I'm beyond giddy! I actually have a craft room!!!

Holy cow!  I have a craft room!!!  This is a dream I thought I'd have some year when my kids left the house...so you know like 10 years down the line...but no, I HAVE A CRAFT ROOM!!!

 

I'm just a bit excited if you can't tell.  It took a lot of work to get there, but we're finally DONE!

 

Here's how it all came about.

 

This was my husband's library/study/man cave right after we got it all put together for him.  We painted it, put in chair rail and a custom shelf for all his shot glasses.  Over the last 4 years he added to it with cigar paraphernalia, a couple of cube storage systems to replace the shelves, a different desk, a tv and more, but then he wasn't in there very much.  So one day earlier this year we were talking randomly about what I'd do if I had a craft room when suddenly he piped up and said "You can have my room."  I was like "WHAT?!?" and he couldn't take it back!  I grabbed ahold of that statement and held on tight.  Over the next several months I bought paint, picked up a bunch of this and that's to use for the rooms transformation while ideas just flew through my head.  Here's how it all turned out...just bear with me cause there are a ton of pictures!

 

Bright yellow with white trim lightens up the room tremendously.  I painted the black cube units with white paint and distressed it with a grey wash.

 

I reused 3 canvases I had from a previous project for silhouettes of my 3 kids.  I wear aprons all the time so I added a 3M removable hook that I had in a junk cabinet in the kitchen.  I've had the butterflies stored in my craft supplies for a couple of years.  They were the perfect little "family" addition to my room.

I added the kids' nick names to their silhouettes just to take them over the top.

The butterflies represent our family...Hubby, me, the two boys and my daughter!

The top of the door needed just a little something so I went in search of a crafty, creative saying to make a vinyl.  This one just grabbed me because creativity IS my life!!!

Here's a piece my husband and I made together.  This is a Pinterest inspired project.  I needed something to store all my paint and I loved the drawer idea.  This was a very inexpensive project since I found the drawer at Habitat for Humanities Restore for only $4.00 and we had most of the wood already.

Remember that custom shelf for shot glasses?  Here it is all crafted up!  I wanted several things that represented most of the crafting things I love to do.  I think I found a way to incorporate most of them.

I kept the wine glasses we used at our wedding.  They're special since they're Czech glass and our last name is Czech.  I added some of the insulators I had in the living room and then my two Willow Tree figurines.  I wanted two big wooden spools of thread, but they're SO hard to find.  Instead I found a couple of mason jars (another love) filled with wooden spools (for sewing).  They had the perfect colors...more on that later.

 

For birds & decorative painting I have a little hand painted bird house.  Yes, I painted that myself!

I love flowers and hand painting, and I love the One Stroke painting.  I would love to take a class some day, but for now I'll just learn from You Tube and play!

For my love of vinyl and husband I added some vinyl to the letter "E" as a template for painting.  I also added another bird that I painted pink with chalk paint (another love) and dry brushed with white.

I love my ampersand.  For some reason ampersands are so cool...just go with it!  I also added a milk jar (love) of ribbon!  Then, of course, one of my first loves is scrapbooking so I had to add a stamp. 

Owls!  Who doesn't love owls!  And more mason jars with buttons!  And last but not least are two cups that mean a lot to my husband.  They're replicas of the cups used on "Hunt for Red October" one of his favorite books and authors.  Our oldest's name is actually inspired by the main character.  So those HAD to stay!  That completes the shelf and I LOVE IT!!!  It's not too cluttered but comfortably filled!

Here's my work center.  I thought I'd hate this desk...it was the one my husband had...but I was WRONG!  I love it!  The plan is to paint it later, but for now it's just going to get used.  There's also this cabinet that the printers are on.  We purchased that well over a year ago for the printers, but it wasn't till I started working on the elements for this room that it all came together.  We removed a drawer and added wood to make it a solid shelf for electronic components that were necessary to keep in this room.  It's a perfect fit!

