tutorial

before and after

by Lara on May 7, 2012

in decor

So, I got those lockers on Wednesday April 25th and finished them on Sunday May 6th. Starting this right after finishing my last painting – I’ve got serious painting fatigue. SO glad it’s over!

After I got them, they were scrubbed down with 409 and David sanded them lightly with 180 grit  (one sheet was enough). I didn’t start priming until that Sunday.

After tightening all the screws, we laid it down in the kitchen and I got to work!

I taped around the latches (wish I hadn’t) and used a teeny 2″ dense foam roller meant for touch-ups. I got it for $2 and it came with the little paint tray too. Replacement foam rollers came in 2-packs for $2 each and I got 3 packs of those. I used a 1/2″ flat paint brush for tight areas the roller couldn’t get to, like around the vents.

For a primer, I picked Zinsser Bulls Eye 1-2-3 water-based primer. It says it’s for all surfaces with no pre-sanding needed, and for all top coats. A quart was about $8. I’m really pleased with this stuff and clean up is great. I also have a TON left for future projects!

Because I’m a maniac, I did 2 coats of primer. I chose not to do the interior of the lockers but I still had to paint the pieces that fold in, on and around the doors. Such a pain in the ass! This required the lil’ paint brush and took hours. I had 2 doors open at a time, propped on wads of paper towels and wooden dowels. Luckily the primer dries in less than an hour so, I would work and rest and work and rest. Once I started the colors, I had to do this same process again on the edges, coat after coat, only it was standing up.

For the frame and sides, I used Rust-Oleum gloss enamel in white. A half-pint is about $4. I got a quart and should’ve just gotten the half-pint. Rust-Oleum is an oil-based paint and SO nasty to clean up! The odor is pretty strong too and it takes a long time to dry. Coverage is great though. One coat over the primer and that was it. I did the Rust-Oleum white parts first since it’s easier to clean up latex messes off oil.

Rust-Oluem colors are limited so I had to get latex colors mixed. Home Depot had Behr High Gloss Enamel. Actually, they had 4 Behr gloss bases left so I had to get 2 Glidden brand ones as well. Glidden was far superior to Behr. Totally worth a little extra money! (Also, never get Valspar paint from Lowes. Crappiest crap I ever did use.)

For about $10 a quart on sale, I dropped another $60 on 6 colors. So criminal. I could’ve just done one color or 2 or 3 but I was dead set on 6, which turned into a major disappointment.

I wish they would do custom colors in pints. Oh well. If I ever need to paint anything else around my house a fun color, it’s going to be with this leftover paint I have!

(They do offer little sample tubs of paint in any color for $4 each, which would’ve been perfect, but they were only in flat finishes. So, keep that in mind if you ever need a special color for a tiny project that isn’t glossy, or just put on a gloss topcoat!)

Here are the color swatches (from the Behr site) I picked. Clockwise top left: Atomic Tangerine, Grenadine, Garden Sprout (more acid green), Solar Flare (more bright orange), Aqua Waters, Chocolate Sprinkle

 

After a couple days of doing other stuff and recovering from back and leg pain (squatting and bending and hunching killed me), I finally started the colors.

David had the brilliant idea to line my paint tray with plastic wrap for easy clean-up between colors! Muah! So great! I had so many lil foam rollers so I didn’t have to clean them out when I switched colors, and just kept them in ziplocks to stay wet until the 2nd coat the next day. Also, some regular printer paper was used in the cracks instead of taping taping taping.

first coats

HEY! GUESS WHAT? I HATED IT!!!! The 6 colors just didn’t work together. It may look okay in that picture but it’s totally different in real life – offensive to my senses. David was being a true diplomat and biting his tongue saying it was very “European.” I think he meant European pre-school for the colorblind.

Colors in your mind are NOT colors on swatches are NOT colors in paint buckets are NOT colors actually painted are NOT colors photographed.

Kelly, a graphic designer, also noted that when certain colors are next to each other in large expanses, it can change the way you see them, bringing out hues you wouldn’t notice if they were alone or smaller. So there’s definitely that.

So… I sucked it up and picked 3 colors instead – yellow, orange and brown – which was David’s original idea so he had the pleasure of hearing me say he was right. At least I tried my original idea first. I would’ve always wondered and you just never know until you do it… $30 and hours down the tubes. I got my wits about me and finished the sucker!

Aaaaand drum roll please!!

Tada!

We’ve reorganized the kitchen and decided what would go inside the lockers, took meticulous measurements and I got wood dowels and shelves cut to by my dad to maximize storage. I cleared all my spices and cooking stuff off the mantle in the kitchen, got a 2-tier lazy susan that fits in a locker and now have all sorts of clean space on the mantle to decorate!

