Trash Talk Thursday: Artful Twigs

Awhile back I ran across a rustic lodge lake plaque made from sticks on Pinterest, and have had it on my to-do-it-myself list ever since. (Thanks to pinterest.com, my to-do list is now long enough to last the rest of my life and then some!) 
This past weekend while I had the pleasure of babysitting my grand-dogter, Noodle ~ we walked along Lake Tarpon in search of suitable twig sticks for writing out the word 'Lake' on an old wooden plaque (found at a thrift shop for 50 cents.)

I sprayed my found tree-twigs with a pest control product before bringing them inside ( because it's  Florida ~ home of tropical bugs galore) and used snippers to cut the ends off twigs as needed. Once I had the word layed out as I liked it, I sprayed the twigs with clear acrylic sealer to bring out the wood hues (and further protect the indoors from that which lives outdoors) and used wood glue to attach the twigs to my plaque, allowing drying time overnight before hanging. © copyright 2013 redshedvintage.com 

  

 

Trash Talk Thursday: Plastic Prims!

Home parties were all the rage in the 1960's - 80’s, and during that time companies such as Home Interiors produced some great plastic wall décor which were reproductions of antique cast iron or wood plaques. Sometimes labled Burwood, Dart or Homco, these lightweight treasures are plentiful at thrift stores and are easy to upcycle with a little paint. This large patriotic Eagle was a recent $2.00 score.

After lightly cleaning with a damp cloth, I sprayed a light coat of flat black spray paint.

It looked good enough to hang with just the black paint, but I decided to add some patriotic colors. Using Folk Art acrylic craft paint, I applied red, white, blue, and gold paint on the dimensional areas, as shown. When it dried completely, I wiped Minwax Stain & Sealer with a cotton rag and waited a few hours before hanging. If you'll be hanging your painted plastic prims outdoors, a coat of clear acrylic spray will help protect it from the elements.
Check it out! This makeover of mine was featured in the Winter 2011 issue of A Primitive Place Magazine, page 107
© copyright 2011 redshedvintage.com 

Here are some other painted plastic projects of mine, recycled using the same painting method:

 

 

 

Trash Talk Thursday: Raisin Rack Redeux

Hidden behind a stack of framed posters, the rustic wood of this old raisin drying rack caught my eye while browsing at a charity thrift store. As was the wall art trend of the 1960's, a poster had been cut and découpaged onto the 3 wooden slats, covering but also preserving the primitive wood which lie beneath. 

Using a wallpaper scorer, I made some small holes in the poster paper.  Then I mixed equal parts of hot tap water and liquid fabric softener in a spray bottle, spraying & gently scraping small sections with a plastic putty knife. When the poster was completely removed, I rinsed the residue with a hose & allowed the drying rack to dry in the sun. The slats allowed space to add 'S' hooks, providing a great place to hang bunches of herbs and flowers for drying.   
 

 

Trash Talk Tuesdays Tutorial: Kitty Condo!

This week's Trash Talk Tuesday is happening on Wednesday, as I forgot yesterday! I do hope you'll excuse my forgetfulness. Without further ado ~ here is how to make a kitty condo out of an old ladder...

Cats love to climb & have a perch to look down from, and indoor cats are no exception. Instead of purchasing an expensive carpet covered kitty condo from the pet store, we wanted something unique & vintage for our 2 cats to call their own. As luck would have it, a Hospice thrift store had just the right alternative start to a kitty condo in the form of an antique wooden painter’s ladder, priced right at just $8.00!

Still needing wood slats for the condo floors, I happened to have a set of pine Ikea daybed slats in the garage from a discarded bed frame which fit perfectly.

After tightening all the ladder screws for safety, I applied 2 coats of Soldier Blue interior flat paint on the ladder. The bed slats were held together with strips of canvas, which I removed & painted the slats Barn Red interior flat paint. I rubbed water based Minwax rubbing stain on the ladder & slats with a cotton rag, then drilled holes on both ends to securely attach the slats to the ladder when the finish was completely dry.

After wrapping some sisal rope around the bottom for a scratching post, we added quilts, a basket, and a basement box. A litter box would also fit nicely under the ladder.
The kitties now have their own prim condo with a picture window view, and love spending time napping, playing, and contemplating primal hunting expeditions.
copyright 2013

 

 

Trash Talk Tuesdays Tutorial: A Temporary Wall of Burlap

Last Tuesday, I shared a way to temporarily hide wall-to-wall mirrors in an apartment or rental home. Today, I'll show you how I temporarily covered some ugly wallpaper with rustic burlap!

 

Right as you walk in our front door, there's an eyesore of a wall which the previous homeowners had covered with pink & blue wallpaper ~~  reinforced with some sort of industrial-strength yellow adhesive. The same wallpaper which took us several tedious hours to remove from the bathroom, resulting in ruined sheet rock.

We've been sick of looking at that wall of shame, yet haven't quite gotten in the mood to tackle covering it with wood paneling (which we'll eventually get around to) so in the mean time, I decided to cover that yellowed 1980's southwestern paper ~ with rustic burlap!

Years of Pre-K theme planning on a tight budget resulted in discovering cheap & easy methods of temporary wall decor, one of the most popular being the use of fabrics & laundry starch. By simply rolling a coat of Sta-Flo liquid starch ~ you can temporarily adhere lightweight fabric or paper to just about any wall, door, window, or mirror! When ready to remove, simply lift a corner and the fabric peels right off; any remaining starch residue is easily wiped away with a damp rag.

(If renting, you might want to test a small area first, to be 100% certain)

To temporarily cover a wall or mirror, you'll need the following supplies:

Burlap* or other lightweight fabric

Sta-Flo Liquid Starch

Shallow pan & paint roller (or paint brush)

Drop cloth or plastic (to catch drips below)

Fabric scissors

Thumb tacks

Yard stick

Rolling pin or brayer (optional)

 

*I found a great source of burlap on a roll @ our local Ace Hardware Store ~ in the gardening section of all places ~ a huge 3 ft x 24 ft roll of burlap ground cover (Made in USA to boot!) was just $12.00 (see link above, costs slightly more to order & have delivered to your local Ace if not in stock) Burlap is also available in many fabric stores.

Decide ahead of time if you'd prefer to submerge your fabric in the liquid starch & wring it out before smoothing the fabric on the surface, or roll the starch onto the wall & smooth the fabric onto the starched wall. Either works fine, and both can be a little messy! For burlap, I found it easier to roll the starch onto the wall.

Using thumb tacks, I marked where to cut each piece ~ allowing extra room at the top & bottom for shrinkage. I covered the electrical outlets with painter's tape. Then I used a yardstick & fabric scissors to cut the burlap, applying starch on just one section at a time & smoothing the burlap until straight (I used a rolling pin) slightly overlapping the panels. For reinforcement while drying, I put some thumbtacks along the top & bottom of the burlap panels until the starch dried (overnight) and used scissors to trim around the outlet & to remove any crooked/frayed edges once the panels were dry. You'll want to rinse the starch out of the rolling pin or paint brush & supplies, and wipe any spills with a damp rag.

Note: the burlap had a strong but not completely unpleasant smell for a few days, which eventually went away.  

 

 

For a rustic border along the top, I used the same method to attach jute upholstery webbing. I'm very happy with that wall for now ~ it also makes a great photo background!

copyright 2013 www.redshedvintage.com