DIY Prettier Magazine Files

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In the spirit of continuing the theme of pretty organizing, I noticed that when I place things in beautiful containers and storage solutions, they get an instant promotion around the craft room: From being a merely functional “thing” to a piece of “love” that you want to place in a prime location.

In this DIY, I basically upgraded 3 magazine files by attempting a wall-paper look. This is inspired by the lovely bird magazine files that are at the bottom of this post, and which I mentioned previously.

This is how these poor black files got their promotion up into a much nicer shelf at my workspace. The files are a bit unsteady since they are old, and I did stack up more magazines than they could hold, so they are puffy at the edges.

I had a difficult time deciding whether to decoupage the files or paint them. I had some nice damask wall-paper, but it looked too patterned, too well-finished for the look I was looking for.

So I decided to use:

• Acrylic paint (white, pink, green)
• Foam stamp (Motif: Grapes)
• Brush

Method:

1. I started by free-handing the shape of a pink bird, as if perched on a branch. I found an illustration of a bird and placed it in-front of me to help me keep the proportions right while I painted. I decided to paint the bird on two magazine files (I just had to hold them real tight as I sketched the shape). This is so that the final image would give the impression of a whole big painting that was cut into 3 parts (just like the original wall-paper idea was).
2. I stamped the grapes around the bird arbitrarily after dabbing acrylic colors on the foam stamp (pink on the grapes, green on the leaves), but the lines were too thin, so I decided to take advantage of this and add a vintage-y touch by dabbing paint here and there, on the leaves, around the grapes themselves, and around the bird.
3. I touched up some areas with light pink or white to hide mistakes.

The inspiration

Yes, here it is… the beautiful inspiration that got me thinkin’ about changing the look of my files.

The design of the files in the above pic is by British stylist Marie Nichols, whose blog  is so inspiring.

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Related Articles:

• Inspiration Board: DIY Shelves using Baskets & Crates
• Organizing 101: Ideas for pretty storage

Crafty DIY: How to paint a romantic basket

I finally came around to update this basket! I’ve had this basket for years: I love the shape and the wicker, but the oil stains always bothered me so much, even if they hid under a doily or a cloth.

So, I decided to update my cute little basket/tray, and my inspiration came from a mixture of “shabby chic,” French romantic,” “vintage romantic,” and floral prints by Laura Ashley & Cath Kidston.

The tools I needed were:

• Wicker tray/basket
• Acrylic paints in pastels and cool hues
• White glue (or varnish) to seal the work. You can of course use Mod Podge to seal the work
• Brushes
• Water to clean the brushes in between colors

So, what I did was basically the following:

• I wiped the basket clean with a wet cloth
• Applied a coat or more of white acrylic paint, and I deliberately made an imperfect job,  hoping to achieve a “shabby chic” effect
• Painted little rosettes with pink and white acrylic paints, and I used a vintage green for the leaves
• Once the paint was dry, I sealed the work surface with white wood glue.

And that’s it, basically.

I’m planning to post a tutorial soon on how to paint those lovely rosettes. It’s a mind-blowing-ly simple technique, you’ll feel like a master of arts when you get the hang of it.

Ok, folks, I hope you enjoyed this tutorial. Cheers

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This post participated in this link party:

Tip Jinkie :: Homemade Projects – Linky party – 14/8/2012