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Thursday, September 20, 2012

DIY Headboard

I know I’ve been MIA for a while, but don’t you worry -- I’ve left time for a little crafting here and there. My most recent project was building a headboard for my bed. I was surprised at how easy this project turned out to be. I found an old attic door at a local “vintique” store in Knoxville. This DIY would easily work with any old door, depending on your bed size. I’ll admit, my attic door is a bit small for my queen-sized bed, but I just couldn’t pass up this charming old white door.

Supplies:

-an old wooden door

-a tape measure

-two 2x4's to serve as posts for your headboard **You’ll need to measure the height of your bed and door (height of door when laying horizontally, that is) to figure out what size pieces of wood to buy.

-a drill

-12 wood screws, long enough to drill through your wood slats and half of your door

First off, make sure your 2x4's are flat on the bottom, so that they will stand up level on the ground. Now lay your door face down on the ground (so that the back is facing up), and line up where you will connect your 2x4's. You are essentially just attaching the wooden posts to the back of your door to act as legs. It’s a good idea to have the wood run almost to the top of your door for added support. Most importantly, align your wood so that the legs match the height of your bed (so your wooden legs won’t be visible). I used a tape measure to do this, and I drew a line where the wood should align with the edge of the door.

Once you’ve lined the wood up how you want it, secure your legs by drilling 6 screws into each post. Place two screws at the top of your slat, two in the middle, and two at the bottom.

Flip your door over, stand it up, and you’ve got yourself a new headboard!

It may be a good idea to paint the top of your wooden legs the same color as your door, just in case an inch or two shows when you forget to make your bed! My door was a vintage white color, and I happened to have extra spray paint leftover from my window frame shelf. So, I just spray painted the top half of my legs, and now I never have to fret about raw wood peeking out. Here’s my finished product. I simply stood it up against the wall and pushed my bed up against it.

P.S. Recognize those lamps on a string? They finally found a home above my bed!

-A

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

Mint Madness

I’m obsessed with the color mint green. Like it. Love it. Gotta have it. (Cold Stone Creamery reference, anyone?) So, I have a whole can of mint green paint left from my DIY vintage nightstand, and I’ve been painting everything in sight. I thought I’d share a few of my most recent projects.

First off, I recently found this small wooden ladder from a garage sale for $2! ( If you wanted to imitate this DIY, I did a little searching and found a similar ladder on Ebay for $11.24.)

I painted the ladder with my lovely mint paint and distressed it with sandpaper. My paint is Walmart interior flat Norwegian Vintage Green. I plan to lean this against the wall in my bathroom and hang washcloths & hand towels on it.

Secondly, I distressed an old wooden frame and added some mint accents. I simply sanded the edges and crevices of the frame, dusted it off, and painted accents of mint (I used the same paint used above but acrylic paint would work for this too). To achieve the distressed look, make sure there is NOT much paint on your paintbrush. I used a paper towel to dab up excess paint or rub areas where paint went on too thick!

Lastly, I painted a cheap vase from the Dollar Store using a method I saw on pinterest. All you do is drip some paint inside your vase, and tilt your vase around to cover the inside. To fill in all the holes, just set your vase upside down and leave it to drip and dry. I touched up a few places on the top of mine after it had dried. I imagine acrylic paint would work just as well or better than the paint I used. I love the subtle mint with some bright flowers.

And that sums up my dose of mint for the day!

-A

Lamps on a .String

Another DIY post! I know, I know -- I’m addicted. Also, I’ve been itching to use my leftover burlap and lace from my distressed window shelf. Well, I found the perfect project! I saw a similar idea on pinterest, but I’ve added my own touch. :) I plan on hanging this cute little strand of lamps over my bed when I move into my apartment. I truly believe a room can never have too much light. This craft is simple and inexpensive. All you need is a pack of plastic cups, some fabric, fabric glue (I used the same Elmer’s Craft Bond Multi-Purpose Spray Adhesive as I used in my last post), scissors, and a strand of white Christmas lights (I actually found a 70 pack of white lights in the Wedding section at Hobby Lobby).

1. Roll your plastic cup on a piece of paper and trace a pattern. Cut out your pattern. You might want to make your pattern just a tad bigger than your actual cup, because it’s easy to trim later.

2. Pin your pattern to your fabric, and cut out as many pieces of fabric as you’d like there to be lamps. I made 16 lamps.

3. Using a knife or the tip of your scissors, poke 2 holes in the top of your cups- one hole on each side. Now cut 2 ‘D’ shapes in the top of your cups, leaving one strip across the middle.

5. Now that your cups are ready and your fabric is cut, all you have to do is glue the fabric to your cups. I sprayed one section at a time, neatly pressing each section down to reduce bubbling fabric.

