NEW PRODUCT: Mold Market Chalk Paint

                                                                             

There are plenty of changes and new in the works at our parent company, Nouveau Designs LLC. Recently, we set up a fulfillment center in Spokane, Washington which is where Mold Market brand molds are manufactured. This means most orders ship the same day as received. That's a big plus in our minds.

Now that the hectic move is over, we are concentrating on our new line of chalk paints. We are in the process of testing, testing and then more testing. The results are exceptional and we plan to launch this new product within the next two weeks.

If you are not familiar with chalk paints, let me share with you what this amazing product can do.

• This non-carcinogenic paint covers everything, no kidding! It can be use on glass, metal, wood, leather, Formica, concrete and even fabric.
• With this paint, you can literally start and finish a piece of furniture within a day.
• No prep work (like sanding) is required.
• Paint colors can be layered to achieve a distressed look (shabby chic) to your project.
• 28 colors available
• Colors can be blended to create a custom color
• One pint of paint will easily cover up to 50 square feet. If you think in the terms of furniture, that's two dressers.
• Water-based, so it cleans up easily with water.

The possibilities of this chalk paint are endless. In January 2015 we will introduce a new product line to use with our Mold Market chalk paint. However, 'HUSH' is the word for now.

A one-pint container of Mold Market Chalk Paint retails for $22.95 and a 4-ounce jar retails at $9.95.

We will also offer a line of Metallic Dusting Powders to enhance the finished look of your chalk painted projects.


Take a look at some of the furniture and projects we have done with these awesome paints. 

Picture Frame Christmas Decor

This easy holiday decor was made from a thrift store picture frame, minus the cracked glass, and and miscellaneous ornaments. Ribbon remnants were used to string the ornaments to the back of the frame. For ease, I used a general purpose staple gun to hold the ribbon-strung ornaments to the back-side of the frame.

The original color of the frame was silver, but I painted it red and then sanded areas of the frame to allow the under-layer of silver to show through.

This holiday frame has so many possibilities. You can hang on the wall or place on a shelf unit. A over the door hanger is another option (the kind you use to hang a door wreath).

The glass could have left in the frame and a window rub-off applique applied beneath the Christmas bulbs, i.e., Happy Holidays or Merry Christmas.

An affordable handmade gift for the holidays.

Vintage Doily Snowflakes

I am always in search of new craft ideas to do with the grandkids. Last night we mixed glue and water to make a DIY fabric stiffener for these doilies that will be used to hang in windows for the holidays.

My five-year old grandson got a bit carried away with the dipping process and we may have to let his doilies dry for another night.

Tonight, we will be using glitter spray on the snowflake doilies and then hanging them from the sliding glass doors using suction cup holders. The kids are excited and I will post the final glittered snowflakes tomorrow.

Hobby Lobby sells doilies in 12-packs at a reasonable price, or check out Ebay. Here is what you will need for this project.

• 50:50 ration of white glue to water. Mix well in an large mixing bowl until the consistency of milk.
• Cloth doilies
• Plastic garbage bag for laying out the doilies after they are immersed in the stiffener
• Spray glitter product (or you can spray the dried doilies with adhesive glue spray and sprinkle with glitter
• Suction cup window hangers
• Invisible thread for hanging the snowflakes

Submerge each doily into the glue mixture until fully saturated. Gently squeeze away any excess liquid and lay the doily flat on the plastic garbage bag.









Allow the doilies to air dry overnight. If they still appear to be damp, let them set out until completely stiff and there is no sign of moisture.

Gently lift the doilies from the plastic bag and flip them over to allow air to completely circulate to both the front and back sides of the fabric. You can either hang the doily snowflakes as is, or add sparkle by applying iridescent glitter to each side. (see my Part 2 post for using glitter).

The stiffened doilies also look nice inside a picture frame. Remove the frame's glass and cut and cover a piece of cardboard to fit the frame opening. Burlap material works well, or use brown Kraft paper or scrapbook paper. Hot glue the doilies in place.

Vintage Baby Shoe Photo Gift

This is one of the many holiday gifts that I am giving to family this Christmas season. I purchased two vintage baby walking shoes from a local thrift store (bells included). To give added weight to each shoe, I poured plaster Paris into a zip lock bag and tucked into the shoe. The plaster was still wet so it formed to the shape of the shoe.

Thrift store doily finds were tucked inside the shoe and hot glued in place. The photos are held in place by silver place card holders I had left over from a wedding event. A small pine and berries were seated in place with hot glue.

Decorative scrapbook punches can be used to dress up the photo backing. To add to the vintage flair, I place satin ribbon just below the shoe tongue. The doily behind the picture was Mod-Podged to make it stiff (lay it flat for 24 hours to stiffen) and then glued to the picture back.

These cute keepsake frames look adorable on a fireplace mantel or bookcase.

The Birthday Chair

 

I recently attended a birthday party the the daughter of a close friend. I wanted to do something extra special and decided to re-purpose a desk chair for her bedroom. Upon seeing the chair, Chloe exclaimed, "Yay, now I can get rid of the boring chair that I have!"  I took that as affirmation that she loved the chair as much as I did.

