Easy DIY Charging Station

Technology...I love it, but hate all the cords required for it to work!  I needed a place to corral the charging cables for my phone and various other electronics.  I know there are proper charging stations you can buy, and there are even some DIY's out there online too, but I wanted something cheap and easy.

So I took a walk over to my local Dollarama and lo and behold found this great turquoise box.  It even had a lid. I transformed it into a decorative charging station using nothing other than scissors.

It's made of cardboard, so I cut a hole in the back just large enough for the end of the phone charger to fit though. 

Then it's simply a matter of plugging your phone in to charge!  I tend to leave the lid off when my phone is charging, just to let the heat escape.  But otherwise the lid goes on and it looks just like a normal box.  

Is it the most glamorous?  Probably not.  Was it cheap? At $2.50 I'd say yes.  And I love the blue.  It matches Stevie Bird's feathers!  For now, it's a solid win on organizing my charging devices.

Dominoes - The Oversized Pieces Edition

Alas, it is the first day of September.  I'm always a little sad on this day.  It means the warm days of summer are almost over and winter will be here before we know it.  It means back to school and back to the crazy pace of normal life.  Labour Day weekend is our busiest time at IKEA since we are in a city with 2 universities and a college, so I'm grateful that Labour Day is a holiday and I get to enjoy the outdoors one last time.  I'm currently cooling off on my balcony after a hot morning in the sun :)

I wanted to share with you a project I completed a few weeks ago when I was up visiting at my parent's trailer. I was bummed that summer was almost over and I had not completed 1 thing on my summer to-do list yet (I had grand plans, haha).  So I took my supplies with me and completed it with my mom, and I am sooooo pleased with how it turned out.  I present to you, my new set of dominoes.

I got the idea from Shanty 2 Chic and had pinned their domino tutorial before I'd even moved in.  I won't give you the full tutorial as theirs is fantastic, I'll just show you some pictures along the way!  (I did this at the trailer don't forget, so enjoy the backgrounds of the lake, fire pit, picnic table, etc!)

I started with a 2 x 10 piece of lumber I got at Home Depot for under $10.  I had it cut there into sections 16" long.  This gave me 6 sections and I picked the best 3 (now I have 3 extra pieces left to make something else!)

We sanded them down, with the sander and by hand, to get nice rounded corners like a domino.

I gave each one 2 coats of paint.  I used Cozy Cottage by Behr.  They no longer carry the paint chip, but if you ask, they can still make it for you.  I just got a little test pot.

Then, I took some coarse sandpaper, and roughed up the edges again, as well as the corners, removing some of the paint.  I applied a Red Mahogany stain to the newly sanded areas.  This step did not work like I thought it would.  The stain went on purple and I was worried I had ruined them.  Not only that, it stained the areas that were still painted, not just the sanded parts.  So after I stained the edges, I went back over them with a very fine sandpaper and removed the yucky parts.  You can't even tell now!

It poured rain for the next few days so I finished off the painting of the dominoes in the trailer.  I marked off the centre line with some painter's tape and dry brushed some black paint on.

Then came the hard part - how do we draw on the dots so they are symmetrical... My mom came up with the idea of making a stencil. But we weren't sure how to do that, and I didn't bring supplies for stencil creations... so we used the back of a magazine cover, and traced the bottom of a plastic cup.  We broke our brains a few times trying to figure out the math, but after one failed attempt we ended up with a kick-butt stencil that would work for any number.  Like the centre line, I dry brushed the dots in black.

Shanty 2 Chic's tutorial mentions using a glaze as the final step.  I couldn't find the glaze they used (Home Depot no longer carries it) and after researching glazes, I wasn't sure I even wanted to do the next step. Making your own glaze sounded way too complicated.  But the dominoes were also too "white" looking. They didn't have the vintage, aged look to them I was going for that the glaze would have provided.  So I took them home and pondered this for a few days.  After my sister saw them, she suggested using a wax finish.  I had never heard of this either, so I researched wax finishes as well.  It seemed much more user friendly.  I found one brand of wax that was carried by Home Hardware that had a dark finish to it.  I could only find clear finishes at Lowe's, and Home Depot, but you may have better luck than me!  I picked up a small can of Minwax Finishing Wax for Dark Surfaces.

