I’ve made several sneak peek videos over the past month and now alas, I can finally show the reveal! I was really honored to be asked to design the entire booth for MD Hobby and Craft’s 2015 CHA Mega Show. I really poured my heart and soul into this booth design. I wanted to feature an bright, bold color that is on trend, bright enough to make you feel good, but warm enough to give you a cozy fuzzy feeling. It was also important for me to mix the eclectic old with the new and to do this I used a variety of upcycled finds, recycled items and combined them with products from MD Hobby and Craft’s line of decorative metal sheets, chicken wire, metal working tools and adhesives such as Decra and Clear adhere and their new line of Liquid Nails products. I poured hours and hours of creative time into the designing all the projects and furnature. I was so overwhelmed by the positive response and comments from the girls at MD Hobby along with other colleagues of mine. I was very humbled and very pleased with the outcome.
Earlier this month I shared an easy technique for creating texture in your mixed media work using paper mache letters and Decra adhere, a white colored adhesive made by MD Hobby and Craft. I added dowel rods to the bottom of the letters and secured them in with Clear Adhere, essentially the same as the Decra but dries completely clear. Once both of these adhesives have dried – they are tough! I added them into a wooden box I created using upcycled wood that I had left over from other projects – similar to the wooden drawer organizer I made on youtube. Here is the reveal just before it left the studio. Notice the decorative metal accents just under the knobs. I used small pieces of the Elliptical pattern of decorative aluminum sheets. They’re so versatile!
Remember the sneak peak video I did when all of the samples left the studio?? (if not – here it is) Well, after all the pieces arrived safely and were all set up, the booth looked like this:
I designed the pergolas so that 12 x 24 decorative aluminum sheets would fit in between them. The distressed finish really added a sense of warmth and eclectic style to the overall look of the booth. They really turned out great and the insets were beautiful thanks to the hardwork and workmanship of my Dad! The pergola’s really made the show and added a bit of height. Little tealights made from upcycled baby jars and chicken wire hung from the top and looked adorable accented with faux ivy and metal flowers made from the Lincane pattern.
Guests to the booth could sit down and relax a little on this adorable loveseat we found at overstock.com and the pillows added a bit of fun with their bold patterns and color. We even teased our guests with fake desserts made using Decra adhere to fool the eye that it was frosting and dipped chocolates! Check out the mini coffee table. While I didn’t design it, it was made with upcycled wooden crates that hold the raw materials that MD Hobby uses in order to create their finished products. Instead of throwing the crates away – they upcycled them! My kinda peeps!
Painted and distressed crates were stacked to create a very fun and versatile DIY sofa table. I created a table top using knotty pine wood and then accented it with a aluminum metal strip taken from the Union Jack pattern and secured it with decorative furniture tacks. To give the table a finished look, I used Diamond Tread cut to size and placed them inside the crates along the bottom of the shelves. See my video on how to give anything an aged look here
Given it’s eclectic garden and upcycled design, nearly anything goes. A variety of birdhouses were made from metal sheets and embellished with jewelry pendants, left over chicken wire and metal flowers. Decra adhere was used to create mosaic effects on one of the birdhouses – it’s a little hard to see in the upper left corner of the table, but here is the link to the sneak peek. The stained glass pieces were made from upcycled CD Roms that I no longer needed. The gazing balls on the upper right were super easy and made from dollar store finds and will be a feature of an upcoming video soon!
And who would have thought you could create matching pillows? Here I used the metal sheets as a stencil to create customized fabric.
I also shared this sneak peek – called Metal, Chains and Wood Screws – OH MY . Look at how hardware finds and galvanized metal marry together to create a truely fun – shabby chic – eclectic garden sign. You guessed it – another upcoming video!
Enjoy the gallery below featuring a variety of upcycled birdhouses, garden wall decor and mixed media textural paintings on metal. You can also watch the video slide show here.
I’ll be sharing more DIY and upcycling ideas here in the next few days.
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