Are You Tired of My "Upcycling" Yet?

I really hate that term. "Upcycling." I guess maybe it sounds too much like upchucking. ewww. I think we should rejuvenate or maybe reincarnate. Ooh--I like that!

This is the story of how a sad and dated (and a little mildew-y) Home Interiors picture was reincarnated into a lovely jewelry display.

Better, huh?

Our story begins with a musty dusty old landscape that was acquired at auction. Sort of. (Long story for another day.) It also involves some chalk paint, fabric (leftovers from a trunk I "reincarnated"), and nine decorative pulls. These came from Hobby Lobby and were purchased at 50% off (of course!), averaging $1.50 each.

It's a very pretty picture, but there was some mildew on the mat and the shiny brass frame seemed to scream "1980's!" Don't get me wrong--I LOVED the 80's, but come on....

I took everything apart, discarded the mildewed picture, and set the glass aside. (I WILL come up with a use for it!) Hang on to the backer--we'll use it in just a second. In these Home Interiors pieces it is usually very sturdy. Kind of like a very thick chipboard that is screwed into the frame.

First I painted the frame with white chalk paint and brushed on just a bit of antiquing gel to bring out the design. Once the paint dried I put on a couple coats of wax and buffed it to a nice soft sheen.

I thought it would be easier to get everything lined up without the fabric in the way, so I placed several decorative drawer pulls on the backing and marked their positions. (Make sure you put the top at the top and the bottom at the bottom, or you might not be able to use the hanger.) Then I used my Crop-a-dile to punch holes for the pulls to go through.

I used spray adhesive to hold the fabric in place on this one, but I have since made more and used regular old glue. I like using the spray better, but the liquid worked just as well as long as it was spread thin.

I trimmed away the excess fabric, right up to the edge of the backer board, and punched the holes again, this time going through just the fabric.

 Then it was time to add the pulls! Between two of the knobs I attached a short piece of chain for hanging earrings. The picture above^ shows the front,

and this picture shows the back. A pair of bolt cutters would probably work very nicely on these bolts that need to be cut, but, alas, there are no bolt cutters to be found in my home or garage. So I used the Dremel instead. It's a small electric rotary tool. You know, ladies--like the one your manicurist uses on your acrylic nails! There is a flat round blade that works like a tiny little circular saw and cuts those babies right off. But be warned--there are a lot of sparks involved! 

All that was left was to re-attach the backer to the newly painted frame, and hang it on the wall!

I just love it! It sold so fast at AvaBelle's that Mom and I each made another, so now we have two in our booth! Stop in and check them out sometime if you're in the neighborhood!

Thanks for stopping by! See you next time!

The Grand Tour

Whew! After several weeks of moving and reorganizing, my new room is finally (insert loud screeching sound here)!

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One week later....

OK! Let's try this again! My new room is finally ready for me to use! WooHoo!

I thought it was ready about a week ago, but there was a glitch with the computer. We had to move the biggest piece in the room away from the wall so Andy could redo the wiring. Ugh! 

But now we're up and running and I'm ready to make something! I have several pictures to share, so here we go!

This is what you see when you step into my room. Do you Stampin' Up folks notice that color on the top of the walls looks a lot like Baja Breeze? The bottom of the walls was already black, and I just really didn't feel like painting that much, so the black stayed! The wall to the left faces north and has a window. The wall to the right faces east and lets in great light. The desk in the corner holds the computer, scanner, and printer. To the right of the sewing machine is a tall narrow chest of drawers that holds fabric. Several jars of buttons and sewing notions sit on top. The old library table in the center of the room makes a great work surface since we had a new piece of glass cut for it. The original piece of glass met an untimely demise when it found itself at the wrong end of a shotgun in Andy's childhood home. That's all I have to say about that. 

Moving on....

This little storage cart fits between the chest of drawers and the cabinet perfectly and can be rolled out of the way if I need to reach deep into the corner of the cabinet. Before the move I had border punches on a shallow wall shelf, but I added the top two boxes so now all my punches fit here. Each box has Sharpie drawings on the front to show what kinds of punches are inside. Nothing fancy or elaborate--just practical.

This cabinet is eight feet long, twenty-one inches deep, and thirty-six inches tall. It was headed for the trash when I found it at our old high school. It's had three different homes in the last five years. Do you know how difficult it is to move an eight foot long cabinet?! Of course this is the piece we had to move when the internet went out! It's staying put for a while. Andy raised it about 6 inches so my work surfaces would have different heights and maybe my neck and shoulders wouldn't get so stiff from always looking down at the same angle. Isn't he awesome?! Just wait--you still haven't seen the closet!

An old Coke crate is the perfect size to hold Starbucks bottles. I really need to clean out some of my embellishments. Am I ever going to use thirty spice bottles full of brads and eyelets?!

Inside the cabinet is still a little messy, but the top is ready and waiting! We've worked our way around to the door (on the far right of the photo ^), so we're almost done.

Here, behind the door, is my curtain rod full of ribbon. 

I bought cheap shower curtain rings, added badge clips, 

and clipped the ribbon on by color. I think that's the 

best cheap storage I've come up with so far. 

Here's a close-up:

The shelves to the right of the ribbon hold my stamps, 
and to the right of those shelves are some shallow 
shelves that hold ink pads, re-inkers, and embossing 
powders. The small table below is actually a sewing 
table. Andy added an outlet to this wall, so it's a good 
place for the heat gun.

