I love flowers, Sweet Friends. In fact, if I could wear flowers in my hair every day I probably would. I love having flowers in my home, so much so, I do at times, settle for faux. Are you a flower lover?

I love real flowers and faux flowers and I love incorporating them into my home decor. In today’s post I am going to show you one way to add flowers into your home decor.

Trash to Treasure Furniture Makeover!

Trash to treasure furniture makeover’s are my favorite and this dresser was such a mess. The picture above really doesn’t give the mess justice, but if you can imagine an old wood dresser that has been alive for probably 50 years, I am sure you understand what I mean.

Incorporating painted flowers on a dresser is the perfect way to include flowers in your home. Bringing flowers in from the garden is always bliss but if you don’t have a garden you may need to find other solutions.

Now, in years past when our home had a huge garden I spent most of my time out there. I’d plant sunflowers and peonies and dahlia’s and iris’s and morning glories and flowers in every color of the rainbow. I really love planting bulbs, as watching them emerge from the ground is always a fun and surprising thing.

With this furniture makeover, I originally painted it a two toned look where I left the drawers the wood color. I loved how it looked but then.

Then I got inspired by Josie and Sally, the Iron Orchid Designs Sisters to take it a step further.

You can watch how I completed this project on my You Tube Channel here.

Sallie and Josie inspired me with a project that they worked on. I thought that the dresser would look so beautiful with a vase full of flowers on the front of it.

On this project I used Iron Orchid Designs Air Dry Clay, Decor Stamps and Decor Transfers to create an image that looked like a vase full of flowers. I also used DIY Paint on the project. Here is the dresser at TreasureFest last year.

I hope this project has inspired you to go out and create something you love. Make it a Great Week!

The post Trash to Treasure Furniture Makeover and Adding Flowers into your Home Decor! appeared first on Create With Cynthia.

But in the case of this dresser, when something doesn’t look exactly how you want it to look, then you start over. This dresser was a makeover x 2. The video you can watch here and the full story “One Person’s Junk is Another Person’s Treasure,” I told about a month ago and you can read about it here.

Iron Orchid Designs

Some might say that I’m addicted to Iron Orchid Designs products. They have so many neat things you can use on furniture or crafts to really create a “One of a Kind” look. Who wouldn’t be addicted to that?

At least my junk addiction has subsided….. a little bit.

When it’s cold outside, I’m not as eager to go out and look for junk. Now, if I see something as I’m driving down the road….well that’s another story.

Earlier in the month I was on HomeTalk TV and I adhered a Decor Transfer to a Mirror. You can watch that video here. Don’t forget to follow me on HomeTalk TV here.

I also created a Mermaid Mobile using Iron Orchid Design moulds and clay and upcycled an old suitcase using Iron Orchid Design decor transfers and I upcycled a coffee table using Iron Orchid Design stamps. Visit my shop here to purchase Iron Orchid Design products.

For today, I’m going to be specifically give tips on using decor transfers on a furniture makeover, because every application is different.

So grab your favorite beverage and let’s get started.

Tips on using Iron Orchid Design Decor Transfers on Furniture!

Tip #1: Cut the decor transfers into pieces. You can even mix and match them on projects.

Tip #2: When working on furniture, only adhere decor transfers on a sealed surface. Use a top coat or wax on the furniture, then adhere the decor transfer. Be careful to choose a top coat or wax that is environmentally friendly, harsh chemicals will cause the decor transfer to lift and not adhere.

Tip #3: Use frog tape or blue tape to hold the decor transfer in place while you are scrapping.

Tip #4: When determining placement of decor transfer, don’t remove backing until you are certain of placement.

Tip #5: Decor transfers are sticky. Don’t let sticky sides touch.

CreateWithCynthiaShop.com

If you did not know I am a Retailer for Iron Orchid Designs and you can visit my shop page and purchase any of their products.

I am also providing a tutorial on how I created the Dresser. Last month I showed off the Dresser on You Tube. I thought I’d prepare a written tutorial for those that prefer to read versus watch.

Or maybe you like both.

One of my goals for the Year 2020 is to increase my subscribers on You tube. Can you help me get to 500 by subscribing now? If you haven’t already done so, please visit my channel on You Tube channel, Create With Cynthia and subscribe here.

You can watch the video here, in case you missed it.

Sharing is Caring!!!

Materials needed to adhere an Iron Orchid Designs Decor Transfer to furniture:

• Painted and sealed dresser. Use a top coat or wax prior to adhering the transfer. I used Debi’s Design Diary DIY Paint in Big Top.
• Iron Orchid Designs Decor Transfer. I used Flora Parisinesis.
• Frog Tape
• Scissors
• Soft rag

Directions to adhere an Iron Orchid Designs Decor Transfer to furniture:

Step one: Cut the decor transfer into pieces while the back is on the transfer. If you surface is flat and the exact size of the transfer, then there is no need to cut it.

