Faux wood graining saves the day.

Faux Wood Technique

Out on my back porch there are several wood columns that are currently painted white. I decided to change the color scheme of the entire porch from gray/white to soft gold/dark brown. To make a long story short, I had a problem....

I painted the columns a dark brown. Three coats. Still streaky? ugh. I did sand them before painting but they still remained streaky. A few family members mentioned that the streaky look was appealing......... which gave me an idea. Why not try to do a faux wood finish on the columns to make it look just like a real piece of wood. I just happen to have a faux wood tool downstairs, so why not give it a try?

Here's the tool.

And how do you use it? I watched some videos on Utube.com first and did a little research on Google. Basically it's a rock and drag motion. The more you rock, the more circular wood like grain you get. It's all in the wrist!

I mixed up the original paint (dark brown) with black glaze. 3 parts paint and 1 part black glaze. The glaze takes some time to dry so you really have some time to work with it. If you make a mistake, you can fix it. I practiced the technique on an old piece of wood before starting this project.

This is the streaky piece of wood that I didn't like: it actually looks like wood right now.

Here it is after applying the faux wood technique.

Now you can see a real distinct wood grain.

Although you can't really see the column that well from the picture above, you get the idea! They now all look like that and a lot better than before, so the faux wood technique rescued my streaky paint job!

and..................

My "sneaker head" son dared me to custom paint a pair of his sneakers. He wanted them painted in the "nerf" design (whatever that is). He downloaded a photo and gave it to me.

He gave me a pair of white sneakers to work with.

I had to use leather paints and a leather finisher.

Here they are: I won the bet!!

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Fun and Easy Candle Holders

It's not like I haven't made these before, but the more I make the more creative they seem to get. There is just no limit to what you have do to these candle holders. The glass globe or glass can be purchased at Walmart or any dollar store. I've never paid more than a buck for them.

Supplies:

-Glass globe

-Mod Podge (glossy or otherwise is fine)

-Clear Spray for finishing

-beads, small tiles, acrylic paint or anything else you have around

-tissue (the kind you use to pack up gifts)

-scissors

-medium size paint brush

I start out by cutting up squares out of the tissue paper. I used Mod Podge to attach all of them around the glass overlapping slightly. This process takes time, but goes by quickly. This actually gives the surface an opaque, mosaic look. White tissue works really well especially if you are going to add another design, but any color will do. Once this is complete and dry, you can add another tissue design and then embellish with paint, beads or anything else.

Below I've got my Mod Podge out with some cut squares. Next to it is the globe, with some of the squares already applied. Yellow, in this case.

I've cut out six petals from the tissue and Mod Podged them onto the glass globe. After that dried, I hand painted some random designs onto it using black acrylic paint. In the center I glued a yellow bead with some Weldbond Glue. Weldbond is great for glueing mosaics, stones and glass to any surface. I just discovered it last year and I'm in love. It sets up quickly and dries clear. It has superior gluing abilities!! Check here if you are interested in finding out more.

Here is another one with a white background and red bandana tissue for the design, adding a white bead to the center. Notice I did not apply any tissue to the bottom rim. I just felt that it didn't need to be there.

The same technique was done on this $3.00 thrift store tray. The tray itself was in great shape so nothing was done there. I simply cut large petals out of black & white tissue paper and mod podged them onto the tray in random positions. Again, adding a few red beads to the center of every flower.

Everything gets a few coats of high gloss- clear coat on top. All sprayed before the beads are glued on.

Below, taken from a past post are several more candle holders that are out of my porch. Same idea here.

Last but not least, also taken from an older post.......some pumpkins.

I'll be making some more of these for Halloween but his time on the round globes. These are just fun to make and easy too. I use t-lights in them for candles.

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When In Doubt-paint your rooms neutral.

I've received lots of email lately about painting rooms in the home, specifically the color. Many of those emails come from teenagers who are wondering what color they should pick. I've heard it all.......mom doesn't like my choice, I'm going to college in 2 years and they don't want to repaint the room and I'm just not really sure what I want. Sound familiar?

Painting a room is the most cost effective way to change the entire look. The color choice is sometimes good and sometimes, not so good. Pick the color, get the can home, put it on the wall and it looks terrible. It's happened to me plenty of times. Colors also change the feel of a room. Blue makes it feel cool, green is a great color to promote healing, red, orange and yellow promotes appetite (who needs that) and pink can make a room feel warmer. Timing plays a part too. What if you are planning on moving in 5 years? What if the kids are leaving for college in 2 years. Do you really want to paint that room a deep shade of red and then have to come back and redo the entire room again, primer and all??

I responded to all that wrote to me about painting their rooms. My suggestion was to paint the room neutral. If you are moving, that works. If you kids are leaving for college soon, that works too. But what about color? Everyone has a favorite, so why not use that too. A neutral room with all the perfect colors. For the mom who didn't want her kid painting their room electric green, then paint it neutral and add the electric green everywhere else. A few examples.

courtesy of askmissa.com

courtesy of: pinkbedroomideas.com

The two photos above show neutral paint colors with bright punches of color and it looks great. Once the furniture and accessories are removed, you have a neutral colored room.

courtesy of zimbio.com

The above photo shows a bedroom where the neutral walls even exist in the brick work.

courtesy of : beeboats.com

The above den has some real colorful accents added but the surrounding environment remains neutral.

courtesy of modern-luxury-homes.blogspot.com

This is especially pretty. The neutral wall color is white and the blue accents look amazing.

courtesy of panjuripans.com

Neutral colors with additions of pink and green. Remove the furniture and your room is white.

courtesy of panguripans.com

I especially love the above room. Neutral beige on the wall, white furniture and tropical green accents.

courtesy of pic2fly.com

The neutral walls work great in a kitchen as well. Here, the cabinets are also neutral. The lime color in the stools add so much to the room.

courtesy of squidoo.com

Pink and brown accents with a beige environment.

courtesy of squidoo.com

Black and hot pink against neutral. Wild and crazy, but removable.

There are many things that can make painting a room neutral the right choice.

-if you like change, go with neutral and change you accents frequently.

-if you are going to sell your house in a few years, go with neutral. Selling agents always recommend neutral tones when selling your house.

-if the kids are heading to college in a few years, you have just made your life a lot easier.

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