Kids Bike Transformation

It took much longer than expected, but I finally finished the project I was working on for my daughter's fourth birthday!  Oh my goodness it feels so good to have it done!  And the icing on the cake is that my daughter LOVES it.

One day while taking my son's bike to get a new tire at the bike shop right around the corner from our apartment, my daughter spotted a tiny pink bike, just her size.  She had a great time riding it around the shop.  At the time she just had a tricycle for herself, which she was quickly outgrowing.  I suddenly had the idea to transform my son's old 12" [black, Batman] bicycle, which was in dire need of a new wheel, into a pink princess bicycle for my daughter. 

When first considering the project I thought it would be fairly straightforward.  Take parts off, take stickers off, spray paint, put parts back on, done.  However, when I got down to the point of having everything off, I got really intimidated and let it sit for a couple days just thinking, "What on earth did I get myself into?"  Thankfully my determination won out and I pushed through to the end. 

This is when I started to panic a bit.  (I apologize for the crappy photo)

Ta da!

I'm so happy it turned out so well. Now on to my other 5,378 projects. :)

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I'll be linking up to these fabulous link parties:

Monday -  Craft o Maniac Monday -- Craftastic Monday -- Amaze Me Monday -- Make it Great Monday --  Tuesday -  Get Your Craft On -- Sew Cute Tuesday -- Upcycled Awesome -- Tip Me Tuesday -- Tuesday Talent Show --  Wednesday -  Seven Thrity Three -- Wallet-Friendly Wednesday -- Create and Share -- Whatever Goes Wednesday --  Linkin’ with Lil’ Luna -- Thursday -  Strut your Stuff Thursday -- Transformation Thursday -- Thrilling Thursday -- House of Hepworths -- Friday -  Remodelaholic Friday -- Flaunt it Friday -- Frugal Friday -- Weekend Wander -- Show and Share Day -- It's Fun to Craft! -- Tickled Pink Fridays -- Weekend Wrap-up Party -- Catch as Catch Can -- Friday Flair -- Feature Yourself Friday -- Simply Link {Party} -- Pity Party -- Design Dazzle --  Saturday - Strut Your Stuff --  Lovely Crafty Weekend -- Sunday -  The DIY Showoff Project  Parade --  Sunday Showcase Party -- Creative Bloggers Party -- I Heart Naptime -- Think Pink Sundays

Lamp Revamp

Hello! Long time no post, I know. I've started working full time and that has left me with very little time for anything other than work, domestic duties and time with the kids. But yesterday I actually made some time for a creative project and that inspired me to write about one of the projects I did a while back but never posted.

For a while I was frequenting thrift stores, looking for a couple of good lamps for my living room. I wanted two with nice shapes and lines, but not necessarily exactly alike as I would be painting them the same color. (I don't like to be toooo matchy-matchy.) Eventually I found a couple of nice lamps, but wanted to make one of them shorter.

See that tall skinny part at the top? I wanted that gone. I knew the lamp was put together in sections and thankfully that was one of them so it could be removed.

I started tearing the thing apart by first removing the socket. (Pulled off the top, lifted out the socket, unscrewed the wire terminals, unscrewed the base and pulled the wires out of it.)

(partly I took this photo so I would remember how to put it back together)

I removed the bottom piece of the harp (the thing the lamp shade is attached to) and unscrewed the top part of the lamp base.

There was an internal pipe (as with most lamps) that had threads only at the top and bottom. However, removing a portion of the lamp required cutting the pipe shorter (which would leave it without threads on one end), so I ended up having to purchase a replacement pipe and cut that one to the length I needed.

I took apart the sections of the lamp, cleaned, primed, painted and sealed them. Then I put them all back together.

Then I re-attached the socket. There are two different wires and two different screws to use to attach them. If you're ever replacing a lightbulb socket just remember this--

Ribbed = Silver
Smooth = Brass

I put everything back on in order like so (except with the modified base, of course)-

With the addition of a $2 thrift-store lampshade I had my new lamp. Yay!

