Simple Art Project

Hope everyone is having a great weekend!  I actually saw this done somewhere on the Internet but for the life of me I can't find it.  They used spray paint, but I am using a roller and antique finishing method instead.  Too cold outside to spray paint. 

I started with two 70 x 90 cm canvases

Covered them in fabric

I cut fabric larger than my canvases

Sprayed some adhesive on the canvas

Put the canvas down on the wrong side of fabric

Pulled each side of fabric in and stapled

Then I pulled the corners in and stapled.

Voila!

I cut out my letters of a song (What A Wonderful World),  onto a clearance roll of mac-tack that I found at the department store with my cutter. 

I used a sewing pencil and evenly spaced my boards so that I would have a line to follow while placing my letters.  I played with them a bit to find the best look.

 I used Kilz primer and coated both boards.  I then used some cream colored craft paint and put two more coats on

This is primed.  Add two more coats of paint for good coverage.  I forgot to take a picture when I had completed my paint coats.

  

I mixed up some linseed oil, naphtha, and acrylic paint.in raw umber. 

Rub the mixture all over the canvases.

I felt that this added an aged look to the canvas.

Now the fun part.  Start peeling off all the letters.

This is it.  Now to put them in their final home.

Cheers!

Building A Storage Room

This is my next shameful area in the house.  You can see my first one here!   My goal is to clean up this old basement, build a storage room,   and close it all off from the rest of the basement while Hubby is out of town.   The other *old* part would be where we could store our wine and beer making equipment and ferment our raspberries.    Before I ever started this blog, Hubby and I broke into the old basement and poured concrete stairs.  This joined the two basements and also made access from the new stairwell to the old basement.

We embed leaves into any concrete pour we do.  I still have to remove the tape from the lower step.  I used two sided tape to adhere the leaves to the form before we poured.  We also did this to the underside of our concrete counter tops in the kitchen.

This is a look at the newish staircase.  It's in the newish basement.

  Now we can kiss these old eyesore stairs GOODBYE!  A crowbar, hammer, safety goggles and earplugs did the job.  Only hit myself once and scraped my leg on a  nail once.  That's a pretty good record for me!

I went to the lumber store and bought 2x4s and plywood.  I had them precut my plywood into strips so that they were easier to handle.  My Ipod loaded with music, the build began.
 You can see that post HERE!  

     This is what you wouldn't like to see but unfortunately I felt the need to share....Please forgive me for subjecting you to this nastiness!  The old basement is covered in this horrible Spanish style texture that sometimes falls off the walls and other times clings on for dear life.  I decided to leave it as the work involved to remove it just doesn't seem to be worth the rewards.  I wish I could be like those really ambitious bloggers with O.C.D.....or better yet I wish one would come for a visit.

The new wall divides this into 2 parts.  It starts where the stairs are on the left and goes to the right, where the yellow little thing is on the right. (peas sheller).  That is where the support beam is too.

Stairs were removed!

This shot is looking in the opposite direction of the stairs.  Not shown in the pictures above.  Wall going up to divide the two areas.

The books were moved from the corner into the wine storage area.  You will see pictures of the camping gear in that corner  later on.  To the left of the books is one of the new shelving units.

Dividing wall built.  I put a switch and two pot lights in the storage area.  This allows plenty of light.  One pot light for each isle.

I used a curtain for the door.  When I decide on what flooring to use, I will install a hinged door......someday!

This mess will become the wine and beer making storage area.

 

These are the center units.  They have units on the backside and form the center row making a total of four units.  There are 2 more units to the right of these.  I have two walking isles...one kind of pictured here with clutter, which will eventually be all cleared out.  Two more units will go on the far wall to the left (not built yet) which is where the other walkway isle is.   This will complete the storage area.

This is the other side of the ones pictured above.  The second walkway isle.  To the left will be the two units that are not built yet.

The camping gear is in this box with casters.  Can easily be rolled to the stairs.  I originally built this for my potatoes.  It was kept in the cold room and had gaps between the board for air circulation.  It worked great.

Wine storage area.  I will probably  never finish the ceiling but stranger things have happened.  I used the old pegboard to the left of the bookshelves to hang some of the wine making equipment. Works great.

Well I sure hope your eyes are OK.   It is an old hand dug basement.  We use it mainly for storage.   To us it is *mostly* organized and a big, enormous, huge improvement.  No more tripping....yay.  Eventually I would like to put in a better floor as the concrete is rough.  But for now, it is DONE!

Cheers!

Shelving For My New Storage Room

With hubby out of town, I am in building mode again.  I wanted to take the oldest part of the basement and turn it into a storage room instead of a "trip over" area.   This is step one of my long journey.  I had gone to the lumber store and purchased eight sheets of 3/4 inch plywood sheathing.  I had most of the cuts done there as I was told on the phone the cuts were free.  I told the guy I had probably forty cuts and he assured me it was free.  Wow....great deal.  I decided to build my shelving at various shelf heights for different storage needs.   My shelving was all cut at 16" depths.  My sides are 60" and the shelf  widths are 48".  The units will measure h-60" by w-49 1/2" d-16"   I also cut 48 pieces of 13" x 1" strips for shelf supports, leftovers from wine storage .... CLICK HERE to see that project.   I built 6 units total, and plan to build more as soon as the kids have all there stuff.  This should ensure enough storage for Christmas, camping and any other things that need to be hoarded stored. 

  *Never assume cutting is exact unless you do it yourself.*

After I re-cut most of the pieces, assembly of the units was very simple.  I measured 1 1/2 inches from the bottom to create the legs.  The shelves were put at different heights.  Each shelf is braced with the 13 inch strips.  I put supports from the bottom to the top in the center of the units to prevent  bowing.   On the very bottom, I took some leftover cutoffs from the 13" pieces and doubled them up as the center foot.  

Here are pictures of the assembly.....

This unit was off center to allow room for larger storage totes.

 I built six units total.  Still two more to come for a total of eight.    I could paint them, and may do so in the future  (probably not),  but I am more excited to get working on my new bedroom area on the main floor.  I was going to show you  pictures of the units in place, but decided against it as I truly need to organize the new storage area already.    This storage room is definitely not pretty so I will save you the eyesore.   I put two units along one wall and  made a center row with four shelving units back to back.  When I get around to building the final two units, they will be put on the last free wall.  I placed some totes and pre-made shelving there for now with stuff that needs a new home or two.    Be forewarned Kids!!!  Mommas coming with some goodies for you!

HAHA....I think I can hear their terror from here.

Cheers!