Santa Hat Decor DIY Tall Whimsical Santa Hats

This little project all started when one of my sweet nieces mentioned that she was looking

 for tall Santa Hats that she had seen at a store years ago and wanted to find them again.

They looked like this, whimsical Santa hats from Cracker Barrel but no longer available.

I was inspired to create something similar for her, about 24" tall and and narrow

enough to fit on a mantel.

I stopped at Lowe's and bought a roll of aluminum window screen

48" x 84" for $10 and a roll of duct tape. I wasn't exactly sure of my process 

at this point but thought I may need duct tape for it.

Next stop was the fabric store and purchased 1 yard of beautiful stretchy red velvet.

I also spotted curly white fur fabric that I thought would look great for the hat trim so 

I  bought 1/8 yard of the curly fur.

I drew an 8" diameter circle on scrap plywood and cut out with jigsaw.

I used a gallon paint can as my template.

I used a staple gun to attach the screen to the wood circle.

Use the smooth machine edge of the screen at the bottom, no need to cut the 

screen at this point, just start stapling around the wood circle.

Since I was stapling into plywood, I tried to place my staples

on an angle so they will be less likely to wiggle out.

You will end up with a 48" tall tube of wire on a wood circle base.

I realized the aluminum wire was not quite as substantial

as I envisioned so I used crumpled up pieces of newspaper end rolls

to beef it up. I glued the first bit down with the glue gun,

probably not necessary but it's what I did.

Since I do a lot of shipping with my Online Store, I had these paper rolls handy.

I get them from my local newspaper office for $1 each.

To secure the screen together, I wove small pieces of 20 gauge

wire through both screen pieces and folded the ends of 

the wire back into the hat shape using needle nose pliers.

This is what I used, I happened to have it on hand.

As you go along, stuffing paper, and "sewing" your screen together with the 

wire pieces, you will want to keep standing it up on it's base  to make sure you 

are liking the shape it is taking and that it is standing straight.

As you get closer to the top, you have to put your hand inside the cone

shape to really start twisting it tighter and smaller.

I ended up cutting some of the bulk of the screen off when I was

getting to the end to be able to make it small enough.

I saved this chunk of screen I cut from each hat to create the 

pom pom ball for the tip of the hat.

In addition to "sewing" the screen with the wire pieces, I also used duct tape

as I got closer to the top to help get that pointy shape.

I used duct tape on a couple of other areas that were kind of "pokey" 

from the cut edges of the aluminum . Just use it as necessary and you

 may even be able to use duct tape for the whole piece without the wire "sewing" part.

To give a smoother finish to apply my fabric on, I used Mod Podge and more

of the newspaper end rolls to decoupage a final layer on the hat forms.

I only used one layer of paper. I left them to dry in my heated room 

for about an hour and they were dry and ready to go.

I used hot glue to secure the red fabric at the base and worked my

way around the form. I only used the glue at the bottom, the very top

point of the hat and at the seam I created.

The glue did seep through and leave a mark on my fabric at

the bottom but it will be covered with the white fur trim.

I made a seam using hot glue along the side of the hat to secure the ends together.

I know I took a photo of the ball making process but they weren't in

my photos...not sure what happened!

To create the pom pom, I shaped the scrap screen pieces into a ball shape, "sewed" the 

ball top closed with wire and left the end of the wire exposed. They looked

like metal lollipops if you can't visualize what I mean.

I used hot glue to cover the balls with the white trim and stuck the 

exposed wire end into the hat tip and secured with more hot glue.

I think they turned out pretty cute and will get these in the mail to her.

They are about 27" tall, 8" diameter and are lightweight but stand sturdily.

I spend under $20 to make 2 hats and it took just a few hours.

Here they are in her home on her fireplace mantel.

Thanks for reading about my Santa hats!

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How to paint decorative ceramic objects, DIY makeover with spray paint tutorial

Did you know you can paint decorative ceramic items? Well, you can!

I'm one of those people that will paint pretty much anything.

I've painted shoes, metal mini blinds, Christmas stockings, couches and fabric

to name a few, so I didn't bat an eyelash over the thought of painting over 

a pair of of ceramic vases I had.

This is what I was starting with.

I love these handmade vases that I bought years ago at a fancy shop.

They are large and heavy with hand applied ceramic petal pieces.

Although beautiful, this beige color just wasn't jiving in my new home 

so I decided to change them up rather than get rid of them.

I started by spraying them with light blue satin spray paint that had

built in primer. This part can be a little scary because they 

look horrible at this point, but keep going!

Next up, I dry brushed a warmer aqua color on top.

The before is on the left, after the aqua is on the right.

***Important...You must spray with a clear satin sealer at 

this point and let dry before going to the next step.

If you haven't sealed and start applying watery paint in the

next step, you will remove your previous paint layer.

Make sure to use satin finish. If it is too glossy, the brown

wash in the next step will not adhere at all.

After they were sealed and dry, I brushed on watered down brown

acrylic paint over the petals. I turned them upside down so the

paint could seep into all the nooks and crannies.

While the paint is still wet, quickly...and patiently in this case with

all the petals!...wipe away the excess brown paint with soft rags.

"Before" the brown wash is shown on the left and "after" on the right.

The brown adds a lovely toned down look with lots of color 

variation.

Seal with several coats of Rustoleum clear laquer, it gives a great high gloss finish.

I almost exclusively use Rustoleum spray paints (unless I can't find

a certain color) because they are just wonderful... and they didn't pay me to say that.

