Pallet for Home

custom frames, dittle dattle, DIY frames, frame tutorial

When I posted my gallery wall frames, many of you requested a tutorial.  Well, it took me a little while to get back into the workshop but here it is! 

Warning:  Lots and Lots of photographs!  I’m a visual type person and I assume if you are a reader of Dittle Dattle then you are too! 

Here is the frame that I will showing you how to build today.  The one’s hanging on the wall are 8x10 photos with an over~all size of  14”x16”.

For this tutorial I will be using a 4”x6” glass taken from a dollar store frame.   I will be working through the layers starting with the glass size first.

For the second layer, choose some thin boards.  I have a verity of boards that I used.  It really doesn’t matter as long as it is thin and when everything gets painted you won’t notice if you do use two different materials for the next layer either.  I did and you can’t notice. 

Let’s get going….

Starting with your glass size, make the next layer 3/4” to 1” larger all the way around.  In my sample 4x6 glass, my next layer will be 5x7.

I used a band saw to cut my thin boards.  Don’t be intimidated!  This tool cuts like butter.  If you’ve used a electric knife in the kitchen you can handle a band saw.  Promise.

**I do use the guide (gray bar that the board is push up to) to keep my cuts straight.

Repeat the same step for the the third layer making it 3/4” to and 1” inch larger.  My third board measures 6”x8”ish.

Now for the fourth and final layer.

Because this is a smaller photograph, I am only going to go about an inch bigger over~all.  However, on my gallery wall, I wanted to make them larger so I went 3”-4” inches larger all the way around.

The overall height for this sample will be 9” inches.

The overall width of this sample will be 11” inches.

I scratched out a rectangle with my overall dimensions and knew that I wanted 5 boards, three wide and two narrow.  Then I figured out the size of each board.  I will cut the boards just a smidge narrower to allow the gap between each board.

Thought I share with you a quick pick of my Dad working on the other side of the workshop on a hand-turned wooden bowl.  I love the shape of that bowl!  Check out his Etsy shop:  Woodexpressions

For the final layer, I’m using pallet/rough sawn lumber. 

**Just make sure the thickness of the boards are the same!  It will make your life easier!!!

Cut the rough sawn boards and lay them out alternating wide and then narrow.  Use a square to make sure everything is straight. 

**I place a piece of tape on the square so I know my overall height.

***Lay the pieces upside down.

Cut two small strips of rough sawn wood SMALLER than your overall height.  Mine measured at 8” inches.

Glue and nail strips to the back of the boards.

Lightly sand and round corners.

STOP HERE!  I like to paint all my pieces first before final assembly.

Once the pieces are painted and sprayed with poly, glue and nail everything together except the glass.  I nail through all three pieces of wood under where the glass is.  The photo will cover any nail holes. 

**Just make sure your nail heads are just under the surface of the wood so that it doesn’t puncture a hole in your photograph.

These are the pieces you will need to mount the glass to the frame.

Drill a small hole next to the glass on center of all four sides.  Be careful NOT to over tighten the screw as it will crack the glass.  You might be able to put a rubber washer between the glass and the speed nut.  I haven’t tried it myself.  

I cut my own glass, that’s why it’s not straight! 

Check out more photos at the Wall Gallery post.   I’ll be back tomorrow to share why I haven’t been around lately.

Teen room, Arcadian Lighting, Modern Drum shade Pendant lighting

Every Teen-Lounge needs a really cool lighting pendant!

And I think I found it with the help of Sarah Richardson and Arcadian Lighting!

Isn’t it gorgeous?!?!

When I saw this home office makeover from Sarah’s HGTV show awhile back, I just knew I wanted this light somewhere in my house.   The interesting thing is this is not a light fixture that I would normally choice for my home.  It has a urban contemporary look with it’s casual wrapped metal-strap drum shade.  Way too modern for me!  But completely perfect for the “Teen Lounge”!!!  Don’t you agree?

So when I first thought about creating this loft-lounge area for my kiddos, I immediately when a search for this light.  Over on Sarah’s website she is so kind to share her resources, however, the lighting source was located in Canada.  Not only did this light carry a 4digit price tag but then I would also have to pay international shipping cost!!  Way more money than I planned to spend in the entirrrrrre room.

If you have followed  Dittle Dattle  for any length of time then you know the next thing that POPPED into my head was, “I can make this!” Yep, I thought I’m going to make this drum shade with items from the home improvement store!  And I could have…..

Lucky for me, Arcadian Lighting contacted me to do a guest post.  From there I was intrigued with their website.  And wouldn’t you know it…… I found a replica of the one that Sarah had used!  It is a dead ringer for Sarah’s, expect I do believe Sarah’s light has a bit more hour-glass curve to the drum shade.  Now that’s me being super critical! 

