty! In fact, for over a year, I had been living with a used oak desk that my husband bought. It was a little too rough around the edges for my taste. It was in dire need of a makeover. The solution? I painted a quatrefoil pattern on the top, and now it's one of my favorite pieces of furniture!

The nice thing about this project is that it is super easy on the budget.

Materials - All you need is...

to print a quatrefoil pattern (here is a great template from Tatertots & Jello)
an Xacto knife to cut out the template
a paint brush (preferably a small one with a strait edge)
acrylic paint ($1.57) in your preferred color ( I used one 2-oz bottle of Apple Barrel's Burnt Umber #20512)
Minwax's Polyurethane in Clear Gloss (if you want a big can with lots of leftover paint for future projects, go with the 32-oz can for $11)-- to seal the acrylic paint

Time - This is where the project becomes expensive in terms of the time it takes to finish it. I split it up into 2 days, and spent approximately 5 hours on it, if not more. In my opinion, it was worth it, though!

Let's take a look at the before picture of the desk. It's plain and boring and scratched up. Blah.

Time for a makeover!

Step 1 - Print and cut out the quatrefoil pattern using the template. I only cut out one template, but this also made the project take longer because I had to wait for the stencil to dry before I could add on to a section.

Step 2 - Once you have your stencil, tape down the parts that do not interfere with the parts you are painting.

Step 3 - The picture above does not show this, but I eventually found that my paint was more likely to stay within the lines when I used my brush and painted around the edges and then filled in the middle of each section. It took me 2 coats of paint, by the way. It could be worse! :)

Step 4 - Wait for a section to dry, and then move your template such that it adjoins with the section you just painted.

Here is what it looked like when I was about three-fourths of the way through.

I'm so surprised that I didn't mess up the pattern. I am by no means a perfectionist, so if I can do this, so can you!

Step 5 - After you have finished the piece of furniture and the paint is completely dry, give it a coat of shiny polyurethane to seal the acrylic paint. I waited approximately 4 hours and gave it a second coat.

Here is a photo of how the clear gloss can deepen your paint color, and make the whole thing more professional looking.