Long Time No Post? Mini {super mini} wall art tutorial

HELLO!

You can skip the drama and scroll down to the tutorial if you want...  ;)

I am alive.  Although most days I don't feel like it.  Remembering the friends who warned me never to have 4 children and the way I was shocked they would say such a thing is just hilarious to me now.  4 kids is seriously kicking the dickens out of my body and mind.  My younger more naive self thought that this is how I would feel when I was elderly.  Then again, on a daily basis I get to play with something that looks like this...

Baby Leo is my obsession.  Jewelry making is my salvation.  Having a creative outlet at this time is completely necessary in my life.  I have a husband who I would like to say has a first wife named "work" that keeps him away a good 100 hours a week.  Those of you who can relate understand why my crafting and jewelry making happens.  It isn't a matter of finding time to do it, it is more a matter of I-need-to-make-something-or-I-might-die.   If you don't understand, I really have no way to explain it other than I am basically a good kind of crazy.  

So, in an attempt to give life to this blog again, I am starting slow.

With all of this jewelry making, I joined an amazing group of fellow crafters/sellers on Facebook.  They are seriously my best friends right now.  We all have busy lives, creative addictions, and are trying to pinch and make pennies.  In searching for ways to take pictures of my new jewelry designs, one of the ladies pointed me in a direction of photo backdrops from MY BACK DROP SHOP of Etsy. 

Cutest backdrops, and the best part...they are available small, which is what I need for jewelry shoots!

They came in the mail this week and I was so excited to get started.  With sleep deprivation comes amazing thoughts every once in a while and I had one that combined left over 20 x 20 canvases and the 2 ft x 2 ft vinyl backdrops.  I figured, why not make the backdrops useful around my house as well?

{ultra-mini} TUTORIAL

I ordered the 2x2 ft size backdrop from My Back Drop Shop

I used 20 x 20 inch canvases and staple gun.  It took about 2 minutes per canvas.

I started out with opposite sides...

My goal for the corners were to just make them flat with no bulging

Voila!  4 rustic canvases to fill in corners, 

and double as photo backdrops!

Cheers,

The Silver Loft Giveaway Winner!

Thank you everyone for entering!

The winner is Grannymike who said:

 grannymike said...

What lovely and unique jewelry! I love it all,but I especially love the Married with Children and the Mom necklaces. I have posted here and liked both facebook sites. Thanks.

Please send me your address thesassypepper@gmail.com

Congratulations!

GIVEAWAY! This is no joke!

Happy April Fools!

To combat the mean jokes that are pulled on some, I am hosting a giveaway from

The Silver Loft Jewelry Shop on Etsy.

This is my jewelry site that has recently been updated with fun new items and cute hand stamped designs!

To Enter you can do one or all of the following.  Leave a comment stating which entries you did!

1. Leave a comment on this post telling us your favorite item from The Silver Loft

2. Post this giveaway to your Facebook Page

3. Follow The Silver Loft on Etsy

4. Like The Sassy Pepper on Facebook

5. Like The Silver Loft on Facebook

Happy Winning!    Enter by Sunday April 7th at midnight and winner
 will be announced April 8th!

Look back each day to see new items in the shop.  

Don't forget to leave a comment stating which entries you did!

Cheers,

Baby Leo...

Just an update for all of you wondering crafties...

He has just started to smile and cooh, and we are all in love all over again.

Craft posts will begin again soon so stay tuned!

Cheers,

A bouncing baby boy...

As many of you know...a baby is coming this lovely month of Christmas!

I know it has put a hold on posts and giveaways, but I hope you will forgive.  I will update you when our little bundle arrives!

Pepper :)

DIY: Furniture Stenciling

If I could get $1 for every time a project started with a random search on Craigslist, I would be so wealthy.

This project started with a search for a headboard.  I found an entire bedroom set for $200 and talked the owner into $140.  1 Queen Headboard, 2 night stands and an ENORMOUS dresser.

Thinking of all of the possibilities made me giddy.

First the hard part, my least favorite...sanding. 

I am so lucky to have a slave to do it for me.

Scroll down below to see before and in-progress images.

During the sanding process I did a little research to figure out what I wanted the end result to be.

I decided on white paint, and yellow accents.  I fell in love with this stencil set on Amazon from Martha Stewart...

After sanding, the priming started.  

I did 2 coats primer (3 on the grooves and curves) letting dry at least an hour in between.

Then I painted the furniture the color POLAR BEAR from Home Depot Behr Paint.

It was easy for me to decide where I wanted the stenciling to be.

Each night stand had a carved area on top, decision made!

The head board had a long rectangular cut out as well, decision # 2 made!

On the dresser, I kept it simple and only stenciled the drawers.

I painted the area I wanted stenciled with my favorite CITRUS ZEST Home Depot Behr Color.

STENCILING HOW-TO:

I followed the simple directions on my stenciling kit:

Measure out where you would like stenciling to be

Clean surface of any dust or debris

Tape Stencil in place 

Apply paint with a dry brush technique

Let dry

Apply another coat of paint

Carefully peel stencil away from furniture

Dry brush painting (if you aren't familiar) is using a brush dipped in paint, and then wiped on a towel or sponge so that a sparse amount of paint comes off the brush.  It will remind you of chalk and if using white paint will look chalky as well.

After it dries, peel off carefully making sure to remove all tape.

WARNING: Stenciling takes a lot longer than you think it will.

Most of that time is waiting for paint to dry.

So make sure you have some musical tunes or a TV show to keep you company.

Next you match up your stencils to the pattern already painted and repeat your dry brush technique!

The dryer the better, it will take longer, but the paint won't bleed.

I added another couple of steps to make sure my furniture was going to last.

1. I lightly sanded the paint ridges to make the surface smooth.

If you choose to do this use a very fine grit sand paper.  This allows you to smooth out a project without taking away your painted finish.

2. Varnish. This varnish below is my favorite because it glides on like water, and truly dries Crystal Clear.

You won't end up with any yellowing if using a light color paint.

I did 2 coats on all furniture pieces.

The finished products!

Nightstands

I used as end tables in our family room

HEADBOARD

Long Dresser

Used as fabric and craft storage in my living room

These pictures were taken from my phone so they aren't as crisp.

I would do this again in a heart beat if I knew for sure it would turn out just as cute.

Although, Mod Podging cute scrapbook paper where I wanted would have been so much faster. :)

Cheers,