DIY: Paint Your Refrigerator

Is your refrigerator just ho-hum? Does it stick out like a sore thumb?
Is it bringing you down?
Well I have your solution!
Paint your Refrigerator with Velvet Finishes
http://www.velvetfinishes.com

A friend of mine picked this up on the side of the road.
How I will never know, she was by herself.
She thought it would be great in her garage for extra food and drinks. But the poor thing was old and ugly.
Too ugly for even a garage, which is why it ended up at the studio.
She knew I would paint it...
All that white, I simply saw a giant blank canvas.





I had a meeting of the minds with The Handler and The Accomplice on the millions of ideas I have for this lovely white box. The Handler asks what kind of shape the inside is in and naturally - because I fall for their crap every time - I open the doors.
I almost wet myself.
Of course, they are laughing their heads off and high-fiving each other.





Did they not watch The Godfather??? That is the stuff nightmares are made of. Ugh!!
After I gathered my thoughts, I was ready with my loose plan.
The supplies I used were as follows:
Velvet Finishes Vivid / Boheme / Prestigious / Understated paint
Velvet Finishes Reviver Paint brushes and Velvet Finishes Protect
Frog Tape for Delicate surfaces
http://velvetfinishes.com/shop.html
http://frogtape.com/products/frogtape-delicate-surface





We base painted in Vivid. It took 3.5 coats. Red always requires more coats than other colors. We did 3 solid and a touch up coat in a few spots to even out the color.
The material of this refrigerator was smooth and slick, rather than the orange peel of some of the newer models. I did a test spot for adherence and the paint grabbed really well so I did not prime. I recommend you test any slick surface before you paint an entire piece. Even though Velvet Finishes has a wonderful grip, it is not always going to stick to every surface every time.
If you feel it is iffy, then take the time to use an appropriate primer for latex based paint.
Once the base coat was complete, we were ready to begin taping for our stripes!
We used the Frog Tape for Delicate Surfaces because we were painting over a newly painted surface.
My plan was very loose, but I knew I wanted angled stripes and I knew I wanted to continue across the sides and over the top.
Here's how we did it:
We used a 45/90 degree angle that I had from my days of drafting class. You can use anything that has angle, you could cut if from a cereal box, it just helps to keep you on the same angle degree, especially since we were turning the angles back.





I had no particular pattern in mind so as we added another piece of tape we used an arbitrary measurement. For example, if we decided the next stripe would be two inches apart from the previous one, we measured along the tape and made little guide marks at 2, so we would know where the next piece would go.





The process may appear complicated but I promise, it's really not. Just start with whatever angle you choose and measure your distance between for each new piece of tape.
TIP: When you reach the sides of the refrigerator, be sure to have enough tape pulled off to wrap around the side a few inches. In other words, do not start at the edge with the tape and do not end exactly on the edge. Pull a couple of inches of tape and begin your edge with a few inches left so that you can wrap the edge across the door gap, and end with a few extra inches to wrap.
If you do this, when you press the tape to the side and if you keep the tape straight and do not pull it out of shape, you will have perfectly started your new angles on the sides. From those short pieces you can begin making your marks, add new pieces to the side by slightly covering the tail from the other piece of tape.
You can see this in the photo below.





Now for the fun part! The painting of the stripes!! I chose three colors for striping and decided which colors I wanted to have as the most dominant and began with Boheme.





After I had applied two coats of all my accent colors, I pulled the Frog Tape off to reveal my perfect stripes!
It's important to pull the tape while the final coat of paint is still slightly wet.





LOOK AT THOSE PERFECT LINES!!!!!!
I am telling you, Frog Tape is completely amazing.
I love the way we went around the sides and over the top with the stripes. I think this old sad fridge looks amazing now! It will definitely energize the garage at my friend's house!





Could your refrigerator use a face lift?






Original article and pictures take http://www.hometalk.com/10000205/diy-paint-your-refrigerator site

Easy Kitchen Storage Solution

We have a small galley kitchen that was just remodeled (check out the big reveal ), and it had limited storage, so we had to be creative in how we used the space. Our pot and pan storage cabinet was particularly challenging, it's low and deep with a fixed shelf, which makes it difficult to store certain sized items.

One of the things I've struggled with, in this cabinet, is our cutting board storage. I would try to prop them on the side behind the pots but if you moved the pots, the boards would fall.





The first step to organizing this cabinet, was to empty it and get rid of things that we never used. Then I placed everything we were keeping back in so that they were easy to see and grab.





To organize the cutting boards, and keep them standing up once and for all, I used two small tension rods.





