patina repurpose

Garden art.  Check out the background.  Patina Headboard.  Purchased years ago on the coast of California at a garage sale.  Headboard and footboard with no rails.  Used in the garden in California for about 5 years and Texas for about 5 years.  Patina at it’s best.

Eventually, we knew that we wanted to bring it inside and use it in it’s original state in a guestroom.  Like many things in life, we were forced into finally doing it because we were “under the gun” to get our second guestroom set up. Family and friends would be coming in from out of town for Brandon and Megan’s wedding which took place this past October.

My husband creatively rigged up some angle iron for the side rails and painted them a dark brown to blend with the patina.  He then sprayed the headboard and foot board with a matte polyurethane to prevent the rust from getting on the bedding.  He cut some 1x4 hardwood boards for the slats for the mattress and (low profile) box spring to sit on.  And here is the outcome of our patina repurpose:

   

    
Cheryl ~

Table Numbers - DIY

DIY Table Numbers

These are the table numbers that I made for the wedding tables.  Since Brandon and Megan’s wedding was at a Vineyard and Winery, colors were purple and green and pastas were being served …. I chose pictures out of my last year's Tuscany calendar.

 

Calendars are great places to find “themed” pictures for minimal cost.  Most calendars are about $13. I just happened to use one I had.

Cut pictures to fit frame size.

 

I picked up these frames at the dollar store.  16 frames for $16 dollars! BARGAIN !!!!

I headed to Michaels to pick up some numbers or letters. I decided to use lettered tables to switch it up a bit.

With large dinner receptions, many brides and grooms choose to name their tables to help their guests.  While most couples choose to use numbers to name their tables, (its easy), you may want to do something different to show your individuality.  The table names you choose can be anything that you like. If you love your job, choose names much like your occupation, something that relates to your wedding reception, something exciting about your honeymoon, or even just things both you and your fiance love!

A box of glittered stick-on letters was about $6.

 

Rhinestones were also in the theme of the wedding so I bought a couple of packages of crystals to glue on the corners of the frames.  I needed two packages of crystals which ran me about $10.  I like the Swarovski Elements.

It just happened that the corners of the frames that I purchased had these little circles within the “scrolled” corners that the crystals fit in perfectly. 

Finished product: Sixteen 5x7 frames with picture, letters and crystals. My Total Cost: approx $35

Table G ~

HAPPY CRAFTING! 

~CHERYL

ps.  speaking of rhinestones, you can purchase rhinestones by the yard on ebay (here is the link).  http://www.ebay.com/itm/Rhinestone-Cake-Banding-Ribbon-Trim-Wedding-Decoration-/330713151672?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item4d000a38b8

I needed to purchase 8 yards for the tiers of the wedding cake at $8 per yard.  These rhinestones were gorgeous!!!  There was no way to capture the actual glitter and shine in a photo….

 
 
BEST CRYSTAL CAKE TOPPERS ARE BY “TOPPERS WITH GLITZ”.  VISIT THEIR WEBSITE below.  They have been featured in The Knot, Weddings, Brides, and Modern Bride as well as on NBC and “E”.   http://www.topperswithglitz.com/monogram-cake-topper-pictures.pl
THEY ARE PRICEY…..BUT AGAIN, THE PICTURE DID NOT CAPTURE THE TRUE SHINE AND GLITTER OF THESE SWARVORSKI ELEMENTS CRYSTALS. By saving on the DIY projects you can spend more money in other areas like the cake topper!

barkcloth project

this is my mudroom, not very muddy. i found the idea in a magazine. i asked my architect to incorporate it in this area of the house. the stairway you see, leads to the media room….. which has no media, it is just an empty room … but i have dreams. but the main reason for this post is to show you the cart insert that i made from some vintage barkcloth drapes i bought years ago when i had my space in an antique mall in Agoura, California!

once i learned of these draperies that i believe were popular in the 40’s & 50’s (correct me if i am wrong) … i couldn’t stop searching for them on eBay~! i did a lot of eBay shopping back in those days. a lot.

(below: see the drapes hanging on the hanger on the right side of the doorway!)

that was my little space “Cheryl’s Cottage” (est..2003-2005)

and here was my other space

i stayed busy….painting, and sanding, and sewing.   buying, selling, and thinking, and pondering ….. and then all of a sudden i decided i wanted to leave California and move to Texas and build a house. 

that’s how i roll………. always looking for what i want to do next ……

crazy – but i have been that way forever – wanting to learn and do something different. life is short.

so, back to the project

how this came to be is that i was shopping at Canton Flea Market, in Canton Texas and needed a cart. so i bought one to carry my findings. well, it was UNATTRACTIVE to say the least (below, plastic checked), 

and a girl like me needed something CUTE!

i didn’t want to pay for something cute so i thought about those adorable barkcloth drapes that i now had sitting in my pile of fabrics in the linen closet. 

now, i am no super sewer or anything, but i can sew straight lines and can try to figure things out, thanks to my mother’s genes and home economics in the 7th grade! 

