home decor projects

How to Distress Furniture With Vasoline

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Did you know that Vasoline petroleum jelly is a fantastic ingredient for distressing furniture? It is true. The technique is simple and fast. Today I am sharing how I took this chevron painted table I shared with you in a previous tutorial, and used Vasoline to create a chippy, funky distressed piece to go with my new living room.

I needed a coffee table to go with my urban-modern-distressed-vintage-eclectic decor style in progress. You will be seeing reveals as I decorate in my new home. I am into yellow, gray, orange poppy, turqouise, emerald green, navy blue and vintage white these days. My living room kinda has a little of all of these, with yellow, gray and turquoise dominating the stage.

I revamped this roadside find last week, thinking it would be the perfect coffee table for the living room. Well, it wasn’t.

I decided to apply Vasoline to the areas of the table I wanted to look “chippy”, then paint with homemade chalk finish paint (see how to make chalk paint yourself in my barnwood frame tutorial). Valspar’s Pantone Emerald was the perfect color! I picked it up at Lowe’s.

Once the paint dried, I just took my scraper to the areas where I had applied the Vasoline and the it peeled right off, revealing the colors in the chevron stripes. I love the effect! It looks so cool with the random colors.

Once I was happy with the amount of scraping, I sealed the piece with Martha Stewart’s Antique Finish Decoupage Medium. It was my first time using the stuff and it gives a subtle warm antique feel to the piece.

Stay tuned for more DIY home decor as I settle into my new place!

New Americana Multi-Surface Satins & Stencils

by Johnnie Collier

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Have you seen the new Americana Multi-Surface Satins and Mixed Media Stencils yet? I had a chance to try them out, so I used the opportunity to work some magic on a curbside find. You are going to love not only the colors and stencil designs in this line, but the paint quality is outstanding to boot. Today I am sharing how I created this modern chevron painted coffee table with my box of goodies!

SUPPLIES:

Americana Multi-Surface Satins

Americana Black Chalkboard Paint

Americana Mixed Media Stencils

Sponge Brushes

Painters Tape

Medium Grit Sand Paper

Coffee Table

TUTORIAL:

Here is the curbside rescued table before any revamping.

I sanded with medium grit paper to give the paint surface something to grab.

I primered the table top rolled on Multi-Surface Satin color Dolphin.

I cut the segment of the stencil I wanted to use off of the main 12×12 inch sheet and taped it into place.

I worked my way down the table, using the sponge pouncer to apply the paint. Coverage is fantastic. I decided I wanted thicker chevron strips, so I taped off around the strips and filled in the space between them.

I continued on like this, using various colors of this fabulous paint. I sand distressed lightly when I was finished.

The legs were cut off when I found the table and looked unfinished, so I glued on these caster cups I found at Lowe’s for $1-ish.

I painted the legs and lower part of table (including caster cups) with Americana chalkboard paint and a soft 1 inch paint brush.

Americana Multi-Surface Satins are available for purchase at Michaels, A.C. Moore, Hobby Lobby, and other fine craft retailers. Go get them now!

Find out more about them at DecoArt!

DISCLAIMER: The paint and stencils mentioned in this post were provided to me by DecoArt. All opinions are still 100% my own!

DIY Reclaimed Wood Headboard

by Johnnie Collier

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If you have shipping pallets or other reclaimed wood you would like to make great furniture with, this DIY headboard project is a great place to start. The plan is from Ana White’s Reclaimed Wood Queen Size Headboard, with a little tweaking to fit the wood I had on hand. My version is made using fence board, old deck board from my mom’s deck demolition, and pallet wood. The finish is what I am most excited about, and you will see why. It is a new (to me at least) product from Minwax that makes staining and finishing as simple as the wipe of a cloth. You are going to want to use this stuff.

HOW I DID IT:

Instead of attaching a 1×2 and 1×3 for the legs like Ana shows in her plan (linked above), I used my table saw to notch out a segment from 2×3 pieces of wood I ripped from 2×8 reclaimed lumber. I did this by adjusting the height of the saw blade and making perpendicular cuts down the length of each leg to remove that segment.

