Fancified Frames....Via Individual Rivalry and a DIT (Do-It-Too)

My friend Sheena from Individual Rivalry made this incredible frame on her site. I had to try it! I was fantastic - a frame and some glue. I decided to try it.

I had this old frame- completely nondescript. I wanted to use it for a really cute quote I hope to print.

I took Sheena's advice on her site and decided to give puff paint a go. I happened to have some from a craft I started and ended up going in another direction...like THAT ever happens, right?! {Gee, can you GUESS which holiday it MIGHT have involved?}

 

 

I'm not a great artist. My designs are not fantasmic. I know. I tried to copy a frame that I found on the Internet. This is to inspire YOU, okay?

I did the whole frame...I found that the different bottles had different 'flow'. The red came out more prone to air bubbles and splatters. I recommend buying at least two so that you can cover the entire frame and so that you have other means in which to fix flubs.

After the puff paint dried I took it into my garage and gave it ONE {yay!} coat of spray paint.

I did a few more small touch ups- just in case. (Actually, my youngest decided to pick some of the puff paint off and I had to do damage control.)

So now I need to find my way to a printer... but meanwhile- start thinking up some neat twists to this here terrific idea- Thanks Sheena!!

 

Check out MMMblog for our upcoming boutique announcement!!

DIY Pallet Signs!

 Courtney's cute mom saw a darling wood plank sign of a pink elephant a bit ago. She really liked it. But the elephant was pink...it only had TWO legs and it had a hefty price tag.

So, the two of us decided to make her one- exactly the way SHE wanted it and for WAAAAY less money.

It began this way:  Home Depo wood planks for $.97/ piece. Cut to size- we'll be able to use the scraps for another project- we really actually didn't spend that much on this board. We cut them (more specifically Mr. Fabulous did).

We assembled them will additional planks and some nails.

 We ended up with this LOVELY 4'x3' bunch of planks, ie, blank CANVAS.....

We started painting. We started with ivory spray paint. Just a heads up. The paint SOAKED into the wood doing almost nothing. We tried spray paint primer...yeah right. We went BACK to Home Depot and purchased paint...mixed by the sweetest older gentleman. We bought some rollers and started again.

It worked terrific and it all went pretty fast!

When it was dry (two minutes later) I started sanding the boards for that "antiqued-vintage" look we were going for.

After the sanding, we stood the board up, darkened the garage and then using a projector to project the exact elephant image we wanted up the on the board, started tracing it onto the board.

We brought it inside to my kitchen and started painting the elephant! We had debated over what type of brush to use. We bought all different kinds and ended up staying with what we knew best- foam brushes! It was the right choice. It gave us the control we needed to keep lines straight but also the ability to show some of the wood's 'character'. 

We did touch up with a smaller brush, though. Note the eye in this picture compared to the finished elephant eye. It was nice to have that option.

After the paint dried, we sanded again. We wanted it a little distressed- but not a whole lot.

Here's the finished product! On it's way to Countney's mom!

It's TULLE this week on MindyMaes Blog! Head over there for some cute ideas!

Pulling You Along! Mindy Maes Market Knobs!

We just got these gorgeous knobs into the store and I just had to put them to work somewhere in my house!  I wasn't sure if I wanted a hanging rack...so I have a few other projects with these included, too!

We started with an old window we salvaged from a barn recently torn down. {Yay for fun finds!} 

 I just LOVE the paint and the hardware...the rust and the dirt {fabulous!}.

 We set out the knob to get a general idea for placement...isn't this going to be beautiful?

Here are the knobs...six different yummy designs!

We removed the hardware- so as to not ruin whatever wall the organizer would be hanging on.

 We pre-drilled the holes to make screwing them into place a little easier.

Then we commence with screwing each knob into place. This was harder than I anticipated. I now have rose-shaped tender-spots in each of my palms.

 

 Our finished product! So cute...AND functional!

Cupcake Stands -4- CHEAP!

I love cupcakes. I love cakes. I also love stands for cupcakes and cakes. We sell sets of three in our shop {MMM} for quite a price. I thought I'd make a couple of my own cupcake stands.

Our sets of three come in 3 sizes: Large, Medium and Mini.

Plaques for all tastes....and size desires.

I didn't sand these. I probably should have. I probably will later- and follow with some stain or a spray of polyurethane. I took a quick trip to my local craft store and picked up some paint and a brush or two.

I liked the turquoise with this ADORABLE{!!} beaded trim I found in one of the aisles. I was soo excited to find it! It was the perfect touch and for $1.99/yard- of which I bought ONE yard, it was the perfect price, too!

I added the trim with a hot glue gun- carefully folding over the edges of the trim at the corners.  I painted the entire plaque before doing that....and I tried putting velcro on first. {BTW- total craft FAIL. The velcro showed and lifted the trim off more than a fraction of an inch. I was sad. I really hoped to make an interchangable cake stand.) I used E6000 to adhere the candlestick to the plaque but I probably could have just used hot glue (I ran out...WHO DOES THAT? I mean, isn't that like a craft-crime?)

Here's the finished set...be sure I'll be making QUITE a few more! It took me all of thirty minutes!

Up-close and personal! Maybe I'll even make some for a few of my neighbors...I think all together It'll end up that I spend $16 for three {and not all items were used yet-- with left over paint & embellishments}. If you already had those items, it would be even cheaper!

Head over to MMMblog for one more YARN tutorial- which was supposed to be mine...but...you got this one. ;)



The Art of Clipboard Design...Part III- Clipboard Station

I now have six self-designed clipboards...enter husband. He always is around for the finishing parts. We had some MDF lying around in the garage (as always), so we cut 4 equal planks.

We attatched the planks to the wall with finishing nails, using the clipboard as our measuring tool and we placed them where there was about 1" clearance above the plank and then a 1" clearance below the plank, as well. We then attatched the clipboards to the planks - we eyeballed (much to husband's chargrin) the placement on the planks.

They all fit neatly onto the planks and looked really clean with the finishing nails. I can barely make some of them out!

We did the same thing with the second set of clipboards- eyeballing. ;) 

Here's the second set all lined up and ready to hold all those crazy papers!

So here's our finished product- kind of a pretty gallery of organizational goodness, yes?  I love that my family all seemed to gravitate to the orange. That says something, doesn't it? If I remember orange increases appetite...great- perfect for my kitchen!

Pop over to Mindy Mae's Blog to see what the next craft theme will be for Saturday!

Nikki's Niche- Fabric Scrap Desk Hutch

I started this post a bit ago...in segments. When I went to download this tutorial, mid and end segments were gone! {gasp!}

(Along with the puppy photo-shoot I did with my sister-in-law. Whoops.) So for the sake of time I'll show you what I've been up to!

I've had this desk hutch for a while and I wanted to dress it up a bit.  I started with some left-over purple paint.

I finished with the purple and added some touches of pink...why not?

(Here's where I lost my pics)  I pulled out my spray adhesive and scraps of fabric that we have every now and then on Mindy Mae's Market.

I arranged the fabric on the cork board first, to give me an idea of how it might need to lay.

The I went back with the spray adhesive, which I sprayed directly onto the back of the fabric and attached it layer by layer.

Here's the finished product. I'll be honest- I added some ricrac and fabric lace tape around the perimeter of the top portion....and ended up taking it off. It was just a little too much.

It's colorful and fun in a place that wasn't before and I'm excited to use it now!