DIY Project #2

First, let me preface this story by saying.. I still have my pinky toe.

So, now... on Saturday we began our Antique-ing journey. We were on the hunt for either an old mantle for the house or old window panes for some cool ideas I found on Pinterest. We probably went to about 7 different antique/flea-market places Saturday morning and ta da... we found old window panes.... well, they aren't window panes they are old cabinet doors. Here is what they looked like when we bought them:

Yes, I know. Not in wonderful condition. Paint was peeling off in a big time way. But they are just the right size for a future project. So, I bought them for $40 bucks. $20 bucks a door. The guy originally quoted us $45 for the pair... but our great (not really) negotiating skills saved us $5 bucks. I hope that we paid a fair price. So... that was my first cost... $40.

Well, we thought we can just peel slash sand this paint right off. And yes, a good majority was just falling off with every step we took or minor touch. We set up shop with me in a little stadium seat and Rob in a lawn chair out in our empty parking garage and began peeling and sanding away with me in Rob's work gloves and Rob in his mountain biking gloves. Yeah I know.. we aren't pros. Bad news: the paint that was really on there was not going to just come off. We only had 100 grit sandpaper on us and we were getting nowhere fast on the paint that was really on there still. Rob was just really sanding away... but I'm like, I think we need some paint thinner/stripper. At first, he wasn't for it... but I'm all about efficiency and not having to work harder than I have to. And I could see that even if we sanded for the next 4 days we wouldn't be done.

So, we headed off to Home Depot. Which meant that we bought Paint Stripper and then we had to buy two paint scrapers. So that was another $20 bucks. Why do my DIY projects that aren't supposed to cost very much end up costing me at least $50 dollars? So unfair.

So we get back. Again, we set up shop in the parking garage. Between a BMW & Mercedes. HAHAHAHA. Thank goodness the owners didn't see us spraying that paint stripper near their cars, they would have freaked. And no.. this story does not end up with us spraying this stuff their cars. They are intack. Just how we left them. So, we sprayed my doors in our usual clothes and sandals. And then we started scraping. It tooks us about 2 to 3 hours hours to get all of the paint off of these suckers.

It was also way harder thanI thought it would be. Not to mention that we used this little table that I have and the paint stripper also burned a hole through my table and got black paint on my doors that I then had to also scrape off. This also makes a big gooey mess. I had never worked with the stuff before.. how was I supposed to know??? At one point... I realized that my pinky toe was on fire. Apparently, a piece of stripped paint landed on my bare toe. I had to keep checking that it didn't burn off. So yes... the professionals that we are stripped paint in a parking garage in sandals and in between two $70,000 cars. No big deal.  With a burning toe.

Towards the end, I realized that we were probably going to need to sweep up this mess because it was a big mess. Well, do we have a broom? No. So.. this sparks a trip to Walgreens. So, I pick up the keys and drive across the street to pick up a broom and dust pan. One would think the dust pan would come with the broom.. but no. This required two purchases... plus a bottle of water because I knew Rob was thirsty.... tho why we didn't just get some from the apartment I don't know..but I thought it seemed like a nice wifely thing to do when I got to go to the store while Rob was paint stripping away. That was another $20 purchase. Note to self: Walgreens is not the place to buy ANY cleaning supplies.

Buy the time I got back, Rob had finished up a couple of trouble spots that had needed to be sprayed with the paint stripper a second time. So, I began sweeping up my big mess with this stupid broom whose head kept coming loose, but cost me $10 and I didn't even get a dust pan!!

Then, we finished sanding them down. You can really smell their real wood smell... if I was my dad I would be able to tell you what wood they are made from, but I am not and I have no idea. But they smell good. So, all we accomplished was stripping and sanding them down. Next, I'm either going to stain them or paint them.... but I won't decide that until we move and I know exactly where I'm going to put them.

