Creative Ways to Display Your Photographs

Project #1: Tinting Glass Jars

This has got the be one of my favorite projects I have ever done on the show.  It was so much fun to watch a plain ol' clear glass jar transform into a gorgeous tinted glass jar! It was so super simple and easy.  In fact, I tinted the jars with only about 45 minutes to spare before the camera crew got to my house to start filming.  I'm not sure I should have admitted what a procrastinator I am, but luck was on my side with this project.  It turned out beautifully the first time around.  

  You will never believe what I used to tint the glass.  

Yep, floor polish and food coloring!  It is so easy, you just mix a couple of drops of any color of food coloring with the floor polish and paint it on your glass.

Drop in the food coloring....

stir it up with your paintbrush, and start painting!  I just used a cheap foam brush.

I held it over a paper plate to catch any drips.

and then all you have to do is let it dry.  I watched mine closely for a few minutes to catch any runs before they dried.  I used a dry sponge brush, and just gently touched the drips with it.  However, if you do happen to find a run that you weren't able to catch, just wash your jar in hot water and the tint will come right off, allowing you to start over!

I let it dry for about 30 minutes or so, and then added the twine and ribbon to the necks of the bottles.

To get the photos inside, I rolled them up, picture side out, and pushed them down into the bottles.  I used a wooden skewer to move them around a little bit, so they were facing forward.

I started with blue food coloring in the floor polish for the first jar, and then I added a couple drops of green each time I started tinting a new bottle.  I wanted each bottle to be a slightly different shade.  I LOVE how they turned out. I also loved how quick and easy it was to tint the bottles.  I wouldn't use this technique on anything I was going to serve food from.  I am pretty sure it isn't "food safe."  This technique is also not permanent.  It will wash off with hot water.

I would love to see what projects you come up with using this technique, so be sure to share.  I am personally going to be on the lookout for clear Ball canning jars, so I can tint them the coveted blue.  I bet no one will ever know the difference!

Happy glass tinting!

Style Made Simple with Mekette Hodges

Wow! It has been for. ever. since I have posted anything!  I am glad to be back at it though.  A lot has changed around our house since I last posted.  I think the biggest change is that I now work full time for Emery Telcom, managing 2 TV channels for them.  Our local channel 10, and a tourist based channel 6.  If any of you subscribe to Emery Telcom's cable service, you get the channels.  If you have Dish Network or Direct TV, you  cannot be my friend anymore.  Just kidding....kind of.  No really, I am just kidding.  But if you live in Carbon, Emery or Grand County, you should really look into our product.  You could bundle your cable, internet and telephone, and probably save a few bucks.  The worst part about not having our cable, is that you can't watch Style Made Simple, and that my friend, would be a darn shame!

We filmed two new episodes at my house today.  The first one was "Creative Ways to Display Your Photographs".  My friend and co worker, Mekette Hodges, was my guest.  As you can see by the pictures, we had a lot of fun! 

Mekette was so funny!  I will be posting more detailed pictures and tutorials soon, so check back.

Sea Shell Bathroom Decor

I finally finished some decor for my guest bathroom.  This is what I had in there before.

Sad, I know.  I am so glad I finally changed it!  In our previous house, I had the main bathroom decorated with seashells and this print was one of three that I had.  When we moved here, I wasn't sure what to do with this tiny bathroom, but it really needed something on that bare wall behind the toilet.  The other two sea shell prints I had got lost, or the frames got broken, I'm not really sure what happened to them.  So, I just hung this lonely one.  I knew it didn't look that great, but it was better than nothing, and I didn't want to spend the money to get something new.   While I was blog hopping the other day, I saw some framed sea shells that inspired me to do this. I couldn't wait to get started.  I remembered I had a whole bunch of sea shells from the bathroom in the other house, and I have a stash of old frames that I have stockpiled for years, so I went and pulled a few out.  Everything I needed for this project, I already had on hand.  There is nothing more satisfying to me than doing a project that doesn't cost a dime!

 The two frames on the ends are solid oak, and the one in the middle is plastic.  I knew the oak frames would be perfect for what I had in mind, but I wasn't sure how the plastic one would do with the paint/stain treatment I was about to put it through.  I primed it with a spray primer made for plastic and then I spray painted all of the frames with Krylon spray paint in Ivory.

I wanted the frames to have a weathered/aged look, so after painting them I sanded them a little to scuff them up and stained them with a dark mahogany stain.  Again, I wasn't sure how the plastic frame would do, but it came out fine.  It was a little more time consuming to get "just right" than the wood frames.  It also took longer for the stain to dry on the plastic frame, but it was well worth putting in the extra time.

