from Gardners 2 Bergers: Tutorial

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March 5, 2012

DIY Chalk Paint {tutorial}

Once upon a time, long, long ago- I went to a yard sale, it was summer and the yard sale was closing down. The family told us we could take whatever we wanted, so Z and I basically cleaned house. We left with ginormous pile of goodies. Then, sometime last fall, I primed pretty much everything in ~~sight~~ in my project room with Kilz. I mean, puppers beware!- cause I almost painted them for good measure!
Then all said items went to the spare room for a long, long time. {cue sad face} There everything stayed until a certain {wonderful} grandmother was coming to town and I was forced to get my buns in gear.

This is how we got from this outdated wooden headboard to a chalk painted beaut. I don't own real chalk paint and haven't found a project that's worth the high cost yet. So for now- I'll stick to this formula by the awesome Sherry @ No Minimalist Here. I pretty much stuck with her recipe-

MIX: 2/3 cup FLAT LATEX PAINT

with 1/3 PLASTER of PARIS

MIX WELL- you can add a little water to the paint until the desired chalkiness and consistency are found. You can see about how think I made my paint. I just mixed my paint in an old Tupperware container-Oh yeah, it can be stored for later; just add a little bit of water each time.

Alright, let's get to it!
1] First, with homemade chalk paint, like the real stuff, you do NOT need to prep the surface or prime your surface first! I had primed mine months before I knew what I wanted to do with it (remember my lengthy yard sale tale?}

2] Now, mix up your paint-I got the plaster of paris from Lowe's and the whole thing cost me 6 bucks. I used Olympic flat paint from Lowe's and had it color matched to Blind Date by Allen + Roth for Valspar.

This DIY version of chalk paint paint dries really fast, so make sure you work in sections.

Do you see how the paint looks a little streaky {above^} right in the center where I'm painting it? It won't dry like that, so don't sweat it! After awhile the paint for thicker- again you can just add a little more water, stir really well, and keep using it.

One coat of paint was just about enough to cover the board. But you can see where I had done some touch ups and they were a different shade, so make sure you don't miss any spots unless you want to do 2 coats of paint all over!

3] Next, you want to do a light sand all over. If any streaks didn't dry flat this will take care of that. I used 320 grit sand paper.

4] To distress I used a 220 grit sanding block and a putty knife to distress the edges. Personal preference comes into this part big time. I want my piece to look like it was a little banged up over time- nothing crazy.

5] If you're doing a glaze, now's the time to add that finish. I have to admit, I'm pretty sucky at glazing. I don't know what the problem is- I've watched the tutorials, it's just not working for me. So I skipped that step and went straight to wax.

6] I used Johnson's clear paste wax- nothing fancy. It was hard to track down furniture wax locally- you can find a few versions on Amazon- and locally I found Ace Hardware had a bunch to choose from. This one cost me 10 bucks. It stunk to high heck so use it somewhere ventilated but it did the job. Make sure you let the wax cure, and you're good to go! I love the shine it adds to the headboard!

There you have it- my headboard cost me less than 20 bucks and I have a ton of supplies left over- the whole headboard took 1 1/3 cups of paint and 2/3 cups of the Plaster of Paris. The paste wax is still almost full- not bad right?!

Oh yeah, the bed is just a twin and the headboard is going along the side of it. I like to throw a bunch of pillows on it and use it like a day bed/couch when company isn't here.

Some of these pics I took on a sunny day {below}, then others {above} it was a little overcast. I cannot believe how different the colors of the headboard is in each one!! This is one of those paint colors looks totally different in different lighting. I'm glad I didn't try it on my walls!

The cute little pillow cover in the center was purchased off Etsy- it's made from a vintage tea towel. Love. The bedding I bought had been marked down three times at TJMaxx- and I paid 20 bucks. Almost the same as the pillow cover! lol The frames above the bed were from Target- but I don't think they sell them anymore.
Oh yeah- and my Grams was super comfy in the space, so I call it a success. Peace out homies- thanks for stopping by!

Looking for places to link up your projects? Check out my Party page.

I'm also linked up here.

February 15, 2012

Create & Add a G+ Icon to Your Blog [tutorial]

Have you guys heard the Google Plus buzz?
I ignored it until Google went and announced they would be yanking my favorite free photo editing software - Picnik. After that announcement, and the rumors Picnik would still be available if you belonged to G+, I decided to sign up just to check it out.

For all you guys who have already jumped on board I thought I share how I made my G+ icon. First you need to make the icon image, and there's a few ways. Then it's a few simple steps to turn the image into a working G+ icon. [THESE SAME STEPS WILL WORK FOR ALL ICONS EXCEPT RSS -here- AND EMAIL-here-]

Make the icon: WAY #1 {How I made mine}

1] Upload one of your existing button images to Picnik {or photo editing program}.

2] Make a patch to cover the old emblem.
Go to: Stickers, then to "Shapes." Next, select a square to cover the existing label, whether it's a "P" or "T" or whatever. Then use the dropper to color match the square to the rest of the icon.

3] Edit the icon to add a "G+"
Now- Go to "Text" and select "Georgia"

It's not an exact match, but it's the closest I could find! You want a lower case "g" and place it so it's hanging off the icon a little.
Next add the "+" symbol

Make the icon: WAY #2

1] If you don't have an button you can upload a pic of the outline of a square {or whatever shape you want.}.

2] Edit the square to look like your other icons
If your other buttons have rounded edges, like mine, you should do step 2: Select "Matte" and round out the corners of the square.
3]Go to "Duo-Tone" and select the colors for your square that will match your blog.

