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S'mores on the Front Porch

S'mores on the Front Porch

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2:30 AM

Painted Desk Accessories (Including Gold Scissors!)

<center></center><div style="text-align: center;"><img alt=" photo zDSC_0642.jpg" border="0" src="http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd246/jkomenda/Album%2010/zDSC_0642.jpg" style="text-align: start;" /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">I love small DIY projects because they can usually come together quickly and simply and they really solve some design problems in a pinch. My favorite projects usually happen right before a party or a photo shoot in a last minute spurt of creative energy. For <a href="http://littlegreennotebook.blogspot.com/2013/08/still-vs-sparkling-kitchen-desk-two-ways.html" target="_blank">my little desk redo</a>, I wanted some shiny and bright accessories and there was no way I wanted to spend a penny on any of that.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><img alt=" photo vDSC_0581.jpg" border="0" src="http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd246/jkomenda/Album%2010/vDSC_0581.jpg" /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Well, I ended up spending a couple pennies (about 60 I think) to pick up these neon acrylics paints. And using the rest of <a href="http://littlegreennotebook.blogspot.com/2013/07/the-best-gold-spray-paint.html" target="_blank">my new favorite gold spray paint</a> and some things I already had on hand, I got just what I wanted - bright, colorful and unique desk accessories.</div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><img alt=" photo DSC_0560.jpg" border="0" src="http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd246/jkomenda/Album%2010/DSC_0560.jpg" /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Here's the how-to...</div><a name="more"></a>I got this glass footed bowl for <a href="http://littlegreennotebook.blogspot.com/2013/07/the-laundry-room-redo-and-5000-laundry.html" target="_blank">the laundry room redo</a> a while back and never used it. I think I bought it on clearance at Homegoods for about $4.<br /><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><center></center></div><div style="text-align: center;"><img alt=" photo vDSC_0583.jpg" border="0" src="http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd246/jkomenda/Album%2010/vDSC_0583.jpg" /><br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;">I thought the shape would make a perfect shallow planter. If I wanted to use this as a bowl for keys or jewelry or whatever, I would have used a paint made specifically for use on glass (Porcelaine is a great one). But since I planned to just fill this up with soil and plants, no need for anything more than cheap craft paint.</div></div><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><img alt=" photo zDSC_0587.jpg" border="0" src="http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd246/jkomenda/Album%2010/zDSC_0587.jpg" style="text-align: start;" /><br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;">I poured in a bunch of the paint, brushed it up toward the rim and then let it sit.</div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><img alt=" photo zDSC_0591.jpg" border="0" src="http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd246/jkomenda/Album%2010/zDSC_0591.jpg" style="text-align: start;" /><br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;">The paint dripped back down onto the thinner layer and created a cool, glazed effect. I like how different it looks, but if you want to paint just a single layer of paint on glassware that works too.</div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><img alt=" photo zDSC_0621.jpg" border="0" src="http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd246/jkomenda/Album%2010/zDSC_0621.jpg" style="text-align: start;" /><br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;">And that's actually what I did with this little cut glass tumbler. I painted the inside with two coats of the neon yellow acrylic and let it dry outside for a good day to let the thick paint really cure.</div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><img alt=" photo xDSC_0593.jpg" border="0" src="http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd246/jkomenda/Album%2010/xDSC_0593.jpg" style="text-align: start;" /><br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;">I've been using it as a pencil cup and I love the dimensional look of the paint on the inside of the glass.</div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><img alt=" photo zDSC_0646.jpg" border="0" src="http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd246/jkomenda/Album%2010/zDSC_0646.jpg" style="text-align: start;" /><br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;">And didn't those cheapie plastic-handled scissors take paint so well? If you want, you can tape off the blade, but I just sprayed right over it (I didn't spray the insides of the blades though - they sat in the closed position the whole time I was spraying).</div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><img alt=" photo DSC_0562.jpg" border="0" src="http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd246/jkomenda/Album%2010/DSC_0562.jpg" style="text-align: start;" /><br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;">I sprayed a clear lacquer coat on these too and I think they'll continue to hold up well. No chips after a few weeks of use.</div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><img alt=" photo zDSC_0650.jpg" border="0" src="http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd246/jkomenda/Album%2010/zDSC_0650.jpg" style="text-align: start;" /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">It's so fun to see how a little paint can transform the simplest items. The details really do make a big difference. Before I painted that footed glass bowl pink, the <a href="http://littlegreennotebook.blogspot.com/2013/08/still-vs-sparkling-kitchen-desk-two-ways.html" target="_blank">sparkling version</a> of the desk area was really bland. The pop of color made all the difference. And how long would I have had to search online and in stores to find a bright pink bowl (and how much would I have had to spend on it?). Sometimes you just have to make it if you want it.</div>

Painted Desk Accessories (Including Gold Scissors!)

I love small DIY projects because they can usually come together quickly and simply and they really solve some design problems in a pinch. M...

