projects

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Spray Painting for Beginners

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Hello Friends… I was going to title this post spray painting for dummies, but I wanted to boost my self-confidence. Therefore… I named it Spray Painting for Beginners. Yes… I am a beginner! I have done a few spray painting projects but haven’t mastered it yet. In fact not even close. My paint is too thick, it drips, it never covers the entire project, and overall it doesn’t look professional.

What am I doing wrong??

As a beginner… here is the who, what, where, when, why, and how’s of spray painting. 

Who can spray paint?? 
Anybody can!! If I can do it… so can you, no joke. Even kids can. My girls and their cousins spray painted the grass for our big Easter Egg Hunt. Just don’t use it for illegal purposes, please.

 

What type of spray paint should I get??

After all the research that I come across you need a good spray paint. The cheap kind doesn’t last long, and isn’t good quality.
Here are some trusted brands:
1. Rust-Oleum®
2. Krylon®
3. Valspar®

I got mine from Home Depot.


Where and when should I spray paint?
You should spray paint in a well ventilated area. In a garage, outside, on your backyard patio, etc.  Use when temperature is between 50-90 degrees F. You should spray paint on a hot, dry, not windy, or dusty day. Trust me… from my own experience don’t spray paint on a windy day. It doesn’t work! I had to move inside to my garage to finish my project. Remember to cover your surroundings areas with tarps, old blankets, or a painters drop cloth. Cover anything and everything that you don’t want spray paint on, because this stuff goes everywhere!

Brooke from All Things Thrifty has an amazing post found here, that she describes what she knows about spray painting, and Jenna from s.a.s interiors has a great post here. These are great reads!!

How should I spray paint?
Tip 1: Start with a great surface.  Make sure it is clean and ready to go. Don’t just start spraying. I did this to one of my glass jars I found at Goodwill and I had left the sticker on, oops! If you are painting furniture you will want to sand it first, and then wipe with a damp cloth.
Tip 2: Prep your work area.
Tip 3: Prime everything first! Primer gives something for the paint to stick too.
Tip 4: Shake up that can! I am a very impatient person and wanted to just take off the lid and start spraying but you cannot do this. You need that mixing ball to get all the spray paint mixed up. Shake-shake- shake-and keep shaking during your entire project.

I have never heard of this but you could try this product.

Photo courtesy of Sassy Style Redesign.

Tip 5: Spray lights coats of paint at least 7-10 inches away. The trick to spray paint is use several light coats across your item in a back and forth motion. The trick to no drips is releasing the trigger at this point and letting it dry.  Two thin coats is better than one thick coat which causes it to drip!

Queen B and Me shows this video that you must see! It really is the right way to spray paint!


Why should I spray paint?
It cost effective, and it is fun!
Here are few links and examples of great spray painting projects:

I am in love with this bench from Tater Tots and Jello

I am in love with this chair from Sassy Style Redesign. You will want to read her tips here!

I am in love with this mailbox makeover from The Frugal Homemaker.

I am in love with these spray painted tissue paper pom-poms from The V Spot. 

I am in love with this project that I did as well!

Here are some more links that I found helpful: 

Diane from In my own Style shows us how to set up a spray booth here.

House of Hepworths shows us two ways to spray paint weird shaped objects, here.

Last but not least… how do I get spray paint off my skin??? Yes… you will get some on you!

This is the best kept secret I think. It really does work.! White House Black Shutters gives us an amazing tip here.

Well… I think that covers all the what, where’s, whens, whys and how’s of spray painting. I think I am better equipped to start a new spray painting project. I have really learned something from all of these amazing tips and sites. I think I can conquer my drips, my runs, and my unprofessional looks.
Wish me luck.

Now… what are you going to spray paint next??

