Kitchen Art Update & How To Hang With Anchors

 

Last week I finally hung the picture up on the other wall, after weeks of the picture leaning against the wall on the floor. 

Its not like its hard to hang a picture but it was just on the bottom of my long to do list. 

I still need to sand and paint over the holes on the wall the picture was on.

and I still need to paint the other chair

Here is an older photo where you can slightly see the picture on the other wall, it was also placed too high. 

 

Whenever I need to hang anything heavy and this picture is heavy and can't screw screws into a stud I use anchors or you call them wall fasteners. 

You also dont need to worry about when your kids running around the house and knocking things off the 

 walls.

So today I'm going to share the how to on this

There are so many different anchors or wall fasteners but I typically have these on hand and I've used these the most. 

The first thing you need to do with hanging anything is measuring, this needs to be 100% accurate to insure you hang your art or small shelves evenly.

I take my measuring tape and measure the exact spot where the hanger sits on the screw to the other hanger and then using a pencil I mark that on the wall I'm hanging on. I measure the distance from the hanger on the art and the top of the frame to know where it will be on the wall. Then I use my level and straight edge to to make it even. 

note: Take your time and measure twice , its not any fun if your art or shelf is crooked after installing the anchors otherwise you have to fill the holes and try again. 

level and straight edge

 the other tools you need 

measuring tape 

pencil

nail setter

hammer

screwdriver

drill

With your wall marked and ready 

get your hammer and nail setter 

and hammer the nail setter into the hole you marked. 

This makes the hole so you can screw the anchor in. 

now get your anchor 

and I prefer to hand screw the anchor in, I use my ratcheting screwdriver so its faster and easy. Sometimes with a power-drill you can strip the anchors.

now that its in

drill your screw in using a power-drill

depending on the hanging hardware your screw might need to stick out a little more

now follow these steps again for the other side

once you hang your picture or shelf check to see its level 

its level

and finished.

This is defiantly a good thing to learn, I use to have to wait for my guy to do it and then I decided I had to learn so I can get it done when I wanted it.

note: I only know how to attach anchors to drywall I've never done it on any other material.

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Hall Lamps Makeover Part 1 { Fabric Lampshade Tutorial }

On Friday I gave these lampshades a makeover

I new when I bought them I'd redo them, I'm not much of a purple fan. They were only $4.98 each. 

To make these I picked up quilting fabric at Joann Fabric, it was $4.99 a yard and on sale for 25% off a yard. I bought 2 yards, but have plenty left. 

1. I used fabric, fabric scissors, glue and trim. I also used chalk and pins to hold the fabric in place while drying.

2. I pulled the purple trim off, measured my lampshade and marked it on the fabric. I cut two strips out at once so I wouldn't have to do it again. 

3.  I rolled the fabric around the shade and made sure it fit nicely. Then I started applying glue on the top and bottom and did up and down stroked on the shade to make sure the fabric wouldn't be loose anywhere.

4. For the seam I made sure it would start and end at the seam on the shade and trim off excess fabric and folded the fabric over and glued and pin it.

5. Once dried, I trimmed of the excess fabric on the top and bottom and I basically just hold the shade in the middle and turn it around while trimming, you want to make sure once to add the trim no fabric is showing through the top or bottom. 

6.  Now add the trim, I picked up cotton 1/2 inch twill, I like how it was soft you can see almost a chevron design in it.

I just glued the trim on and made sure it was on the edge and pin in place. Then I did the bottom trim. 

And that's it.

 much better then before. 

I painted the lamps also on my harvest table in the hall, that's what these shades are for, I will post part 2 another time.

Pallet Crate on wheels

With some left over pallet boards I wanted to make something rustic for under my new pallet 

table so I thought maybe a crate. Then I went on Ana Whites website and found a plan on

crates made from pallets...I didn't follow her measurements or how they made the sides, I

had to make it fit under the table and use what i had on hand. So I drew out my own design.

this is mine

this is hers

This is how I made mine

It might be hard to tell everything blends together here, this is our miter saw workbench, so we can cut long pieces of wood and my other half built it, hes very handy.
I sanded the pieces and measured and marked them with a pencil, then I cut them with the miter saw.....I'm a lot more comfortable using it after getting lesson with my teacher (my man) which basically was him doing it and telling me what not to do so I dont cut my fingers off.

