DIY Archives - Page 5 of 8 - Kristen Anne Glover

DIY Variegated Coffee Filter Wreath

A few days ago, I posted this tutorial on how to paint tile. It was nice and everything, but what many of you wanted to know is, “How did you make that wreath?”

It’s beautiful, isn’t it, and perfect for spring.

The best part is, it was super easy to make (albeit a little time consuming). It’s also inexpensive because I’ll let you in on a little secret: it’s made entirely out of coffee filters. Hard to believe, I know!

All of the instructions, with step-by-step photos, are posted over at Embracing Creativity today. Won’t you stop by and say hi?

Painting Tile and Other Ways to Save an Ugly Fireplace

When we moved into our house, I loved the view. I loved the neighborhood. I loved the potential. But most everything else needed a lot of work.

We have been here nearly five years now (gasp!) and in that time, we have knocked down walls, pulled up carpet, blasted a hole in the foundation and put in a staircase…

But.

We have never gotten around to fixing one of the most hideous features in the house: the fireplace.

The way our fireplace looked when we first moved in…and the way it stayed until about a week ago.

Sometime, somewhere, someone thought a fireplace should be tiled in black faux marble with white grout. Sometime, somewhere, someone thought gold trim would be a great accent on said fireplace. Sometime, somewhere, someone realized this was a bad idea and tried to fix it by applying fake board and white trim to the mantel.

That did not help.

We bought the house with the horrible black tile and white grout. I spent many nights nursing twins on our sofa and staring at that fireplace until I developed a tick in my eye. I hated it so much. But, other projects always took priority until one day, I actually showed up in the living room with a crowbar.

Just before I ripped the first glossy veined tile off the wall, a thought occurred to me. Why not paint the tiles? If it doesn’t work, you can always rip them off then. But if it does work, you’ve saved yourself a bunch of time and money.

And that is exactly how I went from the photo above to the photo below for less than $10.

A lot of bang for my buck

Here’s how I did it:

1) The previous owners had attempted to hang something from the fireplace using double-sided sticky tape. Bad idea.

Because of the damage, I had to tape off the surround and spray paint it (in the house) using an oil-rubbed bronze color.

2) I did the same thing with the fireplace screen in order to rid the world of one more piece of fake gold trim.

God trim= endangered home decorating fad

This took many, many coats. In retrospect, I should have coughed up the extra few dollars for the more expensive spray paint. I used Krylon brand and was not impressed. DO NOT USE THAT PAINT. The paint did not want to stick, even though I lightly sanded the trim, just in case. Also, it flaked off with the slightest touch. Not cool.

I’ve used Rust-Oleum for lots of projects (including drawer pulls) and have never had that problem. So, I’ll very likely have to re-do this portion of the project because I was cheap. In the end, it was not worth a $2 savings.

3) While waiting for coats of spray paint to dry, I sanded the tile lightly then painted it with one coat of oil-based primer. I had some in the garage so this did not cost anything. If you have to buy it, go with Kilz brand. Don’t settle for anything less. It is not worth a bad result.

*P.S. I’m not getting paid to say good things about these products. They just work!

The surround after primer. It already looks the best it has in 5 years.

4) The next day, after the primer had dried completely, I painted over it with white enamel paint. I wasn’t sure what color to paint the tile at first, but I was hoping that painting it white would create a built-in look.

Besides, I had leftovers of the white paint.

However, enamel would have been a good choice anyway. This surround is not going to have to stand up to a lot of wear and tear, but I wanted to mimic a tile feel, and enamel paint is pretty close.

This took three coats of paint. If the tile had been a lighter color, two coats would have been sufficient. But that lovely black tile died hard.

5) We picked up some trim pieces at a local building supply liquidation store. The wide 4″ trim piece cost less than $3. It was just a little too narrow, so I purchased a coordinating trim piece for another $3. The handsome hubby helped to cut it and I nailed it up.

I painted the trim with the same enamel paint for a cohesive look. I did sand between the coats of paint on the top layer of the mantel because of some damage done to the top of the mantel (perhaps that’s why the previous owners stuck that fake wood on it!) but sanding is not always necessary. If you want a smoother look, sand. But I found sanding wasn’t really necessary for most of this project.

6) The end result is so beautiful, I wish I had done it years ago.

What do you think? Are you going to go paint some tile, or would you rather know how to make that wreath?

Upcycle Crib Art

My house is a typical Seattle-area split-level. The top level has three bedrooms, two bathrooms, and the only hallway in the entire house. When you look up the short half-staircase to the “sleeping loft,” this is what you see:

It’s a dead end.

