Tuesday, December 24, 2019

Mirror Salvage - Remove Gold Back Paint, But How? Or, New Faux Brass Coffee Table

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Shiny!
Oh, gleaming sparkle!
Hi All! I have an estate sale find that somewhat fits my dream coffee table, an apparent one-off for a show house, never manufactured. I believe the architect that either made or commissioned the piece is named Alexander Girard. The only known one is in the Indiana Miller home, designed by Girard with none other than Eero Saarinen (shout out to my kitchen table). In other words, unattainable in the true sense, not just budgetary wise. So, what to do if I want it?

Of course, there is brass sheet metal, but I think that scallop edge may test my metal shearing skills. But then, I spy something shiny, underneath dried up glue and years of neglect, this neglected possibly beauty.

Better already after a bath
and scraping.
I spot potential. $5 potential.
To the untrained eye, it bears no resemblance, but to me, it has a smooth, shiny (for the most part) surface, and a wavy edge. If you scrunch up your eyes, they could look almost the same. It was at an estate sale in beautiful Crown Heights, Brooklyn, which is on for one day, until 4 p.m. So, I showed up at 3:30. Other things I was interested in were long gone, but there she was, the first thing that greeted the tag salers into a basement filled with decades of hoarding, albeit, good stuff.

This is probably different than the
Girard version. Arabic?
Ideas on replicating base appreciated.
So, now, DIYers: What next? Anyone know of a cheap version of this pattern leg? Or an easy DIY? For the moment, I am contemplating removing the gold back paint, but that may prove hard since the same solvent that would remove the paint would likely remove the mirror silvering, as well. So, I'm cleaning it up and waiting for it to speak to me.

It's current, impractical home.

Wednesday, December 18, 2019

Dyeing a Microfiber Couch Sofa Sectional - A Cautionary Tale? DIY Tutorial

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I guess you'll have to judge from the outcome if this is worth your time. In my case, I had a bit of time over the summer, due to a "parenting schedule" from the court. I have to share my child. On the one hand, I miss her, but on the other, I can fill the house up with noxious fumes in her absence, so, on the whole...I still miss her.

I like it, and that's all that matters.
Couches are pricey. They are mostly ugly, and the few that are not are priced so far out of my range that they require a budget that I don't think I'll be able afford in this lifetime. So what's a girl to do?

Nine years ago, I found a used microfiber Crate and Barrel Bob Mitchell and William Gold sectional. Tootie Pie was around three years old and, unbelievably, a bit messier than her late-tween self, so microfiber fit the bill. And, if you glossed over that modifier "used", yes, it was secondhand Craigslist. Talk about rollin' the dice. No matter how mid-quality it once was, I received it with 95% of its useful life spent. I would need to maintain the H-E-L-L-double-hockey-sticks out of it, which I did, and, still, it was looking drabber than the original sage color.

The tough part about the otherwise-easy-wear microfiber is that its colorfastness also means that adding or deleting color is much harder than with natural fibers, BUT IT IS NOT IMPOSSIBLE, even for the home DIYer.

Cold water dyes, like the type you can run through a washer, will not work for man-made fabrics. For poly fibers, the fabric must be boiled. So, unless you're considering yanking out all the staples, pulling stitches, and then running the part covering the frame (I never considered this), then you will end up with a two-toned sofa, like mine.

Are you okay with this for a minute?
The first thing you need is a dye that is for polyester. Regular dye won't work. In my case, the couch was out of commission for at least a week, because only one cover fit into my biggest pot, and with 12 cushions being washed first, then boiled, then washed and dried, even with the most efficient assembly line, it would take a good amount of time. I should mention that I don't work in the summer. And, it needs to be warm when you do this, for two reasons: one, fumes from the chemicals in the dye, and two, in my case the pot over-boiled and doused the flame, and so you'll need a breeze to remove the gas from the home so that when you try to relight it, you don't blow up the entire block.

Future phase of project Lipstick on a Pig.
It is admittedly a short-term fix that I will somehow need to stretch into a decade or more of use, but it looks somewhat intentional that the base matches the walls and the cushions coordinate with the curtains. It also brings out the teal in my Jonathan Adler sample sale octagonal tray and silk Chinese bookmark holder. I also made buttons from a similarly shaded pillowcase found at Salvation Army, that was made of natural materials, so I dyed in the washing machine, and then cut up and used a ton of fabric glue to make 8 buttons per back cushion (of which there are seven, including the matching "throw" cushion). I have not gotten to sewing these on, however. Perhaps around the newly refreshed sectional's 5-year redo anniversary?