I plan to have my silhouette on the desk quite a bit so I found a piece of trim left over from the printer cabinet and tacked it to the desk.  It keeps the silhouette from accidentally getting knocked off the side.  Again, a perfect fit!

Here's one reason I fell in love with this desk.  My silhouette and sewing machine fit in the side cabinet just an arms reach away!  That is when I actually put my silhouette away.

Another item that stayed in the room is this handy strip outlet bar.  It is amazingly handy for all the different things I need to plug in.  The desk area needed a little extra lighting so I found something we had yet again to fill the need.  My husband had converted this liquor bottle into a lamp and filled it with rocks.  He'd never found the right shade for it so it just sat there in his study unused.  I removed the rocks and added clear, iridescent marbles then I added a decorative shade that I customized with a special fabric.  This is the fabric that inspired all the colors in the room.  I have one more accent fabric that I used for my pressing board and as time goes on I plan to make some throw pillows covered in the two different fabrics.  Oh, and then there's the cork board...we'll get to that later!

Here's one of the first projects my husband and I worked on.  I purchased the rotating tool storage system at Harbor Freight & Tools and he spray painted them for me.  He's better at spray painting than I cause I'm WAY too impatient.  The clock is today's latest creation.  I needed some kind of time piece in there and I wanted to keep it inexpensive.  I just purchased a wooden embroidery hoop and a clock mechanism and used the inspiration fabric, some felt, cardboard and tacks to make the clock.

Let me just say this up front...my husband and I are NOT carpenters.  We could never carry that label, but we do like to tinker...and we have determination!  That's what this shelving unit took...determination!  I had a very small space left and needed a deeper shelf to hold scrapbooks and tubes with vinyl so Eric and I designed it.  We measured twice and cut all the shelves, but somewhere in the process something was off cause those middle shelves were a BEAR to get in.  Get them in we did, however, and this shelf works GREAT for my needs!

OH...I almost forgot a LOVELY and wonderfully functional little addition to my desk...a glued on measuring tape.  This has come in very handy several times in the last week.  A little E6000 and a lot of patience!!!

And of course I can't forget my find at a garage sale.  I found a popcorn tin for $.12 and had my hubby spray paint it in one of the accent colors.  It's the perfect size to put a shopping bag in as a liner and it holds a LOT...which is a great thing in my craft room!

Moving around to the back of the room you can see one of 3 frames I painted and added different backings to in the room.  The first was the green framed cork board hanging over the desk.  The second is this orange frame with a white board added to it.  The third I'll explain in a little bit.  It's my favorite by far!  Then we have the two bird cages.  Right now they're just hanging there looking pretty, but at some point I really want to turn them into pendant lights to hang in the corners of the room.  We've yet to figure out the best method to do that, so for now they'll just be decorations.

Here's the storage side of the room.  My husband had 3 different cube organizers in his room.  They were the black or ebony colored cubes and way too dark for the room.  I didn't want to get rid of them cause they can be quite expensive, so I opened a can of paint on their butts (a tribute to Roy D Mercer)!!!  One more lovely find were these paper holders.  I found 4 of them at Hobby Lobby on sale 50% off but they were all black again.  NOT ACCEPTABLE!  So I painted them the 4 accent colors and added some washi tape around the label plate to give it more interest.  Once I put all my paper in them I realized I had room and the need for two more.  So I went back and low and behold they were on sale again for 50% off!!!  SCORE!  Then there's the glass containers on the shelf.  The two stackable containers I found at Hobby Lobby on an 80% off clearance.  I had NO idea what I was going to do with them, but quickly realized that I could use them to divide up the container of decorative gems I had.  Surprisingly, I had just enough colors to fit in the 8 jars.  I found the center container at the next door neighbor's garage sale and one of the other containers at another garage sale.  I had the container holding the washi tape as well as the box and mason jars on the wall.  The middle jar in the box I found at the same garage sale as my trash can and paid less than $.10 for it.

Here's a close up of the paper boxes.  I used my silhouette to write out the labels on all the boxes.  My font of choice is Great Vibes.  I used that on all the vinyls in the room.

