Thrift Shop Find, Updated

Remember how I am a terrible painter? If you missed my last attempt at painting, here are the links Part 1 and Part 2. You should look at them if only to laugh at how bad of a painter I am. The thing that is ridiculous is not that I'm a bad painter because painting is hard, but that I keep trying when I know I'm not good. I've just always loved painting, so it's hard to give up the dream that I could be good too. There is always the hope that next time I'll be better.

So I tried again and my latest attempt was less of a 'major fail' and more of a 'eh' (which is how a lot of my DIY/craft projects turn out).

A few months ago I showed you guys this painting I found at a thrift shop (more about it here):

It was only $2.99! And it's pretty big at about 14" tall and 18" wide. I love a good deal and I also like things that are just slightly ugly. This scene, while quaint, isn't the best painting ever or anything. But when I saw it I really liked the frame and what the scene evoked. I also liked it because I've been wanting to do a 're-painting' project. I've seen a lot of projects lately that take old thrift shop paintings and update them by painting over or accenting the original (examples here, here, and here).

So I did it!

And it looks... eh. It's just so... 'eh'. Why do I keep attempting painting projects??? That is a question that I just can't answer, but swearing off of painting has done me no good in the past so I highly doubt it will make a difference now.

Not sure what I'll do with this painting. For the last few months it's been on my dresser leaning against my Scratch Map so it will probably remain there.

Have you attempted any re-painting projects? I'm a huge fan of them, but apparently they aren't quite as easy as they look.

DIYable Thrift Shop Find #4032

I'm still chugging away on my thrift shops articles (all available to read here) which means I'm still trying hard to not spend money every weekend. 

Thankfully, this last time I only spend $2.99 on this framed art. It looks small here but it's actually about 18" wide and 12" tall. I really like the frame even though it is a little beat up. And let's be honest, this is not the best painting ever painted but it's a sweet little scene.

Right now this painting is just leaning against my bedroom wall but I have a few ideas about how to spruce this guy up.

Idea #1:

via Under the Sycamore

Paint over the existing painting with new colors. I saw this on Pinterest awhile back and thought it was such a creative idea. It's basically a play on paint with numbers. It's unique and cheap and could potentially be easy. Although, let's be honest a lot of these types of projects look easy and I over-confidently think I can do it but then I get into the project and... it's a mess. But I'm just crazy enough to keep trying projects like this.

OR

Idea #2:

via A Beautiful Mess

I actually reference this idea in my last attempt at DIY art (here and here). I like this project because it is extremely simple. Stick letters on canvas, paint over letters, dry, peel, and done! I'm not sure what I could write on such a small canvas though...

What would you do? I'm leaning toward Idea #1 but I'll see what my mood is when I decide to start this project. For now, it will just be a weird little painting in my room.

Thrift Shop Find: A Globe (with a surprise)

I've been doing this thrift shops series for twentysomethingindy.com which means once a month for the past few months I've been spending hours driving around trying out thrift shops for research. Best research ever! But also worst research ever because it's so tempting to buy stuff. So far I've written pieces on thrift shops on the east side, north side, and the downtown. Of those three research trips I spent $16, $30, and $15. Not terrible, but it's still money spent every month. A run down of what I bought here, here, and here respectively.

This past weekend I was out on the west side researching and I came across a globe. Globes are crazy trendy and since they are easy to find and generally affordable they are a great trend to jump on. So I was not surprised that I found a globe since they are everywhere but what was surprising was how cheap it was at $12.50. The globe in my entry was about that same price when I got it about a year ago, but lately I've been seeing them listed for $20 and up so I was pleasantly surprised to see one that cheap. But I still probably wouldn't have bought it if it weren't for this:

Shut. Up. It's a light up globe. I nearly squealed when (after asking the store manager where an outlet was) I plugged it in and it worked! For $12.50! Seriously, you can't buy a lamp for under $40 let alone an amazingly life changing globe lamp. Love.

For locals I found this at Trader Baker's Vendor Mall in Avon (or you can wait until my west side thrift shops article is published for more info!). Seriously, though, how amazing is this light up globe?! Have you ever seen one like this? If this had been at a cooler store they could have easily charged $50 for it. 

