As promised, here is the step by step for the diy Trumeau style mirror, transformed with Annie Sloan Chalk Paint® and Efex furniture appliqués......Read More
Showing posts with label #Efex. Show all posts
Showing posts with label #Efex. Show all posts
Diy Efex Gilt Mirror
I don’t have a picture of this mirror “before”, but believe me it was very ordinary. Just your basic 24″ x 36″ dark brown wall mirror. I had been working on my Efex Christmas tree ornaments when I decided it was due for an upgrade.
Using my favorite Rustoleum spray paint, I gave the frame a quick coat of gold. I also sprayed 2 pieces of Efex, (T31), those wonderful flexible furniture appliqués .
They were too wide to attach as a strip on the frame, so I cut the strips apart and placed them in pairs symmetrically around the edge. Once I had a pattern I liked I used contact cement to adhere them.
A quick footnote..I like to paint my pieces before gluing. I think the coverage is better and usually touch ups are minimal and can be done with a Krylon Gold Leaf Pen.
I love the way this turned out. A quick, easy and inexpensive upgrade to a most ordinary mirror.
For more Efex projects, see my posts, Sparkle Your holiday Decor, Chinoiserie Cabinet, Easy Picture Frame Upgrade. And to find an Efex dealer so you can make your own upgrade to that dull boring, mirror, just click here
Sparkle Your Holiday Decor
Just a quick reminder....this is the last day you can sign up for the Efex™ Holiday Giveway. Sign up here to win a fabulous selection of furniture appliqués and create your own holiday ornaments.
Not only was it easy but it was fun to create my own Christmas tree decorations. My post, DIY Efex™Holiday Ornaments, shows exactly how I did it.
DIY Efex Holiday Ornaments
One of my favorite activities of the holidays is making Christmas tree ornaments. When my children were small it started with construction paper chains, (which I still have), to painting holiday wood shapes, stringing beads, and painting glass ornaments. Although I am more or less on my own these days making ornaments, I still like to create something new for our tree.
Efex™ reached out to me this year and I loved the idea of turning their furniture appliqués into ornaments. Here's how I did it.
Choosing several of their designs, I used my favorite gold spray paint, Rustoleum Bright Coat Metallic Finish. After they were dry, I pulled out my Krylon Silver metallic pen and painted accents. Of course you could use other holiday paints and colors, but I love the sparkle of gold and silver on a tree. One of the best things about the Efex™ ornaments is that they are unbreakable. (I don't even want to count the number of glass balls I've lost over the years). And although I don't have little ones running around the tree anymore, I do have my sweet, always excited, golden retriever, Mollie, to keep in mind when trimming the tree.
I used ornament hooks but you could also use string or decorative ribbon attached with Contact Cement. A fun, fast, easy and safe, holiday craft for your family. Decorate your tree and enjoy!
Colorways and Efex are partnering for a Holiday Giveaway. Sign up here to win your Efex Appliques and create your own ornaments.
Holiday ornaments can take up a lot of storage space. I store mine in this beautiful cabinet. For more storage ideas see my posts, Colorful Storage, Flea Market Find, and Take One Stepback
Efex Holiday Tree Upgrade Giveaway
Colorways and Efex Furniture Appliques are partnering to bring you this exciting holiday-themed contest and giveaway featuring a package of nine fun rosettes from Efex, a perfect project to spruce up your spruce (or fake tree)! It really is a fun way to add new decorations to your holiday tree - just paint, gild and hang. Package includes: 3 R5 Cherubs, 3 R78 Roman Shells, 3 CC1 Sea Shells and 1 Kings Gold Gilding Wax - total value $132!
You may remember seeing some Efex on my blog as I've tried out several of their amazing products and have been sharing a few of my ideas and projects. Check out these posts you may have missed, Efex Picture Frame, Efex Chinoiserie Cabinet, and Efex Architectural Frieze
Be sure to enter on Colorways at LeslieStocker.com
The Contest closes on November 21 and the winner will be announced the next day. Good luck, and who knows, you just might win.
Efex™ Architectural Frieze
While looking through the new Restoration Hardware catalogue, in the wall decor section, I found these Wall Carvings made from resin, plaster, and metal.
I also found similar pieces at Pottery Barn and Ballard Designs.
I love the look of real antique architectural ornaments, but these are very expensive reproductions and way over my budget. Being an avid DIYer, I saw this as an opportunity to be inspired to create my own work of art.
Enter Efex Furniture Appliques. I had used Efex on my Chinoiserie Cabinet and my Easy Picture Frame Upgrade and still had some pieces left over. I already had (from another project) a solid piece of wood 16″ x 24″ for the support and background of my frieze. I based my design (similar in style, not an exact copy) on a carved panel in St. Pauls Cathedral, London.
Efex™ Pieces
All you need to attach the Efex™ pieces is contact cement.
After the pieces were dry, I painted it with Annie Sloan Chalk Paint® Paris Grey mixed with Artisan Enhancements Fine Stone.
In order to give it a more aged patina, I dry brushed Graphite Chalk Paint in the crevices and Old White Chalk Paint on the high points. Since it will be hanging on a wall I didn’t feel the need to seal it.
I would love to know what you think. Is my Efex™ hand crafted frieze worthy of display? Considering how easy and inexpensive it is, would you make one? Here is a list of the Efex™ pieces I used, but honestly you could use any of the pieces in combination for your own work of art.
Efex™ Pieces: R61, SC14, SC16, L2, P13, 2 Rose 1, 2 Rose 2
Efex™ Picture Frame Upgrade
You know I am all about sharing projects that are easy, fast and, foolproof, so when an exciting new company, Efex™, approached me about trying out their Flexible Furniture Appliques, I happily agreed. There have been many times where I have wanted to add some trim or moldings to a project, but the whole cutting, mitering, nailing part of the process was too intimidating. Efex™ appliqués are unlike any I have seen. They are made of latex and completely flexible. You can cut them with ordinary household scissors. And when your measurements are less than perfectly correct you can still make them work because they stretch. Contact cement is used to apply them. And they can be painted with almost any paint, including my favorite Annie Sloan Chalk Paint and waxed with her clear and dark wax. What's not to love?
For my first project, I had a small oil painting I had picked up at a local thrift store. I love original signed paintings over prints and you can never have too much art. The frame was a dark oak that did nothing for the painting and was definitely not my style, and being an odd size, the cost of reframing didn't make sense. Perfect for my first time with Efex™. I wasn't sure which trim would look the best so I ended up spraying two different styles with Rustoleum Metallic Shiny Brass. I also removed the painting and sprayed the rest of the frame. One piece of Efex was more than enough. I did a fair job of cutting to size and mitering the corners and applied the contact cement to the frame and the back of the Efex™. After waiting 15 minutes, I applied the trim. The whole project was about an hour and most of that was waiting for paint to dry.
Since I had spray painted another style of Efex™ that I didn't need for my frame, I made some samples of different paint combinations for future reference. You can see those on the bottom half of the image. All in all, a fast, easy, inexpensive way to upgrade a frame. Thank you Efex™!
Efex™ is sponsoring a fabulous contest give away this month for the readers of Colorways. If you haven't already, you can sign up here.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)