3 Completely Free and Easy Painting Projects

Do you have some bookshelves that you need to fill? Or a side table that could use a little something? Maybe you're just feeling crafty and in no mood to shower and go buy anything. Chances are, you probably have something laying around you could paint and make look fantastic. Here are 3 completely free and easy painting projects I've used around my house.

1. Paint some branches.
For week 2 of Creating with the Stars back in March, I did the Anthropolgie Knockoff Plate Art. When I was setting up my photo, the right side seemed bare and needed some height and color. Since I wanted to spend as little money as possible (none if possible), I looked for things I already had. Branches! One trip into the yard with some clippers, a coat of leftover spray paint from the Side Chair Makeover, and they were ready for their closeup. Cost: $0.

 

2. Paint some jars.
For a while my grocery store had a certain brand of spaghetti sauce on sale. I stocked up (don't be confused, I'm not a couponer... no one has coupons for organic kale... getting off track). I bought them not only because I like pasta, and I'm too lazy to figure out how to make my own sauce, but because the jars were really big! I knew I could use them for something. I think we have collected 12 so far. I simply squirted a few colors of craft paint inside and swirled a brush around until they were coated. You could use any jars for this. Different sizes would look cool too. Yay for recycling!

3. Kid art.
Do your kids love to paint? Mine do. They love to paint themselves- their hands, their arms, their faces, their hair... as well as paper. I have stacks and stacks of finger painting masterpieces laying around. Frame some of them. This one my son did when he was 2 and I put it in a crystal frame I got as a wedding gift. It's probably the most expensive frame I'll ever own, framing completely free kid art. Love that!

There you have it. Crafting for free!

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5 Great DIY Coffee Tables

In celebration of the Map Table (that ended up being my Creating with the Stars demise.... not bitter), I decided to gather together my top 5 favorite do-it-yourself coffee tables. Most of these ideas are under $10! That is ten dollars people.

In the grand scheme of furnishing living rooms, a coffee table is probably one of the cheapest items in there and certainly something you can find 2nd-hand (or free). This makes it the perfect item to experiment on; get punchy, add that pop of color, experiment with patterns. After all, if you screw it up, it was pretty cheap to begin with and you don't have much to lose. Also, coffee tables are usually small. So even if you get really crazy with it (maybe neon pink?) it's still only a small pop of color in your much larger room. If I had less self control, we'd have 5 coffee tables by now. I want to do all of these.

Here are my 5 favorites.

1. Chalkboard
This table is from Kyle Not Really a Dude. Ha, funny name. Don't think she keeps up with the blog anymore but the table is cool and started out as a $10 Goodwill find. Love that. I want one of these in the play room! This would be fun at parties or a game night too.

2. Old Door

This one is from Rita and Cane at This Sorta Old Life.  I like this version of a door turned coffee table so much because they created storage. It's not just a door on legs, it's got a huge cubby to stash all your junk in when people come over. Best part, they got the door for $10 from a salvage supply place. Yes! Go on over, they have a full tutorial. :)

3. Something Bold

This Union Jack coffee table is from Ashley at Domestic Imperfection. Not only did she (and her hubs) paint the legs, but they achieved the Union Jack look on the top with stain. Such a great look and conversation piece in a living room. And, of course the best part, they got the table for free, used leftover supplies, AND completed the project while their baby napped. You know I love that. :) Full tutorial as well.

4. A group of somethings

This tree stump "coffee table" is from Alicia at Thrifty & Chic. This is a great "outside the box" idea. First of all, tree stumps are everywhere right now... very hot. And, you can ALWAYS get them for free. I think every time I've ever visited the free section of Craig's List, someone is begging for anyone to come pick up a fallen tree. If you're not into stumps, a grouping of those small garden stools would be really cool too.

5. The IKEA Hack

If you can't find a hand-me-down, Goodwill find, or dumpster rescue coffee table, hack something from IKEA. Those suckers, while inexpensive, are kinda plain. A blank canvas if you will. There are so many possibilities.

This one is from Rose Gold Walls. The teal and stained wood combo gets me. Nice!

And this from See What I Sea Designs.  You know I'm a fan of a table wrapped in rope!

One last one. Super easy campaign style IKEA hack here from Jenny at Little Green Notebook. This is a really quick (and mess-free) way to add some detail to a plain old table (or pair of tables). Great detail for very little money.

So give a dumpster dive some lovin'! And, let me know if you have any DIY coffee table favorites floating around out there. I'd love to see them!

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DIY Map Table Tutorial

The story of the DIY Map Coffee Table.
For many years now we have had no coffee table.  Our previous house was all tile with one large area rug in the living room. For a house with small babies, this was the only non-head-bumping-into-tile place to play. So the coffee table we did have went, soon after baby #1 started to get mobile.  5 years later, the kids have their balance (most of the time) and I'd like a place to put a drink down. I was on the hunt.

