Reclaimed Wood Art Display

About a year ago a came across a picture in a Pottery Barn Kids catalog of a canvas with a caterpillar on it.  While the canvas was adorable in itself what caught my eye was the manner in which it was displayed.  The canvas was on a "frame" made of reclaimed barn wood or pallet wood.  Sah-WEET!  I was enamored with this display instantly.  (cue the floating hearts here)

Since that time, I have been (1) trying to determine a place in my home where I could use this type of display for a print and (2) trying to find a print I would want to use.  These things take time people...you understand.  You can't just rush into these things all willy-nilly like. 

Well, a few weeks ago when I was playing around in some Linky Parties and you know once you do that you get sucked in for like hours looking at all the awesome-ness that OTHER people come up with and(shhhh...don't tell Mr. AKM) I came across some super fabulous Kitchen Wall Printables here at Over the Moon.  SWOON!  I IMMEDIATELY knew that these were the prints that my heart has been longing for.  And that these would be so sweetly displayed on some reclaimed wood frames. 

Squealls!!!

After deciding that I wanted the prints to be 11 x 14 (due to some art canvas's I already had on hand, i.e. no need to spend money) I sent the file off to Shutterfly and eagerly awaited the receipt of my prints.  While I impatiently waited, I started the process of making my displays.  We had some reclaimed wood from a deck that Mr. AKM ripped apart so...I cut 3 planks for each display to the size I desired.  Then sanded and stained each using this new shade of Minwax Stain - Weathered Oak.  Have you seen this color?  LOVE IT!  It is my new fav stain!  It has kinda a gray/brown tint to it....like weathered oak.  Go figure?!

This is what the planks looked like after sanding and staining.

Isn't that color AWESOME!  Sigh...

Then we Mr. AKM cut down some 1/4" plywood we had on hand for support for the back...

He went kinda crazy with the screws...he likes to use his my son's new drill.  I was gonna add some silly quip about how he likes to "screw" things but I'm not in the mood for hate mail...but we are all grown-ups here right? 

After he "screwed" the backing on, I added some picture hanger thingies (yes, that is the technical term) so that I could attach it to the wall.  Like, duh! 

Then my pictures arrived...OH HAPPY DAY!

I grabbed my little jar of Mod Podge and a sponge brush...

Slapped it on the front of some art canvas and stuck my picture right on to it.  Easy Peasy!

I was so excited that I forgot to take a picture of this.  Bad blogger...I know.  I am hanging my head in shame as I type this out to you. 

So I stared at my finished canvas's for 'bout an hour trying to figure out how I was going to get them on my display board.  And then I had a major A-HA! Moment!  I can use those totally cool little Command Strip thingies (again, yes, that is the technical term).  That way if I ever want to change them out, oh say to put holiday specific pictures up..I TOTALLY CAN!  Wooohooooo!  Can I get a HELL YEA here ladies? 

Don't you love these things?  They so totally ROCK!

I put one set on the top and one on the bottom and...

I so totally heart them!  My heart is all a-flutter even now.  Swoon!

Total cost - $18.00!  Not bad for some serious eye candy if you ask me!

What do you think?  Is this something you would make for your house?  Where would you use it at?



You may find this post partying in the following places:

Monday:  Debbie Doos - The Girl Creative - Skip to My Lou - Craft O Maniac - Lisa's Craft Blog - The DIY Show Off -Everything Under the Moon

Tuesday:  Not Just A Housewife - My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia - Clean and Scentsible - Crazy For Crust - recipes

Wednesday:  Savvy Southern Style - Blue Cricket Design - Seven Thirty-Three - Someday Crafts - Michele Raven Designs/

Thursday:  Delightful Order - Something Swanky - Recipes - The How To Mommy - A Little Nosh         

Friday:  Finding Fabulous - Chic on a Shoestring Decorating - Fingerprints on the Fridge - Shabby Nest - Whipperberry – Miss Mustard Seed - French Country Cottage - Sweet Tooth Friday (Alli-n-son), 

I'm Lovin' it Fridays (TidyMom), Friday Favorites (Simply Sweet Home), Latest & Greatest Friday (Days of Chalk and Chocolate), Bacon Time, Fusion Friday (Jane Deere Blog). 

Shut the Front Door!

Painting the Front Door

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(making progress or is it progress in the making?)

So when does a project ever go as planned?  Uhm, like NEVER!  I thought that choosing the front door as my first project of 2012 would be a smart, easy project to undertake.  That was my first mistake...thinking.  Ugh!  

So it started of pretty plain and simple.  Take the door off the hinges, remove all hardware and start sanding.  This went off without a hitch, for the most part.  I started using 120 grit sand paper to take the finish off but quickly realized that the people who owned our home before us must've put like 20 layers of shellac on this baby.  Jeesh!  So I busted out some 80 grit paper and went to town again.  After about an hour of this, I removed as much of the shellac as I was going to be able to.  Then it was time to start filling in all the lovely gouges that my dog left for me.  How sweet he is...

This part too went off without a hitch.  I just used some standard wood filler and slapped it on there with a putty knife.  Easy breezy lemon squeezy.  Then I let it dry and sanded it again.  I think I may have developed tendonitis in my right shoulder from using my palm sander a little too much...if you know-what-i-mean :)

So that part was finished.  The door went back on the hinges to wait for my much anticipated paint sprayer to arrive. 

The paint sprayer arrived in the middle of the week…then Mr. AKM ditched us for the weekend alas I had to WAIT (I do not wait well when I have a project that I want to finish).  So Sunday arrived and so too did Mr. AKM.  Squeals!  I danced around like a little girl that needed to go to the potty whilst I waited (impatiently) for him to take the door back down again so that I could start that painting process.

