home decor projects

DIY Mixed Media Portrait On Reclaimed Wood

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Today I am sharing how to create a mixed media portrait on scrap wood. This project involves layering acrylic paint, distress ink and paper with Mod Podge for a unique and personal piece of art that is all you! Some of you may be thinking, “but I can’t draw or paint”. Yes you can. Last year at some point I ordered a video from Cloth Paper Scissors Called All about Faces, with mixed media artist Julie Fei-Fan Balzer. This fantastic workshop helped me overcome my fear of creating faces, and drove home the fact that we may not all be able to draw realistically, but we can all draw and our art will get it’s point across!

SUPPLIES:

Mod Podge Matte

Foam Brushes, Watercolor brushes size 0, small and med round

Gesso and Brush

Scrap Wood

Collage paper scraps

Acrylic Paints: Titanium White, Titan Buff, Burnt Sienna, Red, Black, Aqua, Blue, Green Used here

Distress ink Pads Walnut and Antique Linen

Brayer

Background stamps

White Gel Pen

Graphite Pencil

Eraser

All About Faces with Julie Fei-Fan Balzer

TUTORIAL:

I cut a scrap piece of 3/4 inch plywood into two 12 inch squares and painted a layer of gesso on top of each. Let dry.

Cover gesso in thin layer of Mod Podge, then adhere random collage papers in coordinating colors. Cover papers with layer of Mod Podge and let dry.

Run a smooth or textured brayer through 2 colors of acrylic paint that coordinate with your background papers. I used green and Titan Buff. Randomly run brayer over papers to create background interest. Add one or 2 drops of alcohol ink in to leftover paint and brayer in different areas. Let dry.

Sketch outline of object. Fill in skin and clothing with acrylic wash (water plus paint) and dab with paper towels to reveal paper underneath until you are happy with the look.

Paint in the details as shown and let dry. Outline with fine detail watercolor brush and black acrylic paint. The video linked above gives great tips for face painting, but basically use 3 colors; light, medium and dark for creating the dimension.

I ended up tearing strips of washi tap and filling in the arms and skirt. I used distress stain to color the skirt. I stamped “Love” with black acrylic paint. The lettering around the head I did with size 0 paintbrush and black acrylic paint. Play with hand lettering on scrap paper to get the feel for it.

More mixed media to come!

DIY Faux Wood Pallet Sign With Foam

by Johnnie Collier

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Remember over the summer when I shared how to make a faux wood pallet American flag from foam? Today’s project, much like the flag, uses Smooth Finish™, a paintable coating for FloraCraft® Make It: Fun® Foam to create what looks like wood pallet art, but weighs much less and doesn’t require power tools! Follow along and see how to create this “LOVE” faux wood pallet piece.

SUPPLIES:

Smooth Finish™

Make it Fun® Foam 2 – 1″ x 12″ x 36″ sheets

StyroGlue®

Foam Cutter (you don’t have to have a special cutter, but it makes the process much easier)

Serrated kitchen knife waxed with candle or soap if you don’t have a foam cutter

Antique white chalk paint

Mod Podge Mat Finish

Antiquing glaze

Lint free cloth

Yardstick/straight edge and sharpie

Craft stick for stirring

Putty knife or spatula

Pre cut Chipboard letters or Die cut machine and cardboard

Black Screws

TUTORIAL:

I used three 6 inch planks for my wall art piece. That means I cut the 12×36 inch pieces in half long ways. Use a straight edge and marker to draw the line.

I clamped two of the foam sheets together to cut them in half both at once.

Stir the Smooth FInish with a craft stick and apply with putty knife to foam.

Once the Smooth Finish is dry, paint with your choice of paint color.

Insert connectors (about 3 for each connection site) and glue along entire slat edge.

I prepared my letters by cutting several of each from cardboard and gluing them together with paper cement. I cut one each out of coordinating scrapbook paper, glued that as top layer, and sanded/inked the edges. I used clamps and scrap wood to apply pressure to glued planks and let that dry overnight.

I used short black screws for aesthetics, and glued letters to planks using Fabri-tac. I hung my piece by piercing it with a single nail in the wall. That’s it! I adore my new piece!

Visit Sharon at Crafts n Coffee Blog for great tips, tricks and project ideas using foam.