To the right of the "stamping station" is the closet. When you open the doors, sometimes you can actually hear a choir of angels singing! lol

It's so well lit that in person, it looks like a store display! The switch is wired in like a refrigerator switch. The closet in our bedroom is wired that way, too, and we've always said that if we ever build again we will put those switches in all the closets. (I really think Andy just did that so that I will keep the closet picked up. If I let stuff pile up in the floor, I won't be able to close the doors and the lights would always be on! He knows me so well!)

Last stop on the tour, around the corner from the closet, is what I have dubbed the work table. Andy built this for me several years ago when I was crammed into a 30 by 40 inch alcove in the corner of our bedroom. There's a pull-out under the table top, mounted on drawer guides, kind of like a giant keyboard tray. I can have things laid out on the pull-out but still have room to work on top. Nifty, right?!

The shelves to the left hold envelopes, card samples, and lots of tools and dies. I plan to leave the BigShot out because I use it quite a bit. The Silhouette has a nice home there, too, with the computer just to the right of  the shelves that hold paint, glue, and brushes.

So there it is! Now maybe I can get back to making! I HAVE to get my Christmas cards started!

Thanks for stopping by! See you next time!

Just a Peek at My New Room

Did you notice that I haven't been around for a while? The past couple of weeks have kept me hopping! I was in charge of the projects for last Friday's "Stamp Club." The next day I had a table at a local holiday show, so I had to make sure I had lots of Christmas cards and mini albums. Then on Sunday, Andy suggested that we move my scraproom--aka craproom! 

 When Cole graduated from high school in 2007, Michael moved into Cole's room and I moved from a tiny little corner alcove in my bedroom into Michael's room. Michael graduated in 2011 and ever since he moved out last January, I have been trying to decide if the extra space I would gain would be worth moving ALL THAT STUFF. 

 Oh, boy, is it ever! 

We started working Sunday morning, clearing everything out of the bigger room and piling it into the dining room, sitting room, and living room. We even had an antique rocking chair in our kitchen for several days! I moved, sorted, and rearranged all week while Andy was at work. We're still not quite finished, but we are getting very close! 

 I thought I had more pics of my old room, but I haven't been able to find them, so we'll have to make do with just one. This is what my work surface looked like on the rare occasion when it was clean: 

 It's an antique library table set at a right angle to an eight foot long cabinet, both topped with glass shelving that was headed for the dumpster at Andy's office (so it didn't cover the whole surface). On the other side of the room I had an actual sewing table for my sewing machine, a table Andy built for me several years ago that held the computer, and a small desk sat in the middle of the room like an island. I had lots of shelving to hold embellishments, stamps, and other supplies. 

 This is what you see when you walk into my new room: 

 The big computer desk in the corner is new to my room, but not new to us. We used to have it in our bedroom, but we don't have a computer up there anymore, so it needed a new purpose. I love the way it anchors that corner! To the right is the desk that served as an island in the old room. It's a sewing table again, as it has been several times in its life. There was just enough room on the wall between the computer desk and the sewing table to hang a couple of spool holders for my thread. Next to the sewing table is a tall narrow chest of drawers that I painted for my grandparents a few years back. They recently downsized, so the chest came to stay with me. It's perfect for holding all my fabric and sewing supplies. At the very edge of the picture is a plastic storage cart that holds all my punches. Well, almost all. The big cabinet is around the corner. You'll see it next time. The table in the foreground is the library table that was against the wall in the smaller room. I did a little work on the finish (just on the top) and had a piece of glass cut for it so it fits properly. It looks awesome! It might even be pretty enough to motivate me to keep it clean! You can't tell from this angle, but there is still a lot of open floor space. I could pretty much waltz all the way around the library table!

 That's all I have for you right now. I'll post more pics as I get the rest of the room situated. I can't wait to show you the closet--Andy wired a switch into the doorframe so the light comes on when the doors are open and goes off when the doors are closed! It's sooooo cool! 

 Thanks for stopping by! See you next time!

WHAT?! A Clean Work Table? No Way!

What on Earth is going on?! That's MY work table and it looks...CLEAN! (Everything is relative, ok?) 

We went to Mexico for a week--that's why I haven't posted for over two weeks--and when we got back I jumped right into designing some wedding invitations that were dancing around in my head the whole time I was on the beach. After that I couldn't see any of the glass surface on my table. Really. Not a pulgada to be found! (That's Spanish for inch!) Now about 60% of it is cleared of debris. Time to make something!

That cutting board in the middle looks like things I haven't put away yet, but they are items with a purpose.

In the top left corner is a jar of homemade walnut ink. That stuff is so concentrated! I made it a year and a half ago and you can barely tell I've used any. Working clockwise, there's some burlap, muslin, and cheesecloth (left from the wedding invitation experiments), a pad of Stampin' Up! Always Artichoke, green tissue paper, tan tissue paper, a saucer with some sand and seashells straight from Playa del Carmen, a cluster of dried up bean pods from the mimosa tree in my front yard, under the mimosa pods is a dried corn husk (saved from the tamale I had for lunch today), natural and brown hemp, and raffia. I forgot to dig the piece of wood veneer out of my closet for the picture.

Hmmm....

You're going to have to come back to see what I'm doing, but Kit, always ready to be my #1 helper, has a hint for you. See it? I'll be back in a few days to show you what I come up with and the poor quality cell phone photo of my inspiration. And most likely the big mess I've made. See you then!