I found this coffee table at an antique/flea market for $40 (it is not antique... but very sturdy... witch is important when you know your children will be diving off of it onto the couch). It also has storage and is large... exactly what I was looking for. My husband was WAY less than trilled when I brought it home. It was dirty, peeling, chipping, and covered in 20 coats of old paint. I don't blame him, but I had a vision.

Here's what I did.

Supplies:

• A table - or some piece of furniture with a large flat surface.
• Latex paint - Mine is Glidden flat from Home Depot
• Plaster - You can buy a whole carton for around $7 at Home Depot. It will last forever.
• Paste Finishing Wax - Mine is Minwax brand
• Craft paint in various colors and small brushes
• Painter's tape
• A map - I found mine on Google, printed it out on multiple sheets, and taped it together.
• X-acto knife
• Fine grit sandpaper (maybe heavy duty grit too if you're furniture is in really rough shape)

Step 1

Sand and scrape your furniture piece until you have a mostly smooth, even surface. I had to dig chunks of old paint out of the molding on the top. Wipe off the dust.

Step 2

Mix your chalk paint. Mix 2 cups of your base color with 1/3 cup of plaster and a tiny bit of water.  I added some black to my white base color.  So my table is actually really light gray. This part is forgiving... you can eyeball it.

Step 3

Paint your base color.  I did 2 coats of chalk paint and lightly sanded after the last one to make the surface really smooth.

Pay no attention to the fact that the table may have been painted green, then brownish green, then tealish, before the gray chalk paint.  I might have had a few craft fails before arriving to this point.

Step 4

Cut your map.  I used an X-acto blade and roughly cut out the majority of land masses.  There are going to be several angry Canadians out there because I edited many of their upper islands.  Sorry, there were too many and it's cold up there anyway! Japan is missing as well! It's "art", right?? : /

Step 5

Paint your world. I placed the map on top of the table and taped it in place.  Then I painted lightly from the outer edges inward around all of the continents until the whole map was roughed in.  I switched between all of my craft paints to do this.  Sometimes blue, sometimes green, yellow and gray.

Step 6

Remove the paper map and continue painting.  This is the part thats up to you. You can make it as "painterly" or crisp as you want. I chose to water down my paint and let a lot of it drip onto the map using a plastic spoon.  Then I smudged a bit with a damp rag.

Step 7

If you have another area on the piece, tape off a cool pattern. I did an X shape on my center shelf using 1" painter's tape. Just find the center and go from the corners to there. Then work your way out using another piece of tape as a spacer. I painted these stripes in the same colors I used on the top.

Step 8

Add some detail to storage boxes. This took less than a minute. I lined up the boxes, eyeballed a stripe with two pieces of tape, and painted across all 3 at once.  Then I painted the little paper ovals that came with the boxes and put those inside the handle space.  Very easy!

Step 9

Wax on, wax off! Give your piece a coat of finishing wax to protect your work, buff it off, and you're done!

Let's be friends!

Creating with the Stars: Week 3 - Painting

Yup, the map table was me... and I got the Creating with the Stars boot! I'm a little disappointed but I think a little more relieved! This week's task is Home Decor and you know those ladies are going to completely do a whole room... and it's going to look spectacular. How is that possible in a week?! I had 3 hours each night after work/daycare/dinner to get my projects done. I don't think I've slept more than 5 hours a night in the past 3 weeks. Creating with the Stars is like crafting boot camp. It's crazy!

In the past 3 weeks I learned: I can do way more than I think I can.  Also that Janel from Nellie Bellie is super nice (we got the boot the same week). My kids let me know it when I haven't given them enough attention. My laundry can get way out of hand, really fast. I dislike renting and can't wait to get my hands back on a house I can paint and change at will. I know I'd kick butt on Craft Wars. :) I'm so ready to relax and enjoy Easter this weekend. 

The tutorial for the table will be up very soon. Thanks to Sarah, Thrifty Decor Chick, for all her advice.  Here are some behind the scenes pics from this week.

Thanks to Katie from Sew Woodsy for being my Home Depot photographer last week! There's me buying supplies on my lunch break :)

At one point I made this decision for the table.  Can we all say craft fail? Ewwww.

And of course the kiddos helped this time too... Cheez-Its in hand.  I hope some of you liked the table! I do!

Let's be friends!

Round 3 Voting for Creating with the Stars - Last Day!

Just a reminder, it's the last day of voting for round 3 of Creating with the Stars. There are only 6 of us left and it's clear, no one wants to be sent packing! It's impressive to see what projects get done in such a short amount of time. Go vote and send your favorites to the finals!

Last week I did the Anthro-Inspired Plate Wall.  Here's the tutorial up at East Coast Creative if you missed it.  

Did you notice my yellow branches over to the right?  Those are from my yard and I spray painted them about 30 minutes before I took these pictures.  I'm all about using what you have!

Here's to hoping I'm moving to round 4... sleep can wait another week, right?

Let's be friends!