DIY Wire Baskets

I have wanted wire baskets forever! Ever since seeing them in a lovely Pottery Barn catalog. But $20-$30 for a single large basket? Uhhh, yeah right, even if my husband said "honey I want to buy you something special" I'd have to say no... are you kidding, do you know how many beautiful things I could stretch that $30 into? Or the $60 it takes to own three or four! So you can't imagine how thrilled I was to discover that you can make your own DIY wire baskets! 

I know many of you have been waiting for this tutorial, ever since I featured my first set of baskets in the upstairs hall storage post here. Then I made gold basket  above which I featured in my bookcase makeover here. So finally I'm sharing the how-to!

This tutorial is best shown, so watch my video on a simple method for making your own basket, then below you will find technique tips, and instructions to make a faux leather handle. Happy viewing!

TECHNIQUE TIPS
I first saw DIY wire baskets via Turnstyle Vogue and began making my own version. It took a while for me to share because I wanted to perfect the technique. This method reduces the number of raw edges that will be exposed. Just to help you get it right the first time, here are a few tips to aid along the way:

• Sharp Wire Cutters: Always use sharp shears, it keeps cut wire from being too jagged or frayed. 
• Unfurl Wire Roll: Before cutting your pieces out, lay the roll face down and carefully straighten it out as much as possible. This will make cutting an easier process. 

• Keep All Cuts Flush: Cut as close to the edge of spine of the criss -crossed wire as possible. This ensures no sharp wires will protrude out of your basket. 
• Bend on the Spine: Every time you bend the wire, do so at a spine and not in between two rows. Always make your bend as square as possible as opposed to curved. This lends to a professional finish. 

• Reinforced Top Tip: When doubling over what will be the top of your basket, be sure to bend on the spine, and make the squares line up.
• Weaving Tip: Don't think of this quite the same as sewing. Rather than pulling your wire through by the top (as you would thread), gently guide the wire (and any kinks or loops) through by the top, then middle portion. Once you have brought the wire through the square pull taut by the base of the wire (not top).

• Take Your Time: Once you get the hang of it you can breeze through making baskets in 20 minutes, but how precise you are determines how good your basket looks! 
• Spray Paint: Customize your baskets with a coat of your favorite color spray paint, and finish with a coat of clear protective spray paint. 

DIY LEATHER HANDLE

You could cut out handles, you could attach a wire handle, or a rope handle. You are only limited by your imagination. Personally I love the look of a leather handle on baskets and bins, and to make my own required a bit of faux leather fabric and 5 minutes!
Follow the pictured instructions:

I hope you love your baskets as much as I love mine!

Linky Love

Liz Marie Blog

East Coast Creative

Upcycled Treasures|The Makers

Gold Sprayed Jars

When a craft work space is as much display as it is function, you want your tools to be stored in an attractive manner. What better way to accomplish this than a few gold sprayed jars? Pretty, practical, mostly free, and it adds some sparkle? Why yes please!

Start by collecting a variety of reused jars. Keep jars that vary in size, shape, and have interest. 

Use painters tape to tape off the area you do not want painted.

Experiment with creating different designs by what you choose to leave exposed. You may choose to paint the top of one jar, but the bottom of another. 

I am using Krylon's Gold Metallic spray paint on most of my jars, which I am in love with and has more of a copper hue. I am also using Rust-oleum's Bright Metallics Gold on the rest, which gives me more a true golden hue. 

Be sure to do one light coat from a little distance and allow it to dry before doing a second coat...you don't want the paint to drip or pool by the tape otherwise the paint will peel when you remove the tape. Finish with a clear coat for durability and protection (optional).

Once your paint job is completely dry, gently peel away the tape. If there were any unintentional drips or area where you sprayed "heavier" than intended, rub your finger across the painted area where the tape and paint meet before pulling the tape away. If any paint begins to peel, simply rub it back into place, remove all the tape, and give it one last clear coat. 

While most of the jars have a solid covering of paint, I like to see a little variance and chose to spray at a couple jars at an angle which allowed some of the creases and edges to to still show clear creating a design of its own.

Looking to add a little more design than spray paint can offer? Try using gold acrylic craft paint. I painted these little dots with a small paint brush, and sealed with clear spray paint.

What lovelier way to upcycle and store necessary items? It is like turning your tools into decor.

Happy Spraying!

See the rest of this bookcase & styling here. 

Linky Love

Not Just A Housewife

The Shabby Nest

My Fab Furniture & ReStor-It

I was incredibly thrilled to find these mid-century modern chairs at $30 a piece. What a steal! Hooray for awesome Facebook swap & sell groups!
My new mid-century mod chairs are sturdy, and ridiculously comfortable, but they do have a bit of "speckling" where the finish looked like it was exposed to moisture and bubbled in a couple places. My poor chairs look like they have a mild case of psoriasis! I'm a little bummed since I like the wood finish, and I'm not exactly feeling eager to sand these chairs down and re-stain it. Ugh, I hate sanding spindles, and worst with the freezing temperatures we've been experiencing in the midwest I'll have to wait months for warmer weather. This type of project would have to be done in the outdoors to ensure proper ventilation.

