Monday, July 18, 2011

Kid's Art Frames: my first D to the F!

Okay, it's not the first time I've bought something old and fixed it up and used it for household decoration . . . it's just my first time posting here on Drab to Fab about it.  I'll be bringing back "Tasty Tuesdays" when I have more time . . . my cooking these days (at 37 weeks pregnant) is completely for eating only.  Not for photography or florid descriptions . . .

Moving on . . .

I bought these frames for $2 apiece at Deseret Industries thrift store (I thought briefly about hanging them up "as is" to go with my quilted hunting lodge decor, but decided to branch out and try something else).
Kidding . . . these framed fabric prints are hideous.
First thing to do was to remove the offensive fowl.
Already looking better . . .
Next, four coats of high-gloss white Krylon.  Oh yeah.  (I already had this spray paint on hand, but I think the can was around four bucks).
I love how the wood-colored scrollwork still shows through.
Then, a 4-pack of corkboard purchased at Wal-Mart for $5.

Finally, hot glue to attach the corkboard inside each frame.

Hello, I am jealous of myself, and have inspired my kids to new creative heights.  They have been busy making art since I hung the frames up in my short blue hallway.  My six-year-old son said, "I know why there's four cork boards.  So when the baby is born we can teach it how to do art . . . wait, do you have another frame?"  I wish I did have another frame (hello, where's the mallard duck print?), but three will have to do for now, until "it" learns to "do art."

Monday, July 11, 2011

TV Hutch to Book Shelf and More

OH, I am a wretched human being.
I LURVE before and after pictures but somehow forgot to take a before picture of my old TV hutch. Let's just say she was a "sweet spirit". Her hinges sagged, her doors barely hung, the backing was gone and all her pieces were MIA. 
But I love hutches (as do all our sisters) and still knew she could be a beaut again.
I decided to try to spend zero, zilch, and not one dime on this project. So I used all old odds and ends around my house to refinish it.

Notice all the mismatching wood? Yep, that's right. Odds and Ends BABY!
My husband added 4 shelves in the hutch. I really love my books. Not only reading books but all of my photo albums too. I just hate the cluttered look of book shelves and really wanted doors, so this was perfect!

I had this old decal left over from my kitchen project!
We used two different pieces of wood for the backing.
I added some new hinges that I had left over from another project.
I really really really wanted to paint it a wasabi green or something like Ali did here, but to not spend a dime I just used some black paint I already had. And well, you all know me, I LURVE black! 

Here is the inside.......

All my books are perfectly hidden. 
There was only one problem....

I hated the bench after I moved this piece in.
So a quick touch up paint job and some new fabric... and VOILA.

I even spray painted the basket underneath too! 

 I am loving this space now!!

Wahoo....I love doing projects!
Created anything fabulous lately?

Tuesday, July 5, 2011

Beautiful Chair Refurbish and Wedding Backdrop

Our lovely talented sister Hanna redid these fabulous chairs for our baby brothers wedding. 
She disassembled the chairs and grabbed some trusty spray paint and spray painted away! 

 She did two of the chairs white and sanded them down slightly to make them antiqued, and one chair she did a cherry jubilee.

 Don't you just LURVE the character of each of these chairs?
She found some great finds with awesome details!

Next she reupholstered the seats with a staple gun.



Hanna always picks the BEST fabric. 
I am digging her color choices and definitely wanted to do some more chairs of my own now!

Now all she had to do was screw the seats down.

 Perfect to finish off a beautifully designed backdrop for the wedding line! 

Don't ya just LURVE??? 
I know I do!!! It was gorg!


XOXOXO , 
Drab to Fab