DIY Dollar Tree Halloween Door Bats & $100 Giveaway

by Johnnie Collier

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As you may know, Dollar Tree is one of my favorite places to go for creative project supplies. I love wandering through the aisles letting my imagination run wild with ideas. Just recently, I discovered Dollar Tree Value Seekers Club, which is packed with crafts, recipes, décor, tips, contests, insider information, frugal fun ideas, and other awesomeness. You can join too, for free, and get a chance to win a $20 Dollar Tree gift card! You will never run out of seasonal inspiration, as the creative content changes each month. Just pick out a project, print the project sheet or save it to your phone, and then use it as your shopping list in the store! Today I am sharing how I created this bat door using Dollar Tree supplies and a bat template I found while browsing the fun Halloween projects. It is super simple and it cost just $3.

***I received compensation for this post. All opinions are mine and honest!

DOLLAR STORE SUPPLIES:

You can use Dollar Tree black poster board, construction paper or foam sheets for your bats; For the number of bats I made, I used 2 sheets of poster board

Scissors or Die cut machine with software you can use to cut imported images

Bat Template Available at Dollar Tree Value Seekers Club

Printer unless you are using die cut machine

Clear tape

TUTORIAL:

Download and print the bat template from Dollar Tree Value Seekers Club “Front Door Bat Printable” project, or download and open in your die cut machine’s software. I used Sure Cuts A Lot (which I don’t think is available anymore) and my Cricut machine.

If not using die cut machine, cut out the bats on the free template with scissors,tape to your black poster board and cut around them to create your bats.

Tape your bats to the door and enjoy!

I love the look and the simplicity of this project. Join Dollar Tree Value Seekers Club for it, and tons more inspiration!

$100 Dollar Tree gift card giveaway

Want to win $100 from Dollar Tree? Sign up for Dollar Tree Value Seekers Club and leave me a comment below this post telling me which project you want to try if you win! Good luck.

Here are some other great projects inspired by Dollar Tree Value Seekers Club:

Revamp a Mirror into A Coat Rack for Your Entryway

by Johnnie Collier

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With some scrap wood and chalk paint, you can revamp a junky thrift store mirror into this handy, distressed entryway coat rack. This entire project was pulled off for less than $10! I am always in need of more shelves for my pictures and knick knacks. When I saw a similar mirror in Ana White’s book of woodworking projects for the home – “The Handbuilt Home”, I it called to mind a mirror I picked up at a garage sale for $2.

This is the picture of Ana’s Version from the book.

All I did was use pallet wood scraps and cut 3 planks to fit the width of my mirror, using my mitre saw. Two of the planks I placed perpendicular at the bottom and one horizontally at the top for a bonus shelf. Using my scroll saw, I cut out the decorative shelf brackets for the top and bottom shelves. To attach the shelving pieces to the mirror, I used my Kreg Jig for pocket holds, and wood glue. The brackets I placed with my Ryobi Air Strike Nailer and wood glue. I painted the mirror with Annie Sloan Paris Gray Chalk Paint and sealed with clear wax after sand distressing. To finish, I added three coat hooks I picked up from the hardware store.

More of SBLC’s woodworking adventures:

DIY Rustic Coffee Table from The Handbuilt Home

by Johnnie Collier

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You may have heard me mention Ana White one or a million times and if so, you know that I am a big fan of her woodworking plans. Reading her blog convinced me that I could build, and that turned out to be true. I was hooked immediately with my first project; DIY Chalkboard Crates:

That was in may (5 months prior to the writing of this post), and since then, I have built:

This table is from Ana’s book The Handbuilt Home, and can be found on page 64. The plans in the book are detailed with shopping list, tools, cut list, step by step instructions and “Notes” or tips. I particularly love the fact that each project is labeled with icons so you can quickly see the skill level, cost and time for completion.

I completed the build in about 2 hours, twice as long as Whitney from shanty2chic took according to the book, and I am thrilled with that! I have watched her build in person, and she wastes no time.

I finished with Chalk Country Paint. I found it on Amazon and hadn’t used it before. Since it was considerably cheaper than Annie Sloan and CeCe Caldwell, and I had some Amazon Credit, I thought I would give it a go. Not bad, but it is no CeCe.:

To finish I sand distressed the edges and sealed with CeCe Caldwell Clear wax and Aging cream. So happy with this. Stay tuned for more projects from The Handbuilt Home. Order your copy and while you are waiting, visit Ana White’s website for tons of free woodworking plans, tips and tricks. You will find everything you need to get stared. You can build!!

Halloween Party Decor with FloraCraft® Make It: Fun® Foam

by Johnnie Collier

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*NOTE: I recieved product and compensation for this project. All opinions are mine and honest.

With just a month until Halloween, it is time to get down with some creepy decor. Today I am going to show you how to do just that with a little help from Make it Fun: Crafts. Using Design It:® Simple Style® Decorative Mesh and Burlap with FloraCraft® Make It: Fun® Foam we will create a festive orange rosette wreath, perfect for your Halloween festivities!

