If you have been reading my blog with any regularity, it’s safe to say that you know that I like to paint stuff.  I particularly love painting things a) in bright colors and b) that aren’t “supposed” to be painted.

A few months ago, I took it a step further by painting something that is actually supposed to keep other things from being painted.

Confused yet?  Yeah, me, too.

Anyway, my friends at my favorite store in the world – Home Depot – sent me a box of paint brushes, drop cloths, painters tape and stencils and asked if I would create an outdoor rug out of a canvas drop cloth.  You know I couldn’t say no to that challenge!  They sent me a few color palettes to choose from and a gift card to pick up some paint at my local store.

Is it any surprise that I chose the brightest of the sample palette choices?  It shouldn’t be!

I honestly had my doubts that a canvas drop cloth would make a good faux outdoor rug, but I always trust that my friends at Home Depot won’t steer me wrong.  I washed and dried the drop cloth to help remove the folds and wrinkles and laid it out flat over another drop cloth in my entry way.  Using a foam roller, I primed it with a basic Kilz latex primer and let it dry over night.

I decided to give the rug a pattern with a starburst effect, but I wanted to give it a modern twist.  I sketched out my design on a sheet of paper, and then I painted the entire rug my base color, Oyster Shell by Glidden.  It’s a soft off-white.

Using my sketch as a guide, I used 1-inch width painters tape to lay out some lines on the canvas.  Like a starburst, I wanted them to all radiate from the same point.  I decided to make that point 2/3 of the way down the drop cloth.  I didn’t measure the distance between the lines, because I wanted some sections to be thin and others to be quite wide.  I took special care to press the tape down really well to avoid any paint bleeding underneath the lines.

Then, I painted each section at a time using a good quality paint brush.  I started at the top left corner of the cloth, and just painted section by section.

I gave each section two coats of paint.  I found that the dark colors (like the navy) covered pretty well with one coat, but the really bright colors (like the orange, green and red) needed two coats for the colors to be fully saturated.  There were a few spots that the paint did bled underneath my tape, so I went back with a small artist sized paint brush and touched up those spots.

I let the paint dry for a full 24 hours, and then I applied two coats of Rustoleum’s Ultimate Polyurethane using a good quality paint brush.  That will give it enough protection that it could easily be used in an outdoor space.  I let that poly dry for about 48 hours and then boxed up my ‘rug’ and sent it to Home Depot’s professional photographer.

Now, I will be featured in Home Depot’s free Style Guide app for the iPad.  How cool is that?  Even more fun is that I’m “above the swipe.”  I feel like I’m “above the fold” in the New York Times.

Each season, Home Depot releases a new version of the Style Guide both via the app and online.  It’s filled with decor ideas, DIY tips and tricks, and lots of other cool stuff.  The summer version of the Style Guide comes out any day now, so if you have an iPad, head over to the App Store and download it so you will be ready when “my” version comes out.

I loved the way the canvas drop cloth turned out.  In fact, I’m planning to do another one to hang on the giant, empty wall above my staircase.  I think that it will be a cheap and easy way to create a piece of custom artwork that is quite large in scale.  I need to figure out another cool pattern, though.

How about you?  Would you what colors would you paint your custom drop cloth floor (or wall!) covering?

Now that summer is upon us and my landscaping is in full bloom, I thought it was time to swap out my spring wreath for a new summer version.  I didn’t necessarily have to, but I thought the turquoise clashed a bit with the flowers in my bed.

When I wrote the original fullest and fluffiest wreath ever tutorial, I promised that it would be a cinch to change it out for the seasons.  Well, here’s my proof.  I went from the wreath on the left to the wreath on the right in about 15 minutes (including photo taking time).

Easy peasy!

If you’ve already made one of the best wreath’s ever, it’s easy to make it into a new work of art.  You should begin by taking the original off your door and removing all of the colored florals, the center ornament and the ribbon.  Leave all of the greenery and the filler as is.

Next, figure out what you want your center ornament to be.  If you are doing a letter, you can repaint it to have a new look.  I’ve been obsessing over garden gnomes this summer, so I knew I wanted one to use on a wreath.  I found one at Garden Ridge and drilled a hole through both sides of his hat so that I could run a piece of hemp twine in it.  I placed him on my wreath so I could work around him with my florals.

For the record, my 6 year old son has named him Werewolf Catherine.  I have no idea…

Back to the wreath.  I had a piece of moss from a tree that I wanted to add into the wreath, so I went ahead and placed it near the gnome’s feet.  I also tucked in some white filler flowers around the wreath.  As I always do, I cut the pieces off of stems of fake florals from Hobby Lobby and just shove them into the grapevine.  They hold just fine.

I decided to go red, white and yellow for this wreath, so I added back in some of the yellow florals I had taken out of the original wreath.  I added them all the way around.

 

I found some little red flowers in my stash and added them sparingly around.  I didn’t want to go overboard with the bright red since the gnome himself is in muted colors.

To attach Werewolf Catherine the gnome to the wreath, I pushed the twine through the grapevine underneath the hanger ribbon.  I tied it in a few knots and cut off the ends of the twine.

Per usual, once I hung the wreath on the door and stepped back to the street, I realized that there wasn’t enough “stuff” on it.  I added in some more red flowers on branchy things and bunched some yellow stems right at his feet.  I like to concentrate a color on the bottom right of the wreath for some reason.  I guess that’s just where my eye is drawn.

In just a few minutes, my front door got a complete makeover.  Now my little gnome friend is going to protect my front flower beds from weeds.  At least, that’s what I told him to do.  Let’s see if he holds up his end of the bargin.

Have you made an interchangeable wreath yet?  Do you believe me that it really is that easy?

Don’t miss my other related tutorials – How to Create the Fullest, Fluffiest Wreath Ever and How I Hang Wreaths on My Front Door

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