For the second lamp I did the same painting, but altered a lampshade to more closely resemble this lampshade. (I'll post that next.)

Thanks for stopping by! (And I apologize if the sentences seem a bit disjointed and awkward. It is late, and I am very, very tired right now. :) )

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I'll be linking up to these fabulous link parties:

 Monday -  Craft o Maniac Monday -- Craftastic Monday -- Amaze Me Monday -- Make it Great Monday -- Polly Want 2 Party  --  Tuesday -  Get Your Craft On -- Sew Cute Tuesday -- Upcycled Awesome -- Tip Me Tuesday -- Tuesday Talent Show --  Wednesday -  Seven Thrity Three -- Wallet-Friendly Wednesday -- Create and Share -- Whatever Goes Wednesday --  Linkin’ with Lil’ Luna -- Thursday -  Strut your Stuff Thursday -- Transformation Thursday -- Thrilling Thursday -- House of Hepworths -- Friday -  Remodelaholic Friday -- Flaunt it Friday -- Frugal Friday -- Weekend Wander -- Show and Share Day -- It's Fun to Craft! -- Tickled Pink Fridays -- Weekend Wrap-up Party -- Catch as Catch Can -- Friday Flair -- Feature Yourself Friday -- Simply Link {Party} -- Pity Party -- Design Dazzle --  Saturday - Saturday Spotlight --  Sunday -  The DIY Showoff Project  Parade --  Sunday Showcase Party -- Creative Bloggers Party -- I Heart Naptime -- Think Pink Sundays

Paper and Ruffles Lampshade Redo

Have you ever completed a project only to decide you don't like it and do it over again?  That's what happened with a couple lamps I was working on for our master bedroom.  Thankfully I didn't have to redo the whole thing, just the lampshades.

I wanted to try to decorate our bedroom (since it really hasn't been decorated at all) and bring in some warm colors so a while back I spray painted two matching lamps red. 

before

after

The two lampshades I had on them were plain white (too stark of a contrast for me), so I Modge Podged some paper with some dried grass and other natural flecks of stuff in it.  At first I hot glued double fold bias tape to the rim of the shade, and it looked pretty good, but I wasn't too in love with it.

So I decided to take off the bias tape and replace it with ruffles.  Okay, so maybe I just wanted an excuse to use this fabulous thing...

This ruffler attachment, although looks like its modern counterparts, is from 1957.  It's a great companion to my 1954 sewing machine.

I started out by cutting strips of fabric 1" wide (although I could have used ribbon as well) and left the edges raw.

I just sewed down the middle and had instant gathered trim!  I could have also used elastic thread on the bobbin to get the same result.

Then with some hot glue, I had my finished product. (I found that ruffles on the top and bottom looked a bit too frilly for my taste)

Linking to all the fabulous link parties on my "Blog Parties I Link to" page.

Spray Painted Belt

With all the creative blog reading I've been doing lately I've seen several posts about spray painting shoes (I think I will have to try it someday soon).  I wondered if this could also be applied to belts since I often see cute belts at thrift stores that are just the wrong kind of color for me.  I've been wanting a wide belt and found one on a recent thrifting trip that was a strange metallic maroon-ish kind of color.  Not my kind of color, but a cute, simple belt, just like I wanted. (Which was also brand new and still had the $36 Express price tag on it... I snagged it for $4)

So I decided to try to spray paint it using Rustoleum's Universal paint in "Oil-Rubbed Bronze".  It says it's good for all surfaces, so I hoped it would work well for something that requires flexibility.  First I covered the metal parts of the belt with painter's tape.  I was careful to work the tape around the edges of the studs using my fingernail, then used an Exact-o knife to cut around the stud and remove the excess tape.

I sprayed two light coats of paint, allowing a little time to dry in between.  Then I let it dry completely (so it's not tacky anymore) before removing the tape.

I carefully removed the tape, and here's the finished product!

