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!

01 02 12

     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

01 02 12

Painting Brick

I didn't know if you could paint brickwork.  My front porch bricks were so faded and old looking, that it just gave the whole front entrance a sad look.  It's looked like this for a few years now.  The sun beats down on those bricks everyday for hours, so time was really showing on them. Let's face it: the front door is the very first thing you see when when you arrive at someone's house. It should look friendly, clean and welcoming-don't ya think?
I searched around the Internet for some help, but didn't find much.  So hard could it
be?



I took a ride to Home Depot and bought a bottle of cement stain.  It's full strength and you're suppose to add it to cement.  So I figured that I could add a little water and  just paint it onto my bricks.  I wasn't sure if it would work but for 6 bucks I wasn't going to lose much. It doesn't say that you can use this stuff for painting brick, cut it's close enough for me.

I picked a bright, sunny day and went to work.

Supplies:
1. Water
2. Cement stain
3. paintbrush
4. cup of coffee for myself 'cause it's pretty early.

Before starting this project, I power washed the porch. Nice and clean and ready to roll. It must be dry though.

I simply painted every brick and just couldn't get over the transformation. Wow....I'm so glad I did this.  Now the important part is: will it last?  What if it rains and the paint comes off?  What if it doesn't last? Will it fade with time?  I can answer some questions.

It did rain and the paint is still there. That's good.
It could fade over time.  I'm hoping it sticks around though, because it looks really good.

Don't know if it will last but it's been four weeks and it's still looking good.
So I think that you CAN paint brick.  This paint just absorbed into the old brick like the brick was a sponge, so I'm pretty sure it will last a while.

Christy01 02 12