Aqua Mirror Spray Paint Makeover

How to Spray Paint a Mirror

Updating my decor with a touch of spray paint is a definite favorite of mine.  It is a way to completely change the look of a room without laying out loads of cash on new furniture and accessories.  Slowly but surely , I have been transitioning my living room from reds and neutrals to aqua and orange.  This mirror in our entryway is my most recent stop on the path to color bliss.

Here it is before…

How to Spray Paint Furniture

I used Martha Stewart’s Spray Paint Kit, which allows you to turn acrylic paint into spray paint.  It was a part of a box of crafts I received last summer when her new craft paint line debuted at Michael’s.  The kit is great in that it opens the color possibilities in spray form to include any of the numerous colors of the line’s acrylic paint.  It is more expensive than buying a can of spray paint, but if you just have to have a certain color, it is your go to tool.  I actually used a Folk Art acrylic paint mixture of white and aqua to get the shade I was going for.  The kit is made for the acrylic paint in the line, but it worked fine with Folk Art.

Martha Stewart Spray Paint Kit

Following the instructions on the kit, I mixed equal parts acrylic paint (mixture of white and aqua) with the spray paint medium, attached this to spray can and used like I would any spray paint.  It went on easily with great coverage and no running.

Martha Stewart Spray Paint Mirror Revamp

I love this color for all seasons.  It can be wintery or summery with the right coordinating accessories.

Sooooo much better than the boring before version, don’t you think?

Martha Stewart Spray Paint Mirror Revamp

Remember last year’s spray paint mirror revamp?

These ornate oval mirrors are fabulous.  I look for them every time I go junkin’.

{Guest Post} Faux Porcelain Flower Frame

Faux porcelain frame tutorial

I am beside myself with excitement to have today’s guest, Suzy from Suzy’s Artsy Crafty Sitcom.  This has been one of my favorite places to visit since I first started blogging, and if you are familiar with the “Sitcom”, you know why.  I always leave creatively inspired, educated, and laughing my tush off.  What is better than that?  You will love her amazing craft tutorials and her weekly guest star interviews, co-hosted by Tom Selleck and his mustache (yep… that is right)!  Enough from me…

My name is Suzy and I’m thrilled to be invited to be a guest on Johnnie’s blog! I’m the author and zookeeper over at Suzy’s Artsy Craftsy Sitcom. My blog is a place of humor, dog hair, and crafty tutorials. I like to specialize in creating beautiful art and decor from everyday objects. The cheaper, the better. Making something that is inexpensive look like a fabulous swanky art piece just makes my day.


Today, I’m going to show you my version of a Faux Porcelain Frame. Since I don’t work with porcelain, and I’m kinda cheap, I am going to use plaster.

For this project I used:

Plaster of Paris
Silk flowers from the Dollar Store
A thrift store frame
Hot glue
Krylon White Gloss Spray Paint

I chose smaller flowers from the Dollar Store, ones with good definition. I clipped them into individual stems and small groups, keeping just a few of the leaves.

Take a disposable cup and fill it at least half full with powdered plaster. Add water gradually, stirring until you get a watered down consistency similar to thin yogurt.

One by one, dip your flowers fully into the plaster. Carefully shake of any excess plaster so that you don’t lose the definition of the flowers. I found that it helped to use my fingers to squeeze off extra plaster. This is pretty messy, so don’t stop to answer the phone or anything. The plaster will dry and your phone will never be the same. Not that I’d know anything about that…

Place your flowers on a sheet of wax paper to dry.

Faith is my craft apprentice wanna-be. Unfortunately, the lack of opposable thumbs slows her down. It’s kind of a shame.

Anyway, once the flowers have totally dried (a couple of hours), it is time to start gluing them onto your frame. I found this awesome frame at a thrift store, but any frame will work.

Arrange the flowers in a pleasing way. Don’t worry if you didn’t totally cover up the colors with the plaster. The next step will solve that problem. Glue them down the way you like with hot glue.

Using the Krylon White Gloss Paint, I then sprayed down the entire frame and flower combination. Be sure to attack it from all angles in order to get all the nooks and crannies in the flowers.

