Unique Products I'm dying to Try!!!

You know, what I love about the internet is how many cool products come your way that you might never have known about.  Here are some that I would love to try out when I get a chance and see how they turn out (anyone locally here want to be a guinea pig?)

1. Laminate Countertop Resurfacing Kit

I first saw this product on a Today show feature and have been researching this.  The overall results are that people LOVE this product.  Found only a Lowe's, "Modern Masters" (www.modernmasterstransformations.com/) provides a kit of everything needed to recoat 50 sq. feet of laminate.  It costs $250 but compared to the cost of replacing your countertops in even laminate, you're saving a TON!  Don't live with those 90's mauve or teal countertops another day!  Here's a blogger who tried it and shows the process she took: http://suburbanpostcard.blogspot.com/.

2. Spray Upholstery Dye

Made by "Simply Spray", you can re-color your upholstery.  It would be great for those chairs that are in great shape, but the color just doesn't work anymore.  Depending on the fabric, you'll still see the texture and shape of the upholstery's design, but after it'll be all one color.  There aren't many colors, but I'm thinking that black would be great for accent chairs.  The website says that Hobby Lobby is going to be carrying it, so I forsee my heading there with a 40% off coupon and trying it! The few people I've read about trying it say it's a bit stiff at first, but with wiping it with a stiff brush and a few weeks, it really softens back up.  Also, it is water/color safe after painting it. 

(DIY decorating ideas)

(Little Green Notebook)

3. Stainless Steel Paint

    

There are cheaper paints out there that are "stainless steel" in color, but are in fact NOT made of stainless steel.  Those types won't look real enough or wear as well. This product from Thomas Stainless Steel is actually liquid stainless steel, meant to be brush applied to look like brushed stainless steel.  It is supposed to be durable after you give it it's 3 light coats of steel and 2-3 coats of topcoat.  It looks nice in most of the pictures I've seen.  I do have one problem that I'm seeing.  It sometimes looks fake to me when people paint the handles or the control panels on their appliances.  If you look at the new appliances, those parts are rarely stainless steel as well.  I think it'd look more realistic if you painted part of it in black appliance paint and not try to go for 100% stainless steel look.  It looks like it'd cost about $60 to do all three appliances in your kitchen.  I would think this would be great for those brass door knobs, light fixtures, a table or island top or that rangehood.  (I also love black appliance paint for updating appliances.  You don't HAVE to jump on the stainless steel bandwagon.  It is a fad...this would be a much cheaper option.)

See, I dont' really like the handles painted.  In fact, look at my home's stainless appliances:

If you stuck with the black appliance paint on the sides, handles and other areas, you'd be able to use less of the expensive stainless steel paint and also make it look more realistic.

4. Colored Chalkboard Paint

Hudson Paints makes gorgeous colors for chalkboards.  No longer does it need to be just black. Look at some of these cute ideas:

A chalkboard wall mural for a nursery.

(pottery barn chalkboard center)

(Hudson paints-menu board)

Rustoleum's tintable version.  A bit cheaper, but not as many colors.

If you want your writing to show up better/stronger, use the liquid chalk pens! (BTW, there is also magnetic paint and dry erase paint out there now!)

5. ORB- Oil Rubbed Bronze

This IS the finish of choice right now.  I love this spray paint to give a great ORB finish:

These are the two best ORB finish paints I've tried.  Re-do those awful bronze light fixtures, freshen up the vents, give your lamps an updated finish.  Just about anything can be painted as long as you prime it right. The best finish is one where you either do a light coat, letting some of the original metal shine through slightly or after painting, use some rub'n'buff paint to add a little dimension and highlights.  It just makes a subtle, more realistic difference.

(thiftydecorchick.blogspot.com)

(asoftplace.net)                                                              (mrshappyhousewife.blogspot.com)

(decormama)

You can freshen up your kitchen's hardware with this paint or order these fun half-moon pulls (and knobs) from this awesome wholesaler.  You can get 25 pulls for $14!! I've ordered a few times from these guys and it IS real!!! Check out Cripe Distributing for these:

I love how these look on painted cabinets! Heck, at those prices, buy them and spray paint them whatever color you need!

6.Muriatic Acid to Age Mirrors

Wouldn't you love to recreate the look or old, aged and distressed mirrors like these:

Well, it can be done. There's a great Tutorial here.  You use a pool cleaning chemical to erode the mirror backing (after stripping off the painted back to the mirror.)  I really want to try this one with a gorgeous mirror I have and use it in my future "shabby chic" basement decor.

Hope you found some fun, new products that you'd like to experiment with as well.  I share any that I do in future blogs!  Have fun!

Carry-along play mat

This is not a home decor post. But, if you make one of these babies, you'll have your kids occupied so that you CAN do a decorating project! I first fell in love with this Michael Miller fabric called "Merryville".

