Table Upgrade

Today was Spraypaint Saturday 2012.  (You didn't know it was Spraypaint Saturday?  Oh, don't worry: neither did I until the whim struck mid-afternoon!)  I had 4 projects on the go.  Take a look at project number one.

The biggest project of the day was an IKEA table upgrade.  A before shot would have been a good idea, but I guess I missed that step.  This came from Dan's bachelor pad: can you guess why it had been relegated to the basement storage room?

No, he's not a hobbyist butcher or anything.  It's a combination of tea and black cherry juice stains.  Pretty gross.

Step One was to sand the table top.  The stains were significantly reduced with some 100-grit sandpaper (leftover from my ongoing dresser redo) and then I wiped down the table with a damp, dish-soapy rag.

Step Two was to give the table a skirt, made of newspaper and painter's tape.  I had fun reading the sale flyers while I made the skirt (they only arrived this morning; there are some good deals at Shoppers Drug Mart this week, by the way).

I got smart this time and saved what's left of our sunburned lawn with plastic drop sheet.

Step Three was to prime the table top.  This was my first time using a spray-on primer.  It is surprisingly messy stuff!

Now, the original plan was to paint the tabletop with the leftover Peacock Blue cabinet paint, but when I read the labels on the spray cans and realized that I could spray over top of the primer after only 20 minutes, well...I grabbed some leftover black paint and made quick work of it.

Ta da!  My sophisticated, stain-free table is complete.  This is the start of the craft corner set-up in our rec room.

What is that black thing on the left?  It's Project Number Two, which should be dry enough to hang and share tomorrow.

Project Cost:

$0.00 for a table from the furnace room

$5.00 for a can of primer

$4.00 for 2/3 can of black spray paint

$2.00 for the drop cloth

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$11.00 craft table!  Hooray!

Last Holiday Thriftcraft Hurrah

This is it.  Holidays have come to an end.  Tomorrow will be the mad scramble of preparations before school begins again on Monday.  I couldn't let the day go by without a craft...or two.

It's been a yarn-free weekend.  I found a tutorial for a t-shirt scarf at A Diamond In the Stuff.  (Follow the link for the full explanation.  She does a great job of explaining it.)

I successfully made a green version today, although it's more of a necklace than a scarf.

This was made from a polka dotted t-shirt, so I was disappointed that the fabric curled the other way and only a bit of polka dots popped through.

I'm not over the moon about this one, but I'm going to think about what kind of bling I could add to it and I might save it for Spring.

Cost of the bling-free scarf/necklace: $1.00 for a thrift-store t-shirt.  (Free, if you've got an old or damaged shirt hanging around.)

If you're going to give this craft a whirl, know that the t-shirt fabric must be a jersey knit.  My first attempt was with a cherry pink ribbed knit t-shirt.  While it was a fail, I'm happy to report that I'll be able to turn it into all kinds of funky little rosettes like this one:

Finally, I framed and mounted another piece of sheet music.  It was hard to photograph, thanks to the glare from the glass, but this is going to hang in our bathroom.  I think it's a charming little phrase to have reflected beside my face in the mirror. :)

You can find a quick and simple set of instructions in an earlier blog post.

Cost of this project:  The sheet music was a $1.00 find from an antique mall somewhere near Ithaca, NY.  The frame was a $12.00 special at Michael's.  $13.00 framed decor sounds like a good deal to me!

Sheet Music Art

I love the simple graphics and designs on old sheet music. When I came across this particular piece of 1920s schmaltz, titled "Cut Yourself a Piece of Cake and Make Yourself At Home," I was instantly struck with an idea of how to incorporate it into our dining room. (It's hanging right above the piano, of couse!)

The pictures below should make this project pretty simple, if you wanted to try it yourself. Simply cut off the cover (I used my Fiskars paper trimmer) and then slice the actual sheet music into smaller pieces to collage together as a background. I purchased a frame that came with a mat and used double-sided tape to secure everything to the sample picture that came in the frame.



Cost of the project:
$0.50 for the sheet music at the thrift store
$17.99 for the frame (on sale)
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$18.49


1. Attach sheet music bits to the sample picture that comes in the frame...
2. Centre the sheet music cover over the collage. Use double-sided tape to secure it in place...
3. Lay the matting over top to make sure you haven't missed covering any visible spots. (No need to tape this part.)