Divine Designing On A Dime Series #1 - DIY - Fireplace Makeovers

One thing that I've learned is that no matter how depressed the economy is, we still want a HOME to call our own, that reflects our taste and style.  Little things like throw pillows, a pop of color, a vase of flowers or a table runner can change the tone of a room in a  heart beat.  I'm doing a series of easy DIY WOW!!! MAKERS, so make sure to come back soon!

4 EASY FIREPLACE MAKE-OVER IDEAS:

Add a central stencil design with a border stencil on either side for the look below.  Here we used Acanthus Scroll and Balborough Border.  Beautiful.  Classy....

OR!

BOX IT UP!  With a little bit of paint and a stencil, you can make your fireplace the gorgeous focal point of your living area.  Simply make a box around your fireplace with painters tape, paint the inside with a color that screams YOU, and then stencil!  You can choose a large design, like our Ramsden Stencil, and by centering it over the fireplace - repeat or not - you have created an outstanding eye catcher!

AND EVEN.....

If you have a fireplace front that is mostly flat and smooth, you can easily use a stencil and some paint for a really beautiful make-over! (NOTE: don't do this on the metal fronts or wood stoves unless using high heat paint!)

BUT WAIT!

ADD TEXTURE!  All of our stencils are made of 10 mil mylar, so instead of paint, you can use joint compound!  Like we did here with our Chesapeake Stencil:

We'd love to hear from you!  Show us what you've done to make over your home!  Email us at designer@simplyspring.com !

 

Gorgeous Kitchen/Bath Cabinet Redeux Project!

It's never been easier or more affordable to transform your dated kitchen or bath and turn them into masterpieces!

We have just added complete instructions with color photo's to show you how it's done! Visit our site here: http://www.simplyspring.com/Project%20Cabinet%20Redeux.htm

Simply Spring Designs releases new Spring Line for 2010!

www.simplyspring.com
Here are 26 yummy new plaster designs! We have new borders, motifs and wallpaper designs. Check out our plaster Prickly Pear design! So life like, you'd better watch your fingers!!

Within the next couple of weeks we'll be adding some projects, new recipes and more designs to whet your decorating appetite!!

BON APPETIT!!

Spring Meese-Goodhart, Designer

Art in the Family

Spring Meese-Goodhart
Designer for Simply Spring Designs
http://www.simplyspring.com


Art in the Family
I have so many childhood memories of watching my mom paint. I vividly remember her standing with her head cocked to the side, scrutinizing her work-scratching her head with the paintbrush handle, then she'd lean in with the paint brush, dab..dab...dab and stand back and do the same thing, over and over until it was a finished piece. Art was always present in our home.

When I think about my childhood, I really realize how much of what I was exposed to as a child affected me - help mold me into who I am. And not just me - my siblings! Our mother single-handedly raised six children and for the most part supported us with her creativity. She was an amazing entrepreneur!

This is what astounds me: because of what we were exposed to, ALL of her children grew up to be artists in one form or another. Singers. Muralists. Writers. Painters. Designers. ALL of her children are entrepreneurs! Armed with that knowledge, I involve my kids in what I'm doing. They spend time creating and learning from their grandma. I encourage them to express themselves creatively. They just very well be the next Rock Star, the next Picasso, the next Tom Clancy!

Encourage a child to be creative, share with them the wonder of it! You're not just enriching their life, you're enriching our future and the world!

Ooooh....I can do THAT with stencils?!?!

Spring Meese-Goodhart

Designer for Simply Spring Designs

http://www.simplyspring.com/

I love "playing" with stencils. I love designing them, using them, and sharing their uses with anyone who will listen to me drone on and on about them!

Recently, a great friend of mine gave me a huge box full of cigar boxes. I didn't know exactly what to do with them, but I knew I didn't want to pass them up! There were sooo many different shapes and sizes! Who knew?! I opened each one up and embraced their different aromas. Mmmmm! I just fell in love with them! Now...what to do with them?!

A gift idea!

I decided I wanted to make a guitar box for my husband, you know....a place to house the picks, tuner, strings, etc. that seem to be all over my house!

I picked out my box, removed the label from the top and chose the stencil design I wanted to use. I went with our new design "Dervil Border" (only available to our newsletter customers now, coming soon to the website: http://www.simplyspring.com/ ) This design is a two overlay design. (if you don't know, that means it takes two stencils to complete the design) I sprayed stencil adhesive to the back of the stencil, placed it on top of the box and grabbed my putty knife and the joint compound! My favorite part!

The only negative to two overlay stencils? Waiting for the first layer of joint compound to dry!! I don't know why I wasn't born more patient...it's my flaw, I can't help it. But luckily, I used the joint compound that is pink when wet and white when dry, so there's no guessing!

And now you see the proof of my impatience! The 1st layer is still pink, see? I didn't wait. Luckily, I waited long enough!

Once the design was completely dry (I promise this time!) I painted the box midnight blue with acrylic paint and waited for it dry (I did!!) before using silver metalic paint and dry brushed it lightly over the raised design. Don't use too much pressure or you lose the depth and contrast! You'll have too much silver on there!

Ahhhh! Beautiful, non?

I finished the top of the box with wipe on poly to protect the finish and waited for it to dry (okay, mostly dry) before presenting it to my husband. Now he loves me even more (right, honey?) because I gave him this elaborate yet masculine box for his guitar junk....er...stuff that no longer lives all over my house! Everyone is happy and our marriage is saved! (hmmm....maybe I should get into marriage counseling, whaddya think?) LOL Have fun!!