Welcome to my
Perfectly Imperfect Life..........

Wednesday, August 20, 2014

Wishes Floating in the Breeze


When I decided to makeover my bedroom,
the first thing I did was to pull up the carpet.
Believe me, you would have done the same thing!
Don't have too many before photos,
you know me -  when I'm done I say,
 ''Oh shoot! I didn't take pics...again!!"
I had no idea what I wanted to do,
whatever it would be had to cost $0, yes, $0.
Here's the only before photos I could find.
Without gross carpet.....
just plain but CLEAN cement


Then when Ace was giving away quarts of their new paint line,
Clarks and Kensington Interior Paint every Sat.
last year for several months 
( I had gotten enough to already paint my room)
I just started getting white.
Then I had a light bulb idea about painting the floor!
Perennial Sweet Pea Walls 
with a white floor -
sounded good to me.
If you can look close you can see 
the floor is now white.
Excuse the mess, this is where all the magic happens - or it's suppose to.
 My bed combo craft room gets blurred lines sometimes a lot of the time
and my craft table becomes a drop zone :(

After I lived with the white for about a year,
 I started thinking it needed a design of some sort.

I've always had a thing for wings,
 (yes, I know I have a thing for a lot of things!),
Hence Dragonflies, Birds, Fairies,
yes, in that order ;)

I've seen a lot of dandelions lately with their
seeds floating along the breeze. I liked that.
In fact I even made a little sign to go into a ''photo holder'' I made from a green Depression sugar lid.


Then while searching Bing 
I came across an image where
the seeds turned into birds. 
How cool is that?

I printed it out and started to make a decal
with some clear Contact paper I had.
That came to a halt quickly.
The stems of the feather like seeds were so thin,
no way could I stencil it.
Now that I had fallen for this design,
 how the heck was I going to get it on the floor!?

Freehand? heck no,
I can't draw a straight line let alone paint!
It was put on the back burner for a few days
while I dealt with more medical issues with the kids.

It spun around for a bit in my head,
then I thought of my Dad's humongous
 folder of Carbon Paper!
Thanks Dad!
There's proof right there that if you hang
onto something long enough eventually you'll need it.  
I'm not suggesting to keep a 3 inch
stack of Carbon Paper from WWII, but hey!

So I printed out the image and covered it with the clear Contact Paper so I would be able to trace over it as many times as needed without tearing through the paper.

Sorry no in progress photos, yes again!

But here are the finished photos.
The carbon paper was sandwiched between the floor and the image. I then lightly traced the image which transferred to the floor.
I used a variety of mediums to ''color'' the image in.
They do not all have the same coloring.
Different shades purples and blues were used.
I had some Martha Stewart paint pens
 I picked up on clearance
quite a while ago which I used. 
I also used Sharpies and even nail polish to get a variety of purples and blues.
T kept saying the Sharpies would bleed when I put sealer on it. Needless to say, I kept thinking ''they are indelible markers and shouldn't, right?''
You'll also notice in this photo I finally got my old
 Door Knobs turned Drawer Knobs on!
I really had no rhyme or reason when it came to placing the images. But they turned out pretty good. The Dandelions range from all purple, 
to all blue to a mixture of blue and purple.
All the birds are blue, some light, some darker.
After I had the main images done,
I thought the blank spaces around them needed something.
So I free handed (yikes) floating Dandelion Seeds in the same assorted shades of purples and blues. 
When I was done I used the left over Cement Sealer
 that I used on my "Faux Brick Walkway".

And guess what?
The Sharpies and nail polish did NOT bleed as I brushed on the sealer, but the Paint Pins DID!!!
I thought I had just ruined all the time and
effort I had put in on this project.

I dabbed up where it had bled/smeared so you couldn't see it,
then ran and found a spray bottle in which
 I poured in some sealer.
I sprayed the entire floor 3 times letting each coat
dry for an hour like the label said.

I was worried it would leave bubbles or
who knows what but it turned out pretty good!

It's been mopped several times with no issues!
I'm pleased with the way it turned out,
especially since I winged it all the way.
I just may get this room together some time in this decade yet!

And the cost? $0!!
  

20 comments:

  1. Hi Deb, your new floor is amazing. You did a wonderful job and it is charming in the colors you chose. You are so talented and the theme is perfect.
    Thanks for sharing your process.
    Have a blessed day!
    xo

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    Replies
    1. Thank you for such sweet comments! Have a great day!
      *hugs*deb

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  2. All's well that ends well. What a labor of love and well worth all the effort. Thanks for sharing at Vintage Inspiration Party.

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    1. Yes, thank goodness it ended well! Not in the mood to repaint the whole floor! :)
      *hugs*deb

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  3. How beautiful! I love birds, too. I would never have thought of using this medium on a floor. I did see where someone had stenciled their porch and I'm trying that. Who knows, I may have to get out the sharpie! I noticed your pink depression glass. I have quite a few pieces. Right now many of them are in my bathroom. Creamers hold q-tips, sugar bowls hold pins and makeup sponges, etc. ~Pamela

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    1. Thank you! Good ol' sharpies :) That was my first idea was to make a stencil....until I decided on an image that was so tiny :o What a sweet idea, using your depression glass in such a useful way. I hate to have things I love hidden away, it's nice to see them everyday:)
      *hugs*deb

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  4. What a pretty design-and perfect for you floor. Thanks for sharing at Fridays Unfolded!

    Alison
    Nancherrow

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  5. I love your idea - it looks so charming and whimsical! I do appreciate you sharing with Home and Garden Thursday,
    Kathy

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  6. I love what you did! And I can't tell you how many times I have wished for my grandfather's monstrous stack of carbon paper! You used creativity throughout this project and it paid off!

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    1. LOL Carbon paper was the it thing back then wasn't it! Thank you so much for your sweet comments
      *hugs*deb

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  7. Wow... what an inspiring and fabulous job you have done. You must be so happy with it.

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    1. Thank you! Yes, it makes me smile every morning :)

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  8. Wonderful idea, makeovers can take be hard or much fun. You sure make it seem very easy :)

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    1. Thank you! I was worried about how I was going to do it for a while, then the light bulb finally came on ;)
      *hugs*deb

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  9. That is beautiful!! What a great way to add some beauty to a boring floor...hmmm...now I need to do something in my kitchen.... :)

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  10. What an awesome floor to see every day! Very beautiful, inspiring and freeing!

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I'd love for you to leave me a comment. Helps me to know I'm not totally crazy...like my family thinks I am!
*hugs*deb

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