6. Since I made my patterns a tad bigger than they had to be, I trimmed all my cups after I had glued the fabric on. I found that to be easier than trying to have an exact pattern.

7. Now, just string your new lamps on your string of lights. And there you are -- a new string of lights for any room!

-A

DIY Vintage Window Frame Shelf

I recently bought an old window frame from an antique thrift store, and I had been contemplating what to do with it. I picked up two of my favorite fabrics- burlap and lace- and got to work. I ended up covering corkboard in my fabrics for the bottom two squares and creating a shelf for the upper two. I had to completely re-do my window frame and create a shelf that matched, so this DIY requires a few steps. But...the finished product is SO worth it!

Supplies Needed:

an old window frame

an old rag

spray paint of your choice (mine is called ‘heirloom white’)

sandpaper

painter’s tape (if you’ll need to cover any hardware)

corkboard to cover your bottom 2 squares (I bought a 12x24" roll at Hobby Lobby for $4.99)

measuring tape

a square of lace to cover one square

a square of burlap to cover one square

a large piece of cardboard (I used an old box)

fabric glue (I used Elmer’s Craft Bond Multi-Purpose Spray Adhesive)

a staple gun

a pencil

Two 2" L brackets and 8 screws

a power drill (you could use a plain screwdriver)

a level (unless you’ve got a really good eye!)

(***The next few supplies could be omitted if you already had a piece of distressed wood that would work for your shelf. In my case, I had to create one….)

*a piece of wood for your shelf (I got a 10 ft. 1x4" of oak at Home Depot for less than $2)

*a power saw (or a normal saw- unless your wood is the exact length!)

*apple cider vinegar

*a piece or 2 of steel wool (0-2 grade works nice)

*random tools to beat your piece of wood (hammer, screwdriver, etc)

(*If you’re creating your own distressed wood for the shelf, go ahead and place your steel wool in a bowl of apple cider vinegar to be soaking).

Wipe down your window with an old wet rag, removing excess dust or dirt.

Sand your window using medium grit sandpaper followed by fine grit sandpaper.

Wipe down window again with a wet rag followed by a dry one. Allow window to dry.

Tape off any hardware you don’t want painted on your window. Spray paint entire window with an even coat. Allow window to dry.

While you’re waiting, you can spray paint your L brackets the same color. I hung mine on dental floss to spray them- ha!

Rub edges, corners, and any other places you wish to look distressed with medium grit sandpaper until you’ve achieved your ideal distressed look.

Now measure the bottom two squares of your window, and cut your corkboard. I made my corkboard squares about a ½ inch wider than the actual window squares. Be careful cutting the corkboard- it will break!

Cut a square of lace and a square of burlap to cover your corkboard. Make sure and leave about an inch and a half on each side to wrap around the back of the corkboard.

Spray one piece of corkboard with fabric glue and attach the lace. I used my bottle of fabric glue as a rolling pin to flatten my fabric to the corkboard. Attach your burlap on the other piece of corkboard.

Flip both pieces of corkboard over on their backs. Spraying each side with fabric glue one at a time, fold your fabric over and attach them so that all edges are covered.

Now cut a piece of cardboard that is the exact size of the bottom half of your window (from the middle window pane down). You’re going to attach your corkboard squares to this cardboard.

Place the window on top of your cardboard and mark where your corkboard squares need to go with a pencil/pen.

Slide your cardboard out from under your window, and attach your corkboard squares using fabric glue.

Now place your cardboard back under the window, making sure your new corkboard squares are lined up. Carefully hold your cardboard in place and flip the window over, so its back is facing up. Using a staple gun, staple the cardboard to the edges of your frame.

***Next are the steps for creating your distressed wood shelf, so skip these if you already have a piece of distressed wood!

Measure the width of your window where you want your shelf to go. Using a power saw, cut your piece of wood the length of your window.

Take your piece of wood outside with a few random tools, and have at it! Beat it up, so it looks nice and old. Below are some strategies I used to distress mine.

Sand the piece of wood to make the new rough spots even. Dust the wood off with a rag.

Now, take the pieces of steel wool that have been soaking in apple cider vinegar, and wipe down your piece of wood. Scrub the vinegar into the wood as best you can. I did this for about 10 minutes.

Let the piece of wood dry (for an hour or two). You’ll notice it turns dark, looking nice and vintage!

Spray paint the piece of wood with the same paint used for your window. Let it dry. Similar to how you distressed your window with sandpaper, distress the wood. Dust it off, and it’s ready to attach!

Take your piece of distressed wood, and line it up on your window frame. Use a level to make sure it’s flat.

Hold your L brackets under the piece of wood and make a mark in each hole with a pencil (4 will be on your piece of wood, and 4 will be on your window). You might need an extra pair of hands for this part!