I nailed a supporting piece to the back of the planks to stabilize them in the center.

Here is my favorite tool these days; Ryobi Air Strike Brad Nailer. I have talked about it before, but I will say it again. This thing is super handy. It is lightweight, requires no air compressor, is cordless and works like a charm. The price can’t be beat. Worth every penny.

This picture shows pallet wood clamped to the base of the headboard for trim. I put 2 pieces of pallet wood at the bottom to make it all the way across the width of the headboard. I hid the seam with wood putty before staining, and you can’t see it. Make do with what you have. It is cheaper, more sustainable and presents a fun challenge!

Here is the sneak peek I showed you before staining. I sanded with my orbital sander; 60 grit, 120 grit, 180 grit, then stained with the awesome new product I eluded to earlier…

I was at Lowes and saw these Minwax Wood Finishing Cloths. I was highly skeptical when I read “Wipe on Stain and Finish in One Easy Step… Dries in One Hour”. I used Walnut for this project, and was completely amazed by how easy it was to apply. The stain looks great! I finished the piece in 15 minutes. Stained and sealed. I may never use anything else. Seriously awesome.

Spray Paint Lamp Makeover

by Johnnie Collier

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One of the easiest, most inexpensive and foolproof ways to revamp a good thrift store find is with a little spray paint. It has been awhile since I took advantage of this fact. If you are like me, always getting tired of your decor and wanting to change things up without breaking the bank, a few bucks on a can of color is the way to go.

SUPPLIES:

Lamp that you are sick of

Krylon Dual (Paint and Primer in one) Spray Paint in choice of color – Gray

Painter’s Tape

TUTORIAL:

You can see in this Lamp Makeover Tutorial, that this is not the first go around for this particular lamp.

This was the original lamp I found for $1

Here she is now after a simple, quick coat of Krylon Dual. That simple!

How to Make a Chevron Table from Reclaimed Wood Pallet

by Johnnie Collier

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I am a little smitten with today’s project, which is made from shipping pallets and a $5 table I picked up at Habitat Restore. Reclaimed wood projects are here to stay, folks – at least for this DIYer. This modern chevron wood plank table took an afternoon to create, but will be enjoyed indefinitely!

SUPPLIES:

Pallet wood

Ryobi AirStrike Nailer

1 3/4 inch 18 gauge brad nails

Wood Glue

Circluar Saw

Mitre Saw

Wood Clamps

Random Orbital Sander

Rustoleum Wood Stain Dark Walnut

CeCe Caldwell Satin Finish

Lent free cloth

Paint brush

Tack cloth

Yard stick

Pencil

TUTORIAL:

Find a really awesome hairpin leg table for $5 at Habitat Restore and tackle anyone in the way of you and it. Bring it home.

Cut pallet wood to 45° angles using mitre saw. Meet wood in center to form 90° angles(I drew a line down center of table with pencil using a yardstick).

Glue and nail down with air nailer or hammer and finishing nails. This is where I use my Ryobi AirStrike brad nailer. The thing is amazing. I can’t believe how powerful, lightweight and inexpensive it is. I use it in all of my reclaimed pallet wood projects and it makes my life worth living, or at least way easier when building.

Use the circular saw to cut off excess wood extending over edge of original table top. This is way easier than cutting each individual plank to size. Way. Easier. And. Faster. Trim with 1x2s or rips from 2x8s like i did. I mitered the edges to 45° for a more finished look.

Again with awesome nailer (this is not a Ryobi sponsored post, btw) – glue and nail the trim in place.

Sand with orbital sander.

Wipe on Stain per directions, with the wood grain. This is the first time I have used this Rustoleum stain and I love it. Gorgeous color, easy to use, what is not to love?

