Fish Stamp Painting {DIY}

November 20, 2013 by Picklee: Jordan

Living on the coast, I’m constantly inspired by unique beach art. Of course it’s mostly art I could never afford, but that’s why its called inspiration A few months ago, I came across this amazing piece of art at a local shop, it was a gorgeous painting of a fish. When I inquired, it turned out that the artist actually took a (dead, eeek!) fish, dipped it in paint and then stamped it on a canvas. Now this had me thinking…I had to try to recreate this myself! First, let me preface by saying I am not an artist by any sense of the word, I can just barely draw a decent stick figure on a good day. This is why a “stamp” painting appealed to me, it seemed perfect! Except for one part, the real fish…I just could not bring myself to use a real fish. So for weeks I searched and searched for the perfect rubber fish to use on my painting. I finally found it when I turned into a fish store on a whim one day. The awesome staff just so happened to have a rubber fish sitting on their register that they graciously offered up to me when I told them about my project, it was perfect! I went home and started on my fish stamp art right away and it turned out better than I could have imagined, here’s my Fish Stamp Painting DIY…

Fish Stamp Painting {DIY}

Gather up:

one rubber fish, try ordering one online (or a real fish if your up for a challenge!)

a sheet of poster board (I chose black and blue paper for my prints)

paint (use a contrasting color to the poster board, I used white paint)

a small paint brush (for touching up spots and applying paint to the fish)

Method:

Set up the poster board and prepare your fish for it’s task. This can get messy, so lay down paper to protect any surfaces.

Using a paint brush, apply a generouso layer of paint to one side of the fish. Make sure to fill in all of the spots you want to appear on your print.

Flip the fish over and lay it down on the poster board. Be careful not to drag it, this will smug the paint.

Carefully pick the fish up off the paper. Use your paint brush to touch up any spots that did not stick. You’ll have to use the best of your artistic ability here ( I really had to dig deep for this one!) Let the fish dry for a bit, then use two colors of paint (I chose black and yellow) to paint on the fish’s eye. This is just two circles, that’s art I can handle.

Allow your fish to dry, then sit back and marvel at your work of art! I ended up with three prints, two single fish prints on black, and one double fish print on blue. These prints now hang proudly on either side of my fireplace

How many pickles would you give this post?

Rating: 3.6/5 (17 votes cast)

5 Mintute Spring Wreath [DIY Tutorial]

May 2, 2013 by Picklee: Jordan

I was whirling around my house last weekend trying to tackle some much needed Spring cleaning when I opened up my (rarely used) front door only to find I STILL hadn’t taken down my red rosewood Christmas wreath! AHHH! I felt like one of those people that leave their Christmas lights on in July…not a good look…as I pulled down my Christmas wreath, I remembered that I’d bought a garland of “greens” on my last trip to the Hobby Lobby (love that place!). I had an old branch wreath frame laying around too, so I quickly threw together this simple, yet beautiful Spring wreath! When I say quickly, I mean record timing…this entire Spring wreath took me no more than 5 minutes to make!

[5 Minute] DIY Spring Wreath

Gather up:

one medium wreath frame (the twisted branch wreaths are only $1 at the Dollar Tree =) )

one 6′ garland of greens (I purchased mine from the Hobby Lobby, on sale for $7.50)

at least nine round white coffee filters

twist ties

diy-spring-wreath-greens5

First things first, we’ll make the faux hydrangeas for our Spring wreath. Last Spring, we made en entire wreath using coffee filter hydgrangeas. The coffee filter flowers are super easy to make!

First, flatten out three coffee filters, layered on top of each other.

Next, fold them all together in an acordian-like method…

Cinch the middle of the filters with a twist tie…

Starting with the inside pedals, pull up the sides of the coffee filters…

Your flower should now look something like this… I made three of these for my wreath, but you can make as many as you prefer!

Now the your faux flowers are done, set them aside while we move onto adding the greens to the wreath. Simply wrap your garland of greens around the wreath frame. Secure it to the wreath by wedging pieces of the garland between the wreath branches every few inches.

