Flower Power

One day while heading home from a a local mountain bike trail I saw an old ugly blue wooden chair sitting outside a house with a "FREE" sign stuck to it. My boyfriend saw me eyeing it so he stopped and we picked it up. I was excited thinking this is going to be an easy project! I had painted a chair when I was in 8th grade in homage to Roy Lichtenstein (my favorite modern artist). How hard could this be? Well 3.5 months later it's finally finished!!!

I had a "before" picture but I accidentally deleted it :( trust me when I say, it was UGLY! The first thing I needed to do was get rid of the nasty upholstery that was left on it. I knew it was an old chair once I saw that it was stuffed with horse hair! The previous owner jammed a 1962 chocolate company magazine underneath the cushion. Why?? I'm not sure but I believe it was a little rickity! 

Next, I needed to remove the excesses nails sticking out. That was a week long project. (BE CAREFUL IF THE NAILS ARE RUSTY!) Always wear eye protection!

Then it was time to strip the paint. I got paint stripper at Lowe's and a metal spatula to scrape the paint off with. It took 4 times to get most of it off. This was some thick paint! Then I sanded it down with an electric sander. That took a lot of muscle and patience.

Once I was content with the blank canvas I rinsed it off with water. Not all of the paint was off but it was good enough that the pray paint would stick. I let it sit for a night to dry. The next day I went to Home Depot to get spray paint.

I love the color teal! Especially on home decor so I got Rust-Oleum brand Satin Lagoon and  Silver Metallic Finish. I also thought since it was going to sit outside I would get a clear coat for protection.

I sprayed my chair with two coats of the silver spray paint first. Make sure the first layer is completely dry before adding the second layer. I let this sit over night.

The next step I was so excited about! I got a yard of lace from Wal-Mart for only $1.00!!! I draped it over the front of the chair and positioned it so I would get the design I would want. Then I sprayed on one layer of Lagoon spray paint. The paint goes through the lace in certain places and is blocked by the flower design. The lace acts as a stencil.

I then tied the lace around the front and positioned it on the back of chair in a nice design layout... ^^^

I spray painted a medium size flower pot I had in the garage and TA-DA! A flower pot chair for your front porch or garden :) I hope you enjoy!

Tie Dye Me Crazy

First Blog! Wowza! 

So, I'm a Pinterest fanatic (if you love DIY projects you'll love Pinterest!) and I have been getting some fun ideas from their site. My first project was about turning those oh-so-comfy-white-jean-shorts-that-have-a-couple-of-stains-and-may-or-may-not-fit-you-anymore (Hooray for weight loss!) and making them fun and happy again! Also my friend Melissa and I love to redo our jean shorts and posted a similar project on my Facebook wall!

TIE DYE!!

I was lucky enough to find Tumble Dye primary pack at Target on clearance for $1.98! You can find any kind of tie dye kit though and use it. Or you can pick out acrylic paint and mix 2 parts paint 1 part water in a spray bottle and use that. You will need several colors to create a tie dye effect. You can purchase the kit I used at this site. They also have other project ideas!

I laid out my white shorts in the grass because the spray set tie dye kit gets a little messy.

I started at the top of the shorts with the red paint and sprayed across the shorts(left to right), then i did the same thing with the yellow. I sprayed the yellow into the red to create and orange on top and a yellow on bottom. You will use more yellow so that you can create 3 colors... orange on top, yellow in the middle and green at the bottom when you spray the blue. So, next  I sprayed the blue into the yellow and along the bottom of the shorts to create green and blue. Since I love the color purple and it was the only color missing, I went back to the top and sprayed a small section of the red with blue paint to create purple! Flip shorts over and do it again on the back!!

HELPFUL HINT: 

Make sure to spray the inseam section because it will look awkward if it's still white. Also, spray along the outside seams. You don't have to but I did to give the shorts more color.

SUN TAN!

After I was done spraying, I laid the shorts out in the sun for 20 minutes on each side to air dry.

TUMBLE!

After the article is completely dry, heat in a dryer ALONE for 20 minutes.

TA-DA!

After you take them out of the dryer they are ready to wear! You can leave them how they are, or you can add some embellishments.

I chose some cute square glitzy buttons and sewed them on :)

 Bling, Bling! My friend Kyle calls these, Party Rocker Pants! haha

Aren't they CUTE!? Now I have no idea where I'll wear these, but I'm sure I'll stand out! I think it would look cute with a white tank top and colorful sandals!