DIY Room Decor: Rough and Recycled!

I am continuing my series `from garbage bin to gorgeous´ and statement home decoration pieces. This time I will show you how to make a trendy light box star from recycled shelf back panel and how to transform a plain (found from garbage bin) chair into a stylish side/ flower table! I made both with black color but remember that you can choose what ever color you want. 

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DIY Stylish Side Table

The chair looked like it would fit into a 90´s kindergarten (maybe we had this kind of chairs in my own kindergarten years?). I found the chair next to the garbage bins.

You will need

a chair

Japanese saw

sanding paper

primer

paint brush

chalk paint

golden acrylic paint

small brush

ruler

white pen

painters tape

transparent shabby wax

cotton cloth to apply the wax

Step 1. Saw off the back and sand the edges.

Step 2. Paint the side table with primer 1-2 times depending the original color.

Step 3. Paint the side table with chalk paint 2-3 times depending the color you chose. Darker colors need more layers to become even.

Step 4. Now we will decorate the legs. Use painters tape to divide the area that is going to be painted (see picture). Tap golden paint to the legs. Remove the tape immediately so it won´t stuck and peel off the chalk paint. 

Step 5. Now we will make the decorative herringbone decoration.  You can see the measurements in the picture. Mark the long lines in every 3,5 cm with ruler and white pen. To the long lines make a mark in every 1 cm. 

Step 6. Paint the herringbone according to the lines.

Step 7. When the paint is dry apply the shabby wax using an old soft cotton cloth.

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DIY Light Box Star

This might be the most horrible before picture in the history of this blog. But have no fear! The end result will be awesome. The pile will be transformed into a star shaped light box. This material is from garbage bin.

To this DIY you will need

wood like material or thin plywood

ruler, angle ruler, pen

Japanese saw

wood glue

hot glue gun

led lights that do not heat

spray paint

As I am not sure if everyone remembers from school maths how to draw a star I thought it might be good to show you how I counted and draw this five point star. As I am not anyways a math genius (lack of practice ;) please do not mind that approx 21 cm. I have not counted that, just measured it after drawing the star so it is not exact. You will need that measure when you cut the side pieces so make your own measurements!
Step 1. Draw a circle. I had 30 cm radius. If you don´t have a big compass you can attach pen to a piece of yarn and draw the circle with it.
Step 2. Draw a radius from center to circle. Measure ten sectors with 36° angle (if you want for example 6 point star you need to multiply 6 with 2= 12= number of sectors and divide 360° with 12 so you got the angles right).
Step 3. In very other line count 13 cm. Join the lines as shown in the picture.

Alternatively you can miss all the fun and print the star from the internet :)

After you have done the maths these steps follow
Step 4. Saw the star with Japanese saw from outer circle to middle.

Step 5. Using the cut star as a model draw and cut another star. When you draw put wrong sides together. Make a mark to both sides to show which points join together. This is done because when you are using hand tools you might not be able to get geometrically exact pieces.
Step 6. Measure the point of the star, mine was 21cm. Cut 10 21cm* 8cm rectangles. Now you got all the parts.

Step 7. Now drill holes for the led lights to come out. I had 20 led light string, so I drilled twenty 4,5 mm holes. I wanted the lights to go symmetrical so I used the the star drawing lines as a guideline and measured the points where I wanted a light. Make light holes just to the front star.

Step 8. Glue sides to the star with holes in it. Use hot glue gun. As I said I was not able to do exact pieces so when gluing I had to make some side pieces slightly smaller to fit in. Secure the seams properly with the glue.

Step 9. Spray paint the pieces with the color you chose.

Step 10. Put normal glue (do not use hot glue gun in this step!!) that will dry transparent into every hole and place the lights. Let dry. Make a little hole to the back star so that when you glue the parts together you get the wire out.

Step 11. Using normal glue attach the back star to the box. You can secure the seams with hot glue gun but be careful not to spill any hot glue to the led lights and wire. If you want you can also spray paint the seams, just put the wire into a plastic bag and cover the lights while working.

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If you were interested in these DIY projects you might want to check these two DIY posts with similar style! 

More DIY Christmas decoration ideas and home decor coming soon! I have played a lot with darker colors and now I am changing into golden and pastel combo. I think the end of November is the most inspiring time of the year. There is still plenty of time before Christmas but it is already permitted to decorate and plan Christmas. 

What about you, Have you been making DIY projects or crafts for Christmas? Do you enjoy planning Christmas?

Happy Friday!! Weekend will start soon :)

Sannu

Dr. Frankenstein´s Christmas :)

The title comes from the medicine bottle DIY. After finishing the DIY I started thinking that it would have been more suitable for Halloween as it brings Dr. Frankenstein´s laboratory in mind. This post actually includes two DIY project ideas that you can finish in one evening. Both have been made using recycled or second hand material.  These bottles  have preserved lavender, thyme and other quite subtle medicines but they have beautiful old pharmacy labels. Brown bottles with fairy lights are interesting and not so Christmassy decoration in case you are looking for something like that. Both decorations go perfectly for vintage style with an edge. The cardboard stars can be made with any colors you choose not just black and gold. For example with pink ribbon and rose stickers you would get a totally different look.

Cardboard was so easy and beautiful material for Christmas decor. It was great fun to decorate these stars and use all glittery material I have collected from craft shops. You could cut stars during the   TV´s commercial breaks and then focus more with washi-tape, glitter and paint :)

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Glamorous Cardboard Stars

First you will need a cardboard box, pen and scissors. Cut stars from the cardboard. You can print, draw or use a cookie cutter to get the star shape. I cut both small and big stars.