The last step is adding the coffee filter flowers to your wreath! You should have pieces of twist ties stemming from the inside of each flower, simply secure the flowers to the wreath by wrapping the twist ties around the wreath’s branches…

That’s it! Your 5 Minute DIY Spring Wreath is complete!

How many pickles would you give this post?

Rating: 5.0/5 (2 votes cast)

Old Painted Books for the Valentine’s Mantle Display [DIY]

February 13, 2013 by Picklee: Jordan

To warm up the house a bit for Valentine’s Day, I made these great faux antique glass candle holders to put on my fireplace mantle…but I knew I wanted to add a little more to the vignette. I don’t like to go all out with pink and red Valentine’s decor scattered around the house (I’m really just not into the color pink), but I figured one little splash of it wouldn’t hurt! I completely obsessed with elephants, and I got these amazing white lacquer elephant bookends as a gift recently…I knew I wanted to display them on my mantel, but I wanted to use books that had a nice, clean look. I had nothing of that sort in my house…so I decided to create it! I used basic, old books and simply painted the spines! I love the way my old painted books turned out!

Creating this romantic Valentine’s mantle display was literally the easiest project ever…

Old Painted Books DIY

I started out with three vintage books that I didn’t mind painting, a little coral pink acrylic paint, and a number stamp

Next, I used a small paint brush to brush the paint onto just the spine of the books…

To tie the books together, and add a little extra detail, I decided to use a stamp to number each book, 1, 2 & 3…Once the coral pink paint dried, I applied a light coat of white mixed with silver paint to the stamp and stamped each book…

Here’s the books stamped with their numbers….

That’s it! Here’s how the books now look on my romantic Valentine’s mantle!

Have a wonderful Valentine’s Day!

How many pickles would you give this post?

Rating: 2.8/5 (9 votes cast)

DIY Engraved Wood Signs [Tutorial]

February 7, 2013 by Picklee: Jordan

I’m not usually big into art and signs with quotes and sayings…but I can appreciate a cute little saying every now and then. I’m especially a sucker for beachy [I wish spell check would stop telling me "beachy" is not a word...it is in my vocabulary!] quotes & sayings. I always have lots of scrap wood laying around that I like to find uses for, so the other day I decided to turn one of them into an engraved sign! Of course I chose one of my favorite quotes to put on it…anyone who lives near the coast can relate this
How to make an engraved wood sign [tutorial]

All you’ll need for this project is a piece of wood to engrave, two paint colors, and a printer!

Select a piece of wood to engrave and apply a base coat of paint to it. I always have scrap wood laying around, my piece of wood actually came from an old table I took apart! I chose to paint my sign in CeCe Caldwell’s Nantucket Spray to give it a beachy feel.

**For best results, I recommend using chalk paint because it will sand off and give the cleanest finish in the end.

Next, decide what your sign will say! Again, I went with the beachy vibe, so mine said “Sandy toes, salty kisses”. Print your message in whatever font you’d like your sign to be in. Cut it out and arrange it on your sign.

Next, using a ball point pen (preferably one you wouldn’t mind ruining!), trace the text onto the wood. Press hard as you go, the key here is for the pen to engrave into the wood!

After you’ve finished tracing the letters, your sign should look a little something like this!

Next, use your second paint color and a tiny paint brush to paint over the engraved text. I chose CeCe Caldwell’s Cinco Bayou Moss, the gold was a great contrast on the pale Nantucket Spray

After you’ve painted on the text and it’s dried, take a super fine grit sand paper and rub lightly over the text. You will see the paint on the outside of the letters sand off, while the engraved portion of the text remains! You can touch up any areas that rubbed off too much, if you need to. This will also give your sign a nice, weathered effect!

Here’s how the finished product should look!

Now all I need is a sandy beach to dig my toes into…ah well, summer will be here soon enough!

How many pickles would you give this post?

