#SprayNewLife Vintage Stereo Upcycle

OK nothing and I mean NOTHING gets me as excited as when I find a piece of furniture that I know would KILL with a facelift.  This was one of them.  A $15 Facebook marketplace find and some elbow grease and voila!! I give you the newest addition to my living room!

I hunted for quite a while for one that had great lines.  I knew I wanted it to be white so with that in mind it had to have detail that popped.  This was it for me. Here is the before pic:

So when I was invited to participate in Rustoleum's #SprayNewLife campaign and contest, of course I said yes because spray paint makes everything better!  I knew the stereo would be the perfect piece for this campaign.  Just LOOK at those crescent moon handles.  Seriously gaga over here!

Here is a bit of a visual diary of the process but I am including all the steps below because maybe this inspired you to go hunting for a vintage piece that you can give new life to.

And because I know a zillion of your will ask, YES...I spray painted the fabric speaker covers.  I just unscrewed speakers from back and went to town.  It took a LOT of paint to cover the orange, but I kept adding layers til it covered.

The steps are listed below but check out my project and more right on the Rustoleum website here: Vintage Stereo Upcycle

Vintage Stereo Upcycle 
Difficulty Level: 1

Estimated Time: 3 days including dry time

List of Materials:

Rustolueum Painter’s Touch Ultra Coverage 2X Blossom White

Rustoleum Primer Painter’s Touch White

Rustoleum Metallic Gold

Drill & bits (to remove hardware and speakers)

220 grit sandpaper & sander

Tack cloth or rag

Mask for sanding

Do something great for the earth and your wallet!
Make something old new again and bring new life to a vintage stereo with a Rustoleum Painter’s Touch Ultra Coverage 2X.

1. Prepare piece by sanding with fine grit (220) sandpaper. Remove any dust with a damp rag or tack cloth.
2. Remove hardware and speakers from the inside.
3.  Place stereo on drop cloth/cardboard on top of an old pallet. Keeping it raised up makes spraying around the bottom of the stereo easier.
4.  Shake primer can well then spray stereo using slow back and forth motions, slightly overlapping for even coverage. The primer allows better paint adhesion and a longer-lasting finish. Allow primer to dry for one hour or 48 hours before applying paint.
5.  Shake Painter’s Touch Ultra Cover 2X in White Blossom for one minute. Apply paint in the same manner as primer. Recoat within one hour or after 48 hours.
6.  Spray hardware colour of your choice. This project used Rust-Oleum Specialty Metallic Spray Paint in Gold.
7.  Allow project to dry at least 24 hours before handling and reassembling.
8.  Reassemble hardware and speakers inside stereo.

For more DIYs & inspiration, come on over & find me on Instagram here >>> COCONUTSANDCAFFEINE

Round Velvet Pillow DIY

Are you as obsessed as I am with all the velvet pillows?  If so, read on.

SUPPLIES:
-1/2 yard velvet fabric
-thread to match the velvet
-fabric scissors
-ruler
-straight pins

-pillow form 

While fabric hunting I found this perfect peach velvet fabric and because this is the color of everything good & right in my house right now, I bought some.  I knew exactly what I was going to make!  I thrifted a cushion form several months ago, so all I did was measure across the pillow, right direct center from one side to the other.  Now I took that number and added 1/2" to it so my total was 14 1/2 inches.  That would give me a 1/4" seam allowance all around.  I literally just freehanded it as I drew an X as my center point then just marked out 7 1/4 inches from that X til I had the complete circle marked.  

 From here I just took my pencil and connected the dots and cut out the circle shape.  LOOK at the color!!  **SIGH** This is the front of my pillow.  Now to cut the two back pieces. 

To do this basically I folded my circle in half.  I took the straight edge of my leftover fabric & measured up 3 inches and marked that.  I laid my folded circle, straight edge on the line and just traced the top of the circle on the fabric. 

I cut this piece out, then traced it again on the fabric to give me two back pieces. I cut the second one out. 

 Here is what you should have cut at this point.