Tuesday, December 10, 2019

Carrot Halloween Costume DIY Tutorial

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Yours should not be this tapered
up top
Hi all! First of all, link props! Template to create my cone (the one I used was from FloraCraft and had a 5.8" height and a 2.9" base diameter). https://www.blocklayer.com/cone-patternseng.aspx

And, the inspiration for her carrot, primarily from this tutorial: https://makeit-loveit.com/diy-carrot-costume-fun-for-any-age-plus-one-to-give-away. I toyed with the idea of the top of the carrot covering her head, a la this poor guy-->, but she decided against it. I think a wise choice for a tween! In any case, I used a shirt dress to make the pattern, changing the hemline to approximate a carrot. I would suggest not tapering yours as fast as I did, because it became a bit form-fitting once I pinned the two sides together. So, perfect cylinder from the shoulders to past hips, and THEN start to taper.

pinned to check fit
After sewing, it became
thinner in the middle
Creating the lines across the front and sewing the two sides together probably took less than an hour. Cleaning the sewing machine, which has been subjected to many ceiling collapses, took another 20 minutes, plus drying time. Ugh.

Added extra because paper
template was snug
cone, awl and greens
The headpiece had me stymied for a while. I bought 8.5x11" sheets of lime green felt and painstakingly cut fronds that I had intended to attach to wire to fashion the long, upwards carrot top, but my test run had too many problems: first, I didn't have wire strong enough to hold the felt upright, and secondly, I didn't see how I'd be able to paint any kind of metal to be green. I bought some extra long, neon green pipe cleaners, and singly and doubly they were also not strong enough.


I went to Michael's, however, to pick up a button or some fastener that I could use to zhush up the neckline, which would have an orange felt scarf with green stripes pinned to the side. Somehow I ended up with a styrofoam cone and some greenery. Using a template maker, I transferred the pattern to the green felt, but before I did so I put the paper template around the styrofoam, and it was a bit snug, so I extended the lines out on the felt. The awl was used to start a pilot hole in the top of the cone. I didn't need to even glue the greens in, it was so snug. The felt was then hot glued to the sides of the cone.


Now, how to get this onto her head. She had a baseball cap, that was custom painted by a friend, but I had the pipe cleaners, and baseball caps have eyelets in each section, so I twisted and hot glued and covered it all with the lime green felt fronds from my aborted mission, so nothing went to waste! An orange shirt and pants from Salvation Army, and, all-in-all, a great costume. She was being called from across the street while trick or treating. It is a distinctive costume from far away, in the dark! And, it was a windy night, but warm, and the hat stayed on, for the most part. Success!

Sunday, October 20, 2019

Emil Stejnar Backlit Flower Mirror Tutorial

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Some steps that you may not have to complete are:
  • Remove art from wall
  • Patch wall
  • Sand wall
  • Repaint wall with wrong paint color
  • Repaint again with correct paint color
After that is done, here's what you'll need to complete this project:
  • Mirror of any size and shape
  • "Arms" for flowers.  I used math manipulative linkage strips, but you could use popsicle sticks, or even create your own that bend more using polymer clay
  • A frame for the mirror.  I found mine on the street, and had my neighbor cut off the washers.
  • A light.  I used Ikea's Ledberg LEDs.
  • Tape or strong adhesive.  Duct tape worked fine for me.
  • Flower cookie cutters.  I used Fox Run and Makin's.
  • Tongs and loads of milk jugs.
  • Brass fasteners - I decided to skip these in the end
Take the cookie cutters, heat on an open flame, and quickly push through the milk jug to create your flowers. Repeat this forever. I used three different sizes to create a graduated look. If your mirror has a frame, you're a step ahead of the process. Mine did not, so I attached the frame using lots and lots of duct tape. Then, I attached the arms with hot glue to get a visual, but I'd recommend attaching the flowers before putting the arms on the mirror. The light I hot glued on as well.

In the end, I switched from the Ledberg, and instead used LED lights, that, score! came with a remote control and lighting effects! I bought it at amazon, and they are no longer available, but any rope light will work. 

Although my version bears only the slightest resemblance to the original, I am overall super pleased with how it looks. It certainly is like no other mirror in the world, and Tootie Pie and I have nicknamed it The Eclipse, after we witnessed the eclipse of 2017. Scientific to boot!



 

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