End Table Makeover and Over and Over!

Did you ever have one of those projects that you just couldn't seem to get right? Well, this is that project for me! I did, however, finally get this little end table to look the way I pictured it in my head.

It started out like this...

I paid $10 for it at the thrift store.

I knew that I wanted to paint it and add a graphic and a pattern. Of course, the Graphics Fairy always has something I like to use for the graphics...

I printed out the graphic in reverse on my computer, taped it ink side down, and rubbed over the design with a pencil. This transferred the graphic onto the table. You can paint over the design with any color, but I like the way it has an aged feel with just the transfer.

I decided I wanted a houndstooth pattern for the top. It would have certainly been great to have a stencil for this part! I didn't, so I had to figure it out on my own. Luckily, my days of designing patterns for a carpet company kicked in and I figured it out.

I drew this part with a pencil. It's not perfect, but neither am I! I don't mind a little imperfection!

I didn't want the traditional black and white houndstooth. I wanted the design to be a little more subtle and be more the color of my graphic. So, I added a little black to the white that I used to paint the table with ...

It was still too dark! So, I did a wash over it with the white...

that turned it blue!!! FAIL!

So, I decided to see how it would look black...

It looked okay, but still not what I had in my head. And, actually, it looks better in the picture than it did in person.

So, I washed over the black...

It was okay, but still not what I wanted.

This time, I decided to treat the design more like a watercolor. I mixed a light gray and painted over the design AGAIN!

Much better! Now it looks more like the graphic. And, once I put wax on the table it made it even more subtle, which is how I had envisioned it.

 Finally, I got the look I wanted...

This just proves that paint is forgiving! If you don't like how something turns out, just paint over it...even if you have to paint over it again, and again, and again!

Linking To: 
Savvy Southern Style, Boogieboard Cottage,Sugar Bee Crafts, Not Just A Housewife, Coastal Charm,To Sew With Love, Under The Table & Dreaming,Cherished Treasures,The Graphics Fairy,Polly Want A Crafter,Funky Junk Interiors,Addicted 2 Decorating,Domestically Speaking,Tales of a Trophy Wife,DIY Showoff, Skip To My Lou,Mommy By Day... Crafter By Night,Miss Mustard Seed,All Things Heart and Home,The Shabby Nest,Someday Crafts,Sew Much Ado,Lil' Luna,Sugar and Dots,House of Hepworths,Yesterday on Tuesday,Thrifty Decorating,Remodelaholic,Fingerprints on the Fridge,Lovely Crafty Home,Ladybird LN Craft Envy,Dittle Dattle,Craft-O-Maniac,Keeping It Simple,Mad In Crafts,Making The World Cuter,Sisters of the Wild West,Sarahndipities,Today's Creative Blog,Tip Junkie,Sassy Sites,The Thrifty Home,seven thirty three,Sisters Stuff,Fabric Bows and More,Sew Woodsy,Tea Rose Home,Ginger Snap Crafts,The Shabby Creek Cottage,What Allie's Making Now,Thrifty 101,Momnivore's Dilemma,It's Sew Stinkin Cute,Beyond The Picket Fence,Finding Fabulous,Trendy Treehouse,A Little Knick Knack,Chic on a Shoestring Decorating,Simply Sweet Home, Creation Corner,Truly Lovely with the Laney Sisters,Mommaskindacrafty,Simply Designing,Joyful Stamper,Tatertots and Jello,Along For The Ride,Young and Crafty,While He Was Napping,A Vision To Remember,Stay At Home Nation,LambAround,Nifty Thrifty Things,Petite Hermine,A Bowl Full Of Lemons,The Foley Fam,Type A,Reasons To Skip The Housework,DIY Club Inc,Primitive and Proper,Creations by Kara,Elle Belle CreativeTales from Bloggeritaville,Delightful Order,Gluesticks,Somewhat Simple,Frugalicious Me,All Things Fee,Cherished Bliss,Homework,Me and My Boys,Homemaker on a Dime,Primp,Craft Junkie Too,Home Savvy,Lines Across My Face,Bear Rabbit Bear,The Kurtz Corner,Chef In Training,The Sasse Life,Project Queen,Crafty Scrappy Happy,Raising 4 Princesses,DIY Home Sweet Home,Passionately Artistic,Redoux,Pocket Full Of Pink,Kammy's Korner,I Can't Stop Crafting,Sassafras Salvation,The Artsy Girl Connection,The Shady Porch,Rae Gun Ramblings,Six Sisters Stuff,Sew Crafty Tuesday,Adventures In Dinner,Knick Of Time,Five Days 5 Ways,Some Good Stuff,Seven Alive,Ivy and Elephants,Creating Home,Alderberry Hill,
The Cottage Market ,  Fine Craft Guild, I should be mopping the floor, CRAFT.,