 Next I needed something as a batting for the quilted top.  I did not have quilt batt, so I dug in my fabric stash and found some polar fleece.  This was perfect!  I cut out a circle by just laying my velvet piece on top and cutting around it. 

Next, I needed a backing for the fleece.  This also serves as the place for you to trace your lines on so you can sew the starbrust pattern on.  I just used some quilting fabric I had and it doesn't need to match because it's on the inside of the pillow.

Use a ruler to draw your lines on.  I did the first two, in a direct straight cross, then I did 3 between each quarter.  You will have 16 pie segments in total. 

Pin the 3 layers together, making sure your velvet is right side facing out.  Pin them together and just start stitching your lines.  Pay attention to the tension on your fabric.  Keep it a bit taut as that will help prevent any fold overs on the bottom side in your stitching. 

 YESS!!!  It looks great!!

Press the straight edges of your two back pieces over 1/4" then stitch into place. 

Take your two back pieces, any lay the on top of your quilted pillow front.  (OOPS...just realized I forgot to photograph this step..DANG IT!!!!) These will overlap.  You might find you will need to trim a little off the edges of the two flaps to make it fit into the circle of the top.  Go ahead and do that.  Now pin them and stitch the two back pieces to the front, right sides facing together. You are creating an envelope of sorts.  That's it!!  Turn inside out and insert your pillow form. 

"Isn't she loveeelllyyyy?  Isn't she wonderfffulll"

Fluff, rearrange, swoon.  Lather, rinse repeat.  :-))

Cushion Covers in 10 Minutes

Feeding my Buffalo check addiction has been SO gratifying with these super fast & easy cushion covers. It literally took me 10(ish) min from start to finish, and once you make one, your next one will be faster.  Let's get started!

First things first, you are going to need fabric.  I just eyeballed it and grabbed a yard of this gorgeous teal flannel buffalo check.  If you want to be sure, measure your cushon sizes first. I knew from making the cushion cover for my Front Entry Reno that I was definitely good with one yard for 2 of these covers.

You will also need:
*scissors
*pins
*measuring tape
*iron & ironing board
*your cushions or inserts to cover (I have these GORJ cushions from Urban Barn that I am covering just for the holidays)
*matching thread

HOW TO MAKE COVERS:
Hold your cushions taut from corner to corner and measure across the top (width).  Do the same down the sides (length).  This will give you your base height & width measurements.
My cushions are 22" wide x 12" high.

Height - Add 1" to the height. (Mine: 12" + 1" = 13")
Width - Multiply the width by 2 then add 6 inches (Mine: 22 x 2 = 44, then + 6 = 50")

This is the size of the piece of fabric you will be cutting. Mine was 50" x 13".
NOTE: My cut fabric in pic below is folded in 1/2.

 With fabric right side down facing ironing board, press shorter ends in 1/4", then press them over again 3/4'.  Pin in place.  Repeat on opposite end. Stitch both ends.

With the fabric right sides together, overlap your hems about 4 inches.  I really just eyeballed where the center would be, but if you want to be precise, measure the halfway point.  After you have this overlapped, pin together, and your total width should match your first initial pillow measurement, as you can see below in pic.  Pin the other side as well.

Stitch across uppper and lower raw edges with a 1/2" seam.  Clip your corners, turn cushion cover right side out, and press.

Here is the back flap once pillow is inserted.

 Annddd, again, full view.

This is a really FUN way for me to add a bit of fuzy warmth in my living room on the cheap.  Plus, I will probably keep these up all winter, just because there can never be enough Buffalo Check in my life!

I freaking LOVE how it looks with my vintage ochre velvet cushion covers.
Have you made these? If so, did you find them easy?

Stay weird ;-)

Wendy

PS: I got my inspo from My Childhood Treasures

Pallet Coffee Table DIY

After seeing all the pallet projects over the years I decided it was about darn time that I hopped on the bandwagon. The project most appealing to me was a coffee table.  I found ONE pallet, but needed 2 the same for what I had in mind.   I had faith I would find another one.  I checked Home Depot every week till another one showed up.  Seeing these were odd size pallets and I could only fit one in my car at a time, it worked out.  

