sun printing fabric frame & remaking artwork

The challenge of the Metamorphose art show, sponsored by MECCA and St. Vincent dePaul, is to take old, unwanted artwork and transform it. I actually liked this piece pretty well, so I left a lot of the character intact.

This piece for the Metamorphose show had a canvas-covered frame. The idea of sun-printing the fabric didn't work out perfectly, but the photos of the process look lovely.

faint texture from sun printing

"up"; envelope and thread collage with encaustic beeswax

progress (part two): a new closet door

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I promised to follow up my post about our thrifty guest room makeover with an update about the closet. And here, a little more than a year later, is the finished product.

I wish I had a "before" image to show you, because the new version looks so much better.

When we moved in, this little closet was unfinished looking, built of 1970s wood paneling and fence boards. Painted barn red. Aack. Trust me, it was U-G-L-Y. And though it doesn't need an alibi, I'm giving it one.

I added sound-proof acoustical board to the back; new shelf supports, boards, and trim to the shelves; and new flooring to the tall side, then caulked and painted everything in coat after coat of primer and paint. Already, it looked much better, but I wanted a door of some sort to cover up the storage. I saw someone use a roller shade as a closet door in a magazine (Living, maybe?) and inspiration struck: I started hunting down an old classroom map.

This one is just about the perfect size. It's a bit outdated (so the population chart at the bottom is really off), but then, so are the globes in my globe collection, and they're not hurting anyone (we teach the kiddo using a new one, so the older ones are just for decoration).

Does it count as a thrifty find if I scored the map on eBay? It only ran me $30.

And I think it looks kinda awesome.

It's pretty easy to hang one of these, if you can find one with the metal roller mechanism intact.

It's a simple matter of two s-hooks, two brackets, and some screws from the hardware store.

Because this is the spare bedroom, we use the closet to store excess canned food (no pantry + small kitchen lead to this sort of behavior), printers, camping gear, and the goods for my Etsy shop. We used to keep the stroller in here, too, but it's been outgrown by my two-year-old, so we donated it to the thrift store this week. One item in, one item out!

The best part, I think, is that I can set the map at any height to hide everything, or just the stuff at the top, or anything in between. It's pretty great.

Thanks for reading! Have you been doing anything awesome with maps lately? Do tell!

p.s. you can make these photos larger just by clicking on them, but you probably already knew that.


Linking up to:

Simple Design's Thrift Haul
Cap Creations' Thrifty Love
Southern Hospitality
Thrift Share Monday
I'm Crafty!
Mop it Up Mondays

repurposed faucet handle coat racks & tool racks

This project is one that combines several things that have been popping up on Pinterest lately: chalk paint, old cupboard doors/drawers, and old faucet handles used as hooks. Luckily for me, the two local rebuilding stores and a free paint coupon from Benjamin Moore made this project (which resulted in two coat/tool racks) really inexpensive.

An old cupboard door and drawer front, for example, cost $1 and $1.20 from the Habitat for Humanity Re-Store.

In addition to the boards, I bought a leftover box of unsanded grout at the Re-Store for $1.50. The box also contained a pint of grout sealer and some little square slate tiles, which I'll have to find a project for later. The grout is one of two ingredients in Martha Stewart's chalkboard paint recipe.

Basically, stir 2 Tbsp. unsanded grout into a cup of flat paint. My paint came free with a Benjamin Moore Facebook coupon a couple of months ago. I mixed up a half-recipe (since this project is pretty small), making sure to get rid of as many lumps as possible while stirring.

Most of the directions I've seen for using chalk or chalkboard paint on various blogs say that you don't have to sand down your surface first; I did a brief sanding with 100-grit, because frankly, "no sanding" sounds a little too good to be true.

I let it dry overnight, then sanded the surface with 150 grit sandpaper. The edges got special attention, so that some amount of wood showed there to assist in the "rustic cottage industrial" look I was aiming for.

On the longer of the two racks, I drilled two holes for hanging. Because most modern construction standards require wall studs to be 16 inches apart (on center), and because this rack is for my mom's recently-built house (Happy late Mother's Day, Mom!), the two holes are 16 inches apart.

You can see how, on the back, there is a little splintering from the drill. I knocked down the sharp edges with a bit of sandpaper. You can paint over the exposed wood too, if you want, but I chose not to worry about it, since this is meant to be a rustic piece anyway, and the splintering is on the back.

And these are the "hooks". These faucet handles were 25-cents to 50-cents each at BRING. If you find them still attached to their heavy brass bases, you can expect to pay between $2 and $5 apiece for them (a couple that I bought for the second rack were in this price range, though I went on a sale day and got them for half off). The nuts, with original paint, were $2 a pound, as is most hardware at BRING. (Portland also has a wealth of rebuilding stores, and I know Habitat for Humanity has Re-Stores in most states; check around!)

Beginning assembly. You'll need wood screws between 1.5 and 1.75 inches long, depending on the depth of your handles and nuts, and the thickness of your board. Mark your spots, pre-drill the holes, stack your pieces, and screw everything together.

I prefer that all the handles be different, for the look of something that's been collected and assembled over time. But if you can't find these pieces used for a price you like, you can also buy new outdoor faucet handles for a couple of bucks apiece at the hardware store (at Jerry's here locally, they're $2-3 each).

I also added a layer of beeswax over the top of the paint, since I don't plan to actually use chalk on the chalkboard paint. Also, there was a little more chipping than I like (maybe because I didn't thoroughly sand first?) and I thought the beeswax would probably help seal the finish. I've read some people use paste furniture wax, but I preferred not to buy a can because it's expensive, and I'm not sure I'd use it all before it went bad. The beeswax is something I had on hand.

Cost Breakdown:

(2) boards (an old cupboard door and drawer front); $2.20 total

(8) faucet handles; $6.50 total

(8) large, paint-covered nuts; $2 total

(8) screws; 10 cents ($2 per pound) total

unsanded grout; $1.50 total (with a bunch leftover, plus spare tiles and sealer)

8 oz. paint sample; free, with half leftover

beeswax; $1, if you don't already have some

Total for two coat/tool racks: $13.30, with leftover grout, paint, etc.

Here's a similar project on Apartment Therapy using indoor faucet handles to make a bathroom towel rack/shelf combo.

Here's another from the Our Vintage Home Love blog, in which she uses dowels and rubber gaskets.

And one more from My RePurposed Life, with new handles on the side of a shed.

Thanks for reading! When I find a permanent home for the one we're keeping, I'll post a little blog about it for you. Until then, I'd love to see links for your own repurposing/upcycling projects in the comments section below.

Enjoy your holiday!


(p.s. you can make these photos larger just by clicking on them, but you probably already knew that.)


Linking up to:

Sherry, Katie, Kate, and Michelle

Simple Design's Thrift Haul

Catch as Catch Can at My RePurposed Life

Nifty Thrifty Sundays

The CSI Project