Archive for the Category »Kitchen «

Faux Bois Painted Tumblers

20
Aug 2012

I’m kind of fickle when it come to my decorating – and that’s definitely true in my kitchen too! I’ve been about ready to change out my dinnerware and glasses for quite a while. I’m ready for something a little more fun!
The generous folks at DecoArt sent me some amazing glass painting goodies and I knew they’d be perfect for creating some new, fun, funky new glassware!

I’ve been in love with the faux bois style for a while now (that fun “wood-grain” look) – so I was really excited to try out the DecoArt Glass Paint enamels!

Aren’t they fun?

Here’s the batch of goodies that DecoArt sent me – I was so blown away!

In their Glass Paint line they have all sorts of paints – transparent glass stain, crystal, glitter, frost and the 3D opaque paints that I used! They also have some really cute stencils and great brushes too!
(You can find all of these at Michael’s – they have a whole new glass painting section!)

So I started with some inexpensive glasses I picked up from Wal-Mart – but this technique would really work on any type of glass. It’d be super cute on a vase too!

Start by taping off the top and bottom of the glasses with a bit of tape. For these tumblers I didn’t want the tape too big, so I used washi tape. (plus it’s cute.) :)

Start by brushing on a light coat of the Gold Opaque paint.

I used several light coats – I wanted to keep it as smooth as possible.
Keep covering the glass until the paint is as dark as you’d like.

Once you have your base coat on, start painting on your wood grain lines. I used the white opaque paint.

Use a fine paintbrush and paint on the design. This will probably take a couple of coats as well, so the white shows up against the gold.

Work all the way around the glass with the wood grain design.

Repeat for as many other glasses as you’re doing -

Once the glasses are painted, and have cured (this paint takes 4 days) then you can remove your tape.
I tried to be really good with my tape, but I did have a couple of spots that the paint seeped through. oops.

I used the dull side of my exacto knife to scrape the paint off  -

There. All better. ;)

Once you’re all finished cleaning up, you can bake your glassware to make it washable. The instructions are right on the bottle –  you just put the glasses in a non-preheated oven and bake for 30 minutes at 325 degrees. Then you leave the oven door open while everything cools down.

And then your glasses are all pretty and cooked and ready to go!

Aren’t they fun? And funky?

I can’t wait to start creating some other fun pieces to go with them!

I hope you like them!

You can check out DecoArt for more ideas, product info, videos and lots more!

Disclosure: I wrote this post as part of a paid campaign with DecoArt. The opinions in this post are my own. :)

Linking up at Sunday Scoop, Today’s Creative Blog, Met Monday, Skip to my Lou, Tutorials & Tips Tuesday, Shabby Creek Cottage, My Repurposed Life and the other fabulous parties on the party page – make sure you check them out!

Category: Home Decor, Kitchen  Tags: ,  25 Comments

Sketchy Retro Bicycle Dishtowel

18
Jul 2012

I am so loving this Christmas in July series we’re doing! I hope you are too!

One of my favorite things to give as gifts are cute, unique dishtowels. They make great hostess and teacher gifts – and they’re perfect for friends too – they’re something we don’t often think to buy for ourselves.

I think this cute little sketchy dishtowel may be my favorite yet!

Ack! Isn’t it just so sweet?

What is there about super cute little bicycles with flower baskets? I want one – not to actually ride you understand – but just to have. And look at. And maybe take pictures of.

This little dishtowel was inspired by an Anthro towel  – they have this cute new set of “sketched” dishtowels – with a bicycle and a scooter and rickshaw. They’re all darling.

I left off the squirrel. I wasn’t sure I could do a sketchy animal and have it not look like a little alien or something.
If you’re feeling brave, by all means add him in. ;)

Ready to get started?

You’ll need:

  • fabric for dishtowel (mine is 21 x 28) or purchased dishtowel
  • fabric for ruffle – 2 1/2″ x 42″
  • thread in various colors
  • embroidery thread
  • cut away Pellon embroidery stabilizer
  • optional: embroidery hoop
  • Pattern (click here to open PDF pattern)
  • Regular sewing machine – I didn’t use an embroidery machine for this – though you could if you want.

Start by tracing your design onto your fabric using a wash away marking pen. Sunny windows work great for this.

Cut a piece of stabilizer a little larger than your design - baste it onto the back side of the dishtowel

For all of my ”sketching” I used a free motion foot and had the feed dogs down. You can also do this without a presser foot on – like this tutorial. It’s just a little easier with the free motion foot.
Having the feed dogs down allows you to move the fabric wherever you need to. You are controlling the stitch length also.

I hadn’t done this before with thread sketching, but I recommend putting your fabric in an embroidery hoop. You can do it without, but once I put it in the hoop I found that the fabric was more stable and easier to control. When you put it in the hoop, you’ll be putting it “backwards” so that the fabric will sit flat on the machine. The inner hoop will be on the top and the outer hoop will be under your fabric.

Start by stitching in your tires. You’ll want to do short little stitches in the middle first.

Once the middles of the tires are filled in, outline the spokes and rims  – go over these areas twice to make them a little darker.
Go over the pedal and the handlebars with your black thread as well.

