Melted Crayon Mirror

One of my favorite things about starting school when I was in

elementary school was getting a brand new box of crayons.

Since the new school year is upon us, I am making a craft

with a couple of boxes of new crayons.

There are lots of different crayons out in the stores now

with so many folks shopping for school supplies.

I chose the jumbo crayons with girly colors but if you are

making this for a guy, you could pick more masculine colors.

Because the melted crayons were going to have dimension to

them, I chose a mirror instead of a traditional frame.

I really like those mirrors with the interesting inserts.

I'm thinking of some other projects I could do with some of

those but for this project, I picked the plain mirror on the end.

The main items needed for this project are just crayons

and a mirror...these came from Dollar Tree.

To make the frame of the mirror a little perkier, I

painted it red.

Because the mirror is not huge and I wanted there to be some

 space left that was actually a mirror, I cut the crayons in half.

Take the paper off of the chopped crayons, then hot glue

them along the top of the mirror.

Next, protect the wall (just in case) you are going to be leaning your mirror up against at an angle and get out your hair dryer.

Turn your hairdryer on the hot setting and pass it

along the row of crayons.  Some of the colors melt faster

than others.  You can vary the speed of the dryer and

how close you hold the dryer to the crayons to control the melt.

The colors will mix in interesting ways.

Because I wanted the mirror to still be useful and functional

for brushing hair before leaving for school, I didn't melt the

crayons as much as I could have.  You might like "more melt".

Nana Diana had a good suggestion:  do less crayon melt (I got carried away seeing the process actually work) and this mirror could be useful in

 school locker for a quick check of hair, etc. between classes.

       The main costs for the melted crayon mirror was $3 for

the mirror and two boxes of crayons.  Other items I used that

I already had on hand was red craft paint, a hot glue gun

with glue sticks and a hair dryer.

A Homemade Chalk Recipe To Try

A dark color mirrored screen in my dining room seemed to be

calling out for a lighter, brighter color for Summer.

I have loved the turquoise furniture that I have been seeing
on Pinterest lately and wanted to give the screen that shot of color.

Here is a photo from this past Spring where the screen is in the background.

I have used and enjoyed painting with Annie Sloan Chalk Paint

but I don't have a dealer in my town.  I have seen other

 DIYchalk paints on Pinterest with various ingredients but I

didn't have all of those on hand when I got "the bug" to paint

the screen a happier color.  What I did have was some left over

wall texture powder and some latex paints.  The wall texture

powder looked like plaster of paris and the main ingredient was

calcium carbonate (both of which some people use for chalk paint).

The "recipe" I found that worked well for me was:

1 ounce of latex or acylic paint

1 heaping tablespoon of powdered wall texture

1 tablespoon of water

I mixed the paint and powder together first. 

 When it started getting too thick to blend anymore,

I added the water.

Try to smash any lumps of the powder up.  You can

 adjust the amounts of ingredients if needed.

  Some folks like a thicker or thinner paint.

If you are painting a larger piece, use the same proportions

but just mix up a bigger batch of the home made chalk paint.

This screen has been painted several times in the past.

All I did to prep the screen for this painting was to dust

it well and tape off the mirrors with Frog Tape.

The 8 oz. flat latex Valspar paint samples are available

 at Lowe's for only $3 each.  They have good colors pre-mixed.

I like all of the blue/green color samples but wanted

the overall look to be more on the turquoise side so

the light green was painted on for the first coat. 

 I am on a layered color technique kick right now. 

  You could paint a project in one color with this paint mix.

The second color painted on in blotches was the light blue.

It was also mixed with the wall texture and water.

At Haven, I was able to purchase a "Miss Mustard Seed" t-shirt

from her...she only brought a few.  She said that she used to sell

them in her space at Luckett's and may have them re-printed.

Just having Marion's t-shirt on made it more fun painting.

The Valspar turquoise was pretty...

...but I wanted it MORE turquoise so I also used the "recipe"

with craft paint in the same ratio of paint/wall texture/water.

The craft paint color was called "Bahama".  Using craft paint

 opens up a big range of colors that can be made into chalk paint.

After sanding the screen to blend the colors together,

I rubbed on a coat of clear Johnson's paste wax (at most stores).

                 The paint dried pretty quickly after each coat

and seems to stick well. Its does sand pretty easily but 

I was in a hurry to finish this screen and had to

 change from the 120 grit sandpaper to 60 grit

to get quicker results due to the paint's good adhesion. 

