5.31.2011

Toddler Picnic Table Build

I am loving having my husband back!  He finished his masters degree last week, and I have had him doing all sorts of projects around the house ever since.  We built this toddler picnic table yesterday morning.  Since I used online plans, I didn't take photos of all the steps.  We used Ana White's Preschool Picnic Table.  It was pretty easy.  The tools we used were a little bit different than her list.  We only ended up using a measuring tape, pencil, drill, clamps, and a miter saw.  My husband did the top and the legs, and I did the benches (with his help holding things in place for me).

I filled the holes today with my own sort of wood filler- sawdust and wood glue.  The best part about it is that the filler matches the wood perfectly.  The worst part is that the sawdust wasn't fine enough to be as putty-like as commercial wood fillers.  I haven't sanded them down yet, since they are still drying, so I don't know how well it worked yet.

We picked a beautiful blue outdoor stain for the finish.  I hope to get that done this week also.  The weather has also turned right around, so tomorrow I will finally be able to share my crackle glaze tutorial!

5.23.2011

Trilingual Place Mats and Crackle Glaze Preview

It seems like the weather is just trying to get my goat.  I have been waiting for a nice day to spray paint in the backyard, since my garage has horrible ventilation, and every morning I wake up to this:
Lame.  There was one nice day last week, and I already had other plans.  This crackle glaze tutorial is never going to happen the way things have been going, but hope lingers with this week's forecast.  To ease your aching souls, I thought I'd just share a little "before" photo to get you excited for how awesome this project is going to turn out.  It. Will. Be. Awesome.
This is a small decorator's table with screw-on legs.  I got it from a neighbor for about a quarter.  It is supposed to be draped with a cloth and topped with a round piece of glass.  To that, I say, "No Sir, not in my house!"  I have big plans for this little table.  That's all I am going to really say about it to keep some air of mystery about, but one more thing I can tell you is that this project will result in two separate, but equal, tutorials.  Which is also awesome.

I have also been doing a bit of screen printing, so I thought I'd share my latest design with you.  It's been bouncing around the ole noggin for a year or more, so it's great to finally get it out.
I was having some serious issues with making my screens for a few weeks, but I'm happy to report that I finally got it all worked out.  It was one of those moments where you go, "Maybe I don't know what I am doing here. . ."  I have a few more blank screens ready to go and hope to get some more new designs ready for the summer.  

5.16.2011

ABC4 News Feature: Audzipan on Etsy

EDIT: The video doesn't seem to work anymore, but you can still read the print story on their website.

Here's my bit from ABC4.  I thought the piece turned out pretty good, although their print story doesn't have links to anyone's shops and they misspelled my Etsy username as "Aupzipan".  That was a little annoying.  How is anyone supposed to get to my shop without a link if the name is not right?  Grumble.
UPDATE: They fixed my username!

With that said, it was a lot of fun, and I am so glad I had the chance to do it.  Here is a list of the shops featured in the clip:
Check everybody out!

5.15.2011

Interview with ABC4 Airs Tonight!

The interview I had with ABC4 will be airing on the ten o'clock news tonight, for those of you in Utah.

I'm not going to pretend that I am not extremely nervous about this whole thing, because I am!  I don't have any idea what parts of the interview were used.  Also, I know that there were at least three other Etsy sellers interviewed, so how much time can I really get in a segment that only lasts a few minutes?

Anyway, tune in if you get a minute.  I know I will!

5.09.2011

Tea Staining Tutorial

Tea stain is the simplest way to make something look old, soften stark white or bright colors, or learn to do some simple and safe dyeing at home.  I love to do tea stain.  It's so easy and fast!  I use tea stain to dye pure white muslin for printing my basil, fern, poppy and Scarborough Fair wooden blocks.  I also brushed tea onto my IKEA lampshade and ended up with some very neat patterns after the tea dried.  Here's a closer shot of the lampshade.
I have taken this lamp to craft shows, and people just love it.  I even had someone offer to buy it, but I love it so much that I had to say no.

Okay, enough talk!  Onto the tutorial.  Here's what you will need:
  • Black or Pekoe teabags
  • Fabric to be dyed (Must be made from 100% natural fibers*)
  • Vinegar
*Synthetic fibers are made from plastic, which will not accept dyes after they have been made.