Rating: 3.9/5 (13 votes cast)

The Willy Wonka Chair Transformation [before & after]

January 3, 2013 by Picklee: Jordan

I absolutely love antique chair transformations. Each and every transformation is beautiful and unique in it’s own way, but the feeling of sheer bliss it gives me to marvel at the finished product never changes. Finding the perfect chair to transform feels like winning the lottery to me…my heart begins to race and I feel dizzy with excitement (you might think I was talking about something else entirely ) That was the case when I discovered this wonderful antique Louis XV Rococo chair at a flea market a few months back. It sat there in the flea market booth, it’s fabric torn to shreds and it’s stuffing ripped apart, the wood frame covered with dings and chips…an eye sore on it’s best day, but I could picture how this chair once looked in it’s glory and I felt compelled to bring it back.

You should know that unfortunately, I lost a camera full of images so I don’t have the exact “before” picture of the chair. I did however find a similar photo of a Louis XV Rococo chair (in much better condition), just to give an idea of how this chair started out…

The fabric on my chair had a similar pattern, but it was no longer in tact, which made the task of ripping off the old fabric much easier than usual =)

As always, I saved the old fabric pieces to use as templates for cutting out the new fabric. It took me a while to decide on a look for this chair…The antique Louis XV chairs were made to make a bold statement, so I knew I wanted to carry on that look. I decided to brighten up the chair’s frame using CeCe Caldwell’s chalk + clay paint in Vintage White. After two coats of paint, I used a damp cloth to lightly distress the edges giving the chair a more “aged” look. Next, I applied a coat of CeCe Caldwell’s clear wax for protection. For the upholstery,I decided to use an eggplant colored brushed chenille fabric. Chenille is one of the tougher fabrics to work with when upholstering because it’s less pliable, but the look is absolutely stunning. After I finished upholstering the chair, I added silver nail head trim to give the chair a chic twist.

We now refer to this bold beauty as “The Willy Wonka Chair” because of it’s signature eggplant color =)

You can find the Willy Wonka Chair available for purchase at Pickee on Spring and also in our Etsy shop!

How many pickles would you give this post?

Rating: 5.0/5 (12 votes cast)

The Farmhouse Chic Cow Print Stool [before & after]

December 5, 2012 by Picklee: Jordan

I’m usually pretty conservative about using crazy prints and fabrics on my furniture revivals. Don’t get me wrong, I love a vibrant, poppy print, but I usually like to maintain a classic look with more subdued colors. This is the reason I get super excited when I have a small scale piece to work with, like a little chair or a stool. I’m always more daring when it comes to fun prints on smaller pieces. I came across the perfect opportunity to do this when I picked up this great antique foot stool at an estate sale a few weeks back. It was in rough shape, but I loved it’s classic look and intricate detail. Here’s how the stool looked when I found it:

Not really much to look at, but check out the great detail on this little piece! Quality, character & detail are the three main things I look for when I’m searching for pieces to revive and this definitely fit the bill.

I decided to give this dated antique stool a chic farmhouse twist, so I chose to upholster it in a super-plush cow print fabric! After removing the old fabric, I painted the stool in CeCe Caldwell’s Vintage White, then added new foam to the seat and finally finished with my funky cow print fabric! I love the way this cozy little stool turned out!

What do you think of this bold farmhouse stool? Is this plush cow print fabric is too much or just right? Share your thoughts and rate below!

This stool is available for purchase at Picklee on Spring!

How many pickles would you give this post?

Rating: 4.5/5 (19 votes cast)

Restoration Hardware Inspired Art Deco Desk [before & after]

November 5, 2012 by Picklee: Jordan

It’s been a bit since I’ve shared one of my own before & after furniture transformations…ironically, I seems that I’ve been working on nothing but furniture lately, I’ve just been so busy with it that I haven’t found the time to share with you all! I’m breaking the steak today with an awesome mid century, art deco desk that I revived using a mixture of CeCe Caldwell’s Vermont Slate, Antique White, and gold metallic. I formulated this mixture with inspirations from Restoration Hardware on my mind.

