DIY: Bar Cart and Gold Leaves Mirror

It's been awhile since the Creating with the Stars competition when I  made the bar cart and gold leaves mirror for the Up- Cycle portion. I had so much fun working with Kate as my blogging mentor for the contest. I had found this side table or shelf at a thrift store and envisioned it to look like a sleek bar cart.

                                                                      BEFORE

I took the table apart in order to prime the whole thing (I used an oil based spray). I took the side paneling off too so that I could get a cleaner look. For the paint, I decided on a Kelly green, SW Espalier at 50% and painted three coats. I bought some casters for the cart so that it would be easy to move it around.

The mirror: I already had a round shaped mirror which needed a bit of an update so it was perfect to transform it into a larger mirror with gold leaves and give it a sun bust look. I started off using aluminum cans but found that using flashing was more economical. Flashing is a roll of aluminium found in hardware stores (inexpensive $8 for a roll) and sturdier than soda can aluminum.

Materials

Flashing

cutters (for metal)

mallet and scraper ( to make dents for the leaves)

spray paint (Rustoleum Gold)

hot glue

Once the leaves were cut I dented them using a wood block as the base, a scraper (to make the vein) and hammer.

                  We've used this cart for several parties now. I love how festive it can look for any occasion.

We've since used this cart for a bridal shower, that I hosted. It came in handy holding all the things that I didn't want on the food table.

Now, it's turned into a cart for our girl's crafts and summer workbooks. I absolutely love this cart and the numerous ways it can be used.

Side tables are found often at thrift shops and I think they look good when they are updated with paint and casters. Mirrors are often expensive but adding some gold leaves to a mirror doesn't take long and gives it a glamorous look.

Tutorial: DIY Color Block Hutch

Today, I'm sharing my tutorial on how we made our color block hutch for the CWTS contest. I've been meaning to share this on the blog along with my bar cart and aluminum sunburst mirror (which is coming up later this week).

We've been looking for a tall hutch for our dining room, but didn't want to pay the huge price tags which normally come with similar furniture. The alternative is to make it yourself! I found an old buffet table at a local thrift store. It was out dated but sturdy. This was the perfect candidate for the base of the hutch we've been looking for. The  CWTS challenge was just the motivation I needed to make this happen! 

Here's how we made it...

Tutorial: Society Social Melrose Knock-Off Table

When I entered the CWTS contest I had a great idea for a classy knock-off project. I found on Society Social's site the Melrose Console Table which is tres tres chic. However, for $800 its not so chic for my budget. What got me about this table is the color and the fretwork. Oh the fretwork! With some creativity we made this table for under $100. 

                             

                                                                           Society Social Melrose Console Table 

                                           
Learn more about how we made this table: 

Round 3: Up Cycle and A Great Experience in CWTS

                        
What an honor it was to be in the Creating With The Stars Contest, however, I didn't advance to the final round. Thank you to all those who voted for my 'Up Cycle' side-table-turned-bar-cart and mirror-turned-sunburst. I enjoyed making these projects and felt like it was a great transformation. I loved being a contestant and felt like all the projects I worked on showed my best effort and style. One thing is certain, now I can get some sleep! There were some long nights of building, painting, and more painting. It was all worth it because now we get to enjoy some new furniture in our home.

My girls especially love the cart and it's been turned into a 'library' cart or 'grocery store' cart. The cart will be great for anywhere in our house. Currently, it resides in the kitchen and I'm loving the Kelly green I painted it. The mirror made it's way over the fireplace. I'll show you pictures soon. I took photos of the knock off table and the bar cart in our office space, which I haven't shown on the blog yet since I haven't even come up with ideas yet on how to decorate the space. However, I painted one wall a bright white in there and I think its so clean and fresh feeling that I might paint the whole space white now.

Being in the Creating With The Stars contest was a major group effort. My husband, Steve helped me build the knock off Melrose Console table and helped me build our hutch for our Paint project. I couldn't have done it without him! We had a lot of fun together staying up late and working together. My blogging mentor Kate was super encouraging, helped me style and edit my photos. I learned a lot about styling a photo from her, and I think my skills improved. Thank you Kate for all your help! With the bar cart, I had fun with punches of color from the citrus, flowers and gumballs which all gave it a festive look. My four daughters were also so cute asking me questions about my projects and being excited for the contest. They didn't seem to mind how neglected our house got while I worked on other things.

I was hoping to make it into the final round of the contest, but I know I did my best and I am grateful for the experience. I will be putting tutorials of my projects on the blog soon. Let's take a look at some of the other projects that kept me in the contest:

 The Society Social Melrose Knock-Off table turned out to be a beauty! 

 For the Paint category I updated an old buffet table into a hutch using a color block technique. I love the different shades of blue in here and those long modern handles.

Here's even a peak inside the cabinet. This tutorial will be up soon. 

Now I will focus on some of the other projects that got put on the back burner while I was in the contest like painting more furniture, reupholstering my phantom sofa in our library and starting to work on our yard. Thanks for all your support you guys!

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Spring Updates and Week 3 Voting

             

                          

I hope you all had a lovely weekend. My family and I enjoyed some overdue sunshine and did some Spring cleaning and organizing. Organizing is contagious for me because once I've organized one thing, I'm ready to tackle the next area. I also turned in my latest project for the UPCYCLE week for the CWTS contest. The voting is open to all Monday and Tuesday. Go vote HERE and then come back on Wednesday and I can show you which one was mine! I really like how my project turned out and can't wait to start putting up some tutorials soon.

This past Saturday, East Coast Creative featured my tutorial for the Baby Blues Hutch. You can go see how we made it HERE.

