DIY Project Parade

Long day of good food and sun = worn out! I’ll edit this post and share what I did this week tomorrow but if you’ve had a chance to DIY this weekend, let’s see it!

I hope you’re having a wonderful Memorial Day weekend!

Edited: Remember this bistro set I snagged for $15 at a yard sale? It was ivory and rusty.

After some sanding, I used spray primer.

Then, I was going to do something fun and crazy but after some thought, I decided to make it match the existing patio furniture and to put it under the grape arbor for extra seating closer to the patio.

Our patio furniture looks like this. Aged bronze:
I gave it a coat of oil rubbed bronze spray paint:

And then, I used the gold leaf Rub-n-Buff using a dry brush to create the gold markings that my other patio furniture has.
A little goes a long way!

And came up with this:



Side by side, before and after:

The Rub-n-Buff is awesome. At first I used a rag and learned that a little goes a long way so then I applied it with the dry brush to get the aged bronze look. I can’t wait to try it on another project. The coverage is amazing. I think it’d be perfect for creating a French Provincial look since it covers so well. We have a bedroom set that look like this:

and it would be perfect for the same effect! It’s permanent and dries really fast.
I love the metallic sparkle.

More to come! I’m working on cushions and throw pillow covers for all of the patio furniture along with something else pretty for the grape arbor seating area. 🙂

The DIY Show Off

If you’d like to link YOUR DIY project post to The DIY Show Off Project Parade:
  1. You must use the button above and link to this post to share the linky love.
  2. Include your name or blog name and project title. Add your permalink (not your blog url, but your DIY project post url). Feel free to link a Past Post, just invite your readers in a current post with a quick note.
  3. Or email your link to thediyshowoff@gmail.com and I will add it for you.
  4. If you notice your link has disappeared please add the link back to The DIY Show Off to your post today with a quick note to your readers about the party and try again! I love when everyone participates and readers check out everyone’s links, but I think the return favor of linking back is the nice thing to do so everyone plays fair and enjoys all of the projects and links. Also – this blog party is for DIY projects only. Links not related to DIY will be deleted.


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Need more livable space, try underdecking for that raised deck and get more room.

House Number Flower Pots

Our home sits back from the road and with two driveway entrances, I wanted to make it easier for first time guests to find us.

I don’t have a before picture, but I purchased terracotta posts from WalMart.

I used my favorite trigger spray paint, Universal Hammered Metal in Hammer Brown that I used on our herb garden urn.

(Sneak peak of flower/window box project too!)

I then ordered vinyl house number from etsy seller, VinylVineyard and applied 1 to each pot. After that I added a coat of satin finish lacquer.

And here is my completed project. Our house sits back from the road and is surrounded by bushes with the house numbers only displayed on the mailbox. So, this is our way of helping first time visitors find our home!

Updated 2013:

house number flower pots
*Another sneak peek at the window boxes. Installation pending concrete patio.

Update: The concrete bench along with the concrete urns and a cast iron birdbath were treasures (hidden in overgrowth that we couldn’t even see until we cleared it out) came with our home.I was clapping and shouting “Hercules! Hercules! Hercules!” when Russ was moving it. Thankfully it’s 3 pieces but,

Lesson for the day: When husband is lifting a very heavy and awkward stone bench, do NOT make him laugh unless he is wearing steel-toe boots.