How to DIY a Retro Fan.

The summer heat brought on a new want for a fancy fan. A vintage fan to be exact. I posted on the topic of fans, spinning right round, back in July, remember? After browsing and ogling over photos on Etsy and other sites, I determined that a pretty fan was not something that fell into the "splurge" category of life. So all summer long we continued to use our "Hawaiian Breeze" fan, which was really more like a dusty white thing that I had a love hate relationship with. Love when it was cooling me down. Hate when it stood motionless always catching grey clumpy dust. Hawaiian Breeze and I finally came to a breaking point. It was time for a makeover. A colorful retro-like makeover. During a trip to Home Depot, and browsing spray paint colors as one often does, I decided that this was the perfect solution to my doughty fan. I purchased two cans of spray paint and the rest was history. For a total of $7.50, I was able to get my fancy fan.

Prep the fan for painting 1. Use a dry dusting rag and/or a shop vac to clean the fan. Make sure all dust is removed, or else the paint will not have the right finish. Elbow grease recommended 2. Disassemble the fan parts. Create an array of bits and pieces. Unscrew every last bit. This way your hardware and plastic parts are separated out, giving you the option to paint what you want how you want it (I left my screws and hardware in their metallic state, forgoing their first considered spray painted fate) 3. Using electrical tape and a plastic bag, cover the fan motor (to protect it!). Tape and cover the cord. Also be sure to cover any piece that is threaded (..the parts that turn in place to keep the fan together. If paint gets on them, it could effect how they screw together in the end). 



Spray Painting the Fan 1. Lay the pieces out on your drop cloth 2. Apply the first coat of spray paint. For  a smooth application, hold the can of spray paint equal distance from the piece you are painting and move in a left to right, right to left fashion TIP: Be sure that the coat on the fan blade is not too too heavy. This is the piece that actually needs to be in motion, so the lighter the better. (I was clever and bought a metallic paint that needed to be thicker than the normal gloss to achieve the rose copper look I wanted. Smart move. Hopefully it works out and my fan blade doesn't come to a hault!) 3. Allow the coat to dry for a few hours or over night 4. Rotate / Flip over the fan pieces and repeat the spray painting process on the opposite sides 5.  Allow the time to dry and check once more for touch up painting 6. Take plastic bags and tape off protected pieces once everything is dry. TIP: To keep your paint cans from getting clogged and dried in the spraying tip in between paint applications, hold your can upside down and press the nozzle. Be sure to hold aiming away from you as paint will spew out. Keep holding down the nozzle until nothing more comes out. This will take care of any clogs and keep your spray paint nice, neat, and ready to go for next time.



Putting the fan back together   If you were the one who took it apart, reassembling the fan shouldn't be too tricky. Simply use the same screw drivers and think of it like a puzzle. And get ready for your newly made over beauty! I was just so giddy at this point in the process that I had Matt help with the reassembly while I excitedly got ready to plug her in and test her out. No longer a dusty Hawaiian Breeze, my new fancy fan is stunning! I know summer is over, but there has to be a few more hot days in store, right? Even when not in motion, this fan brings color pop and style to any room in our house. I'm going to keep a look out for another fan on sale or cheap at a thrift store. I would love to make a bright yellow fan that I can use for next summer!

Cute as a button, yarn, and glue art. (Part III of III)

Remember when you used to go to summer camp and make the most elaborate pieces of art at the craft table, because it was summer camp and not school, so no one made you stop to do math or go to recess? Yeah, well, I have a lot of those memories, and making this button art took me back. When I was done placing all of the buttons and super gluing them to the canvas, I still felt like something was missing. The piece was missing depth and the texture of the buttons seemed out of place on the plain white canvas. I dug through my stash of fabric and yarn to look for something, anything, until yes! Ivory colored yarn! Still neutral enough yet a great way to add more texture to the art. I knew my lines wouldn't be perfectly straight if I went horizontal on the paper with the yarn, so I opted for diagonal and some wiggle room for character (a.k.a. no pressure to be a perfectionist).

First, I decided on the angle of my yarn and the length I needed for the initial pieces (I glued the yarn in the center first to use this as a reference for where to glue the rest of the yarn on the canvas.)