Basically, you put a ball of it in a cloth that is not woven tightly (they suggested cheesecloth, which I didn't have, so I used a Jay cloth instead).  Then when you press the cloth on the domino, the wax oozes out the holes in the cloth.  It's simply a matter of rubbing the cloth over the entire domino until you get the effect you are looking for.  More wax + more pressure with the cloth = a darker finish.  FYI - this stuff smells bad and is pretty messy so I suggest doing it outdoors or in a well ventilated room!

Here you can see the difference between the original domino (left) and the waxed domino (right).  

I attached a saw tooth hook on the back of each for easy hanging.

I hung my dominoes on the wall that separates my kitchen from my bedroom.  I call it my teeny-tiny hallway :)

I adore how they turned out and they draw your attention away from all the thermostats and switches on that wall.  Anyone up for a game of dominoes now?  #Ihavenoideahowtoreallyplay  

  

PS.  When you do a project at the trailer you sometimes have to improvise when you forget to bring things with you and the nearest store is an hour away!  Some things I used that were/were not photographed:

-Sticks from a tree with their dirty bark peeled off as paint stir sticks
-A rolled piece of tinfoil as a paint stir stick (for the rainy days when the sticks are no longer viable...)
-Firewood to raise the dominoes off the ground for painting
-Fingernail scissors to cut out the stencil
-Plastic disposable cup as a round tracer
-Magazine cover as a stencil
-A plastic bag wrapped and taped around my hand to use as a glove when staining
-A toothpick, a jay cloth, and a tiny piece of jay cloth (basically lint) to use for staining (hence the need for the plastic bag hand cover)

Never a dull moment when you DIY ;)

DIY Picture Frame Tray

I wanted to find a tray for my kitchen to hold my sugar bowl, and my oil and vinegar bottles.  I looked everywhere for either a lucite one or a turquoise one.  And as fate would have it, as soon as you start looking for something specific it can never be found!

My mom had some old picture frames lying around from when we moved my grandparents into their residence.  It was unique, with a pretty border.  But I hated the brass colour.  Sorry guys, still not jumping on the gold/brass bandwagon!

I removed the clips and stand from the back with a pair of pliers.

Then it was simply a matter of spray painting the frame.  I used Krylon's indoor/outdoor Ocean Breeze.

I made a chevron pattern, and printed it from my computer.  Then put the whole frame back together. 

Makes a great tray if I do say so myself!  And it only cost $5.00 for the paint!

How to Transfer an Image to Wood

If you read my last post on my balcony updates, you saw my wooden Littlefoot Gardens sign that I made. As promised here is the super simple tutorial on how to do it.

I based my sign off of the tutorial from Crafts Unleashed.  If you'd like more photos of the step-by-step I suggest you check out their site!  I was mostly trying to see if I could get the process to work and not mess it up (since I only had 1 piece of wood!) so I didn't take as many photos as I probably should have.

Supplies Needed:
Wood
Images (printed with a laser printer)
Stain
Mod Podge
Clear outdoor varnish

My piece of wood came from a pallet my sister picked up from the side of the road.  She was making some planter boxes for her balcony and she saved the scruffiest piece for me!  I stained it with one coat of wood stain.

Next, I found images and created the text I wanted to use on my sign.  If you want words like I did, make sure you reverse them in a photo-editing program, otherwise your words will turn out backwards on the finished product.  It is VERY IMPORTANT that you print your images on a laser printer.  An ink jet printer won't work, as the ink will run when you try to transfer it.  If you want a colour image, you can print it on a colour laser printer, do a colour photocopy of your image, or simply paint the final product!

Cut out your image and apply a very generous coat of mod podge over your image.  I put so much on I could barely see the image anymore.  Another tip I discovered was make sure you cut as close to the image as possible.  I just cut a square around mine, and if you stand very close to my sign with your head tilted at an awkward angle, you can see the old outline of the paper.  Press the image, photo side down, to the wood. Smooth it out to eliminate any bubbles.  I used my library card for this step :)

Let it dry completely overnight.  Once it's dry, use a damp cloth or sponge to gently rub off the paper.  If you use too much water or too much pressure, you are liable to rub off the entire image so be careful.  Once you rub off all the paper you are left with a transferred image!  (You can faintly see the square around my words that I mentioned before, in this picture)

It is impossible to remove all of the paper.  You will be left with little "fuzzies" over your image.  I simply coated the entire thing in mod podge and they disappeared.  I then coated the entire sign in an outdoor spray varnish.  I did about 4 coats since it would be in direct sunlight most of the day and would get wet in the rain.