How to Build a DIY Reclaimed Wood Bookshelf

by Johnnie Collier

I have another reclaimed wood DIY project for you today. I got a truck load (it probably should have been two truckloads, but we squeezed it into one) of 4×8 plywood sheets, 2×6 and 2×8 boards from a craigslist ad. It was salvaged from a home that these folks tore down and they were happy to have it hauled off and out of their yard. This project is made mainly from that wood. The panels that back the bookshelf were milled by a friend of mine who passed them along to me, where they have patiently waited for me to put them to use. I came up with this cool bookshelf that i finished with homemade chalkboard paint and sand distressed. CeCe caldwell Clear Wax then Aging Wax sealed the deal and added just the amount of antiquing to suit my vision. You can finish this project in a day if you are committed, over a weekend if you have some distractions.

This fine Kentwood Bookshelf by Shanty2Chic that I spied at AnaWhite.com was my inspiration. I had just taken a woodworking DIY class by Whitney and Ashley of Shanty2Chic at Haven Conference, and I came home on fire to build. These girls are amazing! They shared their journey coming from zero knowledge of building or power tools, to being able to build some amazing furniture for their homes. I have been building since April, and before I started, I was totally intimidated. I still am by lots of projects, but I am so glad that I broke into the power tool world. It is way easier than I thought, and not much is more gratifying than building custom pieces, from reclaimed wood no less. Go check out Shanty2Chic, walk through some of their detailed tutorials and you can build awesome stuff too! You really can.

One thing they taught me at Haven was to measure as I go instead of cutting all of my pieces called for in the plan. I hadn’t been doing that, and my pieces would be off almost every time. Wood is going to curve and bow and do funky things, especially reclaimed lumber and shipping pallets. I am so glad they emphasized measuring and cutting based on reality and not on the perfect plan. I decided to scrap the plan entirely for this shelf, and just go with my own dimensions based on what pieces I had on hand, and the measurements as I built.

I made my own 2×2 pieces by ripping the 2×6 boards from the house demolition that I scored. This is what I used to frame the side planks, which I cut 11.5 x60 inches from the 4×8 sheets of 5/8 inch plywood also from the house demo. Shanty2Chic used 1×12 boards for the side panels. I went with plywood since I had it on hand, and I knew I was going to paint the final piece.

You can see the Kreg pocket holes in the plywood side planks that I drilled to attach 2×2 framing. Attach shelves and top.

I used 3 pieces of the wood my friend milled for the backing. They were different thicknesses, but since that would only be visible from the back, I didn’t much care. I just measured and cut to length the center piece, and ripped what I needed off the 2 side pieces so that they didn’t stick out over the edge. I counter sank 2 inch wood screws to attach the back panels.

I love the larger panels for the backing, and that I didn’t have to buy any wood for this piece! Fill Kreg holes with wood putty, liquid nail or caulking. It doesn’t need to be something that takes stain if you are painting the piece anyway.

I sanded the unfinished bookshelf with medium grit paper and painted a base coat of CeCe Caldwell Paint in Vintage White (You can see my other CeCe Caldwell Chalk and Clay Paint projects by clicking the thumbnails below). After that was dry (about 1 hour indoors) I made a gray DIY Chalk finish Paint using the Make Your Own ChalkBoard Paint Recipe I showed you in an earlier post.

For a little more aging, I added a coat of CeCe Caldwell Clear wax, then Aging Wax. I buffed with a soft cloth an hour later and that was that.

LOVE! Thank you Whitney and Ashley. Can’t wait to see you again!!

Coffee Table Revamp with CeCe Caldwell Paint & Recycled Gift Cards

by Johnnie Collier

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I have been dying to share this project with you for-like-ever! I had this table I wanted to paint with fabulous paint. So, I contacted my good friend Debi from Debi’s Design Diary and ordered CeCe Caldwell Paints. Nothing else was going to do for this table. The stuff is wonderful.

One of the big things that sets CeCe Caldwell paint apart from other brands is that is is non-toxic, containing no VOC and all ingredients are listed on the label. Many low volatile organic compound paint brands don’t list their ingredients because they are not required to do so. Many low voc brands still contain lots of harsh chemicals. You aren’t washing anything harmful down the drain and you don’t have to worry about paint fumes or using gloves when waxing. That is a plus!