Using Elmer's school glue, this is how I applied the glue to my canvas (straight from the bottle) before placing my yarn on top. Other glues would totally work, this is just what I had at home. I only put glue on the white canvas (not on the buttons!), however I did drape the yarn over the buttons, so that I could keep the same angle going from left to right (knowing I would cut this yarn away later, see steps below). 

Using the flat side of my scissors, I smoothed the yarn on the glue. I found this to work better than using my fingers to press the yarn down. When I used my fingers they got sticky, obviously, and the yarn did not stay the way I initially placed it.

Once the yarn had fully dried, I began to cut away the yarn that went over the buttons, pressing the yarn fringe down against any glue using the tip of my scissors. (If you cut the yarn prematurely, before the glue dries, cutting the yarn is a glue mess and it pulls up the yarn that you want to stay stuck to the white canvas. No bueno.)

Before cutting the fringe
(You can kind of get a sense of my method to yarn placement in this photo)

After

Next, I flipped the canvas over (at this point everything should be dry, or else it will stick to the surface you flip it onto). I cut away the yarn fringe that went past the end of the canvas. Once it was trimmed, it was ready to be framed! Woo hoo! And now I can finally show you (I know, it took forever to get to Part III!)

For display, I used a floating frame with no matting (Originally I wanted a white frame with white matting, but that will have to wait since I used what I was able to quickly find at Target. The black looks nice for now!) I still have plans to add text to the piece, but how it would look, the materials I want to use, and where the placement would be is still being decided :) I will be sure to update you with any button art changes. 

So now here is the question: Did any of you make button art this week? Email them over to me and I would love to put them up on the blog! And be warned, if you do this project, you are sure to have sticky fingertips! Totally worth it.

{And, just in case you missed it, Buttons Part I and Buttons Part II}

Organizing a stacked washer & dryer closet.

I typically have not shared any of my ways of organizing. I usually leave that inspiration to bloggers like Amy over at 20minutemom and other neat and tidy Martha Stuart like women, who do it ever so gracefully. But with any styled home, all the clutter and household must haves need a place to be out of sight and out of mind, so that the rest of the fun decor can really pop. As you've taken some tours of my home via blogging, you may have wondered where the laundry room was. Or where the linen closet is. You must be asking yourself, "That girl lives in Denver, where do they keep winter coats, blankets, mountain gear, and hiking boots? She has a dog and a husband too, where does she hide all of their toys and hobby items, and the things she uses to clean up after them [and herself]?" 

To answer the first two questions, I will give you a simple response:  My once linen closet is in fact my laundry room.

Before: A seriously mundane laundry situation.

Before we moved in, this house was completely gutted. Part of the remodel moved walls, expanding the kitchen, but removing a hallway and laundry space. SO now, the washer and dryer along with the water heater are in what would have been the linen and coat closet. (Hence why we made over the door bathroom storage and a coat rack). I have not given the "laundry room" much attention and reached my point of no return when my Shout and Wrinkle Remover continually fell off the top during the spin cycle and I was always making trips into the back bedroom in times of paper towel necessity. I wanted all my laundry needs in one place, organized, and pretty to the eye with a "No more Tears!" stamp of approval from Johnson & Johnson. 

I had to get creative if I wanted to fit paper goods, cleaning supplies, stain removers, detergent, hand towels, ect. all in this little closet. I had the top of the dryer space as well as a potential small door hanging space to work with. First, to eliminate items falling off the top of the dryer, I utilized the inside of the door to hang a bin filled with all my stain removers, lint rollers, wrinkle release, and wash bags. The blue bin is from Target's dollar spot and I made a label using brown paper bag, sharpie, and yarn. With an over the door hanger, I was able to fit my ironing board and my organized bin. When I am doing laundry, I can easily lift the bin off the hook and get to my supplies.

Getting closer to no more tears when doing laundry.

{this one is for my mom, because I know she's reading}

Tag supplies.
Next, I put paper goods in a large basket and made a brown bag label. It fit just right on top of the dryer, wedged against the wall (perfectly snug and moving nowhere when the washer is in full spin).

