Home Projects Archives - Page 19 of 26 - Ashley Hackshaw / Lil Blue Boo

Painted Wood Plaques – A Tutorial

March 1, 2010 by Ashley Hackshaw

My sister-in-law’s baby sprinkle was this weekend and I made her two painted plaques for her nursery, a LBB dress, and put everything in this great little bucket as my gift:

One wood plaque I made to hang on a wall or door:

…..and the other to hold hair clippies:

These are great little gifts to make on a budget! For each plaque I started out with an pre-cut wood piece from the craft store:

I sprayed the wood piece pink (the color that I wanted the lettering to be) and let it dry:

Next I used letter stickers (from the scrapbook section of the craft store) to spell my niece’s name “Cari”:

For perfect polka dots I used a hole punch to punch tiny vinyl circles from contact paper (adhesive shelf paper)…….

……..and placed the around the edge of the wood plaque. You could use any scrapbook punch shape as well…I wanted to keep it simple:

The stickers and vinyl dots become “reverse stencils”….

…..and I applied my top coat of white spray paint over them:

Once the top coat of spray paint was dry, I carefully peeled off the stickers and dots:

For the “clippie” plaque I took leftover fabric from the nursery rocker reupholstering (so it would match my niece’s nursery perfectly) and folded it in half tucking the ends under:

Then I top stitched around the edges of the fabric:

I attached some hanging hardware……

…..and used two tiny screws to attach the fabric piece to the back (I ran out of staples or I would have used my staple gun):

A finished personalized clippie holder….much better than the generic ribbon hanger I got free with all of my clippies!

For the second plaque I just drilled two holes at the top…….

…..and added wire ribbon to hang:

I signed the back of the plaques with “Aunt” Ashley:

Finally, I made an itty bitty Lil Blue Boo dress….

…..and added everything to a pink metal bucket:

Reupholstering a Nursery Rocker

February 8, 2010 by Ashley Hackshaw

I recently recovered these outdated cushions for my sister-in-law to surprise her while she was in the hospital recovering from a c-section:

My brother-in-law had repainted her black and adding these new cushions completed the whole pink, black and white nursery look for my new niece!

The easiest way to recover foam cushions is to use a seam ripper to remove the old covers and use them as your pattern….then you’ll get a perfect fit!

I carefully removed each cushion cover and pinned each piece to the new fabric to cut out an identical piece:

I marked any pleats with my disappearing ink pen….

….and then pinned them into place.

Matching the pleats, I place the two pieces for this particular cushion together and then sewed all the way around the edges leaving the back open to re-insert the cushion.

Here is the finished bottom cushion turned right side out:

To close the backside of the cushion…

……I turned the edges inward on the backside of the cushion, pinned the together and used a blind stitch to close.

Some cushions are made of multiple pieces and are slightly more difficult….but if you break the cushions down into pieces you can easy recover them as well. Just approach each cushion as its own project!

You can see how this one had two pieces:

I left the cover on the top piece (the piece with all the fancy stitching):

I simply stitched any indentations into the cover…..

……by just adding a stitch through the new fabric and straight through the foam, knotting the thread in the back of the cushion.

Here you can see the stitched indentations. Then I basted the edges of the zebra fabric to the edges of the original cushion cover using a needle and thread.

I laid the 2nd piece of the cushion cover on top of the one just finished…….

……..and pinned the edges together.

Then I carefully sewed the edges together (a little awkward with the thinner cushion attached….but go slowly and it works fine).

Turned the pieces right side out and then inserted the other foam piece.

I didn’t want to have to buy new hardware for the straps that attach the cushion to the chair….so I made tiny sleeves for them….

….and opened up a small area on the back of the cushion with a seam ripper to slide each strap into place and then resewed the cushion shut.

For these side pieces, I didn’t want to mess with the hardware either, so I made slipcovers for them. I just traced the pieces, added seam allowance…..

….and then stitched the sides together. I just serged the ends to finish since they were hidden once attached to the chair.

Finished cushions! Better than new because they were custom!

Perfectly coordinated nursery:

Even the name painting I made my sweet niece Cari before she was born matches!

Screen Printed Drapes & Pillows – A Tutorial

January 27, 2010 by Ashley Hackshaw

My husband has been bugging me for years to add window treatments around the house….but they are always either too expensive or I haven’t found ones I like. So I made my own….and it was so much easier than I thought it would be!

So happy with the result.

I wanted drapes that were simple and elegant but also that fit our informal living style. I love how they “pool” on the floor…..adds a little drama to our everyday living space.

I especially love how the morning sunlight comes through the sheer fabric.

With my leftover fabric I made some simple covers for our existing couch pillows to coordinate the room.

I made the small rectangular pillows from scratch with linen-like fabric.

Tutorial:

Note: Before starting your screen printing you will need to create a screen. See my Screen Printing 101 tutorial on how to create a screen using photo emulsion. If you want to use a simpler design than shown below you can also try the contact paper screen printing method.

Here is the design I created using “damask” dingbats. You are welcome to use it (just click on the image and then save to your desktop). I couldn’t find my original file so this is a scan.

I started with 108″ plain white muslin (using my 40% off coupon it was about $3 a yard). For tops on measuring your window for the amount of fabric needed see my curtain tutorial (with download).

You will need a large area to spread your muslin out onto. I used my back patio, but you could use a driveway as well. Just spread a tarp or large drop cloths out to protect the muslin.

You can use the “fold” lines on the muslin as vertical guides and use a long piece of wood to mark your horizontal guide lines. I used a disappearing ink pen to mark out where my designs would be.

I used Versatex screen printing inks in the colors: Umber and Brown. I added Versatex Fixer which eliminates the “heat setting” step (i.e. no ironing to set the ink).

Mix your inks together (four 4oz tubs was plenty for pillows and drapes). I added a little black to get a darker brown.

Start your printing! Allow yourself to have errors (for character!)…..it will look like you meant to have imperfections. Place your screen flat onto the fabric. You will probably want to have a piece of cardboard underneath each section you are printing (I used flat boxes). Apply a small glob of ink at the top of side of the image……..and pull the ink down the screen with the squeegee. You might have missed some areas so I like to go over it a few times carefully. Do a test run first on a scrap!

The first one is the hardest! Then it gets easy!

You can do several rows at at time. Just keep your tape measure and disappearing ink pen nearby so you can mark guides as you go.

After the first layer has dried, turn your design around and screen the mirror image.

A finished complete image.

A finished drape! I screened in the hot sun and it only took minutes to dry.

Once all my drapes were dry I brought them inside for sewing. For the top of the drapes, I folded the edges over 1.5″ and then over again 1.5″ and sewed all the way across. I didn’t even hem the sides or bottom, I just serged them with white thread. If you want a more finished, formal look see my tutorial on curtains here.

A curtain rod for a 16 foot slider was not really in my budget so I modified a store-bought rod to fit across the 17 foot span. You can buy 6 foot finished wood rod pieces at your hardware store, just make sure to buy the connecting screws too. I bought three rods and cut about 6″ off the ends. I had to re-drill holes for the finials at the end. I purchased 4 brackets for the rods to sit on.

I cut 2 squares from my leftover fabric for each coordinating pillow.

I screen printed the design diagonally onto the pillow squares.

Once the pillow fronts had dried I pinned them together and sewed the outside edges leaving a small opening for stuffing.

I had my best helper stuff the pillows.

And I sewed the pillows shut with a blind stitch.

This technique is so versatile that you could use it in any room of the house. How about printing a similar duvet and large square euro pillows for a master bedroom!

My little one is the most excited about our new drapes because she gets another hiding place!