Then a week after these darling new chairs came to nest, I was contacted by Master Manufacturing Company about reviewing their ReStor-It Furniture Touch-Up Kit. Could it be fate? I've always been curious about how well their Furniture Touch-Up Markers work, and with three kids scratched furniture is not only inevitable, it is sadly expected. 
Well, guess what came in the mail today? 

I am like a kid on Christmas morning when I get a package, and this is no exception! I'm eager, hopeful, and full of child-like curiosity (I wonder if I'll ever grow out of that).
The kit comes with 5 touch up markers in various finishes, and 3 filler sticks.

First things first, look for instructions. Next, sigh with relief because instructions are short and easy! Next whip out the furniture.
Here is the first area I want to try the Furniture Touch-Up Marker on: The back leg of my mid-century modern chair. 

See, doesn't it look like a blight? Well, here it goes! I'm testing the Light Oak and the Natural on the very bottom to see which color works best. Aaaaand the winner is...Natural!
Check out this progress! You can see an immediate difference...look at that line between the area I've applied the marker over and the area I have not.
Hee hee, so I yelled "hey it works!", and my three girls came dashing in to see mom coloring a chair. Their perplexed looks as they accuse me of "drawing on furniture" is priceless, finally the tables are turned. *smirk* I think I have some 'splaining to do or this could come back to haunt me. 

I'm going to let it sit for a couple hours just to see if it looks as good as it does when it hasn't been immediately applied.
Where is a timer image when you need one? *wink*

>>One Hour Later<<
Ok, I'm back with the results, and I have to say I'm very impressed! It looks fantastic, and required no sanding or use of strong fumes like a stain/varnish combo would have. 

Ok, now I'm really excited! I've dashed around the house a few times to see what other scratches or blemishes I can hide when I spy the coffee table of doom. This is my girls favorite place to craft and create. I've been thinking about refinishing this poor banged up little coffee table in my living room, but I figure the kids will just scratch up my hard work anyway. 

I used the Filler Stick on these scratches, and take a look at the results...pretty good right? If you look at the right angle and in the right light, you can see where I used the filler stick due to the slight difference in color between my table and the color of the stick, but generally you can't tell...I'm very satisfied with the results! 14 filled scratches later, and my coffee table has gone from doom to darling again. Even better, when I see one of my girls plop down at this coffee table, craft project in hand, I feel no stress. 

Yep, this works for me. I can see myself using the ReStor-It Furniture Touch-Up Kit for furniture I'm not quite ready to makeover. 

If you would like to give this kit a try in your own home, visit Master Manufacturing Company here, or like their Facebook page here. 

Happy Repairing!

A Little Bookcase Styl'in {& A Big Makeover}

How do you create a stylish bookcase that is equally functional? 
Then again, a better question is how much of a design dork would you think I was if I said my first attempted to "stylize" the bookcase was preeeety useless. *hangs head shamefully*
Is it just me that finds this task somewhat of a challenge? I had to sketch out a storage plan for my entire living room before I could properly build then style my two bookcases. 
Thankfully, plotting a plan did the job perfectly...I realized that two small bookcases just wouldn't do the job, and that's how this project went from a little bookcase styling to a big makeover project! 
Finally our twin bookcases can boast both fashion and function! I have to say, looking at these bookcases now it is hard to believe all that it took to get to this point (blood, sweat, tears from sawdust in my eye)...

The Life Cycle of a Bookcase And Some Scrap Wood
Ok, so this is more than just the story of styling a couple bookcases I found along the side of the road. What I initially thought was going to be one little paint project took quite a turn and became the mother lode of projects! These bookcases were in poor shape when I found them... there was water damage and torn faux wood paper covering (ew, who does that?).
No worries, after a lot of Kilz primer, many coats of paint, and two DIY custom built bases later...well, things were definitely looking up! 

Design Details
In case you were wondering what it took to style this bookcase, well a LOT of spray paint and many many small projects. No seriously, a lot of spray paint...I'm still feeling really fumed out in spite of my mask (hungry, weak, not as bright as I was last week). 

I have painted everything from needles for my pinboard (hey, it's all in the details right?), to lamps, bottles, frames, boxes, and art. Here are some snapshots of all the before & afters:

NEEDLES | Why spend extra money on cute pins? A coat of spray paint does the job!

JARS | put pretty jars to good use, and add a little sparkle with a metallic spray paint. See how here.