After all the painting was done, I covered the backs of each frame with burlap using spray adhesive.  I then hot glued the sea shells in place, and that's it!  

before

after

It was that simple to create these works of art!  Who knew it could be that easy to fancy up your bathroom?

Refinishing Furniture with......Spray Paint?

Yep, you read it right.  Spray Paint!  I love this technique for so many reasons, no brush strokes and a super quick drying time between coats are just a few of my favorite reasons.  I primed and painted both pieces and then glazed them with a black glaze.  The primer I love to use is Kilz in the spray form, and my favorite spray paint is Krylon.  I love Krylon because of the nozzle--it is so great for spraying anything, but especially furniture.  The color for both pieces is Ivory in a gloss finish, and then I brushed a black glaze over both pieces after the paint was dry.  Glazing is a wonderful way to bring out detail in a piece or to get a really good distressed look.

Before

This was the first piece I ever did.  I was a little nervous to be doing it with spray paint, but I knew with this piece, I would have nothing to lose if it didn't turn out!  However, it did turn out, and made me a true believer in the spray painting technique!

After

 

Here it is all finished and in it's new home.   I still need to find drawer pulls for the bottom drawer.  They are an odd size, so I may have to end up ordering them.  It is in our game room in the basement.  On the top sits jars filled with art supplies and inside the drawers are all of our coloring books, construction paper, etc.

One of the very first shows I filmed was re-finishing this desk for my daughter's room.  I had been wanting to refinish this desk for a while, but couldn't decide what to do with it. When I finally decided, I thought it would be a great topic for a show.

Before

After

I love how it turned out, and so does my daughter.  I did this with the same paint/glaze combination I did the dresser with, but then I added a few decorative elements with chalk board paint.  I had a piece of sheet metal cut to fit the opening in the back of the hutch.  I had to clean the sheet metal with vinegar before I could paint it, because it is treated with some kind of oil.  After cleaning it, I primed it with a spray automotive primer and then I sprayed it with chalk board paint.  I used sheet metal rather than wood because I also wanted the surface to be magnetic.  The desk top was taped off in the diamond pattern and then painted with the chalk board spray paint as well.  The pattern was a little difficult to get right, but once the measurements were figured out, it went pretty quick.  I wish I had step by step pictures for this, but I didn't think to take pictures while we were filming.  If you have any questions, feel free to ask in the comment section, and I will get back to you as quick as I can.

All in all, I really like this technique!  I already have plans to do an old china hutch given to me by my Grandma.  I am just waiting for the weather to warm up enough to go outside and do it.  I will certainly remember to get some good step-by-step pics the next time around! 

Using Burlap in Home Decor

I have been seeing burlap in home decor for at least a year now.  I can't believe how many different applications for it there are!  You can use it for anything from wallpaper to just a tiny little accessory somewhere in a room.  I love the neutral color and the wonderful texture of it.  It works with almost any style and looks fabulous!  Above are some great ideas from various sites in blog-land.

The first project I used burlap in was this dry-erase menu board for my kitchen.

I got the inspiration for this project from a blog called Under The Table and Dreaming.

I wanted a frame that was long and skinny for this project.  I would have preferred to have used one I already had, or one that was found at a thrift store or yard sale.  But because I was being picky about the shape and size, I had to purchase it new.  I bought it at Wal-Mart for $15.  Luckily, I had all of the other supplies on hand, so the entire project only cost me $15.

The first thing I did was take the back off of the frame and took out the mat and the papers.

Next I cut a piece of burlap the exact same size as the back of the frame.  I just laid the back over the burlap and cut around it.

 
Next I sprayed the front side of the back panel with spray adhesive, and attached the burlap to it.  If your burlap has wrinkles or folds in it, you should press them out before adhering it to the back of the frame.

After it was all smoothed out, I applied vinyl lettering, that I had cut from my cricut, to the burlap.  Then I put it all back together and I was finished!

It looks as if the letters marking the days of the week get smaller as they go down, but I promise they don't. :)  I am just a really bad photographer and must have caught it at a weird angle.  Oh well, just another thing to add to the list of things I need to work on!  LOL!

Here are a few more things I did with burlap:

I had a frame with broken glass that I used as the outside frame.  It originally was a brown color.  I spray painted it red and then glazed it with a black glaze to bring out the details and make it look a little antique.  This project was done much the same way as the menu board.  However, instead of using the back of the broken frame to cover, I cut a piece of foam core the same size, and covered it.  I was afraid the back of the frame was too flimsy to support the inside frame.  After the foam core was covered, I simply hot glued it into place on the back of the frame.  Next I hot glued the inside frame right to the burlap on the front.  (FYI-I used a LOT of hot glue for this step!)

When I saw these awesome flowers over at tatertots and jello, I just had to make them!  I made napkin rings out of mine, but I think they would be super cute magnets or even hair clips!