Metal Tree as Art

For quite some time now, I have been coveting Della's peacock that she has hanging in her bedroom above her bookshelf.

When I popped in to Goodwill the other day, I was so excited to spot a brass wall-hanging tree, since it reminds of her metal hanging!

SOMEONE (coughLILYcough) could care less:
I swiped it up for a mere $5 and, you know me, got to work with my spray paint.

I did a couple light coats of chrome and brushed nickel:

And then worked some glaze into the relief marks to make them stand out more:

And then I hung it in my bedroom:
I think the new silver color looks fantastic against the green walls.
Not as wonderful as Della's peacock, but I sure do like it!
:)

I Have Been Sucking... But I'm Trying To Be Better

Hi, it's me, Sarah Hennessey. You know, the red-headed DIYer from St. Louis who tried to reupholster her couch and failed massively? Doesn't ring a bell? I know, I know, I've been so MIA lately that I wouldn't blame you if you had forgotten about this blog entirely.

But I wanted to say that I've got several projects lined up and will show them soon, including:
- a review of my CSNstores slipcover
- a Goodwill art revamp
- home-made stenciling
- AND NEW PORCH FURNITURE (most excited about this one)


In the mean time, I encourage you to check out this fantastic website, Serenity Now, since I am now a proud sponsor on her page. Amanda is such a sweet person who writes about practical family issues, as well as DIY things and she has lots of thrifty tips. :) Also, check out her recipes - YUM!

So, thanks for sticking with me. I'm finally getting back on my feet and will be back to my regular posting schedule soon.

I shall leave you with a picture of a bunny with a pancake on its head, because it's wonderful.
Have a great weekend!!!

Circle Painting How-To

Last year at a garage sale, I purchased four giant stretched canvases for an unbelievable price of fifty cents each:

I painted one and it hangs above my buffet:

And I've got another one in my guest bedroom:

And I'm going to show you how I painted my last canvas.

The beauty of this kind of project is that you can use whatever you have lying around. In this case, I didn't even use white paint, I used white PRIMER and hey, it turned out just the same. You don't need anything fancy or expensive. Aside from the canvas itself, this is all I started with.... paint brushes of all sizes and some cheap black acrylic paint, too.

Here's a mega-photo to show you how the canvas changed every step of the way. The main thing is to step back and eyeball things, make modifications when you're not happy and realize that you can always start over. Click it to enlarge:

It is literally that simple, and it only took maybe 45 minutes, tops, not including drying time in between coats. Layer up on your paint and be patient. I promise, it's a great pay-off!

It's a fantastic way to make affordable, personalized art for your home.

Basement Improvements

It's not always all fun and games and spray paint at the Hennessey's House. I am off work all week, and while I am determined to do fun things and also relax, there are some practical projects that must get tackled. I started with the basement, which had been turned in to my studio. I must have thrown away 15 empty spray paint cans, no joke.

Surprisingly, reorganizing and cleaning didn't take very long. The before photos are on the left, after photos on the right:

Most noticeable change. That drop-cloth was tied to some of the ceiling pipes to create a spray-paint background.

So here's the basement as of right now:

Kevin and I are talking about what we can do to improve this space and make it look less creepy... we think Drylok'ing the walls bright white and painting the concrete floor a nice fresh gray would make a huge improvement. I'm also thinking of painting all the ceiling stuff black.

Have you done anything successful to your basement to improve its appearance? I'd love to hear your stories and suggestions!

Blog Practicalities

Here's the deal.

(TOO MANY ADS!)

I don't have paid advertisements on this blog.... and I never will.
I created this website to show you my DIY projects simply because I love to. I LOVE seeing other people's projects, I enjoy sharing my ideas and hearing yours, and I want people to come to this blog and feel at ease with its un-clutteredness. I'm not here to make money off my site, I simply want to share. Even if I somehow magically one day woke up and had 100,000 followers, I would still NOT advertise here, I can make that promise. I have no problem with blogs who do advertise. In fact, I think it's smart. It's just something I wish to avoid for this blog. :)

BUT, to make up for the fact that I will never fill this blog with outside advertisements, I'll just once step in with this little tiny bit of shameless self-promotion and say that I DO want to advertise my own etsy shop, which is why I have my widget on the side bar, and why I also want to say that there is a Facebook page for Sometimes I Swirl. I'd be forever grateful if you became a fan, since it's a place where I will post updates, inspiration, etc.

Okay, now that I got that out of the way, I'm interested in your thoughts on blogs - when you visit a blog, what kinds of things do you like to see right away? What turns you off? Like if you came to a new web-page that you've never visited before, what kinds of things would make you instantly click the red X in the corner (besides obvious things like obscene content, etc.)? I'm curious to hear your thoughts. So, thanks in advance! :)

Review Teaser

The gracious folks over at CSNStores contacted me again about doing a review of any one of their millions of products. I really don't think 'millions' is overshooting their inventory - they have everything. Need a new vanity? Or what about a rag rug or a cat scratching post for your favorite kitty? They have EVERYTHING.

If you recall my recent, disastrous attempt to reupholster my couch, you'll know that I am in desperate need of a new slipcover. So, I've ordered this Surefit Cotton Slipcover in Natural from their slipcover store.


Once it arrives, I'm SO excited to see how it works out. I am mostly concerned with the fit, the color, and the way it handles every day wear and tear - so I'll be sure to let you know how it holds up on all those fronts. Stay tuned.....

Someone's Trash Is MY Treasure...

I dedicate this post to the fine art of dumpster diving. I have TWO finds to show you today.

1) The first is beat up, but it's quite sturdy and practical and was therefore a good find. It's a bookshelf for our sunroom, now I finally have a place to organize my gardening stuff, as well as BBQ tools and other misc. crap that we use outside:
I suppose I could just take the backing off the shelf, since that is the ugliest part. Yes, I do believe I will do that.


2) Okay, before you judge me for grabbing this chair + table set, hear me out.
Yes, it is disgusting. It smelled like a dog house. It was cob-webby underneath and had some fine bird poop art:
But it was FREE. :)

I've never seen the aftermath of a crack cocaine cook-out, but in my mind, it might look something like the top of that table. YUCK:

Now, let me ask you this - when has white spray paint ever failed anyone?

... Never.

Behold, after I primed the table top with Valspar's spray primer and covered the rest with one $5 can of Rustoleum's Satin white spray paint specifically made for outdoor furniture:

:)



This will do until I can find something with a little more character, say a wrought iron bench or something. Not too bad for just a couple bucks, right??


Also, I encourage you to check out this spectacular web site dedicated solely to trash picking, TrashFinds. I love it!

And I would like to wrap this up by showing you what I did for 6 hours today - I wacked the shit out of my backyard weeds and trimmed down my Japenese Maple.

Here is the lawn, mid-weeding:
The purple arrows point out the trouble spots, where the weeds were growing up the fence, twisting around it. Yea, that was fun to remove.

It's now 3 p.m. I am tired. I am sore. I am lazy. So here is a shot of the backyard taken from my air conditioned kitchen (ahhhhh) after it has been cleaned up and mowed. I filled FOUR giant brown paper lawn bags with everything I removed:
I see a mojito in my immediate future after all that work.
Have a wonderful weekend, everyone!!