Sir grumpiness with the door, kindly (yea, right) taping the windows up for me so I can spray on the 1^st coat of primer.

His back is to the camera because he DID NOT have a smile on his face...but I was all kinds of filled with giggles and giddiness.  Can you see my paint sprayer on the tool chest to the right?  Yea...such excitement!

Whilst he was finishing the taping I busted into my paint sprayer to put it all together and get it ready for priming.  I filled up the little paint can with primer.  This is the stuff I used.  Valspar Multi-purpose primer.

I have found it to be the best stuff EVER for priming just about anything but especially slick surfaces like this (thanks previous owners for the shellac covered door).  It says that you don't have to sand...but obviously I needed to.

So back to the paint gun...I got it all put together and then realized that something wasn't right.   The spray nozzle did not look like what was in the picture. After further inspection, I realized that it was missing the air cap...the very piece that is needed to adjust the spray.  (Insert small temper tantrum here).  By this point, I no longer have a smile on my face.  I am quite devastated to be honest.  After I beat myself up for not checking the contents of the box when it arrived, I decided to move forward with priming my door the old fashioned way...brushes and foam rollers BAY-BEEE.  

So that is what it looks like as of today...but reattached to my front door.  It's a work in progress.  I have spoken to the wonderful people at GleemPaint.com about the missing piece from my paint sprayer and they are rushing it to me ASAP!  LOVE THEM!

With a hope and a prayer, this door will soon look like this...



Source

 



Stay tuned for more! I promise to show you the big reveal next week!

Do you have any projects that take longer than you expected?  I'd love to hear about them...you know misery loves company and all :)

 

A place in time...

An Heirloom Classic...Re-vamped!

First of all I want to thank Courtney at Between U and Me for having me as a Guest Blogger!  If you haven't seen her stuff you need too like NOW!  I struggled with an idea on what I should post about today.  After much speculation, I decided it was time to dive into some serious Chalk Painting!   I was over-the-top a bit nervous with this project as it is a family heirloom.

We’ve had this cabinet for years.  It has sat un-noticed, stuck in a dark corner forever filled with our DVDs.  It was functional.  That’s about all I could say about it.  While I did like the looks of it, I wasn’t in love with it.  I did love the little glass knob on the door; however.  And the beadboard on the back and I REALLY loved the shape of it.  But more than looks, I loved the history of this piece.  You see, it belonged to Mr. AKM’s grandmother.  If memory serves correct, his grandfather actually made it.  I love the way it smells of old wood…not musty and gross…but rather more of history, time and use.  Sometimes I would just run my hand over the top to feel the indentations and wonder how they got there.  The glass on the front cracked during a move across the country.  I went to have it replaced but they could not match the glass.  The glass is the original glass from the early 1900’s.  It’s not smooth like glass is now.  You can see small ripples or waves in it.  I love that about it so I opted to not replace it but instead stuck a piece of tape to hold it together.  I am hoping to find someone that can repair the glass as opposed to replacing it someday. 

So why paint it?  Well, there is this wall in my dining room that has been BEGGING for something to fill it.  I’ve looked all over the place for a small table or hutch but nothing seemed to fill the “void”.  When one day it hit me…I mean like literally HIT me.  Like I opened the cabinet door and it fell over and hit me kinda thing.  Not cool.  But while I was picking up the spilled DVDs I realized what AWESOME potential this had!  It’s like it called out to me…Paint me!  Paint me!  Who was I to deny it it’s true self? So, I did just that, I painted it!

So let’s get on with the pictures shall we…because we all know that is why you are really here!  It’s ok…I can handle the truth.  Here it is.  The piece de resistance (say it with a French accent).  Go ahead, try it again…piece de resistance.

Isn't it GOR-geous?  I am seriously in love with this piece now.  I mean like over-THA-top in LOVE!  I know the lighting is a bit off...Daylight savings has seriously messed with my photo ops!  

How did I get to this most awesome piece of awesome-ness you ask?  Let me give you the dets.  It all started like this....

Sand...sand...sand...then vacuum all the saw dust off...then sand some more and vacuum again.  Not a fun process I must admit but totally worth the efforts.  I chose to only sand the top since I was using Chalk Paint on the base.  No sanding necessary for that!  LOVE ME SOME CHALK PAINT!

Once the sanding/vacuuming was complete I wiped the entire piece down with a tack cloth to remove all the remaining dust.  I then applied two coats of Minwax Dark Walnut stain to the top only.  I wanted to preserve the original look of the cabinet by doing this. Then I moved on to painting the cabinet itself.  I used Annie Sloan's Chalk Paint in Old White.  I rolled on the 1st coat using a sponge roller then brushed on the second.  This is the finished look before sanding/distressing it then after.

WOW!  Are you loving this as much as I am?  After all the distressing I applied a coat of Annie Sloans Clear Wax with a cheese cloth then buffed.  That was it!  So totally easy!  Mr. AKM decided he wanted the doors to stay the original color as well since we were leaving the top and the shelves that way.  I was a little on the fence with that idea until he put them on...

And then some photo love for you...

Its like it was meant to be...the perfect cabinet and the perfect spot! 

And one last look at the before and after.  LOVE HER!

So tell me...what do you think?  Do you prefer the before or the after? 

Linking up to these parties

Finding Fabulous

Chic on a Shoestring

Shabby Nest

Whipper Berry

Debbie Doos

The Girl Creative

Skip to My Lou

Craft O Maniac

Blue Cricket Design