Easy and very cheap way to make new vases.

Ever feel bad about throwing out that really cool wine bottle or olive oil bottle. Turn them into vases! This is how I did it.

Remove all labels and wash bottle well. Great way to remove labels is with just good old soap and warm water. You can also use Goo-gone. Once your bottle is clean and dry, pick the color, make sure it's acrylic paint not oil based. Pour a small amount into the bottle, start moving the bottle around till the entire inside is coated. You wont need very much. Once you can tell that you are done pour out any extra paint. Let it sit to dry. It will take quite a few hours, I would recommend leaving it alone over night.

Ta-da!!! You now have new vases to decorate with. They look great if grouped together all one color or different shades of one color. Or mix it up!

Wall art, with home made stencil.

Hello everyone! Here is my first project that I will be sharing with you all. It's been a long time since I've done my crafty magic, but I think we are off to a good start! I wanted to make some wall art that wouldn't take too long to make. There's an empty wall staring at me screaming Hey lady!! I need something! Here's my Key Wall Art, I hope you like it, and try it! 

This is the finished product! You can use whatever 3 shades of color you want, and the background color can be different as well. It's your project! Make it your own.

Please be safe when using an xacto knife. They are very sharp. 

First, I went online looking for the right key. Just a design that caught my eye. I saved the image and "blew it up" on PhotoShop. Printed it out. Two separate sheets because of size. I only have a little regular printer! I used glue stick to glue it to what eventually would be my stencil. For the stencil, I bought a package of binding covers. I wanted something sturdy but that I would be able to cut out the stencil easily.

  

Very carefully and slowly I traced the key onto the future stencil with an xacto knife. Take your time when doing this. 

This is the finished stencil.

Once that was done, I moved on to the board I would be painting these on. I didn't want a flat surface, so what I did, or what my handy fiance did, was he glued floor boards together. You can go to any flooring place and ask them if they have any extra ones they can let go, or sample sizes they don't need any more. If not you will have to purchase them. I didn't want the natural color of the wood so I painted it. 

Once fully dried I used painter's tape to make sure my stencil wouldn't move while I was painting the key. I went to the paint department at my local hardware store, and chose the three colors that I wanted. You can chose whatever will match your decor. I didn't want to buy a whole gallon or a quart, I knew I wasn't going to use it all. You can buy sample sizes which are much cheaper and then you are not left with a gallon of paint that you're not sure what you'll do with.


Once the paint is dry, carefully remove the tape and stencil. You will notice that some of the paint has bled under the stencil. Oh no! No worries. This will happen. Just take a small brush, and detail any little areas that need correcting.

This is what I'm talking about when I say some of the paint will bleed under the stencil.

Be patient when correcting, don't want to rush it.

Your first stencil is done. Now just repeat two more times and you'll be done!

So that you don't make the mistake I did, start from the get-go with a stencil brush. I tried a regular brush then different size sponges and it was a big no! Also, I did three coats to get it to the green I want it and to cover as much of the white I desired. However, you can do only one coat and have some of background color show through, I think that would also be a really neat effect.
Once you are done with the last two keys, you are done! 

I hope you enjoyed the crafty process and the end result! Thank you for reading!