I didn't show this step but before I sealed with the laquer, I 

dry brushed a little gold metallic paint on the edges of the petals.

Metallics are so hard for me to capture in a photo but you can see 

glimpses of it in this photo.

Dazzling metallics in glorious gold is my go-to gold paint.

The "new" vases fit much better in our color scheme.

While I was at it I had a large cut work ceramic orb in bright 

white that didn't really go with our decor either, so I applied 

the same technique.

I used the same color paints as the vases. After completing all the 

steps above, I used Rustoleum Bright Coat in gold and sprayed it very heavily at the

top of the ball until it puddled and let it drip down randomly around the ball.

I coated with with the high glass laquer for the final coat.

It looks much more shiny and metallic than this photo shows!

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Kitchen Pantry Makeover, Replace wire shelves with wrap around wood shelving for under $130 DIY

Almost five years ago, I made over my pantry

by removing the deep wire shelving and replacing with wrap

around shelving.

Today, I did it again in my new home and I love it!

It's been on my to-do list ever since we moved in.

This is what I started with... ugh.

I didn't even pretend to straighten it up before taking a photo.

I'm so over this deep, constantly messy, can't find anything,

have to move five things out of the way to get one thing, pantry.

Just like my last pantry makeover, I started by removing the 

wire shelving, patching the holes and adding touch up paint.

I was having a bit of a difficult time getting the Closet Maid wire shelf anchors 

out of the wall but found that a tiny flat head screwdriver helped

pry the nail out just enough to be able to grab with the pliers

and remove it.

I'm not gonna lie... if you remove these types of 

anchors, you are going to be left with giant holes to patch.

It will be worth it, I promise!

Just like last time, I bought all white pre-primed wood boards

for the shelves as well as pre primed 1 x 2's for the supports

from Home Depot and that is such a time saver.

I bought 8 ft lengths and cut to the sizes I needed at home.

I did not paint over it, just used as is.

I spaced my shelves about 13" apart.

You can always adjust the spacing to fit your needs.

**This is a pantry with potentially heavy items like canned goods.

When attaching your 1 x 2's to the wall you must screw the majority

of your screws into the wall studs so your shelves will be super strong and sturdy.

It goes without saying you must also use a level as well when

installing your 1 x 2's... you don't want lopsided pantry shelving.

I used this type of screw I found at Home Depot to 

mount the 1 x 2's. 

**You must drill pilot holes in the

 1 x 2 wood pieces before using this screw or you will split the wood.

I

I mounted the back wall 1 x 2 supports first. Once they were in place,

it was easy to rest the level on the edge of the back support to level the side 1 x 2's.

Then I forgot to take more during pics, but here I'm starting to

lay the shelving boards on top of the 1 x 2 supports.

After laying the shelving boards on top of the 1 x 2's, you then need to secure

them to the 1 x 2's to keep them in place. To do that, I used regular wood screws 

along the back edge of each shelf to screw down into the 1 x 2 supports.

I placed my screws about 6-7 inches apart along the back of each shelf.

**Since you are screwing into the very back edge of the shelf and down into 

the 1 x 2, you must predrill your holes again so the wood

won't split on the edge.

This pantry is a little different and a little larger than my last one. 

In this pantry, the door swings open into the pantry,

in my old pantry, the door swung out into the room.

This means there is no end wall for the side pieces to butt up

against like last time which gave them extra support, instead

my shelves are open-ended...

To remedy my lack of an end wall for my side shelves, I used metal mending 

plates on the underside to secure the side shelves to the back shelves 

and it worked like a charm.

To reiterate and ease any fears or confusion on whether there is enough 

support for the shelves, just remember...

The deeper back shelves are fully supported on THREE sides.

 They are supported across the full length of the shelf by the back wall 1 x 2's 

as well as being supported on each end by the side wall 1 x 2's.

The side shelves are only 6" deep and are supported by the side wall 1 x 2's 

as well as being anchored to the (supported on 3 sides) back shelf

with the metal mending plates. The metal mending plates also

serve to help the corners line up perfectly.

And as mentioned. all shelves are then screwed into the 1 x 2's

that have been securely screwed into your wall studs! :)

I used 12" deep shelves on the bottom two back shelves, 

8" deep for the remaining back wall shelves and 6" on the sides.

Looking in to the left...

Looking in to the right...

Straight ahead...

*starry eyed*

The lowdown on this makeover...

I've gotten so many emails about my previous pantry makeover

from people worried they will lose space. In my last makeover

I felt I had gained space but had not measured before and after so

 I didn't know for sure.

This time, I measured the wire shelf space before I removed them

and calculated I had 21.56 square feet of shelf space.

The after measurements with my new wrap around 

wood shelves measure 21.36 square feet.

So it's practically the same but you will feel like you have more

space simply because you can see everything.

I'll take being able to clearly see what I have in the pantry

over a negligible loss of space any day!

I spent a total of $127 for this makeover including primed wood, 

screws and mending plates, yours could be 

more or less. My pantry is 33"w x 34" deep to where

the door swings in and a 9ft ceiling.

$130 bucks for a lifetime of pantry happiness? yes please!

I started this project one evening by removing the wire shelving

and patching the holes so it would be ready to go the next morning.

I finished the next day so these before and after photos 

show the exact same food and items in the pantry.

Thanks for reading about my latest pantry makeover!

Would love for you to visit my new online store. You can also

find me on Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram, Youtube and Houzz

or swing by my Etsy shop for reduced prices on remaining paintings

and mermaids.

Until next time!...