Lighter and more pastel colors are inspiring me for this time of year. There are a few areas in our home that can really be affordablely updated with color, fabric and texture. I came up with a few categories that I want to spruce up: the sofa, the table, and the walls.

Spring Updates by tracylaverty 

Pillows:   1/       2/         3/      4 / 

Table:   1/       2/        3/      4/

Art:       1/         2/        3/       4/ 

                                             Have you started doing any Spring updating? I would love to hear about it. 

We Made It To Round 3 of CWTS

THANK YOU to all of you who voted for our Color Block Hutch! I am thrilled to be the top three of the Creating With The Stars Contest and to advance to the next round  I love how this beat up thrift store table went from blah to sleek with some paint, new hardware, oh, and a hutch to top it off. I definitely stepped out of my painting "comfort zone" for this project but I absolutely love the way it turned out. I used four different blues in the cubbies to create a unique look. I love how the blues play together to create a fun color-block look. 

I'll be giving a full tutorial on East Coast Creative's blog on Saturday. Many thanks to my blogging mentor, Kate, from Centsational Girl who is amazing to work with and is ultra creative. Also, my dear husband Steve, gets some major brownies points as he helped me design and build the hutch and stayed up into the wee hours painting with me! 

What I love about this contest is that I'm getting some major projects done because there's a deadline. I had a friend tell me she should just tell her husband they made it into a contest so that they have to get things done too. I laughed so hard! I can't wait to show you my  UPCYCLE project that I'm working on for this week. The contest is down to six people so all the projects will be up for another round of voting on Monday. 

What do you think: would you try a color block style shelf in your home? 

CWTS Voting Week 2 and Mount Vernon

                       
I turned in my second project for the East Coast Creative Contest. You can go HERE to vote for your favorite PAINT project. The voting is open Monday and Tuesday and you only have one vote (that's the tricky part because its hard to choose). I'm so pleased with the way the my paint design came out. I'll let you know which one is mine on Wednesday.


Speaking of paint, I was completely inspired by a historical home I visited last week. I went to George and Martha Washington's home, Mount Vernon, on a field trip with my daughter's class. Mount Vernon is one of my favorite historical homes and I couldn't pass up a field trip there! The day we went it was drizzly with rain and chilly (note: go to Mount Vernon when it's a warm sunny day, you'll be much happier).

I absolutely love touring historical homes. There is much to learn about design and architecture. Even celebrities today are influenced in design by historical homes like Rob Lowe and his wife designed their California home to look similar to Mount Vernon.

                                                                       Architectural Digest
I wasn't allowed to take pictures inside because it is a preserved home. However, I gathered some examples of some of the bold painted rooms to show you just how timeless these styles still are today. In the 18th century, it was a sign of wealth when you used bold colors in your home. Thank goodness paint is more affordable in our day.

Talk about a 'wow' effect with varying shades of turquoise and green in the grand dining room. The Washington's hosted many people in their home and I imagine they used their dining rooms often. Washington said about his home, that it was a "well resorted tavern."

The parlor has some of the best examples of colonial Virginia architecture (the columns lining the door and the fireplace mantel) and was painted in a "fashionable Prussian blue."

The smaller dining space is a bright green with gold frames. The picture doesn't show underneath the table is a black and white checkerboard inset.

The library might not be considered bold, but it is warm with the honey colored wood and a black door, which looks classic.

                                         (All interior photos via)
Aren't these rooms gorgeous? I know I'm inspired to be more bold with my paint. How about you? Have you gone bold in a room in your home?

Art By Way Of Glue Gun and Creating With The Stars: Round 1

Sometimes all you need to make unique art is use a glue gun and found objects. This little agate art is a favorite of mine. My girls and I bought these at the National Natural History Museum in D.C. They had so much fun picking out different little colored stones and agates. Now it can be displayed in our home. (The table is a great thrift store find with a marble top!)

Every summer we collect shells and sea glass at the beach. Again, it was easy to use a glue gun to stick all the shells onto a linen backing and frame it. 

                                             
                                                                       via
You don't even need a fancy big glue gun. I get the cheap ones and they do the trick.

 Part of making a gallery wall for our home is putting up art that has meaning. I made this simple L shape out of buttons and hot glued them down to the linen backing. Voila! Instant art gratification!

One more thing.................

                     

I've been pretty busy this past week working on my secret knock-off project for Creating With The Stars Contest. I can't tell you which one is mine, right now, since the contest needs to remain anonymous. You can go to East Coast Creative blog to vote for your favorite knock off project. The voting is open Monday and Tuesday and they will announce the winners on Wednesday. I can't wait to show you mine! This contest is super huge and I'm crazy excited to be a contestant.

Giveaway Winner!

Thank you for everyone who signed up for my first Giveaway! (I randomly drew a name the old fashioned way using an excel spreadsheet- I know so glamorous!) The Handmade Home art books are a dream and the lucky winner of all three books:

The winner is....

Treesa!

Treesa, you'll be hearing from me! Congratulations!

On a side note: I've been working on my first project for Creating With The Stars (CWTS) contest! You guys, I'm so excited!  My first project, "a knock-off" is due Saturday and they'll be showing the top twelve contestants' projects on Monday on East Coast Creative. To level the playing field, each contestant needs to remain anonymous, so you won't know which project is mine, but you can vote for your favorite projects. Oh, and how amazing is it that I'm being mentored through this whole contest by none other than Centsational Girl! This girl has a great eye for design and is an DIY expert.

I had little helpers at the paint store with me the other day. My love for paint samples is being passed onto my girls as they help me get ready for my projects. Can't wait to show you the things going on here!