Creating a headboard for under $50

Recreating my master bedroom has been pretty much a year in the making and creating this headboard was a step toward that. I was determined to make one that would match the theme of my room and this is what I decided on...

What I used:

A slat of plywood

four 8" 2x4's

hardware to screw the wood pieces together

paint

staple gun

quilting batting

drapery lining (which is cheap and perfect for appolstering a headboard)

jewel buttons

hot glue

 

I encruited my awesome husband as well as my wonderful father to help me figure out what type of lumber I needed and how to put it together. We took a trip to Home Depot and got a piece of plywood and 4 pieces of 2x4's that were each 8 feet long.

After measuring the 2x4's and the plywood, I had my dad cut them with his fancy tools. Then my husband screwed them together and painted the legs. I am sorry I didn't take more detailed picutres of this process.

Once the paint was dry, I fit the batting to the front of the plywood and cut off the extra. Next, I stretched the drapery lining over the top of the batting and then had my husband staple gun it around the back of the frame.


We had to hammer some of the staples in because it was difficult for the staples to pass through all the layers of batting, fabric, and wood.

I found that no matter how tight I pulled the lining before it was stapled, there still ended up being some gathering. However, once I started adding the pintucks the gathering looked fne.

For the pintucks, I measured the headboard and made marks where I wanted the pintucks. Then, I made two staples to make a + sign over the marks. Once all the staples were in, I heated up the hot glue gun and glued on the jewel buttons over the staples.

This was the end result:

Recreaton of a buffet table

This buffet table was given to us by my wonderful in-laws. It is a very old table that had a couple of stains around the top and the varnish was almost rubbed all the way off so it was aching to be recycled. This has been one of those projects that has followed me to different houses that I kept putting off because I couldn't quite decide what I wanted to create. 

I finally decided that I wouldn't do anything too drastic and create a simple antique white and brown table. After I sanded it all down (with the help from my cute hubby) I then wiped off all the dust with a clean cloth. I sadly don't have a picture of what the original table looked like before we started sanding. I did not prime this table because I wanted the beautiful design from the wood to show through on the top of the table. Plus, there was no need to prime because we sanded down to the virgin wood.

After wiping it clean, I taped off around the edges around the top where I didn't want the brown to bleed down too much to where I was painting it an antique white. I then used a brown glaze (which I talk about how to make in the post about recreating the bench) and began to paint the top of the table.
I left this glaze on a bit longer than I normally do because I really wanted a dark brown color. Then I began wiping off the glaze, sanding a bit more and adding more glaze until I got the look I wanted. When I took of the tape, some brown glaze had dripped below the tape but I wasn't too worried because I knew the white paint would cover most of it.

Then I placed the table on cans of food so I would be able paint the bottoms of the legs easier. I then used a cabinet roller and rolled on two coats of an antique white with a satin finish, while letting about two hours of drying time in between coats. I had to use a very small paint brush to get close the brown top, which was the most time consuming and tidious. After the whole table was completely dry, I sanded in places that I wanted to look worn, and wanted the glaze to stick more. Of coarse after sanding, I wiped all the dust off again with a clean rag and was ready for the glaze.

Using the same brown glaze that I did for the top, just more watered down, I begin painting it on the white legs. Since I wanted the glaze to be fairly light, I watered it down a lot and would wipe it off fairly quickly. After I was done with all the legs, the glaze was darker then I wanted it so I got a lightly dampened rag and wiped down the legs. This is why glaze is so wonderful to work with...very forgiving!

After everything had dried I took my trusty cabinet roller and did two coats of polycrylic on the top of the table to protect it. I also allowed two hours to dry in between coats. As stated before in previous posts, because polycrylic is expensive, it is only needed to be used on the tops of furniture you recreate for protection. Such as tables, desks, dressers, etc...

The end result:

                                              BEFORE:                                     AFTER:

As always, if you have any questions on how to do a technique, feel free to leave a comment and I will try and answer your question!

