Old Bi-fold turned Partition Reveal

Okay, so remember these bad boys?

I picked 'em up at the D.I. for $20. Maybe a bit pricey once you factor in the price of paint and primer etc., but I had beeen waiting and waiting ever so long for them so I popped on 'em.
The poor things were covered in mummified spiders and pet hair...ick.

But, I saw through the cobwebs and knew that they had great potential. After a thorough rub down, I primed them.

I didn't take a picture. But I only wanted to use three of the four panels, so I unhinged one set and used that hinge to attach the third panel to the other set of two. I did this after they were primed, but before I had started on the painting...so I didn't mistakenly knick up the paint.
After they were primed and hinged together, I sprayed black paint everywhere I wanted it to show through. I used my candle wax method (which you can learn about here.
I could have spray painted the whole project black, but I knew where I wanted the black paint to show through so I just spot painted instead.)

Then I waxed over all of the black areas with an old candle I had on hand. I know it's not pretty, but don't worry.

Then I sprayed on the top coat in my favorite color...Ocean Breeze by Krylon.

Then, I rubbed, rubbed, rubbed...where I had waxed.

Then glazed a little too...for good measure.

And voila...a cool, rustic partition; perfect for concealing clutter or spicing up a bland corner.

Here she is in her new home.


Just pretend those smudges on the front of the piano aren't there.

Linkin up to:

Top Ten For A "Freaky" tastic Fall and Halloween

Okay, so I love Fall (Halloween specifically). No not love, but LUH-HUV!!! The inside of my house has been decorated since the end of July and I am chomping at the bit to get the outside all "scaried up" and festive.
I have big plans this year, but I'm in a new neighborhood and want to maintain as normal a reputation as I can for as long as I can...so I'm sitting on pins and needles 'til September first, then I'mo let the freak out.
Oh, and did I mention that I'm learning the dance moves to Thriller. Umm, ya. The fam and I will be dressing up like Zombies Halloween Eve and shakin' what our mama's gave us all night long. BTW, I'm holding auditions for any and all who want to join me...uh-hum Michele, Kendyl, Weston, Megan, Andi, Rachel, all of the fam from the south and friends from the north.
Can you imagine the poor little kiddies walking up to the door (cue creepy fog). And all of the sudden M.J. starts rockin it out. Then, from the left, and from the right...Zombies. Everywhere. Then we all start bustin' out with the Thriller dance. It's gonna be FAH-"REAKY"-TASTIC. I swear I need a valium everytime I think about it.
Phew. So, anyway. I love the fall. When I start to feel that little nip in the air I know it's a comin'. There have been a few brisk evenings recently and I'm on the countdown. This is how I start getting ready for my favorite time of year.

1. Setting up the Haunted Village. (I love Nightmare Before Christmas and when I stumbled across these cool lanterns and figures it totally reminded of it.)


I love how freaked out the devil looks. Hmmm, I wonder if we'll get any similar reactions this Halloween when the neighborhood kiddos walk into Thrillerland.

2. Trading out all of the pictures around the house with photos of my little
goblins from Halloween's past.
Aren't they the cutest?




3. Framing the front door...with hay stalks that is.


4. Getting out the Halloween Countdown Calendar.



5. Filling the Apothecary Jars with festiveness (word?) (it's hard to see, but the little ping pong ball dealies have "trick", "or" and "treat" all over them. I'm toying with the idea of making some using ping pong balls and chalkboard paint...just because. I also want to try and recreate an inexpensive version of the little swizzle sticky dealies in the back...sounds like a possible future tutorial).


6. Freeing the cheesecloth Ghosts. I didn't come up with idea myself...found it somewhere on the "net". I have had a lot of people ask me to help them make some. (Sounds like another possible future tutorial).


7. Making chocolate covered caramel apples with the kiddies. (Look for the recipe on the sidebar. You're welcome!) Mine never look as good as this pic (stock photo) but they are scrumdiddlyumptuous anyway.


8. Getting my craft on. I don't know why, but Fall sparks this desire to create. Perhaps it's the impending hibernation.



9. Hanging up the "All Hallow's Eve" banner to welcome the impending Holiday.


10- Burning the oil...the pumpkin spice scented oil that is, courtesy of Bath and Body Works. This ritual usually lasts September 1- Day after Thanksgiving...then it's the spiced cider scented oil, also courtesy of Bath and Body Works.