So, I'm another $80 down and one more DIY project experienced. Luckily, I still have all 10 toes, too. So does Rob for that matter. Here's the cabinet doors after we finished stripping them back to their natural state.

Happy Coasters!

So, this weekend, I decided to become a DIY'er. Wait, don't get too excited. It's just coasters. But, don't they look fabulous?! Rob and I are on a tight budget until we close on our house, so I can't do my usual thing which is shopping. AND, I have like two weddings that are coming up plus Mother's Day. So... that makes sticking to a budget pretty hard because I really, really love buying gifts.

But first, let me tell you how I found the idea. I've joined Pinterest. Finally. I've seen it, I've heard about it... but I never made the jump. That thing is AMAZING. It has given me so many ideas on things I want to try. It is there that I found this fabulous idea. Here is the link to the blog that I found. I won't regurgitate all the steps or anything as this lovely lady did a great job of explaining how it goes down... and she didn't miss a beat. I followed her instructions to the T.

Click Here for How-To Make Fabulous Coasters

Let me just say, my plan was to spend about $20 on this project. That kind of didn't work. Nothing is ever as cheap as I think its going to be. It was mainly because I didn't have ANY of the right equipment. Here's what I had to buy:

I needed Mod Podge, Waterproof Acrylic Spray, Waterproof Glue, a Foam Brush, Tiles, Cork and last but not least... paper to decorate those pretty little tiles with. I started off at Lowe's to get the tile and the waterproof acrylic spray. I decided I was going to make 3 sets of coasters with 6 in a set. For three different weddings that are occurring beginning in June. I bought 20 for two messups (because lets face it... I rarely do anything right the first time... especially when it comes to glue). I also bought some acrlyic spray under the Rustoleum brand. And then, we went to Michaels to get the rest of the supplies.

The cork and the acrylic spray is what kind of crushed my $20 budget. Each of those were about $7.99. So, I think hit about $30-$35 after I had bought everything plus an X-acto knife (how else was I going to cut all those squares for the tile plus the cork that goes on the bottom??)

And on Saturday night the festivities began. It was me and a side table on the floor. But, Rob definitely helped too. The hardest part was the letter that I decided to put on the coaster of the couple's last name. I had to get it sized correctly and then make it a stencil. Let's be real here.... I cannot free-hand 18 letters and them all come out looking the same. So, I traced them. And then colored them in. I'm a huge fan of tracing. Best thing ever. It's like pretending you can draw and the end result makes it look like you can draw. I cannot draw, however.

At first, I was going to cut out the black ones that I had printed out on the computer, but I didn't like how that created a "raised" surface on the coaster. Didn't figure that'd be a stable surface for a cup holding liquid in it to rest on. So, I traced the letters and then used a permanent marker to make it bold. That took forever.

Actually, by Saturday night I had only made it through one letter! Eeek! It was 1 AM before Rob was helping me spray the waterproof acrylic spray. That's where things went wrong. The spray turned all my work yellow. BOO!!!

So, come Sunday, I returned the Rustoleum and bought another brand, Miniwax. And I had to start all over. Well, my two extra weren't enough so I only made 12 because my previous 6 had to be trashed plus the one tester I made. And that took me ALL of Sunday. It was quite the long project for coasters. Seems a little insane when you really think about. It was all due to that stupid letter. It was so time consuming to cut the letter, trace it, and then color it in. Plus you got to add in the dry time for the mod podge and acrylic spray But, never fear... I sprayed my THIRD coat of the waterproof spray at 9 PM on Sunday with absolute NO yellowness.

P.S. I was a virgin mod-podger, but this stuff is pretty darn cool. Gives stuff a nice little texture.

So, here they are. If you're reading this and your last name starts with an F or a W and are getting married, you might be getting some coasters in the mail. Just know.. I made them out of love. I can't guarantee their life span. And, I took them to work to get my co-workers approval... so I think they are legit.

So, here's to my first DIY experience. Happy Coasters Everyone!