There are two that are similar.

I had sprayed them pink and yellow and white. I had daisies on my mind. And this one is a little simpler

As you can see, they have begun to rust and have seen much better days.

Alabama sun and weather are absolutely brutal on your garden decor. Inevitably, everything fades and rusts. This being the second time to refresh these flowers, they have just about run their course. That said, I’m not buying new fence decor at the beginning of the season. So, I grabbed the spray paint and gave these sad flowers a much needed refresh.

Welcome! I’m sharing this post today with some friend in the Creative Craft Hop. This fabulous group of creator’s share monthly posts to help feed your love of all things crafty. If you are joining from Modern on Monticello…I know you enjoyed Donna’s patriotic florals. You will find all of the other posts for this month at the end of this post. Be sure to check out all of the great projects!

Let’s Upcycle Some Metal Garden Decor

First step is to prep your piece by removing any debris like leaves and vines that tend to grow on our fence where these flowers hang. After removing the debris, I gave each flower a good wipe down. It is also a good idea to give the item a scrub with a wire brush. This will remove and surface rust. And for more advanced rust, use some sandpaper and give the piece a good spot sanding. Then I grabbed the spray paint.

My go to spray paint is Rustoleum 2X with primer. It constantly does the job quickly and effectively with great coverage. I have a collection of vibrant colors from previous projects so I grabbed those.

The backs of the flowers were rusty so I started there with a heavy coat to mitigate the rusting process. I suppose the last time I concentrated on the fronts of the flowers and may have failed to spray multiple coats on the backs. Not this time. I layered quite a bit so they should be good for a while.

I am going with a multicolor look on these flowers so I sprayed the first flower and allowed it to dry. Then I laid the second on top and sprayed that. I repeated this process with the third flower. I gave each a nice thick first coat.

When the first coat had dried, I started over again with a second color. I concentrated on any areas I had missed with the first coat. I simply sprayed a spot here and a spot there and created random color. I used the layering method again until all 3 flowers had a second coat. I used 2 primary colors (pink and yellow) during this process.

Time for the 3rd coat where I used two other colors (purple and teal) as a highlighting or tertiary color.

This was a super quick project. I recommend this quick refresh for any outdoor metal decor that is still quite sturdy and exhibits minimal rust. Rustoleum colors are fabulous and the 2X coverage is incredible.

I placed the flowers back on their screws on the fence.

And I added some flowers in colorful pots to the galvanized shelf that I made a few years ago. I need to touch it up again since the Alabama heat has cause some more surface rust.

Did you know that in Alabama, portaluca will often return the following spring/summer like perennials? They don’t return after an abnormally cold winter but most winters are not brutal so we can get several years out of our portaluca. And being in the succulent family, they thrive in the Alabama summer. I have several posts about succulent and fun containers I’ve used over the years.

Updating the colors on your metal garden decor is helpful in several ways:

• Provide a new look to your preferred decor by simply changing the colors.
• Protect and extend the life of your favorite metal garden decor with Rustoleum.
• Upcycle gently used and inexpensive finds at yard sales or thrift stores.
• Make your decor items into a lovely vignette of complimentary colors.
• It’s hard to not justify thrifty upcycles!

So grab your spray cans and get to work!

Here are the rest of this month’s projects! Head over to Cecilia at My Thrift Store Addiction for some fabulous homegrown gift ideas!

Patriotic Flower And Decor Arrangement For Wired Basket Table

Crochet Necklace

Terrain Style Taper Candle Cuffs

Rooted with Love – Crafted Homegrown Gifts

How to Refresh Metal Garden Decor – That’s ME! You are here!

The post Refresh Metal Garden Art – Part Two appeared first on Shop at Blu.

Mr. Blu likes a nice variety of whiskey. I’m not a big fan of the smokey Old standard unless it is sweetened and flavored and disguised like Apple Crown. And I’ve developed a liking to flavored brandy. There’s nothing quite so shocking as sitting down to sip some Apple Crown, taking that first relaxing sip, and grimacing because you’ve got your palette full of Woodford Reserve. So, I decided to avert future disasters by making liquor bottle labels or tags for our decanters.

We had developed a bit of a whiskey and bar selection during Covid. As a blogger who is constantly trying to improve the aesthetic in my home, those bottle lined up in the kitchen became an eyesore. Does your liquor shelf look like this?

