THE ALTERED FLEA: September 2014

Monday, September 29, 2014

OMG! It's National Coffee Day

What's better than celebrating a birthday or Mother's Day? It might just be "National Coffee Day." However, when it comes to caffeine, everyday is Coffee Day in our house; and here is the sign adorning my craft room door to prove it:

So grab your favorite coffee drink and linger awhile while I share

a few photos and past posts of my favorite coffee-themed crafts.

I've included some links to get you right over to the post for more details.

Post-it note holder made from an acrylic photo frame

I decided my daily lattes were a bit of a luxury, so I created a Coffee Stash Cash Can. I place my extra change in it (and an occasional dollar bill), and use this "extra" money to fund my caffeine addiction. Plus, it was fun to create.

Cappuccino Cash Stash

This next photo shows one of my coffee-theme ensembles. It includes a set of coasters, note-holder and pen desk set, a large note clip, and (my favorite) a clipboard with matching pad of paper. I love how everything coordinates! These make wonderful gifts, especially with a fresh hot cup of coffee or coffee shop gift card.

Coffee Ensemble Makes Great Gifts

Another favorite altered art project of mine includes transforming three square canvasses into a trio that I call "Three Cups of Coffee." I used a lot of coffee ephemera, including old gift cards, coffee sleeves and even a vintage coffee spoon. Click here to quickly get to the post to see the completed trio and tutorial.

3 Cups of Coffee

And a fun makeover using a scoreboard chalkboard:

Altered "Coffee Notes" Chalkboard

And in case you've "bean" busy and missed my post about coffee and shampoo...here it is again.

I-am-only-as-strong-as-the-coffee-I-drink collage canvas

As you can plainly see, I am ~~a fan of~~ obsessed with everything coffee. However, I hear that drinking two to three cups of coffee a day --just like a glass of red wine --actually has good health benefits.

That's my story, and I'm ~~sticking~~ sipping to it.

Sharing a cup of coffee with: A Life in Balance, Happy House & Home, Sir Thrift a Lot, The Cottage Market, Flamingo Toes, The DIY Mommy, Distressed Donna Down Home, The Crafty Blog Stalker

Wednesday, September 17, 2014

Repurposing City Maps & Picture Frames

Our older daughter lives in "The City by the Bay," which also happens to be my old hometown. She absolutely loves everything about San Francisco. On our last visit, I noticed she didn't have any coasters, and since she is "borrowing" her grandparents' antique furniture...let's just say, the coffee table will soon need a new coat of varnish. Until then, I decided to combine fun with functional, and use an old SF map to create coasters and a coordinating serving tray for her.

Here is the tray I started with, found at a thrift store for $3.

Someone had previously added handles onto a picture frame, so it saved me a step.

I painted the frame with an antique white paint using a light brush stroke here and there to give the tray a distressed, vintage look. After all, paper maps are vintage, right?

After deciding on the section of the map for the tray, I cut it to size to fit inside the frame and decoupaged it into place. Then I painted the handles sage green to match the green parks on the map. I sealed the entire tray with antique-colored decoupage to emphasize a vintage look.

Then I cut four 4" squares from another section of the map and decoupaged them onto stone tiles.

Not leaving well enough alone, I decoupaged a small box to neatly hold the four tile coasters when not being used.

For the photo op, I leaned the tray against my kitchen wall, coincidently right under a schematic of the Golden Gate Bridge.

Now I'm going to pop the tray and coaster set into the mail -- marked fragile, handle with care -- and surprise my daughter with a little handmade DIY.