Upcycled Coffee Bar

What do you do when you see an old microwave stand out in the neighbor’s garbage?  Well, if you’re me, you have your husband go get it, so you can re-purpose it as something else. 

I wasn't sure what I was going to use the old microwave stand for right way, but eventually an idea came to me.  I decided to use it in our guestroom as a coffee and snack bar.

To do this, I cleaned it up and refinished it with Annie Sloan Chalk Paint (old white paint and clear wax) that I had from a previous project. I like ASCP because 1) no sanding is required and 2) it is a great paint to use for distressed pieces of furniture.

I applied two coats of ASCP with my ASCP brush, one coat of ASCP wax with an old rag, and then I sanded the edges to make it look a little distressed.

I finished the piece with new glass knobs and decoupaged the doors with scrapbook paper and Mod Podge.

Lastly, I had to give my upcycled piece of furniture some purpose by making it a coffee bar for our guests.  I bought a place mat for a few dollars at Old Time Pottery and put it underneath a small coffee pot and coffee mug stand from my first apartment.  Then I went to Goodwill on the first Saturday of the month when everything is half off and purchased a set of coffee mugs for $.50 each. Inside the doors, I store extra sheets for the guestroom bed.  On the shelf, I keep snacks, coffee, teas, and bottled water in a tray I purchased from Home Goods. 

My husband likes to tease me about this project.  He reminds me that we don’t run a bed and breakfast.  But I do like having coffee and teas for guests in their own room when they come to visit.....and by guests, I mean family who come to visit once or twice of year and my mom who comes to visit me every few months.  My mom looks forward to the chocolates and biscotti in her room when she comes to visit, so I think that this little coffee bar is a nice hospitable touch in the guestroom.  

What can I say, I just want my house to feel like home when they walk into my house.  Any little project that helps make that happen is a successful project in my eyes.

DIY Vintage Insect Wall Art

Today I want to share a fun project that I made for our guestroom.  I really liked the look of vintage insect art. I know it sounds kind of unusual, using images of insects as art.  But when it looks vintage, it kind of makes it feel like nature is being used as art in a beautiful way.

This projects re-purposes two large Goodwill frames, and it uses a fun new purpose for two small Dollar Tree frames.

First, I found images that I liked on clip art and enlarged them to fit my frames.

Then, I printed them on regular computer paper to see how they printed.

Once I was happy with the result, I cut vintage scripted scrapbook paper down to size and printed the images onto the scrapbook paper.

Using two light-weight frames from the Dollar Tree, I framed the images and set them aside.

I then moved on to two larger pieces of framed art I found from Goodwill.  They were originally Target pieces, marked $10 each at Goodwill.  I purchased them on the first Saturday of the month from Goodwill making them $5 each.  While they were great winter pieces of framed snowflakes, I had no place to put them as they were, so I re-purposed them.  For this project, I was only using them frame.  I disassembled everything, being careful to salvage the other pieces for future projects.

Once I had two empty frames, I measured enough green burlap for each frame.  Burlap is an inexpensive fabric, usually only a few bucks a yard. I purchased mine at JoAnn Fabrics.

To cut burlap straight, pull a piece of the twine……

….and keep pulling until the entire piece is pulled out of the fabric…..

….leaving a visible straight line to see where to cut with a good pair of sewing scissors.

Once I had two perfectly measured pieces of cut burlap, I hot glued the pieces of burlap to the back of my frame.  Note that I did not use the original backing of the frame for this project.  I only used the frame.  The burlap is visible on both the front and back of this project.

I then measured and securely hung the frames to my wall.

And lastly, I put a nail through my burlap in the middle of both frames….

….and hung my two light-weight framed pieces of vintage insect art made out of the Dollar Tree Frames, creating a frame within a frame:)

Then I stepped back and admired my work.

This project cost me less than $20 for both finished pieces, and I’m very happy with the end results.  They make lovely pieces of art in the guestroom and it was a fun, creative re-purpose of frames.

Ordinary Bar Stool Repurposed - Rope End Table

 

Last summer, I found a couple of barstools at a yard sale for $2 a piece.  One  is used as a plant stand on our porch.  The other has been repurposed as an end table in our loft.

 

 

To do this, I took a traditional barstool….

….and a package of rope that I purchased from Hobby Lobby.

Starting from the outside edge and working my way to the center, I hot glued the rope to the seat of the barstool.  I unexpectedly ran out of rope just as I got to the center......

...but lucky for me, I had some scrap rope in my craft drawer that I saved from the packaging of a gift set someone gave me.  Yeah, I keep stuff like that for moments like this;)

I love the texture the rope adds, and that’s why I chose to use it. 

