Note: I haven’t tried this, but I thought this was an interesting blog post to give it a whirl sometime: thecreativeshoe: How to cut a wine bottle with household items: What you need:- pot of ice cold water - Cotton String or yarn - Acetone Nail Polish Remover - a match What to do:1. Fill a pot with ice cold water and set to the side.2. Wrap the piece of cotton string or yarn around the wine bottle three times (wrap it around up to 6 times for a thicker bottle), tie it, and slide it off the wine bottle. 3. Soak the string in acetone based nail polish remover for 10 seconds 4. Put the nail polish remover soaked string back around the bottle on the spot where you would like it to cut 5. Using a match light just the string on fire, continually rotate the bottle in circles so that the fire spins around the bottle. Keep rotating the bottle until the flames goes out. 6. Quickly submerge the bottle in a pot of ice cold water and watch it break! (Project and pictures via Picklee.com) High-res

Note: I haven’t tried this, but I thought this was an interesting blog post to give it a whirl sometime:

thecreativeshoe:

How to cut a wine bottle with household items:

What you need:
- pot of ice cold water
- Cotton String or yarn
- Acetone Nail Polish Remover
- a match

What to do:
1. Fill a pot with ice cold water and set to the side.
2. Wrap the piece of cotton string or yarn around the wine bottle three times (wrap it around up to 6 times for a thicker bottle), tie it, and slide it off the wine bottle.
3. Soak the string in acetone based nail polish remover for 10 seconds
4. Put the nail polish remover soaked string back around the bottle on the spot where you would like it to cut
5. Using a match light just the string on fire, continually rotate the bottle in circles so that the fire spins around the bottle. Keep rotating the bottle until the flames goes out.
6. Quickly submerge the bottle in a pot of ice cold water and watch it break!

(Project and pictures via Picklee.com)

PROJECT: Breakfast Nook Table

I finally did it - I FINALLY refinished this old, oak table. As you can see, it had a ton of water stains that needed to go away.  It’s also an easy project if you have a power sander.  Just buff the table surface down to the raw wood and polyurethane it.  Speaking of power sanders … I think this could be one of the most brilliant inventions ever.  They’re fairly cheap and you can even get a decent used one at a local garage sale.  I actually inherited mine, (SCORE), because every daughter should inherit their family’s power sander.  Anyhoo, time for the pics …

Do you see the lovely water stains?

TA DAAA!  My breakfast nook has a very narrow space, so I eliminated the side leaves on the table.  My mom lectured me about this, (“You’ll need that extra space someday when you have kids!”), but what’s done is done.  I like the table without the leaves because then I can put seating on either side including this bench I refinished.  Same method - buff away at it for a few minutes with a power sander and then polyurethane it.  I skipped staining both pieces because I liked the color of the natural wood. Also, by painting the legs of the table, I saved a bunch of time as opposed to having it all the same wood color.  I think painting the legs adds interest as well.

Here’s a close-up so you can see the wood grain.

Above shows without the bench and the polyurethane. 

And of course my cat Atom does not appreciate it when I’m not focusing all my attention on him, so he had to get in on a shot.

CELEBRATORY WINE: Ardeche Chardonnay, $12. This is a French chardonnay, so it packs a different taste than the oak-buttery flavor most people are familiar with from California chards.  It’s very dry with a full body and a hint of vanilla.  This is a great wine to give to someone who prefers chardonnay - it opens up the possibilities of what a chardonnay can taste like.  Just like the table - refinishing it made it into something completely unexpected … no leaves and all.

PROJECT: Deer Art

I’ve mentioned this before, but I’ll mention it again … I’m obsessed with deer!  I have to really edit myself from decorating EVERYTHING in deer decor.  “Simmer, Anne, you don’t want your house to look like Rudolph’s family reunion!” 

Anyhoo, I had this great idea for an art piece in my music room.  It’s super easy and I did it in about 1-1.5 hours, (while waiting for the moving truck to arrive). 

First, you start with two vertical canvases that will fit your space side by side.  I purchased my canvases at Michael’s because they were having a half-off sale. 

Materials:

2 vertical canvases

Paint for Antlers

Paint for Background

2 pieces of Frisket about the same size as your canvas, (frisket is basically painter’s tape and stencils in one)

Pen

Scissors

Paint Roller

1. Place one piece of frisket on top of your canvas.  Trace one of the antlers.  I had a faux antler I used as reference.  Once you are happy with your traced shape, cut it out and set it aside for later. 

2. Paint the entire top of the canvases the color you want your antlers.  I wanted mine a very light “griege,” (grey/beige).  Set your canvases in a place to dry.

3.  Once the canvases are dry, peel of the backing from the antler-stenciled frisket and place it on one of the canvases. I started from the bottom of the canvas and slowly stuck/peeled my way up.  Think, “cell phone screen protector.”  You don’t want any bubbles - especially on the edges.

4. Now that the design is stuck to one of the canvases, use the leftover antler-stenciled frisket backing paper to trace the same antler reversed.  I added a couple more branches to differentiate it from the other one.  Here’s an image of the antler-stenciled frisket backings once I cut and peeled each sticky piece to the canvas.  I will most likely save these non-sticky backing pieces for reference for future projects.

5.  With both antlers stuck to the canvas, you can now paint the entire canvas, including the sides, with your background paint.  I chose a brownish gunmetal metallic paint.  I used a roller with a lot of nap on it to create texture. 

6.  Once the paint is dry to semi-dry, you can peel off the antler stencil.  My edges were a little hairy, so I touched them up a bit. 

Here’s the finished product in my music room:

This project is fast, easy, and, of course, cheap!

CELEBRATORY WINE: La Crema Chardonnay, $10-15.  This is your typical California chardonnay with its popular oak/butter taste.  Chardonnay and deer may be in abundance, but I’m not complaining.  CHEERS!

PROJECT: Dresser Makeover

I made a bargain with my brother that he could have my cool American flag by Tommy Hilfiger in exchange for his beat-up bedroom dresser.  I think I got the better end of the deal, (after the makeover of course), but I’ll let you all be the judge of that!  Here’s the before, (complete with nasty brother stains on the inside like shaving cream and gum).

So, I went to work …

First on the list was to remove the handles.

After all the handles and knobs were removed I got out my power sander and began to sand.

After sanding, I cleaned the piece off with some all-purpose cleaner.  This removed the dust from the sanding as well as brother germs.

The next step was to start painting and staining.  For this piece, I was inspired by the furniture that was both stained and painted.  Something like these:

After sanding the top, drawers, and all sides, I stained the top of the dresser.  I wanted a really dark stain, so I had to apply three coats.  The below picture shows two coats.

While I waited for the coats of stain to dry, I started painting the drawers with a small hand-held roller. I found that there was no need to prime these if you sanded them well.

Possibly the most fun about making-over a furniture piece is picking new knobs.  I fell in love with some contemporary knobs by Martha Stewart featured at Home Depot.

You can also see my mirror that I madeover above it.  Click here to see how I made the mirror.

CELEBRATORY WINE: A to Z Wineworks Pinot Gris, $13.  I LOVE Oregon wine, especially their whites … I also like taking something that’s free and making it look expensive.  Here’s to bargaining with brothers and making their stuff beautiful again!  CHEERS!

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