Tip of the day: The further you drive away from any downtown area the cheaper the thrift-able goods get.

Ottoman Makeover: Part 2

My painted fabric ottoman is finished!

For a refresher, I bought the ottoman here for $25 and then in Part 1 of this makeover I re-attached the lining and re-stained the legs here. For part 2, I opted to paint the fabric.

It's hard to capture the difference, but in person this ottoman went from a dingy and faded blue to a super-saturated bold blue (it isn't as purple as it looks above). 

When I first saw this ottoman hiding in a dingy corner of a thrift shop I knew it had major potential but I sat on it for a few weeks because I was unsure of how to make it over. I considered re-upholstering it but then a friend suggested I paint it. Which reminded me that a year ago I pinned a fabric painting tutorial (here), but I hadn't thought much about it since. Then I saw that it was time for the Spring Pinterest Challenge and I knew it was the perfect time to just go for it!

via YHL

Here are the materials and the steps I took to paint my fabric ottoman:

Materials:
1 Quart Latex Satin Paint
1 Spray Bottle for Water
2"-3" Paint Brush
Fabric Medium (I used 4 - 2 oz bottles)

1) Prepare the paint mixture. I found different 'recipes' online but the one I chose to use was:

1 part fabric medium + 1 part latex paint + 1 part water

I found that two 2 oz bottles of fabric medium are exactly a 1/2 cup so I went with that as my starting point and then added 1/2 cup latex paint and a 1/2 cup of water. It doesn't look like a lot of paint (it's only 1 & 1/2 cups of liquid) so I wasn't sure it would be enough but I went with it and figured I could mix up more if I needed to.

To show you how 'soupy' it is here is a visual aid: 

The top is the mixture of water+fabric medium+latex paint and the bottom is just latex paint. I'm showing you this to explain that painting fabric like this doesn't cover up major flaws or stains in the fabric. So if you are trying to decide if you want to paint that chair with the huge stain on the seat, this won't cover it up. If anything, I found that this process was more like tinting the fabric not painting it. Thankfully I was just going from dingy light blue to a more saturated dark blue so it worked for me. The point is this: You need to start with a fabric that is lighter and that doesn't have major blemishes. 

2) Wet the fabric.

I used this large industrial sprayer that I have and it worked great. The wetter the fabric the better the paint goes on so don't be shy with the amount of water you spray on. See how I have newspaper down? That was a very bad idea, don't use newspaper! I didn't realize how much water I would be using and the newspaper just got soggy, for the second coat I used a garbage bag and it worked much better.

I wet the ottoman in sections (about a foot in diameter). And then brushed on a small amount of the paint mixture. 

It was pretty simple and it went super fast. I wasn't sure I would have enough paint to cover the whole thing but the 1 & 1/2 cups of liquid did a whole coat on this ottoman (it's about 2'x4'x1' for reference).

I was nervous about how hard it would be to paint all those tufts, but it was really pretty easy. I just jammed my brush into all the crevices (there's a dirty joke in there) and I tried not to let too much paint and water/paint gather in the holes and folds.

Though it's slightly blurry, you can see from left to right it's dry, wet, and painted.

After the first coat:

It only took me 45 minutes to do the first coat! I thought it would be a much longer project. I let it dry overnight and then repeated the whole process. The second coat didn't use nearly as much paint so I actually ended up doing a third coat right after the second just because I had the paint already mixed. 

After two coats: 

Cost Breakdown:

Ottoman: $25

Latex Paint: $14 (I only used 1 cup of this so there are lots more projects left in this quart)

Fabric Medium: $10 ( 4 - 2oz bottles at $1.99 each)

Sanding blocks, foam paint brush, regular paint brush, spray bottle, stain: $0 (I had all these times already)

Total: $49 

Considering that similar ottomans sell for well over $250, I am completely satisfied with this price. And amazingly, I sold my old glass coffee table on craigslist for $50 so I basically broke even!

I highly recommend painting fabric, it was easy, quick, and it looks great! My only caution is that you pick the right piece to paint. You want a piece that is fairly light in color (or at least a simliar color to what you want to paint it) with no major stains or blemishes on the fabric.

