Photo Luminary

Recycle an old candle jar by turning it into a photo luminary. This is a good way to recycle and make something pretty for your home. This is a one of the very cool ways to use vellum paper. 

Materials: Old candle jar, translucent vellum paper, printer, mod podge, foam brush, ruler and a candle.

This is how vellum looks against the light.

Step 1: Pick a picture and print it onto the translucent vellum paper. Make proper adjustments so it fits onto your candle jar. (Try using using candle jars that are cylinder or square in shape).

Step 2: Using the foam brush, brush on mod podge glue onto the candle jar.

Step 3: Quickly place the picture onto the glue and smooth it out. (It's important to smooth it out because bubbles will form and when your luminary is lighted the bubbles will be noticeable.)

SIDE NOTES:

1) You can either completely cover your candle jar with pictures or you can just use one. Your choice.

2) If you use more than one picture try not to overlap them because once your luminary is lighted the overlapping will be noticeable as well.

Decorate Letters for Nursery

These personalized wooden letters are a cute and adorable gift to give to any mother-to-be to hang in the nursery and decorate that room for many years to come. They are super easy to make and will not take too much time :)


Materials: Wooden letters, scrapbook paper, paint, embellishments, scissors, x-acto knife, mod podge, foam brush and a glue gun.

Step 1: Purchase wooden alphabet letters of the baby's name (letters can be purchased at craft stores such as Michaels).
Step 2: Purchase scrapbook paper, paint and any embellishments you want to add to your letters.

Step 3: Paint the inside and outside sides of the letters using a foam brush.

Step 4: Place wooden letter on top of scrapbook paper and using a pencil trace the letter onto the paper. Cut the letter out using either scissors or x-acto knife (whatever you are comfortable using). Place the paper letter on top of the wooden letter and use the x-acto knife to trim any adjustments.

Step 5: Use Mod Podge and cover the back of the letter with a layer the adhesive. 

Step 6: Apply the paper letter to the corresponding wooden block and smooth it out (you can use a ruler or your fingers).
Step 7: You can mod podge the top of the letter to give it some sheen and texture.

Step 8: Let the letter dry and use glue gun to adhere any embellishments  you want to the letters (I used purple flowers to tie in the purple I painted on the sides of the letters).

Revamped Stool

So I was at the store and I found this stool/chair on clearance. It was on the clearance section because the manufacturing paint that was used was peeling all over (you can't see too much peeling from the picture above, but trust me there was like a crapload of peeling!) because they used very cheap paint. I bought it for a very minimal price and decided that I would paint it and give it a different look.

Materials: coarse sanding sponge, fine sanding sponge, paint stripper (or if you are cheap like me 100% acetone), spray paint, clean rag and a screwdriver.


Step 1: Use screwdriver and remove the pad from the chair.

Step 2: Use paint stripper to remove the old paint (Jasco 1-Quart Premium Paint and Epoxy Remover- you can find it at Lowes for $10.24). Or if you are a lazy and don't feel like going to the store, you can use 100% acetone remover. A big bottle will cost you about $2.00 and I used two bottles. Anyways, dampen either cotton balls or a rag and remove the old paint. Mind you, if you use acetone it will take about two days to remove all the paint, whereas if you use paint stripper it is a much faster process.

Step 3: You might still have some paint residue left over. Use the coarse sanding brush and sand away whatever paint is left over. Then use the fine sanding sponge to give it that final sanding and make the chair smooth and ready to be painted.

Step 4: Choose the color you want to paint your chair (I happen to be a big fan of Rust-oleum). I recommend that you go outside and not paint in an enclosed area since the spray cans release vapors. Put something down in the ground (such as newspapers). Spray one layer first and depending on the type of spray can you are using (read the directions in the back of the can for the waiting time to spray a second layer). Then paint a second or third layer until you get the color you desire. Let your chair dry for a day.

Step 5: Screw the pad back onto the chair and voila! You gave new life to an otherwise crappy, peeling chair :)