Kitchen Shelving Transformation – The Magnetic Message Board

Time for the next kitchen shelving transformation project! This was one of my favourite blog projects so far and I will definitely make another one in the future.

Long story short, I rescued this tray from a ‘toss or donate’ pile a few weeks ago.

The first thing I saw was the olive green, the second thing I saw was potential.

I was determined to incorporate the tray into my kitchen decor but the floral design just didn’t match the look I wanted.

Right around the same time, I happened to see this post on the blog Better After featuring a metal tray upcycle from The Home Project.

When I commented on Linn’s post that I was trying to decide what to do with a similar tray, she suggested that I “go for paper, or stencils and spray paint. Or why not find/make fun magnets, paint the tray in a clean color and add the magnets.”

Hmm . . .

I love paper.

I love spray paint.

I love stationery and office supplies.

Why not combine all these great things?

So . . . (you know where this is going) I spray painted it with my new favourite colour – Krylon’s Catalina Mist.

Apparently this colour is pretty elusive. If you are in Canada, have a peek in the paint section at Michael’s.  Bonus – after using a 40% off coupon it is about the same price as the “regular” colours that are widely available.

I knew that it would take many coats to cover the pattern and I wanted to make sure the paint adhered well so I sprayed it with a metal primer first.

After at least 5 coats of Catalina Mist, the pattern was still showing through. I needed the paint for another project so I decided to stop here and use another one of my decorating favourites, scrapbook paper, to cover the pattern.

I found a coordinating paper in one of my Christmas collections. I chose it because it had the number detail along the top of the paper to give it a little something extra. Next, I measured the center of the tray and cut out the corresponding circle with my Silhouette.

Then I used my spray adhesive (I love spray adhesive!) to attach the paper to the tray.

The perfect finishing touch was the cute bird magnets that I bought for less than $2.00 at HomeSense during their winter clearance.  I grabbed a bunch of different magnet and paper clip sets thinking they would make a fun gift.

(This is the most accurate representation of the tray and paper colour)

For under $10 this tray went from drab to fab and is ready to hold notes, receipts etc.

Another easy D.I.Y. project that is also a sweet reminder for me of its original owner.

We are halfway there with the kitchen shelving transformation project details (don’t forget about the mystery project!)

Thanks for reading!

I will be linking up to these great parties.

Thank you to all the amazing hosts!

Stone Effect Textured Easter Eggs

Yesterday I was inspired by the amazing “Easter Egg Hunt” series on the blog It’s Overflowing to put my own twist on painting eggs.

Time for another secret: I have a larger-than-I-would-like-to-admit spray paint collection in our workshop which includes several cans that were purchased (with good crafting intentions) but never used.

Here is one of those cans.

Long before the days of Pinterest, I came across a blog post that described how to age a terra cotta pot using stone effect spray paint. Great idea, it just never happened. But, that’s okay because this spray paint was destined for greater things!

To make your own “stone effect” eggs you will need:

• Eggs (I used Styrofoam eggs from Dollarama)
• Stone Effect spray paint (this was from Michael’s but I have seen it at all major home reno stores, too)

That’s it!

Spray your eggs with the stone effect paint. Start far away and move closer once you establish how much comes out when it is sprayed.

It helps if they are in or on something that can hold them in place because the force of the spray (and spray-back when it ricochets off the eggs – watch out!) moves the eggs around.

Leave them to dry for the recommended time. You will be tempted to try to speed up the process. Don’t. Your fingers will look like they’re covered in popcorn and you will remove the texture from those spots.

Turn them over and spray any areas that were missed.

Repeat until you are satisfied with the overall appearance.

Then, take your eggs around the yard and photograph them in places where eggs do not belong!

You could stop there, or, if you want to add more colour and dimension to your eggs, add some speckles!

Using watered-down tan acrylic paint and a small spray bottle, I misted the eggs from a distance to add speckles. So easy!

I would have liked my eggs to look like robin’s eggs, but this is what happened when I went a little overboard with blue spray paint.

The paint bubbled and then ate away at the bottom of the egg! Oops! That’s why I only have 7 eggs,

Who knew that stone effect spray paint would make Styrofoam eggs look so authentic?

Thanks for visiting! I hope I have inspired you to put your own spin on decorating eggs this year!

Kitchen Shelving Transformation – Painted Wooden Boxes

Greetings!

Time for the next project from my kitchen shelving transformation.

I started with three unfinished boxes from the store Jysk. The large box was $4.99, the small boxes were $3.99.

I knew that I wanted to paint them a fun colour after seeing these on the blog Mini Manor.

Source: Mini Manor via Claire on Pinterest.

Then I went to Home Depot and had a colour tester made of the colour Fargo by CIL. This proved to be very difficult because they did not have the right accent base in stock so the woman had to create my colour in a Behr Paint & Primer tester.

After about five tweaks to the colour formulation she was finally happy with the result.

I opted to use this paint instead of acrylic paint to save money. I knew that one tube of Martha Stewart acrylic paint would not go very far and I needed several coats for good coverage. $5.00 well spent.

I painted one box to make sure that I liked the colour and the way it looked on the shelves with my original colour inspiration, metal tubs from HomeSense.

Lovely!

Using a foam brush, I painted three coats on the outside of each box and one coat on the inside with some touch ups in the corners. I was pleasantly surprised to find that my brush strokes in different directions did not show up once they were dry.

