Happy Together

A DIY craft blog

Barn Quilt Garden Flag Tutorial

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Have you ever seen a barn quilt? If you have not, it’s a large piece of wood that’s painted to look like a quilt or a quilt block and placed on the side of a barn. I first noticed them on a trip to Tennessee a few years ago. I thought they were so beautiful and recently I wanted to replicate it in someway. I have no barn but I have seen people create these for indoor wall art on a smaller scale. I kept thinking about ideas though. Then I thought how pretty it would be as a garden flag. I wasn’t sure how it would turn out, but I am happy to say it turned out so good! They look so pretty sitting among the plants or even on a mailbox. Though they are heavier than a fabric garden flag, the metal flag holders are stable enough to hold them. Read on for the tutorial.


Supplies:

  • Wood Cut in a Square Shape (I used a 1″ x 12″ x 4′ piece of whitewood and was able to cut four pieces out of it…. If you are not familiar with buying wood, note that they aren’t usually the width it says it is. For instance, it says this was 12″ wide but it’s really 11.25″, which means I had to cut them every 11.25″ instead of 12″)
  • Optional: Wood Stain
  • Paint (I used acrylic craft paint and chalk paint. I recommend the chalk paint as it goes on thicker. I only had to do two layers of paint with the chalk paint versus many more of acrylic to get the coverage I wanted.)
  • Small Angled Paint Brushes
  • 2 Screw Eyes (I used the #12 x 1-3/16 in size)
  • 2 S Hooks (the ones that are closed and look more like an 8…. I used size 1-5/8 in)
  • Optional: Black Spray Paint (I used Rust-Oleum Flat Protective Enamel in Black)
  • Outdoor Sealant (I used Minwax Spar Urethane Indoor/Outdoor Clear Semi-Gloss)
  • Print out of desired quilt square (Make sure it’s a square and in the size that you are making. I made mine so they were slightly under 11.25″)
  • Pen or Pencil
  • Chalk
  • Pliers
  • Other supplies: Cup with water for cleaning paint brushes/Paper Towels for clean up/Something  to protect surface where you are painting


1. Find a Quilt Square that you would like to paint. I just went on Pinterest and searched “quilt square” to find images. The simpler patterns are the easiest to paint. That pineapple one took a lot longer than the others. Save the image you want and resize it to the size of your wood. The images I found had some space on the edges so when I cut it out the paper was the same size of the wood but the image was smaller.

2. Stain the wood if desired and let it dry before the next steps. I used Minwax Dark Walnut.


3. Flip the print over and use chalk to go over all of the lines of the image.


4. Flip back over and place on top of wood. Use a pen to go over all of the lines. Press down hard but not too hard that you go through the paper or make huge dents in the wood.


When you remove the paper you will be able to see the chalk lines.


5. Paint in areas with desired colors. I found that using angled brushes make for a much easier painting job. Trust me 🙂 If you can, grab a few sizes so you can find the size you like best.


6. Flip over and repeat steps 3-5 on the other side, making sure to have the pattern and colors all the same way as the first side. Then when it’s up, it looks like the same on both sides, unless of course you want to do two different things on each side.

Note: You might find you will need to do more than one coat of paint for good coverage. I discovered I liked using chalk paint better because it had better coverage and I didn’t have to do more than two coats.

Tip: I found that I could flip the wood and place on it on these painters’ tripods after the first coat so I could start painting on the second side while I waited for the first side to dry.


7. When the paint is all dry, wipe off any extra chalk with a wet paper towel. Then you will need to add two or more coats of an outdoor sealant. You can do more coats if you want, but I think two will be sufficient. If you keep these outside often, you will probably want to reapply every few months or so. This will help protect it from the outdoor elements.


8. Spray paint the metal screw eyes and s hooks if you like. I wanted them to be black so it blended it with the black flag hook we already had.


9. When those are dry, hand twist the screw eyes into the wood. I went in two inches from each side for placement.


10. Use pliers to slightly open one end of the S hooks. This makes it easy to place the flag on but it’s still closed enough that the flag won’t fall off.


11. Place the closed ends of two S hooks on the garden flag holder. Then put the S hooks through the screw eyes and slide flag into desired placement. Make sure to bring it inside if the weather is going to be bad (ex: hurricane, snow, windy, etc).


I took the above pictures so you can kind of see how it looks with each side looking the same. The colors really pop! This is such a fun project for a craft night or to make for gifts. You can pick seasonal or holiday colors to make it festive. Please make sure to share if you make one! Share on instagram and tag me and use #happytogetherbyjess so we can all see them or share on the facebook page 🙂 Happy crafting! -jess

Church Student Room Makeover : Before and After

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If you can’t tell, I helped out with quite a few projects at our church in Louisiana. One of the bigger ones was helping spruce up the student room. This building used to be an old Kroger, so that’s where the industrial vibe comes from. Over the years there have been lots and lots of improvements (so thankful for all who helped do that!), like painting the floors, getting a new ac unit in there, etc., but it was time to take it up yet another notch to better serve the needs of the children/youth that use this room.


