Rose changes up a canvas

Today I am featuring a project from my good friend Rose. She explains her fabulous yard sale find and how she changed it up:

"This was a painting I purchased at a garage sale for $8 two summers ago. Nothing special, your typical starving artist show cheap canvas. I liked it for the colors, but it never really fit anywhere in my house."




"I tried hanging it in my Living Room for a while last winter but was not thrilled with it (see picture but please do as I do and ignore the awful wallpaper on the walls, I just pretend it's not there.) So then I tried re-selling it in my own garage sale this past spring, but it just didn't budge. Oh well, time to send it to the Salvation Army, right? Well, I never got around to that either."

"I recently painted the stairway and hallway off the living room (a project that I actually started 3 yrs ago and stopped halfway through for some reason and never got back to finishing until just recently. How pitiful is that? In my defense the project called for stripping lots of old wallpaper and fixing severely damaged plaster walls, yuck!)"

"Anyway, I wanted something big and colorful in that space so decided to cut up the canvas into 4 pieces to give it more drama. My mom was visiting that day and thought I was a nut for cutting up a perfectly good picture! I didn't remember to take any pictures of the process, but basically it was as simple as taking out the staples that held the canvas on the stretcher and cutting it with scissors into 4 equal sized pieces. I then cut some plywood pieces leftover from another project to fit the 4 pictures. I used spray adhesive to mount the canvas to the plywood, painted the edges brown and hung them on the wall with sawtooth hangers. I really like the way it fills the space and adds some sorely needed color too. Now I just need to finish hanging stuff on the walls going up the stairs. Oh yeah, and of course now I need to finally tackle the living room wallpaper, (big sigh) I've been putting that little project off since we bought this house 8 yrs ago!"




Isn't it amazing how much different it looks now? I really like the new look! I know removing all that wallpaper was a lot of work, but it looks great Rose!Thanks for sharing this project with us.










Linking to:

DIY at Kimba's
Reinvented
2nd Time Around
Met Monday
Transformation Thursday

G'day to my friends in Australia

I love my followers and subscribers!

Tips and Tidbits (painting) and a giveaway!

I am generally pretty particular about my brushes. See that little piece of painter's tape on the handle? When Cathy and I are working on projects, I like to keep my brushes separate, so I put the tape on the handle. Cathy identifies her brushes with green painter's tape.

This is another one of my usual brushes. They work pretty good, even though they don't look so good. :)

This one is in a little better shape.

Here is another one with some blue tape on it.

While I was in Nashville working on Jamie's stairs, I had to make a run to Home Depot to get some supplies. Because I was having a tough time keeping the white paint out of the brown and the brown paint out of the white, I decided to look at buying a new brush. I've seen these brushes on some blogs, so I thought they might be worth looking into.

I bought this brush, and I noticed when I took it out of the sleeve, it suggests keeping the packaging to store the brush in. Good idea, huh?

This is my new brush after I painted several different colors of paint. I used it to trim the office in grey, the walls in the stairway teepee, kilz, white semi-gloss and the dark brown I used on the stairs. Do you see how nice and clean it still looks? It cleans up really nice!

This is the other side. You can see where the sticker washed off.

Here it is next to a brand spanking new brush. I think it's so cool that these are hand made, and even has the sticker of the person who makes it.

So here's the good news. I know it's not a HUGE giveaway, but hey, I'm just a lowly unemployed blogger. I'm giving this brush away to one of my "peeps". Yep, in honor of reaching 200 followers, this is the giveaway:

A new 2 inch Purdy paint brush hand made by Khone. Here are a few particulars. Only US residents eligible. Simply leave a comment on this post telling me what project you have waiting to be painted. If you are a follower, leave an additional comment saying "follower". If you become a new follower, leave an comment telling me what inspired you to become a follower.

So technically, you have a possibility of 2 entries per person. That's fair, don't cha think?

You do not have to have a blog to enter, just make sure there is a way for me to get in touch with you if you win.