 It has since been discontinued (waaanh.) If you can find any- buy it.  I thought it would make a great play mat for taking to church, the doctors, on the plane and so forth. I've had those big car road rugs before, but they were always just too big. This play mat is just the right size. Being the thrifty gal that I am, I figured of how to make these with the smallest amount of fabric possible, yet still be fun (the car fabric can be pricey.)  These have been a great gift for Birthdays and Christmas! This little mat measures appox. 16"h x 24"w and is stored in a cute little drawstring bag (with plenty of room for those cars!)

Since the Michael Miller Fabric is hard to find, here are some other versions I've been making using fabric that IS still available (I got most of mine online at http://www.fatquartershop.com/):

This one is "Wheels" by My Mind's Eye for Riley Blake Designs

This adorable city-like road fabric is from "Timeless Treasures"-Multi Main street.

This fabric is from "Timeless Treasures"-Green cars.

Let's not forget our girls. This adorable fabric is from Michael Miller called "Lil' Kingdom."  Just add a few princess dolls, a pony or two and she's off. I suspect it's being discontinued as well, so grab it while you can.  If anyone comes across a fabric that would be suitable for a girl's playmat, PLEASE let me know!!

 Alright, here's how to make these.  They really aren't that hard and go together really quickly.

Instructions:
1. Cut your car fabric and back fabric to 16" high. You will then cut the fabrics in half to make two tops, one back, and one bag.  So you need twice as much back fabric as road fabric.  I hope that makes sense. (If you have 3 yards of car road fabric, you should get 14 mats out of it and would need 6 yards of backing fabric for the backs and bags.)

2.Cut some felt to the size of the road mat.   This will go between the two fabrics to give it some weight. (If you would like, you can add an extra layer of clear plastic to the top to make it "wipeable." I left it off for expense.)
3.Sew all the way around the three layers, about 1/2" from the edge.

4.Use pinking shears to trim the edge and prevent fraying.

5.Take the extra back piece of fabric and fold it right sides together. Sew down the long side and then one short side. Pinking Shear the edge.

6. Sew the corners at the bottom to make a nice pleated bottom to the bag.

7. Fold the top edge down 1 inch. Fold again. Sew along folded edge to make a casing.

8.At the seam in the casing, backstitch a few times towards the top. Now unpick the seam.  This allows you to thread the ribbon through the casing.
9.Attach a safety pin to your ribbon, thread through opening in seam and then knot.  Add some fray check to the ends of the ribbon.

10.Fold the mat in thirds and then in half to fit into the bag. Throw in a few cars and you're ready to roll!

I made these for about $5 each. Look for clearance fabric for the backs/bags and clearance felt to lower your cost. 

Okay, they're busy now! Go paint that dresser!!!

This week I'm participating in:

DIY Day
DIY Project Parade
Trash to Treasure Tuesday
Tea Rose Link Party
Whatever Goes Wednesday
Penny Pinching party
show-off your stuff day

tater tots and jello
Check ME out

My Take on Drop-cloth Drapes

But Mom, everyone else is doing it!  Yup, some genius out there in blogland figured out that painter's drop cloths are a thrifty way to have a huge yardage of fabric at hand to make curtains, drapes, slipcovers and other home decor items out of.  It comes in many different dimensions from a few yards worth, all the way up to 15 foot lengths for those two-story windows that are so expensive to cover.  It has great texture and flecks to it's oatmeal color, giving an impression of linen, but at such an affordable price.

I helped my friend, Jill, make some drapes for her apartment.  Not wanting to spend a lot for a temporary home, yet needing to cover the slider and adjoining window, drop cloth was a perfect solution.

We added a nice paisley fabirc band to the edges and bottom to dress it up a bit. It looks really pretty against her yellow wall.  We also pleated the top to give it some fullness. When we took this picture we didn't have enough clips to keep the sections between the pleats from "flopping".

A few hints about using drop cloths.  Try to buy at one store as there are differences in quality and colors.  I got mine at Home Depot.  I washed the fabric 3 times with loads of liquid fabric softener to get it nice and supple and to remove the faint odor to it.  You can also bleach the fabric it you want.  If you're using a large drop cloth, you may consider cutting it into smaller panels to fit better in your washer.

Internet Inspirations:

(The Lettered Cottage)

Probably the one that started it all. Simple shape held up by black clips.  Love the layered look by adding the bamboo shade.

(homebodyholly.blogspot)

Love the valance's band of fabric and cute hooks made from teacup hooks.

Trim the curtains and pillows with a cute cordinating fabric for a custom look.

I love how these look against a colored wall.  It softens the frames of the windows.

Add a band of fabric 2/3 of the way down.

(smittendesign.blogspot)

Look at this darling ruffled edge and europen pleats at the top!  Subtle but custom-looking effect.

(charishumin.blogspot.com)

A darling ruffle to the bottom of a chair's slipcover.

(coastal nest.blogspot)

Nice slipcover made out of drop cloth.

This whole room was slipcovered to give it a lighter look and freshen up the outdated furniture.

(creativelittledaisy.blogspot)

Classic pleated slipcover from a drop cloth.

(homebodyholly.blogspot)

Great recover of dining chairs.  I love the nail head trim on the backs.

(shanty2chic.blogspot)

There's the ruffle again paired with a vintage number on the seat.

