A D-I-Y Project by The Hubster

Hello, Crafty Peeps!

I frequently refer to "The Hubster" in my postings, mainly because he is my best cheerleader, head enabler and facilitator, and the LOVE of My Life!  I love handmade furniture, and so. it goes without saying that most of my furniture is "antique."  Probably not by the standards of antique dealers, but definitely by the amount of years that have passed since I purchased it.

One of my favorite pieces is our dining room set!   It is completely "pegged," and the only nails are the Flat Head Upholstery Tacks that were used to attach the leather backs and seats to the wood.  We were living in community for about five years and really only visited our main home a couple times a month.  Needless to say the leather began to crack, even though the chairs were covered.  I researched having the chairs re-upholstered but the cost of the leather was ridiculous.  I finally found faux leather fabric on Amazon that was as close a match as we were going to get and The Hubster repaired the two chairs that were in dire need of help.   I am so glad to be rid of the chair covers.  I love my wood and leather and pleather! :D)

HE DID IT! Go Hubster!

These two chairs have the original leather backs!  I took these right after Chanukah, so my Chanukiah and my Shabbos candle holders are still on the table!

I forgot to take a picture before he put the back on! Caught him as he was ripping the seat!

The Hubster even found "cheap" foam padding at Big Lots!  YAY!

VOILA!

The Hubster has another project in the hopper.  I will share it when he is done!

Hugz,

CHANA

and

THE HUBSTER

Shopping Our Stash Challenge #236 - Inspired By A Book - N'tilat Yadayim

Hello, Crafty Peeps!

Well, we have a good theme for our challenge this week at Shopping Our Stash!

We want you to create a project that was:

Inspired By A Book

I really thought this would be easy.  Not only am I an avid reader,  but also, one of those who keeps books to read them again.  Last year during our decluttering push, I sent tons of books off to my grandson's school and to a store that resells books.  Still,  I have tons more that belong to me and some that belong to my son, who also a hoarder of books.  Needless to say, even surrounded by all this potential inspiration, I came up empty!  While I was wandering around picking up books and putting them down again, The Hubster called to say that lunch was ready.

I was still seeking inspiration when I picked up the hand washing cup and was stunned by how awful it looked.  Immediately, I knew this cup would be my project for the challenge.

N'tilat Yadayim

 Inspired by the Bencher Siddur Birkat Hamazon,  a book of Prayers and Songs

Yadayim = Hands

HOW THIS WAS DONE!

The hand washing cup is used for ritual hand washing prior to eating a meal with bread.  As wedding gifts, we were given several beautiful cups that we use on Shabbos, however, for everyday use, we chose these plastic cups.  Over time, they have become discolored.

I love using the faux metal technique and wanted to see how it would work on my cup!

I love  these WRMK Next Level Embossing Folders.  You get 2 Folders

 Texture Paste on the Debossed side of the foil preserves your design 

and helps with application.

This was applied to the bottom of the cup.  I covered it with clear shelf liner and the entire cup was sealed first with Mod Podge™ and Varnish!

Supplies Used:

Plastic Hand Washing Cup

Aluminum Foil

WRMK® Next Level Folder - Butterfly (Each Pkg has two folders.)

Liquitex® Molding Paste

 Ann Butler Designs® Iridescents™ 

Earth Safe Finishes® Chalk It Up Paint™

Liquitex® Professional Varnish - Gloss

Mod Podge™

Scor-Tape

Rub n' Buff ® Wax Finish - Silver Leaf (used on the rim of the cup)

Ranger ® Distress Paint™ - Hickory Smoke (Used to paint the inside)

The Hubster and I both feel much better now when we say the N'tilat Yadayim!  I believe anytime we honor HaShem, our ritual items should always be at their very best.  He is Worthy of the Honor and the Praise!

Thanks for stopping by!

HUGZ!

Chana Malkah

SOS

 My teammates have created some pretty fabulous projects!  Pay them a visit and leave some love!

Shopping Our Stash - Challenge #235 - 3, 2, 1

Hello, Crafty Peeps,

USE 3, 2, AND 1 of Something
(papers, embellishments, etc.)

Here is another challenge designed to help you not only reduce your stash, but also push your creative limits!  We want you to use something you have been hoarding!

I have created a reversed canvas project.  I just love this technique and how easy it is to build a beautiful scene no matter how small your canvas.This project is 6" x 6".

Contents:  3 hearts and 3 flowers, 2 Brads

 1 Ribbon, 1 Banner, 1 Apothecary Bottle, and 1 Sentiment

I always apply several coats of gesso to cover the staples.

I had already chosen the colors I wanted to blend, and created my background paper design.

My next step was to try to match the frame to the background paper.

In the end, I decided to use burlap paper to cover the inside.

I tried several ways of adding my background paper, but was still not satisfied, so...

