Kitchen Shelving Transformation – Ombre Paint Chip Clock

It’s finally time for the last project from my March Break kitchen shelving transformation . . . the secret project.

Not even my Mom has seen it.

My secret project came about as the result of a mishap. My original plan was to spray paint the surround of the black kitchen clock, but, when I tried to disassemble it, the clock stopped working properly! In fact, all my reveal photos show the same time.

Oops!

On to Plan B. Buy a $3.44 clearance clock from the grocery store.

{Not bad to start, but wait until you see the finished product!}

I knew from this post on the Silhouette blog that I could buy a clock face shape for 99 cents and then customize it to create a completely different clock.

Source: Silhouette America Blog

So, that’s exactly what I did.

After disassembling the clock to establish that a makeover was possible, I downloaded the shape from the Silhouette store and then customized my clock face in Silhouette Studio using the font My Own Topher for the numbers.

Then, I cut the clock face out of scrapbook paper using my Silhouette (I love that the paper says “date” and “time” on it!).

After that, I covered the front of my die cut with Glad Press ’N Seal and peeled it off the cutting mat. This enabled me to move it while maintaining the placement of the pieces inside some of the numbers.

Next, I covered the back of the die cut with permanent spray adhesive and attached a paint chip piece (leftover from choosing a colour for my painted wooden boxes) behind each number starting with the darkest shade at the 12.  The spray adhesive made the paint chip stick to the loose pieces of each number. I taped down the edges for extra staying power.

Finally, I flipped it over and carefully peeled away the Press ‘N Seal.

I also customized the look of the clock’s metal surround.

I spray painted it with primer and then painted it again using my new favourite spray paint colour . . .

Krylon’s Catalina Mist.

And here is what my ombre paint chip clock looked like after it was assembled.

So fun and fresh!

I can hardly believe it is the same clock.

Let’s see the side-by-side comparison to truly appreciate this makeover.

Check out the colour gradient from 12 to 6 and 6 to 12!

I didn’t even have to paint the hands. They were the perfect colour to begin with.

Curious how much this makeover cost?

• Clock – $3.44
• Spray paint – already owned, also used for the magnetic message board and mason jars.
• Scrapbook paper – already owned
• Silhouette shape – 99 cents

Total: Under $10 (and really, under $5 as well!)

With that, the story of my kitchen shelving transformation is complete . . . for now!

Are you a fan of all the ombre projects that are popular this year?

P.S. Want to read about the other projects in this series?

• Painted Wooden Boxes
• Spray Painted Mason Jars
• {Our House} Faux Printable (plus a free printable for everyone!)
• Burlap Board
• Vintage-Look Wooden Sign
• Chalkboard Labels
• Magnetic Message Board

Linking up to these great parties as well as those on my Link Parties page!

Thank you to all the hosts!

 

Kitchen Shelving Transformation – Chalkboard Labels

Today’s project is the final kitchen shelving transformation project (that you have already seen) and it is another simple, inexpensive DIY.


To make these labels, I used chalkboard vinyl (I purchase mine at Dollarama but I have seen it for sale on Amazon) and my Silhouette Cameo. However, if you do not own a Silhouette or chalkboard vinyl you could use a craft punch and paper or labels painted with chalkboard paint (spray or acrylic).

There are a lot of label shapes available in the Silhouette store. I knew that I wanted to use a shape that complemented the quatrefoil design on the metal tubs that were my inspiration for the colour of my accessories. I also wanted the label to camouflage the seam of the bucket because the pattern does not line up properly.


The shape that I chose was part of the set 7 labels.


After ungrouping the labels, I selected the flourish shape and duplicated it to fill the page, rotating as necessary. I stretched the edges of the shape slightly to make it longer. I used two different sizes so that I would have some left for labels in the future.


Then, I trimmed a piece of chalkboard vinyl to the dimensions of my design and sent it to cut on my Silhouette. I used the cut settings Blade 1, Speed 5, Thickness 8. I cut the chalkboard vinyl using the cutting mat.

I attached the labels to each container and then added a label with a piece of chalk.



I am left-handed, which means that when I write with chalk my hand often smudges what I have written (thank goodness for whiteboards in classrooms). I own a chalk marker and prefer writing with this, but for this project I liked the authenticity of smudged chalk on my labels. I just have to remind myself that it doesn’t have to be perfect to be pretty!


I am still learning how to create attachments to share with my readers. I apologize because the lines are a bit blurry, but if you would like a download of the shape that I used for my labels, I have created a PDF to share with you.

If you print this on the reverse of your paper or labels you can cut the shape out before or after painting it with chalkboard paint. A great tutorial for how to do this can be found here.

The total cost for this project would be less than $2 since the vinyl was $1.00 and I already owned the chalk. 


With that, I have shared all the details of my DIY projects that helped transform the kitchen shelves with the exception of my secret project.  Just like my paint chip eggs, it makes me giddy! I can’t wait to share it with you!

See you tomorrow!

Kitchen Shelving Transformation – Spray Painted Mason Jars

We are down to the second last kitchen shelving transformation project.



This will be short and sweet because honestly, all you need to know is that I was inspired to use the colour Catalina Mist when I read this post by DecorChick on spray painted mason jars.

