Spray Painting Cabinets - Yes, You Can!

I'm getting sick of the builder's grade oak cabinets that populate my bathrooms and kitchens. I've seen a lot of pins and such about repainting them, and to be honest, it seems like quite a chore. Take off hardware. Remove doors. Tape. Sand. Prime. Flip. Prime. Flip. Paint. Flip. Paint. Flip. Paint. Flip. etc. WAY too many steps to mess up.
I know the issue is getting the paint to stick to the cabinets, since they aren't new wood. Then I thought about spray paint.  This Rustoleum Metallic that I've been digging on lately seems to stick to anything.
I decided to start with the sink cabinet in the powder room, because frankly, it's the smallest project, and if this didn't work, I didn't want a huge mess on my hands. The hardware in the bathroom is like a hammered black, so I was going to go for a flat black (as opposed to glossy), but then at Home Depot I saw this:

Who knew?

Paint AND primer. Hammered. That would look cool.
So I started taping and papering. In my opinion, the only downside to spray painting is overspray.  I can't really take my sink out onto the lawn to spray paint it there. So I got my roll of kraft paper out and my tape, and got to work. Powder rooms are tiny, which makes it a little tricky to tape and paper, especially with the toilet right there in the way. But I didn't want black paint all over the wallpaper or floor. I papered all the way into the hallway, and covered the toilet.  It looked like this

Ignore that piece of paper popping out from under the sink. I slipped the paper between the sink and the cabinet, and it popped out right before I took the picture.  Believe me, everything was safe and secure before I started spraying.  That little brown spot on the side? We had a cabinet lock on there from when Caveboy and Cavegirl were babies, and when I took it off, that's what we were left with. I sanded it down and hoped for the best.
Confession: I didn't sand anything else.  Even though the can said to sand.  I ignored it and went right to the spraying. I tested it on the inside of the cabinet, and when that looked all good, I continued on.
Even, light coats. I cannot stress this enough. Keep moving that can. Even if it looks like it's not all covered with the first coat. I made the mistake of spraying a little too much at once and got some drips. It was fixable - I used a foam brush to gently smooth out the drip, and let it dry. Once I didn't notice a drip until it was dry, so I used a sanding sponge to gently rub off the bump.  Once I covered these boo boos with another coat, it wasn't too noticeable.  But try to avoid if possible.

This is after one coat.  See how it looks uneven? Don't panic!
I did about three coats, letting them dry about 30-45 minutes in between each. I considered a clearcoat, but I didn't want it too shiny, and all I had was gloss clearcoat.
Another trick I learned is to wear a pair of cheap white socks while painting. Last project, I made the mistake of wearing flip flops, and wound up tracking paint dust all over the floor.  Here, I wore the socks while painting, then took them off before stepping off the kraft paper. When I went back in to do another coat, I put the socks back on.  They were black when I was done (I told you about that overspray!) so I just threw them out.
I even sprayed right over the handle. Didn't even take it out.
The only downside was that despite all of this papering, there was a dusting on the small part of the floor and baseboard I didn't paper.  Next time, paper everything! A little 409 and a rag took care of it. But it was another annoyance that could have been avoided.
The amount of overspray has me nervous about trying this in the kitchen, where there are way more cabinets to paint. I might try in the master bath. Here's the finished product:

Sweet!

Crafts for Kids: Cement Garden Stones

This is one of my kids' favorite crafts.  It's messy, they get to dump stuff in a big bucket, and they can be as creative as they want to be.

Don't be intimidated by the cement.  It's super easy.

You can buy a pre-packaged kit at AC Moore or Michael's, but personally, I like to just buy the cement (also from AC Moore or Michael's) and then use whatever we have lying around for decoration. The first time we did this I bought some plastic hexagon-shaped molds and letter stamps just for this purpose.  The molds also come in handy for stuff like play doh and moon sand (you know, keeping the mess contained) and the letter stamps can be used for play doh and clay creations, so you really can't go wrong.

I got a little bag of river rocks, plus Cavegirl picked out two bags of colored stones (she calls them "gems,") Plus a couple little rocks that had words like "Love" and "Trust" printed on them.

Caveboy mixing it up

Use a bucket to mix the concrete.  Be careful dumping the dry mix into the bucket because it tends to "cloud". Use exactly the amount of water it calls for.  It says to add more if needed, but I never need to.  If anything, the cement is a little TOO wet, but I usually don't notice that until it's in the mold. I mix and pour one at a time.  I only have one set of letters, so it works out better for that reason, too.



I put the mold on an old cookie sheet that we use just for crafts. Smooth it out with a wooden spoon, then lift the cookie sheet a little and kind of bang it down on the table a couple times.  This will help spread and smooth out the concrete.  If you get water pooling on top, use a paper towel to soak it up and re-bang. If it's too wet, it won't hold a handprint or the letters.

Cavegirl, creating.

If you want a handprint, do that first.  It might not turn out, and then you might have to smooth the cement over and start again. Depending on the age of your kid and the size of your mold, you might only be able to fit in one hand. Make sure it's in deep enough...impressions tend to shrink a little as they dry. If it's barely pressed in, you might not be able to see it at all once the cement has hardened.


Letters next. Arrange and space them the way you want before pressing any in.  Leave them in for a little while, so the impression sets.  If you pull the letter out and a pool of water forms at the bottom, put it back in for a little while.