NOTE:  DO NOT I repeat NOT buy pallets.  These were free and all you need to do is head to any hardware/building supplies store and they will actually serenade you and throw rose petals at your feet for taking some of these off their hands.  NEVER Dine & Dash though.  ALWAYS talk to store first before absconding with the goods.

I started in by sanding...and sanding some more. When I was done sanding...yep...I kept going.  Now if you have ever done pallet projects you will know that if you are going to bring them into your living space and touch them and actually USE the pieces, they will need a TON of prep to get to the "touchable" point.  I wanted to be able to run my hand across it without splinters so I just kept sanding til that happened.  BUY LOTS of sandpaper in varying grits.  Start big, and work your way down to the finer stuff. 

I then decided I was going to give some visible texture to my top pallet.  So, I grabbed my son's torch and gave a light burn to the boards.  After burning, I sanded down.  It really made the grain pop and I loved the effect.  I found some spare pallet boards down the street at our local building supplies store out back (just ask them first if they have any for free) to fill in the gaps of the top pallet.  My hubby & son ripped them down for me, so you will need a table saw for this. The gaps were varying widths and I was happy they decided to do this for me while I continued, oh wait for it....sanding!!!

I did several test swatches for stain color and finally settled on Minwax Classic Grey.  Now on it's own, I was not a fan, BUT....after applying and letting it dry...I sanded it down REALLY well and I ended up with a fantastic aged greyed wood look and it was perfect!! Surprisingly, I only needed this tiny can of stain for the 2 pallets.  I used a rag to apply and kind of rubbed it over, not really wanting to deeply soak the wood.  This gave me a TON of mileage with this teensy can and I finished BOTH pallets with not a drop to spare.  If you are more liberal in your appplication, you may need to go up in the can size.  I was hell bent on getting the job done with the small can.  

HOW FREAKING AWESOME IS THIS?? It is coming together and now you can see the vision, right? :-)

After the stain dried overnight, I sanded that sucker like a mofo til it was really worn looking and a ton of the grain was popping through.  It looked amazing and now the fun begins...applying the Poly and making all that killer grain & color come to life.  The finish coat of any project is really the frosting of wood working! I used Minwax Polycrylic in Satin finish.

I applied the first coat, which really as always, soaks in and sucks up a lot.  I let it dry over night, gave a light sanding with fine grit sandpaper, and then wiped down with a damp cloth and went in with coat number two.  The pallets really were looking beautiful at this point and I was happy to be getting close to finish.

I decided to do one last coat on only the top surface of the table.  So I gave the final light sand, wiped down again and applied the last coat of Poly.  The sheen was most excellent and the look I was going for. 

NOTE:  I used 1/2 of this can of Poly to complete the table.  YAY...leftovers for more projects! 

I used 4 screws on each side to join the 2 pallets together.  I basically just lined up the pallets (NO, they are NOT a perfect match, but the rustic imperfection is what makes this piece the best) and then screwed in from the bottom pallet up through to the top.  BAM...ready for the wheels.  

Now comes the jewelry.  LE SIGH!!!  I chose industrial style wheels from Princess Auto but are just like THESE in case you don't have a local Princess Auto near you. These wheels are metal but there are also plastic options if that is not your jam. I used bolts which were about 3/4" and predrilled the holes first to prevent the boards from splitting.  I did another console piece last year with these wheels and they are BOMBASS! I screwed the 2 pallets together first, then the flipped the table over and screwed on the wheels.

DISCLAIMER:  I did NOT measure the pallets, nor did I bring them inside first to see if they fit my living room.  I TOTALLY eyeballed it and knew it would work.  I would recommend measuring though to be sure...haha.  #dontbeaWendy

I could not be more thrilled with how it turned out.  It is the texture my living room needed and it was an update which was super budget friendly.  It requires elbow grease but hey, you can consider that sanding a nice little workout.  #WINNING 

It was well worth the effort!

Have you ever done pallet furniture??  I'd love to see it.  Share a link to your blog post below with me.

Stay weird,

Wendy