Fabric ABC's

When I heard the news of the latest Pinterest Challenge at Young House Love, Bower Power, Hi Sugarplum, and Great Indoors, I knew exactly what I'd be making.  My niece is learning her letters and I thought she would love this.

I had pinned these fabric magnet letters made by ChezbeeperbebeVia Pinterest and I LOVED them. 

I headed over to my mom's house and got to sewing.  Here's my version.  (The I is missing, I'm hoping it's sitting on my mom's sewing machine).  I used this tutorial, but I made the letters bigger than the template.  I typed all the letters in Arial Block font using 300 size font and printed them on card stock.  I raided my mom's, sisters, sister-in-laws, and grandmothers fabrics.  The R is my favorite (it was a piece of a sleeve of my grandmothers shirt).

I also made a drawstring bag to hold the letters. 

My sewing has improved quite a bit. I can actually do a straight line and the curves for all the letters.  I was pretty proud of myself.  Have you tried sewing?  My next project...a quilt.  I already bought the fabric. Let's see how long that takes me.

DIY Zebra Painted Rug

My sister, Jessica (sister #3), had her eye on the West Elm Safari Rug for some time.  She wanted it for a small nook in her dining room.  We went to the store a couple of weeks ago to pick it up, but the size that she needed was only available for delivery.  Bringing the cost of the rug to about $130.00.

Which I guess ended up being a good thing, because she fell in love with this Capiz Chandelier.  She figured her husband would not be thrilled with both purchases being made in one day. 

We considered keeping my younger sister's old West Elm rug for the space, but the brown was not working with her new grey chandelier.  Here's a picture of the brown one.

We sent each other about 20 texts that night and the idea of painting a rug came up.  I found a bunch of links, including this one by Tatertots and Jello and sent them to her.  She was sold.  We spent a couple of days trying to find a cheap enough rug, the right size, that would work.  She found the perfect one at Ross for $8.99, yup that's right.

This is what happens when you try taking a picture of a rug with a three year old in the house. The Batman crawl.

We used painters tape to block out the small edging the rug had. It really didn't stick that well, so we pressed down pretty hard.

We used wax paper to trace out the pattern in the original brown zebra rug pictured above.  The idea was genius and can really be done with any pattern. It would work great with florals and other graphics.  Here you can see the traced lines if you look closely enough.

We used a can of Martha Steward latex paint in a grey color.  We cut out the pattern from the wax paper. Basically, it was our stencil.  We placed the rug on her dining room table, to make it easier on our backs.

We found the best technique was to dab the paint on.  For a few reasons, you can see above the brush, where we actually brushed the paint on, it changes the texture of the rug.  We realized this after a few rows of painting.  Also, dabbing allowed for the paint to get into the actual rug piles/loops (whatever that's called).  Having the wax paper was key.  We just held it down and it actually allowed for sharper lines. When we tried to free hand a line, it looked blotchy.  

Here it is.  It took the two of us about two to three hours to get it done.  Thank goodness for my mom who was doing crafts with my niece and nephew.  Without her help, I think it would've taken like three days.

We were actually quite shocked at how incredible it looks.  There are no texture issues and the rug looks amazing. I think we stared at it for about an hour after we were done.  Actually, that whole night my sister would randomly text me pictures of it.

Here's a shot with the fabric memo board.  She is going to have the space painted and add a desk or console to the area

What do you think?  What a way to save about $110.00.  We can't remember what the can of paint cost, but figure about $20.00 for the whole project.  It's not a high traffic area, so we think the durability will be fine.  My sister's philosophy right now is, if it lasts a year, she'll get the real one then, but at least she got her chandelier and her rug.  I would have to agree.

I'll be linking up to these parties

Golden Chalkboard & a Guest Post

I wanted to share some recent finds with you.  I found this fabulous frame at a garage sale a couple of weeks ago. The house was as packed as any hoarders show I've watched.  There was a path made out for people to walk through.  I'm sure there were some amazing things in there, but who could find them. I started sifting through some piles and found this lovely.  A great buy at $5.00.  The frame is huge, maybe 3 feet long.  It was just the frame, no mirror.

We bought a smooth piece of wood that my husband found in the as-is section for less than $3.00 and we had it cut to size right there at Home Depot.

I've been wanting to try chalk board paint for some time.  I bought Rustoleum Chalkboard paint and I loved it.  I primed the wood and applied the paint with a foam roller. 

I gave it two coats and just followed the instructions on the can.  The finish was very smooth.

Here it is.

I figured it would be perfect for my recent acquisition.  A mid century dresser for $39.00 at Salvation Army.  Can I tell you how much I love this thing. 

This next picture will give you an idea of the mirror's size. 

This last picture is a little sneak peak at my guest bedroom.  I will post it as soon as I have it completed. I love the gold finish and the chalkboard paint is my new favorite.  Have you painted using chalkboard paint?  

Another exciting happening here at JandJHome today, I'm guest posting over at one of my favorite reads, Primitive and Proper.  I'll be sharing some of my favorite projects.  Cassie does the most amazing furniture transformations and is a must read.

I'll be linking up my golden chalkboard at these parties.

Cherry Blossoms - Sister Files

I found these two frames at Goodwill for $1.00 each a while back. They've been sitting in my pile of stuff for my sister.  As I mentioned in yesterdays post, I am clearing stuff out of my house.  Which means, tons of painting and back breaking work.  I loved the frames (plastic again), but the paintings were not really what I had in mind.  

I used Rustoleum white spray paint for plastic on the frames. On the canvas, I used Rustoleum's Aqua.  I love the color choices and selection available in Rustoleum products.  They are my go to spray paint choice.

I then did the same technique that I used on my sister's chandelier with Annie Sloan Chalk Paint.  I filled a cup with about two fingers of water and then I dipped the tip of a paintbrush in the can of paint and then dipped it in the water and mixed it up.  I then brushed the canvas over and over. It's a weird finish at first, kind of bubbly, but just keep brushing and brushing.  Eventually it evens out and softens the color on the canvas.  It's hard to tell in the picture, but the finish is beautiful.

I got out my paintbrushes and started mixing paint. I had to call my mom, the art teacher, about color mixing. I only had a few colors on hand and was covered in paint.  I then drew some branches and cherry blossoms. 

I was inspired by this image at the House of Giggles.

The finish was a little harsh, so I did the same brushing of chalk paint and water over the painting. It gave it a soft, feminine feel.  I'm loving the look of it in these frames. Here's my version.

They will be hanging by the mirror, I posted about yesterday. I'm loving the softness of these paintings and for $2 total cost, you can't go wrong.  Have you tried painting?

Click  here to see where I'll be partying!

New Chandelier and Mini Dining Room Makeover

So after hanging the birds and branches painting last week, at my friends house, we felt that her current lighting was just not fitting in with the look of the paintings. 

A few years ago, she bought a chandelier online for about $40.00.  When it arrived it was not really what she had anticipated.    It was a little too brassy and antique looking for her house.  So it's been sitting in her garage ever since.

We spray painted it a metallic silver.

Then we used the same technique that I used on my sister's chandelier. We used a tiny amount of Annie Sloan's chalk paint mixed with about an inch of water and just repeatedly brushed it on the chandelier.  It took away the sharpness of the silver spray paint and gave it a bit of a grayish, whitish finish with a little silver shining through.

Here it is hanging in her dining room.

Just a reminder of the before.

Here's the after.

It turned into a total mini makeover and completely changed the feel of her dining room.  I love it!