Balzer Designs

ScanNCut: Wood Inlay Table

You guys, I am insanely proud of this table:

I bought it at a thrift store for a few dollars.  The top was kind of banged up and had staples all over it.  So, I used my ScanNCut to cut two colors of wood veneer to refinish the table with the look of inlay wood.

Watch the video for the how-to:

I love the way it turned out!  Four coats of varnish darkened up the wood quite a bit and made the shine of the top match the shine of the rest of the table.

You can download the file I created to decorate the table HERE (for personal use only).

Thanks for stopping by!

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I am a paid spokesperson for the Brother ScanNCut.  It is a machine that I love and use.  All opinions and projects are my own.

Valentine's Day Table for Two: Felt Roses

This year for Valentine's Day I'm staying home.  On the one hand, I like going out and getting dressed up and all that jazz.  On the other hand, I'm old and cantankerous and an evening at home sounds lovely.  But, just because it's at home and I'm in my pajama pants doesn't mean that it can't still be a special event.

Check out my fancy Valentine's Day Table for Two:

Over the next few days I'm going to show you how to make the various elements in this photo.  Today's we're starting with the felt roses.

They're pretty fabulous!  (That's a marimekko plate from the Target collection last summer.)  They look good and they're easy to make, so it's win win.  I made them with my ScanNCut, but you could do them by hand.  In fact, I used the hand cutting template from this website.

Watch the video for the how to:

And here's a closer look at some of those flowers:

I'll be back tomorrow with more Valentine's Day DIY fun!

Thanks for stopping by!

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I am a paid spokesperson for the ScanNCut.  It is a machine that I love and use!  All opinions and projects are my own.

Spooktacular Mason Jars for Halloween!

This is one of those projects that didn't go exactly to plan.  And that's okay.

My original idea was to insert votive LED lights into these mason jars, but they didn't fit.  

So, I found a string of LED lights and inserted those inside, instead.  This, of course, means that the jars are all chained together, as in the photo above, because it's a single string of lights shared between all the jars.  

I decided to try something different and fill the jars with stuff so that they could be separated.  Then I placed the votive candles around them.

Still cute, just a different look.  If you had candy or sprinkles, these would be perfect containers!

To make these, all I did was design some Halloween cut files and cut them out of vinyl.  Once the designs were weeded...

...I used transfer tape to adhere the blacked out strips (left side) onto the mini mason jars.

You can see a quick peek of the process in this video:

Thanks for stopping by!

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P.S. You don't need a cutting machine to do this project.  You can use decorative packing tape (black pattern on a clear background) like this or draw your own pattern onto packing tape with a permanent black marker!  Or, grab an exacto knife and get busy with some adhesive-backed vinyl!

Painted Table: The Finished Table (part two)

Without any further ado, here is the finished table:

I had originally planned on using the table in my studio, but after putting it together, I decided to make it my dining room table!  

And I love it!

To answer some questions:

• Just curious what paints you used on the table and did you prime it. I used regular acrylic paints and I didn't prime it in any traditional sense.  The first layer was indoor wall paint, which I reviewed here.
• Did you have a plan before hand of colors, flowers, etc? Not really.  I knew that I wanted to do flowers and I decided that I needed to push myself to try creating some flowers outside of the style that I usually do.  So that was really the only thing in my head when I started working.
• Wow! I want it as a phone case! So many people said this, that I decided to go ahead and make it a phone cover and a laptop skin and a few other things!  

Buy yours HERE.

• The smaller black & white dashes/lines you did... does that get tedious to you? Or do you love doing that just as much as the rest? I don't find it tedious.  But that's why that kind of small repetitive motif is a part of my personal style.  I encourage you to only make marks that are fun for you to make.  If you don't enjoy that kind of work, don't do it!  Find your own style.  :)
• How did you ever get it home? I had help.  A friend of mine did most of the heavy lifting.  That, combined with a small SUV, and home the table went! 

Thanks for stopping by!

Painted Table: The Process (part one)

There's a thrift store near where I live.  I wandered in one day and there was a huge table with a price tag on it: $4.95.  

Really?!

I walked past it a few times.  I even asked the woman at the front desk if the price was really $4.95?  She said, "Yep, but it's huge."  I think that was an indication that they really just wanted to get rid of it.  It's a small store.  

I figured that if I could get it out of the store and back home, it was worth the money.  After all, a canvas that size would be crazy expensive.

Boom:

As you can see, I dragged it home.  The table has two cool feet and an extra leaf.  It was pretty banged up.  It looked like someone had stripped the table with plans to refinish it and just never got to refinishing.

I stuck the leaf in and got to painting:

As I often do with canvases, I flipped the table half way through.

I flipped the table for a couple reasons:

• To get a different perspective on the painting. 
• To make painting the bottom of the table easier.  Because the table is resting on the floor, it was difficult to paint the lower part.

For a sense of scale, here I am (being very serious) with the table:

And now the table is almost done....

But you'll have to wait until tomorrow to see the finished result!

Thanks for stopping by!