Shredded Paper Hearts

My very first blog post had a tutorial for making hearts with paper from my shredder. With Valentine's Day approaching, I thought I would share that link. Go here to see the post.

This is such an easy project! And, you still have time to make this for someone special for Valentine's Day!!!

Linking To: 
Savvy Southern Style, Boogieboard Cottage,Sugar Bee Crafts, Not Just A Housewife, Coastal Charm,To Sew With Love, Under The Table & Dreaming,Cherished Treasures,The Graphics Fairy,Polly Want A Crafter,Funky Junk Interiors,Addicted 2 Decorating,Domestically Speaking,Tales of a Trophy Wife,DIY Showoff, Skip To My Lou,Mommy By Day... Crafter By Night,Miss Mustard Seed,All Things Heart and Home,The Shabby Nest,Someday Crafts,Sew Much Ado,Lil' Luna,Sugar and Dots,House of Hepworths,Yesterday on Tuesday,Thrifty Decorating,Remodelaholic,Fingerprints on the Fridge,Lovely Crafty Home,Ladybird LN Craft Envy,Dittle Dattle,Craft-O-Maniac,Keeping It Simple,Mad In Crafts,Making The World Cuter,Sisters of the Wild West,Sarahndipities,Today's Creative Blog,Tip Junkie,Sassy Sites,The Thrifty Home,seven thirty three,Sisters Stuff,Fabric Bows and More,Sew Woodsy,Tea Rose Home,Ginger Snap Crafts,The Shabby Creek Cottage,What Allie's Making Now,Thrifty 101,Momnivore's Dilemma,It's Sew Stinkin Cute,Beyond The Picket Fence,Finding Fabulous,Trendy Treehouse,A Little Knick Knack,Chic on a Shoestring Decorating,Simply Sweet Home, Creation Corner,Truly Lovely with the Laney Sisters,Mommaskindacrafty,Simply Designing,Joyful Stamper,Tatertots and Jello,Along For The Ride,Young and Crafty,While He Was Napping,A Vision To Remember,Stay At Home Nation,LambAround,Nifty Thrifty Things,Petite Hermine,A Bowl Full Of Lemons,The Foley Fam,Type A,Reasons To Skip The Housework,DIY Club Inc,Primitive and Proper,Creations by Kara,Elle Belle CreativeTales from Bloggeritaville,Delightful Order,Gluesticks,Somewhat Simple,Frugalicious Me,All Things Fee,Cherished Bliss,Homework,Me and My Boys,Homemaker on a Dime,Primp,Craft Junkie Too,Home Savvy,Lines Across My Face,Bear Rabbit Bear,The Kurtz Corner,Chef In Training,The Sasse Life,Project Queen,Crafty Scrappy Happy,Raising 4 Princesses,DIY Home Sweet Home,Passionately Artistic,Redoux,Pocket Full Of Pink,Kammy's Korner,I Can't Stop Crafting,Sassafras Salvation,The Artsy Girl Connection,The Shady Porch,Rae Gun Ramblings,Six Sisters Stuff,Sew Crafty Tuesday,Adventures In Dinner,Knick Of Time,Five Days 5 Ways,Some Good Stuff,Seven Alive,Ivy and Elephants,Creating Home,Alderberry Hill, Flour Me With Love,

Buckle Up!

