On November 21st my beautiful younger sister will be turning 30!!! The very same age she teased me about when I turned 30… so naturally I have decided to get her back. Now I don’t think 30 is old, in fact I hear it’s the new 20… or so says ‘Sex And The City’ Anyway here is one of my presents for her. I think it’s cute, and who would turn down a Dum Dum?
30 Sucks!
Happy Birthday!
This pot has a chalkboard surface on which any message can be written, like the birthday message. I plan to also include fresh herbs that can be planted after its initial purpose is complete. There is one thing I cannot stand getting as gifts… gag gifts. It’s not the gag I despise, it’s the fact that once it’s been used, it’s essentially a waste. Using chalkboard paint, we can now easily change the message, in this case she can write the name of the herb she will plant, or whatever else floats her boat.
Here are the supplies you will need to create something similar.
Terra Cotta Pot
Styrofoam half dome
Moss (floral department)
Hot Glue & Gun
Chalkboard Paint
Chalk
& of course Suckers!
Simply paint your pot with chalkboard paint, and let dry. I did not paint the inside, but I suppose you could. Then hot glue the moss to the half dome. You will need to cut and shape the moss to fit, then press and hold down while the glue hardens. Push the suckers into the dome only about 1 inch, you can leave the rest hanging out so they resemble flowers. I did not glue the moss dome top to the pot. For presentation, I will simply set it on top so that it can be removed later. You could hot glue, or even tie a ribbon around the pot and dome for a gift wrapped appearance. I contemplated the ribbon idea, and may still try it. Once the paint is fully dry (this may take several hours) you can use your chalk to write your message.
This craft is rated beginner, super simple and fun. Good luck and if you decide to do try it, I’d love to see your pictures!
I have been known to take on the impossible. When others think it’s not worth the effort, or believe it’s too difficult, I imagine the possibilities. While this may sound awe-inspiring, it does, in no way shape or form, make me a more productive person, just more adventurous (or stupid, choose your own adjective). So with that in mind, I decided to buy a used dresser set which included 2 night stands, a long dresser, and a tall dresser. I am not adept at refinishing furniture, but I am crafty as this blog implies. Below you will find a few before photos (you may now proceed in laughing at me).
Straight out of a 70's horror flick!
There was a dead body in there... no really. And cat pee...
Yes I did actually buy it, and haul it home, with the intentions of refinishing it into something fabulous! I tend to be so blind to small imperfections and details that I totally missed the smell of cat pee coming off of the base board. It was truly disgusting. There was even a bonus mouse skeleton included inside… what a lovely surprise. Had I known what I was getting myself into I might have not gone through with it. Something about it though, the shape, the lines, drew me… and I knew it could be so much more (yes I am serious… stop laughing). To this day I still can’t believe my husband trusted me on this. He almost didn’t let me take it home, and he wasn’t too happy when I asked him to help me paint it. However here are the results of all our sweat and tears.
Le Peice De Resistance
Tall Dresser
Dark and moody
Glossy Finish
A Closeup!
I know, they are divine aren’t they! Okay so I am a little proud… who wouldn’t be! That was a heck of a lot of work. How… you ask? First there were the obvious problem areas to take care of. The dresser smelled of old lady, and cat pee. From the before photos, you might notice a dark stain on the bottom board, this was the ‘pee’ in question, so this board had to be removed and replaced. A simple 2×4 from the local hardware store did the trick. We then wiped the dressers down with disinfectant, and proceeded to prime the entire thing, inside and out with Glidden Gripper Primer. This negated the need to sand, although I think we did sand it a little. After 24 hours were up, it was dry and we were able to proceed to the base coat. Here is the dresser complete with base coat and new drawer pulls.
Base Coat
I was almost going to leave the dresser like this, but it broke my heart because it was so blah. An improvement, but still blah. I had envisioned so much more, and was fearful of ‘ruining’ it with sponge painting or something horrible like that. So we lived with it for about a year (this is that awe-inspiring/procrastinator thing I was referring to). Anyway… as an aside (which I promise is related), I am strangely attracted to all things Martha Stewart. I tend to flock towards, products, ideas, pictures, and the general creative genius of Martha. It’s completely unintentional! Mind you I am absolutely nothing like her! In fact, I don’t even like to admit that I am attracted to her stuff! I just am, it’s crazy… I’ll be in a store or online and I’ll start gravitating to anything that has anything to do with Martha! MARTHA, MARTHA, MARTHA! There is nothing really wrong with Martha Stewart, I just don’t want to seem like a groupie or something. Because I’m not!
Back to the dressers. Sadly I was almost ready to kick those dressers to the curb, or try to garage sale them when I decided what the heck… let’s just try something, anything to salvage my dignity. Along came my good ole’ pal Martha.