Faux Porcelain Frame

Once it is dry, add your favorite photo, and there you go. The white gloss paint gives the entire piece a porcelain look. If anyone asks, just tell them that you spent hours carving that frame from porcelain that you mined yourself in the wilds of Patagonia. I’m sure they will be impressed.

Johnnie, thank you so much for having me over! It has been a blast!

Quatrefoil Stenciled Corkboard – New Martha Stewart Decorative Art Paints!

Quatrefoil Stencil Home DecorI have been a busy girl since opening my box of crafty goodness from the new Martha Stewart Crafts Decorative Paint Line by Plaid.  You all are going to go crazy with this stuff, just warning you.  I am delighted to share this line with you.  You will see an entire bedroom revamp that was inspired by these gorgeous paint colors, as well as a detailed tutorial showing how I made the quatrefoil stencil decorated framed corkboard.

Imagine my excitement when this showed up on my doorstep!  Thank you Martha Stewart and Plaid Crafts.

Martha Stewart Decorative Paints

This line is available exclusively at Michaels in the US and Canada starting this week.  It is already in my local store.  I stopped by to get a peak at the whole line and here is what I found.

Martha Stewart and Plaid Crafts

160 paint colors are available in five finishes (Satin, High Gloss, Glitter, Pearl, Metallic).  All come in 2 oz. bottles, are non-toxic and range in price from $1.99-$2.99.  These paints are formulated to work on all craft surfaces, including glass, fabric, metal, ceramic, terra-cotta, wood.  You can use them both indoors and outdoors.  They are even dishwasher safe!

Martha Stewart and Plaid Crafts Stencils

The stencils range in price from $6.99-$16.99 and come in a variety of themes and sizes.  I had never successfully stenciled until this project.  It is so much easier than I was making it and I am having a blast with it now!

Martha Stewart and Plaid Crafts Tools and Applicators

Look at all the tools and applicators there are!

Martha Stewart and Plaid Crafts TransfersThese are foil, flock and glitter transfers!  I haven’t tried them yet, but I am giddy at the thought of using them on polymer clay.

Now for the bedroom reveal.  I had no intention of doing this until digging into the paints.  We have lived in this home for 1 year, and painted/decorated the entire house when we moved in, with the  exception of 2 bedrooms rarely used by our college girls.  The dingy walls and country blue trim have been bugging me forever and the colors in this line gave me the motivation to finally get going.  The before and after…

Martha Stewart and Plaid Crafts Paint LineThe “Surf” light blue and “Jonquil” yellow were begging to be used together in the stenciled cork board I had in mind.  I also used these paints on the stenciled the black hanging lamp, which you will see in an future tutorial, and on the wall doilies pictured above.

Quatrefoil Stenciled Bulletin Board

To make the quatrefoil stenciled framed cork board, I used:

  • Surf and Jonquil Martha Stewart Decorative Paint by Plaid, satin finish
  • Empty frame
  • Cork board cut to fit frame, and cardboard backing same size
  • Quatrefoil stencil by Martha
  • Roller Sponge applicator tool

Instructions:

  • I cut the cork board and cardboard backing to fit the frame opening, then adhered the self adhesive cork piece to the backing.

Painted Frame Corkboard Tutorial

  • Using the sponge roller applicator and the “Surf” paint, I painted the base coat on the mounted cork board.   The applicator just twist onto the top of the paint bottle and you are good to go.  Coverage was great with the roller,  I did one coat and that was sufficient.  I did have to go over a couple of areas where I made lines with the roller (yep, I do the same thing when painting walls).

Martha Stewart Decorative Arts Paint

  • While the cork board was drying, I painted the frame using the same color.  I started out with the roller, but couldn’t get into the depressed areas of the frame.  I switched to a paintbrush from the Martha Stewart line to get the full coverage I was going for.  The paint goes on smooth, no bubbles and is definitely the high quality you would expect from Martha Stewart.  Not to mention, no other line comes close in terms of available colors.