So last year, I dug out the glass and crystal decanters that were stored in the buffet, boxes, and closets around the house. I had collected these when I had my antiques and consignment store, The Blue Building. The decanters were some of the items I decided not to part with so they were in boxes in the garage.

I decided to store the more commonly enjoyed liquors in the decanters. Specialty selections would stay in their original bottles on the shelf. As you can see, my first attempt at creating labels didn’t go so well.

I used adhesive backed labels that I had picked up some time ago. They were probably too old as they curled up a bit.

I even tried to label directly on the glass with a paint marker. Ugly!

The stickers didn’t work so well on the glass and some even fell off.

And the white marker that I used didn’t create crisp letters. What a mess! I needed something that would stay put and look like it was not created in a kindergarten class.

Liquor Bottle Label Examples

I checked out the price of actual tags on Amazon and found the average price to be around $20 for 6 tags. They had liquor tags made of metal, in silver, and gold, liquor sticker labels, a nice little variety. That could get pricey with the small but varied selection on our bar top. Isn’t that why we DIY? So, I will make some DIY liquor bottle tags.

I am sharing this little project as part of the monthly Creative Craft Hop. Thank you to Donna at Modern on Monticello for hosting this month. Give her some extra love by lingering on her pages for more fabulous inspiration. If you are visiting from Sarah’s over at Birds of a Feather, welcome! I know you enjoyed Sarah’s project. Who doesn’t love a little crochet activity? Let’s get on with creating some liquor bottle labels.

Creating a Liquor Bottle Label Design

I used the graphics option in Pic Monkey to select a few designs. I decided to start simple with just a basic design of simple fonts on white background with black lettering. I can always up my game later. In my DIY world, I always start simple, learn the process, and then elevate.

I started with the whiskey since there was a great variety and then I added the flavored vodkas.

I ordered these chains from Amazon. They are 4″ long and easily snap together to increase the chain length. I used 2 for each tab.

They had many option for color. I chose this brown because I thought it resembled copper. Turns out they really look like brown but I do like the unexpected color.

I printed the graphic design and cut out the tags.

I made a few blanks.

I bought this little laminator back when I had my store. I think I have used it once. It has a variety of laminating sheets to choose from…normal page size, 5X7 for photos, and a wallet size too.

After figuring out how the heck it operated, I was able to laminate my tags.

I poked two holes in each tag and threaded the chain through each tag. I didn’t want to spend $ on a new hole punch for a tiny hole so I just used some small pointy embroidery scissors.

The chains are the right size and slip over the decanter necks very easily.

I made tags for the brands that we normally enjoy but made a few blanks that I can write on with a Sharpie.

I used a decanter that belonged to my Mom. I remember this being in our dining room but always empty. I think it is from the 1970’s.

And now I see them all of the time. I had this one in storage from my shop.

This vintage duo came from my store.

As did this one.

And this was an anniversary gift to Mom and Dad on their 25th Wedding Anniversary. Don’t mind the wonky Peach brandy label. I tried to use the label from the original bottle but the pieces wanted to move position when the ran through the laminator. I will make another label to replace this one.

I even made a few label for the guys on the bench. It’s important to be ready when you are called up!

And I still have a decanter or two to fill but I need to make a stopper for this one.

And here is the gang all ready for the party.

Below are the 5 moreprojects for this month’s Creative Craft Hop. Next, on the tour is this month’s lovely host, Donna. Be sure to leave some comments and show the creators some love! Thanks for stopping by.

How to Make Liquor Bottle Tags

Painting Mini Chairs For Shelf Decor

How to Cover an Acrylic File Organizer with Decorative Paper

Crochet Leaf Earrings

Upcycle Picture Frames to Trays

How to Crochet a Cozy Tablet Case

The post How to Make Liquor Bottle Tags appeared first on Shop at Blu.

I have seen the most lovely vintage Christmas glitter ornaments. You know the ones with the little retro elf on a round paper ornament outlined by silver tinsel? Or the cute little festive pixie in the Santa skirt? I missed the window for Christmas. Let’s make some for Valentine’s Day!

This month, I am joining a new group of blogger friends on their monthly post of craft projects. I am thrilled to be joining the Creative Craft Hop.