I will use a random number generator to choose the winner on Wednesday November 24, 2009.

I am purposely NOT linking this post to any parties. I want to give my regular readers a chance to get this really cool paintbrush!

PS Thanks to Miki for becoming my 200th follower!

Another version of a candelabra

I bought these sconces this past summer for .50 cents each. I gutted them, removing the electrical wiring.

I asked a friend to cut me two discs with his hole saw. The discs fit perfectly on the threaded piece that was attached to the sconce.

I spray painted them black. After spray painting them, I used silver rub-n-buff on them. You can see the difference in them in this picture. I really think the silver makes a huge difference.

I apologize for the poor quality of the pictures. I switched to a different camera, and I had trouble getting closeup pictures with it. I have decided that it's not a good idea to use my good camera while I'm using power tools and paint etc.

I'm approaching 200 followers, so I will be having a giveaway soon. Stay tuned!

Good Morning to my friends from Virginia! ;)

Linking to these parties:

A Picture is Worth a 1000 Words

DIY with Kimba

Reinvented

Met Monday

Shabby Chic Cottage

Some recent finds and another Vintage Lamp Candelabra

Before I get to today's post, I'm going to show you some recent finds:


Jamie gave me two old windows and some paint.

I got this at a local thrift store for $1.01

I found this coat rack thingy at a Peddler's mall for $4.99 ($5.00 is my limit, ya know!)

Now, on with today's feature presentation:

Do you remember this old lamp I got free from a neighbor?

I used a sanding sponge and a wire brush on it. Then blew off all the yuck with my leaf blower.

This is how bad it looked before I took the wire brush and sanding sponge to it.

Did you know that if you actually read the directions on a can of spray paint, that it suggests washing your piece with soap and water and allow to dry?

I'm showing you this little thingy, I got it in the electrical dept at the Habitat for Humanity Restore. The part of the lamp that I wanted to hold the candle was too small. I had to find something else to enlarge it.

This is what it looks like upside down.

This is how it looks attached.

This is the base of the lamp. I painted the entire lamp heirloom white (spray paint) The base has nice details, but I think they show up without adding another color.

I was able to score some crystals to add to this lamp. It was very difficult to find a candle to fit the center piece.

I finally found the perfect color and size of candles at Walmart.

I love how this candelabra turned out. However it didn't sell at our show. This one did though.

But that's okay, I have it in my living room for now. :)

ps still sick, I have made a self diagnosis, bronchitis.

Hello today to all of my friends in the sunshine state! Thanks for stopping by!

Linking to these wonderful parties, check them out for inspiration!

Stairs are done!

I am home again. I came home Saturday afternoon. Still sick, this crud is just hanging on!

I guess you remember these stairs from last week?

Removing carpet, tack strip and staples is never an easy job.

I painted the risers white, and we decided that we shouldn't stain the treads due to the wood putty.

I rarely use painter's tape, but because of the stark difference of the white and brown, I thought it would make my job easier.

Even though I taped both edges of each step and burnished them well, the paint was still able to seep underneath. I am somewhat of a perfectionist, so this bothered me quite a bit. I re-taped the brown, and tried to touch up the white, and it didn't really work. Basically I just gave up, and decided that I was too sick, and that the time crunch was working against me.

This set of stairs is at the very end of Jamie's house. They lead to her finished attic bedroom. If it were a grand staircase in the middle of the house things would be different.

The people who finished her attic (previous owners) were NOT perfectionists. But all in all I am pleased with how they turned out.

I hope that she likes them. I know she appreciates all my help. I was able to do several other things for her, one of which was fixing her light fixture in her upstairs bathroom. It quit working a couple of months ago, and she was using a lamp! I always figure it's best NOT to work on electricity while alone, so I waited till she could help me. It ended up being only a loose wire in the switch. She watched me, and now I think she could change out a switch on her own.

I also painted her hand rail. Here, you can see that I put primer on it. I forgot to take a picture of it after I painted it. It was one of the last things I did Saturday morning before I left.

