THE ALTERED FLEA: raffia

Tuesday, October 30, 2012

A Hint of Autumn

Crunchy fallen leaves. Cool breezes. Cozy sweaters. These are all hints of autumn. However, those of us in Southern California are still wearing shorts and sleeveless tops. I'd apologize, but I have nothing to do with the weather fairies. Our younger daughter lives on the east coast, so we are well aware of the havoc that Hurricane Sandy is creating. We hope everyone on the eastern side of the country will soon dry out.

Even though autumn has not yet showed up here, I decided to put away all the summer paint colors and seek out autumn hues.

This sponged blue coat rack had been hiding (for good reason) for many years. Our older daughter painted this in the mid '90s when sponging was "in." It was high time to transform it into an autumn coat rack (just in case the temperature falls low enough for us to wear our coats).

I chose a fun autumn scrapbook paper from my stash. In fact, this entire project was created with everything on hand. I especially like the words on this paper which evoke cool(er) weather ahead.

Then I mixed together two colors of acrylic paint creating a mustard hue to complement the paper.

After a light sanding, I brushed two coats of paint onto the wood rack, completely covering the old blue color.

After the rack dried, I experimented with different embellishments to see what would match the best. Although I like the way these flowers look, I decided to save them for another project.

This rack measures 23" wide x 3-1/2" tall. I cut two pieces of paper, each 12" x 3", so when adhered to the wood, would expose 1/4" of the painted wood on either side.

To accent the sides of the paper, I "edged" the paper using Chestnut Roan chalk ink. Chalk ink goes on smooth and is dry to the touch, so the ink doesn't smear.

OK, time to Mod Podge! Be sure to cover both surfaces (in this case, the back of the paper and the front of the wood) to maximize the adhesive power of the Podge.

A roller will help eliminate possible air bubbles.

Although I painted the four knobs in the same mustard color as the wood rack, I decided to punch it up a bit and re-painted each one a different color, coordinating them with the paper. Then I scoured through my sticker folder and found letter stickers, spelling out f-a-l-l.

Adding a multi-layered flower and raffia, the transformed coat rack is now ready for autumn!

Now, if only the weather would cooperate.

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Sunday, March 25, 2012

Spring is for the Birds!

Spring has sprung. The flowers are a bloomin', the days are getting longer (YEA!), the outdoor cafes are busy with coffee klatches and tea totallers, and allergies have set in. You could say that spring is for the birds! So let's welcome our tweety friends with an altered birdhouse.

Several years ago, I saw large wooden birdhouses on clearance and snapped up as many as I could hold. I pulled one out of my stash with a paper pack, paint and a few embellishments, and went to work.

I had two shades of red that would complement the paper,

ultimately deciding on "Barn Red." [Duh]

Using a foam brush, I painted all the edges and the eaves of the birdhouse.

Next, came the tricky part: making a template to fit the pointed front and back of the house. I couldn't trace it because the eaves jut out. So digging deep into the left side of my brain, I tapped into my algebra skills; and after a few tries, came up with the perfect template with just the correct angles. [Insert happy face.]

The sides and roof were easy to measure with a ruler, as they are all right angles--just measure twice and cut once. Actually, I cut twice, as there are two sides of each! I also used Chestnut Roan liquid chalk to edge the paper.

On the template, I again carefully measured exactly where the circles should be to fit over the 1" hole and tiny perch. Folding the paper in half lengthwise, I punched out both circles and then replicated that on the printed paper.

And now the fun begins: Mod-podging the paper to the bird house.

To add some interest to the roof, I cut out a border from one paper, and adhered it to corrugated cardboard before podging it to both sides of the roof lines. Then more podge all over the birdhouse. If it sits outdoors, it is a good idea to use Outdoor Mod Podge.