After absorbing inspiration and stockpiling tiles for my kitchen for three years, how did I begin the process of actually getting some tiles on the wall?
Kitchen Backsplash Project Part II – Beginning Work on the Walls
Category Archives: Upcycling
Kitchen Backsplash Project Part I – Introduction
When I wrote in my previous article Decor Idea Book that my home decor would take years to complete, I was not exaggerating. I’ve been interested in tiles and mosaics since I was a teenager.
Upcycled Butterfly Feeder
When I got a new dishwasher this spring, I decided to get rid of my broken garbage disposal rather than purchase a new one. When it was working, I rarely used it anyway since I composted almost anything that would normally go down it. In a way it’s kind of a bad habit because I already have more than enough stuff but I do enjoy saving odds and ends of things I might be able to re-use and seeing if I can make them into something useful. My Dad installed my new dishwasher for me and removed the old garbage disposal and he gave me several ringlike parts that he thought I might be able to use for something. One of them fits perfectly a glass part of a broken fountain/mister that someone else gave me.
Make a Garden Sign Out of a Recycled Produce Crate
In a previous article I described stenciling with paint on a wood garden sign. That works great if you don’t want a lot of small words but I found myself in need of some new garden signs that would require a lot of text on them. I decided to find a way to computer generate the text and put it on a weatherproof sign. In the past I had purchased produce from a co-op and had saved a couple of the thin wood crates thinking they would be useful for garden markers of some kind. I decided to make small signs from this wood and print out my text on clear acetate and attach that to the signs with brads.
Terra Cotta Mosaic Planter
Learn how to make a planter like this in my latest blog post for Schnarr’s!
http://schnarrsblog.com/terra-cotta-mosaic-planter/
Stencil a Wood Garden Sign
How would you like a practical and decorative wooden sign for your yard or garden? Stencils are handy for such a project because they are available in letters, numbers and lots of fun decorative designs.
Read more on the Schnarr’s Blog – Stencil a Wood Garden Sign
Make an Insulator Votive Candle Lantern
Do you collect glass insulators? I often see them for sale in antique shops and there are several web sites with information for insulator collectors. I’ve always found them attractive looking and I thought they’d be even more interesting if made into something functional. Flameless votive candles are a lot of fun (and safe) to incorporate into your decor. In this project I’ll show you how to make a glass insulator into a flameless candle lantern.
Read More: http://schnarrsblog.com/make-an-insulator-votive-candle-lantern/
Upcycle a Metal Tin with Decoupage
A lot of gifts and products come in decorative metal tins. Usually I don’t like the design already on the tin and prefer to cover it with something else. Turn a humdrum tin into a treasure with decoupage!
What you will need:
Images on paper to decoupage
Scissors
Scrap paper
Metal ruler
Optional: rubber stamps
Timber Brown StazOn stamping ink
Metal tin
Sandpaper
Rag
Small flat paintbrush
Water container
Paint palette with wells
Old credit card
Water based matte medium (if you prefer a glossy surface, use gloss medium)
Aleene’s Turbo Tacky Glue
Sponge
Metallic Silver StazOn or other silver paint appropriate for metal
Silver Ribbon
Cardstock
- To begin, gather together paper pieces with imagery that you like. This project will work best if they are on thin, opaque paper (not tissue paper). For my sample I wanted to create decorative tins for the bath, so I collected nostalgic images with a bath and personal products theme. Some of my images were downloaded from the Internet and printed for me at an office supply store. Some were cut out of magazines and catalogs, some vintage, some newer. Others were purchased from craft suppliers.You can also stamp images onto paper with permanent ink, such as the StazOn Timber Brown I used in this project. I stamped words from the rubber stamp set “Products on the Kitchen and Bath” onto narrow strips of torn scrap paper. Use any color of stamping ink you like as long as it is waterproof.
- Trim the images and cut to the size you want to use. Some images will look better cut out cleanly, some look good torn by using your metal ruler as a straight edge. You can also cut some with decorative paper edging scissors for variety. This project looks best if you prepare images in a variety of sizes.
- If you have any pieces larger than 1 inch square, there is a risk of the paper wrinkling as you apply it. Here is how to prevent wrinkling. Put down some scrap paper to protect your work surface. Pour a little matte medium into one of the paint wells. Paint the larger paper pieces on one side. Let dry, then flip over and paint the other side and let dry. Now they are ready to apply, wrinkle free!
- Prepare the tin to accept the paper – Sand the tin to rough up the painted surface to better accept the glued on pieces. Wipe of the dust with a damp rag. Let it dry.
Applying paper to tin - Now for the fun part, applying the paper pieces! For now, set aside the lid and only work on the body of the tin. Squeeze out some Aleen’s Turbo Tacky Glue into one of the paint wells. Start with larger paper pieces first – brush some tacky glue onto the back of each, then smooth in place on the body of the tin with your fingers (we’ll be using a different technique for the lid so set the lid aside for now). If you have to, roll the handle of your brush over the paper after you apply it or burnish with the edge of an old credit card to force any excess glue out and make the paper bond tightly to the tin with no gaps. You don’t have to worry about wiping or brushing away any excess glue if you don’t have big globs of glue oozing out – it will dry clear. Repeat this process until the whole bottom portion of the tin is covered. Let dry, then coat with a varnish of matt medium.
