Aaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrggghhhh~

I managed to pick up two large pirate chests recently. I got this one pictured below for $10 bucks at a yard sale. *caute!* I talked the gal down from the $15 she was originally asking...hey, it doesn't hurt to ask-- saved me 5 bucks lolThe second chest I got off of craigslist for free. I heart freeeeeeeee~ It is an old chest as well, but not as old as the previous one. I am going to be making these over (of course) and I'll post them on the 25th of this month with a linky to Jen's monthly makeover party. Eh gawds, thats right around the corner, I had better get busy!

Pirate luggage~

A pirate can never have to much luggage right? Here is a wooden chest that I picked up for one buckeroo....I added the faux leather treatment on this trunk and painted it with more blacks & grays so as not to be an exact copy of the other trunks. I still may add some kinda painted piratey doo-dad to the top of the trunk.Lastly, I scored and I scored big on these small fabric bags. There were over 80 of these bags stuffed tightly into a ziploc bag that I bought at a second hand store for 2 bucks! I made the skull stencil out of cardstock paper that I covered with packing tape and then cut out. The stencil is still good even after pounding my black paint through it with a stencil brush. I am in pirate mode.... stay tuned to see my crocheted parrot sitting on top of a crocheted cupcake!!

Earth day 2009~

Reduce-reuse-recycle....three words that come to mind on earth day. I recently bought these gift bags (26 in total) at a yard sale for $2 bucks. (highway robbery I tell you!) They were previously stamped and written on but never used. I figured I could use them for--- what else? the upcoming pirate party of course! One of the thrift stores I go to gives away magazines and maps for free. Crazy huh? I always grab both on my way out of the store! Anywho, I recycled these bags into something I could use...using leftovers from previous things I've worked on :-) I ripped one of the maps into small sizes that would cover up the previous crafters "embellishments" I glued the map piece on the bag... Using left over stuff from my stash, I glued on an oval of ultra suede with a cut out of a pirate image glued on top of that. Then I tied on a piece of ripped black fabric on the handle...Lastly, I dragged my ink pad along the sides of the bag and stamped "Booty" on the bag and taaaaaaa daaaaaaaa reused/recycled & reduced waste!

Show and Tell~

Here is a small chest that I recently picked up for $4 bucks that I remade into a pirate chest for my grandson's upcoming Pirate Party that I host every year. Here is the before...... Here is the after....I've written two tutorials (with photos) on how to do the faux leather treatment on the outside of the trunk....and one on how I made over the inside of the pirate chest as well. If you've linked to my blog through "There is no place like Home" and wish to have more of a lookie-lou you can click "here" to enter~ You can view more Show and Tells here~

Pirate chest

Easy peasy tutorial on making over the inside of a pirate chest. You can view the Faux leather tutorial I did on the outside of this pirate chest here.The supplies: a map, some glue, scraps of paper, scissors & paint. Also, if you wanting to make an embossing on the inside lid your going to be needing a stencil and some joint compound-- oh and some spray adhesive.
I pulled out the perfectly good black velvet fabric out of the trunk I just made over with the faux leather treatment. With the inside bare, I made a paper template for the sides, bottom and top of the trunk-- cutting a smidge bigger on each piece. It is so much easier to cut away extra than to have to recut a whole new piece if its to little. Once all the pieces were cut I dry fitted the pieces just to make sure everything was cut just right.... then I got out my map paper. The map paper I am using is actually from a roll of wall paper that I picked up from a thrift store for .95cents. You can use a regular map that you find in your glove box as well. Lay your paper templates of each piece onto the map, keeping in mind that your wanting your cut map pieces to be "right reading" not upside down or cock-eyed. (unless thats the look your wanting) Once all your map pieces are cut...just glue them into place inside your chest. You can use regular cheapie glue or use Modge podge. I always have to trim away my paper as I cut everything larger...so to get a super clean edge on your map -- let it dry-- then trim away any excess paper with a razor. (I think this is why I always have so many projects that I work on at one time, I don't like to WAIT) Anywho...Now, the fun part. Distressing and aging the inside of your pirate chest. I use several different colors of brown and black paint to age the seams and edges of the trunk & lid. I apply the black to the very seam of each inside piece and then the brown fades out into the trunk getting lighter and lighter~Once it is looking aged, the next step is to add some depth to the trunk. (this is in keeping with my philosophe of "more is better") I of course pulled out my trusty joint compound! I adhered a small stencil to the lid with spray adhesive (the lid is bowed and wouldn't let the stencil lay flat) I applied the joint compound to make the embossing. I turned the trunk over to make it easier to work on. Next, I globbed a bunch of joint compound onto the stencil. Seeing how it is a curved lid, I couldn't use a putty knife...so I used my finger to spread out the joint compound evenly over the stencil. Next, I pulled up the stencil. At this stage I used a pencil to add more detail to the embossed area. I just pushed & pulled the joint compound to fill in some areas... and pressed deeper to take some of the joint compound away from other areas. Here is a photo of the skull with the stencil removed and after I had worked my pencil magic on it lol.Once dry, I went over the raised area with a base coat of brown paint. Then I just kept adding browns & some black until I liked it. Once it was all dry, I dipped my finger tip in a light brown paint and went over the raised skull design to give it more depth. Now it looks like its a piece of carved wood on the lid. I then measured and cut a piece of burlap fabric to fit inside the lid of my pirate chest. I used a pin to pull up some of the threads to make it look old and worn. I then used my sewing machine and zig-zagged around every edge to keep it from fraying in the future once I attached it to the trunk. Next, I used some watered down paint straight onto the fabric to give it a dirty look...Once that was dried, I used hot glue and glued it to the bottom of the lid to hold extra special stuff. Fill with some of your pirate look and enjoy!Taaaaaaaa daaaaaa easy peasy!