You can easily put them wherever you need them and...Voila!, no more fallen boards. So quick, so easy and so cheap.
Click on the link to check out my post and see how my kitchen cabinet looks with the rods in place, all neatly organized, and where I bought the rods.
To see more of our completed kitchen remodel and all of the details, including sources, visit Chatfield Court .






Original article and pictures take http://www.hometalk.com/10000308/easy-kitchen-storage-solution site

How to Make a Green House Terrarium Using Picture Frames

Say What?! Yes, I made this green house terrarium out of picture frames I bought at the dollar store, hot glue, and white duct tape.

I bought 8 lightweight picture frames; two 8X10's, two 5X7's, and four 4X6's.





I removed the glass and backing of the frames, and then spray painted them on both sides with Rustoleum semi-glass spray paint.





I then hot glued the glass back into place, and began constructing the greenhouse.
I hot glued the two 8X10's and two 5X7's together to create a box.





To create the roof, I glued the 4 X 6's to each other lengthwise. I then used white duct tape and Not hot glue on the center line. The duct tape will create a flexible edge which will allow for the roof top to fold over.





Lastly I hot glued the roof top to the box frame.





I placed a few little plants inside and placed it next to a sunny window.





If you need more information on this project, please visit my blog at the website below.






Original article and pictures take http://www.hometalk.com/10001787/how-to-make-a-green-house-terrarium-using-picture-frames site

Amazing Mason Jar Lid Hack

Don't toss those plastic Parmesan Cheese lids! Grab a mason jar instead and reuse them. Here's how to make your own Chinese 5 Spice Blend and use that lid to keep the spices fresh and handy!

5 Spice Blend adds a ton of flavor to your dishes, especially Chinese food recipes. Make your own and use this handy idea in your kitchen.

Ok, first get your spices together.

What You Need: Grab anise seed, ground white pepper, ground cloves, ground cinnamon and fennel seed. Instead of white pepper, you can use roasted Szechaun peppercorns. You'll also want to use a coffee grinder, 8 oz jelly jar and that plastic Parmesan Cheese Container Lid.

Measure equal parts of the spices (I used 1/4 of each spice and the mixture fit perfectly in the 8oz jelly jar) and grind them/combine them in the coffee grinder.

Easy peasy, right?

Unscrew that lid off the cheese container, wash it with dish soap, dry it and screw it on that 8 oz jelly jar. It's a perfect fit!

Enjoy your homemade 5 Spice Blend. This also makes a fun and thoughtful holiday gift for friends and family who enjoy cooking.

So go check out your recycling bin. If you have one of these, you have a FREE lid that works great on mason jars. Enjoy!

Original article and pictures take http://www.hometalk.com/10002083/amazing-mason-jar-lid-hack site

8 Plants that Attract Butterflies and Hummingbirds

When you choose which flowers to plant in your garden, you probably think about things like shape, size, color and bloom time. If you're only thinking about the flowers' appearance, though, you're missing out on a big way that flowers can beautify your property. Some hardworking blooms not only look pretty in their own right--they also attract fascinatingly gorgeous butterflies and hummingbirds. Choosing among these attractive plants will help you make the ground and the air in your garden explode with color.

Original article and pictures take http://www.hometalk.com/1000281/8-plants-that-attract-butterflies-and-hummingbirds site

Easy DIY Fall Leaves Potted Topiary Tree From a Tomato Cage

Now that it's September, fall decorating is in full swing at my house. I've been brainstorming on how to use 2 urn planters for some sort of fall decoration on the cheap and these tomato cage fall topiary trees were just too easy (and pretty) to not add to my autumn decor!

Fall Leaves Tree Supplies:
-tomato cage (or 2)
-fake fall leaves garland (enough to cover your tomato cage)
-urn planter (or 2)
-clear Christmas lights
First I brought in 2 tomato cages from outside. I set the cages on the urn planters and noticed they were super tall and the bottom hoop was a little too large and slid past the lip of the urn. I immediately came up with an easy fix. I knew these tomato cages weren't the highest quality because a couple of the hoops had come off just from me pushing them in the ground. I brought in one that had a missing hoop. For the other cage I simply set it on the floor and stepped on it and pulled on the top and the hoop popped right off :). I then bent the bottom spokes in to rest on the planters because they were so tall that I would have had to spend a small fortune on fake leaves to cover them sufficiently. I also bent the spokes together at the top to help create a tree shape.





After all the bending and breaking I set the tomato cages on the urns to see how they would work. They did indeed resemble topiary trees which was the look I was going for.