- Now we’ll work on the lid and a silver ribbon to wrap around the bottom edge of the tin. Sponge silver StazOn ink or other paint or ink of your choice around the edge of the lid and about a half inch onto the top. Cut two pieces of silver ribbon that are long enough to go around a tin one time. Tape them to a piece of scrap paper and sponge them with the silver ink or paint too – even though the ribbon is already silver it’s best to match it to the ink.
- Once the silver ribbon is dry, glue it around bottom edge of the tin with Tacky Glue.
- When the silver paint on the lid is dry, varnish lid and body of the tin with matte varnish.
Collage on cardstock - Get a piece of cardstock and decoupage it all over with more pieces of decorative paper. Let dry and coat with matte varnish.
Circles of collaged cardstock ready to glue onto lids - When the cardstock is dry, cut out a circle that is big enough to cover any unpainted areas of the lid. Glue down this paper circle with Tacky Glue, and let dry with a weight on top to keep it flat. You’re done!
Another finished tin
Why I Send New Year Cards Instead of Christmas Cards
For about 10 years I have sent cards to celebrate the New Year instead of Christmas. Why do I do this?
One reason is that I like to design my own cards, and everyone on my list does not celebrate Christmas, so a New Year card saves me from having to design multiple cards and remembering who celebrates Christmas and who does not. Another reason is that it’s different, and I never mind being different. Still another is that I make a lot of my own Christmas gifts and it’s difficult getting the gifts AND cards done all at one time.
But the main reason is that the act of designing the cards reminds me of one of the best Christmas/New Year holiday seasons of my entire life and by making the cards I can have a private celebration of that memory to give me hope for the year to come. I was still in college and I had recently completed one of those design class projects where you are assigned to depict the four seasons in an abstract manner. We did one set with paint, and another with collage papers. I was really enthusiastic about the project because I love to work abstract and I especially enjoyed the collage part.
I was still fired up about collages when Christmas break of 1988 came around and I didn’t want to stop doing them. During the break between Christmas and New Year I had some rare time off from both work and school and I was able to work on some projects just because I wanted to do them. My uncle had given me a new Devo tape (one of my favorite groups of the 80s) for a Christmas gift and I listened to that over and over while I worked on several collages that I was really pleased with. I thought they were the best work I had ever done up to that point and I used ideas I developed during those few days for spinoff projects for some time to come. One of the pieces was a collection of “thumbnail” collages in a Mid-Century modern style that I still keep in my studio and still periodically get ideas from. I will never forget what that burst of creativity was like, it’s hard to describe but I felt fully alive and purposeful for one of the first times in my life. It’s a feeling I’m always working to recapture and I do succeed from time to time but it is not easy to get “in the zone” like that.
For this year’s design I decided to do a four seasons treatment, using collage in a sort of DADA/Constructivist style. Those kinds of pieces are typically either chilling, disturbing or both so I watered down the type if imagery I’d normally use for that type of collage because I wanted to convey a positive feeling about the New Year! I used my collage paper collection that I’ve been building up since 1985 and mostly let the colors carry the message. I did a little bit of editing with the computer after scanning the collages to finish them off and size them for cards. Each card recipient is going to get one of the four seasons at random this time, instead of everyone on the list getting the same card. I wish everyone a creative New Year in 2015!
If you want to see what handmade greeting cards I have for sale, go to http://carolynsstampstore.com/catalog/handmade-carolyn-c-47.html
Making Convertible Bracelets
One of my favorite pastimes is to take apart jewelry that I purchased from thrift stores and make new things out of it. When I do this, I end up with a lot of odds and ends of chain. It occurred to me that some of these chain pieces could be the foundation of a convertible bracelet design.
In this example, I linked three lengths of chain together with a small jump ring on one end with a lobster clasp, and a larger jump ring on the other. The larger jump ring will be needed to accept multiple items clasped to it later. This bracelet can be worn as is, or used as a necklace extender.
Next I made some parts that I can attach to give the bracelet a different look. I made a narrow strand of small beads with small lobster clasps at each end, and a dangle that consists of three silver colored beads on head pins attached to a small jump ring and a small lobster clasp. The picture on the right shows the bracelet with the convertible parts attached – I twisted the bead strand around the bracelet and clipped it to the jump rings at each end, and clipped the dangle to the large jump ring.
I had so much fun with the previous set that I made another, this time with two strands of beads. These short bead strands could also be used as necklace extenders and the dangles could be attached to necklaces in strategic places as well. Think of all the different combinations you could have fun with! See my tutorial on convertible necklaces for more convertible jewelry ideas!