Monday, August 13, 2012

DIY Vintage Sign

This vintage sign has been one of my easiest DIY’s to date.  I’d been holding onto a lovely piece of driftwood since I went driftwood hunting for my DIY Jewelry Holder. I finally got around to making something of my piece of wood, and it turned out to be such a simple project. As easy as it was, I was very pleased with my finished product. This vintage sign will be perfect for a small wall in my apartment.

Supplies needed
a piece of driftwood
your choice color of acrylic paint (mine is a peachy/coral color)
a pencil
a paintbrush
an old strand of fake pearls
a thicker strand of raffia
a staple gun
a glue gun

I stuck with the simple and slightly cliché ‘Love’ for my sign, because I needed a short word, and hey- we all need a little love, right? I traced out the word with a pencil before I painted it with a paintbrush.
I initially planned on leaving my sign as it was and simply setting it somewhere (isn’t it lovely on my DIY Window Frame Shelf?), but I decided I wanted to hang it.
I cut my strand of pearls and raffia the length I wanted the hanging part to be. Then, I tied my raffia to my strand of pearls with a tight knot on each side.
At first, I was planning on just twisting the pearls and raffia together, but the strands weren’t staying lined up how I wanted them. So, I twisted one section of raffia around the pearls and glued it with hot glue, and so on and so on down my strand of pearls.
 Next, I got out my staple gun and stapled the very end of the raffia to the back of the driftwood, on each side. I tried to measure the distance from each side of the wood to make sure my sign would hang evenly. And okay -- I got a little paranoid and may have exploded hot glue everywhere on the back to make sure my raffia-pearls hanger would hold.
And here is my finished product! 


-A

Friday, August 3, 2012

DIY Mason Jar Luminaries

Yet again I bring you a project featuring shabby chic staples: burlap and lace!

A couple weeks ago, I bought two small shelves at an antique store, and I’ve been looking for something to set on them. I’ve got an abundance of mason jars laying around and of course some leftover burlap and lace from my Lamps on a String. So, I put the three together and made these babies! These would be cute for an outdoor event like a wedding reception; they’re romantic yet rustic. Or, you could use them as decoration on a table or shelf- like me! And, let me add, they are so easy. They probably took me 30 minutes total.

Supplies Needed:
mason jar/jars- mine were $1 each from the Dollar Store
lace fabric
burlap
twine or any sort of ribbon
glue (I used Elmer’s Craft Bond Multi-Purpose Spray Adhesive)
scissors
tea light/lights

Cut out lace to wrap around the base of your mason jar.
Spray one side of your jar and attach your lace. Keep spraying and attaching piece by piece until your ends of lace meet. Press down the edges to ensure they will lay down flat.
Now cut a strip of burlap the size of your rim. Spray your rim with glue and attach the burlap. I cut my burlap a little big and cut the extra off the top after I glued.
Tie your twine around the rim, and stick a tea light in. And viola! Your own mason jar luminaries.

 -A