Mailbox Makeover

The other day I decided to give our mailbox a little makeover.  It had some small rust spots on the hinge and the numbers were just your run-of-the-mill hardware stickers.  It definitely needed a little sprucing.  Sadly, I forgot to take a "Before" shot (I'm out of practice with the blog!) so we'll have to jump right into the spray painting phase.

I bought a can of Hammerite Rust Cap spray paint that encapsulates rust and sprayed the entire box.

While that dried, I designed the letters and numbers on my computer.  I was inspired by Blueprint's first cover so I tried to pick fonts that looked similar.  In the end I downloaded Gold Plated from DaFont and used Bodoni for the numbers.

I printed it out to size on my printer...

And then shaded the back with pencil.  This creates a mock carbon paper so you can use it to trace.

Next, I taped the design onto the mailbox and traced the letters and numbers with a pencil.

Which left this outline:

I couldn't find any black paint in my stash until I remembered I had my old art kit.  Seriously, I think it's from the 70's.  Surprisingly the paint still was in good condition so I just used the acrylic paint to fill in the outlines.

And here is the finished version!  Just need to spray a top coat of clear sealant and we're good to go.

I love the way it turned out and it makes me smile every time I walk through our gate!  

A New Chair Project?

I'm going to take a look at this chair today.  It's a craigslist find (a steal at only $25!) and I'm thinking it would be the perfect desk chair in our guest room.  Envision it upholstered in a really fun graphic fabric and the wood painted white (of course).  What do you think?  Not that I really need another chair project... I have two in the basement that need to be redone as well, but I just can't help myself.  I'm addicted to chairs.

DIY 5 Minute Summer Scarf

Now that the weather is getting warmer, I need a few more summer scarves (an oxymoron, I know, but I love the look) to add to my repertoire.  I love the circle scarves at American Apparel but decided to make my own.  They're beyond easy to make. 

I bought a yard of jersey fabric at Mood for $12.  (And can I just say that I have so much more respect for the contestants on Project Runway... I have no idea how they select their fabrics so quickly.  I was in Mood for an hour and a half trying to pick out fabric for just one scarf!)  This piece of fabric was large enough so that I could cut it in half lengthwise and make two scarves out of it.

There is no need to hem the sides of the jersey fabric because it doesn't fray.  Although you certainly could if you wanted a more finished look.

Next fold the fabric in half and line up the open edges.

Pin the edges together.

Zip the pinned together edges through your sewing machine with the zig zag stitch.  (I was testing on a different piece of fabric in these next few pics... sorry I don't have pics of the original.)

For the life of me, I still can't sew in a straight line.  But this is a simple project and perfection is not necessary.  It will be bunched up and wrapped around so you won't even see the seam. Trim off the excess fabric.

Here's the seam line flipped right side out.  See?  Looks fine, crooked seam and all.

And here is the finished scarf!  It literally took about 5 minutes to make and looks so chic.  You can wear it looped once...

or looped twice.  It's lightweight, comfy and is the perfect spring/summer accessory for any outfit. 

Chair Makeover on Design*Sponge

 

Whoohoo!  My chair makeover has been featured today on Design*Sponge!  Click here to check it out.  For those of you visiting from Design*Sponge, welcome!  Please stay awhile and browse through my projects, calligraphy and photos of my French Bulldog, Navy. 

Lamp Makeover

I inherited this lamp from my mom's cousin quite some time ago.  I love the combination of wood and plaster with brass grooves but the plaster was chipping and the brass was badly tarnished.  It was time for a makeover.  Plus, I was thinking about purchasing a new lamp from Room and Board for a corner of our living room but after some thought this one would work just fine.

The lamp has a signature on it and after a quick Google search I discovered that it was made by Fine Arts in Plaster.  According to Google, the time period is Mid-Century Modern and it's counterparts are selling on ebay for $150!  Oops... too late now.  Makeover it is.

The first thing I did was replace the electrical cord.  If this lamp really is Mid-Century Modern, that means the electrical dates back to the 1950's.  Definitely time for an upgrade!  A Make-A-Lamp Kit from Home Depot did the trick.

Unfortunately I don't have any pictures of the rewiring but it was very simple.  I followed the instructions on the package and I made sure to take a picture of the lamp before I disassembled it. That way, putting it back together would be a snap.  Before I reassembled the lamp, I cleaned all of the brass pieces with a lemon and salt scrub to remove as much of the dirt, grime and tarnish as I could.