so i measured the sides of this plastic insert and cut my fabric pieces, put the “right sides” of the fabric together and sewed my straight lines.

there you have it.

sewing room

my girlfriend Susan made the bulletin board, which i took off her hands!

close-up of the bulletin fabric - below

more of the mudroom …..

chalkboard – from Ventura flea market – i think the creator of this was Doug for any of you who still go to Ventura

close-up of the chalkboard detail below….

and this next special piece …. my brother Andy made this for me from a building that they tore down in Newbury Park, California - i don’t really think he knows what this piece means to me – i don’t really think he knows how much i truly love him

  

 this horseshoe has been above a door of every home that hubby and i have owned. that is 4 (four) homes to be exact. 

and along with the horseshoe, there is always a quarter in the corner of a cabinet in the kitchen too......   for a rainy day.  not sure what a quarter will buy.

Have a beautiful week ~ Cheryl

the fix......

These are "not so pretty" pictures (like I usually like to post) but I want to show you the process of fixing this mirror that I bought last weekend in Canton. If you read my Canton post, you know that I bought three of these mirrors, all the same. This one was for $12 dollars, but it had a piece missing. So with that said, you can turn up my music and maybe it will be more pleasing while following this post.

~remember, you can click on pictures to enlarge...usually :) ~

I decided to go to Michael's and purchase some clay to make a mold for the intricate pattern.

This is the one I chose. I have never worked with oven bake clay, but it looked like it would do the trick! I divided Sculpey in half. Half for the mold, and half for the "piece" I was going to create.

First I warmed the clay in my hands to make it malleable. Then I put it over part of the pattern of the frame and pressed down to create a mold.

A mold was created about the size of the missing piece. No "exacts" here. Since it is oven bake clay, it had to go into the oven at 275 degrees for fifteen minutes. This allowed it to harden.

Once out of the oven and hardened, the mold looked like this! Not bad!

Next, I used the other half of the clay and put it in the area of the missing piece. After fitting it in that space, I started trimming it off the top and sides to get it - to what seemed like the right size for the final piece (length, height, contouring). I just eyed it. Again, no exacts.

Ok. That looked pretty good. It fit in there good. The height matched the height of the rest of the frame. I contoured the sides down to "sort of" match the rest. No exacts here either. Then I gently pulled the piece out. This piece goes into the hardened "mold" that I created.

I layed the new, soft, piece into the hardened mold.

Like this. Then I pressed it gently into the mold in order to fit all the "hills and valleys" of the pattern. I just kept pressing gently until I felt it was all in there - real good.

Then I had to gently pull it out of the mold and try to keep it's shape. From pressing it in and pulling it out, it became a little thinner and a little longer. That was ok. Remember, no exacts in this project!

All I did was cut off the extra. Like trimming the dough of pie crust when you put the rolled crust into the pie pan! I'm not a baker, but I have made a few pies in my life and watched mom make MANY, MANY pies

(in case you wanted to know how I knew about this trimming process)!

After the clay was trimmed and was fitting "fine" in it's space, I got out my handy dandy wooden orange stick. This was the "crafting" time. The artist coming out! I just started moving it around, creating some of my own little dents and lines. Remember, no exacts, just artistry at it's best. Fun!

And, here is what I got! What do you think?

I thought it was good enough, especially since this mirror is getting painted white for my bedroom!

This piece needed to go into the oven too. Same as the first piece. But when I took it out and went to fit it in the space - it seemed a little swelled and it was rubbery. So I quickly pushed it into it's place on the mirror, before it started to cool and harden. Not anticipating this, I then quickly ran to my "girly" toolbox to grab something heavy to put on top of it - and hold it in place while it cooled.

Ok, I am embarrassed. This is my tool area in the corner of my pantry.

But everything I ever need is right at my fingertips in this corner. My toolbox has been with me from the very beginning of my Cottage Charm/Shabby Chic days (see my first two posts). Oh, speaking of Shabby Chic, did you hear about dear Rachel Ashwell? She had to file Chapter 11 Bankruptcy. What the heck is going on here. All our magazines out of publication, and now Rachel. Dang, this is really scaring me, it is all so sad - but things will have to get better in the times ahead, it will just take time .......................Well, back to the toolbox, I bought it at a garage sale back in the 90's. It was either a man's tool box or fishing box, I can't remember. But it got a coat of shabby pink paint and some hand painted rosettes. I've never changed it. I love this toolbox! I have so many memories of so many creations! Anyway, I am taking way too long to tell you about my toolbox when I have to get to the hammer that went on top of my "cooling" piece!

Like this!

Once it cooled, it fit perfectly in place and now all it needed was a little "Liquid Nails" to glue it in for life!!!

And here you have it. A fixed mirror frame! All it needs now is some white paint and then it will get hung on the wall above the sweetest little desk that I can't wait to show you! It won't be long. So don't forget to check back! I hope you enjoyed my little tutorial. I was learning as I was teaching, but it was fun and I am very happy with the results!

Thank you for visiting ~ Cheryl