The beautiful curves and mid-century design of this desk were absolutely ideal for the industrial modern transformation I had in mind. Here’s a before photo: (you’ll have to forgive me here, I recently lost a camera full of images so this isn’t the actual before, but it’s very close look-a-like!)…

After a coat of CeCe Caldwell (my favorite all natural chalk + clay paint!) in Vermont slate and a wash of Antique White & Gold, here’s how my Restoration Hardware inspired mid-century desk turned out:

My first step in the revival process was to remove the hardware and give the desk a thorough cleaning. I wans’t going to use the original hardware, but after giving it a good cleaning, I loved the gold patina that came through.

Next, I gave the desk a good solid coat of Vermont Slate chalk + clay paint.

After that dried, I mixed up a wash of Antique White, water, and just a bit of gold metallic. I lightly covered the entire piece in the wash. Last, I used a damp rag to ever-so-slightly distress the desk. This is just one of the beautiful things about chalk + clay paint, you can distress with simply water (rather than tirelessly scratching away with sand paper). Once I got the desk where I wanted it, I gave it a good coat of CeCe Caldwell’s clear wax to finish it off.

This now industrial modern desk turned out exactely how I’d wanted, I couldn’t be more pleased with it! Check out the great industrial desk chair and revived vintage fan too (look for their before & after’s, coming soon!)

Stay tuned! This desk and many more fabulous pieces will available to purchase soon!

How many pickles would you give this post?

Rating: 4.3/5 (15 votes cast)

Rustic Wood & Iron Table [DIY]

October 10, 2012 by Picklee: Jordan

After finally completing our finished basement, Brett and I (let’s face it, mostly “I” ) were left with the task of furnishing it… To me, this was the fun part, the moment I had been waiting for! We had already decided that the basement would be Brett’s space, a “man cave” if you will, minus the flashing Budweiser signs and football branded memorabilia…I’m sorry, I just can’t! So we found a style we both agreed on- coastal/ rustic (hence the comfy nautical striped built in seating area we created).

As we began filling up the space, one piece we were in need of was a sofa table. There was no way I was going out to buy one…we’d spent enough money on this basement already! So since we were going with the whole coastal-rustic vibe, I decided to hit up a nearby marina/ beach for some inspiration. I came across a huge pile of salvage dock pieces, coincidentally the same length as the sofa table we needed …I convinced Brett to help me load it into the car (despite how ridiculous we looked to onlookers!) I had a clear vision for my DIY rustic sofa table…I wanted it made from this simple salvage beach wood, and black iron legs, sort of like this rustic farm table from Restoration Hardware:

Using lots of inspiration, I created my own rustic wood & metal table for a fraction of what it would cost to buy one! Here’s how the finished product turned out…

Rustic Wood & Iron Table [DIY]

The first step I took in creating the rustic sofa table was to measure the exact height that I wanted it to be. I took my measurements to Home Depot, where I found this fabulous threaded black iron pipe (1″ diameter). The wonderful thing about good ol’ HD is that they’ll cut just about anything for you! So I grabbed 4 pieces of black iron pipe, then brought them over to be cut and re-threaded (such a cool process if you’ve never seen it before!). Once the pipes were cut, I grabbed 4 flanges to mount to the wood (which I would screw the pipes into), along with 4 black iron end caps (these would be the feet on my table).

Here’s a better image of the piece of salvage dock I picked up

Once I got my table parts home, I flipped the table top over then measured and marked where I wanted the legs to go. This was the spot I would attach the flanges to.

l’m getting much better with the power tools!

Next, I simple screwed my pre-cut pieces of black iron pipe into the flanges underneath the table…this is too simple!

For the last step, I simply threaded the iron end caps onto the bottoms of the pipe so they would be the feet for my table….

…and that’ it! I was really surprised at home simple this table turned out to be, and it looks truly amazing! I think I’ll leave the table top raw for now, then maybe I’ll apply a coat of poly later…

How many pickles would you give this post?

