home decor projects

Fall Burlap Wreath DIY

Who can get enough of burlap these days? There are so many fabulous fall wreaths out there incorporating the versatile fabric. I snatched up a roll of burlap garland at a garage sale awhile back, and used it to make this quick and easy fall wreath. Grab a wire hanger and craft your very own.

Supplies:

Roll of “burlap garland”. Not sure exact yardage on this one. Also not sure where you can buy it since I got it at a yard sale.
Wire hanger
Flower embellishments of your choice
Ribbon to hang wreath

Instructions:

Clip the coils and hook of the hanger and shape the remaining wire into a circle, as best you can. Mine was far from perfect, and my wreath looks good.

Next, fold the burlap every couple of inches to make a ruffle, and stick the hanger through the stack of ruffles.

When it is as full as you want, twist the wire ends around one another and tuck them behind the ruffles to hide them.

Hot glue flowers of your choice. I used some scrapbook embellishment paper flowers and a felt flower. Tie your ribbon at the top and that is that!

Spray Paint Goodwill Glass

by Johnnie Collier

Accessorizing a colorful room can end up being pretty costly. Especially when you are someone who gets bored and likes to change up the color palate frequently. Decorate that room on a budget, without sacrificing style by spray painting thrift store glass jars and containers to coordinate. The beauty of this tactic is that you get a big color bang for your buck, and when it is time for a change, you can just paint over your glass accessories!

Supplies:

Glass containers/vases/dishes/jars from garage sales or thrift stores
Krylon Indoor/ Outdoor and/or Krylon Dual spray paint

Instructions:

Clean the glass with glass cleaner, removing any debris, and dry thoroughly with lint free towel. I got my glass at Goodwill on 50% off day and spent under $10!
Spray paint with several light coats until you are satisfied with the coverage. I prefer Krylon Dual for this, as it has built in primer, but it doesn’t come in all that many colors as of yet. I used it for the white jars and tray shown. For the blue and yellow, I used Krylon Indoor/Outdoor in Ocean Breeze and Bright Idea that I had left over from other projects. I didn’t use primer first. Just sprayed several light coats, allowing paint to dry in between.

Candy Wrapper Magazine Page Vase

by Johnnie Collier

These coiled magazine page crafts are quite the rage! People ask me why I don’t sell them, and there are 2 reasons. I don’t feel comfortable selling them since I didn’t come up with them, but instead replicated what I saw at my local fair trade store. The second reason is because I would have to charge tons of cash to make it worth the amount of time that goes into creating them! That said… here is a vase I created from mentos wrappers (saw this at the fair trade store) and magazine pages.

I would not put water in this, even though I sealed it, just because I am not sure it would hold up over time. It would be great for paper crafted flowers or fake flowers from the craft store. Maybe you could even make some from magazine pages. Hmmm… I see another coiled paper project!

For this vase, I made a coaster sized round coil for the base, and built up and out from, then back in to follow the contour of a vase. See this post on the coiled magazine page dish for tutorial details. After the holidays, I hope to post some video tutorials on these projects. I have had lots of requests, and little time, but I will come through! Enjoy, and share your coiled page creations.

Curbside Chair Makeover

by Johnnie Collier

Who doesn’t love a good curbside rescue?! A friend and I were driving to have dinner when I saw this dumpy chair in my periphery, pulled over and heaved it into the back seat. I knew it was a good find by how heavy and solid it felt. With a little love and a lot of hot pink, it has been transformed into the perfect accent for my stepdaughter’s recently made over bedroom. Check out my first rendezvous with chair reupholstering!

Supplies:

Old chair
Primer
Acrylic paint in color of your choice for chair frame and cushion stenciling
sand paper medium grit
canvas drop cloth
stencil
stencil brush
paintbrush

Instructions:

Turn chair over and remove screws holding the seat down. Remove seat from frame and take off fabric and padding. Depending on the condition of the padding, you can either replace it or reuse it under the new fabric. Here it is after I took off the fabric.

Lightly sand the chair and wipe away the debris with a damp, lint free cloth
Primer and let dry per instructions. I left mine to dry overnight. You could just spray paint and skip the primer step, but I wanted to take my time with this one. It was worth waiting.