I then gathered up some fall fake leaves garland. This was the only part of the project that I didn't have on hand. I have a ton of fake leaves garland, just none to spare for my the sake of my new decoration. So I splurged a little and bought 12 sets at Walmart for $36. Totally more than I wanted to spend but I figured if I didn't use them all I could return them and I really wanted to have full leaf coverage on my trees.





I then started wrapping the garland around the tomato cage.





This is how it looked after wrapping one garland. I tucked the ends in so the leaves would not unravel.





When I was finally done wrapping and tucking both trees I trudged on down to the basement and stole a couple of strands of clear lights from the Christmas lights tote, grabbed my assistant for encouragement and snacks, (all this wrapping was making us hungry) and started winding lights around my leafy trees.





After I was done winding lights I decided to tuck them under the leaves to create a softer look and to hide the wires.





Here's a picture of one of the finished trees.





Since I had most of the supplies I ended up spending less than $20 a tree. I could have spent even less but I didn't want any open space in my trees.





I just love how they turned out! They have created a wonderful, warm autumn atmosphere in my home :). Hope this has inspired you all to get to your fall decorating!! To see more pictures of the finished trees or for a full tutorial check out my blog post :)!






Original article and pictures take http://www.hometalk.com/10003260/easy-diy-fall-leaves-potted-topiary-tree-from-a-tomato-cage site

DIY Cape Cod-Style Starfish Shutters

The boring vinyl siding on our 1928 beach cottage had been leaving me feeling blah for years. This weekend we added these cute DIY shutters to help break of the monotony of the front of our home.

Here's how our cottage beach house looked when we bought it. The vinyl siding (added by prior owners) is obviously not original, and I'd love to restore it to its former glory (cedar shingles!) at some point, but for now, re-siding the house isn't in the budget. In the meantime, these charming shutters framing the top window give it a more authentically-beachy-feel.





For two 12"x48" shutters, you'll need just two lengths of 1"x6"x8' common board wood ($9/board), plus a shorter piece at 6' (to cut and place across the top and bottom of each shutter to hold it together and complete the look--about $7). Some finishing nails and sandpaper completed my purchase, so everything for two full shutters was about $36!





--Gather your tools and then cut each of the 8' common board pieces in half using a hand saw or circular saw. I cut mine at Home Depot to make them easier to transport home in the car. Lay the boards together with a slight gap between them to get a feel for the size. Although the boards are rated at 6" wide, they are likely a little narrower than that measurement, and it is helpful to get a feel for what the finished shutter size will look like.
--With your boards together, measure down 3" from the top - this is where you will align the small piece of wood that will hold the top of the shutters. Repeat the same for the bottom (i.e., measure up from the bottom 3"). I like to use a chalk line to mark a straight line for my measurements, but you can also measure in a few different places and draw your own guidelines. Measure the width of the 2 boards together, small gap included. Note that it is important to measure the widths at the top and bottom of your shutters since there is likely variability in your wood widths.
--Using the measurements from step 5, use a handsaw or circular saw to cut your smaller piece of wood (the 6' piece), to create the top and bottom of your shutters. You should end up with two short pieces (between 11"-12" long and 6" wide) that you can lay across your shutters, at your markings 3" from the top and bottom. IMPORTANT - DO NOT SECURE THESE PIECES NOW.





--With the pieces in place, get a feel for where you would like the cut your shape, and then trace your image.
--Once the image is traced, separate the boards and carefully cut he shape out using a jigsaw, bandsaw, or other tool you have in your arsenal. After you are done cutting and removing the excess wood, sand them to a finish. I used course and medium sandpaper, as well as a sanding sponge, to get that job done.





Once the image is traced, separate the boards and carefully cut he shape out using a jigsaw, bandsaw, or other tool you have in your arsenal. After you are done cutting and removing the excess wood, sand them to a finish. I used course and medium sandpaper, as well as a sanding sponge, to get that job done.





Align the boards back together and secure the top and bottom pieces you cut and placed previously 3" from the top and bottom. The shutter should now be secure.





Repeat for the second shutter - and here is a hint - once you cut the two main boards for the second shutter, all you need to do is place your first shutter on top of the two pieces and trace your shape - this will make sure it is aligned similarly.





The last step is to finish with paint or stain (my favorite part!). We used a subtle pink to match the same color as our front door.





Hang them using shutter screws (these are fixed, not functional!), and see your curb appeal instantly rise!





We used a subtle pink color (to match our door), and I love how it pops against the grey.





I'm psyched that for less than $40 we were able to add a huge amount of charm to the front of our house.





Lots more details on the blog!






Original article and pictures take http://www.hometalk.com/10003962/diy-cape-cod-style-starfish-shutters site