Leopard Bench

My friend, Ashley, had this leather bench sitting in her garage. it had no legs and the leather was ripped. the next day, i went to Hobby Lobby and went in search of upholstery fabric. I found a sweet deal on some leopard print fabric. it cost me $10, what a steal! I started the hour-long process of taking the old fabric off and pulling the staples out.

 I then went to Home Depot to get some 15" legs. I painted them black.

 Here is my beautiful fabric!

 And here is the finished piece!

 I think Abby loves it as much as I do!

A Portrait of Family History

So i am finally able to tell you what the exciting project is! I am always curious about history, especially my families. It is fascinating to know your ancestors stories and legacies. I joined ancestry.com and I found so many documents with my families signatures, addresses, pictures, and war cards. so i felt that i should honor my family with a piece of them in my home. I grabbed a spare canvas that I had lying around and got to work printing out specific documents that I fell in love with.

 When I was happy with my printings, i wanted to try to imitate antique papers without soaking them in stinky tea or coffee. So, being the mad scientist that i am, i decided to make my own mod podge mix using 1 part Emers glue and 1 part water. then i added a bronze colored paint (i used sample paint for $2 at Walmart) and i mixed a SMALL amount (like a tsp.) and shook up the mixture until it was blended.

side note: i recommend using the REAL mod podge for projects that you will want to adore for years, but in this case, the yellowing effect caused by the acid in the glue will not make a difference, so save some money and grab some glue!

 I then placed the papers in the desired places on my canvas just to have a clue on how they will fit.

 I grabbed a sponge brush and got to work "podging". I first covered the canvas and then placed the first paper where I wanted a starting point. then i painted over it. notice the pretty sepia tone that the paint gives it!

 then, from there, i added the clippings one by one layering them and arranging them so that my favorite signatures can show the best.

 keep going!

 you can add extra layers of podge to get a darker tone. i did that to various papers to make it look like a collection of papers from all decades.

 I filled in small lines where the canvas showed through with small parts of the documents. For instance, I would found the line of some census documents from 1880, 1890, etc. so i put those dated on the holes!

Now i will always have a piece of my familys history with me in my home. I hope this inspires you to do the same thing!

Painted Frame

I found this at the Traders Village in San Antonio. it was not very pretty and had a very ugly composition inside it. i immediately saw the potential! now a pretty, vintage chalkboard!

DIY tray uplift

 

i found this for $2 at a garage sale, the lady wanted $8 because it was hand painted, but i proceeded to tell her that i was gonna paint over it so i didnt care! what a bargain!

First, i cut out the paper to fit inside the tray.

I mod podged the bottom and put one piece down first and mod podged over until it was sealed.

I then let it dry and I now have a beautiful tray!