While that was drying, I cut the fabric from a canvas drop cloth I picked up at Lowe’s for $5. I just put the seat form on top of the fabric and traced around it, allowing about 5 inches all around to account for the padding.

Using a plaid stencil I picked up at Michaels, I stenciled the cut piece of fabric. I used spray adhesive and a stippling brush.

I painted the frame with Martha Stewart’s new craft paint in Raspberry Ice and sealed with Krylon spray matte finish.
Cover the seat with the newly stenciled fabric by stapling one side over the padding and seat form, then pull it tight and staple the other side. Finish by stapling all around , tucking in the corners like you are wrapping a present. That is it!

What do you think? Not bad for a curbside find! I can’t wait to submit it to the new site, Roadkill Rescue!

Coiled Newspaper Dish

by Johnnie Collier

The recycled magazine page dish was such a hit, I thought I would take a crack at similar project I spied at a local fair trade store. This time I used folded newspaper strips to make coils, and attached them with crochet thread as shown in the pictures. Again, a practically free, unique handmade gift idea. Just remember that these projects are time consuming, so if you want a stock pile by Christmas, get started yesterday.

For instructions on how to make the strips and coil them, see this post. Attach 13 one inch coils side by side with crochet thread or other durable string like the pic below. I used a large, blunt yarn needle to push the thread between the “rings” of the coils.

The lid is composed of 1 large coil with a slight upward curve from outside edge inward, and 2 smaller coils as shown. I attached the vertical small coil to the horizontal small coil then hot glued that to the large coil…

The bottom of the dish is made from one large coil that curves downward from its outer edge to the center, a medium and small coil. Make the largest coil’s diameter the same as the lid and as the circle formed by the 13 side coils. I just kept coiling til everything fit together. Not to scientific. The bottom coils are all attached to one another with hot glue.

That is really it. Don’t forget to mod podge or otherwise seal your coils. I like to do this before attaching them to one another. I let them dry overnight and then assemble. I supposed you could attach them and then seal. I am soooo obsessed with paper strips! Off to see what else I can conjure up with them.

Spray Painted Chevron Stencil Rug

by Johnnie Collier

Have you been wanting to jump on the chevron home decor wagon? This simple spray painted rug is just the way to do it. I picked up a light colored throw rug from a garage sale, and with some spray paint and a vinyl stencil, transformed it into the blue and white beauty you see here! Follow along as I show you the step by step.

Supplies:

Lightly colored rug
Vinyl Chevron Stencil (I created the pattern in photoshop and cut it with my cricut)
Spray paint in 2 contrasting colors
Painters tape and old newspaper

Instructions:

Protect your work surface and spray paint the base coat color. I used Valspar in a shade of blue.

Once your base coat is dry (I had to do 2 coats to get the coverage I wanted), you are ready to stencil. Here is the jpg image I made in photoshop and opened in Sure Cuts Alot to create a cut file for my cricut. Feel free to use it! I cut 2 zig zags and did my rug in segments, taping off the areas I didn’t want painted as I went along.

That is all! I placed my stencils varying distances apart, in such away as to get this result…

My beagle likes the new addition to the room, or maybe he just wanted some camera time!

Oh joy! I love how this room is coming together. What do you think?

Coiled Magazine Page Round Coasters

by Johnnie Collier

Yes, you guessed it, more coiled magazine page crafts. This obsession is not leaving anytime soon. Ready for another unique, practically free, handmade gift idea. These are the easiest of the magazine/newspaper crafts I have shared so far. You are going to want to grab a captivating mini series to get lost in while you fold.

I showed you how to make the round coils in this earlier post. Just follow the instructions and make the coils coaster sized. That is it. Tie a piece of ribbon or twine around them and give them as Christmas gifts. So cute!!!

What are your favorite recycled paper projects?

