How to Refinish and Paint Furniture

I’ve spent the last couple of weeks working on several furniture pieces for a client. She’s moving into a new place and has asked me to update a nightstand, an armoire, and an old door (to be turned into a headboard—stay tuned for those) for a fresh look in her new bedroom. I thought that I would take you through the whole process of how to refinish and paint furniture using spray paint.

Red Nightstand Makeover #nightstand #furniture #DIY #makeover #red www.chasethestar.net

The first piece I worked on was this old rustic nightstand.

Red Nightstand Makeover #nightstand #furniture #DIY #makeover #red www.chasethestar.net

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How to Create a PDF

{I shared this tutorial over at The 36th Avenue back in the spring but wanted to share it here also in case anyone needed it. }
How_to_PDF_graphic
One of my favorite projects to do is to create graphics. More specifically Printables. I love to create them and more than that, I love being able to share them.  The best way to share a printable is to create them in a PDF format. Creating a PDF is very simple and for printing purposes, it’s the best format to use.
……..STEP ONE……..
Create a project using the photo editing software of your choice. Mine is Paint Shop Pro. Photoshop or Photoshop Elements are very popular but the choice is yours.

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When I create a graphic I first save it as a jpg so that I can upload the photo to my blog post for viewing. A file in PDF format will not upload to your blog so you will need the jpg if you are sharing it on your blog.
……..STEP TWO……..
Take that same graphic in your program and do File, Print. Next you want to choose your printer. You are going to choose your PDF printer.
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** IMPORTANT NOTE:  If you don’t have anything that says PDF in your choices, you can download a FREE PDF Printer at Cute PDF. This is the one that I use and it works perfectly!
Then go ahead and click PRINT. Once you do that it doesn’t actually print anything out. Rather a box will come up asking you to SAVE your file as a PDF. Give your file a name and save it somewhere on your computer. I always save mine to my desktop initially because they are quick to get to when uploading them in our next part.
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……..STEP THREE……..

Here is the next step that will allow you to share it with others. I use a site called 4shared.com. It’s free and you just have to create an account. Once you log in you will then UPLOAD your PDF (not your jpg). Once the upload goes through, it will automatically bring up a box containing the download link.
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I take that link and use it to link the image in my blog post or I will just write something like “Download PDF HERE” and I will link the word “HERE” to my download code.  To link a photo or word you just either click the photo (or highlight the word) and click on the little icon that looks like a world with a chain. A box will pop up and you just enter that download link in it.
36th_avenue_printable Click Image to Download PDF. Will fit in a 5×7 frame.

I’m linking up to: 

Home Stories A2Z
Due to the amount of content that is used without permission and proper credit, I am no longer allowing a full RSS feed. I value each and every reader so I hope you will click through and come visit!

XOXO
Diana
www.thegirlcreative.com

DIY Chiffon and Tulle Flowers

 One thing you’ve probably noticed about me is that I love simple projects. I like to be able to bang out a project in a short period of time so this Tulle & Chiffon Flower project was perfect for me to work on in the time I had between fooling around online and going to pick my girls up for school. I was inspired by a project that I found on Pinterest a few weeks ago but tweaked it to make it a bit easier for me to pull off. So real quick I’m going to show you how to make chiffon and tulle flowers.

How to Respond to Comments via Email

In the blog world, who doesn’t love comments, right? And what’s even more fun is when you get a response in an email form from one of your favorite bloggers. Ever wonder how they do that? I know for the longest time I had no idea how in the world all that worked. Well, somehow I found out (probably by reading a post similar to the one I’m writing) and now I want to share that information with you in just a few easy steps.

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{Creative Gift Wrapping}

My daughter, Emilee LOVE getting prizes. At Kindergarten, if they receive a certain number of stickers on their chart, they get to pick something out of the prize box. Emilee is feisty and in “go” mode regularly so unfortunately, she does not make it to the prize box often. Kindergarten has been a transition for her and I notice that on the days that I have a little extra something special for her in the car, she lights up and make her day. So, I had the idea to create a little prize box of our own. If she has a good day at school (and at home) I will let her choose something from the prize box. Right now it’s empty but I’m working on it!

So, what does this have to do with Creative Gift Wrapping? Glad you asked. I made a cute prize box today but while making it I realized that it could totally double as great box to give a gift in.

I started with a plain box that I found in my basement. I really liked this one because it has a lid that comes off.

I wanted the box to open up so I hot glued ribbon to the lid and the box to help keep it together.

I added 2 pieces of ribbon on the back as well so that the lid stays in place.

The next thing I did was hot glue 2 different kinds of ribbon around the sides of the lid. Thankfully I had on hand the perfect sizes and the perfect coordinating colors. Next I mod-podged scrapbook paper to the top of the lid making the lid complete. Here’s my favorite part: I took raffia and wrapped it round and round and round the box itself and hot glued it in several places to secure it.

If you are going to give it as a gift you can tie raffia around it and add a gift tag like I did.

Due to the amount of content that is used without permission and proper credit, I am no longer allowing a full RSS feed. I value each and every reader so I hope you will click through and come visit!

XOXO
Diana
www.thegirlcreative.com