Table and maps... if you like to travel

I don't know about you but I always bring from all my trips pack of maps. So here is a great idea to get rid of them and decorate some old table.
First take the table and sand it. Then clean up all dust.

 Take maps you like and cut them to the pieces. Cover table with glue and put pieces of map like it shown on the picture.

If your table is not square cut paper a little bit like it shown on picture above. Try to avoid bubbles and wrinkles when attaching paper to the table.

Let table dry and cover it using finish. Better to use water based finish because oil based makes spots of grease on your maps.

Let first layer of finish dry, sand it with finest sand paper and cover it with finish one more time. That's all. Now you have perfect table that saves your memories about wonderful trips you had for long-long years.

I found this table here http://yaliliya.ru/post133612264/, but I believe it's not original source, so if you recognize your idea - let me know, I'll be glad to put your name as author name of this travel table. 

Cupboard Door-Gone-Art Desk

Author of this idea is Autie. She invented and created these funny and useful tables from real junk.

 

Guess what is the source for these tables? Doors from old cabinets. Kids love art and their own craft table inspires them to do more and more. Children can seat on the floor and draw because of short table stands. Table top that can be opened is another great idea. That gives you space for paper, pencils and other crafts. 

As I mentioned before for creating such kid table you need doors, stands, paint, base, sand paper, screws, drill and everything you think will be useful for decorating.

First step is sanding of doors, you should remove old paint and/or finish. Clean up the door. Attach stands. If there are no door hinges you should attach them too. Now it's time to decorate. You can do whatever you want, for example you can use decoupage as Autie did.

Step by step instruction  and more pictures can be found here www.u-createcrafts.com. This web page contains huge amount of all kind of handmade and decorating. 

One more stool

Last time I had a lot of posts about stools' remodeling and renovation. I don't even know why. Hope it's the last stool in row. Next time I'll post about another furniture piece, I promise.
The summer memories inspired vikulin to create this stool for kids. Summer rain, grandmother, milk and all other childhood memories make this stool so cute, so warm and tender:

A lot of other handmade ideas and lessons can be found in vikulin Live Journal blog. This particular stool can be found here. By the way -  this stool is for sell, so if you really like it you can buy it.

Cabinet decorating

Do you have boring pale cabinet like this?

Do you like it? I suppose the answer is no, so let's create something magic and bright. We will need:

1. Decoupage cards
2. Acrylic finish
3. acrylic outliners
4. glitters
5. boring cabinet

Step 1. Take decoupage card and cut out picture. You can also use napkins instead of decoupage cards. Using acrylic finish attach pictures to the cabinet. Take brush with finish and smooth attached picture. 

Step 2. Take outliner and paint branches. Add leaves and flowers.

Step 3. Draw butterflies and fill up their wings using glitter.

Step 4. Take brown acrylic paint and draw tree trunk. Make some texture by adding outliner lines. 

 Thats it. Instead of ugly old cabinet you have magic one.

Good luck!
I want to say thanks for this tutorial to Tatiana Smirnova. She created this master class and shared it with us. You can find a lot of her other amazing artworks on her web-page: www.tsmirna.ru

Coffee can = Gift "box"

I made this gift container for my very good friend. Hope she'll enjoy it. Such type of "gift boxes" is good for small and fragile gifts or gift sets (chocolate, coffee, figurines....)

So materials:
1) Empty coffee can

2) Christmas themed napkins. We need to cut out pictures from them:

3) Glue

4) Acrylic paints

5) Thin paper

6) water based finish

Step 1. Make a texture. Mix glue and some water and attach thin paper to your coffee can. Let it dry

Step 2. Cover your coffee can with acrylic paint. Let it dry. 

Step 3. Attach cut out picture to jar using water-glue mix. Again let it dry

Step 4. Using acrylic paints add some details, shadows and accents to picture. Let it dry.

Step 4. Cover your jar with water based finish.