I attached an eye on either side of the wood and tied a piece of twine to hang.

I love the end result!  It was so easy to do and relatively quick too.  It looks like the image is a part of the wood rather than just glued on.  The possibilities for this technique are endless!

Ikea Hack: Quilted Rast Dresser

My last Ikea Hack was so popular, that I wanted to try another one!  (You can read about my Lack Corner Shelf Hack here.)

I wanted a new nightstand for my bedroom that was a little bit bigger and provided some more storage.  The one I was currently using I'd had since I was a child and it was getting pretty squishy.  I only had room for a lamp, my clock, and a phone.  Anything else, like books I was reading, had to go on the floor.  I immediately thought of the Rast dresser from Ikea.  It's cheap and easy to customize.  I did some Pinterest searching, and came up with lots of ideas.  I loved the idea of covering it in a faux ostrich fabric like I'd found at Simple Details, but I also liked the idea of trimming out the bottom to make it look more expensive, like The Accent Piece had done.

I purchased the Rast over March Break.  I had every intention of making this my March Break project...that totally never happened considering I only just finished it!

Here is what my bedroom looked like before, and what the Rast dresser looked like before:

I'd say it was a pretty significant transformation!  Here's how the whole process went down.

I purchased the Rast model for $39.  It was super simple to build - took probably 20 minutes.

When you build the dresser, the piece of wood that runs along the bottom does not sit flush with the front of the two side pieces (you can see what I mean in the before picture above.)  My dad helped me out, and we drilled new holes above the pre-existing ones so the front would sit flush when assembled.  This ensures that you have no gap when you install the moulding.

Next, we measured and cut the moulding to go along the bottom.  (I will leave out the gory details we encountered in this step...in true DIY fashion there may have been a lot of arguing.  We even contemplated not doing the moulding anymore.  The moulding I picked was too large for our miter saw and couldn't be cut properly.  Lessons learned: measure how how high your saw can cut before purchasing wood, and don't start this step at 10:30 at night...)  We were going to nail the moulding to the bottom, but, of course, the nails were not cooperating, so we just decided to glue and clamp.  The glue worked, I recommend that!  We also measured and drilled for the new handles.  I didn't bother filling in the old holes as they were going to be covered by fabric later anyway.

I let the glue dry overnight, and the next morning I had some serious filling and sanding to do!  (I told you the cutting was pretty bad!)

I had two test pots of paint mixed at Home Depot for about $5 each.  One was colour matched to the fabric I chose, and the second one was just plain black.  I primed everything first.  Then I painted the edges of the frame black as well as the moulding along the bottom.  (Once it was painted, you couldn't even tell the moulding had been so crazy! yay!)  I painted the edges of the drawers, as well as along the inside of the frame, the fabric colour.  This ensures that when the drawers are closed, you don't see any of the original pine. Everything received 2 coats.

The splurge for this project was the fabric.  There are not a lot of fabric stores in Ottawa, let alone ones that sell quality vinyl.  I didn't want to go with just regular fabric as I was worried it would pucker once it was glued. I ended up finding some nice quilted looking vinyl.  When all was said and done, it cost about $56 for one yard.  Definitely more than I wanted to spend, but I realized I was going to have to if I wanted to achieve the look I was going for.  I measured and cut pieces for the front of all three drawers, the two sides of the frame, and the top.

I used some spray adhesive to glue the pieces down.  **Note: after about 24 hours the glue started to not adhere and the corners of the fabric were peeling off.  I recommend using a light coat of white glue instead of the spray.  I ended up having to go back and touch up the glue.

Then it was simply a matter of piercing through the vinyl to attach the new handles (I used a needle) and reinserting the drawers.  I wanted to purchase a piece of glass to put on the top to protect the fabric.  I shopped around for some quotes, and it was going to cost almost $80 to have a proper piece cut!  So not worth it!  I was palletizing a kitchen while working at Ikea the other day and noticed that the glass shelves we sell looked about the same size.  I purchased one of the Rationell 24x12" glass shelves and it fits!  It's a bit small, but I just centered it on the top and it looks fine.  And at $10 ($20 for 2) it was way better than getting glass custom cut!

I love it.  It finishes off the room really nicely.  I just have some accessories to tweak in the room and I think I can call the bedroom complete!  I'll add it to my house tour once it's done!