4] Edit the icon to add a "G+" Now- Go to "Text" and select "Georgia"
You want a lower case "g" and place it so it's hanging off the icon a little. Next, add the "+" symbol

Make the icon: WAY #3

1] You could upload a stock icon--they can be found for free all over the web. -Or- You could also just grab drag any of the free icons below {by dragging it onto your desktop. }
2] Edit the square to look like your other icons
Go to "Duo-Tone" and select a color for your square.
3] Edit the icon to add a "G+"
Now- Go to "Text" and select "Georgia"
You want a lower case "g" and place it so it's hanging off the icon a little. Next, add the "+" symbol.

-NOW-
A] Your image needs a HTML code
Upload your image to a photosharing site, like Photobucket, and "save a copy" then you can get an URL for the pic. COPY the "HTML code".

B] Get your Google+ account URL
Pop over to your Google+ account and grab the web address for YOUR profile page.

Now that you have an image URL for the icon you made and the URL from your G+ account insert them into the red portions specified for this sample code. Easy Peasy, yes?

I also like to center my icon on my side bar. If you want yours centered it's easy to do- just insert the underlined code onto both sides of the code you've just inserted your information into.

C] Add your new icon to your blog.
For Blogger: Go into Layout for blogger. "Add a Gadget" and open a new "Configure HTML/JavaScript"
Now you can input your new icon using the code above. Just add your info where the red writing is. First the URL for your G+ account, then add the html code for your new icon.

Inserting the HTML code is where Blogger and Wordpress will differ. If you have Wordpress then upload your icon how you added your other social media icons. Sorry I can't give a better description!

My last tip- I put my "G+ code" in the same "Gadget" as my code for my Pinterest, RSS, and Email buttons. I just added it right in at the end and then made sure the "center code" was behind the last icon I added.

It should look something like this when you're done. The buttons all lined up and centered in the middle of the sidebar- or where ever you've put it.

Need any other gadget tutorials? Want to make your own working Email or RSS icon? Or add a blogging signature to your posts? How about personalize your favicon?- you know, that little symbol that shows up at the tops of the browser window when people are reading your blog- DIY one in a few minutes.

Here's the thing about this little blogging design stuff, isn't very hard! There's no need to pay people to make these small gadgets and icons! You CAN DIY it!!

Looking for places to link up your projects? Check out my Party page.

I'm also linked up here.

February 9, 2012

✥ RH Oversized Map Art Knock Off [tutorial}✥

He-llo friends! I have another knock off for you guys today. Are you sick of them yet? I mean, you can tell me if you are...I really tried to have a different type of project ready for this week but the darn materials {I'm being sneaky and not telling you what materials} took sooo long to dry. I mean, grr!

So instead I hope you guys will be head over heels for my new maps- cuz I know I am!

On one of my most favorite blogs ever, The Painted Hive, Kristine made a super amazing map and used it as her headboard. I totally love her map and her use of it AND she added an excellent tutorial if you want to make your own over size map!! It's pretty sweet, right?

I have 16"x20" frames flanking our sliding glass windows that have been crying out for some real art and I have been dying over Restoration Hardware's map art for ages!! So, I knew the second I saw Kristine's post that I would be making my own version of the art ASAP.

There are tons on Restoration Hardware's site to chose from for inspiration. Here's couple I used to help me look. I love the vintage feel of this "old" Paris map.The Graphics Fairy actually has an old vintage Paris map {it's linked up below too.}

I used this LA map as for inspiration for the maps I chose. I wanted maps with subtle colors but that wouldn't demand a lot of attention.

I scoured the Internet for ages, seriously- for days and days, trying to find the best map options out there. If you're looking for maps you want to search for public domain maps, open source maps or public library maps. I collected quite the collection of awesomeness here in case you want to make your own!!

In Kristin's tutorial she says to find a zoomable map- but then again she was making an image 47"x23"! I only needed a 16x 20, remember? I still followed her tutorial- just to be certain I didn't have any mishaps, but I think I could've gotten away with printing some of them.

It's not hard at all to make these {you know, after you spend days looking for just the right ones!} To make oversized art, especially if it's huge like Kristine's, you want a "zoomable map."

1] Just zoom into your map and take screen shots for each little section allowing for overlap until you've copied the entire map.

2] Then use Word to overlap all the images into one complete pic.

Since I was copying Restoration Hardware's map art, I also changed the names for some of the maps I found so the towns would match up with the RH pieces.

3] In order to match the color of the different RH maps I converted my files from Word to jpeg. Then I was able to upload them into photo editing software {now I use Pixlr instead of Picnik.} I could then change the colors of the maps to better mimic the inspiration pieces.

4] Once the images are jpegs you can also change the dimensions of the pic so it will fit the frame you have.

5] I went to Staples and printed out my maps in color. It turned out to be a little less than 10 bucks each and the quality of the each copy was near that of a photograph!.

Although I usually do things a little thriftier than $10 each I was still pretty pleased with the price. Any prints I could have purchased would have been more than $10- and they wouldn't have been exactly what I was looking for. That is unless I bought it from restoration Hardware and then it would have gotten exactly what I wanted but also would have paid around $1400 a piece!!!

That makes a savings of nearly $5600- yup, that's my best saving for a knock off yet!!

Here's a shot of the before:

And how it looks now. I tried to get a pic at the same angle, but thought I'd avoid the glare on my frames this time.

Don't forget to check out the other maps I'm crushin on right now. I've included several favorites for you guys! Some of them are linked to sites that have tons of options- like the NY public library's selection. I can't guarantee that each map I chose is big enough to blow up- but included the ones I loved anyhow!