This craft team posts on the second Tuesday of every month so be sure to check back here EVERY month for all of the fabulous new projects.

If you are joining me from BIRDZ OF A FEATHER, welcome! And if you are a returning friend, welcome back!! You will find all of this months newly created craft projects at the end of this post. We created these just for you!

A Proper Introduction!

HELLO!

Hello! I’m Suzanne. I owned an antique store, The Blue Building Antiques and Consignment, for 10 years, here in Alabama near Birmingham. We closed it in 2019. I have loved creating for as long as I can remember. I’m an only child and my oldest memories are of puttering beside my dad in his workshop in our Philadelphia home. I’m back to work full time now for a regional bank but I still dabble with this blog every chance I get. My passion is for furniture but really any kind of painting gets me going. I love a good challenge and transforming old items into beautiful focal points is one of my favorite things to do. Enough about me, let’s get on with today’s crat project – creating some fabulous Valentine ornaments.

Gather Some Valentines or Graphics

I started by gathering all of my favorite vintage love graphics. I suppose 50 ornaments will do but of course I will over plan.

I found some great graphics from the following sources:

The Graphics Fairy

And, honestly, I grabbed a bunch from Google. I carefully printed them to the size I needed on cardstock. This worked rather well

Since I planned on creating 50+ ornaments, I decided it was wise to purchase a circular paper cutter so I grabbed one from Amazon. It’s always nice for the menial tasks to move a little more quickly.

Supply List for Printable Valentine Ornaments:

• white cardstock paper
• home printer
• circle cutter
• thin craft brush
• medium stiff craft brush
• gold leaf/multi color foil
• gold leaf glue
• glue gun
• Christmas hooks
• glue sticks

Glitter can be kind of messy so I decided not to use the actual glitter. I decided to give gold leaf a try instead. So I ordered some gold leaf and glue. I grabbed a foil packet with multiple colors. My plan was to use the red, pink, silver and gold.

I saved a bunch of graphics from the internet and printed them on cardstock. Then I used my new circle cutter to cut them out.

I found so many great graphics!

This project would be fabulous using actual vintage greeting cards! I will have to try this with some of my parents’ old cards. Mom didn’t throw a card away!

There was a wonderful selection in colors for the gold leaf. Each piece of gold leaf was sandwiched between two pieces of wax paper. The leaf is very delicate. If you touch it with your fingers, it actually seems to almost disintegrate. So, I did practice a bit to gain confidence with the process. I followed the directions for apply the gold leaf (and the pink leaf, the red leaf, and the silver leaf).

I used a paint brush to paint the “gold leaf glue” along the edges of each circular ornament.

Then I laid the gold leaf onto the glue and patted it down with a firm bristled brush (actually a stencil brush).

After application, I used the brush to smooth out the leaf and distribute any excess leaf.

It went rather quickly once I got the hang of the process. I liked the way the gold leaf randomly stuck to the glue in some spots but not in others. If you’ve been around here for a while, you know I like randomness and distressing. So this was right up my alley.

I varied the colors of the metallic leaf trim. I used mostly red and pink and gold. But I did use some purple and some silver just to add some variety.

It really was fun combining the colors with the various prints.

So many variations!

After the ornaments dried for about an hour, I hot glued a Christmas hook to the back of each one.

I also used some of the pipe cleaners to edge a few ornaments.

But the metallic leaf was my favorite.

When I had a good number of ornaments, I added them to the tree.

I had created a good variety!

Puppies and kittens and angels.

How cute would green glitter St. Patrick’s Day ornaments be on a tree? Or patriotic Red, White, and Blue! I had better get busy.

Now I just need to get the mantle finished before the 14th!!

As promised, here are the team’s craft projects! If you are following in order, head over to visit Carol next at BLUE SKY AT HOME. Carol has a great little decoupage project for you!

Be sure to visit everyone over the next week! We certainly appreciate your support. And be sure to leave some comments as we would LOVE to know what you want to see next!

Crochet a Mini Hanging Planter (with Dollar Store Supplies!

Adorable Decorative Pillows

Decorative Cord and Mesh Placemat

Eyeglass Holder

Valentine’s Glitter Ornaments

How To Decoupage A Wood Box For Home Decor

Here are a few past Valentine’s projects:

The post Valentine’s Glitter Ornaments appeared first on Shop at Blu.