(missmustardseed.blogspot)

This gal replicated the "grain sack" look by painting initials and a stripe on the drop cloth before slipcovering the ottoman.

(bethcrabtreehunter.blogspot)

This lady used iron-on paper for your printer to get these designs on her pillows.  Add trim and you have a great Ballard design-inspired pillow.

Hope you were inspired to use drop cloths in your decorating. So what are you going to make with drop cloth?!

Re-dye of a Free Leather Chair

     Have you ever in your excitement totally forgotten to do something that was critical to the project in the first place?  Well, I did it.  I was so excited to try my first attempt at re-dying leather that I forgot the most important thing for this posting- the BEFORE picture!  Arghh. I was so gun-ho and excited that I spaced out.  I found this lovely Barkelounger leather recliner next to someone's trash on "large item disposal day." In general I don't like recliners, but this one had nice, classic lines, gorgeous rolled arms, nail head trim and leather going for it. I had just that morning seen someone on blogland post about  their re-dye of a chair.  I pulled off the road, backed up, jumped out, looked the chair over, even stuck my nose to it to see if it smelled like leather and didn't smell like anything else!  I found that all the mechanics were in perfect shape and so loaded her up ( I trully have no shame anymore at grabbing from people's trash! Sorry, Mom, you tried to raise me right.)

       A few bruises later, I had her home.  I cleaned her up with some Ivory soap and let it dry.  In the meantime, I researched!

I found a leather supply store (one of the biggest) not 20 minutes from my home!!! I hauled in the cushion and asked the nice guy there to verify that 1. it was leather and 2. that I could re-dye it and 3.his recommendations of how to do it. I learned that you have to be sure that your furniture is indeed leather or aniline leather (different types of dyes would be used depending on which leather you have.)

This is what I did:

While this is not my couch, this is what it looked like before (no kidding):

and this:

See those faded spots, cracked areas and bum and head-faded spots?  That's what this chair had.

I cleaned it with a soft rag and warm water and dove soap.  I got all the cracks and edges free of dust.

I didn't use a leather cleaner, but next time I would try this to see if I can get more of the darkened areas out (presumably from people's hair resting against the cushions.)

I then chose to use a very thin dye from Fiebingers called "chocolate."

I bought a 32 oz bottle and only used half of it, doing almost 3 coats! I believe it was only $8 for that bottle.

If I'd had a compressor spray gun, I would have applied the dye with that. Since I didn't, I used this handy little product:

Basically it's just an aerosal-type can that you place your dye in the jar and attach it to the Preval spry applicator.  Then all you have to do is lightly spray!  I had to be sure to get in the grooves and wrinkles of the chair.  BE SURE to wear thick plastic gloves or you'll be stained for a long time!  I forgot about my toes peeking through my sandals and had a very weird faux tan look for a week! I found I occaisionally got a run of dye that I tried to wipe up quickly with a rag. I used the rag to apply a bit of dye in the wrinkles where the spray wasn't getting.

I went over the chair almost three times to use up the whole can of Preval.  I was so worried it might not do the whole chair, but I was fine!

Now at this stage, the chair actually looked pretty bad.  You couldn't see the fade and grease marks as well, but the leather looked so dry and uneven.  I put my faith in the process and kept my fingers crossed (and hey, the chair was free!  Worse case scenario it goes back in the trash!)

Wait a full 48 hours for the dye to absorb and dry.  I then buffed and buffed with many soft rags to get the excess dye off that didn't absorb. You really have to do this step or you might end up with dye on your clothes! Even then, he said you may not want to sit down on the chair in really light clothing for a little while until you're sure you got it all! Once my rags were coming off clean, I applied this was rejuvenator and sealant recommended by the guy at the shop:

This is where the real magic happened and this old chair was brought back to life!  I rubbed this balm generously all over the chair.  She started to shine and the tones evened out nicely. There are other sprays and finishers for really high-wear areas, but the guy at the shop said this would keep the leather more supple. He recommended putting rejuvenator on once a year to keep the hide soft. I can still see some flaws underneath and a slightly darker patch on the headrest. 

 The cushion was soo faded before but now it looks like new!

                                    

The original leather color can be seen on the little sample here under the cushion:

In person, the leather is really a deep maroon color now. I guess "chocolate dye" plus the original orange-y color yeilded this deep maroon!

                                             

  Overall, I'd say it was a successful experiment and I'd do it again!  Since I can still see the area on the headrest, next time I'd spend a little more on a product to de-grease the leather first and I bet that it'd look closer to new.

It's funny, in person you really don't see the dark area on the headrest so clearly as in the photo. The leather has a lot of shadows naturally so it doesn't show as much. I still wish I'd tried a degreaser first. I may still go and get some dye in black and go over it again.  Who knows?

 I might even get a stain sprayer for our air compressor if I attempt a couch.  Overall I spent a bit under $30 (with dye and rejuvinator left over) for a very nice leather chair for the basement and a few days of fun trying something new! A chair was saved from the dumps and given a new chance at life!  Love it!