You can really dress up a simple pair of jeans with a beautiful belt buckle. And, the best way to have a unique belt buckle is to make it yourself! Here is an easy way to create your own...

Here's what you'll need...

Blank Belt Buckle- If your craft store doesn't carry these, you can find them online.

Dictionary- I found this old one at the Goodwill.

Rubber stamp & ink.

Seed beads.

Charms or other embellishments.

Scissors.

Diamond Glaze- Mod Podge would probably work.

E6000 glue.

Start by picking out a word in the dictionary that goes along with the theme of your buckle. Since my embellishment had a compass on it, I chose the word, "direction." Lay your buckle down, positioning the word where you would like it placed and trace around the buckle.

Cut out the section that you traced around. Keep trimming the paper until it fits inside the buckle.

Using a rubber stamp, add a little design around the edges of the paper.

Cover the blank buckle with Diamond Glaze, add the paper, and then coat the top of the paper with Diamond Glaze.

Once dry, add more Diamond Glaze to the areas where you'd like the seed beads. Add the beads and then add a little of the Diamond Glaze on top of the beads for security.

Use E6000 to glue on the embellishment and your finished!

For this belt buckle, I skipped the step of adding a stamped design to the edges of the paper. I simply added the paper, beads, and a cross charm...

I even added some of the beads to the cross!

For this last buckle, I cut out the paper, stamped it with a bird design, and added color to the design with markers. It doesn't get any easier than that!!!

Linking To: 
Savvy Southern Style, Boogieboard Cottage,Sugar Bee Crafts, Not Just A Housewife, Coastal Charm,To Sew With Love, Under The Table & Dreaming,Cherished Treasures,The Graphics Fairy,Polly Want A Crafter,Funky Junk Interiors,Addicted 2 Decorating,Domestically Speaking,Tales of a Trophy Wife,DIY Showoff, Skip To My Lou,Mommy By Day... Crafter By Night,Miss Mustard Seed,All Things Heart and Home,The Shabby Nest,Someday Crafts,Sew Much Ado,Lil' Luna,Sugar and Dots,House of Hepworths,Yesterday on Tuesday,Thrifty Decorating,Remodelaholic,Fingerprints on the Fridge,Lovely Crafty Home,Ladybird LN Craft Envy,Dittle Dattle,Craft-O-Maniac,Keeping It Simple,Mad In Crafts,Making The World Cuter,Sisters of the Wild West,Sarahndipities,Today's Creative Blog,Tip Junkie,Sassy Sites,The Thrifty Home,seven thirty three,Sisters Stuff,Fabric Bows and More,Sew Woodsy,Tea Rose Home,Ginger Snap Crafts,The Shabby Creek Cottage,What Allie's Making Now,Thrifty 101,Momnivore's Dilemma,It's Sew Stinkin Cute,Beyond The Picket Fence,Finding Fabulous,Trendy Treehouse,A Little Knick Knack,Chic on a Shoestring Decorating,Simply Sweet Home, Creation Corner,Truly Lovely with the Laney Sisters,Mommaskindacrafty,Simply Designing,Joyful Stamper,Tatertots and Jello,Along For The Ride,Young and Crafty,While He Was Napping,A Vision To Remember,Stay At Home Nation,LambAround,Nifty Thrifty Things,Petite Hermine,A Bowl Full Of Lemons,The Foley Fam,Type A,Reasons To Skip The Housework,DIY Club Inc,Primitive and Proper,Creations by Kara,Elle Belle CreativeTales from Bloggeritaville,Delightful Order,Gluesticks,Somewhat Simple,Frugalicious Me,All Things Fee,Cherished Bliss,Homework,Me and My Boys,Homemaker on a Dime,Primp,Craft Junkie Too,Home Savvy,Lines Across My Face,Bear Rabbit Bear,The Kurtz Corner,Chef In Training,The Sasse Life,Project Queen,Crafty Scrappy Happy,Raising 4 Princesses,DIY Home Sweet Home,Passionately Artistic,Redoux,Pocket Full Of Pink,Kammy's Korner,I Can't Stop Crafting,Sassafras Salvation,The Artsy Girl Connection,The Shady Porch,Rae Gun Ramblings,Six Sisters Stuff,Sew Crafty Tuesday,Adventures In Dinner,Knick Of Time,Five Days 5 Ways,Some Good Stuff,Seven Alive,Ivy and Elephants,Creating Home,Alderberry Hill,