I yet again failed with getting the best before and after pics, but I do have some! The above picture is the before of the main countertop area. This is usually where food is set up for events and things like that.


This was my original drawing of proposed changes I turned in. As you can see, I suggested paint changes, adding a “chair rail” and baseboards, a modern bulletin board, new lights, wrap counter in wood, light up word, and a picture backdrop. They had already said they wanted to get rid of the fluorescents around the room and get ceiling lights, so to cover up that recessed space we just added painted wood trim.


These changes were very simple and very cost effective for such a large space. I was inspired by a local Starbucks for the painting scheme. They had high ceilings and had painted the bottom and very top half darker, where as the middle was lighter. It helped break up the large walls so I suggested we do something similar. It really added to the interest of the room and helped the ceiling blend in well. The lighter gray color is Sherwin Williams Icy Avalanche and the Dark Gray is Sherwin Williams Carbonized. And then for the back wall we did a green to add some color to the room.

We left the counter tops on as they were a dark gray laminate and went with the changes we were doing. We took off the galvanized metal and ripped down some plywood to create planks that we nailed on. Then we stained them in Minwax Early American and added two layers of polycrylic to protect them. This is a room where kids/youth will be, so the more durable the better!


The back wall was inspired by a project I had seen another church do that was featured on Pro Church Media. I arranged different pictures/graphics (many from Unsplash) and had them printed by Staples. I simply choose the black and white engineer prints so it cost a little over $50 for all of them. I had nailed this plywood on the wall so if they want to change this up the future the wall behind is still in good shape. I used this adhesive to keep them on. Now, you can probably tell it looks a little wrinkly…. so let’s talk about that. The reason for this is that Louisiana is super humid and this room gets the air turned off when it isn’t in use which causes paper to go crazy. But, when the air is on and it isn’t super humid it straightens back up! This type of project is definitely suited more for a temperature controlled room, but is still doable! And when some of the corners would start to peel a little, I just used a glue stick to tack it back into place.

The light fixture was a fun one to make. We bought pipe and spray painted it black. Then I used 6 plug in cord sets from Ikea to hang on it. There was an outlet on the ceiling for the previous plugged in light, so to save from having new wiring done we just plugged them all in there. And since the cords are dark and the ceiling was dark, it really isn’t noticeable at all. The lightbulbs were a variety of different Vintage style ones from Lowes.


The stage area was the corner on the other side of the room. This side had no lights besides some strung ones on the ceiling. Volunteers came and helped rip off the rest of the sheet rock on the cinder block wall, we spray painted the white pipes black so it would blend in more, that whole back wall was painted green, we re-carpeted a bunch of stages that we had and wrapped them with wood the same way we had done the counter, and added paper chains hanging from hula hoops that had been spray painted black.


When I was taking these pics, we couldn’t figure out how to do all the cool lighting so I don’t have that full effect, but it it makes the paper chains look really cool and adds to the atmosphere. The portable signs were actually non-portable ones that used to be on the main sanctuary stage. I added the supports and wheels and then cut out the word “kids” from wood and put on top of another stained piece of wood. To add a bit more color, I added some party decorations from Target across the top.


The last side to share is this back corner by the entrance. (There is still one more corner, but I sadly won’t be able to be there for the finishing of that area.) The gray paint job continued here and all galvanized metal was taken down. And although it is hard to see, we added this for baseboards. This room gets mopped so it was the most practical (and ultimately cost effective) type to use.


The bulletin board was such a fun easy thing to make! The back wood piece was from Home Depot, a 4’x8′ piece of underlayment, and I used liquid nails and also a nail gun to secure it onto the wall. Then I spray painted this rebar sheet mesh black and used screws to hold it in place. The rounded ends of the screws go over the metal bars and when strategically placed you can’t see them and this thing isn’t going anywhere.


After doing all of those projects, the back wall seemed a little bare, so one of my friend’s took our scrap wood and made these triangle shelves for me. We added some succulents for some greenery. My goal was to add even more down the road, but I wasn’t able to get to that.

Since I didn’t do the greatest on my after photos, I did find this pic from an event where you can see this corner of the room behind all the people lol.


