DIY STENCILED TABLE RUNNER + GIVEAWAY!

Hi everyone! I am SO excited about today's giveaway and know that many of you have been waiting for this one. ;) Since it relates to today's DIY, I thought I'd share this little project with you all first.

Remember those old linen curtains that I re-purposed into this wreath, reupholstered chair, and laundry curtains? Well I managed to squeeze out ONE more project. =D

After a little bit of sewing and stenciling with the Martha Stewart Craft's Arabesque laser-cut stencils, their multi-purpose acrylic paint with some of their tintable fabric paint medium, and a foam roller (I found the rollers to work a lot better and faster than the stencil brushes)...

I'm loving how our little runner has turned out! 

I re-used the buttons that were originally on the curtains and sewed them to the ends of the runner to add some weight.

For some added protection, I also sprayed on some scotch guard and am hoping that this little runner will last us a while. :)

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Today I'll be giving away the second set of the Martha Stewart Stencil Package to another one of my dear readers! The stencil set included is one of my favorites!

How gorgeous are these designs?? 

via

To enter, just follow the simple instructions using the tool below. This giveaway will end next Sunday, August 26th. I will announce and notify the winner via email on the 27th. Good luck everyone! :)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

DIY PAINT STICKS SIGN

So funny story, this project was not my original intention when I first started. I had initially gathered all my supplies to create this sunburst mirror that I had been eyeing for a while on Pinterest.  The huge wall in our formal dining room had been empty for more than a year and needed something to fill it.  This DIY seemed pretty cool and would be large enough to fill that space.

{photo credit}

Unfortunately, after many hours of painting and gluing the pieces together, when I finally completed it, I was not at all happy with the way it looked.  I felt like I was in an Aztec temple... o.O Perhaps it was the paint color or the type of sticks I had... Whatever it was, it just wasn't working for me.    

Sad that I had put so much time and effort into it, I decided to break the whole thing down and use the sticks to make something else. Here's what I ended up with:

For some reason, the green appears neon in the picture, but it really looks a lot better in person.  (I need to work on my photography skills o.O)  Right now, it is happily sitting on our mantle in our family room.  P.S. I love this song by Howard Higashi!

Here's how you can create this yourself:

Materials:  

valspar 12 oz. brown velvet satin premium spray paint

30 wooden paint stir sticks (you can get these for free if you ask around some paint stores)

4 craft mirrors

1 decocolor acrylic paint marker in light green

hot glue gun + sticks

newspapers

Directions:

First, lay two paint sticks side by side (forming a horizontal line).  Glue 21 sticks across the top (lying vertically) with the glue gun.  Trim off any excess wood with scissors.  Gently flip the whole thing over and glue two more sticks across the bottom over the 21 sticks.  For extra reinforcement, you may glue on additional sticks to the back. 

Next, glue on the craft mirrors at each corner.  Once the whole piece has dried, place it over some newspapers.  Spray paint the entire piece in brown velvet.  Let it dry for half an hour.  Lastly, pick the quote of your choice and write it on with the acrylic marker.