Stenciled Kitchen Canister Set

by Johnnie Collier

I am so happy to show you this quick and easy kitchen canister revamp, using the new Martha Stewart stencils available at Michaels. I am sure you have seen the beautiful projects out there debuting this new line. I showed you my stenciled cork board, here. This time I used the adhesive stencils, and loved them! Follow along as I take you from thrift store junk, to adorable kitchen set…

Supplies:

Old canisters
Krylon Dual Ivory
Martha Stewart Adhesive Stencils
Stencil brush or sponge
Acrylic paint in red and blue
Krylon Clear Coat to seal

Instructions:

Clean canisters with soapy water and dry with lint free cloth

Spray paint with Krylon Dual. I used Ivory. It took several coats to cover the dark images on the tin canisters. Krylon dual is primer and paint in one and I LOVE it. It has wonderful coverage and doesn’t run. Very easy to use. They are not paying me for this post. It’s just that good.

Let this be overnight. Otherwise the stencil adhesive will pull off the paint and you will be really annoyed (trust me). Choose your design and place stencils accordingly. I used Martha’s sponge pouncer for paint application. Worked great.

Remove stencil while paint is still wet. Let that color completely dry before moving on to a new color. Once dry, seal project with your favorite sealant and that is it! I am in love with them. Thinking about adding an antique knob to the top. What do you think?

Coiled Magazine Page Dish With Lid

by Johnnie Collier

Are you looking for that unique, beautiful handmade gift that will make a big splash without breaking your bank account? Look no further. Coiled magazine page craft projects are the way to go. This little container with adorable lid costs nothing but your time, a stack of old magazines and some Mod Podge. Grab your glue gun and start coiling.

Supplies:

Old magazines
Glue gun
Bone Folder
Mod Podge

Instructions:

I started with the top of the lid and made a coil like I showed you in this post. I put a thin line of hot glue around the bottom of my coil (the red coil shown below) and began wrapping a new strip, lining its top up with the bottom of the original coil to give the sloped shape of the lid. I continued wrapping strips in this fashion until ~~I couldn’t take it any longer~~ my lid was the diameter I wanted.

For the bowl part, I again started with a flat coil at the bottom, and worked my way up and out, adding strip by strip with hot glue until the diameter matched the lid! Super easy. Not all that fast, but totally worth it, don’t you think?

Finish up with a couple of coats of mod podge. I prefer matte for these coiled paper projects. I tried gloss on a coiled paper pendant and didn’t like the look.

TIP: Go to your local Asian market and grab some magazines for super bright ads and pages. Alternate white with color strips for a contrast striped effect.

I am so excited about this dish. I think I will put spare change it there, or maybe earrings. What are your favorite green craft projects?

Fall Dollar Tree Wreath

by Johnnie Collier

*This is a repost. Bringing it back cause it is that time of year, and fall is in the air today. Are you ready to decorate, harvest style?

I spent $9 at the Dollar Tree and made this harvest wreath for my front door. I got the inspiration after googling “fall decor ideas” and running across this post over at House of Hepworths. I put my own lil’ spin on it. Here is what i did…

Supplies:

6 assorted floral leaf packs

1 18 inch garland wreath

1 package fall centerpiece decor variety (three pictured here, but only used one for

wreath – you will see the other 2 soon enough)

Add it up – $9!!

I used some organza I had on hand to tame down the green garland, which i wasn’t real fond of, but it was all I had to choose from at Dollar Tree. I just wrapped it all the way around the wreath, cut it, and secured it with a dot of hot glue.

Next, I began tearing apart my florals and hot gluing them around my wreath, onto the organza fabric. I cut small holes in the fabric to stick stems in for extra security, but I am pretty sure the hot glue would have sufficed.

Once I was satisfied with the fullness and balance, I hung it from a hook with a piece of lovely orange ribbon I had on hand.

I love how this turned out. It was easy and cheap, just the way I like it. Yep, I just typed that sentence. Wow. Anyway, it was a perfectly beautiful fall day, as I put this together on my front porch, belly full of homemade turkey chili.

Fall Burlap Wreath DIY

Spray Paint Goodwill Glass

Candy Wrapper Magazine Page Vase

Curbside Chair Makeover

Coiled Newspaper Dish

Spray Painted Chevron Stencil Rug

Coiled Magazine Page Round Coasters

Stenciled Kitchen Canister Set

Coiled Magazine Page Dish With Lid

Fall Dollar Tree Wreath

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