Table Decoupage

Before we moved into our house last July, Jarrett built 

a little table for our kitchen. The plan was to mosaic it 

eventually, but 6 months went by and I still didn't know

 how to mosaic. However, I was learning about the

 wonderful world of decoupage!

Here is the table that I started with. 

Originally, we had gotten little chairs at a garage sale to go with it.
 But when I decided to decoupage it I set out to find some wooden ones
 that I could paint like the table. I found the pair below at a
thrift store for $9 total. I decided to go with a "crackling" technique
when I painted the table and chairs so
 that I would get that aged effect.
Click here to see the crackling process.
I started out with a tan base coat.

After the tan base coat dried, Jarrett and I covered the table

 and chairs with the clear crackle medium and let that dry. 

The next step was to paint the top coat, I picked out a dark purple. 

If you click on the pictures to enlarge them, you will see the

 crackling effect that the medium gave the paint.

After the purple paint dried, all that was left to do was decoupage.

 I decided to put one of my favorite sayings on the table and then 

I cut out the butterflies that were printed on scrapbook paper

 from Hobby Lobby. Once I had all of my lettering and pictures

 cut out, I laid them out in the design I wanted and I started 

gluing them on with Mod Podge decoupage glue. After all 

of the pictures were glued, I covered the entire surface

 of the table and chairs with several layers of the decoupage

 glue (letting the coats dry in between). That is the great part 

about Mod Podge it is a glue and a sealer! 

For better decoupage instructions and some other ideas click here.

Here was the end result! 

I love this table, now it is functional and pretty!!

~Supplies~

Table and Chairs, 

base coat of acrylic paint,

 crackle medium (any kind will work),

top coat of  acrylic paint

 (pick something that 

contrasts well with your base coat), 

decoupage glue, 

scrapbook paper/pictures/fabric etc., 

scissors

**Cost**

about $20 

I got the table for free, chairs for $9,

the acrylic paint comes in $2 bottles

 at Hobby Lobby, 

Crackle Medium was $3 (I think), 

scrapbook paper was $2.

Buttons Buttons Buttons

During the makeover this week of our back office 

I decided I wanted to do a project that I saw on

 the internet...a Button Lamp!

"Recycled Lamp Shade"

Recently at an estate sale I came across

 a perfect lamp for the project, at a perfect price - $7.50.

Now all that I needed to find were buttons! I wanted to 

cover the whole lamp shade like the picture so I was going to

 need a lot! I searched on the internet and thought eBay would

 be my best bet to buy in bulk, but I was concerned about

 the colors I would end up getting. Then I remembered that my 

Aunt had made me a button bouquet (more to come 

on that project in a future post!), so I asked her where she came 

across all of her buttons. She told me that all of her's were from 

auctions and estate sales and that she had enough that I could see if I 

wanted ones from her collection. So I gathered up all of her 

buttons and started picking out ones that I liked for the lamp

Lulu helped me

I picked out colors to match the fabric panels I am making for the office also.

After I had picked out what I thought would be enough

 buttons it was time to get them onto the lamp shade. 

I decided to try using a hot glue gun to get them on. This 

plan worked very well (just be careful, I dropped a button 

on my leg....ouch!) I randomly glued the buttons all over the lamp

 shade. It is a good idea to do this step while watching

 TV, it is a looooonnnng step!

After I got the lamp shade finished, I painted the base

 red. I taped over the gold around the top and bottom of the 

greenish part that I wanted to paint, then I used Folk Art acrylic

 paint and then sprayed it with a sealer to protect it from 

chipping. Looking back, I think that spray paint would have been 

a  faster option.

After the paint dried, I had my finished product!!

I was so happy with how this project turned out.
I can't wait to get it into the office!

I think I might even have to make a
button frame too!!

~Supplies~

Lamp, buttons, paint (spray or acrylic),

 spray sealer, hot glue gun and glue

**Cost**

around $10

Based entirely on the lamp you get and 

if you have an AWESOME Aunt with lots of buttons!

Glamorize Your Shelves

In our dining room I wanted a way to display my Great-Grandmother's
 beautiful Milk Glass. I put the pieces in shelves we had gotten
from Walmart quite some time ago. One of the shelves had even been
used in the office for several months to hold the printer and TV.
So, the shelves never really looked right with the beautiful glass
pieces in them. I researched how to spruce up shelves online
and came up with a solution .... adding fabric! 

This is what I had going on before the glamorization ...ugh

As you can see they needed some work. I started out pulling
 off the backing on the shelves, with a knife (this high-tech idea was Jarrett's).
The backing got pretty beat up, I had a lot of tears and holes
where all the nails were, but it didn't matter at all because
fabric would go over the whole back.

Here is the fabric I choose, it is from Hobby Lobby. I got 2 1/2 yards
 for the two bookcases, which ended up working out great.
I even have leftover fabric that I am already envisioning for another project!

All I used to adhere the fabric to the backing of the shelves was
Mod Podge glue (one of the greatest things on earth). I cut out a piece of the  fabric
that was bigger than each of the backings. I found that the best way to make sure
I avoided wrinkles in the fabric was by gluing the fabric down in sections
 so that I could smooth out an area before I moved on to the next. 

After I got fabric covering the whole backing, I flipped the backing

 over so that I could cut off the excess. By the way an "X-Acto" knife 

will make this project and a lot of other projects so easy!! Jarrett just bought 

me my knife set at Micheals last weekend, he's the best :)

Now that all the excess fabric was off, I was ready to attach the

 backing back on the shelf. I was going to use a hammer and nails, 

but then Jarrett brought me the staple gun he was using in the 

basement. The staple gun made it easy (and fun), 

but nails would have worked just as well.

I flipped the shelf back to upright and found out that my idea worked!

I dusted the shelves and I used a little bit of black acrylic paint
to cover up the holes on the sides for shelf height adjustments. 

I added the Milk Glass and some other items and
 the shelves finally looked complete!

~Supplies~
Shelves you want to cover, fabric,
 decoupage glue, scissors or and 

X-acto knife, a hammer and nails
 (or staple gun), and maybe some paint

*Cost*
per shelf: $20ish 

-$6 for the fabric

-$10-15 for the shelves
***Almost Free if you use old shelves***