Ugly craft makeover: Wooden toy sewing machine

After watching me work on a couple of quilts, Elise became really interested in my sewing machine, asking how it worked and politely inquiring if she could make a quilt of her own. Obviously at three years old, she's too young for real sewing, but I realized this would be the perfect time to give one of my thrifting finds an ugly craft makeover.

I found this wooden sewing machine at a thrift store a couple of summers ago ago for $3 and it has been sitting in my basement ever since. I don't think it was a toy, but rather a prop for an industrious doll or teddy bear in the country crafts eighties. Oh, the gorgeous things those teddy bears used to sew back then!

It was an awkward height even for a kid sitting down, and I wanted to make it similar to a modern day table top machine, so with a little help from my dad, we pried off the bottom stand portion. Sorry, Salley.

After sanding it and scraping off some random hot glue globs, I primed with a stain-blocking primer and painted it a cool mint green.

Then it was time for the details. I added a spool pin (made from a chopstick) on the top right. The pin that was already there was on the "wrong" side for a modern machine, and it was too thick to hold a spool anyway. My real machine has a metal piece that sticks up on that side to guide the thread, so it doesn't look out of place.

The body of the machine was lacking dimension, so I also added some dials made out of two-inch wooden wheels from the craft store. They are attached with screws through the center, enabling the dials to turn like a real sewing machine.

To add to the play factor, I picked up a package of unfinished wooden spools and painted them a rainbow of colors. So far, I think this Elise's favorite part of "sewing." Changing the thread. She has a lot to learn.

But what's a sewing machine without something to sew? I raided my stash of fabric scraps to make some faux sewing. I even hand stitched a heart on one with some embroidery thread.

I was kind of surprised that this was one of the toys under the Christmas tree that she really gravitated toward. She's in that imaginative play stage, so the timing was right. Can't wait to have a mother-daughter sewing afternoon soon!

Ugly Craft Makeover: Decoupaged frame

This is the transformation of a factory-made ugly craft, but I'm making it count anyway.

My dad passed this frame onto me after receiving it as a gift last Christmas. I'm not sure why someone thought a 50-something man would enjoy a cutesy holiday picture frame, but whatever.

OK, yeah it's really not that ugly, but it's not at all my taste. It's not that I don't like bows, I just prefer them in more appropriate places like on presents and in little girls' hair. But it's a good sturdy frame and was worth saving. Seriously this thing is so heavy you could use it as a weapon to knock out an intruder or something.

This transformation was too easy. I ripped off the bow and peeled off the glue. Then I painted most of the frame black, but didn't worry about the parts that would be underneath the paper. I chose a piece of scrapbook paper and cut it to size. A little bit of Mod Podge and now it's something that's more my style.

Obviously, my dad instructed me to re-gift (see above), but it looks so good, I think I'm going to hang onto it.

Ugly craft makeover: House shelf turned toddler dollhouse

Elise kind of got the shaft last year when it came to my handmade Christmas gifts. I only managed to squeak out a couple of small items (crayons and a matching game). I finished the playroom in late December/early January, so I made that count toward my self-imposed challenge for both her and Dan.

This year, I wanted to make her something a little larger (and that I could actually wrap).

Before

Remember this beauty I picked up at a thrift store on half price day?

It was only $1.46, so although it was quite ugly on the surface, I couldn't pass it up. That scalloped roof had to be saved! It was in need of an Ugly Craft Makeover badly.

Before

I should mention that this was originally a mass-produced piece, but then someone tried to repaint it with an 80s country blue and did a horribly sloppy job of it.

I started by tearing the thing apart. I peeled off those louvered shutters flanking the upper opening. Then I ripped out all of the fabric that was on the back. That was the step that took the most time (like, maybe an hour!). There was also a hidden wind-up music box in the top opening, which I also removed.

The bottom surface had a couple of holes in it (for what, I'm not sure), so I filled them with wood filler and sanded them smooth. Then I sanded the whole thing with a fine grit sandpaper and wiped it off with multiple antibacterial wipes. Seriously, this thing was filthy.

Then it was time to paint. I spray painted it with Valspar's white in a satin finish. Already looking like a thousand time better, no?

