Category Archives: paint

updating an old door mat

Posted on February 7, 2014 by Amy

In my quest to makeover just about EVERYTHING in and around our house nothing is off limits [well spray painting my kids is probably not a good idea]. While playing soccer in the backyard with my little man the other day, I got the raging itch to do something with our ugly doormats. So after I got my butt kicked 10-3 I accepted defeat and got busy making this door mat a bit prettier.

It’s just a simple coconut fiber door mat that has seen better days. But….you know what I’m going to say….I try to squeeze the life out of everything first before tossing it into the garbage.

While little man was basking in the glow of victory, I taped off a simple design with painters tape. I had to push the tape down a bit as it does not want to stick.

I stopped my taping at this point thinking that the design would be pretty.

Because the door mat is obviously outside I chose my go-to enamel spray paint in flat black. Then I got my trigger-finger to work.

This sucker soaked up a TON of paint. I went through that entire can of paint!

And the moment of truth. My first impression was, “This looks a flag! Do I want to be trampling all over some country’s flag?” I know…my thought process is strange. Plus I wasn’t impressed with the way it looked. Soooo….

I took a risk and grabbed my little can of white gloss latex. LATEX?!?! I know…but the label said it’s great for outdoor projects. So I shrugged my shoulders and said, “Let’s give it a try!”

I dabbed white paint over the design I already created then decided to keep on chugging and fill in the entire door mat. I just used an old crappy craft paint brush.

And here she is! As fate would have it, we got a rain storm in San Diego yesterday and the paint held up just fine!

I like it! It’s a cheap update and I love the bold look of black and white! I’m on a B+W kick right now and don’t see it coming to an end anytime soon.

BEFORE

AFTER

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POSTED IN: door mat, spray paint, update an old door mat

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turn any picture into a mirror

Posted on January 28, 2014 by Amy

If you’re anything like me [stockpiler-of-just-about-anything-decor-related] then you have a small stash of picture frames around your abode collecting dust. Some of mine are a bit outdated, but for whatever reason I hung onto them. I came across this picture frame in my son’s closet recently and I know why I never got rid of the frame…

It seems like yesterday my husband was holding him in one hand. sniff. sniff. sniff.

Before you start thinking I’m awful for even thinking about changing this, just know that I have plans to display these sweet pictures in a unique way [stay tuned]. Before I toss anything out I try to either re purpose it, or paint it, or give it a whole new look. I decided to turn this frame into a mirror for my daughter’s room instead. As you may know by now, I’m all about quick+easy DIY’s and this one is no different.

I’m sure you all have heard of Looking Glass spray paint by now and I think it’s still pretty amazing what it can do. [click here to see my spaghetti jar makeover]

To start I popped out the glass from the frame and gave it a good wash with a 50/50 mixture of water+vinegar

Once dry I gave each piece of glass a couple coats of Looking Glass paint and here’s proof that this stuff can turn glass into a mirrored surface…

After one hour I put the mirrors back into the frame and hung up our new mirror in my daughter’s room

I added a couple paper butterflies and “K” for her name to personalize it a bit. She’s 6 going on 16 and loves to put on play make-up so her desk now doubles as a vanity. This mirror is just enough to allow her to play dress up.

There you have it! A short post today for a short and fun DIY!

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POSTED IN: change any frame into mirror, diy, quick diy, quick makeovers, quick makeoververs

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upcycling spaghetti jars

Posted on September 24, 2013 by Amy

I have seen this idea on Pinterest and know there are a ton of tutorials out there so I will keep the chit chat to a minimum today.

I love nothing more than taking something doomed for the trash heap and turning it into something useful and pretty (I think). It’s such a feeling of satisfaction.

This is such an easy project and takes all of one hour (50 minutes of that is from a cycle in the dishwasher).

To start, I grabbed an empty spaghetti jar, washed it then removed the label. This is the hardest part of this project, as those &*%#$ labels are glued onto the jar with super-human adhesive.

See what I mean? You will have some goo left on your jar so grab your Goo Gone, squeeze some on a paper towel and be amazed. (I do not know what is in this stuff, nor do I really want to, but it’s the greatest invention!)

Five minutes later and I had a sparkly clean jar!

Next I spray painted the lid with black spray paint.

Then I drilled a hole in the center of the lid and inserted a small screw.

For the “handle” I used my son’s old dresser knobs and also gave them a quick squirt of black paint. They came with his IKEA Hemnes dresser and I recently replaced them.