A fun way to recycle old folding chairs

I was the host of a fun bridal shower the other week and I needed more chairs to seat the guests that were coming. So in my hunt to create some fun chairs, I found two simple metal folding chairs that had been pretty beat up.  After I washed all the dirt and grime off of them, I went straight to painting. However,  I wish I hadn't and wish I would have done a light coat of spray primer...
The paint still stuck but it probaly would have gone on more even and I wouldn't of needed a whole bottle of spray can per chair!...Nonetheless...it was a fun way to bring a pop of color to the party! They will also be fun to use all summer.

Next to you is where I belong...Bench Recreation

My husband and I were given this bench from family members who were throwing it out.  I gladly took it knowing I could recycle and recreate it's look. The bench had been previously primed white and then painted brown (which had been pretty well worn as you see in the picture).

I started off by sanding the bench to smooth the surfaces and to get the majority of the paint off.  Usually, recycling a piece of furniture that has previously been painted different colors on top of one another can be challenging. However, because I was going for an antique/worn look, I didn't mind the different layers of paint showing through so I didn't bother to sand off all of the paint. I sanded just enough to get a rough surface so the paint would stick. I also sanded just outside my garage so there wouldn't be much dust to clean up.

The next step I did was wipe down the bench with a dry cloth to get all the sanded dust off of it. Then I sprayed a light coat of primer over the whole bench. The great thing about spray primer is you don't have to completely coat the item...just a light spray so it gives the paint something to stick to. However, if I had sanded the bench completely down to it's original form, I probably would have skipped the primer.

After the bench was dry from the primer I started painting. I chose a color of "Tidal Teal" blue color from Lowe's and got it in one of the paint sample sizes (which is a half of a pint). I bought two of the paint samples because I wasn't sure how much I was going to use and they were only $2.98 each! I will probably never buy a 1/2 gallon of paint again, unless I am painting a room or such. They are great for saving you from storing a lot of extra paint and saves you a ton of money!
Anyways...later I found out that I only needed one 1/2 pint of paint to cover the bench. I always buy satin paint finishes because I feel it always turns out the best. I used a cabinet paint roller which was great to use and I didn't have to worry about streaky paint.

 My husband liked the bench just like this...I love the color but it wasn't completely looking like the image I had in my head...
So I then sanded the places that I wanted to look worn and the places I would want the glaze to really show up. After sanding I wiped all the dust off with a dry rag.

I then mixed 1 part glaze to 1 part paint in an old hot chocolate tin that I saved. I chose a brown titled, "cowboy boots" for the glaze color (that's the fun part about glaze is that you can choose any color you want!). Then I added a lot of water until I got the right consistency I wanted. Honestly, I typically like it to be really watered down and be pretty runny. But, it is up to you! The more water the more lighter the glaze will be. I then put on the glaze using a sponge brush. Make sure you have clean rags on hand to start wiping the glaze off.  Now, I love using glaze as oppose to stain. This is because glaze is sooo forgiving! You can leave the glaze on longer than you can stain AND if you don't like the way it turns out, don't fret, just paint some more glaze over the top and wipe it off and it will take off the glaze you had underneath with it. I even had time to grab my camera and take a picture while the glaze sat. Also glaze is VERY easy to clean up with water. After I glazed the top, I realized I still wanted the glaze to be more watery so I added more water. After I was done glazing the whole thing, and wiped off the glaze, I ended up sanding more to add character.

After the glaze dried, thanks to the help from a wonderful sister, I printed out the vinyl lettering and stuck them to the bench where I wanted. After I had all the letters in place where I wanted them, I rolled over the top of the bench with a polycrylic (using a cabinet roller again), which will protect it. Note: You do not need to use polycrylic on everything you do. I only use it on the tops of tables, dressers, etc...basically anything that will have items on it.  Make sure you use a water based polycrylic. This small can of polycrylic was around $18 at Lowes so I like to use it sparingly and did only two coats.

 This is the end result:

If you have any questions, just leave a comment below and I will try to answer them. Thanks!