Let the kids put in their stones, shells, sticks, whatever treasures and trinkets they want. Again, I suggest they "arrange" them all the way they want them, THEN push them all into the cement once they have them the way they want them. It's really tough to pick something out and smooth the cement over without having it look like you picked something out and tried to smooth the cement over. Push the stones and whatnot in so that they are about level with the cement. As the cement dries, they will push up a little, so you want them in deep enough that they won't be hanging out once the stone has hardened.

This one is a tad wet.  The green things at the top are the letter stamps. Don't pull them out until you don't see any water shining on the surface. Otherwise, the cement is too wet to hold the shape of the letters.

I let these puppies dry for at least a day. They will be hard to the touch in a few hours, but just to be safe......Then gently turn it over and pull the mold away.  It will want to stay in...you have to kind of break the suction.  Then stand back and marvel at your beautiful creations, and then find a spot in your garden or flowerbed where you can see these lovelies every day.

Sweet!

Tile Coasters and Clay Pots Coasters

I've seen several pins on Pinterest about how to easily make coasters with scrapbook paper and Mod Podge, and I decided to kick it up a notch.

The tile coaster method usually involves buying the cheapo 4 inch ceramic tile squares in basic white.  But while I was browsing the tile aisle at Lowe's I found some really cool porcelain tiles that had more of a tumbled stone look. Were they as cheap as the cheapos? No, but at 33 cents apiece I didn't really feel that it was an issue.  This was still going to be a super inexpensive project.  I bought four in a cocoa color and four in a lighter beige color.  Since most of my home is decorated in browns, it made more sense to me than stark white tiles, anyway. I also bought four 4 inch clay pot saucers at Michael's.

Scrapbook paper in the brown family is not exactly plentiful, but I did find two really cool patterns that I absolutely loved.  One was the words "live," "laugh," and "love" printed in various fonts against a beige background.  The other looked like letters and numbers in various sizes of printer's type - all brown shades. The other ones I had would have been ok, but these were the ones that seemed to "pop" the most when held up against the different types of tile.

Be sure to use wax paper!

I used my paper trimmer to trim four squares of each of the papers. I made the squares a little smaller than 4 x 4 so the paper didn't extend competely to the edge.  Once I decided which paper I wanted on which colored stone, I brushed a layer of Mod Podge on each tile and centered the paper on top, making sure not to have any bubbles.  Once it had set, I covered the top and sides with two coats of Mod Podge, letting it dry in between coats for about an hour.do this on wax paper in case it drips down.  If it does, you can pretty much just pick off the excess.  If it leaves a bump, a little sanding block action should take care of that.

Make sure it's dry before flipping!

 Moving on to the saucers.  First, I painted the tops and bottoms with two THIN coats of Rustoleum Metallic spray paint in Oil Rubbed Bronze. Be sure to let the paint dry adequately in between.  Don't be impatient, especially once you flip over to do the other side.  If you rush it, you'll be sorry, in the form of messed up edges.

Meanwhile, get out your circle cutter.  Or, if you're like me and don't have one, find a glass or some other round object that is close to the size of the inner circle of the saucer.  Use that cup to cut out four circles of your choice of scrapbook paper. Use the same Mod Podge technique described above. This time make sure to coat the inside of the saucers as well.  You want the whole thing waterproof. Two coats again, being sure to let it dry completely in between coats. Then a coat of clearcoat, just cause.
 
Last step.  You need something on the bottom to keep the stones and saucers from roughing up your tables.  I used little felt circles that you put on chair legs. They're a little thicker than I would like, but it's what I had. I cut them in quarters and put one in each corner. You could also use felt or cork. Thin cork sheets would probably work best.  But I'm happy with these.  I think they look really unique and I'm so glad I didn't go with the cheapo white ceramic tiles.

Lamp Base Update: Metallic Oil Rubbed Bronze!

Since I'm off for the summer, I usually make a huge list of various organizational/home improvement projects that I want to tackle while I have the time.  The reality is, there is simply no time to dive into them during the school year. As soon as July hits, I feel the pressure start: the summer is slipping away and I'm stressing out about getting all of my projects done. The irony is that these projects are supposed to be RELAXING.

Taped up good

Today's project was revamping the hideous silver lamp bases that had been sitting in my master bedroom for six years. Actually, the lamp bases weren't hideous.  They were just, well, SILVER. I'm not sure why I purchased them in the first place, since all of the metal in the room is more of an aged bronzey color. They were perfectly good lamps, so I seriously couldn't justify just throwing them out. 

Then I went downstairs and saw my new bestie, Rustoleum American Accents Metallic Oil Rubbed Bronze.  I had just finished a clay saucer coaster project with this that I LOVED.  Why not try it on the lamps and see what happens? After all, it says it's for metal, among other things, so I shouldn't even have to prime anything.

After one THIN coat

First, I removed the bulbs and lampshades, then placed the lamps on  brown paper bag. I taped down the cords so I wouldn't paint them. Then I taped off the little metal part where you screw in the bulb. The key here is thin coats. It can get tricky because the lamp base has a lot of curvy parts. I held another paper bag behind the lamp bases when spraying them horizontally. This is after one coat.  Mostly covered, but not exactly evenly.

 Let dry 30 minutes. Then another 2 thin coats, followed 2 thin clear coats. I let all that dry a couple of hours before putting the light bulbs and shades back on.

Oooh pretty!

Can I just say that this rustoleum Metallic comes in about seven different shades and later this summer I am going to tackle repainting my door hinges and door knobs, and maybe even my faucets! So pretty, and so much better than plain old silver or brass.