And one more spot I totally forgot to take an after picture of! *sigh* The entrance to the room. I took this on a work day when I was putting up the lights. The door was at the end of a long long hallway and not very noticeable. I wanted it to stand out as an important room and hopefully help others who hadn’t been there before spot it more easily. I put wood all around the door which makes it stand out and also is a great place for them to post information parents/students might need to read. Then I designed this sign and Mark of City Sign & Tag Co. made it and installed it for me. This adds a little decor to the wall and makes it very clear where the student room is. Then since the ceiling lights are broken down here, I strung some lights to add some light. I ended up stapling the cord down the baseboard and under the door into the student room where they are easily plugged in.

I am forever thankful and grateful for all the people who came and helped clean out this room, paint, demo, make dump runs, and everything in between. It was a labor of love and I’m so happy that the children and youth now have a room that is even better suited for their events. As with all of my projects, I hope this inspires you to think outside of the box and know that you can create amazing things without having to spend a lot. -jess

Maddox Home: Living Room and Entryway Makeover

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As y’all know, we moved from Louisiana back in May. It was a whirlwind and there was a lot that I wasn’t able to get done before I left. One thing that didn’t happen was to take pictures of my friend’s living room and entryway that I helped her make over. Fortunately she sent me some pics she took so I can finally share some of the projects that we worked on. I have already shared her kitchen makeover (see it here) and am excited to share this part now. If you are on instagram, you can check out #maddoxhomemakeover for some in progress pics I shared on my instagram account.



My friend really loves how Joanna Gaines and the farmhouse look she creates, so we went that type of style. It flows really well with the farmhouse style kitchen which is good since they are open to each other. It is so light and airy now!


Here are the main things we did that you can see compared to the before pics (which are below):

-We painted the walls in the living room Agreeable Gray (SW7029), the faux shiplap in Alabaster (SW 7008), and the foyer walls in Silvermist (SW 7621).

-I created a faux wood beam over the drywall drop down that separated the rooms (not sure what that is technically called?). It was so easy to do and really adds a wow factor! I was inspired by this diy wood beam by Jenna Sue Design Co. The length of the wood we ended up using to create seams where they met were a little large, so I ended up just staining some wood pieces to go over those instead of using metal. I stained them with Minwax Early American which is the same stain used on the vent hood in the kitchen.

-I ripped down some of this thin plywood to create strips to make a faux shiplap wall. Here is a great tutorial on how to do all that. It only took 2 (or maybe 3?) sheets to do this one feature wall and the entryway.

-We rearranged her furniture for better flow and shopped her house for decor. She bought a few things to add, like the big clock (from Hobby Lobby) above the tv and the corner chair (from Marshalls) and foot stool (from Wayfair), but most things were just paired down from what she already had.

-I made a sofa table to go behind her sofa. This gave her a place to add some extra lighting.

-I changed out her ceiling lights for her. She picked out this one for the living room and the foyer light came from Lowes too but I can’t find it online.

-She repainted her tv cabinet with chalk paint for a quick change.

-New curtains and curtain rods were added.


Isn’t it amazing what a difference just those changes make? I forgot to get pics of the foyer before we did that, but I believe it was the same pinkish tan color as the living room. The hooks make it a lot more functional and it’s become a cute drop off zone for their shoes and coats now. My friend still has some projects she wants to do for this space (like get new flooring), but her and her family are absolutely loving the change it made. It feels so peaceful and the amount of light they get is unreal! The colors really help make that more noticeable now too. I hope this inspires you to create and get to working on that to do list 😉 -jess


Faux Succulent and Wood Blocks Install

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A while back I came across these cute faux succulents that were on clearance at Target. For only a dollar something each, I just went ahead and got them. Didn’t need them at that moment per say, but it was such a good deal and it’s something I figured I could use at some point. Then came time to decorate this foyer area. I also happened to come across this amazing wall install by Britney Jay  {here} and knew it was something I could use the succulents for. So I used up using some leftover wood I had in my garage and the succulents and got to making.


I laid out my pieces and made sure the wood grains were all going the same way. Then I taped the middle ones so I could half stain half paint them. I used Minwax Dark Walnut to stain. Then I used a texture paste I had in my craft closet to create a fun textured look for the ones that would be painted. Then once painted white, I lightly used some gold paint to go over edges and ridges for added depth.


I initially used a construction adhesive to glue on the succulents, but some fell off. I thought it would be a really strong way to hold them in place, but it wasn’t. At that point I just used a hot glue gun and that seemed to do the trick. I also ended up using my nail gun to attach the wood to the wall since this was in a kids area. It makes them super secure and then they are flat on the wall. You could of course use a different mounting technique that is easier to remove them if you wanted. I think it is something that would be really cute as home decor too. And you can play around with the size of wood and plants you use to create a one of a kind look.

