Thursday, April 24, 2014

 Customized Knobs

I just purchased a dresser for my son's room from IKEA.  Have you ever put an IKEA item together?  Wow.  Lots of screws, nut, bolts and of coarse, the little stick figure guy that shows up in the instructions.  It's a big job, for sure.  I'm happy to report though, I successfully put two of these dressers together.  
These dressers are plain, sanded and unfinished.  I painted them to match his headboard.  Both dressers come with wood knobs.  I was looking for something with a little more character. I searched on Pinterest for things that could be done with knobs and found this.
Great idea and comes out great.

Supplies:
Ceramic knobs (bought mine in Home Depot < than $2.00 each
One or more Sharpie Markers, any color
Your oven

Simple to do:

 Just paint each knob with your sharpie marker.  I started in the middle and colored my way outward.  Little strokes work great giving you final piece more of a jewel finish.
Let them dry and bake them in the oven.  I did it at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.  You won't believe how nice they look when finished.  This technique gives you the ability to customize your knobs any color you want.  I picked brown for my use, but the ones I saw on Pinterest were turquoise and they looked fabulous.
Pick the color you are sure of.  Once the marker hits the knob-it's permanent!  No turning back.
What a great idea-too bad I didn't think it up myself.....
Here is the finished dresser.  You can't appreciate the knobs so much, but I'm sure you can see how nicely they now match.  Much better than the plain wood ones. 

                                                      Christy
Just baked!
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Sunday, April 20, 2014

     I know.....I know.  Where have I been? I'm still here and still creating all sorts of things.  Mainly, turning junk into something usable.  I got involved with a antiques/gift store two years ago and it has so far worked out pretty good for me.  I rent a small space and sell things that I've created at home.  Lot's of fun, a little extra money and a way for me to channel my creativity. 
     I spent as much time as possible shopping in thrift stores and finding things that I can "alter" in some way to make it sellable.  It doesn't always work out for me, but most of the time someone out there appreciates it and I make some extra money. 
     I've also taken on some major home improvement efforts over the winter which I will post about soon. Took forever, it seems but well worth all the work.  So now it's spring in Atlanta and there is plenty of yard creativity and work to deal with so I'm feeling the ache in my back already!!

   Here is such one example of a "trash to treasure" that I've done and sold lately.  
 This little doggy was purchased in a thrift store.  I probably paid $3.00 for him.  He's made out of ceramic ( I think).  He holds a broken chain in his mouth.  My vision was to repair or replace the chain, add a welcome sign and give this guy a new coat of paint, which is pretty much what I landed up doing.
I cleaned him up and sprayed him with black Rustoleum paint.  I hand painted his collar with acrylic red. When it was finished-I sprayed a clear coat of vanish over him to seal up the colors.  I replaced the chain with new, black chain and attached the sign.

The sign is a small piece of black PVC sheet, but anything would work.  I used my new toy-the Silhouette Cameo to cut the vinyl letters out to spell Welcome and added a small red flower with acrylic.  Not really obvious in the picture, is his eyes.  I hand painted them to look like he actually have a little personality-and it worked.  Made him look happier too.  I brought him into the shop and he sold two days later. 

I am always amazed at what people throw away and what you can actually do with this stuff.
More to come!

Christy
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