Metallic Black Coffee
I came looking for metallic paint, and Martha pulled through, like she always does. I was totally going to just buy some silver metallic paint, but there were all the other colors that were intriguing in the Martha Metallic Glaze collection. Also bought the cool Martha faux painting tools.
Wax On Wax Off!
“How did you do that cool texture on the drawers” you say? Meet my other love, besides Martha, Anaglypta wallpaper! This kind of wallpaper has been around since the Victorian era. In its current state you can purchase it as a pre-pasted, paintable, paper. I love how it looks like a tin ceiling! Thank you Menards for keeping it in stock…. please, please, please, never remove it from your shelves, it will NEVER go out of style! I bought an entire roll for $12, and I have tons left over… I see a cool back splash for the kitchen in our future. Here are a few photos me wallpapering a dresser.
Anaglypta
Measure, Cut, & Paste Paper to Dresser Drawers
Wait for paper to dry, apply base coat, more drying, then metallic paint.
Here is a quick recap of how to do this to your furniture:
– Buy old cat pee dresser set
– Disinfect… acid bath?
– Sand or trust the Gripper Primer to do its job (adhere to any surface, no sanding needed). Primer is necessary in either case, wait 24 hours before painting base coat. Even though it may seem dry after only a few hours, you will need more time when applying multiple layers of paint as in this situation.
– Apply wallpaper (don’t forget, measure twice… cut once). This is not how I did it, since I changed my mind after I thought I finished them. However I recommend doing it before the base coat. I also recommend spending the extra $2 on a tube of wallpaper seam sealer. This is basically a type of glue specially made for wallpaper that seals seams shut. Use this on all raw edges of the paper after it is completely dry. After 24 hours you can begin the next step.
– Base coat (bet you didn’t see that coming). Wait 24 hours to paint again.
– Metallic paint, and whip out those faux painting skills. I used the ‘linen dragger’ from Martha’s kit. You apply the metallic paint, then go over all areas with this specialty brush. It gave a nice texture, without being overpowering. This particular paint needed 24 hours to dry according to the package, but I waited more like 3 full days because it was ever so slightly tacky from all the coats of paint.
– After all that waiting I finished with several coats of lacquer to protect the finish using Krylon’s spray lacquer.
It is extremely satisfying to know that we completed such a daunting task at a cost still less than buying cheap furniture from Wal-Mart. With experience working for an interior designer, I know how much furniture that looks like this can cost. So for me, this is worth the time and effort. And I am happy to have my dignity still intact, all thanks to Martha!
Yes! A rainy saturday morning. You know what that means? You can do all those things that you wish you could do when it’s nice out but you don’t want to waste the day.
My head started spinning with the possibilities. I have a million projects to do/finish! And because I wanted to get SOMETHING done, I decided to go with what was easiest!
SHEER CURTAINS! I started making the sheer curtains two weeks ago and I wanted to finish them so I could feel accomplished!
I have been looking for something to go with my dreary curtain panels for some time now, and I haven’t had much luck unless I wanted to pay an arm and a leg. We initially bought the panels when we first got married and I moved in. I wanted to avoid that fish bowl feeling we got without them, and these did the trick. The fabric has a nice texture to it, and it’s simple enough to go with anything.
Here are the dreary curtains…
Needs some sprucing up, don't you think?
I have been searching for my entire life (it seems) for some beautiful fabric, or curtains and I finally found it! It’s perfect because it has all the shades of color that I am looking for as we are planning on painting the kitchen chocolate-brown. It’s eclectic, and has a nice sheen to it, totally my style!
Hancock Fabric Find
Before you go to the fabric store you’ll need to measure your window to determine how much fabric you’ll need. Measure the length and width in inches, and be precise. When measuring for the length make sure to measure from where the rod will hang to where you want the curtains to end. Curtain panels typically have a gather when hanging on the window, as well as room to add a pocket for the rod and a hem. You will need to account for the extra fabric needed for these things as well as for a seam allowance. Find out about seam allowances here.
For the gather take the width measurement for your window and multiply it by 1 1/2 – 3. The more width you add the fuller your curtain panels will be. For the rod pocket you will need to know or at least have an idea of how thick the rod is, most skinny rods will require a pocket-size about 2 – 2 1/2 inches, thicker rods will need more room. I like to leave plenty of room for the rod in the rod pocket, this makes gathering and sliding the curtains on the rod easier. Measure the diameter of the rod and make your pocket at least 1 1/2 – 2 times wider plus an additional 1/2″ for the seam allowance. If your fabric is thick or heavy you may want to leave even more room in the rod pocket. For the hem you should determine how big you want it to be. Bigger hems are more luxurious and tend to look better, smaller hems will work, but they don’t look as nice. I made my hem 3″ which means I would need to add 6″ plus an additional 1/2″ for a seam allowance.