I decided to decoupage some fabric to the backs of the "rooms." In some ways, using fabric is easier than using paper. It doesn't tear and you can peel it up while it's still wet and re-position, if necessary. I rooted through my stash for small scraps (you might recognize some of them from past projects!) and arranged them in a way I found pleasing.

I rough cut some pieces slightly larger than my openings, applied Mod Podge to the fabric and let them dry. (More details about how to decoupage with fabric in this earlier post.)

Then it was time to trim the fabric to size. Every cubby had different dimensions, so I measured each one carefully and cut every scrap to the right size.

I did a "dry fit" before Mod Podging them in place, inserting all of the fabrics to make sure nothing needed to be trimmed further. Once everything looked good, I Mod Podged them in place and when they had dried, I put another coat of Mod Podge on top of the fabric to seal it.

There was a small hole above the arched opening that was for the music box I removed. But the music box made the house top heavy and I didn't want to put it back in.

So I swapped out the heart attached to the music box for another heart cutout to cover up the hole. It's cutesy, but it works. I painted it pink and hot glued it in place.

And the transformation was complete! I'm not sure even this side-by-side conveys the difference in the before and after. The before was so dirty and gross, I'm surprised it didn't get trashed before I found it.

And what's even better is that since I used fabric scraps, the whole project cost around $7 (the house + a can of spray paint).

So who's going to live in this house, you ask? Check back tomorrow for another post on that, but I'll give you a sneak peek now.

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This is part of my 2011 Handmade Gift Challenge.

Ugly craft makeover: Birdie cutout

One of my new favorite things to do is to take an outdated piece of craft and give it an update. I'm calling them my ugly craft makeovers. You can find more tagged as such.

I found this wooden bird cutout sign at a thrift store for 80 cents. Cute, maybe, in like 1986. But the wood was solid, his silhouette was nice and the price was right, so I decided to rescue him.

I detatched the "welcome" sign from the bottom and set that aside for a future project. I gave it a quick sand, then spray painted him in in Real Red by Valspar. (I should note that I could have used normal paint, but I had the spray paint on hand and two coats of spray paint vs. a bunch of regular paint just sounded appealing.)

I paired him with this 11 x 14 inch natural wood frame that I found in a closet at my grandma's house. It had never been stained or painted, had no glass or backing, so what you see is how I found it.

Clean and modern. Quick and easy. Nice that sometimes projects work out that way.

Click here to see the finished playroom!

Rudolph gets a makeover

Don't worry, I haven't started the holiday decorating just yet. Spray painting weather is quickly fleeting and I wanted to make sure I squeezed this project in before it got too cold.

Remember this craftastic reindeer I acquired a few months ago? My grandma coerced me into taking it and although goofy, I knew I could transform it into something more in line with my tastes.

First, I ripped off the flimsy neck ribbon, googly eyes and puff ball nose. The eyes left a bit of glue, so I gave them a quick sand. The ears were a little loose, so I pried them off too. I intended to reattach them, but then I realized the reindeer looked less cartoonish without them. Who knew under all that junk was a slightly sophisticated silohuette?

I wanted to leave the antlers unpainted, so I masked them with painter's tape and some newspaper.

Then I gave it about three coats of Valspar spray paint in a shade called Churchill Hotel Vanilla (satin finish). Strange name aside, it's a nice creamy white without a hint of yellow.

After the paint was dry, I noticed Rudolph was looking a little plain. So I picked up this gold and silver jingle bell garland at Dollar Tree to make a necklace/collar.

The garland was pretty short, but it was the perfect length to go around the neck three times. The ends of the garland had loops on them, so I hooked the loop on one end over the first bell on the other to secure it. So easy and no glue or adhesive involved. The best part is that I can take it off at any point. I love things that are easily reversed.

I think that little bit of glitz was just what it needed.

I haven't decided what I should put in the shoebox-sized body yet. Probably small wrapped gifts as we get closer to Christmas. I have to put it away between now and then because a certain toddler thinks this is a ride-on toy.

This is such a dramatic makeover that it warrants side-by-side before and after photos!

P.S. As I was taking these photos in a very small, clear corner of our living room, I turned around and just had to laugh at the mess I was excluding from the photos.

See the reindeer in the lower left corner. More about what's in those giant boxes in a later post!