  The wall texture does have a small amount

of mica in it so don't sand a large piece of furniture in a

small area (or if you do, wear a mask to limit inhalation).

I was happy with the blend of colors that emerged.

The screen now reflects the "cousin color" that was

painted in the hutch portion of newly painted chest

that is also in the dining room.

The mirrored screen also reflects the new cream

colored chandy and table center piece.

I tried this same paint "recipe" on another small project

(faux lobster trap floats) and was pleased with the results.

                                                                                                                                                                        

If you try this homemade chalk mix, attempt it on a small scale

at first to see if it works for you and/or if you need to

"tweak" the "recipe" to get the look you want to achieve .

Just FYI:

I did not have to sand or prime my piece to make the

paint mix adhere but a slick surface might require that.

I only mixed the amount of paint at a time that I could

 use within the hour. If the paint started to get too thick

I would just add a little more water and mix it in.

I don't think this mix could

 be pre-made and saved for future use.

          The wall texture can be found in the sheetrock section

 of home improvement stores. The box I have was $14 for a

15 pound box...maybe they make a smaller box now.

                                                               I am sharing this post at 

Anything Blue @ The Dedicated House

Table Runners Add Pizazz

Table runners can add so much personality to

a table for (depending on your fabric choice)

a very reasonable cost.

Here are a few examples from Pinterest:

 Jesi Hack Design on Design Sponge

Proper Pillow on Etsy

Wedding Linens

Recently, I helped a friend of mine decorate the tables

at her daughter's wedding reception.  To get a pop of color

for not too much money, I made table runners out of

material similar to the color of the bridesmaid dresses.

So that we could possibly use them again for other parties,

I made them 108" long...that would even work on

an 8 foot long table in the future.  Since the fabric the

bride and her mother chose was 54" wide, when it was

cut into three sections, the resulting width was 18" wide.

Not that you would have to but we did add a point

to the end of the runner.  I was too lazy to measure

but just pulled the two corners together until

there was a straight line, hand pressed a

crease along the fold and then cut along the crease.

Then I ironed in and sewed a hem along all. 27. of. them.

(If you don't sew, you could use a product like

Stitch Witchery to turn under a hem or don't

hem them at all!)

It was a lot of work, but I think the end result

was worth it.  The bride's family rented cream colored

cloths to cover the reception tables then we

placed the runners on top of those.

There were 7 tables on the other side of the room also.

The food table was actually three tables pushed

together to make one long run of tables.

In keeping with the idea of making the runners to

be used again, we just used 3 of the 108" runners butted

 up against each other instead of making one long one .

When all the food was on the table, it

was not noticable that there were actually three runners.

Here is one of the runners on the guest book table:

There were several generations of family wedding photos on this table.

We ended up with a couple extra runners so we

criss crossed them on the bride and groom cake tables.

I was surpised how creased the table cloths were from the rental company but I didn't say

 anything...what could you do at that point a few hours before the wedding?

Also trying to keep the table centerpieces at a reasonable

cost, we hunted around for inexpensive elements to

mimick a look the bride had seen on Pinterest.

The mom found dark brown framed mirrors for less

than $10 each. We had had a "paint party" to prime the

frames white then dry brush them with two other shades

of off white paint colors.  Then they were sanded down

to make them have a time-worn look.

In the months leading up to the wedding, we kept our

eyes open for clear glass vases to place on the mirrors.

Most of them were around $1 and came from Old Time

Pottery, Dollar Tree, WalMart, and Target.  We put

seven vases (all different on each mirror) on each table.

I also kept on alert for vintage-y looking elements on

sale in the jewelry section of craft stores to add to

the tallest vase in each arrangement with a navy ribbon.

Just in case you are interested, here is a

breakdown of the table top costs:

Runner... $8 

(material $8/yard...bought 3 yards for each 3 runners)

Mirror... $10

7 Vases...$7

7 stems of flowers...$7

4 votive candles w/holder...$4

Jewelry Charm w/ribbon...$2

Everything (with the exception of the flowers) can be re-used/repurposed.

You don't have to save the idea of colorful

table runners for a party!  Use them at your house

too for a fun, seasonal change of pace. 
You can make them the length and width you need.
 They can be made from lots of different

types of materials but if the runner will possibly

get spills on it, choose a washable fabric.