Here is an example of how to add all this up and come up with the fabric yardage needed for your window.
Window Size: 36″ wide by 84″ (from rod to floor)
Gather: 36″ multiplied 3 times = 108″
Length: 84″ + 2 1/2″ (pocket) + 1/2″ (pocket seam allowance) + 6″ (hem) + 1/2″ (hem seam allowance) = 93.5″ you could round this up to make room for error.
Fabric comes in different widths, most home decor fabric is at least 60″ wide. In the example we need 108″ for the gather. You would need to purchase enough to make 2 curtain panels to meet your goal of 108″. Most fabric is sold by the yard, and for those not familiar a yard is 3 feet. In the example you need 93.5″, which is a little more than 7 and 3/4 feet or 2.66 yards. I would round-up to make room for error and get 2 3/4 yards. If the fabric you chose is only 60″ wide you will need to double that and get 5 1/2 yards.
If you need help, just ask a store associate, as long as you have the basic measurements they should be able to help you.
For a panel of sheer curtains, I don’t need a pattern. Honestly it’s just 2 side seams, a pocket for the rod, and a lovely large hem. For me this is easy, for others you may want to find yourself a pattern. If you decide to use a pattern, the instructions will tell you how much fabric to get as well as how to make them. Your local fabric store will have these patterns in stock and the staff will probably be able to help you too. You can find all kinds of home decor patterns for window treatments at these 3 places.
The fabric I chose has the wonderful advantage of having horizontal stripes. The horizontal stripes makes hemming and keeping the fabric pattern level super easy! This particular fabric was also 108″ wide, so I only needed one panel for my purposes. The first step to take once you have purchased your fabric is to trim the selvage edge on both sides. You can find out more about selvage edges here.
Me Trimming the Selvage Edge
You should also finish the raw edges of the of the fabric to keep it from unraveling or fraying. I used a serger for mine.
Used to Finish Raw Edge
Next you will need to determine which side of the fabric is the ‘right side’ vs the ‘wrong side’. The right side is the side you want to show, and obviously the wrong side is the side you don’t want to show. In some cases, your fabric may not have a right and wrong side, like the fabric I chose. If that’s the case, just choose a side that you will want to show and deem it your ‘right side’.
Side Seams – For my project, I chose to fold in the raw edge in 1/4″ wrong side facing wrong side, then again another 1/4″. Iron the folds to form a crease for each fold, then sew the hem using a simple straight stitch. This will hide the raw edge from view since it’s inside the seam. Repeat on the other side.
Fold the raw edge in, then fold again for a clean edge.
To sew the seam I used a blind hem foot, see below. I used this to keep the stitch close to the edge of the fold, it makes for a neater seam that looks good on both sides.
Bind Hem Foot
Rod Pocket – Next I folded the top edge in 1/4″ (fold #1), then a second time 1/4″ and ironed to get a crease (fold #2). Fold a third time to make the pocket for the rod you will be hanging the curtains on. The pocket-size will be determined by how thick the rod is. I have a skinny rod so I made the pocket-size about 2 1/2″ and ironed the edge. See below for the series of folds
Once you complete and iron the three folds you can use a straight stitch to close the pocket.
Rod Pocket Straight Stitch
The Hem – Once you complete the rod pocket it’s time to hang your curtains up on the rod so you can measure for the hem. In the picture below you’ll see the extra yardage on the floor, I have placed some pins where the fabric touches the floor.
This is where the hem touches the floor
Pins to mark where the hem touches floor
Once you get pins in where the fabric touches the floor you should determine how much of a hem you want. My hem is 3″, usually a larger hem looks better on the bottom. For a 3″ hem, measure 6 1/2″ from where the fabric touches the floor and trim the excess off.
Trim the excess fabric off after you determine the size of the hem.
Once you have trimmed the excess, take the curtain panel off the rod and prepare to iron the hem. There will be another series of 3 folds, and ironing for the hem. Fold #1, 1/4″ and iron, #2 1/4″ and iron, #3 fold is 3″ in to complete the series, then iron. See below for visuals.
Fold #1
Fold #2
Fold #3
To complete your sheer panel, use a simple straight stitch and a blind hem foot to get close to the edge of the fold. See video for a demonstration.
Once you finish the hem you are done! Iron your curtain panel and hang. Here is the hem!
Finished Hem
It’s a simple first time project and the results are usually extremely satisfying! They look great and I only paid about $20 for the fabric! If I bought plain white sheer panels at Target I would have paid a lot more because I’d need two panels, they wouldn’t have been the right length and I would not love them as much!
Great Look For Less!
A Close Up... Love The Two Textures!
Layla Approves!
Thanks for reading! Post your curtain or home decor projects in the comments below, I’d love to see them!
Jennifer Crafty 