 

{this is a photo of it upside down}

once I cut them I place the bottom pieces with the spacing apart and the two top sides and nailed them together, (I tuner it upside down to do this) I used nails at first and eventually when the other half came home he hooked up the nail gun for me to use...much easier. Then the long sides went up and then

I made 4 post for the corners so you can easily add the boards and nail them to the post

I wasn't actually nailing while taking this photo, for safety reasons.

I also spaced them apart, and used a thin piece of wood to put in place while I nailed so the spacing was the same for each piece.

And here it is after putting the rest of the boards up

I did not fill any holes, I'm keeping it very rustic......or maybe I was to lazy.

The inside

I was trying to go for the "recycled" look like on Ana white's but I only had large lower case stencils and the Y did not fit to good. But I decided to leave it. After I let the paint dry, I used black chalkboard paint, and sanded it down to wear it out.

I bought a simple 4 pack wheels the the Depot and screwed them on

side shot

Our pup Zoey likes to be in all of the pictures...typical girl

I'm also going to make rope handles, as soon as I get the rope!

So I had fun building this, and I think making these smaller for shelves would be nice to, you could even paint them, I didn't use any sealer or anything, just sanded to be smooth.  Don't forget to check out Ana White's site, she has great furniture plans.....even  a plan on building parson chairs....my favorite is the picnic style table without the bench.

What would you want to build?

Please Stop by My Simply Creations Link Party......and Stop by MY FIRST GIVEAWAY                               

d.i.y pallet sofa table

Pallet Sofa Table: Done

I'm finished with my pallet sofa table! I might not be that great at writing tutorials but I'm going to try my hardest at explaining, always feel free to email me for questions if needed

It would look a lot better with out the hideous  carpet...pretend its not there okay? I just remind myself someday hardwood floors, wide planks....okay so on with how I made this table.

Also it rained again today so the photos might be a little dark.

I made mine 47 inches long and 25 inches tall with legs.

I used 3 boards from a pallet, we have a bunch of them sitting around and I couldn't help myself I needed a table behind my sofa and I needed it to be the right height,width and length.

 It all depends on what size you want, if you want to make one.

Gloves, hammer and crowbar is what you should use to take them apart, I forgot the glove part and my hands are still rough. 

The table legs: I found in our scrap wood pile from a old table, so I clean them off and we had to shorten the length, which had to be done at the bottom of the legs. 

note: you can buy standard height legs at Home Depot or build them.

this is 2 out of the 3 before I sanded them 

You really need to sand the boards from a  pallet, they are usually very rough.

sanded

wood filler to fill the holes, you can skip this is you want a super rugged look

Just apply a lot and I dont smooth it out I leave a big glop and sand over it when its dry

Lay out the boards with the side you want down

I didn't get pictures because my other half came in and started taking over before I could get my camera. He only helped a little, and hooked up the nail gun.

I took smaller boards from another pallet for the sides, and had scrap wood for the ends and for support for the legs. We nailed 3 boards on the underside, cut to fit for support for the table top.

this is what the legs looked like when I found them

This is how the legs are attached, the side board is nail into the legs and the side of the table and there's piece of wood in between them for added support. 

We used a nail gun for everything and then i put screws for the legs for extra durability, also used wood glue before nailing the pieces, except in between the boards for the top, I wanted it to be spaced apart a little bit.

I wish I took better step by step directions, maybe I'll have to make another one.

Here it is done but not stained yet

Here it is completed

I used Minwax water based stain in Slate, this way you can still see all the beautiful wood grains and rough spots.

I used my blue opps paint, and a antique glaze on the legs.

I painted under the table the same color as the legs

I used a brush to apply the stain all over and then rubbed it in with a cotton cloth. I only did 2 coats. I didnt want it to be too dark. 

And the blue adds a nice pop of color

I'm really proud of myself for putting this table together, I really did it on a whim, I didn't even draw out a design first. 

I recycled old wood into something fabulous! 

I'm grateful for the help from my man and for him bringing all those pallets and scrap wood home. 

cost for this pallet table

$2 for wood screws

$10 for stain

$9 for sealer

everything else..already owned!

total =  $21.00

Have any questions...email me

Tomorrow i will show off my crate on wheels to go under this pallet sofa table

Also would like to note:

For my fabric rug tutorial

read about it here
Check out Judy's blog DIY by Design, its such a lovely blog! You can also join her party she started today. 

linking to these parties