Oh Em Gosh!!!

Oh Em Gosh!!! Guess what I just picked up at the thrift store?
These little beauties.

I have been watching and waiting for some of these babies to show up. And my prayers have finally paid off (Okay, I wasn't really praying for them, but really, really hoping).
Somewhere, somehow I got the silly little idea in my head that I wanted to make a folding partition...you know, to hide any unsightly kiddie toys lurking in the family room. Or, perhaps to conceal a large, bland corner in the front room.
Anywho, I found these guys for $20. I think I am only going to use three panels for the partition and then cut down the fourth so that I can make this:

I'll post pics as soon as I get her done. But here's a little peak at what I'm trying to do. Use your imagination...think rustic and old, chippy and peeeling turquoise blue paint with a little black peeking through. Oh, and a cool vintage sheet music wreath like the one I saw on Miss Mustard Seeds Blog. I can't wait for the reveal.

Tutorial For Distressed Letters-Using Candle Wax

I know I mentioned something about decoupaging letters for my writing nook in my last post, but I decided to paint them using one of my favorite distressing techniques instead.
But first, remember how my "nook" looked before:

Looks pretty good, if I do say so myself. Keep in mind that I spent under $24 to create this little space.
That said, I felt like it still needed a little somthin' somethin'.
So, I decided to put letters inside the frames. I wanted them to look super old and weathered and I knew this candle wax technique would be perfect. I decided on the letters "e", "t" and "c"...an omage to my longwindedness, which I'm sure you've all realized by now.

I started by giving the letters a base coat of blue paint. Note that I used tole paint for this project. Generally I would use spray paint, especially for a bigger project, but since I didn't have the exact colors I wanted on hand (and becuase I was too lazy to run to the store)I used tole paint instead.

After the letters were dry to the touch, I scuffed them up using a little votive candle I had on hand (spiced cider scent optional :)) The wax is going to prevent the second coat of paint from adhereing to the letters, so bare that in mind as you are waxing up your project. If you do happen to get wax where you don't want it, you can wipe it off with a dry rag. In my opinion the more haphazard you are, the better it will turn out, so don't worry too much.



Next comes the top coat of paint. If you choose to brush paint rather than spray you need to be extra careful not to brush off all of the wax. I tend to prefer spray painting for this exact reason.

Once the top coat has thoroughly dried, wipe away all of the wax using a dry rag.

The base coat color with start showing through and reveal an awesome worn and weathered look of peeling paint.

I love how rustic they turned out.

And they seem to like their new home too.

I've actually used this technique on several larger projects.
My newly pimped out frame. You can go here for the how to.

And my bedroom dresser

I hope you try this technique out. It is super easy and the end result is always stunning and eye catching. Let me know how your projects turn out. Better yet, send me a pic or link to your blog. Good luck.

Anatomy of a vingette.

So, I had this weird little space in my front room that I didn't know what to do with.
Then one day as I was purusing the isles of my favorite thrift store I saw this little beauty. It was like being reunited with a long lost love. I swear I even heard fireworks. (Okay, maybe it was really gunshots. My thift store is kinda in da hood). When I saw her I knew...writing nook

She needed a little TLC, but not much. All I did was wipe her down and give her a coat of dark walnut stain.
I love the variation of her wood and how the dents and scratches give her the "worn over time" look I was going for.

Did I mention she only cost me $8? Bargain.
I put her in her new home and paired her up with these three little guys.


I found them at the thrift store as well. They got a fresh coat of paint in apple green and then I glazed them to make them look old and worn. These three cost me $3.
Then I remembered a thrift store purchase I had made a few months back and decided to introduce him to the gang. He fit right in.

Then came Mr. Twigg's. (An old, glass milk bottle I found at the thrift store. I dressed him with a few willow sticks from the backyard and he was good to go).

And Booksy. (This cool idea comes from my sister who saw it somewhere. All you need are a few old, hardback books that you don't might desecrating. You simply tear off the hard covers and...voila, a cool bundle of ancient looking books. I tied them up with an old piece of twine I had lying around).

Then finally Ole Blue. (This item was my only splurge as I purchased him at a retail store rather than a thrift store. Isn't he the cutest?)

Here's the completed space.

The best part is that I was able to do all of it for under $24. I am thinking about putting some decoupaged numbers or letters inside the empty frames so stay tune for the tutorial. This just goes to show that creating a space can still be chic and cheap at the same time.