These two have a shelf 16″ up. The rest have 2 shelves 12″ apart.

repainted the mantle while I was at it

It was just a few days total of real work and about $200 (sigh… I wanted this to be cheaper). Still not bad for what’s on the market right now!

David thinks I should get more of these to paint and sell. Geesh… I just don’t know about that! Squatting and hunching down in my wrecked kitchen murdered my back and legs. I wish I had a workshop!

{ 18 comments }

cat eye tutorial

by Lara on December 3, 2011

in beauty

I never leave the house without my eyes done and lately, I’ve had a few people ask me to teach them how to do cat eyes. This is my pathetic attempt to draw diagrams with my mouse.

The main thing to keep in mind is step 3 – the tail. Following the line of your lower edge is ideal. This is what gives your eye some tilt. It should also point to the end of your eyebrows, if you follow standard eyebrow rules, which frames the lid.

Whether using liquid eyeliner with a brush or felt tip, or using a slanted brush and gel liner – it’s never a one-stroke process. I always have to take the tip and touch up all over the place. Some days my hands, eyeliner and eyes cooperate like magic. Other days I’m ready to throw everything out the window.

I also recommend taking some black shadow and rubbing it along your upper lashes to cover up any gaps that your lashes can cause.It covers a multitude of sins.

Here’s a great tutorial showing both liquid (felt tip) and gel liners:

If you have any questions… feel free to ask in the comments!

{ 8 comments }

sewing the shirt

by Lara on October 8, 2011

in crafty

I finally sewed that damn top! Honestly, the whole thing was a friggin disaster that frustrated me like you would not believe!

I haven’t sewed clothing in a long time and have never made anything without a store-bought pattern so, this was a great refresher and a major learning experience.

This isn’t going to be a full-on tutorial because well, it’s not. I will give the basic steps though, dotted throughout a bunch of bitching. This was mainly a trouble-shooting process that drove me insane. Like lying in bed at night and thinking of ways to make this work insane because… uhm… it’s impossible to line a tank top like I wanted to. Seriously. Impossible.

I had to give up on the lining and do interfacing.

Oh yeah, here’s the Badgley Mischka top I was attempting to copy:

Soooo….

First off, I used a top that I already had for the pattern. It has a similar shape, the arm holes are perfect on me and I can pull it over my head. I was really hoping I could avoid a side zipper and I DID!

I pinned it taut to some pattern tracing cloth.

This pattern tracing cloth is great. I bought a few yards of this years ago and never used it. It’s semi-sheer so you can line up fabric designs and it won’t tear. It’s cat proof! This is important considering Ulti was hellbent on helping me every step of the way.  Regular craft paper is fine too, of course.

I cut around the top, making it longer and giving myself about a 1/2″ seam allowance all around and folded the pattern in half. Of course the 2 halves didn’t match so I trimmed up a bit and cut it down the middle, keeping the side I liked best. I was using the same piece for the front and the back (and lining and later just the top part for interfacing). A lower cut version may be in the works for the future.

 When I cut out the fabric, I folded it in half and laid the center line of the pattern on the fold. A lot of store-bought patterns work this way and half-patterns guarantee an even piece if you’re making your own.

I cut the lining fabric too but all that got tossed in the trash after I figured it wouldn’t work and then cut out long interfacing that addressed the armholes later… much later.

This is neck interfacing in case you have no idea what I’m talking about. When you flip it into the garment, you have a clean line at the neck with no top stitching. Those little notches cut into curves prevent bunching:

via

I pinned the top together and put it on (carefully) and I was really happy with the fit but gave up on the side ties because the fabric looked too drapey. Then disaster happened over 2 nights of sewing.

I began to sew and everything went to hell. There is not a single tutorial online to show you how to line a tank top like I wanted. I ripped out seams so many times! There was no order in which to sew the pieces to be able to turn things right side out and have the wrong sides facing the correct way with clean seams and zero top stitching showing. To the trash it all went.

I cut everything out again, going with the interfacing instead, sewed it together, hemmed by hand and tried it on. It was so boring without the side ties so I gave em a shot. Thankfully I still had some more fabric. (2 yards would do the trick.) I eyed out and cut long triangles and on the 4th night of working on this, I then ripped the side seams out again, sewed up the side ties, tucked them in, pinned in place, sewed this bastard up, ironed it and it’s done!

So over it.

 

Seriously though, I’m really happy that I stuck with this. I’ve had a bad habit of starting things and not finishing them so I’m trying to be better about that. I also have a great pattern and when I make another one, it won’t nearly be as awful as this whole mess was.

{ 11 comments }

adventures in Konad

by Lara on August 9, 2011

in beauty

I finally got the nail stamping plates!