They are far from perfect, but that is probably because I did not do any sort of prep work before I started painting. I could have sanded them but opted not to instead.

The finishing touch was the addition of chalkboard labels cut out with my Silhouette Cameo.

I am very happy with the way these boxes brighten up the space.

The black, wicker baskets I used before were too dark and could never fit as much as I needed them to hold.

For under $20 I created custom storage for my space and I still have more than half of my Fargo paint tester left if I want to add other green accents to the kitchen.

I hope you will come back tomorrow when I will be sharing my first Spring/Easter project.

Thanks for visiting!

P.S. I will be linking up to these great parties!  Please let me know in the comments if you host a link party I should know about.

Thank you to all the hosts!

Kitchen Shelving Transformation - The Burlap Board

Welcome back! 

Today I am sharing the first of several projects created by my March Break kitchen shelving transformation.

It will take longer to write about this project than it did to actually make it. Seriously.

This project was necessary because of this eyesore hiding at the back of this space.

A non-functioning outlet that the previous owners had attempted to paint. Yuck.

For three years there has been a clock leaning precariously over this ugliness. I knew it could be improved upon but did not want to do anything permanent.

Then I found across this great idea for changing up the look of your shelving on Pinterest and the gears started turning.

Source: Yummy Mummy Club via Claire via Shannon Acheson on Pinterest

I could have used a piece of hardboard cut to size, but this opening (like everything else in our kitchen . . . or house) is neither straight or a uniform size! I needed to use something more forgiving that I could cut with a blade instead of a saw.

Enter one piece of foam core board from Dollarama. I love this stuff! I even used it to make a “shelf” in my beautiful craft closet.

After an unsuccessful shopping trip to find fabric or shelf liner to fill the space, I realized that I already had exactly what I needed – burlap! It was neutral, rustic and fit with the vintage-look of the other accessories in the space.

So, determining my materials was the hard part. The rest, since we’re talking about a kitchen project, was a piece of cake!

To create my burlap board I:

1. Roughly measured the space to be covered.

2. Traced the same dimensions onto the foam core board.

3. Cut the foam core (a rotary blade worked really well to cut through both layers).

4. Tested the board and found that it was too big for the space.

5. Trimmed the board down further keeping in mind that burlap wrapped around the edge would create some bulk.

6. Cut a slightly larger piece of burlap to wrap around the board.

7. Wrapped the burlap around the board and attached it with painter’s tape.

8. Tested the board again to make sure it would fit with the burlap.

9. Attached the burlap to the board with duct tape.

Once I knew that the board would fit, I added a screw for hanging a clock and since the core of the board is foam, I was able to actually screw this into the board to give it more grip.

When I hung the clock up, the board kept tipping forward from the weight of the clock.

Simple solution – two pieces of Velcro to attach the board to the wall. Problem solved.

 

A dramatically different look for under $5.00.

This idea could be adapted to update any space that needs a little pop of colour or texture!

Stay tuned for details on the next project!

Goodwill Tray Makeover

Back before Christmas I bought this tray from Goodwill for $3.00. It had obviously been the victim of a D.I.Y. gone terribly wrong. Not only was it gold and burgundy, it had an uneven, textured finish.

It had “good bones” but I did not have a plan for it when I bought it. I knew that eventually I would find inspiration.

Fast forward to March.

After spotting several chalkboard trays on Pinterest, I finally knew what the next life would be for this tired tray.

Source: Less Than Perfect Life of Bliss via Claire on Pinterest

Source: CraftOManiac via Claire on Pinterest 

 

Here’s what I did for my Cinderella-ish makeover . . .

First, I sanded the tray with my new Black & Decker Mouse Detail Sander. It was missing a chunk from the edge in one corner so I left this project for my handy husband, Mr. Mechanic. A little wood filler and she (yes, I have decided the tray is a she) was good as new!

Next, I taped off the edges and outside of the tray with painter’s tape so that I could use my chalkboard spray paint on the inside of the tray. Over the course of one evening, I sprayed about 5 thin coats.

After leaving the chalkboard paint to dry and cure for a few days, I seasoned the tray with a piece of chalk. I knew the finish of the chalkboard would not be perfect, but I also knew that this would not show once it was covered in chalk dust (baby steps for a perfectionist).

Then, since I was going for a shabby look, I did not tape off the inside edges to protect them from my acrylic paint.

Using a foam brush and Robin’s Egg Blue acrylic paint, I painted the edges and outside of the tray with one coat of paint.

I used a very small amount of paint and was able to achieve a shabby, distressed look without doing anything else to the tray. Even though the gold and burgundy of her past lives were hideous, they add so much character under the blue.

Now, she can live happily ever after in my kitchen or any other room in my house because she looks so pretty!

I don’t know about you, but I find that Robin’s Egg Blue is one of those chameleon colours that looks great with just about everything!

I know that this makeover is in no way unique, but seeing for myself how easy it was to make this tray pretty again definitely inspires me to go searching for other makeover candidates.

Have you given something a new life with just a little paint and elbow grease?

Today is my 1 month anniversary of blogging!  It has been an amazing month and I am so grateful to all of the people who have commented, followed and/or given me help throughout my first month. Thank you, thank you, thank you!

P.S. Remember to come back next week for details on my kitchen shelving projects!