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Face Lift

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About three years ago, I found a chair with beautiful bones on Craigslist.  I was looking for a chair to go in my new sewing room in the house we were building, and this one really caught my eye.  She was in bad shape but had gorgeous lines.  With a little TLC and a recovered cushion, she was ready to serve her purpose in the new house.

Well, times (and my taste) have changed, and I decided to repuropse her to be used in another location.  So, I gave her a face lift…literally.

Since the chair was already painted a bright white, I simply popped off the seat and recovered it with a scrap of linen I had left over from the nursery project.  I thought the chair needed a little whimsy, so I cut out a silhouette with my Silhouette (heh) and applied the vinyl to the back of the chair.  The update took 30 minutes at the most, but I think it really gives her a whole new look.

Now, she thinks she’s all fancy and hot stuff.  I have to agree.

TIP JAR: Recovering the seat of a chair is a cheap way to change the look of a room.  Staple the fabric on the underside on all four sides of the cushion, pulling tight, before you put in the additional staples on each side.  This technique will keep your fabric from sliding and will make it easier to keep patterns from getting wavy.

DIY Snow Drift Candle Holders

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Every Christmas, I like to do something a little different in my dining room.  Last year, I made sequined Christmas trees.  This year, I wanted it to snow.

With the help of my son Zack, I created some super easy but beautiful candle holders for our centerpiece.  I wanted to make them look as if they had been caught in a snow drift.  It worked, huh?

You can create these in under 30 minutes, from start to finish.  Just be prepared to have a huge mess on your hands if your 4 year old is helping you!

Supplies

  • Glassware
  • Mod Podge
  • Paper towels
  • Epson salt
  • Glitter (optional)
  • Tea light candles

1.  Begin by pouring your Epson salt into a high sided dish.  I used the entire bag (1 pound), although I probably didn’t need quite that much.  We mixed in a bit of silver and red glitter (the Martha Stewart fine glitter is the BEST!), although that’s not entirely necessary – your candle holders will sparkle just fine without it.  Mix together the “ingredients.”

2.  Using a paper towel (or a foam brush if you are fancy), wipe a thickish coat of Mod Podge on your glassware.  Be haphazard in your wiping – you don’t want to cover the entire surface with the Mod Podge to make the candle holders really look like snow blew over them.

*A note on glassware – You can use any sort of glassware that you have on hand.  Mine are actually drinking glasses that I picked up at Target for about $3 for a set of 4.  I think mismatched glassware from a thrift store would be gorgeous.  Just remember that glass gets hot to the touch very quickly when it is heated.

3.  Quickly roll your Mod Podged glass in the Epson salt, making sure to coat all sides.

3.  Set aside and allow to dry.  Mine took about 15 minutes to dry, but it could be more or less depending upon the thickness of your Mod Podge.

4.  Place a tea light candle in the bottom of each glass.  I always remove the silver tin from around the tea light because I hate seeing that little tin.

5.  Light the candles and dream of snow.

Wouldn’t this be a fun project while the kiddos are out of school?

P.S. I’ll show you my whole dining room in a few days so that you can get the full effect…I just don’t want to give away my next project yet!

P.P.S. – I’m getting my craft on at Today’s Creative Blog!