DIY Vintage Magnets

Hello friends! Recently, I have really been into upcycling, crafting, and scouring the ends of the earth for chic vintage finds. The project this week incorporates all of these things. Look at me go!

You will need:

magnets

hot glue gun

pliers

a variety of accessories

You can use a wide array of vintage finds for your magnets. I had a few brooches and some clip on earrings that belonged to my grandmother, but were no longer wearable. I also used fabric flowers (the kind you find in the scrap booking section.) You can use buttons, gems, necklace pendents, pretty much anything that is small with a relatively flat back. Obviously, try to use things to already have around the house. I spent about $3 on the whole project as I literally only spent money on the magnets.

Try using a funky clothes pin, bottle cap or even a hook!

Step 1

Using the pliers, break off the hardware from the back of the piece to create a flat surface for gluing. This meant bending the “clip on” part of the earring until it snapped off.

Step 2

Glue it. Magnet + earring = TA DA!

Step 3

Revel in the fact that you just made some super chic magnets in literally five seconds. You're freaking awesome.

I hope you enjoyed this cool DIY. I think it's a great excuse to add more sparkle to your life. And who doesn't love that?!

P.S. What kinds of things did you use for your magnets? Let me know in the comments!

Lots of Love,

Anne

Shabby Chic Dining Set Makeover

Well hello!
This past week I have been very busy redo-ing a dining room set for our new apartment! It was nothing too intense, but as it was my first time doing anything remotely this extreme, I certainly learned a lot. 

The first being, make sure to take a "before" photo! I only have a "before" pic of the chair because silly me, thought I'd already taken one of the table. (Well I didn't, oops.) Overall, I think it turned out great and I am ecstatic to bring it into our new home. 

White, light, and airy

Imagine the whole table was this woody oak, because I don't have a picture to show you.

Basically, I started by sanding the table and chairs. I found that a hand sander worked really well for the table top, but the other bits needed more attention with some elbow grease and sand paper sheets.

Next, I cleaned off the sanding dust with a wet rag and let it dry. It was about five hundred degrees outside so this  took about 3 seconds. Then I began spray painting! I went through about five cans on just the table. Spray painting is definitely an art. Spray close enough to evenly coat the object, but not too close so as to create drips. 

Once the paint was even enough to cover the wood grain and completely dry, I went back to the sand paper. I hand scraped the edge of the table and chairs making sure to let the wood peek through just a little bit. I did this in every area that would succumb to normal wear and tear like the table feet and the sides of the chair back. This way, the distressing looks as though this could have been plausible wear simply from regular use. I did some super light sanding to the table top as well just to incorporate the peek-a-boo wood. I finished it all off with a few coats of polyurethane to seal in the color and help protect the wood. 

As for the upholstery, I literally just unscrewed the cushions and gently peeled the icky black and tan pattern fabric off the pad. Then I roughly measured my new fabric and stapled that bright yellow baby onto the cushion. As I am probably the clumsiest person alive and I have a small, very naughty puppy, I decided to cover the cushions with a clear, protective vinyl. It takes away from the clean look of the table, but fits my lifestyle much better. 

This sweet white color was the original fabric! But alas, it was quite stained.

I didn't even use a ruler! I just laid the cushion in the fabric and cut around it.

And the finished look is a distressed, yet bright and simple... almost french country vibe, I daresay?!

I hope you enjoyed my very first DIY! 

Lots of love, 

Anne