This is the top riser. You can see that it was quite a mess. That is a rigged up cable TV wire running across.

I cut a piece of luan (well, actually Handy Graham cut it for me, cause it was his luan and his table saw) It slipped on there quite nicely after I notched it. But that cable wire was still a problem .

Because the original riser was sort of "layered" I was able to slip the cable wire in a little groove of the boards to tuck it away.

While visiting Jamie I also stained a headboard and foot board for her (pictures to follow later this week, hopefully) helped her paint her office, and worked on her storm door (the glass was loose)

The next major project is to take up the carpet in her upstairs bathroom. I hope we can work on that this winter (after the first of the year)

I usually post curb/thrift finds on Mondays, but because I wanted to show these stairs finished, I'll post my recent finds tomorrow.

I hope everyone had a great weekend!

ps hello to my michigan friends/family! :)

As always, linking to these wonderful parties! Please check them out.

An update on the stairs

I'm still in Nashville, working on lots of things for Jamie. I've been battling a cold and cough all week. It certainly has slowed me down. Yesterday I sanded, puttied, sanded, taped, primered, (is primered a word, or should you say primed?) and painted the stairs. I put two coats of Kilz on the risers, and one coat of semi gloss wall and trim paint. (white) Even though the wood is plywood, it looks pretty nice.

We then painted the walls to match the living room, a case of using what you have. Jamie has a huge collection of paint, but no white wall paint. The light brown is Behr "Teepee". I really love it, but it made me want some chocolate! :)

Today I have to decide what to do with the stairs. We've pretty much decided that staining is not going to work due to the putty I used. I googled it, and it seems that I should have used tinted putty. Keep your fingers crossed that it all comes out okay.

On today's agenda besides the stairs: picture frames, paint the office, poly the headboard. Oh, and to investigate why her upstairs bathroom light fixture suddenly stopped working.

I better get busy, I hope everyone has a very "lucky" friday the 13th!

gail

Stairs re-do

Last week I was out of town on vacation. This week I am out of town, but not so much of a vacation. :) I'm visiting my daughter (Jamie) in Nashville. I come to town several times a year to help her make repairs and improvements on her home. This week I'm working on several different projects, these stairs being one of them. Last time I was here, I installed laminate flooring for her in her bedroom. These stairs lead up to her bedroom and they had old, ugly carpet on them.

When I ripped up the carpet this is what I found. A diamond in the rough? hmmm I don't know. We'll see.

Any thoughts? Ideas? Today, I will be sanding and puttying.

I have to touch up the walls with paint.

These are the tools I used to make this happen.

She has original hardwood floors at the foot of the stairs (orange color) At the top of the stairs the laminate flooring is dark. I think she has decided to have them painted white. Any other ideas, or suggestions from you wonderful folks?

Today's shout out goes to my Pennsylvania friends! Glad you stopped by! thanks!

gail

Thomas Kinkade decoupaged window

Are you getting bored with my vacation pics? :)

Shopping in St Thomas

Gail trying her luck in the casino.

Gail and Aunt Dot (Granny) testing out the "bucket" seats.


Sunset in Tortola

St Thomas


Now on with the show!

I was lucky enough to score some windows recently off of Craig's list. I don't understand why people who want to get rid of windows insist that you take ALL of the windows. I'm sure I can't be the only person who wants only a few windows. The man was not home when I actually picked up the windows, so I only took what I thought I could use. Many of the windows he had were in such poor condition, even I couldn't have done anything with them.

Some time over the Summer I picked up a book of Thomas Kinkade prints from Joey at my local Peddler's Mall. It had very nice glossy pages.
I am not a fan of measuring, so I used some notepad paper to center the print on my window.

I have used Modge Podge, but I have found that regular white glue works just as well. School glue is so cheap in August, so I stock up on it.

In this picture, I have glued both prints on the upper and lower panes. See how shiny the paint is on the window? It is good ole Elmer's glue. I used my hands to smear it all over the gray paint.