Rating: 4.5/5 (62 votes cast)

Simple Curtain Panel Pillows {diy}

October 1, 2012 by Picklee: Jordan

Brett and I recently completed our finished basement (wheew, it thought I’d never see this day!) Remember when we were just finishing up the floor a few months ago, and I created this vintage cage light? I love the rustic look the light added =) Anyway, one of the challenges with the finished space was a built in bench that we created to cover up some plumbing pipes, simple solution right? Well, my concern was that I wanted the built in bench to feel like a cozy, comfortable part of the space. I decided to cozy up the built-in with lots and lots of fluffy pillows. We all know how pricey good pillows can be, so purchasing lots of them was not in my budget at this point. I was at a local flea market one morning when I found a gorgeous stripped curtain panel loose from it’s package for only $2 (a common occurrence at the flea’s!). I loved the pattern for the newly finished basement space, so I decided to buy it and turn it into pillows for the built in bench! Here’s how my simple curtain panel pillows turned out….

Curtain Panel Pillow {DIY}

Select an inexpensive curtain panel from (I found a single loose panel at a local flea market). I chose a stripped pattern with buttons at the top. Buttons at the top of the panel may make a great embellishment on your pillows.

Cut the panel in half directly down the center, this way you are working with two equal sections. Depending on how large you want your pillows, cut the halves in half again (or into quarters if you are working with a large panel). The object is to make sure that you are working with equal pieces so the pillows are symmetrical (especially if you are using stripes of a pattern like mine).

Now that your pieces are cut, lay two equal pieces of the panel together with the “good” side of the fabric facing in.

Using a sewing machine (**or no-sew fabric tape if you don’t have a sewing machine), stitch together three and one half sides of the pillow. All three sides should be fully stitched together, the fourth side should be stitched half way so that you can stuff the pillow, then stitch back up!

Flip the pillow right-side-out now. Use pillow stuffing (I used poly-fill) to fill the pillow.

Now that the pillow is stuffed, fold in the remaining open section of the pillow. Use your sewing machine (or double sided fabric tape) to stitch up this final open section.

Your curtain panel pillow is complete! Notice I left the buttons from my curtain panel on the top of some of my pillows, I thought it made a great touch!

How many pickles would you give this post?

Rating: 4.9/5 (8 votes cast)

Up-cycled Nylon Pumpkins [DIY]

September 17, 2012 by Picklee: Jordan

I just started to dig into my Fall decor…don’t you just love this time of year? I can never get enough of the crisp air, warm apple cider, pumpkin pie, the list goes on! So as I was going through last year’s Fall decor, I figured it might be fun to make something different and up-cycled this year. The question was, what could I create for Fall using materials that I already had at home? My mind went straight to pumpkins…and the material? Nylon Stockings. The end result were these (super fun to make) funky little Nylon Pumpkins!

Up-Cycled Nylon Pumpkins [DIY]

Gather up a spool of thread and a couple pairs of old nylon stockings, various colors work great (I used tan and purple).

Cut the nylon into pieces, each approx. 6″ in length.

Leaving one end sticking up, pull up the opposite end,creating somewhat of a cup. Think of it as an upside-down mushroom.

Using pillow stuffing (or really any type of filling), stuff around the inside of the cup you created with the nylon stocking. Be sure to keep the end you pulled through sticking up.

Using your thread, tie up the top of the filling stocking. Leave approx. 1/4-1/2″, this will become the pumpkins stem!

Next, spin the thread up and around the stem of the pumpkin, just to get the top into that stem like shape. Then bring the thread back down the stem and wrap it once around the body of the pumpkin. Spin the thread around the stem again, then wrap it around the body of the pumpkin again in a different spot. Continue wrapping the thread around the body of the pumpkin a few more times (pulling tight) so that you create the groves in the pumpkin.

Once you’ve finished wrapping the thread around the pumpkin, tie up the thread back around the stem.

At the point, you can finish off the stem however you would like. One option is coloring the stem in with brown marker to give it a natural look….

Or, you could wrap and glue a piece of bright colored ribbon around it…

This tuned out to be such a fun project, and I’m more than pleased with the way my nylon pumpkins turned out!

How many pickles would you give this post?

Rating: 4.3/5 (14 votes cast)