Since I had all these cube openings I needed something inexpensive to hold "Stuff".  If you've shopped for the canvas or basket style drawers you know they're at least $7.00 each and up to $20.00.  I have a LOT of openings and I had NO desire to pay that much.  So Eric and I checked out Dollar Tree to find baskets.  We bought 20 of them and when I brought them home they were too wide.  DANG!  So we headed to a different Dollar Tree and THANK THE LORD they had these and they had 20 of them!!!  They fit great...not perfect, but great...in there with a bit of room so they don't scrape the sides of the cube.  I used my label maker to label everything and organize it.  I actually have a little extra room!  What a wonderful "problem" to have!

Just a few more things left to show you.  This white basket I found at the same cheap garage sale.  I literally spent less than $.50 at that sale and walked away with 4 things that are in this room.  Right now it holds small card stock, but since it's so open it may have many uses over time.  The blue box is the scrapbooking box I've had for a very long time, and the iron just hasn't been put away since I used it this afternoon.  That leaves us with one of my favorite items in the room...

My Peg Board!!!

Eric and I picked up this large frame while out antique shopping.  I loved the frame but had no clue what I was going to use it for...that is till he told me I could have this room.  Immediately I knew I wanted it for a peg board.  I envisioned the spools of thread on dowels I'd glue in till Eric said just use the hooks made for a peg board.  I purchased a couple of packages of them just for this purpose, but we had a bunch of them in the garage as well.  We also had the holder for scissors and hooks for the rest of my sewing items.  It displays and holds all my sewing items so well and looks so organized and neat...I just LOVE IT!!!

I can't forget one last thing...the name.  I needed something to call my area and my mom was the one to come up with just the right combination...Jenny's Jems.  Here's the fun part JEM is my mom's initials!  Yes, I know it's spelled wrong, but it's PERFECT!!!

We're back to the beginning of the room.  So, what do you think?  It's my little haven!  I can put everything away and get it right back out again...ahhhhhhhh!!!!!

Thanks for being patient with all my pictures.  Till next time...

 

Jennifer

 



Truly a Piece to a Treasure



 Close to a year ago my husband and I found ourselves at an estate sale.  We'd decided to go garage sale shopping on the spur of the moment and ended up at one that was really an estate sale.  When we left we'd bought this little end table.  We didn't have a need for it; we didn't have a spot for it...but we had an end table.  You can see part of it here in this picture.  It's missing a handle, but it had great details.  It has a marble top that was near to impossible to coordinate to a paint color.  I have gone over and over in my mind what I wanted to do with this little thing as far as paint colors go and had never come up with something that just hit the mark.  It's sat in my garage as a small paint can holding table and resident dust collector.  That was until a friend said they needed an end table.  Suddenly it had a purpose.

That's where it's story takes a turn.  The new owner's color preference was Traverse City Cherry by CeCe Caldwell that I've used on a couple pieces in my home.  Trouble is the marble top...not a good match.  So we discussed a new inlaid top that I was planning to dress up with some of Maison Blanche's Glacage and a bit of texturing. 

A little cow hide template made on my Silhouette with contact paper (yeah, that was a pain...note for next time *TRY SOMETHING DIFFERENT!!!) add some Glacage, Maison Blanche's Wrought Iron and Chocolat furniture paint, dark wax and clear wax mixed with bronze and gold mica dust for shimmer and it had it's new top.

Next was a paint job on it's body...

Of course it had to be distressed!!!  I cannot paint any furniture without adding the distressing.  Way too perfect without it!

Add a little dark wax in strategic spots and follow that with a full coat of clear wax.

Throw in a bit of elbow grease in the form of buffing and that old piece of furniture turns into...

PRETTY...

GORGEOUS...

LOVELY...

 

BEAUTIFUL...

 

TREASURE!!!

Now I have to send this home.  I may have to shed a tear...ok, maybe not.  In case you're wondering...I'm leaving the choice of drawer pulls to the new owner.  For now it's time to say "So long!!!"