Remember when I revamped this little junky table? It was the first time I had used CeCe’s product, and it was love at first brush stroke. You can read all about it by clicking the image or link, but basically I had zero experience and getting the look I wanted was super simple.

Back to today’s project:

I found this thing roadside, brought it home and painted it with a quatrefoil design on top:

You can click the image or go to Martha Stewart Coffee Table Revamp to read about that project.

Not only did I want to paint the table, but I wanted it to fit in a spot that it turns out was about 5 inches to small for it. See how it sticks over to the carpeted area where the arrow is pointing? No good. That is when John and I decided to cut the table in half, remove 5 inches, and put it back together using the Kreg Jig. Whaaaat? I know.

We took the top off the table then marked a 2.5 inches on either side of the center.

I used a circular saw and cut along the lines to remove the 5 inch segment.

I drilled pocket holes with my Kreg Jig (love you, Kreg Jig) and attached the two shortened table halves together with Kreg screws.

Here is the top of the table joined with pocket holes and screws. You can see the segment I removed in this photo.

I used the Kreg mini, clamping it onto the sides of the table on the inside to make pocket holes to attach the top of the table.

You can see the seam, just a little. O.k., a lot. I sanded the table with my Ryobi sander next. You totally don’t need to sand or prime when using CeCe Caldwell paint. I did this to try and even out the seam area. For the first project linked above, I didn’t prep much at all. That is my kind of paint!!

After I sanded and wiped away the debris, it was time to get painting. I am all about orange, and this Kissimmee Orange is beeeaauuutiful!

It goes on smoothly, with great coverage.

This photo shows the seam at the blue arrow, which still needs some work. It also shows wet paint vs. dry. In the sunlight, the paint dries enough to do the top coat in 30 minutes.

Before doing the next coat, I filled in the seam with wood putty. When that dried, I sanded it down with the Ryobi sander.

I did one more coat of the Kissimmee Orange to cover the wood putty and seam, then one coat of the Vintage White. When that dried, I added tiles that I created from recycled gift cards and painted with Tim Holtz Distress Paint. I showed you how I made and adhered the tiles in this Mosaic Frame from Recycled Gift Cards Tutorial.

Once the tiles were all in place, I used the sander to distress and bring out the orange under coat.

I went at it pretty aggressively. You can sand a little or a lot for the look you want.

I applied the clear wax with the wax brush. It is easy. Just a light, even layer does the trick.

I applied CeCe Caldwell aging cream over the clear wax to grunge it up a bit. It is a subtle, nice antiquing effect. I buffed with a soft cloth after an hour or so. That makes a shiny, more durable finish.

This is the final piece. I adore it. I am off to order more paint! I can’t get enough.

To find a CeCe Caldwell distributor near you, visit this Map of Retailers page.

For loads of inspiration on the amazing things you can do with this paint, visit Debi’s Design Diary the blog, Debi’s awesome YouTube channel, Facebook page and Pinterest!

Make Quick & Easy Inspirational Doodle Art

by Johnnie Collier

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How excited was I to discover that Unity Stamp Company has a new line of stamps designed by Stephanie Ackerman?! The answer is very… much… tons. I ordered several from this line and others. They are full of inspiring words and I couldn’t wait to get creating with them. Today I am sharing the easiest project out there. Just stamp, scan, enlarge, print, cut out and frame!

You can color with copic markers if you want, or scan and open in Photoshop to color digitally.

For this one, I added shading in Photoshop with the drop shadow function. Stephanie has a great class (several great classes, actually) teaching you how to shade the letters. I told you all about it my Marker Art post over the winter:

This was my first class from Stephanie, and I would take them all if I had time! She has a wonderful way of explaining her techniques so that about anyone can create lovely art in no time.

I love the Mother Teresa quote! I colored the heart with red copic markers in 3 shades before scanning and enlarging.

This one I scanned in without color and added the yellow/blue-green in Photoshop. Pretty cool because I can just change it if I don’t like the outcome. That is the biggest perk of digital art in my opinion!

