Porcelain Canister Rehab: Freebie Find into Crafty Orgnaizers

I recently acquired a set of four porcelain canisters as part of a Freecycle run to score a kiddie papasan chair for Avi and a cool bulletin board with a crown-molding-style shelf for my office space.  The canisters were just part of the take: usually you have to pick up the whole lot o' giveaway stuff and sort out what you don't want later..that's just part of the exchange for getting the cool stuff!

But we already have a set of kitchen canisters (for flour, sugar, coffee, tea, and cookies).  These were actually part of a very large set of  pre-1970's USA-made Pfalzgraff stoneware in near perfect condition scored at a yard sale for $50, which we later looked up and valued on ReplaceIt.com for more than $800!! <-- just another reason to check out thrifty sources for stuff before running out and buying new!!  But I digress.

Unlike the Pfalzgraff set, however, these canisters looked really dated--in a large floral motif that looked like an old lady outfit.  So since they were free, I decided to see how easy (or hard) it would be to give them a facelift and bring them back into this decade.

Help me! I'm ugly!

Since they are porcelain and  stamped on the bottom, I did look them up online just to make sure they weren't secretly worth something.  They weren't.

Knowing they weren't valuable, and that they were FREE gave me the freedom to experiment, because at worst, if I totally screwed up, we weren't out anything.  That's a good position in which to find yourself!

So using just materials I had on hand, I set about to make these otherwise destined-for-Goodwill canisters into something useful for me.  It wasn't too hard though it did draw out over the course of a day because of the drying time in between coats, but the premise is simple.  Watch their transformation, and get ideas for that next thrifty find of yours!

Step One:  PRIME.  Since the porcelain glaze is shiny, the canisters needed primed with something in order to be re-painted.  I'm sure there are better substances one could have used to accomplish this, but since I only intended to use supplies I already had, I turned to a giant tub of economy Gesso (free from another Freecycle run!) and figured since you prime canvas with this gluey basic white paint, it couldn't hurt.  So I slapped a couple coats of Gesso on the canisters, letting them dry in between coats.

Step Two:  PAINT.  I consulted my drawer o' random bottles of acrylic craft paint, and chose, as best I could, four colors that looked good together.  I ended up going with bright jewel tones.  Once primer is dry, paint one coat, let dry, paint another coat, and so on.  It ended up taking THREE coats to fully cover up the flower print for the yellow and red, and TWO coats for the darker crocus and turquoise.

I used DecoArt's one-step crackle on top of the final layer of paint.  I must say I was pretty disappointed by the underwhelming crackle effect.  That might have just been the product of it being a one-step so there wasn't the second-coat in contrasting color to really pop the effect.  They do look mildly distressed up close, but no so you would notice from afar.  It did act as a sealant glaze though, so they went from matte to glossy, which I liked.

Step Three: DETAIL.  I wanted the canisters to have something special on them since the crackle turned out insufficient as a decorative effect.  I decided to use chalkboard paint so I could make re-usable "labels" on the front, to write the contents of the containers, which could be changed and re-labeled with ease.  I used masking tape to frame out a rectangle, and then painted it in with the chalkboard paint.  Do be sure the paint is 100% dry or you will peel it off when you remove the tape.  As it was, I did end up chipping some of the crackled pieces off whilst removing the tape, which I just touched up with a small brush.




It is recommended to use at least two coats of the chalkboard paint, allowing to dry in between coats.  Then once dry, being VERY careful to remove the tape, I pulled it off, touched up any little chips, and let dry again.

Then I used regular black paint to make some additional details, to make the design pop a bit, and help reduce any still-evident shadows of the darkest            
                                                                                    flowers underneath.

The finished set, ready to conceal all my little craft orphans!

Tutorial: Recycled Cereal Box into Hanging File Tote

As part of my goal to de-clutter our desk-area work station, I found myself in need of some type of "pending" receptacle to hold things like appointment and event reminders, bills that need paid, and other things that need attention or filed in their permanent place within the week.

I've mentioned before that I keep quite a stock of would-be household "trash" on hand for recycled arts & crafts projects, including cereal boxes.  I just scored a pretty blue framed pin-board with a built-in shelf from FreeCycle.  I thought having a little hanging file directly underneath in a complementary color scheme would be great, and because the desk-space real estate is too precious to be spared, moving organizational tools to the wall really makes sense here.

--->  FreeCycle is a recycling Yahoo group on which members post things they'd like to get rid of that are still perfectly usable and other members can get those things for free if they want them.  It's like Craigslist "free" section, but without as many spammers and no-show-ers.  The goal is to get things out of the hands of people who don't want them and into the hands of those that do instead of those things ending up in the landfill and others buying new. Visit www.FreeCycle.org to find your city.


