Faux Barnwood Frame

Posted on August 28, 2010 by Roeshel

Loving the look of barnwood, I decided to give a black plastic picture frame a new look.

Materials:
Black frame
Deco Art Weathered Wood Medium
Americana Bittersweet Chocolate acrylic paint
Americana Traditional Burnt Umber acrylic paint
Americana Eggshell acrylic paint

Here is how I did it. It’s super easy!

I chose a black frame so I could see a little of the black in the technique.

After taking off the backing and taking out the glass, I used my Rockler paint pyramids to keep it elevated.

I painted the frame with the darker of the two browns, Burnt Umber, letting some of the black show through a little.

After that dried, I applied a coat of the Weathered Wood Medium.

Once that was dry, I mixed the a little Eggshell with Bittersweet Chocolate. That sounds like a terrible recipe but we’re not eating it! It creates a pretty lighter shade of brown.

I finished it off with a spray of Deft Clear Wood Finish in semi-gloss.

My frame is going on the wall, so I took off the “standing” thing that is used for propping it on a tabletop. The little tiny hanging wire was a huge pain to get on a nail, so I wet the back of the smallest Dischanger and stuck it to the center of the back frame (it overhangs a little) but after drying overnight, it’s strong and so much easier to hang.

I printed out “menu” and the definition/synonyms in MS Word, using a text box and selected a linen background. Here it is all done…perfect for our chalkboard wall and I love the barnwood look which is perfectly our style for this old farmhouse.

What do you think?

Burlap leaf garland and easy faux pumpkins

Posted on August 27, 2010 by Roeshel

Inspired by the cooler temps, I got the itch decorate a little fall vignette. I’m not ready for summer to end, but I’m hoping that by seeing this…I’ll accept it. 🙂

Here is how I made the garland:

Materials:

Burlap scraps
Jute twine
Gorilla Glue
Deco Art Dazzling Metallics

Cut a desired garland length from the twine, allowing for some scrolling and circles.

Trace a few leaves gathered from the yard onto some burlap scraps.

Cut out. Laying everything out on a piece of cardboard works best for when gluing. It’s the same color as the burlap, so pulling it up after drying doesn’t affect the look on the back.

Using a small dab of Gorilla Glue (it doesn’t take much), glue the burlap leaves to the twine and the circles to hold their shape.

Add weight to the glued areas. I use glass. It didn’t seem to glue to the project.

While it’s drying, I began the next step by painting a border on the leaves around the weights and then touching up the other areas after the glue was dry. I used Decor Art Dazzling Metallics that I had left over from last year. Pretty handy to use the leaf as a palette. 🙂

Note: If the glue expands, it’s okay. Just paint over it, it adds color and interest! 🙂

I love how it turned out. Getting me in the autumn spirit!

For the pumpkins, I spray painted my faux pumpkins white and let dry.

Then, I used the paint from the leaf borders to “paint” my pins. Just dip and swirl. Let dry.

Next, cut a piece of twine and swirl and curl it, pinning along the way. Or create a monogram or other design.

I pulled off the stem and gave my pumpkin a “mop top”. I could get pictures because it involves both hands but here is what I did. Wrap twine around one hand 10-12 times (keeping ends at left or right edge of hand). Pull off, keeping a thick twine circle intact. Pinch in the middle and tie with another piece of twine, knotting in the center. Fluff. It’s a pom pom!

Apply Gorilla Glue (I used the white here in case I used too much).

Find the middle of an end of the twine pom pom, not the middle where the knot is but the underside of that and push down onto the glue. Add weight and let dry.

What do you think?

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thediyshowoff.blogspot.com

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http://diyclubinc.com/

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It’s that time of year again! I loved all of the Fall related DIY projects last year. If you’re looking for inspiration, click HERE to get some ideas and more HERE from last year.

And if you’re an early bird and have a Fall DIY project already done, feel free to link up! I know it’s early. Still August! But I need a little fall cheer to help me welcome the cooler temps. I love fall. It’s the season after that – don’t say it! I’ll stress, start biting my nails and go into hibernation.

The DIY Show Off Fall Festival will start today and run every Friday until the snow flies or it’s time to think about something else. We’ll play it by ear and see how it goes.

Rules:

Create a blog post about an Autumn/Fall project that you’ve done
Add your blog name and project to Mcklinky (example: The DIY Show off – House # Pumpkins)
Type in the permalink address, not your basic blog address. A permalink is the address that links directly to your specific post. (example: http://thediyshowoff.blogspot.com/2009/08/house-number-pumpkins)
You must use The DIY Show Off Fall Festival button and link back to The DIY Show Off Fall Festival post so that everyone gets to join in the fun. Here is the button:
Although a tutorial is helpful, it’s not required. Anything DIY – autumn related is permitted.
Please follow all steps above or your link will be deleted. If you notice that you’re link disappeared, please make the correction according to the rules above and re-link!
Enjoy and be inspired!

Dressing up a Mirror

Posted on August 26, 2010 by Roeshel

The mirror in my daughter’s room is in a great spot (between 2 closets) but it’s so boring! It has tiny plastic holders and it sits low/close to the duct work/register. So…I decided to frame it inside the plastic holders and dress it up. A frameless dressing mirror in a princess room just looks out of place. Now it looks like this:

I love the little message. Who can’t use a little boost in self esteem once in a while? I may even have to get dressed in there. Here’s how I did it.

Using a dry erase marker, I measured and drew a line where I wanted the decorative trim to be placed. I measured that area so I knew where to make the miter cuts.

Then I psyched myself up to use the miter saw which is up there on my list of fears. Right beside spiders and sitting in traffic on a bridge. That scared! But I DID IT! And it wasn’t nearly as bad as I thought. Truthfully, I made Mr. DIY do the cuts so I could watch and get brave again. Then, I noticed that the frame was too big. I sort of didn’t want to tell Mr. DIY and I was ready to be a big girl, so I re-measured and stood up to the big mighty miter saw.

Here I am in my cool pink safety glasses…safety first!

Next, I painted the four pieces of trim. Since I’m applying the trim directly to the mirror, I painted near the edge on the back as well (so it would reflect white when glued to the mirror itself).

I love this pretty white from Mythic. It’s the same interior semi-gloss that I used on the trim in my daughter’s room. It’s Mythic Sweet Silence. I didn’t see a disclaimer that it’d bring “sweet silence” from your teenager’s room but it is non-toxic and low VOC.

Once it was dry, I applied the White Gorilla Glue to the mitered edges to form a frame. I don’t have clamps for this purpose so I taped the edges and used paint cans to weight the glued areas. I did this on an unfinished concrete floor so if there were a few places where I used too much glue, I was able to pry it up. I let it dry for a few hours.

Next, I took the frame upstairs and flipped it so the back side was facing up. I added White Gorilla Glue to the back of the entire frame.

With my daughter’s help, we placed the frame onto the mirror (I did erase the dry erase marker lines before this). We held the frame tight against the mirror and taped it to hold until the Gorilla Glue dried.

If some of the glue drips, let it dry. It’s easy to scrape off of the mirror with a razor blade.

All done. Much better! There isn’t enough room to frame the outside border of the mirror due to closets on both sides and the heat/air conditioning vent below so this was the best way to add some detail.

But…not quite girly enough for my princess. The solution? The easiest way to decorate a mirror – vinyl! This pretty vinyl art from Design Divas is perfect. It comes in so many colors. There are lots of other designs to choose from too!