So here’s the deal… it’s freakin awesome! Takes some time but so much fun! I’m an insane perfectionist who loves tedious tasks so this was right up my alley.

Like a dummy, I did a black pattern on already dark polish but I love how it turned out! I also did them in the evening so the lighting is terrible. Sorry sorry sooooorry!

So here’s my first stamped manicure and then I’ll get into the nitty gritty:

there’s a cat hair in every one of my nail posts

still not totally cleaned up either

I read and read so much about this process and found that the name brand Konad stamper was vital.

The newest model of stamper is the double ended one. I used the large red end since this was a large pattern.You get the scraper with the stamper for about $6 including shipping.

find them here at Amazon

I also read that an expired gift card works better as a scraper and now, I can agree but, that little pink one really is sufficient and you can’t not buy it w/ the stamper.

The design plates don’t need to be name brand to get a good pattern. A single Konad brand plate can cost $4+ while I got 16 off-brand plates for $18.48 (free shipping) from Born Pretty. They’re the identical designs, numbered the same. Yes, shame on me for buying faux-nad plates.

This is the design I used for my mani, the top right floral:

Here’s the plate and stamper so you can get an idea about size:

There are full nail designs, French tips, small patterns… all sorts of plates out there. If your nails are really long, you may not be able to fit a full nail pattern on your entire nail.

For stamping, choose a polish that’s opaque in one coat (I used Wet ‘n’ Wild’s black). There are Konad Special Polishes but you don’t need them. Here’s a huge list (constantly updated) of great polishes to use for stamping.

 

  • Paint your nails the base color you want and let them dry.
  • Lay out at least 4 layers of paper towels on a flat surface (maybe even some saran wrap underneath) and get out your polish remover, about a dozen q-tips, your stamper, scraper, and your pattern polish.
  • Put your plate on the paper towels and generously paint the pattern you choose with opaque polish.
  • Take the scraper and quickly, in one movement, scrape the excess polish off the plate, onto the paper towel.
  • Take your stamper and roll it, with pressure, in one movement over the design. It will pick up the polish.
  • Then quickly line up the pattern on the edge of your nail and roll it over your nail in one movement. (In the video below, she does it with her hand flat. I held mine close to my face to really see what I was doing.)
  • You will have a little bit of pattern on your skin and some left on the stamper. With your q-tips and remover, clean up the stamper and the plate – and your nail too, or save that for later.
  • Do it all over again for your next nail and so on.
  • Add a top coat, clean up your mess and you’re all done!

That’s all folks!

Here’s a quick video tutorial if you like visuals.You don’t need sound. If you have any questions, feel free to ask in the comments!

{ 9 comments }

Christmas in August

by Lara on August 3, 2011

in crafty

Well, right after I wrote about those yarn trees, I went ahead and carried my butt to Michael’s Crafts on Sunday afternoon and got what I needed. Those cones cost more than I thought they would – about $14 for 3 in different sizes. It’s freakin foam! This is where I get frustrated at DIY projects when you can find a lot of things already made, cheaper than the supplies at the store. I really wanted to do this though and it wasn’t that bad. There’s probably a cheaper source out there somewhere.

Anyhoo… here are the supplies:

3 cones, acrylic yarn, flat top pins, 2 multi-packs of pom poms.

Someone’s ready to get into those pom poms! (Don’t worry… he totally did.)

I was disappointed with the pom pom selection. I had a certain color scheme in mind but I wasn’t paying out the ass for felted wool balls in muted hues. So things turned out more bright and festive. Whatever, they’re cute. They came out kinda kitschy, like stuff my mom made in the 70s, and I’m totally okay with that!  Now I need to find some sweet deer figurines to hang with my trees and it’s good to go!

  • Start at the widest end with a small knot and pin the yarn every inch or so for the first wrap, so it doesn’t slip off.
  • Wrap an even layer of yarn over the entire cone (green cones are great so any small gaps aren’t obvious).
  • Then get silly wrapping yarn up and down in zigzags, filling in any gaps you may see in the process.
  • I made it back to the top and coiled the yarn on the tip, pinning it as much as I needed.
  • Push pins through pom poms (they sink into the fluff and don’t show) and pin them where you want.
  • I had some wooded stars and gold paint already, glued toothpicks to the backs and painted them. Stabbed em into the trees! Done!

That paint is awful to get out of brushes so I dabbed it on with q-tips!

You can pick any color scheme and I’m pretty stoked that this only cost about $20 and maybe 2 hours of my time on the sofa to have a cute little mantle decoration I’ll use for years.

So there you have it! One thing marked off my small list for this week AND I did something for Christmas! This heat is frying my brain, you guys.

{ 4 comments }

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