Till the next transformation...

Jennifer

Something Special for my Sweet Pea

A little over a year ago my 81 year old Grandmother passed away.  She'd suffered for several years with Alzheimer's disease, but she was a believer in Christ so her passing was a sweet victory for her.  Over the last year my dad and aunts have been going through her things distributing pieces as they find them.  I acquired a small wooden box.  It had been given to my dad and they didn't know what to do with it, but knew I could probably find a use.  It was an old sewing box/bin with a missing knob and had bangs and dings in it.  My first thought was something for my daughter.

My daughter is 10 and she will soon be coming of age...so they say.  She shares a bathroom with her two brothers and I want her to have something special for that feminine, growing up time of her life.  Something pretty yet discrete since their bathroom is also the main bathroom of the house.  I'd been looking for a pretty basket, but when I saw this box I knew it was perfect. 

I started by making a template or stencil in damask to add some Maison Blanche's glacage in black.  It gives a dimensional decorative element that I love and it can add a feminine touch to this otherwise plain box. 

 



Then I painted the whole box Maison Blanche's Vintage Furniture Paint in Wrought Iron.

Once that dried I applied 2 coats of Maison Blanche's Vintage Furniture Paint in Magnolia.  I used this technique and colors when I painted my microwave cart (which I just discovered I never posted about...wow, how far behind I am!!!  Here's a picture.) 

 
I let it dry overnight then distressed it with a damp white knit rag...the kind you get at Lowe's, Home Depot or in this case Harbor Freight and Tools.  As with sanding it's important to go slowly with how much rubbing you do.  If you don't it could take off more paint than you want.  I don't worry about the original color coming through.  It adds to the distressing, but I also don't want a ton of it showing.  So I just take my time.  I especially want to rub in places where wear would be normal.  For instance the edges, places where it's rough and dinged up or hand holds.  And I really distress over the glacage!!!  I want all the details showing through with that piece.

Once it was waxed with Maison Blanche's Clear Antique Wax I decoupaged torn piece of scrapbook paper to the bottom of the piece inside.  I always use Mod Podge to decoupage and once it's dry I paint another coat of mod podge to seal it.  I found two pretty little knobs at Hobby Lobby to add to the top and that finished it off.

 

I didn't tell her this project was for her...or what it was for.  I loaded it up with necessities and placed it in her bathroom then surprised her.  It's all ready for when she needs it...even though I am in NO way rushing it!!!

 

Till another day...

 

Jennifer



New Bathroom Cabinet...and I'm back to painting!!!

It has been a while since I have picked up a paint brush...and I cannot remember why.  I love to paint, and I love to transform pieces from blah or so-so to beautiful!!!  I got a chance this weekend and I just love how it turned out. 

Our bathroom is getting ready for a paint makeover.  Right now it has a big ole patch of brown in the middle of a light blue/green wall.  Why?  We took down a gross 1980's big huge cabinet that was over the toilet.  We hadn't decided what color to paint so we just picked something to cover the unfinished sheetrock...that's why a big brown patch!  But that's getting ready to change...

First things first, we had to put something in there to hold what went in the cabinet.  That's when we found this new piece.  I'm not sure it's original condition, but when we bought it they had painted and lacquered the whole thing...like a TON of lacquer!  You could almost see your reflection in it the thing was so shiny.  It was cream and brown...not the colors I was going for...but I know how to remedy that! 

Chalk Paint!!!

 

 Here's where it started.  The top left is the original piece...at least as we got it.  I added 2 messy coats of Maison Blanche's Chocolate paint.  I didn't paint it everywhere since I only needed it where I planned to distress the piece.  I then covered the whole thing in two light coats of Maison Blanche's Magnolia (which is a lovely white).  Since the top and side inserts were already brown I didn't have to under paint them, so I just covered them with Maison Blanche's Robin's Egg. 

