Friday 7 October 2011

Daubings and decoupage

I am a first class idiot.  With Honours.

Last weekend, I ran out of the water-based satinwood white paint that I was going to use to paint our bathroom door.  I managed to find an ancient tin of oil-based satinwood lurking in the cellar.  So I hacked my way through the paint film, gave it a quick stir, ignored the yellow tinge and daubed it on.  I knew the yellow tinge wasn't right but I painted the whole damn door regardless and now the door is yellower than when I started......

Not only that, but remember this letter rack I got from a jumble sale recently:



The plan was to prime it and spray paint it white but I had a sudden rush of blood to the head and stupidly thought that while I had the yellow tinged paint out and the brushes, I'd give it a quick coat. 

What was I thinking?  For those of you of a sensitive disposition, look away now:

Note the attractive yellow streaks...

Not only that but when it was dry, I spray painted it white but it just blistered and looked a right old state. 

No pictures of that, dear readers.  By then I was utterly fed up by this catalogue of DIY disasters.

Fortunately, I remembered my collection of stamps and my desire to do some more decoupage.  So, I got sticking......

Close-up of the front

Here's one of the back

A jaunty angle 

From above


Decoupage overkill

What do you think?  Not bad for an idiot.

BREAKING NEWS:  I've just painted our toilet door, sat back to admire it and sat on my glasses. Brilliant......

Any DIY disasters to share?  Do tell....

41 comments:

  1. Ahhh loo well done on the end result - looks fabulous! And eek about your glasses - totally something I would do. Scarlett x

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  2. Noooooo! to you sitting on your glasses; I'm like Velma when I take mine off to put my make-up on and can't find them again... I'll probably progress to sitting on them next.

    Love your stamps coverage - it looks fab. Have you had lots of overseas penpals to get that many? ;) I buy stuff from ebay thinking the overseas ones might be interesting, but I just get computerised labels... x

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  3. Out of a disaster sometimes great things happen ... the letter rack looks fantastic now!! Have you got enough stamps to cover your door!!! Mind you, without your glasses perhaps you won't be able to see the yellow streaks! Have a great weekend - things can only get better. M x

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  4. Well remedied i'd say, it looks fab now :) I once thought I would get some stubborn dirt off my new car with a plastic scourer, thinking that as it was plastic and not metal it would be ok. Needless to say it did scratch my paintwork and looked awful. I was much younger then though x

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  5. The stamps look brilliant Loo, way better than boring old (even proper) white paint would. And after all it is a letter rack...letters, stamps, perfect. I think the outcome is worth your original stuff-up. As for your specs? What can I say? Maybe it's time to keep them on a chain around your neck...
    x

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  6. Keep away from the DIY!

    You have managed to rescue your letter rack though, I think it looks fab :) x

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  7. I do things like that ALL the time. My shed is rammed with ill-fated DIY projects. My youngest son picked up a nail varnish when I was carrying him and threw it. It shattered and splattered pink everywhere. What did I do to the door frame? dabbed paint stripper on it. Ruined! It'll be a real labour of love getting the whole door looking good again,especially as it's got glass panels with a bevelled edge - fiddly.
    I LOVE decoupage, been doing it myself all day (between seeing to kids - honest). Mine isn't as professional and neat as yours though, love what you've done.
    Give yourself a pat on the back.

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  8. Stamps look good!
    I'm banned from DIY 'cos paint drips from elbow by the time I'm finished, so everything is very very tediously slow in our house 'cos I'm not allowed to help
    Julie xxxxxxx

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  9. Wow I really do love this. The final outcome is brilliant and just goes to show a DIY disaster can be overturned into something brilliant. The fact you’ve used stamps to cover a letter rack makes for such a quirky touch xxx

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  10. That sounds just like my DIY adventures, start something and break everything else in the vicinity.
    That letter rack looks awesome. Shame about the specs.
    I suppose my worst is painstakingly invisibly stitching the hem back on a maxi dress only to discover it's now sewn to the skirt I was dressed in. x

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  11. Been there, done that, but love the postage stamp decoupage.

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  12. Brilliant post! This is the kind of thing I do! Turned out fab though! x

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  13. Ha, ha, the part that really made me laugh is that you painted the whole door. See, I know I would do the same and in my mind I would be wondering if the paint was meant to be like that and that it would turn white on its own by the medium of brushing or alternatively 'It Won't Show' which is my usual thought when things go wrong.
    I love how the letter rack turned out, that could be in a shop in Shoreditch, Mrs, for big money! I would have slung it to the back of the garage once the paint went dodgy so I admire your rescue operation.
    Glasses on top of head at all times unless on face.
    Happy weekend.
    Oh yes and about the Crochet ladybird book, the pictures are quite droolworthy, I will post some when I think of it. And the chazza in Leigh on Sea, I can think of a couple round the side streets that are cheap and smell a bit iffy. Do you mean off the Broadway?
    xx

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  14. I genuinely did a lol at your last disaster! Sitting on your glasses indeed!