Nothing about that boring back wall makes you want to go upstairs. Nothing about it says, “The upstairs is just as interesting as the downstairs!” which is kind of okay because that’s my bedroom off to the right and there’s a very good reason why the door is closed. And it’s not because I’m sleeping.

Also, there’s a reason there are no baseboards but that’s another post.

Anyway, that back wall has bothered me ever since we moved in. I hung a shelf on it which I decorate. With stuff. But, one measly little shelf does not do the trick.

So, I decided to stencil the wall. I even bought a stencil in a Moroccan-style pattern from Michael’s and kind of beat myself up about it because it was expensive, even with a coupon. But before I could get my paintbrushes wet, I stepped out into the garage and I saw this:

Do you know what that is? That is the metal bottom to my beloved white crib. It looks just like my stencil! It has the same Moroccan feel to it as my stencil only it is metal and it is a crib and it is something I already have which means I don’t have to paint my wall with a flimsy yet expensive stencil!

I hauled it upstairs.

My husband was working on a sermon in the bedroom. I told him I was going to hang a crib on the wall. Let it be noted that his response was not as enthusiastic as mine.

But first, I “antiqued” the frame a little bit by highlighting some areas with green paint. I didn’t go overboard on this because of my husband, who, as noted above, was not particularly thrilled about this whole idea to begin with. I thought green paint would push him over the edge.

I also thought about spray painting the entire thing white, or green (I’m kinda into green), or turquoise (I’m kinda into turquoise too) but I decided to play it safe. For now.

It only took a second to paint and not much longer to dry since I didn’t go overboard. Once painted, I grabbed a couple of these hooks.

The best way to hang large art

These things are brilliant. You can hang an elephant on your wall with one of these, and the best part is, it leaves only a teeny, tiny hole in your drywall. I. Love. Them. You can find them at any home improvement or general merchandise store by all the hooks and picture hanging stuff. They are called by various names including Hercules Hooks, Monkey Hooks, or just drywall hooks. They’re cheap. They can hang 30-50 pounds each, and I always have them on hand.

Except I just used my last two.

Always use a level

I leveled them up (you only get one chance to hang a giant piece of metal on your wall so you want to do it right).

Then, I hung the crib on the wall.

Yes.

I hung a crib on the wall.

I added a few accessories.

Those are my great-grandmother’s books. And that mirror? That was a gift from the good people at Macy’s when my husband and I registered there for our wedding. Actually, they gave us a silver picture frame, which I hated, so I antiqued the silver, added a mirror, and now I’m happy.

Upcycle Crib Art

The hydrangeas came from my yard at the end of the season last year. I dried a bunch and use them for everything. These I placed in a mercury glass candle holder (I’m obsessed with mercury glass). The candle holder still has some candle left in but it smells like soap and I can’t stand to burn it so…it’s holding flowers. The other little candle is trying to burn the house down.

Also, I made a little wreath to hang on the crib. I simply took a paper plate, cut out the middle, and wrapped the entire thing in a bit of leftover yarn. I made some paper flowers out of an old book bound for Goodwill (My Antonia, if you must know), finished it with some ribbon I scavenged off the floor while everyone else was looking at the presents they got for Christmas, and walla! A free wreath.

DIY yarn wreath with paper flowers. You can also see a bit of the green paint I added.

I grounded the whole thing by adding a collection of flameless candles (safety first, Mommies) perched atop an antique chair and on top of my grammy’s button jar.

Grammy’s Button Jar

Don’t you love the Moroccan pattern as a backdrop?

The Moroccans would be proud

This entire project cost me NOTHING. It took much less time than stenciling my wall, and the best part is, I got to reuse a part of a crib that has very special meaning to me.

Now, when I look up the short flight of stairs, I don’t feel like I’m walking into a dead end. It feels inviting, which probably means I should stop dumping things in my room so I have somewhere to go after I reach the end of the hall.

So what do you think? Am I crazy for hanging an old crib on my wall? Or do you like it?

I have plans for the other parts of the crib, but for now, you might want to check out some of my other decorating projects. There’s Jonathan’s room makeover which takes large-scale wall art to a new level using a projector. Check out the Great Gears! in his room.

For ideas on how to decorate a girl’s room, see the shadow art in Kya’s room.

You may also like to see the butterfly chandelier I made for Faith.I’ve been going a little craft crazy lately so look for more projects coming soon!

« Previous Page