Ahh, much better.  And so far there seems to be no problem with the flexing of the belt, and the paint doesn't stick to the buckle or loop.  Success!

Now, what other accessories can I spray paint?.....

Framed Seashell Display

Here I am dreaming of my blue and white ocean/beach theme bathroom again.  (I've been doing this recently because we may possibly be moving sometime in the spring)  Although it is just a possibility right now, I can't help but think of what might be!

Plus, I found a really beautiful wooden frame (with mass-produced artwork) at a yard sale for $1, when it originally sold in stores for $40!  The glass was missing, but that was perfect for me since I wouldn't be using it anyway.  It was a metallic silver color, so I just spray painted it white.  (Sorry, no before picture... I blame my impatience!)  At the very same yard sale I got a big basket full of seashells for $1, too!  I purchased some burlap at a local fabric store, and used the artwork (flipped over, so it was plain cardboard under the burlap) and cut the fabric so it would wrap around a few inches on each side.  I laid out the seashells and took a picture so I would remember the placement I wanted.

 I wrapped the burlap around and hot glued it to the back of the cardboard.  I had to trim the corners a bit because it was too bulky.  Then I rearranged the shells, checking with my photo to make sure they were where I had them before.  One by one I glued the shells to the burlap.  I rubbed the glue in through the burlap to make sure it would stick to the cardboard so the weight of the shell would not pull the burlap away from the cardboard when it was hanging.  

I love three dimensional art!

Painting a Mat and Frame

My mother-in-law sent us these two framed drawings of San Francisco a while back.  I really liked the drawings but the mat was a strange orange/peach color and the frames had gold trim which didn't fit in with our decor (or at least my idea of what I want my decor to be... not that it's at that point right now!).

So I decided to paint both the frame and the mat.  I started to paint the frame by hand, but it was taking so long and the black was showing through too much, so I ended up spray painting it.  It had to dry overnight (I hate waiting!).  Then I added a little antiquing (sort of).  The mat I painted by hand, and had to be very careful because the drawing was glued to it and I didn't want to tear it by trying to take it off of the mat. Now that I think about it, though, I could have just covered the mat with some really pretty scrapbook paper.  Oh well!

I didn't think it was necessary to show steps for this one, so here's the end result. 

Now they're just right for my [someday] blue and white bathroom.

For my Son's Room

Even though we've been living in this house for a little over a year, I'm just now getting around to completing my son's bedroom.  I found a small lamp ($3) at a thrift store that was two-toned silver and gold.  It did have a nice shape so, thanks to all the DIY blogs I've been reading/subscribing/becoming addicted to lately, I decided to spray paint it.  My son (4 years old) picked out the color and the lamp shade (nice!) and  was genuinely very excited about getting his own lamp to put by his bed.  I antiqued it slightly, although it's almost too slight to see in the photos. 

Then we stopped by a yard sale (where I scored lots of stuff for projects) and found a magazine rack ($2) which I thought would be perfect for keeping track of the kids' library books and keeping them separate from the rest of the books.  It started out a dark brown stained wood and I took out the center rail because it was very loose and wobbly.  I could have filled in the notches with wood filler, but sometimes I'm too lazy.  I used the same color paint as the lamp and antiqued it (more heavily).  I was happy with the way it turned out (mostly, although I think some of the antiquing has too obvious brush strokes... but maybe I'm being too picky), then my son said "But I wanted it brown!  I don't want it green!"  .... sigh...  Although when I put it in his room he decided to put his books in it.  (So I think that means he's okay with it)

Unfortunately I didn't take "before" pictures of these things -- sometimes I'm too anxious to get started and don't want to take the time to get out the camera!

I've been working on lots of projects lately and dreaming of a blue/white beachy/ocean/nautical bathroom.  Although that will have to be when we move or buy a house because our current rental has permanent yellowish/cream and black tile.  I'll post some photos of how I kind of dealt with that.

Happy DIYing!

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