Recycled Gift Card Crafts

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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!

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Hi Saved By Lovies! Today I am sharing with you a fun project you can make for next to nothing using recycled gift cards/credit cards. It has all my favorite components, and if I know you at all, yours too. It is a great upcycled craft project, lending to a unique piece of home decor that will leave your friends saying “You made that from what?”. Oh yeah, and since I created a printable to go inside of my new frame, you get that too.

Are you ready? Let’s do this.

Supplies:

Old Gift/Credit Cards (I have had everyone under the sun keeping these for me for months and months)

I used my Sizzix machine and the Squares #3 Die (which is on sale over there for $8.79), but you can use cut squares from your credit cards with hefty scissors, like Tonic Studios Tim Holts Scissors

Craft Glue like Crafter’s Pick, which I use for just about everything. It is non toxic, strong as can be and is great for metal, paper and more

Frame to mosaic

Acrylic paint for tiles if you don’t want to use them as they are (I used Tim Holtz Distress Paint because I am head over heels in love with it)

If you want to use the printable I created from Psalm 56:3, just right click the above thumbnail and the full res version will magically appear. Save it and have it printed your preferred way, or print from your computer.

This verse is coming up all over the place for me, and I use it whenever life hits to remind me that I am held. I created the printable in Photoshop specifically for this frame, so I went simple black and white since the credit cards have lots of color. I used Gill Sans, one of my go to fonts. The lovely crown and design element at the bottom come from Karen at The Graphics Fairy. What would I do without her library of images??!

Find them at the following links to use in your own creations:

Free Vintage Crown Graphic

Free Ornamental Graphic Separators

TUTORIAL:

Cut and paint squares from gift cards into the size you want for your mosaic surface. I used the small and next up size from the Sizzix Square Die.

Lay out your “tiles” to get the design you want before you begin gluing. Trust me. Do that.

Once your tiles are dry, adhere them to the surface of your frame using craft glue. I put some craft glue in a cupcake wrapper and applied it to my tiles with a scrap piece of plastic. You can use a popsicle stick, paintbrush or whatever. Use a thin layer of glue so that if you move your nudge your tiles to get the spacing you want, you won’t have bleeding out from the edges.

Let the glue dry so the tiles are secure and add a photo, mirror, or even leave empty as a design element all in itself!