Faux leather tutorial~

I found this box at a thrift store for $4 bucks (I know-- highway robbery!) anywho, I thought I could make it into a lovely leather covered pirate chest for my yearly pirate party (for my grandson's birthday) Here is a tutorial on how I did it. Faux leather tutorial~

Supplies: Tissue paper, foam or paint brush, modge podge (or glue & water) and an object to cover and of course some paint.Firstly, I spray painted the box as I couldn't stand looking at it the way it was any longer. You do not have to paint or seal the object your going to give the faux leather treatment too... this was just a personal choice. Now lets get started!

1.) Crumple several pieces of tissue paper, taking care not to tear it. Smooth the crumpled tissue paper out into a full sheet again and set aside.

2.) Working on one small section at a time, apply the glue to the surface to be covered. Lay the smoothed-out, crumpled tissue paper over the glued area and press into place. Dab the area with your fingers and then take a brayer and run it across a few times to smooth out any air bubbles. If you have applied to much glue the tissue paper will start to stick to your fingers & brayer and tear-- if this happens, tear a piece of tissue paper making sure all edges are torn (so that there is no straight edges) and patch the area that was torn. Once your object is covered, let it dry. Here is the top of the box finished, I folded and glued the paper over each edge and made mitered edges at the corners and cut away the excess tissue paper. 3.) Continue covering all areas in the same manor until everything is covered that your wanting covered. Let dry~4.) Re-apply another layer of glue same as before only this time lay a piece of un-crumpled tissue over the area. Once your object is covered allow it to dry thoroughly, trim edges with a razor to get a nice clean edge. Go over the entire object with a layer of Modge Podge or glue/water mixture. Here is my box covered twice with tissue paper. The first layer was crumpled, the second was a smooth sheet of tissue paper. Now, comes the fun part. Painting! I just grabbed several different half empty bottles of brown paint and started painting the box. You have to keep in mind that you are rewetting this tissue paper - even though it has modge podge on it...so it might tear, so be gentle with your brush strokes and let it dry between coats. I am a firm believer in "more is better" so I just kept adding more & more paint to get it to look like a dirty old leather pirate chest that has been around for ages! The first "layer" of paint consisted of 2 different colors of brown paint and some watered down black paint that I patted on around the edges with my finger tip. The second layer I used 3 different brown paints to add depth to the chest. I darkened around all the edges where you would expect to see dirt-- I hear those pirates were a dirty bunch of scoundrals~ Once your happy with your paint and it has dried, apply another coat of Modge Podge or spray varnish to really make the faux leather pop.I puchased two door handles (Home Depot $1.27 each) that have a look of forged metal....and just screwed those into the sides of the chest to help carry all the heavy loot.

As you can see...I have not added the faux leather treatment to the bottom of this pirate chest. I am going to keep this pirate chest indoors for my grandson to play with-- so I am going to add felt to the bottom. I spray painted the clasp (that was on the box when I bought it) black...and reattached it. Taaaaaaaa daaaaaaaaa all finished!Well, I am pretty darn happy with how this turned out. But... I can't leave well enough alone! Even though the inside is finished in a beautiful black velvet I'm eager to start making over the inside to match the outside!

Here is a link to the tutorial on how I have made over the inside of the pirate chest.