Showing posts with label Painting and Finishes. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Painting and Finishes. Show all posts

Monday, December 21, 2015

Hanging Chalkboard Sign

December 21, 2015 0 Comments
These are corbels I bought at a flea market. At first I thought I would make a mantle-shelf with them, then I noticed that they didn't match, so I really could not use them in the same piece. Then I came up with the idea of a hanging chalkboard sign. 






First I cut a two "frames" from a sheet of 5/8" plywood,
 then cut a circle out of a thinner hardwood panel.





I painted them with a black chalkboard paint.





Once dry I glued and nailed the frames on either side of the chalkboard making it like a sandwich.



Clamp it down and let it dry.





Next I needed an arm at the top of the corbel. I had a decorative piece that I salvaged from an old buffet hanging around. I'll use it on one of the corbels and use some 1x4s to make a similar one.  




After cutting and sanding the edge I ran it through the table saw to mimic the groove in the other piece.



I'm adding a small piece of wood between the arm and the corbel to make it a little easier to join the two pieces together.





I cut a piece of cove trim to dress it up a bit and attached it to the bottom of the arm.




The smaller wider piece is screwed to the bottom of the arm...




...then I started the screws in the small piece...





...and attached it to the corbel.

Once the construction was done I mixed up some home made chalk paint in a basic brown.


Then I dry-brushed on some lighter colored paint on all the high spots to mimic some distressing.



I made a black glaze, painted it on and gently wiped it off, trying to push it into all the little crevices. 




I ended up with two really cool chalkboard signs!

Saturday, November 28, 2015

Upcycled Pet Bed From a Drawer...(No, You Have NOT Seen This One Before)

November 28, 2015 0 Comments
This is a drawer that I got from a bureau on the side of the road. I also had a few strips of plywood left over from another project. I'll use them to frame the tent I'm going to make.






























It will be a simple box on the bottom with a tent on top. This is a sketch of the shape of the tent. I'll use my angle tool copy the angle and transfer it to my miter saw.




The fame will be two layers of plywood that overlap.




I wanted to make the tent removable and collapsible so I didn't want to just nail the cross pieces to the frame. 


 Cross pieces in the bracket.


 The assembled tent frame.




I had to trim off the edges of the drawer.


 I used a few pieces of 1 x 4 to strengthen the bottom of the drawer.



I cut out an entrance for my dog.


Then I painted it with some chalk paint I had and used some black glaze to give it a faux wood grain look.



 I set the frame atop the bed, laid out a piece of canvas over it, cut it a few inches bigger than the frame and marked it.


                A seam was sewn along the bottom edge, and the canvas sides were cut a few inches bigger than the frame.




 First I stapled the the side on.


 With the bracket sides of the frame facing out I stapled the my biggest piece of canvas--wrong side out--to the top of the frames, making sure to keep it on the line that I traced. I put the staples as close to the edge of the frame as I could. 


Then I carefully turned the whole thing inside out.



 I put the spacer pieces into the brackets.




And used my grommet kit to and a few grommets to the front panels so I can tie them back. 






The finished bed.




Jessie Approved.

Sunday, June 29, 2014

Decoupage Secret

June 29, 2014 0 Comments
I've repapered the inside of more than an few trunks, but I've finally found the secret of getting the paper to lay flat and not get all wrinkley.

WATER 

I found some cool, old-timey graphics and enlarged them to fit the size of my trunk. Then I printed them on 8 1/2  x  11 size craft paper sheets. Each sheet was test fitted and trimmed as needed. Then lightly painted with water to pre-stretch the paper. Not soaked, only given just enough to get it wet. Mod-podge was painted onto the trunk and the wet page pressed into it gently to get all the air bubbles out. Each piece is fitted next to the previous one and done the same way. 





The Compass Rose Trunk

Saturday, August 31, 2013

Upcycle An Old Trunk, Part 5: The Finished Trunk

August 31, 2013 0 Comments

This is my finished trunk. The hotel labels were put on and the whole thing sealed with a coat of modpodge.




Don't forget the most important part of any expedition....the whiskey!





I had to photo edit this picture to darken it. This is what the real trunk looks like. In the rest of the pictures the white of the zebra stripe looks a lot lighter than it does in real life.












 At the time of this posting this trunk is for sale at my Etsy Shop Destinations Vintage. Look for it, or more stuff like it there.


Thanks.










Friday, August 16, 2013

Upcycle An Old Trunk, Part 4: Painting.

August 16, 2013 0 Comments
 I started by lightly sanding all the blue surfaces of the trunk. This is the part that most people will want to skip...DON'T. Without sanding all the paint you put on will scratch right off.

I did around the edges first being careful not to get any paint on the brass pieces or trim.




It took at least 3 coats to cover it decently.








Next I drew on some lines, very lightly in pencil, and painted them black to resemble zebra stripes.











Then I printed out some letter graphics, colored the back of them with a piece of chalk, and laid them out on the trunk using a framing square to make sure they were straight.

After taping them in place I traced around the letters with a pen. This left the chalk outline of the letters on my trunk.
























Then I painted inside my chalk lines with some red paint, and yes, it took more than one coat.







Next I started sanding. I used a 150 / Medium grit sandpaper. Once upon a time I used a 80 grit coarse sandpaper thinking it would be much faster; and it was. In no time flat I had a trunk that was all scratched to hell instead of looking gently worn.

In this picture the left side only has been sanded so you can see the difference between that and new paint.





Then I mixed a little brown paint in a quarter cup of water and painted all over the trunk to antique it.
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This is not the best picture, but you get an idea what it is starting to look like.







The next step was to print out some vintage hotel labels and coffee stain them. You can see this step in a previous post here.










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