DIY - Miniature Wooden Crate

For as long as I can remember thrift stores have always been my favorite place to shop. First, you can't beat their prices. Secondly, it's basically a store that sells everything from clothes to furniture and all the in between.  I always find a new treasure whenever I go to our local thrift store.

My latest find was this darling miniature crate. I knew right away it would work great for organizing, not to mention it was just adorable.  For only one dollar how could I say no!

The only problem, I hated the color. It was a metallic silver. In my opinion it was a poor choice of color for the crate.  But I knew I could always repaint it to match my room.

I used the same paint I used for my last few projects (my Crackle Paint Picture Frame, and my Painted Mason Jars).  To get the same color  I used for my painted mason jars I added a little white paint to lighten the light blue paint.

 I decided to do the crackle technique with the crate so I painted the undercoat white.  It needed two coats of white paint.

 If you want a more detailed tutorial on the crackle technique using Elmer's glue check out my previous blog post here.

After I applied the glue I painted the crate with my light  blue paint. As it dried it began to crackle.  It still amazes me how this works. One moment it's just one plain color and the next minute it's starting to crackle and the undercoat is peeking through.

Can you believe this adorable crate used to be an ugly metallic silver?  I can't either.  Not only do I adore the new color of my crate but the crackle effect added a nice texture to the wooden crate.

 

I've decided that finding something that has potential and 're-painting' it to go with my room has become one of my favorite pastimes.  I hope you will find his post helpful and that it will inspire you to be creative.

Do you like to shop at thrift stores too? What kinds of treasures have you found and re-purposed?  

DIY - Painted Mason Jars

Recently I bought a set of water color markers and gel pens, but I didn't quite know where to store them.  

I'm in the process of adding ice blue/mint green accents to my room so I knew that I needed to either find something or make something in that color that would work for storing my art supplies.

I love finding things you can re-purpose for new uses.  Painted mason jars has been on my list of DIYs to try and they just happened to be a perfect solution for organizing my art supplies. Another plus is we always have lots of mason jars because my mom loves to use them for storage. So a trip to the store was not necessary for this simple project.

I found three mason Jars, two big ones and one small one, and mixed up some DIY chalk paint (I used the same paint I used for my DIY Crackle Picture Frame). I decided to mix some white paint into my blueish green paint to give my jars a lighter pastel color.  

I only did one coat of paint but if you want a smoother and thicker look to your jars I would recommend doing two coats.  I was going for a rustic vintage look with my jars.  

Once they are dry you can decorate them however you desire.  I used sandpaper to rub off the paint over the brand name. I also used white chalk and rubbed the chalk over the paint to add a little extra color and texture.  Lastly I finished off my jars by adding some burlap and lace to the big jars and leaving the small one plain.

Once they were all finished I divided my pens and markers into the jars and found the perfect home for my jars on my bed stand.  I'm really pleased with how my jars turned out and was surprised at how easy it was to make these jars.

This is a fun and easy project for anyone looking for creative ways to organize and decorate.