I decided to place the paper inside a small Tim Holtz Cabinet Card 

I chose the elements and cut a frame to cover the front of my shadow box. 

I really wanted to leave the staples exposed for a more rustic look, however, it just didn't work.

I distressed edges of my hearts with colors pulled from my background paper.  

I added a red heart, ribbon, and a red ephemera piece to bring color to the conposition.

Contents:  3 hearts and 3 flowers, 2 Brads

 1 Ribbon, 1 Banner, 1 Apothecary Bottle, and 1 Sentiment.

When using the cabinet cards, it is helpful to lightly sand them so they accept the distress ink.

I die cut a sheet of burlap to create my frame and created a lace border around the window.

The inside ledges were stained

Positioning the cabinet card was my biggest challenge.  Because my canvas was so deep, 

it was necessary to use 1/4 in bottle caps to elevate the cabinet card.

The lace was attached to the canvas frame using double-sided tape.  

Over which I applied two coats of Mod Podge.  The front was coated with fabric stiffner.

I used clip to prevent the frame from curling too much. 

The sides were stained with Tattered Angels Baseboard

Clay and Bittersweet

Earth Safe Finishes - Up-Cycled, Repurposed, Salad Dressing Bottle

Hello, My Crafty Peeps!

I have been focusing on Earth Safe Finishes'® Licorice Chalk paint, and it worked beautifully for this project.  I am also using the Ann Butler® Iridescents™ and find them to be the perfect complements for my faux metal pieces.

My previous ESF project (The Traditional Chinese Tea House Bird House) and this one,  are efforts to highlight the use of our products on large areas of small projects.  With this bottle, I really wanted the Licorice and not the faux metal label to be the dominant visual, and I think I succeeded!  I have more bottles, so I will probably try other color combinations in future products.

FROM THIS

TO THIS

HOW THIS WAS DONE

THE TUTORIAL CAN BE FOUND HERE

REPURPOSED SALAD DRESSING BOTTLE

 I hope you will find fun and interesting ways to use our products to 

create new art from old stuff!

Thanks for stopping by! Hugz,

Chana Malkah

Shopping Our Stasth #234 - Something New

Hello, Crafty Peeples!

This Week at Shopping Our Stash, we have a fairly wide open challenge theme: 

SOMETHING NEW!

I would imagine that this close to Christmas, most crafters have lots of new "stuff" and are just itching to use it, so, here is your big opportunity...dazzle us!

I was speaking with my sister on her birthday (she's turned 95 on December 24th) and she mentioned that she and her brother-in-law both love peppermint and that her pastor had just brought them two bags each.  She also mentioned that is was difficult for them to get the hard peppermint that they like because it is not sold anywhere close to where they live. 

I decided to send them some peppermint and make cute containers in which to store them.

From my "Stash" I selected these candy canisters that I have had since Jan 2014.  I was waiting for "the spirit to move me."  They were perfect for these gifts!  I pointed this out to "The Hubster" to counter his "do you have to save every container?" question!

I applied a couple coats of Gesso to the bottom, more to seal and reinforce than anything.  The containers are made from a rather lightweight chipboard.  

I added double layer of heavyweight chipboard to the bottom and painted them to correspond with the canister color palette!

I added my logo label for an extra touch of class and elegance! 

(So my sister can brag to her friends.  She likes to do that!)

Doris' Canister:  I used this great new paper pad (new to me) from Teresa Collins® called Emporium! These papers are beautiful and I love the "Baskin Robbins®" color palette!  The burlap ribbon around the bottom of the canister is from Prima Marketing®.  

I die cut the circles for the canister lids using Gold C/S (which I embossed) and designer sheets from the pad!  The names were created using the Sizzix® Tim Holtz Alterations® Alphanumeric (3/4 inch Tall) Dies.  I love these dies because they are individual, thin metal dies and I was able to cut all my words at one time. I used chipboard to cut the words, covered them with metallic gold wax finish and sealed them with varnish.  

Of course, I wanted Charles' canister to have a very masculine feel.  

He is an "Old School" kind of guy and would have given my sister the side eye if his canister had been any color other than brown, black, grey or any combination of those manly colors!  I chose a paper from one of my new paper pads, added some gears, a manly label and industrial brads!

The canister's rims were covered with metallic gold wax finish for a more polished look. 

Materials Used:

Teresa Collins® Emporium 6"x6" Paper Pad

K&Company 12"x12" Scrap Kit - Firefighter

Rub n' Buff  Wax Metallic Finish - Gold Leaf

Prima Burlap Ribbon

80# Metallic Gold C/S

Plaid ® Mod Podge†™

LiquiTex® Professional Gloss Varnish

Darice Embossing Folder "Daisy"

Sizzix Alphanumeric (3/4" Tall) Dies

Thanks so much for stopping by!   Please visit my teammates and take a look at the fabulous projects they have created for this challenge!

Hugz,

Chana