This month’s craft challenge at Craftbotic was Repurposed crafts. I have been working on my projects all month and both are basically fails. Well, I will share them here anyway!
My first project was this former remote control holder. We have been using it for craft supplies for awhile, but it is too tall and the supplies fall down to the bottom and get stuck. So I thought I would first spruce it up a bit.
Before:
I decided to use magnetic paint on the front and back, because I wanted to test out the magnetic paint for my other project. It worked, but the paint that I used on top of it came out quite bumpy. I also couldn’t seem to get enough coats on to make it cover the green parts.
As you can see I started painting some of the insides and then gave up. I used practically a whole small tube of Martha Stewart craft paint on this. I stuck Styrofoam into the slots to lessen the height and block the supplies from falling over, but overall I’m not happy with how it came out.
My next project was a bit more exciting, but when I think about it I realized it is refurbished rather than repurposed! We had this old chalkboard easel that my mom got from freecycle awhile ago. It has been sitting in our storage room since we moved to Kansas.
First, I cleaned it up, then I painted the surfaces with the magnetic paint. I want it to be a magnet board as well as a chalkboard and easel.
Next I used that same Martha Steward paint to paint the wood. I had the same problem with needing multiple coats, but in general I am pleased. I painted one side with chalkboard paint and the other with dry erase paint. The dry erase paint was also difficult to get to cover thick enough. As of now, it is not working. I’m not sure if it needs more time to cure, or if it did not work because I waited between coats, meaning the activating agent was added to the paint too long and it stopped working. I guess if anything that side will just be a magnet board, but that would be a waste of money! I also bought another screw for the one that is missing and I did not buy a long enough screw. I sized it based on a screw I removed, but it was from a different part of the easel, so it is shorter.
The clips can be used to attach paper for painting. With another snow day coming up tomorrow I am hopeful we will be able to use this for some art projects!
As for actual repurposed art, I did not realize at the time, but my Window Pane Art totally counts! I am open for suggestions on these other two projects!