9:25 AM

DIY: Spraying Painting Vinyl

There are so many old and sad vinyl chairs in thrift stores all around the world, just waiting for a can of spray paint to come to the rescue.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><img alt=" photo IMG_5920.jpg" border="0" src="http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd246/jkomenda/Album%2010/IMG_5920.jpg" style="text-align: start;" /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Let's join together and give them a second life!</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><img alt=" photo DSC_0602copy.jpg" border="0" src="http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd246/jkomenda/Album%2010/DSC_0602copy.jpg" /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Here's the how-to:</div><a name="more"></a>This is the third or fourth time that I've spray painted an old vinyl office chair. In the past, I've used a spray paint specially formulated for vinyl called <a href="http://www.duplicolor.com/products/vinylFabricCoating/" target="_blank">Dupli-Color</a> at Autozone. It worked really great, but the bottles were a little on the pricey side, if I remember right. Now Rustoleum makes a vinyl spray paint too that you can often find in hardware stores. This time though, I used a less expensive and easier to find paint from Rustoleum that has primer built in and is (most importantly) formulated for bonding to plastics.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><img alt=" photo photo.jpg" border="0" src="http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd246/jkomenda/Album%2010/photo.jpg" /></div><center></center><br />Before I spray-painted the chair though, I cleaned the vinyl really well. It gives me the creepy crawlies to think about the decades of germs and gunk potentially living on that chair. I like to use a hardcore degreaser called Krud Kutter that really helps to get the vinyl to ground zero. I wiped it down with water and wet cloth after the Krud Kutter too though, just to make sure all the cleaner was off the vinyl before painting.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><img alt=" photo aIMG_5974.jpg" border="0" src="http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd246/jkomenda/Album%2010/aIMG_5974.jpg" style="text-align: start;" /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Anytime I'm spray painting a chair, I put the legs in a garbage bag and tape around the base of the seat, rather than wasting practically a whole roll of tape on tricky legs.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><img alt=" photo IMG_6026.jpg" border="0" src="http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd246/jkomenda/Album%2010/IMG_6026.jpg" style="text-align: start;" /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">After two coats of white paint on the whole chair, it was time to tape out the stripes. I used a thick 2 1/2" wide tape for this. To make the spacing even, I just ripped off a small piece of tape to put down as a place holder for the empty space. Easy to do and makes this a no-measuring project.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><img alt=" photo IMG_6033.jpg" border="0" src="http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd246/jkomenda/Album%2010/IMG_6033.jpg" style="text-align: start;" /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">The only tricky part is getting the curves right, but just try hard to keep your spacing even and the tape should be flexible enough to handle the curves and slopes.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><img alt=" photo IMG_6039.jpg" border="0" src="http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd246/jkomenda/Album%2010/IMG_6039.jpg" style="text-align: start;" /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><img alt=" photo IMG_6042.jpg" border="0" src="http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd246/jkomenda/Album%2010/IMG_6042.jpg" style="text-align: start;" /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Here's where I <i>should </i>have sprayed the whole thing with the white spray paint again. Remember <a href="http://littlegreennotebook.blogspot.com/2013/02/how-to-paint-perfectly-crisp-and.html" target="_blank">my trick for perfect stripes</a>? This would have been perfect here, but I spaced it and skipped that step (too many spray paint fumes?). Dumb move - I had to go back and do touch ups later. It wasn't too bad though. I just sprayed a little paint into a plastic cup and touched up the bleed-throughs with a small brush.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><img alt=" photo IMG_6047.jpg" border="0" src="http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd246/jkomenda/Album%2010/IMG_6047.jpg" style="text-align: start;" /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">After the touch ups (which I wouldn't have had with my extra step), I had a pretty perfectly striped chair.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><img alt=" photo zDSC_0553.jpg" border="0" src="http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd246/jkomenda/Album%2010/zDSC_0553.jpg" style="text-align: start;" /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">I left it outside for a day or so to fully dry and after about three weeks of daily use, I think this plastic spray paint works and feels just like the vinyl spray paint. I think it was a fine short cut.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><img alt=" photo xDSC_0648.jpg" border="0" src="http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd246/jkomenda/Album%2010/xDSC_0648.jpg" style="text-align: start;" /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Everyone who's been over the house has asked about the chair. It's a bit of a statement piece, which is fun for a kitchen space. Best of all, the chair is crazy-comfortable! And I was so glad to get to reuse a chair that probably would never have been bought at the thrift store. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><img alt=" photo sDSC_0614copy.jpg" border="0" src="http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd246/jkomenda/Album%2010/sDSC_0614copy.jpg" style="text-align: start;" /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div>In fact, I made my thrift store rounds yesterday, looking for something for a project, and I saw no fewer than five of this exact chair or something very similar. They're everywhere!<br /><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><img alt=" photo IMG_5920.jpg" border="0" src="http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd246/jkomenda/Album%2010/IMG_5920.jpg" style="text-align: start;" /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Grace needs a desk chair in her bedroom, so I might go pick up another one and see what we can come up with. Maybe a big, huge-scale buffalo check? Or ombre? Block printed? Think of all the color and pattern possibilities! </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><img alt=" photo sDSC_0598copy.jpg" border="0" src="http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd246/jkomenda/Album%2010/sDSC_0598copy.jpg" style="text-align: start;" /></div>

DIY: Spraying Painting Vinyl

There are so many old and sad vinyl chairs in thrift stores all around the world, just waiting for a can of spray paint to come to the rescu...

8:44 AM

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Home Design Image

S'mores on the Front Porch

Painted Desk Accessories (Including Gold Scissors!)

DIY: Spraying Painting Vinyl

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