SUPPLIES:

Design It:® Simple Style® Decorative Mesh

Design It:® Simple Style® Burlap Garland

FloraCraft® Make It: Fun® Foam Sheet

FloraCraft® Make It: Fun® Foam Cutter

Black wired ribbon or burlap

Hot glue gun

TUTORIAL:

I cut my wreath form from a sheet of foam using the foam cutter (which you can find on the Make it Fun website linked above). You could also just use a precut wreath form.

Trace the donut shape onto the foam sheet. I used two foam circles, one small and one big, for my “donut”. You could use a plate or other round object.

Cut along the outlines with your Styro Cutter Plus®, like I showed you in my faux pallet flag post.

Wrap your wreath with the burlap garland. This is to have brown instead of stark white showing through in any gaps that may remain after rosettes are added, as well as to give hot glue something to adhere to.

Once entirely wrapped, cut burlap from roll and hot glue in place on back of wreath.

Cut a 1.5 inch strip of orange Deco Mesh about 10 inches long. Twist into spiral shape from center towards the outside to make the rosette.

Hot glue rosettes onto wreath form until it is covered.

Hot glue black wire ribbon or burlap to the back and secure on nail to hang.

There are tons of ways to use these products in y0ur fall decor. Make sure to visit Crafts n’ Coffee to stay up to date on products and project ideas!

Make Paper Mason Jar Garland

by Johnnie Collier

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Mason jar crafts have become a phenomenon over the past 2 years, to say the very least. I, for one, am a huge fan of incorporating them into my home decor whenever possible. You combine mason jars with my papercrafting obsession, and it is almost more excitement than a blogger like me can withstand. Well, those two worlds collided for me in this Sizzix Canning Jars Die by Eileen Hull. Today I am sharing how I used it on some recycled cardboard and fall patterned scrapbook paper to make this fun garland adorning my headboard.

I told you about Eileen Hull’s Picket Fence Sizzix line a few months back, and am having as much fun with it as I predicted I would!

For this project, you will need:

Eileen’s Sizzix Canning Jars, 3-D

Fall or other patterned scrapbook paper; I used Recollections Harvest Delight

Corrugated Cardboard

Paper Cement

Jute or other twine

Mini Clothespins

Tim Holtz Distress paint Silver

Ranger Distress Ink Vintage Photo

3D foam adhesive squares

TUTORIAL:

Die Cut the larger jars out of paper and cardboard

Adhere paper to cardboard with Paper Cement or favorite adhesive

Cut tops out of corrugated cardboard and adhere to jars with 3D foam squares

Paint tops with silver distress paint, or leave as they are. they look cool either way!

Ink edges with distress ink on foam applicator and attach to twine with clothespins.

I love my garland, and have several more projects in mind for this die alone. Make sure you visit Eileen at her blog for tons of inspiration! You will want to set aside a chunk of time and be ready to watch your creative project to do list grow!

Chalkboard Tray To Do List With Printable

by Johnnie Collier

If you are like me, to do lists are a vital part of keeping it together! They are just necessary, so why not incorporate some chalkboard paint and burlap into creating a pretty one? Today I am sharing a quick, easy DIY chalkboard tray “To Do List”, complete with a free printable template for you to transfer onto your painted tray using transfer paper. I can’t promise your productivity and punctuality will skyrocket, but I can guarantee you will have a pretty list. That’s something, right?

SUPPLIES:

Old Tray – I got mine for $2 at a thrift store

Martha Stewart Chalkboard Paint – Black

White transfer paper

One inch foam brush

Burlap or other ribbon

White opaque gel pen

White acrylic paint

Tiny detail paintbrush

Printable “To Do List” – click the link or the thumbnail above to bring up the full resolution file, then print

Painter’s Tape

Stylus or other pointed object to trace printable through transfer paper (I used a mechanical pencil with no lead)

TUTORIAL:

Clean tray off with rubbing alcohol or soap and water. Let dry then paint with chalkboard paint.

I did three thin layers, allowing complete drying between.

Once the chalkboard paint was dry, I taped the transfer paper in place.

Then I taped the printable list template on top of the transfer paper and began tracing it, making sure to use enough pressure to transfer the design through to the chalkboard background. You can lift the papers to make sure the transfer is happening and tape them back down, being careful not to let them shift in the process.

I removed the papers and was left with a faint outline of the list, which i went over with my white opaque gel pen. I had to shake the pen often to keep the ink running, and I took some of the chalkboard paint off in a couple of places by pressing to hard. Don’t do that.

I used white acrylic paint and a fine detail brush to go fill in the title text, and to touch up here and there. I ended up painting over the <<<>>> under “Things to Do”. I just liked it better without, but I left it in the printable so you have the option of using it.