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Pin It-Teacher Appreciation

Posted on by webmaster

In three weeks on May 7th is Teacher Appreciation Day. That whole week, May 6-10, 2013 is Teacher Appreciation Week. Let us show our love and support for those that teach and touch our little ones lives.
I have a great love for teachers. First, my dad was a teacher for 25+ years. He taught Drivers Education and yes he did teach me how to drive! Second, I have had so many teachers over the years that have influenced my life. I remember being a teachers aide to a wonderful teacher in High School!
I was enrolled in her science class my first year in high school and we hit it off and then the next two years I was her aide. I helped her with a lot of projects, grading, etc, but she really helped me by being my friend!
To this day I can remember her name, her face, her love, her knowledge, her wisdom, and her belief in me. Yes, Teachers can and do make a difference!

I have three girls in elementary school right now and I love their teachers. They work really hard at helping my girls succeed at school. They are wonderful teachers!

Here are some Teacher Appreciation ideas that can used:
I have done this jar from Seasons of Joy, and the cute poem with it. 
My sister did this one recently for her son’s teacher.
Here is my gift for the girls teachers this year:
We have pinned you to our “Favorite Teacher” board. 

To do this you will need:
1 small glass jar
pins (small and or large ones)
cork letter
printable
bakers twine
Instructions:
Dump all of the large and small pins into a bowl, to mix up. Fill up your small glass jar with pins, but be careful, they are sharp. I  just dug the jar into the bowl and filled them up that way. Fill to just below the top so that the lid fits on it. 
Print off free printable. 
You can download this free printable by clicking on the image and then right-click to save to your computer!

Cut out and pin the free printable to the cork letter (which happens to be the letter of one of my girls teachers name, Ms. K) with a pin, but make sure the pin doesn’t go all the way through the cork letter.
I had my daughter cut out the circle and then sign her name.

Tie the cork letter to the jar. 
So.. cute huh??
I know.. I know.. I am a little addicted to pinterest, but this idea came to me. 
*I found the small glass jar at the dollar store and as well as some small pins. I found the larger pins at Hobby Lobby, Target, Wal-Mart. I found the cork board letters at Hobby Lobby. ** The cork board letter can be optional but I loved the added element it gave the jar!
I hope that all teachers know that we really do appreciate what they do to… shape, mold, teach and inspire our little ones!!
Thank you for your time, talents, and teaching!
You have been pinned to our “Favorite Teacher” board!!
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Laptop Desk Portable Bed Tray

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The other night I got into bed with my laptop. It was funny because my husband was already in bed with his. I had my Mac sitting on a pillow on my lap. I had my back against the wall trying to get comfortable with pillows. It just wasn’t happening. My laptop was getting very hot on my lap and so I put it on a pillow. The pillow was not holding my laptop. It kept falling off the pillow. I couldn’t type at all.  I briefly mentioned to my husband that I needed a tray to put my laptop on.

Ding ..Ding.. Ding.. as Gru from Despicable Me would say, LightBulb!!!

Image from Here
I looked around town in different stores and come to found out, you cannot find breakfast trays in stores. I also knew that it had to fold up for easy storage and so I googled breakfast trays and found one that I liked. I ordered mine from here. 
Once it was delivered, I opened my package and started using it right away to see if it would work and if I liked it. Yes, I was going to like this! I knew I wanted to make it pretty and so I went to work adding vinyl and paint.
The first step that I did was cover it with vinyl (aka contact paper). I found mine at the Dollar Store. 
Here are a few instructions for applying:
Before starting make sure the surface is smooth and clean. 
Cut slightly more than the required amount as vinyl make shrink. 
Apply by peeling backlining paper and positioning into place, while smoothing out wrinkles and bubbles with your hand or squeegee (I used a library card).
I cut out the size that I needed and it was nice because the vinyl had these lines to help me cut straight.

I peeled it off and put it on the tray.This was a bit tricky at first, but what is great about it is that the vinyl can be removed if you make a mistake, which happened to me more than once. I had it all stuck on and then I noticed that I was a little bit off in one corner, so I just removed the vinyl carefully and started over.

Once I got it close to the edge, I did have to have an extra hand. I stuck it on the tray and started using a card to make sure I got all the bubbles out, and that it was straight.

After the vinyl was applied to the whole tray I used an exacto knife to cut off the extra vinyl around the edges. If you can get your vinyl to line up great! I couldn’t.