So a family-sized empty box of Kix became the backbone of this easy one-hour-or-less project.  These are so simple and functional and could be used as pending, "to-do" or "to-file" totes, or in the entryway to store permission slips or other kids' paperwork that needs attention, or as a "take me with you" tote to hold things like small library books, coupons or other things you want to be sure to take with you the next morning.  It's lightweight and yet rather durable. And you can't beat the price!  FREE with things on hand.

Step 1-remove side panel.

You'll need:
A cereal box of the desired size
5 sheets of 12 X 12 scrapbook paper
pencil, scissors, glue, ruler
ribbon
hole punch

Make It:

1.  Carefully cut one side panel from the cereal box, starting at the open top and down to the formed end.  Do not pull open the glued bottom end, and be as  to cut on the edges as possible, you'll want to use this piece later and you don't want your opening jagged.  Then hot-glue the top (opened) flap of the cereal box closed.

Step 2- wrap paper around each side.

2.  Select two pieces of 12 X 12 paper for the sides panels.  Since the box was greater than 12-inches wide I needed some overlap onto the front/rear panels because one sheet wouldn't be wide enough to cover the box.  Wrapping the paper around the side takes care of the gap problem.  Holding the paper flush with the bottom edge, wrap around the side corners until about even on the front/back.  Crease the folds by running your fingers over the box edges.  Extend the crease to the edge of the paper as these will be cut-lines next step.  Carefully glue down the paper in place.  I used hot-glue for the whole project, but regular paper glue would work too, just give yourself ample time between steps to let it dry.




 3.  Cut the extending paper down the creases,



and fold over into the box, gluing in place.








4.  Repeat on both sides.

Box at end of step 4

Front and rear panel in place.

5.  Now take the sheet of paper that will be the front panel, center it, line it up with the bottom of the box and glue it in place.  Fold the overhang into the box and glue down. Repeat in back.

6.  If you would like to cover the side panel that will be the bottom of your tote, use the side panel cut in step 1 to trace onto another sheet.  You can skip this if the bottom will not be seen, but keep in mind even if you hang it eye-level or lower, when you sit down, you might still see the bottom.

Trace cut side to make bottom paper cover.

Measure and mark.

7.  Measure where you would like the handles to be and mark them in pencil on the front and back panels.  Make sure to use the same measurements.  For this box I used 4-inches from the side edges and 1-inch from the top edge.

8.  Punch holes where you marked using hole or rotary punch.

Punch

9.  Cut two pieces of ribbon the same length.  Decide how long you want it to hang first to plan how long your pieces should be.  I used 24-inches.  Tie a double knot large enough so it won't go through the punched holes from step 8 at the end of one piece of ribbon.  Feed it from the inside of the box through the hole to the outside, then back into the inside in the other hole.  Tie another knot.  Repeat on the rear panel.  Trim ribbon ends to look nice.  Use pinking sheers if fraying is a problem.

10.  Now you can hang your organizer!  You can print a label for it simply on Word, or use a label from my template HERE.  Just change the text to be whatever you need by downloading a copy.

Enoy!

Vintage styled girls' beret cap

Another crafty sewing project I tackled this week was an adorable vintage-styled beret hat for my daughter.  Ok, it started out for me, but I accidentally cut the elastic for the hat band a pinch too small and it ended up being the perfect size for Avi's head. After seeing how lovely the finished piece turned out, I think I'll do it again in my size.

I used inspiration from this tutorial here, although I changed things up. For one, the finished piece is definitely more beret than Garbo.  It's not a floating lining (a sepia toned floral motif cotton), but rather affixed into place within the layers, and I elasticized the hat band, so it's not a simple fold-over as in the tutorial, but rather a tubular casing through which the elastic was drawn and then hand-sewn into place within the rim. As such it stands up more rather than lays down flat.

I finished off with a fabric rosette and a vintage button, which helps keep the beret up on one side so it maintains that "tilted" shape.  The fabric I used was a luxurious satiny pin tuck in a dark copper. I love the look and feel of it, though it's a bit difficult to handle, which is why I hand-sewed it. I've had this home-decor material for a little while, but I've never thought of an apt project for it until I was inspired to try this vintage styled beret.

I've added this prototype to our Bonanza studio, if you'd like to get one of your own!  Send along the desired size for the hat band for a custom fit!

http://www.bonanza.com/listings/Girls-or-Toddler-Garbo-Beret-Hat-in-Copper-Penny-Vintage-Stylish-Pin-Tuck-/44827318

Dress Up Play goodies

Avi is just getting to the age where putting on dress up outfits is fun.  She really got into Halloween this year, having eschewed the Disney princess collections in order to be Bat Girl (her choice).  But she does watch Angelina Ballerina on PBS and does like to dance, so at the risk of offending her tomboyish tastes, I made a little slip-on tulle tutu for her while she was away for a couple days stay at her grandma's.

I made a wand (glittery chenille stems formed into a heart atop a small wooden dowel, painted gold, with shimmery ribbon trim), a head-dress (braided tulle and ribbon with a billowy back and curled ribbon) to go along with the tutu which had two solid and two glittered colors tulle, affixed to a sewn band of elastic in her size.