Lastly, I painted the green legs with some sample Louis blue ASCP (Annie Sloan chalk paint) that was sent to me with a recent purchase, and then I finished it off by applying a coat of ASCP clear wax.

 

 

The seat of the stool is the perfect size for a lamp, making a barstool a really great repurposed end table.

Upcycled Desk Organizers

Yesterday, I posted “Goodwill Desk Gets a Green Makeover”.  In that post I shared how a $25 desk would end up meeting all of our organizational needs for daily things like mail, coupons and bills.  Today, I want to share with you how I upcycled items that I had laying around the house to create desk organizers.  The best part is that this project didn’t cost me a thing!

I’ll start with my 1-2-3 jars.  These jars are just votive holders that I no longer used and had in a drawer labeled candles and candle holders.  Using chalkboard paint, a sponge brush, and a white painter marker (all of which
I already had in my craft drawer), I turned these votive holders into storage for items like paper clips, binder clips and push pins.  If you don’t have votive holders on hand, they are really inexpensive and can be found for less than $1 just about anywhere.  Underneath the votive holders is a note pad and a piece of cut scrapbook paper.  The polka dot scrapbook paper is just for looks.  I thought it accented the desk nicely.

I often purchase fresh flowers every few weeks for my kitchen table and coffee table.  I happened to have this small vase from a garage sale. I think I paid a quarter for it and knew I’d eventually have a use for it.  When I tied a black ribbon around it and added a flower or two from my kitchen table, it became a lovely accent for the kitchen desk.  The ribbon was actually salvaged from a gift set that someone got me at Christmas.  I always try to save stuff like that and put it in my craft drawer until I find a use for it.

An empty pickle jar and some twine from my craft drawer was all it took to create this storage for my basic house items like scissors, tape measure, hammer, screw driver and flash light. 

 

In case you are wondering, a while back I purchased my black and green girl tools at Stein Mart;)  I just thought they were super cute!

To hold pens and pencils, I used an empty corn can, some scrap burlap and more of that black ribbon  I saved from a gift set someone got me for Christmas.

Lastly, I used a container that I’ve had for years to hold the excess change we have when we empty our pockets.

There ya have it!  Simple ways to organize and upcycle in a beautiful way, and you don’t even have to spend very much to do it!

I wont’ show you inside the desk drawer;) That’s my husband’s domain.  I told him that as Iong as I don’t have to look at it, I don’t care.  This desk helped solve all of our problems, and we no longer argue about something as simple as mail on the kitchen counter.

DIY Little Girl Lamp Shades

As most of you know, I am a nanny for two girls, ages 5 and 7.  The girls are in the process of getting new décor for their bedrooms, and their mom asked me if I could find or make lamp shades to match the new décor.

The youngest is a girly-girl, and her room has lots of pink in it with fashanista accents. This is how her shade turned out......

The oldest girl has more of a funky look to her room and just got blue and black zebra bedding.  Goig off of the blue and black zebra theme, this is how her shade turned out.......

To get these shades to look the way they do, I first went to Goodwill and found two plain white shades for $3 a piece.  Then, I went to my local craft store for the following items: scrapbook paper (two pieces for each lamp) was $59 each, ribbon was $1 for each spool and fabric trim was $3.49 a yard (one yard for each lamp). The supplies for the lamps ended up costing about $7 for each lamp shade. 

To begin transforming the shades, I first covered the shades with scrapbook paper.  Then, I hot glued the paper to the edge of the shade and cut off the excess paper. Next, I glued the trim around the bottom of the lamps. Lastly, I added ribbon to the top of the lamps and made a bow to embellish each lamp.

The girls were really happy with the new lamp shades.  I’m still on a Goodwill hunt to find the perfect lamps to go with the shades.  I have four really great Goodwill’s that I browse all the time, so I’m sure it won’t be long before I find the perfect lamps:)

Upcycled Night Stands

I have another thrifty guestroom project to share with you today……..

Last summer, I paid $4 a piece for these tables.    When we finally got around to fixing up the guestroom, I decided to use the garage sale tables as night stands for the room, but they needed a little fixing up before I used them in that space.

To do this, I painted the tables with some sample antique white Annie Sloan’s Chalk Paint that I got for free with one of my paint purchases.

To add interest to the tables, I simply decoupaged the tops of each one with some scrapbook paper that I had in my craft closet.

And that's pretty much it:)  Another $10 project completed…..

.....and I really like the look and simplicity of my “new” night stands:)