Then you will need twine or for example gift wrapping yarn plus a long needle. And of course different kinds of decoration materials like glue, glitter, sequins, washi-tape, stamps, acrylic paint... You could also use stickers, old book pages, napkins. Just be creative.

Thread stars to the twine.

And then it is time to decorate! Which is the best part :) I made 3 chains with 9-11 stars and put all to a group that I attached to a drawer with U-shaped wire hook.

Mr. Frankenstein´s Christmas lights :)

You will need bottles. I had found these old bottles from a thrift shop some years ago. You could also use old soda/ food bottles that have beautiful labels. If you have only new bottles in hand you can print old looking labels from the internet of use scrap booking papers. Point is to use glass bottles/jars with plastic or metallic covers.

Then put some painter´s tape on every cover and measure the center. Use protective eye wear and gloves. Drill a hole in every cover. I used 5mm drill because that was the biggest I had. Led lights would go in the bottle better if you would use 6mm-7mm drill. Remove the tape and put a light in every bottle. Use fairy lights that do not heat (for example led lights)!! 

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Inspiring days with Christmas crafting and decorating to you all! Remember to just sit and relax and feel the Christmas coming :)

Sannu

Monday Miracle

Merry Monday dear readers! Today I woke up to a chilly and bright winter day. Not a single cloud in the sky, trees glittering and little bit of snow on the ground. It was a perfect day to take first winter pictures for this season. 

I have taken all my shabby Christmas decor from the storage. There are elf figures and baubles all over the place. It feels cozy to have traditional decorations even though I am going to make some more pieces according to what is trendy this Christmas. I am trying to keep things simple before Christmas and not to take too big projects :D It was fun to make the drawer makeover that you saw in the last post but I have planned little decoration projects that I would also like to get done. Though I seem to be incurable DIY maniac! Today at the thrift shop I already eyed furniture. Maybe I am dreaming something against my own nature when I picture relaxing days listening to Christmas songs, knitting and drinking hot chocolate. It might be best kind of activity for the holidays to just renovate the whole house all over again, laugh. And we DIYers have built a good network in the social media for sharing inspiration. Every day I list new things to my `to try and make list´. 

Fortunately someone has invented movies. Watching films is a good way to relax and do some minor crafts. Yesterday I watched 21 Jump Street, which was surprisingly good movie (I don´t typically watch this genre). It was fun to notice that I related so much for those older guys who where lost in the 2010s high school world :) I have also wondered how much time has changed the school world and world in general. Nowadays interests like science, environmental consciousness and DIYing have become so popular. It is nice to notice that being curious about world, improving oneself and learning new skills are valued.

Sending you all positive vibes from the winter wonderland

Sannu

One Drawer´s Tale from Garbage to Gorgeous

I am a huge fan of before afters. I like to read about other people´s projects and I also love to do makeovers. Recycling and trying to reduce waste is also near to my heart. I hate it when good stuff is cast to the refuse dump. This drawer project was about both: a great before after project and rescuing mission for good material. 

I found this drawer near to a garbage bin where it was standing in the rain. The garbage was going to refuse dump. But there was a clever sign saying it was free to take! :) The drawer was wet, a bit broken and missed some minor parts. It is made by Finnish design brand Lundia and is a very good quality wooden drawer. It had been repaired before with glue and paint but was worth getting new life once again.

Here are some of the equipment I used: Glue, saw, filler, primer, coconut paint, wax and sanding machine. The first job was to remove red paint and varnish. I did that with scraper and sanding machine plus some parts with plain sanding paper. Paint was relatively easy to remove and sanding went well.

Then it was time to glue parts together where the drawer was broken. After that I had two boxes that missed parts. I made those parts from wood that I had in storage. Also some corners were damaged and needed wood filler. I built corners with filler and used sanding paper to get the wanted shape. Corner in the picture needed this process twice but I was very happy with the result. Where I had used the filler I put primer on the top to help the coconut paint take to the surface better. This caused tricky white spots but I got those hidden with the paint quite well. With this experience I would recommend to use one layer of the primer all over the surface. Though without primer the coconut paint shows the wood beautifully. When all the construction was done I painted the whole drawer twice with coconut paint (color cinnamon) and used transparent shabby wax on the top. I also made golden decorations with acrylic decoration lacquer.  

I am extremely happy and proud of the result. Look is both modern and traditional. Drawer is easy to style according to current trends and preferring. 

Now that it is winter I wanted to bring out the warmness of the brown with other deep colored elements. Simple Christmas decorations update the look for the coming season. I crocheted covers for plastic baubles from paper yarn and now they match perfectly with glass ornaments. 

I wish this post and drawer makeover will inspire you to think over pieces that are broken or out of date. Nowadays we got so much material to recycle and renovate for new purposes. I don´t claim that it would always be easy task to use second hand material. It takes time and creativity but it is a lot fun :) Even though this was one of the most time consuming projects I have ever had with furniture, it sure was the most motivating. To see a piece of scrap turning into something gorgeous is so inspiring. Also it is one piece less to the refuse dump! The total cost for this project was about 27€ which is not much (I didn´t use whole packages of all products so I counted how many percents I used. For example with wax I will make lots of more projects). 

Have you renovated something that has been in a very bad condition? Or used scrap material in your crafts or other DIY projects? How did you feel about that?

Inspiring weekend to you all!

Sannu