A Thrifted Transformation
I’m super excited for today’s post because it’s time for Swap it Like it’s Hot! If you haven’t heard of it, Charlotte from Ciburbanity organizes a bunch of bloggers to go shopping and mail one another items they found at the thrift store. Everyone uses their creative skills to transform their items, which (of course!) is the best part. If this sounds familiar to you guys, it’s because I was part of this back in March. Today is Day One in a week packed with creative thrifted goodness—and it’s my day to share! Ready to see what I came up with?
If you’re coming over from DIY on the Cheap, welcome! 🙂 So glad you are here. If you haven’t seen what Erin came up with, go check it out! Speaking of Erin, here are the goodies she sent me to work with:
So many fun possibilities, right? While I had ideas for most of the items, I kept coming back to the wooden plaque. My mind was going kind of crazy with different options, but in the end I decided to make something that was both practical and pretty—a vintage-looking calendar!
Making it was pretty simple—this is definitely something you guys could do. You can find plaques online or at a craft store. I started by painting mine with some leftover Annie Sloan Chalk Paint I had in the color Duck’s Egg. While I was painting the plaque, I decided to go ahead and paint the jewelry box as well to see if I could use it for anything (spoiler alert—I did!).
While they were drying, I made the printouts with months and days on them. I created a document in photoshop that was 5×9, which is the size of the plaque. I made sure the month and days fit with plenty of room to trim, and printed them out. I then used a paper cutter to cut each down to size (I’ve had this one
for three years now and really like it).
Once they were cut, I decided to distress them a bit. I was excited to have an opportunity to play with one of my new favorite art supplies, Derwent Inktense Blocks
. These things are so amazing! They are ink but in a water-soluble block form, meaning they play like watercolors but once dry they are permanent. You can do all sorts of fun things with these like staining wood and painting fabric in addition to making some really vivid, layer-able paintings.
I knew I wanted an aged look, so I used the color chart I made to choose two colors to blend, a brown and a yellow-brown. I used a scrap piece of watercolor paper and scribbled a few lines with each, then used a water brush
to combine them. The colors looked a little….poopy on the paper but once they were brushed onto the paper they looked a lot better. 🙂
After the plaque and jewelry box were dried I added a fun border with a gold leaf pen
as well as a stenciled flower to the top of the jewelry box. I also ripped out the inside of the jewelry box so I could use it to store all the spare numbers I made. Lastly, I added clips with thumbtacks to add the month and dates onto the plaque. Tada!
I’m so excited to display this in my office—I’m always forgetting the date so this is perfect! 🙂
As far as the other items go, I liked the napkins so I threw those in the wash to use. I also loved the brass cup and planted a mint plant in there—hoping it will get huge and provide me with plenty of mojitos! 🙂
Ready to see even more DIY-goodness? Check out what my friend Brynne over at The Gathered Home made with the thrift store finds I sent her way—you’ll love it! 🙂
Tune in all week to see the crazy items this talented group of bloggers has been making over! Search the hashtag #swapitlikeitshot on social media to follow along with all the fun or check out our Pinterest Board.
MONDAY
That’s My Letter / DIY On the Cheap / Run To Radiance / The Gathered Home
Two Thirty Five Designs / Chaotically Creative / Decor Adventures / Homemade By Carmona
TUESDAY
Thoughts From Alice / Reinvented / Confessions Of A Serial Do-It-Yourselfer / Restoration Redoux
Always Never Done / I Am a Homemaker / Black and White Obsession / Windgate Lane
WEDNESDAY
Town and Country Living / brepurposed / The Charming Farmer / 58 Water Street
Designer Trapped In A Lawyer’s Body / Year of Serendipity / White House Black Shutters / Desert Domicile
THURSDAY
Two Purple Couches / Like A Saturday / Finding Silver Pennies / Artsy Chicks Rule
Something to Be Found / Shades of Blue Interiors / Simple Designing / Our Southern Home
FRIDAY
Evey’s Creations / Dragonfly and Lilypads / Weekend Craft / Ciburbanity
A Designer At Home / Polished Habitat / Blue i Style / Addicted 2 DIY
Tania Griffis is an accomplished writer, blogger, and interior designer with a Journalism degree from the University of Oklahoma. She started her popular blog, Run to Radiance, in 2011, demonstrating her design expertise through the personal remodeling of six houses to millions of readers across the globe.
Tania also owns The Creative Wheelhouse, a respected ghostwriting agency for bloggers, further showcasing her talent for creating engaging and informative content.
I love it, Tania! The antiqued letters are so perfect, and how great is it that the little jewelry box can hold the extras?! Lovely!
Thanks Brynne! It’s amazing what paint can do and I am always up for using watercolor in anyway I can! 😛
I love it!! You are so creative!
Thank you Katie! That’s so kind. 🙂
Absolute Love!!
Thank you 🙂
Such a fun idea and love how it turned out!
Thanks so much! 🙂 I was happy with it and am excited to get to start using it!
This is such a fun idea! Of course (as always) this turned out SO cute!
Aww, thanks Caroline! It was super easy, you can totally do it! promise.
What a cute idea!!!! & so easy to make it fit your color scheme & décor.
Great job, love the calendar idea!
Such an awesome idea! I love the gold leaf border 🙂
I love the calendar you created! The gold border is a perfect touch 🙂
I love it! You are so creative. I’m especially loving the color you went with. So pretty.
My FAVORITE Annie Sloan color! What a fun idea to include the box to hold the numbers. Smarty. Thanks for joining in and being awesome!!
Very pretty! Love your calendar…so clever!
What an awesome idea, Tania! Love that font you used! I’m pretty awful at remembering the date too. Great way to re-purpose that plaque and jewelry box.
I hope that brass cup provides you many, many delicious mojitos!
Very cute! Love the colors 🙂
Nancy
love that calendar! What a great idea for a diy that is ever changeable.
Love the calendar and I love the little triangles you added around the edges!! So cute!
Oh how I LOVE that sweet little calendar! The aging technique is perfect. What great vision you had to put everything to use! I hope that you are blessed with many mojitos! 🙂
What a perfect project! And I love those watercolor-like inks. I’m going to have to try them. Glad to be on the Swap with you!
I love the items you received! So creative creating the calendar and I love the techniques you used!
That is just beautiful!
Super cute idea! Love the color you chose too.
How creative!! I like what you did with the wooden plaque!!
Very cute! Love it!
Girl I love the way you think! Beautiful transformation!
You can never go wrong with Duck Egg Blue! Beautiful project!