Cardboard Valentine

With Valentine's Day less than a month away, I thought I'd re-visit a post I did last year. At the time, I didn't know how to link to parties (actually, I didn't even know the parties existed). I had about 7 followers thanks to some friends and family. What a difference a year makes! Now, I link up my projects daily to the great sites that host parties. I love seeing all the creativity that is out there!!!

So, here is a project I did last year with some friends...

 
This can be hung on a doorknob or the wall, or you can write a sweet note on the back and mail it to someone special!
Go here for the post and the tutorial.
I mailed 2 of mine, and one of them has been hanging on my back door for almost a year!
This is a great project to do with the kids, too!

Linking To: 
Savvy Southern Style, Boogieboard Cottage,Sugar Bee Crafts, Not Just A Housewife, Coastal Charm,To Sew With Love, Under The Table & Dreaming,Cherished Treasures,The Graphics Fairy,Polly Want A Crafter,Funky Junk Interiors,Addicted 2 Decorating,Domestically Speaking,Tales of a Trophy Wife,DIY Showoff, Skip To My Lou,Mommy By Day... Crafter By Night,Miss Mustard Seed,All Things Heart and Home,The Shabby Nest,Someday Crafts,Sew Much Ado,Lil' Luna,Sugar and Dots,House of Hepworths,Yesterday on Tuesday,Thrifty Decorating,Remodelaholic,Fingerprints on the Fridge,Lovely Crafty Home,Ladybird LN Craft Envy,Dittle Dattle,Craft-O-Maniac,Keeping It Simple,Mad In Crafts,Making The World Cuter,Sisters of the Wild West,Sarahndipities,Today's Creative Blog,Tip Junkie,Sassy Sites,The Thrifty Home,seven thirty three,Sisters Stuff,Fabric Bows and More,Sew Woodsy,Tea Rose Home,Ginger Snap Crafts,The Shabby Creek Cottage,What Allie's Making Now,Thrifty 101,Momnivore's Dilemma,It's Sew Stinkin Cute,Beyond The Picket Fence,Finding Fabulous,Trendy Treehouse,A Little Knick Knack,Chic on a Shoestring Decorating,Simply Sweet Home, Creation Corner,Truly Lovely with the Laney Sisters,Mommaskindacrafty,Simply Designing,Joyful Stamper,Tatertots and Jello,Along For The Ride,Young and Crafty,While He Was Napping,A Vision To Remember,Stay At Home Nation,LambAround,Nifty Thrifty Things,Petite Hermine,A Bowl Full Of Lemons,The Foley Fam,Type A,Reasons To Skip The Housework,DIY Club Inc,Primitive and Proper,Creations by Kara,Elle Belle CreativeTales from Bloggeritaville,Delightful Order,Gluesticks,Somewhat Simple,Frugalicious Me,All Things Fee,Cherished Bliss,Homework,Me and My Boys,Homemaker on a Dime,Primp,Craft Junkie Too,Home Savvy,Lines Across My Face,Bear Rabbit Bear,The Kurtz Corner,Chef In Training,The Sasse Life,Project Queen,Crafty Scrappy Happy,Raising 4 Princesses,DIY Home Sweet Home,Passionately Artistic,Redoux,Pocket Full Of Pink,Kammy's Korner,I Can't Stop Crafting,Sassafras Salvation,The Artsy Girl Connection,The Shady Porch,Rae Gun Ramblings,Six Sisters Stuff,Sew Crafty Tuesday,Adventures In Dinner,Knick Of Time,Five Days 5 Ways,Some Good Stuff,Seven Alive,Ivy and Elephants,Creating Home,Alderberry Hill,