Step two: Determine placement of decor transfer without removing back until you are certain of placement.

Step three: Use frog tape to hold decor transfer in place while scrapping with tool provided.

Step four: Scrape decor transfer onto surface.

Step five: Once the transfer is adhered, remove the tape and the plastic paper. Use a soft cloth and burnish decor transfer on surface. This ensures there are no air bubbles between the transfer and surface.

Step six: Use top coat or wax and seal the transfer on the surface. Two to three coats of top coat or wax is recommended.

Enjoy your finished furniture makeover.

Now go out there and create something.

Cynthia

The post Tips on using Iron Orchid Design Transfers on a Furniture Makeover! appeared first on Create With Cynthia.

Treasurefest in San Francisco, California!

This month I’ll be at TreasureFest and I’m looking forward to seeing all of you. Stop by my booth for a free gift.

If you aren’t familiar with the Art Festival you can watch a video about it here.

Art Festival in San Francisco, California

I look forward to seeing you all there.

San Francisco, California – TreasureFestSF

The store is also open, so if you can’t make it over to Treasure Island to the TreasureFest, stop by the “Create With Cynthia Store” in Redwood City.

Did you see my latest You Tube Video on what’s in the Create With Cynthia Store?  If you missed it you can watch it here.

Make it a great weekend!

Cynthia

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Furniture Make-Overs on Transformation Tuesday!

Today on the blog I’m sharing with you about my move back to town.  I left the Woods in Northern California at the beginning of June and moved back to town.  I spilled the beans about the move on the “Furniture Chest Make-over for my Bedroom” post.  The video is on You Tube here.

Upcycling Furniture for your Home!

When I finally settled into the new place I decided to stop buying new furniture pieces to make-over and focus on what’s in my home.  It was hard leaving the amazing beautiful redwoods that I woke up to each morning, but the view out my bedroom window is a little similar.

And Sofy loves siting on the chest looking out.

The new place is nice and spacious and the boys are happy to be close to their school! I’m excited about starting fresh in a new space and working on my projects!  I talked about my project list a couple weeks ago here.  I’ve been true to my word and still have not purchased any new furniture pieces!

I’m excited about working on the Rocking Chair above that sits on my patio.

In the post on “Time Blocking” I showed off some of my finished home projects, like the desk below.

This week I’m hoping to work on the Rocking Chair, the Chest above or the Sewing Cabinet turned Desk below.

Make it a great day!

Cynthia

The post Transformation Tuesday Home Make-Over Projects in a new home! appeared first on Create With Cynthia.

Graduation Time!

My boys were anxious to get out of school, as most of the other schools in our area have already finished. This week finally came and both boys had graduation ceremonies, pancake breakfasts and yearbook signing

This year, my oldest son Luke, graduated (or as they call it was promoted) from 8th grade.

This year, my youngest son Troy, graduated from 5th grade.

Graduation = Proud Mom!

It has been a fun, crazy busy and emotional week.  As a proud Mom of two boys, I can still remember the diaper days.  I look forward to seeing what these young boys will do next year and in the years to come.

I’ll be back next week with more DIY’s and even some You Tube video’s.  Be sure to subscribe to my channel here, then you’ll be notified when new video’s are uploaded.

Now, go out there and create something.

The post Graduations! appeared first on Create With Cynthia.

Now that it’s Summertime, as a “Work From Home Mom With School Age Children”, Time Blocking is essential. Years back I read articles online from a couple of my favorite bloggers and learned about the technique of time blocking.  You may also want to check out Trena or Abby and what they have to say about Time Blocking; Trena, Tips with Trena and Abby Lawson, Just A Girl and Her Blog,

Time Blocking Improves Productivity!

Time blocking is a type of scheduling that can help you manage your time better. Instead of working by the clock, you can focus on finishing big and small tasks one at a time, based on how you have time blocked on your calendar.  To time block effectively, you’ll need to figure out what sorts of things you need to do each day, month, and year.

“Five Favorite Tips When Time Blocking!”

I found in my life I can be less stressed and most productive if I time block. With Summer here it is essential I time block as the boys will be home all day long.  I also tend to get lost on creative projects like painting or crafting and Time Blocking can assist in keeping me productive at my computer tasks.

Just like I talked about last week in this post, my boys are graduating from elementary and middle school this week and although they are able to stay home alone occasionally, for short periods, they still require a lot of attention, especially when they are at the pool.

Here are my “Five Favorite Tips When Time Blocking!”

• Do a brain dump on paper or on the computer!
• Batch Tasks by category/similarity.
• Integrate Mundane Tasks into your  Time Blocking;  Showering, Laundry, Cooking Meals, Pool Time are a few examples of mundane tasks..
• Re-evaluate every three months.
• Enjoy being productive and crossing tasks off your list.

Have a wonderful day! Now, go out there and create something beautiful.

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