PINBOARD | replace the glass with cork and fabric to make your own DIY pinboard. 

 ART | we replace our art, but why not spruce up an outdated matte as well? Isn't it amazing what you can spray paint? 

LAMP & BINDERS | unwilling to spend $79+ on per art lamp, I bought a second-hand piano lamp for $15 that matched my existing piano lamp. I removed the base and wired it to act as a bookcase/art lamp, click here for the tutorial. While you're looking, notice the chevron binders? Inserting wrapping paper into clear binder fronts adds a little style to these plain white binders. 

DIY WIRE BASKET | this one roll of hardware cloth equals four baskets, and money still in my pocket. I made this basket and sewed a faux leather handle in less than 30 minutes! See my tutorial here.

BOXES | a thin layer of metallic paint brings out the best wood grain qualities, and pretty hardware ups the ante on this box. The bigger box houses puzzles in individual cases, and the smaller box catches stray puzzle pieces until we discover which puzzle they belong with. Directly underneath in the cabinet base is a large pull out puzzle tray...now puzzles in progress can be put out of sight and reach until they are ready for completion! See more here.

ART & OFFICE | office products may be necessary, but why not also attractive? A little metallic spray paint took this stapler from drab to decor. I pick up on the metallic tones throughout the decor with a little DIY art...a popular but easy abstract!

Storage & Fantastic Function
Function is everything in my living room, so these bookcases needed to be more than just storage, I needed a work space as well. Finally there is a place for everything in my living room... This bookcase+hutch now stores 7 important binders, stacks of magazines, books, craft & office materials, stationery, 6 puzzles, 40 games, and fabric & wrapping paper nearby! Much more than it did as simply a mildewy bookcase. 

PENCIL STORAGE

PAINT SWATCHES

CD STORAGE

Why yes, I did say 40 games...thank you for asking. What do you mean you didn't ask? *grin*
Well, even if you weren't wondering what's behind the closed doors beneath I'm going to tell you anyway. What can I say, we're huge ginormous board game geeks! These aren't just any games, they require strategy, they have lots of tiny pieces, and take hours to play. I shared a video tour of my game storage here, and how I organize a few of the games themselves here and here. Ok, that's the end of my sidetrack for today... the other hobby, the dark side. *snicker*

GAME STORAGE

Thanks for letting me share my DIY bookcases! I needed a space to store all my work space and living room knick knacks, and now they can be stored in style.
I'll be revisiting some of the bigger projects and sharing all the how-to's, so check back!

Linky Love:

East Coast Creative

Matte Maker, Matte Maker, Make Me a Matte...

So, what do you do once you've bought or painted the perfect picture for your space, and then discover that it is too small for the matte? Apparently you panic, then you make a run to a store that does custom framing, then you hyperventilate when you hear how much it will cost, then you say "no thanks", run home and get creative!
Well, ready to get creative? *grin* I guess I'm going to be the matte maker this time around. I was the artist last week, so why not attempt a matte revamp?

Ok, you're wondering how I could miss something so obvious. *chuckle* I didn't really. This size canvass was on sale for a mere $5, and any larger size would have been north of $30! I decided to save my money and buy a new matte or re-size the current matte. Well, you know me, I chose the cheaper solution. In my defense, I'm po'.

How To Re-Size Your Matte

1. Select the two adjacent corners you want to shorten. Cut the matte from inside corner to outside corner. {Tip: Use a straight edge to ensure a pristine cut}

2. Overlap matte to shorten to desired new length, use straight edge to help you cut a new edge. {Tip: Be sure you hold your exacto knife at the same angle as your original cut for a snug fit}

3. Snugly fit new edges together, and tape {Tip: tape either the back of the matte, or a in a spot that will not be visible if double matted}

Final Tip: No need to do this to all 4 corners. Cut the two adjacent corners that need to be shortened, following the steps above. THEN just score the other two corners to make it look as if it has been cut. 

Painting Your Matte
Occasionally there will be color discrepancies after re-sizing an old matte. The visible edges of mine were lighter than the rest of the matte. My solution, paint the matte to my preferred color! Matte's are a thick enough material to handle acrylic paint...but don't water your paint down, you don't want to warp the matte.

I'm using the same gold folkart brand paint that I used on my painting. After all, shouldn't your matte be an extension of your painting and highlight its best qualities?

A blob of metallic gold paint (or your paint color of choice), and a sponge brush, and presto you've added the finishing touches to your brand new matte.

My matte is ready, my DIY art is ready, time to hang it! Click here to see how I painted the piece below.

While You've Got That Paint In Your Hand...

Oh, and one last little tip while you have that paint in your hand... If you love the design of your frame, but the hue is just a little off, a thin transparent layer of the paint of choice may just make all the difference! 

Happy matte making you artist you!