A few days later I painted it. My first step was to tape it off. Now I know I could have applied the vinyl after I painted, but this was the process that worked for me.

Ok to be honest I really don’t like painting. To me it is tedious, and it takes a lot of work. People have commented to me…painting is easy!! I struggle with this, because yea it is easy to paint a room, but what about all the prep work?? Taking off the light switch plates, taping the room, baseboards, and I could go on and on but I wont. I just need to get over this because pretty much my whole house is going to be painted in the next year, at least I hope too.

I have helped my husband paint a few rooms in the homes that we have owned, I  just painted my entryway last September, but I have never painted a wood project like this, and I am sure you could just spray paint it, but this is how I did mine.
A few things I did learn was this:
A good paint brush is needed. I had this Purdy Paint Brush from when I painted my entryway. I just used the small one.
A good paint is needed. I used the BEHR Premium Plus Paint and Primer in One, the color being Milestone. If you don’t have any paint on hand, just get a sample from Home Depot. It really should be enough to cover this little project.

I painted the the complete tray one day and this paint has only 1 hour dry time. I did not know this at the time until later when I was reading up on this paint and so I waited overnight and painted the backside the next day. Just be careful when painting the backside and make sure the front side is dry before flipping it over.

Once it is dry you need to seal the paint. The paint was dry but was sticky. I applied a polyurethane coat to the paint once it was dry. Let dry for 9-10 hours. 
I had my husband showcase the final product for me, He He. 

Here is where I store my little beauty, right next to my bed. It is portable so I can take it anywhere, and not only can I use it for my laptop, but I am sure my husband can use it for some breakfast in bed right?? Mothers Day is coming up and I know that my kids like to serve me breakfast in bed, now I have the perfect tray for that too!
This Laptop Desk Portable Bed Tray will be wonderful and I am so excited to start using it, now I just need to make sure to put it away sometimes, to actually talk to my husband while I am in bed, instead of being on my computer or phone all the time right?? Right!!
Enjoy!
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3595 Easter Mantle

Posted on by webmaster
At 3595 we have a HUGE Easter Egg Hunt every year! This year will be our 3rd Annual Easter Egg Hunt. I am so excited! I have been decorating for Easter these last few weeks. I know St. Patrick’s Day is coming and I can’t wait to share with you what we do here at 3595 but that will be in another post coming soon, I promise!
I only had a few decorations for St. Patricks Day and I knew we would have our BIG party, so I have set myself to getting 3595 ready for Easter! 
Here is where I found all my items:
1. Easter Board from merchant Square (In Arizona) from booth 51! Love it!
2. Mr. and Mrs. Easter Bunny from Goodwill- NOT at Easter time. I found these one day wandering around and knew I had to get them. @thegoodwillgal
3. Jars are from Wal-Mart filled with Easter eggs that I got last year at Target on clearance after Easter. 
4. The subway art is from a blog that has been removed. I am sure that you can find some cute Easter subway art on pinterest. (Someday I want to make my own, and I will share my creations with you.)
Here comes my favorite part of the mantle the 
Cottontail DIY Easter Banner! 
As I was setting up my mantle I knew I NEEDED a Easter banner, and I researched and couldn’t find EXACTLY what I was looking for. I was going to use paper, but ended up not having any on hand. I had burlap in my craft stash that I had ordered from this Save on Crafts site. You can get burlap at any local craft store though.  Then this idea came to me, and I LOVE LOVE it!

Here is how I made mine:
Supplies Needed:
Burlap 
Silhouette of Bunny 
(I wanted my facing backwards so you could see the cottontail)
Cotton Balls
Hot Glue Gun
Ribbon
Jute Twine
Step 1: Print your image onto paper and cut it out. 
     Pin it to burlap and cut silhouette out.

Step 2: Hot glue cotton ball onto bunny 
(be very careful not to burn your fingers, and after gluing it, set it up backwards to let the glue dry.)

Step 3: Punch holes with a hole punch in the two ears. 
Lace burlap through holes. 
Step 4: Tie ribbon in between bunnies. 
You could use any ribbon, even Easter. I just used spring ribbon!
Hang!

Thanks for hopping by!