Also, see that cute bench? My amazing friend Ashley made that! It was the perfect touch for this waiting area. And the two pillows are covers and inserts from Hobby Lobby for anyone interested in that info. -jess

Faux Concrete Countertop DIY: My Experience

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A few months ago I shared about an almost finished bathroom remodel that I worked on in four bathrooms at our church.  It was such a great budget friendly remodel and one of the cost saving parts was doing a faux concrete countertop to cover up the laminate that was there. This brought cohesion to the whole bathroom style and I was able to do a women’s and men’s bathroom for under $40. I learned a lot and wanted to share my experience for anyone else researching to determine if this is something they are interested in completing. I know I researched a ton and the more diy testimonials and tutorials there are the better. Some of the online tutorials and info posts I looked at were these:

A Beautiful Mess: Concrete Countertop DIY and Concrete Feather Finish Countertop (their first post was my biggest inspiration because that one had curved edges like the one I was working on! They look like they did a much better job than I did though hahahaha).

Lovely Imperfection: DIY Concrete Countertops Over Laminate Surfaces

Blesser House: DIY Feather Finish Concrete Countertops

Little Green Notebook: DIY Concrete Countertops (in a laundry room)

The Palette Muse: $100 Room Challenge Concrete Countertops (in a bathroom; included doing the sink!)

Designer Trapped: DIY Vanity Makeover Using Concrete Overlay

 


First off, let me begin sharing about these countertops. They are laminate but have a curved front edge. Many of the tutorials online appear to have all straight edges. Now some of the sides were straight and I have to say that this process works best on straight edges. I sanded the laminate some to help with adhesion, but it was still a battle to create a quality look and thickness on those curved edges. So, if yours are curved, be aware of this. You will want to take some extra time on the curves and I ended up just using my hands (which had a fitted latex glove on to protect my hand) to apply it there. The straight edge tools people suggest using just didn’t work very well for those spots for me.

Secondly, since these are countertops in a bathroom, I was not worried about making it food safe since no food should be in the bathroom hahaha. That made the process even less expensive and faster to accomplish.  So I would recommend this type of diy project very quickly for a non food space and be more hesitant to for a kitchen type space. The products I ended up using were all from Lowe’s: TEC Skill Set Indoor Skimcoat and Floor Patch and Quikrete Cure and Seal (which, again, I used since this wasn’t a food surface).


I first began by sanding the countertops to help create a surface that the skim coat will adhere to nicely. I just sanded by hand for this versus using a sander. Then I cleaned and taped up some paper to protect the cabinets.


I mixed up a small amount of skim coat at a time until it was the consistency of peanut butter as I had read. After doing this a lot, I found that I liked it actually a little wetter than that consistency. It made it easier to apply and still dried very well and rock hard. The skim coat dries on the fast side, so that is why smaller batches is a good idea. The first coat was the hardest to do for me. It was very rough and didn’t fully cover which I expected from the other posts I read. I saw how many people would use their sander at this point and in between each coat to smooth it down, so I did that at this point. I totally regret doing that! The dust it created was unreal. Covered everything. Even created a layer of dust on the walls that I had to wash off. What I discovered is that I preferred to lightly sand in between each coat to get any “sharper” spot smooth, but the next layer I applied would fill in the crevices and such well, smoothing it out on its own. I also used a flat metal and plastic scraper to see which one I liked best. They were both okay, but it was good to have a larger and then smaller one to go around the edges of the sink and close to the walls. Another thing, which I mentioned earlier, was that I also really liked the result of using my (gloved) hand to spread on the skim coat for the layers after the first one. I could feel the surface and level out some spots nicely and it was easier doing that on the rounded edges. If you use gloves, make sure you have a few pairs as you will need new ones for each coat.




All in all, I did three coats on each countertop. I will be honest though, I probably could have done one more coat on the rounded edges. But, I was out of skim coat and didn’t want to buy a huge bag just to do that. Plus it still looked great anyways! After it was really really dry, I did two layers of the concrete sealer. It changed the color only slightly. The first layer didn’t make a big difference, but the second coat gave it more of a sheen (which I thought looked really nice). After the bathrooms began to be heavily used again, the water and soap did create darker spots. I thought it looked really awesome and added character, although others might not like that. The sealer seemed to be good, but I suggested that they later add a layer of polycrylic for even better protection and waterproofness. Or at least another layer of this sealer.  I had read some others who had used polycrylic and had great results. Even though I didn’t technically use it yet on skim coat, I have used it on so many other materials (wood, paint, ceramic, etc) that I do not doubt its abilities to do a good job in this circumstance.


All in all, such an easy (but slightly time consuming since you have to wait on drying times after every layer of skim coat and sealer you do) and cost effective way to update countertops. Maybe one day I will end up doing it again.