I'm crazy in love with this ottoman! 

Thrifting Find: To Paint or not to Paint?

For the past few months I've been doing research for my 'Thrift Shops of Indianapolis' series for twentysomethingindy.com (you can read my past articles here). And since my research involves a lot of shopping I've been trying my hardest not to buy a ton of stuff, but you know self-control only goes so far. Last weekend I spotted this utility cart for only $15 and I had to bring it home.

This corner of my living room has been a spot of contention for me previously. Here is the before:

It was just an IKEA Lack table I got for $7.99 with a basket from Target underneath. It served it's purpose for the last 12 or so months, but I never liked it there. This room was getting a little IKEAish what with the couches, rug, and this table it was like an IKEA showroom. So when I saw the utility cart I thought it might fit the space better (it's longer and taller) plus it is unique and it was cheap - perfect!

I love it! When I purchased it I thought of spray painting the green shelves because as you can see in the last few pictures the top is really rusty. But I decided to at least live with it for a few days or weeks and see if I like it as is.

What do you think, leave it or spray paint it? If I did spray paint it, what color? I was thinking yellow for some reason even though there isn't a whole lot of yellow in this room. I'll keep you updated!

Ottoman Makeover: Part 1

Progress on the ottoman makeover has begun!

For a recap, here is the original post where I purchased the ottoman: here.

It was $25 and it looks like this:

Not the most beautiful thing in the world, but dang it if it wasn't a great price for such a big nice piece. My original plan, as outlined in the post, when I bought it was to reupholster it. But then I grew a few brain cells and realized that is waaaay beyond my skill set. Actually, I could probably do it but by the time I spend money on fabric and spend all the time reupholstering it I don't think it would be worth it.... so I changed my game plan. It was actually from a recommendation in the comments of the original post. My friend suggested that I paint it. Yep, paint the fabric. 

I haven't started that part yet, but I did start another part of the project so I'll start with that. 

Not the best picture I've ever taken but it at least shows you what I was working with. In the time that I bought it and brought it home the lining on the bottom fell off part-way (the strings are from the tufts).

Since the lining was still intact (it had just pulled away from the staples) I decided to reattach it instead of completely replacing it.

All I did was pull the lining tight.

And since I don't have a stapler, I just used small nails and a hammer. 

 It only took a few minutes and a handfull of nails to complete this part. If at some point in the future it falls off again I'll just get a new lining and borrow a stapler, but I don't see why this wouldn't hold.

The next thing I did was tackle the legs. My original plan was take the legs off and stain or paint them, but it turns out that however they are attached is beyond my strength to remove (I tried with all my might). Oh well, on to Plan B. I used a sanding block to rough it up a bit. The sanding block worked great because it went into the crevices really well.

After a good sanding, I Frog Taped around the leg so that I wouldn't ruin the fabric.

Here is a decent (if slightly blurry) shot of the leg (albeit upside down). Kind of a country style but not so bad that I couldn't work with them. At the tip of the leg you can see how it's a lighter color and there is a hole in it, that is where a wheel used to be attached. By the time I got the ottoman only two of the wheels had survived. I decided to just remove them and leave the ottoman immobile. I kept the wheel if I decide in the future to put the wheels on again (I could take the wheel into a hardware store and match it). The main reason I decided against wheels is because I like being able to sit on it and wheels make me nervous to sit on. But having it movable would be really nice so maybe I'll change my mind. 

Anyway, ...

After sanding and taping, I filled in the little holes from the wheels with putty.

I debated about painting or staining, but I decided to leave them wood and just stain them. I had stain left over from my semi-disastrous IKEA Rast dresser makeover (here and here). I found out that the reason the stain didn't work on that project was because I used a paint brush, apparently you are supposed to use a foam brush. Since I already had the stain, I figured it was worth trying again. Of course, this time I used a foam brush instead and it worked much better! 

Here is a side-by-side. It isn't a major difference but it blends in the tip of the leg so it looks better. 

This is after a one coat.

Here it is after a second coat:

Part 1 complete! Next phase is painting the fabric. Let the fingernail biting begin!