Now start filling in the body. Try to make your stitches go the direction of the piece you’re filling in. For example, for the bar from the seat to the pedal, the stitches should go up and down. For the piece from the back tire to the pedal, the stitches should be horizontal. That will help separate the different sections.

Now fill in your seat and basket. I used a darkish gray. You can also do your green stems – these were quick, just little lines up and down.

Take your fabric out of the hoop. If you’re not working with a purchased dishtowel, hem the two sides and the top of the rectangle.
I also recommend not doing this when you’re so tired that you hem the whole thing to the front – not the back. And then stare at a bit to see if you can get away with it and call it a new style.
Which it is not.

Cut your ruffle piece on the bias (45 degree angle from the selvage) so you won’t have a lot of fraying. Hem the two short sides and gather the top.

Sew the gathered edge to the bottom of the dishtowel, right sides together, with a 1/2″ seam allowance. Zig zag along the edges to prevent fraying.

Press the ruffle down and topstitch it in place on the right side, about 1/3″ above the seam.

Last up we’re going to embroider our final details!

Add little french knots in between the spokes on both tires. You can check out the Embroidery Tips page if you need help with French Knots.

Use french knots for all your little flowers too -

Use embroidery thread to sew a running stitch just above your top stitching at the bottom.

And that’s it!!

I think the little embroidery touches really finish it off!

Wouldn’t this be a fun gift??

Make sure you head over to see what Kara made this week at Mine for the Making!

Stop by and visit everyone for lots of inspiration!

The Answer is Chocolate
The Scrap Shoppe
My CreativiT

Category: Kitchen  Tags: , , ,  30 Comments

“Let’s Eat” Potholder

28
May 2012

So we’ve discussed my resolve to have cute dishtowels. And my philosophy to use them on a daily basis and throw caution and dirty fingerprints to the wind.

Apparently this brave attitude is spreading to my other kitchen related items – namely potholders.

Why should I use a plain boring potholder when I can use something cute and fun? Something that makes me want to bake cookies. And eat cookies.
Cause I need more of an excuse there.

Anyway – here is the last installment in my cute kitchen series using the Verona line from Riley Blake - it’s the “Let’s Eat” Potholder!

If you haven’t checked out the Ruffles & Buttons Apron, click here and the coordinating dishtowel tutorial is here!

Here’s what you’ll need for the Potholder:

Fabric for appliqués and front and back pieces
Fabric for binding – you’ll need a piece 7 1/2″ x 3″ and 40″ x 3″
Moonstitch Ribbon for trim
Wonder Under fusible webbing
Lightweight Batting
InsulFleece
Pattern Pieces

Begin by cutting out all your pattern pieces. Start with your silverware pieces. Iron your fabric onto Wonder Under then cut them out. Peel off the paper backing and iron them onto your front Potholder piece.
Sew around them with a tiny zig zag stitch.

Layer together your front potholder pieces. You’ll need the back potholder piece, a piece of thin batting, the InsulFleece, another piece of thin batting, and then the top layer of the front potholder. The fabric pieces should be right sides out.

Pin together all your layers. Sew around each of the applique pieces with a straight stitch. Sew together all the layers 1/4″ from the edges.
Trim off and even up the edges.

 

Fold your smaller binding piece in half long ways and press. Line up the raw edges of the binding with the back side of the front potholder piece.
Sew the binding to the back of the potholder front piece with a 1/2″ seam.

Fold the binding over the top of the potholder piece to the front. Cut a length of moonstitch ribbon the width of the potholder front – 7 1/2″.
Tuck the ribbon under the fold of the binding so half of it is peeking out. Sew the binding down just inside the folded edge, sewing down the ribbon at the same time.

 

Layer together your back potholder pieces just like you did the front. Quilt the pieces together – you can do this any way you like. I followed the lines of the front fabric and quilted the pieces along the rows.
Sew around the edges with a 1/4″ seam and trim the edges.

Fold your long binding piece in half and press. Place your two potholder pieces together and pin. Pin it to the back side of your back potholder piece, like you did the top binding.
Sew the binding on with a 1/2″ seam – but leave the bottom section open. Make sure you have extra binding on both sides.

Mark the point where the binding would meet in the center. Open up the binding and sew the pieces together right sides together.
Press the seam open and fold the binding back in half. Sew the binding around to the front, just inside the folded edge of the binding.

That finishes it off!

It makes such a cute set with the little Dishtowel!

I hope you enjoyed the series – I’d love to see if you make any of them!

What do you think?

Linking up awesomeness at Sunday Scoop, Today’s Creative Blog, Met Monday, Skip to my Lou, Quilt Story, Tutorials & Tips Tuesday, Shabby Creek Cottage, and the other fabulous parties on the party page – make sure you check them out!

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Just a quick note: If you’ve been considering Ad Networks for your blog, you should check out the ad series over at byAimee.com! I am over there sharing about the ad network I use – Rivit Media. Come on over and check it out!

Category: Kitchen, Sewing  Tags:  16 Comments
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