Since then, I was commissioned to do another chair identical to this one and I'm quite happy to be dipping my paint brush in colors into the midnight hour.

My Crying Chairs are made for the outdoors, but this birthday chair is for indoor use only. It can be personalized with or without a name or date and is perfect for a sun room or enclosed pool or patio area.

My grandkids were invited to the party and I placed their gift on the chair seat and attached a couple of balloons. They loved it!

The chairs I repurpose are labor intensive, but when I see the gratitude in the face of the receiver, it's worth every minute of the time invested.

As with my Crying Chairs, a personalized poem that fits the occasion is attached to each uniquely designed chair.

Tea Cup Lampshade Transformation

I snagged this pink lampshade at a garage sale this weekend for $2. After a quick trip to the Goodwill store to scour for old jewelry and lace, this was the result. Total project cost was under $10.

Lace was re-purposed from a second-hand top. I cut around the lace to use on the lampshade and will use the remaining material for a future project. A hot glue gun was used to secure the lace to the top edge of the lampshade.

Old jewelry found at yard sales is perfect for adding ornate features to DIY projects.

Safety pins were used to temporarily position the jewelry where I wanted it. Once everything was in place, I secured the pieces with a needle and thread.

The lamp base is still a work in progress as I am waiting for the arrival of my diamond drill bit kit ordered from Amazon. Holes will be drilled in the bottom of each China piece. The lamp cord and rod will be threaded through the drilled holes.

Once assembled, the China pieces will be spray painted an antique cream color. I'll post later on the drilling process and show the finished lamp.

FYI: Picked up the china pieces at Goodwill for 30 cents each. It was 1/2 off all blue tags. I can make the teacup/saucer base for around $3. Makes me giddy thinking about it.

The Crying Chair Project

Last fall, a dear friend of mine lost her son to an accidental overdose of a prescription drug. As you can imagine, she is overwhelmed with grief daily. Long after the sympathy cards, phone calls and visits have ceased, the loneliness consumes the heart and mind.

I gifted this crying chair to my friend on her birthday. It's a quiet place where she can kneel and let her tears water the soil of her buried grief. It was a labor of love and the pictures below show the progress.

I started with a $5 chair purchased at Goodwill and stripped off the tattered caning. Assorted mosaic pieces were used to cover the caning holes. Although, time consuming, the end result was quite stunning (at least I think so).

I lightly sanded the chair before applying a base coat of spray paint. My plan was to spray paint all the different colors, but that proved to be a bad idea. There is no way to control the direction of the spray. I resorted to hand brushing and it worked well.


 

As you can see (right), the results from the spray paint idea failed miserably. It was a live and learn experience.

Elmer's All-Purpose glue was used to secure the mosaic pieces to the chair. Natural color grout was then applied according the the direction provided on the container. I purchased premixed craft grout online at Dick Blick's. A coat of Krylon Brand clear coat was sprayed over the tiles to help protect them from the elements.

Mosaic tiles pieces were purchased online from Oriental Trading. They offer many different color assortments and reasonable prices.

The crying chair and poem were attached to the finished chair and secretly left on my friend's deck porch. The time and energy put into this project was worth it.

Under $2 Victorian Centerpieces

I've been on a Goodwill store craft craze the past month. There are so many wonderful finds that can be re-purposed for just a few dollars. I spotted six clear glass vases for 49 cents each. My mind whirred as I imagined all the things I could do with these vases. This pictures shows my final results.

I printed Scott's Rose pictures and sized them to fit the vases. Using a foam brush, apply Modge Pod to the back side of the pictures and carefully position in place. Let dry for about 15 minutes and apply a coat of Modge Pod to fronts of pictures. I used an antique Modge Pod for a vintage look.

The faux rose flowers stems were purchased at the local Dollar Store. The entire bunch cost $6 and filled six small vases and one large drain tile vase (pictured in the middle). The grand kids picked mini apples from the fruit trees in the yard and a wooden skewer was inserted to showcase them in the vases.

I had a couple of foam blocks leftover from another craft project and cut to fit inside the vases to hold the faux roses in place. Water was added to the vase to keep the greenery fresh (I snipped branches from trees in the yard).

Each vase cost less than $2 to make, and as you can see, the finished results were quite striking.

DIY Friendship Plaque

 

I've been on a crafting frenzy since I returned from Spokane. This is my latest project and I am pleased with the results. The layout was the most time consuming.

The canvas board was left-over from my granddaughter's birthday. It was painted in rainbow covers, but it didn't matter since I was going to cover the canvas with various papers.

The paper shown to the left was printed on the computer, but other papers used were scrapbook papers or handmade.

Paper punches were used to create decorative edges and satin ribbon was added for embellishment.

Mod Podge was used as the glue and sealer for this project. A thin coat was applied to the canvas and also to the back of each paper. A sponge brush works best for the application process.

I took a picture of the layout before applying the Mod Podge and used it as a reference when positioning the pieces. The lettering was printed on handmade paper and trimmed to fit.

The colors, arrangement of papers, embellishments and design elements are endless. Consider adding vintage buttons, jewels or pearls for a 3-D effect.