Here is the result:

Thats all for Christmas 2010. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

New look for your old laptop

Source http://www.livemaster.ru/dekupazh-na-noutbuke

Sometimes you wake up in the morning and understand - colorful, taste, juicy summer is gone. Fall came again and brought with her cold wind, rains and yellow leaves.. Sweet summer memories are faded away day after day and even your lovely laptop looks really boring.
Are you sad?  Stop it. You can save a piece of lavish summer for all year or even more and at the same time give new look for your old laptop:

Materials:
1) napkins with picture you like
2) acrylic paints
3) glue and finish 
4) brushes and roller sponge
5) laptop

Step 1. Clean up your laptop using something that removes fat. You can use napkins for cleaning up laptops. Try to put your pictures on laptop. IMPORTANT: first put main components, then small ones. After you decide how to compose your pictures carefully move it somewhere where you can see it.

 

Step 2. Now you need to make a background - base layer for napkins. You need acrylic paints, brushes and/or roller sponge. Put a layer of paint. Choose color that fit your picture. Let it to dry. Put another color emphasis using the sponge where it is needed, in this tutorial these are places where jug, grapes and flowers will be located. 

 


Step 3. Let paints to dry. Cover your laptop with glue-finish. IMPORTANT: layer of glue should be thick. Carefully put napkins on the laptop and using center-edge movements attach it to laptop. The sequence of putting picture parts should be the same as in first step: the biggest ones, smaller, the smallest. Let it dry and than cover with finish. You can add some details using paints or markers. Let it dry again.

 


Thats all. Now you have this amazing laptop and be sure all you relatives and friends will ask you to create similar one for them. In the end I would like to say thanks to Alena Prohorova for creating this tutorial, good pictures and descriptions. 

How to: renew your favorite(or hated) bag using decoupage

This week is week of innovation:-) So yesterday I started new column - weekly invited guest. Today I am starting another tradition - weekly master class. So here we go.
Every girl in her closet has her favorite bag. But... the more you love something the faster it became worn. Or maybe you have a bag that you totally don't like? Or you changed your style?
So here is old bag.

The following stuff is needed for giving our bag a new life:

1) White and black acrylic paints
2) Glue for decoupage
3) brushes
4) Transfer medium (Transckryl)
5) Pictures
6) Acrylic base
7) outline


So take your old bag wash it very well and let it to dry.

Next step - its time to decide how do you want decorate it, what parts should be decorated and what pictures you want to use. Cover places you have choose to be renewed with white acrylic base.

The following step - decoupage. On top part of the bag you can see pattern from paper napkin. It’s easy: take a napking, remove layers without a picture, put it on the place you want to decorate and cover with decoupage glue using whide brash. Let it dry then covet it with transfer medium - it will save the picture from erasing.

Now we should prepare pictures for main part of bag. They were selected from old wall calendar and Paris postcard and became a keynote of bag.

It is hard to glue thick pictures so we need to work on them using Transfer medium. In this case was used Transfer medium producted by Lefranc&Bourgeois. Сover previously cuted picture using Transfer medium. You should create 2-3 layers of it. Each layer should dry 20-30 minutes. After you done with all 3 layers, let it dry for 24 hours.

Now your picture is like rubber. Put it to bowl with water for couple minutes.

Back side of picture soaks and exfoliate. Previously covered with Transfer medium front side stays nice and stable. Accuratelly remove paper from back side of picture till you get thin elastic film with picture. Let it dry one more hour.

Add glue on the place covered with acrilyc base and film with picture. Put it together. Remove air bubles under picture and take extra care about edges.
Let it dry for couple hours or overnight.

Using outliner add some smoothness to bodrer of bag and picture. Using actrilyc paints add emphasis where it’s needed.

Last step - pendant. The one below was created from keychain and beads.

Your bag is renovated and redecorated. Its looks like new and you can be sure - no one in the world has the same one. Here is the result of our efforts

This master class was originally prepared by LiveJournal user nastik_art. I would like to say great thanks to her for materials and pictures.

Wall Decor or New Life of Old Cookware

Do you have any unused, old or not liked by you cookware? Or you have some that you LOVE but it is unusable anymore? Do you believe that cookware can became unusual and unique wall decor for you kitchen? It can! Here are photos to prove it:-) 

And as usual: you buy it here, or you can can use my email to buy it without etsy or you can order any custom picture and size.