The bottom right picture shows my husband, Eric, adding a MDF shelf.  I painted it just like the top piece after we cut it to size.  I wanted this under there to put the TP to keep it out of the main body of the cabinet.  I love this little addition!

Once I was done painting I let everything dry overnight so that it would be ready to distress.  My favorite method for distressing a piece is using a wet cloth.  I have a big bag of rags that we bought for cheap at Harbor Freight and Tools.  It's just a bunch of white cut up t-shirts, but that works for me.  When wet distressing it can take a bit to remove the paint, but it can also come off quickly.  Just an FYI...when your piece is lacquered heavily prior to painting it is easy to take off too much paint during the distressing process.  Be careful how heavy you scrub!!!  I learned that today...a little adventure needless to say.

One of my favorite parts of this piece is the legs.  I normally don't like this style, but it paints and distresses so beautifully.  I also love the scroll detail at the bottom.  When I purchased this piece I didn't even know that was there.  It was so monotone and lacquered that the detail was lost.  Not anymore!!!  Oh, and I love the brown peeking through the blue...so pretty (with a happy sigh!!!)

Next step is the finishing and this time I tried something new...Hemp Oil!  I saw a quick demonstration of this in Wichita when visiting family.  She literally wiped it on and voila...DONE!  No buffing, no problem!  I loved it.  I spent some time looking up some tips and tutorials for applying it since I've never worked with hemp oil.  I picked some up this weekend and grabbed a rag to apply it to the piece.  I started on the side and quickly realized that a rag, no matter how "lint free" it might be, would be a pain in the tail!!!  It shed as I applied it the whole time.  It was quite annoying.  I did both sides and the top then moved to the inside.  That's when I remembered Miss Mustard Seed saying that we could use a brush.  Bingo!!!

I went to my stash and grabbed a 4" chip brush and poured some oil out on a paper plate with higher sides.  Man, that is the way to go!!!  I highly recommend using a brush for Hemp Oil.  I'm not sure that it's a less expensive finish vs. furniture wax, but it sure does spare some elbow grease with no buffing required.  I also read that multiple coats of Hemp Oil can be used on a piece.  One of the other benefits of Hemp Oil is it's heat resistance.  Wax will melt under higher heat making it a pain for table tops and other such items.  Hemp Oil will not melt.  I don't believe it seals quite as well, but I like how it turned out at this point.  Also, it did tend to discolor my white paint a bit.  I don't recommend it if you're looking for a pure white finish.  That would call for the clear furniture wax.

After oiling the whole piece I decided it still needed a bit more character.  So after research I decided to add some dark wax.  I just hit the spots that would tend to get "dirty" to add some age to it.  It really came to life at that point.  I just love dark wax!!!

Just look at the dimension it adds to this piece.  I love variance in colors with shading here and there.  That's what dark wax on chalk paint gets you...which is why I love it so much.  I will probably have to buff the piece to make sure and seal up all that wax.  I may add a thin layer of clear furniture wax as well since it is going in the bathroom.  That should seal it from dampness.  Oh, well...hard work and elbow grease never hurt anyone!

The last major step (minus adding more wax...) was to finish off the door.  It looks like this piece used to have glass in the door, but it wasn't there when we purchased it.  No problem...that's just one less thing to clean...I can always add chicken wire.  Plus, that gives me someplace to put hair clips and such.  I also switched out the hinges and the door pull.  I found a beautiful knob at Hobby Lobby and since I'm bringing silver in with the chicken wire I loved the fact that it's silver as well.

It doesn't hurt either that the silver filigree is quilled!  I think quilling is beautiful so this works perfectly.  I haven't mentioned my baskets...that will be in a future post.  I purchased baskets at Hobby Lobby on sale last week.  None of them were the color they needed to be so I transformed them...well, I haven't quite finished that process.  I still have liners to sew for the white ones.  Ok, no more giving that project away.  I'll save it for later. 

Here's the finished piece!  It turned out awesome!!!  Now I just have to get the bathroom finished so I can pull it all together. 

Till next time...

Jennifer