Tag: project

Quick and Easy Crafts

Marble Lamp

Jessica Smith

Mason Jar Marble Lamp

Remember those marbles I talked about yesterday? The one catch to me making John a marble tray was that I not use all of the marbles in case he ever wanted to play with them again. My solution to this was to make him a lamp out of a mason jar to display his marbles in a way that he could still get access to them if he wanted to.

This was really simple — Amazon sells kits for turning mason jars into lamps. So, I popped the top off of the jar, filled it with marbles, screwed on the kit and a put a light bulb in the lamp. Easy as pie.

The tricky part? Finding a darn lampshade that didn’t look ridiculous on the lamp. I think I tried five of them. I tried a shade from le Target — way too big. I tried three different shades from Home Depot… way too small. The one in the photo used to be pink with flowers. Not too manly. Then I spray painted it ivory. That didn’t look so hot either. As a final attempt to use this shade, which was the best size and shape of any of the ones I tried, I painted it grayish blue and accented with silver paint.

Phew, this was way trickier of a project than I ever intended because of that darn shade.

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It was all worth it because he really liked the lamp. It looks great in their antique room, too.

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Have you ever turned something into a lamp? Next time I want to try it without using a pre-fab kit. What would you ill your mason jar with? I think shells would be neat, but our house isn’t too beachy. Still would be pretty though!

Craft Projects

Marble Tray

Jessica Smith

Marble Tray

Months ago I was at my momma’s house and we stumbled upon a huge jar of marbles that used to be my step dad’s. I knew he loved the marbles, but I didn’t know why he was keeping them in the closet and not out somewhere in the house so people could see how cool they are. I asked if I could take them to make them into something cool, which is what I did for his Christmas gift.

Enter the Christmas tray from the thrift store. This bad boy was uglyyyyyy. So ugly. But, it was the perfect size to make a cool tray for John.

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I took the tray outside and spray painted it black.

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When it was all dry I filled the bottom of the tray with marbles and started to prepare the epoxy resin  to fill in the tray.

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For this tray I used Parks Super Glaze.

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To use the epoxy you mix equal parts of the hardener and the epoxy together. I like to mix mine in disposable cups so I can just toss them when I am finished. Mix everything together really well then pour it onto your project. It will level itself out, so just make sure you place it on a level surface.

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Here’s the tricky part — you have to let it sit in a dust-free zone for three whole days. Rough, I know. You also need to keep your project in a warm area. The epoxy will not cure if it dries in the cold. I learned this the hard way.

And because I learned it the hard way, there was one tricky spot on my tray I couldn’t get to cure. So I solved the problem by painting a label onto the tray in chalkboard paint so I could write “John’s marbles” on it. I accented with gold paint and the tray was complete.

My parents have an antique room in their house, so that’s where John put it after I gave it to him on Christmas.

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This project was long in the works, but I know my step dad really loved it.

I love using the epoxy and am definitely learning new stuff each time I use it. It is such a cool finish on projects and I will definitely be using it again in the future.

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Craft Projects, Home Improvement

A year in review

Jessica Smith

Happy New Year, all!

I disappeared there for a bit and took a much-needed vacation from any and all forms of work for the Christmas holiday. It was a blast. I visited with my family and just had an amazing holiday break. Luckily my break isn’t quite over yet — the hubby and I don’t go back to work until Jan. 7! Sweet! But it’s time to get back to blogging, and I’ve got lots of neat things to share.

First, I thought it would be fun to take a look back at 2012 for A Smith of All Trades. My 1-year blogging anniversary is Jan. 16, so I’ve almost been blogging for a whole year now. It’s been a really rewarding experience and I’ve done some really cool projects in 2012. Here are some of my favorites:

Canvas Art: This was one of my most popular posts from the year and is a really simple way to to make decor for any room in your house. All you need is fun fabric, a few canvases and a staple gun. It’s that easy!

DIY Device-Charging Station: I was always super pumped about this project. In a few hours I turned a cheap-o tray from a thrift store into a totally sweet place to charge all of my devices.

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We started our family room almost immediately after moving into our house. Remember this beauty of a room?

Before fireplace

Ohhh yeah, it was something else. Welp, after a few weeks we turned that monstrosity into our favorite room in the house.

We seriously live in this room, so it was awesome to get to redo the whole thing before we settled down too much in our house.

And then there was the bathroom attached to the family room. The fixtures, vanity and toilet were way outdated and gnarly, but otherwise the bathroom was in good shape. I painted it and the hubby and my step dad installed a new toilet and vanity. Now it is the prettiest bathroom in the whole house.

Last, but certainly not least, are my pallet projects. I think these are some of my favorite. My bar sign was a huge hit with the hubby and my ottoman is basically the best thing ever. I use it all of the time.

And here’s the ottoman…

OK, that’s it! That’s my year in review. There are a bajillion more things on the blog, so go forth and read your hearts out 🙂

Happy New Year, and a new craft project tomorrow!