Thrift stores are a great place to purchase crafting supplies for next to nothing. I’m not talking about those items you typically think of as craft supplies like paints, clay, stamps, and paint brushes. Although I have found those items at thrift stores in the past. I’m talking about those craft items that you can transform from trash to treasure, i.e., wooden boxes, vases, trays, napkin holders, coasters.
The trick is to look past the ugly finishes and dated look of a piece and focus on the shape! Anything can be transformed with a coat of paint!!!
One of my favorite trash to treasure projects was this DIY: Easy Coaster Decoupage project. I was able to transform a set of very ugly coasters into a beautiful set for just a few pennies. I LOVE how they turned out!!!
Even these hideous shower curtain rings that I picked up for a dollar, can be transformed into something beautiful. Check out this ridiculously easy, super simple DIY: How To Make Embellished Shower Curtain Rings.
Another thrift store craft supply; a plain unremarkable wooden napkin holder. Transformed with this DIY: How To Embellish With Clay Moulds & Distressing Technique.
Every so often I pick up a bargain at my favorite thrift store even though I have no idea how I will end up using the piece. That’s how I became the proud owner of this rather ugly wooden board and these plastic napkin rings.
Inexpensive items you pick up at the thrift store are perfect for practicing different techniques. I have an old wood dresser that I want to embellish with pinecone stamps but I wanted to practice on something else before trying the technique on a large piece of furniture. It’s a lot more work to “fix” a mistake on a piece of furniture than it is to “fix” a small wooden tray.
I wanted to add feet to this wooden tray. I think trays look nicest when they have feet. So I used four plastic napkin rings as “bun feet”. Use a hot hot glue gun to attach them to the bottom of the board.
I then painted the entire piece with 2 coats of white chalk paint, plastic bun feet and all. You could use acrylic paint as well if you don’t have chalk paint on hand.
I’m sure most of us have used rubber stamps in the past. I fell in love with this sheet sized Iron Orchid Design (IOD) stamp when I saw it. I splurged and picked it up. I wasn’t sure how I would use it but I knew I would come up with more than one project to showcase it. I just had to find the right items to embellish.
If you are interested in using this stamp check out the Iron Orchid Designs website. Not only can you find a retailer near you on their website but you can order items directly from their website as well. They have a huge assortment of stamps, moulds and transfers to choose from. My favorite thing about their website are their easy to follow tutorials and the loads and loads of beautiful images to inspire you!
Disclaimer: I have no affiliation with IOD other than I have purchased their products and I’ve had great results using them. Go check out their website, they will inspire you! Plus you will be supporting a small business, and that’s ALWAYS a good thing!
Ok back to our project. I squeezed out about a teaspoon of paint onto a Mix Mat. If you don’t have a mix mat squeeze paint out onto a plate or other smooth non-porous surface.
I love this Mix Mat!!! It keeps paint “wet” for ages and makes it easy to apply paint onto rollers. When you are done crafting, just wash it off with warm soapy water, let it air dry and it’s ready for your next painting project.
I used black acrylic craft paint for the stamp.
Load the entire foam roller with paint.
Gently roll paint onto the raised surface of the stamp. Use a light touch so that the paint is applied to the raised surface of the stamp.
Position the stamp over the spot you want to stamp and lower it straight down onto the surface, being careful not to move the stamp or shift it once it comes in contact with the surface. Gently press the stamp down to make sure the paint transfers evenly onto the surface.
Allow paint to dry completely before moving on to the next step. Although the stamp is super cool looking I wanted to add some color and decided to use a few IOD rub on transfers I had leftover from other projects.
Select the image you want to use and peel off the opaque backing sheet. Place the image onto your piece and tape it down along the edges to keep the image in place. Use the rubbing tool that’s included to firmly rub the entire image onto the surface so that it “lifts” off the transfer sheet and onto the surface.
Slowly and gently peel off the top clear film after the image has transferred to the surface. If part of the image hasn’t transferred as you peel back the film, place the plastic back down and rub the area until the image transfers onto the surface.
I intentionally layered the transfer image over part of the stamped image on the tray. I love the layered effect that it created.
NOTE: Wrapping the edges of the transfer images onto the sides of the tray looks better than aligning them perfectly along the edges too.
Don’t obsess over getting it “perfect”. The stamped image is off center and slightly angled which I think looks better than if everything was perfectly aligned and straight.
To finish the piece, give it a coat of sealer. I used a light coat of Mod Podge spray sealer in a matt finish to seal the piece.
I just LOVE how this tray turned out! It was a great inexpensive canvas to try out stamping and transferring images. Now I feel confident enough to use these techniques on larger projects like furniture pieces. There’s a dresser upstairs that’s going to get beautified in the very near future!!!
This was such a fun project! Now I’m looking at everything in my home to see what I will embellish net. What will you be trying these techniques on? Go on give it a try, you will love the results!!! With a little practice you can use these techniques to update just about any tired and dated pieces of furniture you have in your home.
Not only will you save yourself ton of money updating existing pieces of furniture, but some of the older stuff you have is probably made of real wood and much sturdier and better built than what you get at furniture stores these days. Not only is the quality better but you will be creating an original piece that is uniquely you and works perfectly in your space.
Yes you can create custom furniture for your home and you will have a beautiful, one of a kind piece that you can be proud of.
Did You Try Any Of These Techniques?
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And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.
Romans 8:28
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You just inspired me! I have an extra piece of wood from a closet shelf that I can turn into an adorable monitor riser for my home office 😊