Using a shelf insert from Ikea to create another level of space saving storage, I organized the rest of my laundry goods and cleaning items next to the paper goods basket. 

Getting giddy because I love 'neat' in cramed spaces.

There is just enough space on the top of the dryer, in front of the stored items, so that the bin hanging on the door has room to fit once the door is closed. 

After: A cheery little laundry closet.

Finally, a space I can work with and that looks good too! Now you no longer have to wonder about where I wash my clothing. I have more hidden storage (not much) in our home. If you like this post and want to see other ways I have organized, or will soon organize, I'd love a comment so I know whether I should continue sharing on the topic. Happy Friday!

Colorblocked clutch.

How to color block your clutch, a DIY.

Clutches are a go to for summertime events. And what not a better way to make that drab clutch loved again by doing your own accessory color blocking? I have this custard lemon yellow clutch that I purchased during my college days at Forever 21. For the past year it has been in a box under my bed (a completely valid reason to either donate it to my local thrift store or make it into something better). When I thought about color blocking an accessory, this little fold over clutch immediately popped into mind.

Definitely pleather.

photo source

The color combination of yellow, aqua, and grey is one of my favorites right now (and they also go really well with other bright summer colors). So I decided to add aqua paint with hopes of using the clutch with outfits sporting grey, cream, bright pink, cobalt, green, etc. First, I taped off the section of the front flap that I wanted aqua making sure the tape wrapped around the side of the flap. Then I used a thin flat brush to apply the first coat of paint. (Acrylic paint works best for this project). I let the first coat dry, and then added a second layer, then left it to dry. 

After it was dry to the touch (about 20 minutes) I peeled the tape back. The line was clean and the seeming on the clutch still peeked through (I happen to like the look of it). And, that's it! A quick color blocking diy to bring new interest to my yellow clutch. You could do this with so many accessories. I think someone needs to make a hot pink and bright green combo. I may need to thrift Denver for more clutches to make as gifts!

I am ready to accessorize with my new color blocked clutch and gifted necklace on a summer night about town!

Entryway bench.

Come winter, our little entryway will function as part mud room. It will be a place to take off muddy, snowy, wet shoes and boots. I had been keeping my eyes peeled for a bench that would fit in the space. Seeing as this space is pretty cramped as it is, the bench needed to be narrow and fit on the small portion of the wooden floor between the hutch and travertine. I found this piano bench at the Goodwill this week for $6. After I scored that awesome vintage window in my 2 minute stop in the store, I decided I needed to go back and actually take my time looking around. It seemed to have great potential for more steals. And sure enough, the piano bench was affordable and the perfect size. I am not sure what the purpose of the hardware (maybe handle?) was. I would guess for design. I like it. I also love the curvature on the underside and detailing in the legs.

First, I sanded down the bench until most of the finish was stripped and is felt rough to the touch. There were quite a bit of scuffs on the top of the bench. I did not put much effort into smoothing these out because I planned on making the bench have a weathered look in the end, so scuffs were welcome to stay.

Using blue painters tape, I did a professional job of covering the hardware. Ha. Before priming, I made sure to wipe off any dust and dirt remanants from sanding. I used BEHR enamel and udercoater primer & sealer to apply one thin coat over the entire piece (Again, not worrying about full coverage since I was going to sand some of it away in the end).

With the free quart of "country garden" paint I got at ACE hardware,  I set out to give this wood a new bright and airy look. I went with this light shade of seafoam because I like the color combo with tans and browns, which would show through once weathered and also with the hutch, wooden floor, and coat rack in the entryway. 

I went in with a thin flat brush to do the paint detailing around the hardware. After the paint was dry, I sanded the edges, legs, and a few places along the body of the bench, to give it that weathered look.  A seat cushion may be added later once my sewing machine is up and running and I have the space to make it. We already had a place to hang our coats and hats.  Now we have a place to sit, lace up those shoes, and slip off those boots. Convenient even for placing our bags and misc. things that go in and out of the house on a regular basis. I am so happy with the end result and the fact that I have had some part in making both pieces in our little entryway.