There are plenty of tutorials online for tulle tutus, but basically it involves cutting MANY roughly 30-inch X 3-4-inch strips of tulle (her skirt for a size 3-4T involved 55 strips).  Each are folded in half and tied onto the elastic band by hand.  It took a couple hours' worth of work for this piece, and another hour for the wand and headdress, including dry time for the wand.

I used rolls of tulle ribbon since it was already the correct width.  To give you an idea on cost and quantity needs, these are $4-6 per roll at Hobby Lobby here in Columbus, Ohio.  I used a total of about 137-feet (55 30-inch strips), or a little over 45 linear yards.

Avi thought the getup was "awesome!  Thank you mommy!" which is saying quite a lot!  She was happy for the accompanying "photo shoot" too.

If you don't have the time to shop for the supplies and DIY, I've added it to our Bonanza studio!  We can do custom color & size requests too.

http://www.bonanza.com/listings/Girls-or-Toddler-Fairy-Princess-or-Ballerina-Dress-Up-Costume-3-piece-set/44827044

DIY Washable & Reusable Swiffer Duster

We've been at our new place almost exactly one month, and the very first bit of dust is starting to show on our dark bookshelves and the like.  We haven't yet turned the heat on, which (yay!) is not gas, so we haven't had the   raining down of dust problem we had at the last place.  But, today my husband (who is considerably taller than me) said he could see dust on the decorative ledges in the bathroom, and mentioned it was probably time "we" dust.  "We."  Snicker.  Gosh that's funny.  Luckily, this place still has that pristine, new-place cleanliness that I've been trying so hard to preserve, so I made it my project for today.


When we were packing for the move, I found our Swiffer dusting wand 'thingy' under the sink at the old place, and I stuck it in a box with other cleaning thingies, even though we haven't had refills for it in goodness knows how long.  It's one of the two-pronged fluffy disposable cloth-holding dusting wands with a telescoping base so short people like myself can actually reach places which need dusting. At WalMart in my area, a 10-pack of those refills is $7.87, that's IF you can find them there and IF the refills they have in stock are the kind that fit the model you own, which is discontinued and replaced with something else, I think, the WEEK you buy it.  Harumph.  Almost a buck per glorified ruffly paper-towel dusting thingy that I'm supposed to stuff in the trash when I'm done?... No thanks.

(The DIY alternative, easy tutorial after the jump.)

Fall leaves tactile art project for kids, TUTORIAL

Fall is my favorite season, and having the extra time at home this year, the beautiful changing of the leaves has put me in a decidedly crafty mood.  Avi, who will be coming upon 4 years old in a couple months is incessantly interested in whatever project I've got going on.  She loves to paint, cut and paste, and of course, play-dough!

This project was great because it involved her at various stages of prepping and creating, and thus there was plenty to keep her hands busy.

I posted the process on Facebook, and immediately got comments about it being a must-try for other moms and their kiddos, so I thought I'd share it for all.

You'll need:  dry plain white rice, food coloring (for the fall-theme, we used green, red, yellow, and orange), ziplock bag, water, some containers (or I used a muffin tin), cardboard (I recycled an empty cereal box), construction paper, white school glue, watercolor, paint brush, straw, and newspapers or some table covering.

Step 1:  Dye the rice.  Use about 6 drops of food coloring and 1 teaspoon of water per about a half cup of white rice.  Mix it up in a ziplock bag until the color is evenly distributed.  Once I dumped out the rice into the muffin tins, I rinsed out and re-used the baggie, but you could use separate ones.

2.  Let the rice dry.  It should only be slightly damp from the small amount of water, and in the tins it took about a half hour to be dry to the touch.

3.  Meanwhile, prep your scene surface.  It will need to be pretty heavy since you will be gluing rice onto it later, but will need to be paper in order for the watercolor part to work (shown above).  I recycled an empty cereal box, cut a panel out and covered it with white drawing paper using a glue stick.

4.  Blown water color trees:  make a watery mix of trunk-colored watercolor.  Mine come in tubes, but you could adapt for tray watercolors.  Using a brush, dab a tiny puddle onto the bottom of the page and let your child blow the droplet up the page with a drinking straw.  This will make random tree-like branches, which is a neat treat to watch as your child figures this out.  Stand by to add more paint droplets where needed, and encourage your child to blow in different directions.

5.  Paint in the trunks with a brush.

6.  Dab white school glue around the tree branches however you/your child likes.  We also made a line of glue at the bottom just for green to be grass.  Sprinkle on the rice randomly over all the glue until covered.

 (This was Avi's favorite part!)

7.  When the glue is dry (about half hour depending on how thickly it was applied), tap the excess rice off the page.  Viola!  Pretty falling leaves rice scene!

If you were smart and covered your surface with newspaper, you can just wad it all up and sack it in the trash.  No big mess here!

Hope you enjoy this little project--my kiddo sure did!