The glue is drying some here.

Once the glue was dry, I painted over it. Can we say C-R-A-C-K-L-E finish?!

So, now you know how to save some money. Use white glue instead of Modge Podge,

and Crackle Medium!

Now for a little S-U-R-P-R-I-S-E :) Can you figure it out?

This is not a second window, it's the same window!

I painted some oops burgundy on the back side.

I then smeared on the glue.

After the glue dried, I painted over it with Heirloom White. The glue worked it's magic and crackled. When the paint was dry, I carefully scraped the paint off of the glass. I think it is easier to scrape the paint off the glass than to use (waste) painter's tape.

Have I confused you?

My special Kinkade window is reversible! Yep, isn't that clever? Most of the year, the cottage scene can be displayed.

As Christmas nears, just simply flip the window over and display the wintry/Christmas scene!

You see, as I was cutting all of the pages out and sorting them by categories. I noticed that on the back of some of the Christmas scenes there were similar cottage scenes.

I have several more of these windows left, lots of ideas rattling around in my ole brain!
What is your favorite type of window project?

Linking to my favorite parties! Check out all the great ideas here:

Today, because I'm visiting Jamie in Nashville, I'll say a big howdy to my Tennessee friends!

Please take a moment to remember those men and women who are keeping us safe. Thanks to them and their families for making such a huge sacrifice for us to be free.

Children's Chalkboard Table and Chairs & a few more vacation pics

Here are a few more pictures from our wonderful vacation.

Chocoholic's buffet . . . everything was displayed so beautifully! I only tried a few things, because it was so rich! But the things I tried were very tasty!

We ate at this restaurant a couple of times. We got the kids chicken tenders . . . it was a welcome change from the huge portions at the buffet.

Here we are hanging out in the Bliss Lounge. Can you tell that we had a great time?

Okay, enough of our good times. On with today's project.

We came across 5 of these vintage folding children's chairs.

We knew we wanted to make a chalkboard table to go along with the chairs. We found this end table for 1/2 off at a local charity thrift store. Regular price $8.08, our price $4.04.

I put 2 coats of primer on the table. I spray painted primer on the chairs.

In order to paint the chalkboard paint on the table top, I taped it off with some paper. I spray painted several thin coats of turquoise paint on the table and chairs.

The top of the table with primer on it.

I used a foam brush to apply several coats of chalkboard paint to the table.

These chairs fit so perfectly with this table.

This picture is more of a true representation of the color.

I'm linking to the following parties, you should really check them out! So much inspiration!

hello to all my tar heel state friends! :) Thanks so much for stopping by.

Some recent finds & Vacation Pictures

It's great to be home. I have tons of stuff to catch up on, in blogland and in real life. :) I have missed so many linky parties this past week. I'm not sure when I'll ever get to check it all out. As I said yesterday, my google reader was over flowing! I will be showing some of my vacation pictures this week.

We tried to make sure we were on deck for every sunset. It is an amazing sight to see. I love sunsets and sunrisings. However, we had a room darkening shade in our room, so we never made it outside to see a sunrise. Although we did a lot of walking on the ship, this was one of the most restful vacations I've ever had.

We were very fortunate to have a balcony stateroom. This is one of the prettiest shades of water I've ever seen. Isn't it beautiful?

We flew into Ft. Lauderdale, then took a shuttle to Miami to board the ship. Miami is a beautiful place! Nothing at all like Kentucky!

The weather was sunny and warm. I love sunshine. You just can't be in a bad mood when you are on the open sea, with the wind and sun on your face!

Okay, now on to some things I've come across lately:

I have this little table, with no plans for it yet. On top of the table is a table leaf. I can think of lots of things to do with it, but no definite plans yet.

While Jamie was in town in early October, I picked up these pieces at an antique mall for a dollar each.

These little goodies would have come in handy when I made my coat rack headboard.

Hello to all of my New York friends! I'm glad you stopped by today.