Painted Frame Corkboard Tutorial

Martha Stewart Decorative Arts Paint

Martha Stewart Decorative Arts Paint

Martha Stewart Decorative Arts Paint

  • Stenciling:  I couldn’t resist these stencils, despite my history of failure in this realm.  It was so easy!  I didn’t use spray adhesive or tape for this.  The accompanying instructions recommend using adhesive, but I was in a mood to wing it.  You will have to figure out what works for you, and it probably varies depending on the surface you use.  I know Beckie over at Infarrantly Creative had a poor result using tape with these stencils, and tried stencil spray adhesive with splendid results.  Holding the stencil in place with my fingertip did the trick for me. Using the sponge applicator that came in my box, I ended up with crisp lines for a beautiful final piece.

 

Martha Stewart Plaid Craft Stencils

Martha Stewart Decorative Arts Paint

  • Dabbing and swirling the sponge til I was pleased with the coverage…

Martha Stewart Stencil

  • When I finished one section, I just moved the stencil to the adjacent area, overlapping one row to keep the design straight.

Martha Stewart Quatrefoil Stencil

I am so pleased with the result, and excited to have overcome my losing streak with stenciling.

Martha Stewart Decorative Arts Paint


Jenni absolutely loves her new room, and can’t wait to start pinning notes and memories on her new quatrefoil bulletin board.  I had a blast with these paints!  Go check out your local Michaels and look for this fantastic new line.

***Grab your 40% off coupon here.

Want to hear it from Martha?  Check out her description of the new line in this video.

Keep your eyes peeled for posts from many crafty bloggers using these paints and accessories.  Some of my favorites so far:

This is a sponsored post.  See full disclosure here.

Linking to this party!

Cool Revamped Thrifty Find Wall Decor

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Here I am, milling through the aisles of my favorite Goodwill store with an awesome girlfriend (hi, Debbie), when this rounded corner white frame appeared in my periphery. For $0.99 I brought the lil’ thing home. After some trial and error crafting, I ended with the final product pictured. SIMPLE. I threw a piece of fabric between the 2 glass panes, stuck some chipboard letters from my scrapbook supply stockpile on the front, stapled a ribbon to the back and… there you have it.
 

 

Revamped Thrift Store Pic…

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Can you tell I found a lot of pics with potential during my thrifting adventures this week? Anyway…
This was easy. I popped the picture out of the frame, adhered a piece of scrapbook paper onto it, using spray adhesive. Then I arranged borders and ribbons, dabbing a bit of hot glue to the ends folded over on the back of the pic.
I am obsessed with scrapbook paper and embellishments at the moment. I plan to vintage -ize some family pics in photoshop, and slide a couple of them under the ribbons when I get a chance.
Also upcoming… I found the perfect old wood framed window from a project I have had my eye on for awhile. You can rest assured it, too, will involve scrapbook paper and some mod podge…
Blessings…

Thrift Store Pic Scrapbooking Paper Project

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I scored with my recent thrifting. Here is a pic of a map I picked up for $2. I used a gift card I was given for Hobby Lobby to get some fresh scrapbook pages in the color scheme I am adopting for my kitchen. I used some other embellishments I had laying around. Modge Podge and hot glue gun holds it all together. There you go. I love it. Quick, frugal, easy.
I heart comments.

Beautify Thrift Store Picture Frame Antique Style

FinalCrackleFrame

(Final Product!!)

This is the process I use for most framing projects. I find a cheap framed pic at Goodwill, yard sales… I prefer wooden frames, as my options are open in terms of revamping. I can stain, or paint. My artwork to be framed was 16×20, so I was armed with a tape measurer. I went into this knowing I wanted to create an antique white frame for the collage of Princess Ava I showcased in the previous post.
  • I removed the artwork from the frame
  • Sanded frame lightly with sandpaper, and wiped clean with damp cloth
  • Painted with white acrylic paint using paintbrush (I only did one coat, as the original frame was light wood. If you need to recoat for coverage, let first coat dry completely)
  • While this was drying, I cleaned the glass with Windex
  • After about 1 hour, I applied crackle medium and let dry for 2 hours. (I applied a thin layer of crackle medium, as I didn’t want a very drastic crackle)
  • Once dry, I sprayed a coat of Rustoleum clear coat finish for protection.
  • Placed the glass, my collage, and the picture’s original backing and that is all
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