Next I painted the plaster base with a Crevecoeur Grey Martha Stewart paint sample from Home Depot, much like the one pictured below.  I was too lazy to sand and prime the lamp so it took several coats of paint to get the coverage I wanted. 

Since the brass grooves were badly tarnished and impossible to clean I thought that gold leafing them would make them pop.  I purchased a gold leaf starter kit from Amazon and after the base had dried I gold leafed each individual circular groove.  Once again, I don't have any pictures from the gold leafing process but it was pretty easy if not slightly tedious.  I just used a paint brush to apply the adhesive to the grooves and then I used a Q-tip to burnish on a tiny piece of the gold leaf.  Lastly, I used the same paint brush to apply the sealer on each one.  It was time intensive but I enjoyed the process.  I watched Love Story and The Sting while gilding.  Gold Leafing + Old Movies = Fun!

Lastly, I purchased a drum lampshade from Lamps Plus.  I wanted a barrel lampshade because the lamp will reside on our windowsill and space will be tight.  This simple shade measures 8x11" and  looks great with the lamp.

I made a quick trip to Mood (of Project Runway fame and yes, Mood is on my list for a Shopping in the City post!) and purchased a yard of linen fabric to cover the lampshade.  A yard was more than enough fabric, in fact I had enough fabric leftover to cover another shade and still had some to spare. 

I used Isabella and Max Room's fabulous step-by-step tutorial to covering a lampshade.  I used fabric adhesive and since the shade was a barrel shape, it was super easy to wrap the linen fabric around it.

Finally I had some gold grosgrain ribbon from Kate's Paperie in my ribbon stash and it was the perfect accent to add to the shade.  I used the fabric adhesive and applied it on top of the linen.

And here is the finished lamp!  I love the way it turned out even though it was a month long process.  There were a lot of steps involved but it was well worth the effort.  It's unique and really adds an element of interest to our living room.

The lamp resides on the windowsill in the corner of our living room and is the perfect reading lamp.  I love it!

 

Cost Breakdown:

Make-A-Lamp-Kit: $9

Martha Stewart Paint Sample: $3

Gold Leafing Kit: $10

Drum Lampshade: $20

One Yard of Linen Fabric: $14

Ribbon: Free (already purchased)

TOTAL: $56

(Not bad, considering I was thinking about spending around $150 to get a new corner reading lamp)

Lessons in Letterpress

Yesterday I took a 6 hour course on letterpress at The Arm located in Brooklyn, NY. I've been wanting to take this class for quite some time and I'm so glad I finally signed up for it. As you know, I'm absolutely adore all things letterpress so I thought it was high time I learned more about this fascinating process. The great thing about The Arm is that once you take the class, you are able to use the studio by the hour so I'm hoping you'll start seeing my designs in letterpress form soon!

The Arm studio

We started off by learning about printing on the Vandercook Universal Press. These days most letterpress pieces are printed using photopolymer plates. That is, (in exceedingly simplified terms) you send your computer generated design to a company who turns your design into a raised "plate". You place your "plate" on the letterpress machine, roll ink over the design and "press" the paper over it to create the indented design. But the majority of this class was spent learning how to print using wood and metal type.

Vandercook Universal Press

Wood Type Set

Using the wood and metal type was absolutely fascinating to me. It's hard to imagine that back in the day all printed pieces were set by hand. Each individual letter and space is it's own block. Not only that but printers had to set everything backwards. It's so easy to take print and design for granted these days. I mean, I spend hours designing printed pieces using a computer. All I have to do is use the delete key, make a few clicks with the mouse and then press print. Imagine the time, skill and manual labor it took to print a book!

So my class partner, Caroline and I decided to re-create the "Keep Calm and Carry On" poster.
We used the wooden type, centered it with "furniture" blocks and set it on the Vandercook press.

Furniture blocks neatly ordered by size.

The finished product!

We also learned how to use the C&P Pilot press, a smaller hand operated press used for undersized printed pieces. This time we used the metal type, which if you can believe, is even more tedious than setting the wood type.

C&P Pilot

Inking the rollers.

Metal type set made out of lead.

My name and address set in a "frame" on the C&P Pilot press.

A menu set with metal type.

I had so much fun learning about the letterpress process and I'm excited to do some of my own printing very soon. If you're as captivated by typesetting and letterpress as I am, you might enjoy this video from 1947 entitled: Your Life Work Series, Printing by the Vocational Guidance Films. It's a little long but definitely worth a watch. It truly makes you appreciate the craftsmanship of old fashioned printing. I'm so happy letterpress has not become a dying art form and interest in it continues to grow. Buy something letterpressed today!