Vintage Jewelry Box Robot Upcycle

I know this is quirky.  I have been facinated with these jewelry boxes since I was a little girl.  I always wanted one but never got one.  I have seen them in thrift stores over the years but passed them over.  But, of course, between Pinterest and Etsy, I have seen people updating these.  Now usually they just paint and paper them, but I wanted to do something different.  

I'm not going to give detailed instructions.  This was an experiment.  I just wanted to see if I could do it.  I might have chosen different colors or different sizes.  But I just tried to use what I had or what I could get at the thrift store for cheap.

 Here are the basics:

1  vintage jewelry box, sanded and  painted navy blue using acrylic paint.

1 outdoor fence post top, it had a biiiggg screw out of the bottom so I used some square pieces of wood       and drilled through them so the screw would fit in them.  One painted grey and one pink

Heavy duty glue that I used to attach the head to the box.

I drilled holes in the sides of the head and put wingnut bolts in, thought a pair or 2 of earrings could dangle   from them.  I also used a bottle top that I painted pink to make one eye, screwed it in with a screw I painted blue.

Used 2 spindles from an old chair to make arms.  Had to cut them down and painted them grey.  Drilled holes in both ends.

I bought 2 cubes of wood from the craft store and painted them pink.  This was probably the trickiest  part   for me.  I drilled a hole through one corner with the plan of putting a bolt through this hole that would go         through the chair spindle and have a wing nut to hold the arm in position.  The arms can either be up to           hold necklaces or down to be out of the way.   This had to be planned so I could attach the arm, have it       move, and screw the cube into the side of the box.  See close up picture below.

Pair of old candle sticks I painted grey and screwed into the bottom of the box.

I also painted a heart on the inside of the door part, just to be sweet.

All is coated with a clear sealer.

I used a drawer pull at the end of each arm to finish.

Arms can be positioned either up or down.

Close up of cubes used to attach arms  to box.

Close up of end of arm.

I love the painted heart inside. 

Make a Lacy Flag out of a Vinly Place Mat

I was looking for something to match my Lace Ribbon Flag that I have hanging on my front door.  While that is outside it is under an awning.  I wanted something for my windows and I wanted it to go with the lace flag on my door.    I didn't think the lace would hold up so I started trying to come up with something lacy and weather resistant.

That's when I thought about the vinyl and went in search of lacy place mats.  I forgot to take a picture of the plain place mat before I started working on it, but I think we all know what they look like. 

I looked several places and finally found some I liked on Amazon, see link:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008EN4BNM?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00

I am not trying to promote anyplace, just thought you might like to know where I bought mine.  I think they came in an order of 6 and that is exactly how many I needed.  

You might be able to find them some place else.

What you will need for this project:

White Vinyl Lace Place mat or mats depending on how many you want to make.  

Painter's tape, I think the the one I used was about an inch and a half wide.

Small Paint Brush

Folk Art Multi Surface acrylic paint in a red  and blue of your choice(once again not pushing any product this is just what I used.)

Parchment paper

Paper plate or something similar to put paint in

Tape measure

Small Dowel rod for hanging

String or Ribbon for hanging

E6000 Glue

How your mat will look when taped

The kind of paint I used

How it will look after adding red paint and removing tape

Back of mat, to show gluing of dowel rod

Instructions

1.  Place a piece of parchment paper down, make it large enough so you can paint without making a mess.  Then lay your place mat on that.  On my mat it seemed one side was a little prettier than the other, so I painted on that side.

2.  Next, start taping.  I decided to start with a white stripe so starting on the right side I lined the tape up with the edge and pressed it down.  I made the tape longer than the mat so it could help hold the mat down while painting. The 1st stripe on the right side of the mat is white.  

3.  The width of the tape and the width of the mat didn't quite work out, so I used my tape measure to make the un-taped red stripe about 1 1/4 inches wide.  I just measured out from the edge of my 1st strip of blue tape and placed the next strip of blue tape 1 1/4 inches from the edge of the 1st strip.  You may have to work with this a little but these measurements kinda worked for me.  All my stripes are not the same width, but they are close enough that you can't tell.

4.  I also went ahead and taped off where the blue section would be.  I just let my 3rd white stripe be the edge of the blue.  This means I just laid a full strip of blue tape down as if I were making a full white stripe.  Then I used my tape measure to measure down 6 inches and placed a piece of tape INSIDE this measurement, going the opposite of the red and white stripes.   This looked right for my mat.  

5.  Then continue placing blue tape to make red and white stripes.   I just started tape on the blue tape that I was using as the edge/mask of the rectangle to be painted blue.  Remember this white rectangle you have is going to be painted blue, just not yet.  Leave it white and don't put any tape or paint in this rectangle.   The outside edge of the 2 pieces of blue tape that form your rectangle is going to be the outside edge of your blue painted rectangle.  I went along the edges of the tape with my finger just to push it down so none of the paint would go under it. 

6.  After all is taped, squirt some of the red paint in your plate and use paint brush to fill in white spaces, other than the white rectangle you will be painting blue.  I let it dry for about 5 or 10 minutes and then took the tape off.  Be careful not to smear your paint.  If any of the red paint gets on the white stripes, use a wet paper towel to try and wipe it off.  Read the directions on your paint to make sure it cures correctly.  I used the multi surface paint because it is supposed to stick to plastic.  This isn't rigid plastic, so I am hoping it will hold up for a few years.  But time will tell. 

7.  I let the paint dry for a few hours, then came back with the blue tape and put it over the 2nd red stripe from the right.  I tried to get it right on the edge.  Then I placed a piece of tape along the edge of where I want the bottom of my blue section to be.  Over the red and white stripes, being careful to get it right on the edge of the white rectangle and the edges of the red and white stripes.   Go over the edge with your finger to make sure it is pressed down well. 

8.  Put some blue paint on your plate and use paint brush to cover rectangle.  Let dry for 5 or 10 minutes and remove tape.  Be careful not to get any of the paint on any other part of the flag.  Allow to dry thoroughly.  Read your paint instructions and let paint cure.  Just leave the flag on the parchment paper.  I found this worked best.

9.   Once it is cured, peal flag off of parchment paper, flip it over on its other side and lay it back on the parchment paper.  I cut my dowel rod to a length that gave me about an inch on each side of the flag.  Squirt a bead of E6000 glue down one side of the dowel and lay that side down on the top edge of the top of your flag.  Press it down a little and allow to dry.  

10.  Once glue is dry and flag is secured to dowel, cut a lenght of string or ribbon or whatever you are using as a hanger.  I just tied each end of the string to one of the ends of the dowel.  You may want to add a dab of glue to hold it in place.  Your flag is ready to hang. 

My dog watching me take a picture