    The letter rack looks fab in the end though

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  15. You did a great job of rescuing the letter rack, it looks really fab.
    I am as clumsy and ham-fisted as they come, I don't really attempt craft or DIY as a result. Neatness is never my strong suit...
    And though I've never sat on my own glasses, I did sit on Other Half's... So that was a bonus! xxxx

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  16. The letter rack looks super with that stamp decopage - very apt too! I haven't got a DIY disaster, but I did replace the door trim on the Morris last weekend, taking my time so that it fitted perfectly, but the door wouldn't shut afterwards. I was gutted and had to rip the whole trim out and put the old manky one back in so that the driver's door would shut!

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  17. The letter rack looks great and at least your door's fine now.
    Love from Mum
    xx

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  18. The letter rack looks fantastic. I am not allowed near any DIY, I am banned...can't think why? Have a lovely weekend.
    Jo xx

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  19. Nice recovery on the letter rack! My worst DIY disaster was thinking I could fit a door from Wickes inside my tiny car, tried wedging it in & cracked the windscreen :(

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  20. Letter rack looks great - I tried using stamps to decoupage a bangle the other day and it was a disaster, they just all peeled off! I remember my mum painting her nails at my gran's (her MIL), and she spilt red polish all over the tablecloth. In a panic, she sloshed nail varnish remover all over the cloth without removing it first, and ended up destroying the table as well! My gran claimed not to be 'vexed' (she was, I could tell).

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  21. Sometimes these errors happen for a reason! Love the letter rack, it turn out really well!

    Not a DIY disaster but at work today I'd placed a pot of sharpened pencils onto a chair, whist helping the children to clear the table, forgot about it until I sat on it a few minutes later, silencing the whole class with my scream!!!

    Barri xx

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  22. Oh dear lol I couldnt help but laught at what you sat on bad me but was kinda funny.The stamp idea was great Deccoupage to the rescue!

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  23. Love the letter rack!

    I've just painted a simple wooden bowl four times in four different colours and still don't like the look of it. Many more coats and I'll be able to peel off a whole new bowl! xxx

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  24. the letter rack turned out fantastic in the end.
    Diy disasters many but the latest one is our dog constantly sitting on a freshly glossed window sill which looked glorious and now looks a complete mess
    xx fee

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  25. That is a brilliant makeover, I love it, perfect letter rack. Sorry about your specs though I do things like that, every time I use gloss paint I ruin something else with it, every time!
    Kandi x

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  26. Remember, in art, craft and DIY there is no such thing as a mistake - just an opportunity to embellish!!

    S x

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  27. Hurrah!!! I'm going to show this post to the fella to prove I'm not a mad woman for getting out the glue and covering things in manuscript paper, stamps, newspaper cuttings and anything more bendy than cardboard! This looks utterly brilliant :-)

    Jem xXx

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  28. See, out of something completely crap comes something fabulous-the letter rack looks ways better now than it would have painted and what a great original idea. Re; the painting, this is why I mostly only do shabby chic stuff, that way it doesn't matter if you stuff it up and knock it around!

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  29. Didn't you do well in the end! It's so dishearyening when something does wrong, but the letter rack looks fab with the stamps.
    Lisa x

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  30. Disasters can turn into opportunities, and yours turned out great! Love the stamps :) Great idea!

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  31. Fabulous! Would love to share this on my blog...... if I knew how! I'm new to this!

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  32. Absolutely love the decoupage. You have a great sense of colour.

    Best Wishes
    Primrose

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  33. Now that is an amazing transformation made with a lot of tlc.

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  34. This is just the sort of thing I would have done. The only difference is I would have been so cross I wouldn't have had the patience to give it another go. The end product was definitely worth it.
    Ann x

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  35. I can picture myself messing this up.
    I would of gaven up so quick and put my husband to do it.
    I love the stamp decoupage result. maybe a Morrissey one next time.
    besos

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  36. I love the stamp decopage...it's gorgeous! I'm not allowed near the DIY at home...I've blown the hoover up 3 times (flames and everything) so I'm not allowed near anything technical now!

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  37. The decoupaged letter rack looks fantastic with the stamps on it - what a clever idea.

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  38. I'm always in such a rush to finish things that I take short cuts with disasterous results! WoW! What a great decoupage..a complete triumph! :0)

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  39. You did a great job with this. I had to close my mouth to keep from drooling with want!

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  40. i can see myself doing the same thing on the glasses! but i love the finished result with the stamps decoupage though! x susan

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  41. I love it! Definately a success!!! x

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