Once dry, your sweet new to do list is ready to go. Hang with a burlap ribbon or embellish as you wish!

Repurposed Cart to DIY Jewelry Storage

by Johnnie Collier

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There are tons of cool ways to make your own jewelry holders using the most random of objects. I shared a roundup with you not long ago – 50+ DIY Jewelry Display Ideas – with some of my favorite ways to store your bling. Today I am excited to share my jewelry storage solution using a cool rusty cart given to me by a friend. I saw it in her barn and lit up, immediately picturing bracelets and earrings dangling from the naturally aged, patina wire grid. She was happy to part with it, and I am equally thrilled with my awesome antique display. This project took a whopping 5 minutes.

I sprayed the cart with the water hose to removed the cobwebs and other debris. Then I wiped it down with a lint free, soapy, wet cloth. This was mainly to get rid of loose stuff. I love the rust, and wasn’t trying to get rid of that!

I spray 3 coats of Krylon Crystal Clear, which I had on hand for sealing polymer clay pieces. This was to protect my jewelry from the rust on the cart. I let that dry and it was good to go!

Need some jewelry to put on your new display? Got you covered:

Check out 50+ Other Creative DIY Jewelry Display Projects:

Flea Market Vintage Table and Chairs Revamp

by Johnnie Collier

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There’s not much better than a good flea market find revamping, which is what I am sharing with you today. This fantastic formica topped, chrome legged vintage table cost a whopping $19 at a local flea market. Why such a steal? There was some work to be done to reveal the beauty you see before you!

This was the state of the legs to start. I had never tried to remove rust from chrome. Off to the hardware store I went.

I found this Rust Stain Remover by Whink. It worked like a charm, and was just a few bucks. I just wiped the legs to get rid of any loose dirt with a damp cloth. I squirted a small amount of the Whink on the yellow side of the sponge, which I had dampened with water. Wipe it on the legs and scrub with green scouring side. Watch the rust vanish!

I cleaned the top of the table with countertop cleaner and the table was good to go. Now I needed seating.

I found these junky gold-ish metal chairs with perfect aqua, sparkly seat pads that would accent my red/aqua kitchen color scheme. I decided to spray paint them to match the chrome table legs. First step was removing the seat pads, which was simple with a pair of pliers. Phew!

Now time to prime and paint. I went with Clean Metal Primer and Metallic Silver Rustoleum Sprays.

I wiped the chairs down with a damp cloth and sprayed with primer.

After primer dried (about 15 minutes) I sprayed with the metallic silver, 3 light coats. When that dried, I replaced the pads to finish.

I am a little smitten on my flea market mix n’ match dinette set. It is perfect in my new kitchen, with all of its vintage charm. All off this cost about $60, spray paint included! Never bypass a good deal because of rust, or the wrong color. Use your imagination, and you can make it exactly what you want.

DIY Mixed Media Portrait On Reclaimed Wood

SUPPLIES:

TUTORIAL:

DIY Faux Wood Pallet Sign With Foam

SUPPLIES:

TUTORIAL:

DIY Dollar Tree Halloween Door Bats & $100 Giveaway

DOLLAR STORE SUPPLIES:

TUTORIAL:

$100 Dollar Tree gift card giveaway

Here are some other great projects inspired by Dollar Tree Value Seekers Club:

Revamp a Mirror into A Coat Rack for Your Entryway

More of SBLC’s woodworking adventures:

DIY Rustic Coffee Table from The Handbuilt Home

Halloween Party Decor with FloraCraft® Make It: Fun® Foam

SUPPLIES:

TUTORIAL:

Make Paper Mason Jar Garland

For this project, you will need:

TUTORIAL:

Chalkboard Tray To Do List With Printable

SUPPLIES:

TUTORIAL:

Repurposed Cart to DIY Jewelry Storage

Check out 50+ Other Creative DIY Jewelry Display Projects:

Flea Market Vintage Table and Chairs Revamp

Meet Johnnie

Categories

Recent Printables

50+ Roundups

SUPPLIES:

TUTORIAL:

SUPPLIES:

TUTORIAL:

DOLLAR STORE SUPPLIES:

TUTORIAL:

$100 Dollar Tree gift card giveaway

Here are some other great projects inspired by Dollar Tree Value Seekers Club:

More of SBLC’s woodworking adventures:

SUPPLIES:

TUTORIAL:

For this project, you will need:

TUTORIAL:

SUPPLIES:

TUTORIAL:

Check out 50+ Other Creative DIY Jewelry Display Projects:

Meet Johnnie

Categories

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