I think next I will go the other way with these designs and shrink them down for creating a soldered pendant, or shrink film jewelry!

How do you use stamps in your artwork?

This is not a paid post! I just wanted to share Unity Stamps and Stephanie’s new line because I love them.

How to Make a Wood Pallet Recycle Bin

by Johnnie Collier

I am crazy about wood pallet projects. If you have been here long, you know already know that, and you also know I am equally gaga for creating with recycled aluminum cans. Today’s project combines those two eco-friendly obsessions into a lovely aluminum can recycle bin made with reclaimed wood pallets! The piece is topped off with a cool knob and chalkboard sign. Come see how you can create your own…

SUPPLIES:

table saw

miter saw

Ryobi Air Strike Nailer

tape measure

pencil

square

knob (optional)

2 hinges

broken down shipping pallets or other scrap wood (I use a circular saw to do mine)

HERE IS A GREAT VIDEO DEMONSTRATING HOW TO BREAK DOWN PALLETS (By Ryan Schmitz):

How-to-Make-Wood-Pallet-Furniture

I got the idea for this wood pallet recycle bin from this post at My Carpentry: Wood Waste Basket. I followed the instructions there, using pallet wood instead of fence board. You may have to adjust measurements based on the wood you have on hand.

When I got done, I wasn’t in love with it like I should be for a DIY aluminum can recycle bin hand made from discarded shipping pallets… you know? So I decided to take it up a notch.

That is when I came up with the idea to add a knob, and a framed chalkboard label to seal the deal.

I used these Tim Holtz rub ons to add a vintage grunge number to a white knob I picked up at my local Habitat for Humanity Restore.

I just drilled a hole and screwed into the knob with a flat top screw just long enough to go through the wood and grab the knob.

For the sign, I spray painted a dollar tree frame and glued chalkboardpaper to the back. Then I glued jute to the back of that to form a loop for hanging. LOVE my new storage for cans!

DIY Wood Pallet Dog Feeder

by Johnnie Collier

Today I am sharing with you a quick and easy reclaimed pallet wood dog feeding station. You can make this piece in an afternoon and for little to no cost. The only thing I didn’t have on hand and had to purchase were the bowls, which I found for $2 each at WalMart.

I started with a piece of wood I got from a friend that was wide enough for the diameter of the bowls. My bowls are 9 inches in diameter, the wood 11.5. You see casters pictured, but I decided not to use them.

I eyeballed this whole deal by Just placing the bowls upside down, evenly spaced on the board, then tracing them with a pencil. I drilled a hole inside each circle to insert the jigsaw blade, then cut to the circle outline and all the way around it to create the hole for the bowls.

Using wood from pallets I had broken down previously, I cut the sides and front/back to size.

I used a small support as pictured, and attached with wood glue and nails (see below), holding square with corner clamp.

This Ryobi AirStrike has my heart. Cordless, lightweight, powerful, it really doesn’t get any more convenient.

After it was all constructed I sanded with 80 then 120 grit paper.

I used CeCe Caldwell Chalk & Clay Paint to finish. First I painted Vintage White Chalk & Clay Paint then coated Clear Wax followed by Aging Cream Dark.

How to Distress Furniture With Vasoline

New Americana Multi-Surface Satins & Stencils

SUPPLIES:

TUTORIAL:

DIY Reclaimed Wood Headboard

HOW I DID IT:

Spray Paint Lamp Makeover

SUPPLIES:

TUTORIAL:

How to Make a Chevron Table from Reclaimed Wood Pallet

SUPPLIES:

TUTORIAL:

How to Build a DIY Reclaimed Wood Bookshelf

Coffee Table Revamp with CeCe Caldwell Paint & Recycled Gift Cards

Back to today’s project:

Make Quick & Easy Inspirational Doodle Art

How do you use stamps in your artwork?

How to Make a Wood Pallet Recycle Bin

SUPPLIES:

DIY Wood Pallet Dog Feeder

Want more DIY pet projects? Check out our 50+!!

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How do you use stamps in your artwork?

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Want more DIY pet projects? Check out our 50+!!

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