DIY: Drip Chevron Painting

Last September I went to a "artisans retreat" and I watched an LA painter paint the above piece in less than 20 minutes. Her method was to use watered down color and then spray water (using a spray bottle) over the piece immediately following her strokes. 

As inspired as I was, I wanted to use her technique, but modifying it a little. Instead of creating a flat painting (like the one above), I wanted to create one with texture and noticeable color variations. To me, the above piece was very similar to watercoloring instead of painting.... so cue my second attempt with drip-painting. 

First, select your colors. I decided to stray away from my typical color scheme of grey, blue and gold... adding pink, purple, red, green and periwinkle. Then, I mixed one part acrylic gloss and one part water, creating "cake batter" -like consistency.

I decided to paint with a chevron pattern, alternating colors. Apply pressure where you want your drips.

After I finished, I couldn't decide how I should hang the painting: dripping up or dripping down. My instagram followers voted and said that drips upward is too weird... so it drips down, for now ;)  

DIY: Lia's Headboard

My roommate Lia loved the headboard that I made for myself and asked me to make one for her. My only request was that she help me. In fact, that's the only rule I stick to. If you want something, then you get to spend "QT" (quality time) with me and we'll do it together. 

Lia and I went early to Home Depot and picked out "fence wood" for her headboard. We had everything cut (including the plywood) and then brought it back to our apartment. 

Side-note: remember your transportation. Thankfully HD in Marina Del Rey was used to people with small cars. Thank goodness for shrink-wrap! 

We built the frame (the exact same measurements/layout as my first headboard) and then attached the plywood on top.

Here's where the story gets funny. I absolutely love recycling wood... so I found a large crate in an alley and brought it with us to use for her headboard. The only thing is that you have to take out all of the rusty nails in order to use the wood. As we were pulling out the nails, my finger slipped and a nail went straight through my thumb. I actually saw the nail on the backside of my thumbnail...

Below is the photo of us before we started sawing, drilling, removing nails and getting tetanus. 

We continued on and ended up with a beautiful 1/8th reclaimed wood headboard and me with a bum thumb. 

The next day however, I woke up with a slight fever, headache and back pain. I called my mom and asked her to look in my medical file for my last tetanus shot. It was out of date, which means that I could have been showing signs of tetanus... or I could have just been hallucinating. Either way I wasn't going to risk it. Lia, being a good sport and supporting my decision to get a shot, decided to go with me and get a booster. 

We then returned to the headboard, sanded down the fence wood and carried it into her bedroom. 

It looks absolutely beautiful in her new room and she loves it! 

Drip Painting

This was one of my favorite crafts so far, because the turnout was totally out of my hands. 

Prep: find squirt bottles (I found mine at Walmart) and "mix" your 2/3 paint + 1/3 water mixture in it. Once you have your mixture... just squeeze with the nose pointed down towards the canvas. Let the paint run either as long or short as you'd like.  

I decided to do four different colors, so it took a bit longer to finish (because of drying time, but I'm very happy with how it turned out... 

"Dripping in Gold" wooden artwork.

I just love it on the wall next to my shelf :) 

Coming Soon!! Lia's New Headboard

Coming Soon!! Lia's New Headboard

Upcycled: The Hutch

My Grandfather willed me a few of his furniture pieces upon his passing and one of the items was this beautiful Ethan Allen hutch: 

I really loved the natural wood look of the piece, but it didn't quite go with my style and the rest of the furniture in my house, so I decided to "upcycle" it. 

First: sand down the entire surface of the hutch and tape off the parts that you do not want to paint. 

(Originally I wanted to keep the inside of the doors natural wood, but once it was painted, I loved the white so much that I decided to use more paint then less).

After sanding, prime the entire piece, let dry and gently sand again. 

(Photo: white primer)

"Lilly" by Valspar -- my favorite "white" ... it has an off-white feel to it. Not too yellow, not too white. 

After painting all over, sand down the places where you want your piece to look "worn."

Finish off with cute knobs and you're done! Enjoy your new upcylced focus point!! 

A Little Piece of Texas

My boss gave me a leftover gift basket from the Holidays. This was a "Texas" themed gift basket and therefore it had a Texas shaped body. At first thought, I was thinking I could use it for it's original purpose--as a basket, but then I realized that there's so many other things I could do with it. 

So, I decided to do the "nail-string wrap" that floats around Pinterest since the wood was already in the shape of Texas! 

First Step: Unravel the basket weave. 

Second: after you have you're cut out, paint it whatever color you desire!

The start hammering nails close together. For this I chose #10 carpet nails because they are dark and every nail is just a bit different than the one before! 

Once you're finished with the border, choose the placement (and symbol) of the center holster. 

Tack the symbol in place and then start hammering around the border.  

Once you've completed your center symbol, start to wrap your string. I chose to go with two different types of string: multicolored yarn and I went back over it with a traditional white string (the type that you would use to make a friendship bracelet).

String one is complete! 

String two: I decided to do string one straight and uniform and then string two I decided to go a bit crazy since it was the top layer!

And here's the final result! There's still a few nails I would like to adjust, and I need to fasten hangers on the back, but for now it's messy and unique like me and I'm happy with the turnout! 

Wine Crate Shelf @ Wedding

My shelf was used at a wedding this past month! It looked so beautiful in the vestibule with many decorative and commemorative items displayed!