I followed Emily's easy step-by-step to paint my mason jars and you can, too!

 

The only thing that makes my mason jars different is that they are “Crown” mason jars, which means they are Canadian.

Mr. Mechanic inherited a property last summer and during the clean out I grabbed as many vintage mason jars as I could bring home in my box. Some were the beautiful blue, but contained things that looked like science experiments. I was not brave enough to open them. In the end, I brought home many Crown, Dominion and Corona mason jars, but only two were blue.

That’s okay, though.

Until I can find more, Catalina Mist is doing a pretty good job!




One project left – the chalkboard labels and then you’ll be able to see my secret project!  Looking forward to it!

Thanks for visiting :)

P.S. Check out my other Catalina Mist spray painted kitchen projects here and here.

Paint Chip Eggs

I’m back with another paint chip project that makes me giddy!

Aren’t they adorable?

How about a big, beautiful bowl full of them?

Not only are they, in my opinion, eye candy, they’re super easy to make!

I used my Silhouette to cut mine out, because I could, but you can do the same thing using a template (provided below) and scissors. The template resembles a carrot shape with circles on each end.

For the Silhouette version, I started with this Easter egg shape download and then modified it using the compound path tool to remove the cut-out details. I adjusted the size so that two could fit side-by-side on one paint chip.

If you do not have a Silhouette you can still join in the egg making fun by downloading the template here!

The sizing is slightly smaller than what I used for my eggs, but I figure you can use the shape as a starting point and make a template that is smaller or bigger to suit your needs.

To make each paint chip egg you will need 2 identical paint chips so that you can cut 4 matching pieces. I used CIL/Glidden paint chips and was able make 2 eggs from each pair of paint chips: 2 matching pieces from the top half and 2 matching pieces from the bottom half. 

After you have cut out your pieces, punch a small hole at the top and bottom of each piece.

Ready to make an egg?  Here’s the how-to:

1. Cut out four matching paint chip pieces. Attach them together at one end with a brad. (My picture shows how I alternate colour name/no colour name so that they are opposite one another when assembled).

2. Attach the paint chips together at the other end with your second brad.

3. Twist two of your paint chips so that they face outwards. It will look like a hollow egg.

4. Spread out the remaining two paint chips and admire your creation . . . then proceed to make twenty more (it’s addictive!).

A few tips:

• It helps to slightly crease the edge where the circle and carrot shape meet. This will give it a defined top and base.
• When cutting my chips, I made sure to align where the template fell on both cards so that the colours would line up around the egg when assembled.
• I flipped my paint chip over when cutting so that the colour names were upside-down on the left side. This allowed my eggs to have an ombre look going lightest to darkest.

Gee, can you tell I had fun photographing these?

Thank you so much for visiting! I hope I’ve inspired you to add some paint chip eggs to your spring decor!

P.S. I am a {very} regular customer at all of the stores that provide paint chip samples.

Linking up to these great parties as well as those on my Link Parties page!

Thank you to all the hosts!

 

Kitchen Shelving Transformation – Die Cut and Free {Our House} Printable

Time for the fourth project from my kitchen shelving transformation (which was featured on Home Stories A to Z today – so exciting!).  To date, I have shared about the burlap board, the painted wooden boxes and the metal tray upcycle.

Today, it’s all about my “faux printable,” with a special download for my fabulous readers.



This faux printable sits on top of a dresser that I bought off of Kijiji (like Craigslist) last year to add some additional storage in the kitchen. It is usually where I display a vignette for the current season or holiday.

I came across this quote somewhere a few months ago and saved it because I thought it went well with my approach to housekeeping. I’m not saying that my house is filthy, I just enjoy doing other things instead of cleaning.




This “faux printable” was once again created using my Silhouette. I used the same technique as I described here for the words “healthy” and “happy”. Then, I used a white sketch pen in place of the cutting blade for the rest of the text.  Although it worked well and was very easy, I find the white does not stand out as much as I would like against the Kraft paper background.

Here is what my printable looked like in Silhouette Studio prior to cutting:



Red = everything cut with the blade (including an 8 X 10 rectangle so that it would fit perfectly into my frame)

Blue = everything “cut” with the sketch pen

You can cut and sketch on the same paper by simply switching the blade and cut settings without removing the cutting mat from the machine in between.

Since I know that only a small population owns a Silhouette, I thought that I would try my hand at creating a printable in Picasa and Picnik (did you see the upgrades that they made to Picasa – it looks like they’ve added in a few formerly Picnik-only features).

I started designing in Picasa so that I could use the same fonts as the Silhouette version (Mossy and Traveling Typewriter) and then I added the burlap textured background and frame in Picnik.

I used almost the same colour scheme as the accessories on the kitchen shelves but, if you can think of another colour combination that would work more universally, please let me know and I’ll see what I can do!

The file is saved with the settings recommended for an 8 x 10 print and I was able to print it in both 8 x 10 and 5 x 7 format with a border when I selected “shrink to fit” in Picasa.

If you feel like this quote describes your home as well, you can download my first printable here.

Thank you so much for visiting!

Linking up to these great parties as well as those on my Link Parties page!

Thank you to all the amazing hosts!