When it arrived it was much larger than I anticipated.  I was a bit worried that it would put out too much light for the space, but it doesn’t.  It’s perfect!  At least I think.  Yes, it probably is a bit over the top for this room and it is rather large.  When we first installed it (which takes at least two people, because of it’s size) it was all you could see in the room!  Now that more pieces have made their way into the room and the room is coming closer to being finished, it’s not the first thing that demands your attention but just adds another piece of “eye-candy” to the room!

Can you tell you I just love this light? 

It can with a really long cord so that it could be hung from a very high ceiling.  We shortened the overall height of the pendant considerably as not to be in the way when the kids play their video games. 

I must thank Arcadian Lighting for their generosity in making this lighting a dream come true.  Thank you.

I know I should be working on Christmas projects but I am in full swing with this Teen Lounge.  The room is surprising coming together quickly (at least by my standards).  And I have to admit, it’s a pretty cool space to hang out in.   I just finished up a few large painting projects and hope to get on to my Christmas decorations later today.

A few weeks back I posted a gallery wall collage of some ideas that I came up with in Photoshop.  I invited you to “LIKE” your favorite and leave a comment.  Thank you to everyone that voted and shared your ideas!  I really appreciate you taking the time out of your day.

I was thrilled that #6 was the most “LIKE”ed option!  Why?  because it was my favorite too!!  That really shows me that the readers of Dittle Dattle get me!  ha ha     I guess us like-minded people gravitate to one another.

.

.

.

But Wait!!!!

So why did I choose #4?

Well, I have a couple of reasons. 

• First my teenage son thought the room was getting too “busy” looking.
• Secondly, I have a little something up my sleeve for the adjacent wall and if he thinks it busy now he might be completely overwhelmed if I over do the gallery wall.
• Thirdly, my kids liked #4 the best and ultimately it is their room. 

I purchased a whole group of frames at Ikea.  you know the ones?? basic black with white mats.  As I was laying them out on the floor it just seemed boooooorrrrrring!  With the oversized clock in black,  those black frames weren’t working for me. 

Well, I remembered seeing some really awesome frames in a boutique during our summer vacation in Upstate NY, and then I also remember I bought a quart of ASCP (Annie Sloan Chalk Paint)  in Providence that I hadn’t even popped the lid to yet.  So before I knew it, I had a project in the making.

Just using scrap wood, glass, and paint, I have four amazing frames for FREE!  yeah!

The glass and photographs are held by simple square nuts and screws.  Look closely…… my glass cutting is not square!  LOL  That just adds to the charm!

The ASCP Providence was a bit bright for me at first so on the second coat I mixed in a little ASCP Old White.  With the sanding and distressing it really gives the frame another dimension. 

Don’t you just love them?

Would you like a tutorial?

Honestly they were easy to make and I’m sure I will be making more.

I still may do idea #6 but I’m waiting to see how the other wall comes out first. 

And one last update I wanted to show you… the new rug.  I showed you an Ikea one that I purchased a month ago that was made of natural fibers, but that had to be returned!  You could not walk across it with out it feeling like thousands of needles were poking your feet! ouch!!  I have seen the same rug all over the internet and NO ONE mentioned how uncomfortable it was.  That’s not me.  That’s not this blog.  I will always give you my honest opinion.  And I always have an opinion!!! he he

While browsing around Ikea, again, I spotted this colorful one, and with my mother’s confidence, I brought it home and was completely delighted!  The kids like too, which is also a bonus.  The coffee table is something that the Hubs and I had in one of our first apartments.  It was actually sitting at the backdoor waiting to go to Goodwill when I thought….. “what if….. I sprayed it black?”  It’s not the look I’m going for but it will do for now.

Hello! 

I hope everyone is having a good start to their week.  I have an exceptionally busy week ahead of me.     So if you have noticed that the projects that I have been showing lately have all been quick projects that’s the reason why.  I have a few big projects that I am working on as well but with my limited time they are taking even long to complete.

I forgot to mention that the chalkboard door is also a magnet board!  Before painting on the chalkboard paint, I painted a few coats of magnetic paint.

Of course the magnetic/chalkboard door needed some really cool magnets and Pinterest didn’t let me down with supplying a few dozen wonderful ideas.  However, the IPhone/IPod touch apps won hands down on the cool factor. 

These were really pretty easy to make, but you can purchase them for around $16.00 or here is a tute to make your own with a FREE printable from Infarrantly Creative.   Thanks Beckie.

Beckie had some magnets that fit the shape and size of an app perfectly. 

I had to improvise:

1. I printed out the free printable on cardstock. 
2. Each app measured around 1” square, so I cut some scrap wood to size. (I’m sure that you can purchase tiny wood pieces at Wal-mart or at a craft store.)
3. Painted each tiny wood square black.
4. Used Mod-Podge to glue the paper app to the wood and to seal the paper.
5. I applied a dimensional craft glaze to the seal the top.
6. Lastly I glued a super-strong magnet (purchased at Michael’s) to the back with E-6000 glue.