I printed up a batch of shirts for my family's reunion coming up this weekend, and the only color we could get for my daughter's bodysuit was much brighter than the rest of the shirts.  I decided that a tea stain would tone down the brightness a bit and help it fit with the rest of the shirts a bit better. 
To begin, boil up enough water to fully immerse your piece of fabric.  I usually just eyeball it.  While the water is boiling, rinse your fabric out in the sink to remove any chemical residues.
I flipped the shirt inside out, since I wanted to make sure the printing didn't get messed up in the dryer after the staining.  After the water is boiling, you can remove it from heat and add your teabags.  I used six, but you will want to use more if your fabric is larger.  
Allow the tea to steep for 5-10 minutes.  At this point, you can either remove the teabags, or leave them in there.  If you leave the bags in, it will give your fabric a splotchy look, with darker spots nearest the bags.  I did this with my wooden blocks, but with this shirt, I removed the bags.  Add your fabric to the pot and push it down into the tea with a spoon.
Leave the fabric in the tea for about ten minutes, agitating every couple of minutes, then check the color.  Keep in mind that the fabric won't be as dark when it has dried.  If you want it darker, leave it in longer.  When you are pleased with the color, rinse your fabric out again in the sink.  
After it's all rinsed out, chuck it in the dryer with a bunch of towels that you don't care too much about.  There are chances that they can get a little stain on them during the dry, but I didn't have any trouble with that.  Once it's dry, check the color.  If you want it darker, you can stick it back in the tea and do it all again.  If you like it, you can soak it in a vinegar-water solution(1 tsp. vinegar to 1 gallon water) to set the color, or just go with it and the color may or may not fade with subsequent washings.
All done!  This would be a great project to do with kids.  I'll have to get a photo of my girl in her shirt at the reunion and add it later to show you how it looks with the rest of the shirts.

5.06.2011

Project List Revisited

Well, I didn't get past the first round of the epic giveaway, but if you head over to Vintage Revivals you can see the top 5 and vote for your favorite.  I have to admit that I am a little bit relieved that I won't have to do a two-day decor marathon.  Also, my first thought was, "Oh good, now I don't have to wait until June to get started on the laundry room."  Which is a little exciting to me, whether or not I can get to it until June anyway.

On another note, I don't know if any of you remember this project list I made many moons ago.  Yeah, I pretty much forgot about it myself.  I thought it might be fun to check that out again and see what's still left on it.  But first, here are the things I did finish:
Not too shabby!  I also finished a couple more in just the last few days that I haven't blogged yet, so here is your first peek at these two:
  • Get chairs for the front porch (thanks for the Mother's Day present, dear husband!)
  •  Get potted plants for the driveway.  For these, we actually bought the pots on clearance at Costco last year and potted the plants ourselves this week.  I also got a couple of empty hanging baskets from my mom and planted some geraniums in them.  For now, they are sitting on the front steps until I figure out how I want to hang them.

 Now for the things that are still left on the list.  Here's what you can be looking forward to next, plus a few new ones I have added.
  • Find or make a buffet for the kitchen
  • Take door off coat closet and redo inside
  • Refinish piano, plus slipcover bench
  • Make some green frames to match green stained table
  • Fix leg on green table
  • Get or build picnic table for backyard
  • Laundry room makeover
  • Crackle glaze tutorial (you won't want to miss this one!)
  • Rolltop desk refinish
  • Round table makeover
  • Frame bathroom mirrors
  • Hairclip holder
  • Bathroom art
  • Playroom/guest room organization
  • Build headboard and footboard
  • HOME TOUR!
If you can't tell, I am a little bit excited about that last one.  I just think it will be really cool to have photos of all the rooms in my house looking their best.

5.01.2011

Vote for Me?

I know this is super lame, but I am asking for a favor of my dearest readers. . .

As you may have read earlier, I entered an epic room makeover giveaway over at Vintage Revivals.  Well, the time has come to vote for your favorite entries.  I am #36.  Please vote for me if you feel so inclined.

If not, that's okay.  I still like you, and there's really no need for me to get desperate.  I'll have a couple of other chances to get in the top 15 without the popular vote, which has never served me well.  (Thanks for nothing, ninth-grade student body elections!)

Vote for #36. 

Or, go make your own stamp, moss egg, or fondant cake.  It's really up to you.