Voilà!  Super cool and fun App Magnets for the “Teen Lounge”.   

**My kiddos think these magnets are really cool!  Which make my think they would also make an awesome gift!!  Think of the possibilities…..  a set of these magnets packaged with a new IPhone/IPod or how about a magnetic board in the shape of a cell phone or IPod custom to fit in a locker!   

I thought I would add a little fun to the teen lounge and make a mini basketball hoop.

I just need to figure out how to make the net?!?!

.

.

.

.

.

Just kidding!

It’s a Chalk Holder to go next to the chalkboard door.

I picked up this cute little metal can at Ikea last week and thought it would be the perfect holder for the chalk.

Now to make a holder for the metal can….

I sketched out on some scrap wood the shape and size of the holder. There are two pieces, the back piece that mounts to the wall and the ring that holds the metal can. 

*** To get the perfect size circle I played with my Cricut machine till I found the right size circle, traced the circle out on the scrap wood, and then added about 3/4 of an inch outer circle to create the ring.

What better paint to use for a chalk holder than some Annie Sloan chalk paint.  The color is Provence with a little Old White dry brushed on top.  This is my third time using the chalk paint and my opinion has not changed.  I was hoping with the darker color that I would have better coverage but it didn’t.  Like I said before,  It’s probably me!  I know that so many of you like the paint and I’m not taking that away from you, I just want to tell the readers of Dittle Dattle my honest opinion.  When this paint is gone I won’t be buying any more.

Hope you enjoyed this quick little project.  I need to apologize right now for any spelling and grammar errors in this post, but I am quickly writing it out this morning before I head out to work a 15 hour day! 

Good Friday afternoon!

I am so sorry for being so quiet this week, both here and on Facebook.  I have been very busy this week with projects, kids, and work.  I’m sure your story is much like mine, in it that I have very little time to actually do the things that I need/want to do, let alone, write, post, or tweet about it!  But you can be certain that if I’m quiet…. it just means that I’m up to something.  he he

Here is that latest updates for the teen lounge.

The lighting in this hallway was less than desirable. 

In the middle of this week I took a day for myself and went on a shopping spree!  It was fun to go by myself and to have an entire day of nothing but clear thinking without interruptions.  I could probably count on one hand the days that I have had to myself since having kids!  I wasn’t looking for a light for this hallway but at Ikea I spotted this curvy track light at a phenomenal price and had to give a try. 

Because there is this awkward ceiling/wall junction that accommodate the stairs leading to the attic, there isn’t a lot of room to fit a light or a straight track lighting.  This curvy track lighting fit the need perfectly!

Added bonus…   it adds a touch of coolness!!!

I sewed a few pillows from some remnant fabric that I had in my stash.  The fabric on the large cream pillow is so soft!!!

A few things that I have learned from making pillows over the years is…  1.  pull apart and pre-fluff the filler before stuffing  and 2.  Don’t over stuff the pillow.

And you may see a little bit of the new area rug that I also picked up from Ikea.  The kids and the hubby are less than excited about it.  They think it’s boring!  I told them that they need to trust me and that when everything comes together we won’t need or want the extra pattern on the rug.  Let’s hope that I am right!

*I finally hung my Ballard Theater Ticket Plaque!

When I decided to convert our classroom into a “Teen Lounge” I knew I wanted to add a chalkboard.    In our old classroom setting, we had a dry eraser board that ALL the kids  loved to write on.  Like I mentioned before in a previous post, there isn’t a lot of wall space to work with.  

I thought about painting the entire wall with chalk paint, but then a few months back I “spied with my little eye” the perfect solution over at the fabulous Becca’s blog.  She was showing one of her many fabulous decorating tips when I spotted way off in the distance a chalkboard door.  I knew in an instant that it was the perfect solution!  (In fact in Becca’s most recent post she shows the chalkboard door close up!)

I’m not sure how Becca created her chalkboard door, but here is what I did.

1st-  I cut a thin board to cover the moulding details on the door.  I think it is called Masonite. (Dad, correct me if I’m wrong)  It’s both light weight and has a smooth finish.

2nd-  I painted the board with chalkboard paint.

3rd-  Hung the board to the door using 3M Command adhesive strips.  I used a total of 6.   If I ever want to remove the chalkboard I can without destroying the door!

4th-  I added moulding to the board using Liquid Nails adhesive.  I debated over this step.  I didn’t want the chalk dust to collect at the bottom or at the edges of the moulding.  (It’s just going to be one more thing that I’m going to have to clean).  In the end, I did add a very simple quarter-round molding  with the curve facing in.  I am really hoping that the round edge of the moulding will clean easier than if I used the square flat edge of the moulding.

When they are not using it I just love to write little quotes and motivation phrases for the kids!  Pinterest is great for finding new saying.

Thank you everyone for voting and sharing you opinion on the gallery wall.  I also picked up some supplies for that wall at Ikea this week!