The Mud Puddle: Funky Flower Shelf

Here she is, my first tutorial. I just have to warn you that I was making this at night, so the pictures are dark, and somewhat blurry. I hope to get better ones for my next tutorial.

I have been wanting a cute shelf for my daughter's room for over a year now. When I was at Michael's one day I found this unfinished wood shelf in the clearance section for $3.00. It was missing the glass and backing to the picture frame cut outs. It has been sitting in my closet waiting for some inspiration.

Well, now I finally have it finished, and I love the way it turned out. It was her idea to paint it Fuchsia, and it was a mighty good decision for our white walls. It matches the quilt I made her which I will try and get a picture of some other time.

So, here it goes:

1) I didn't think of doing a tutorial until after I had mine painted, but you will first want to cut a piece of cardboard, chipboard, or poster board that will fit inside the back of the openings. If yours comes with a backing you can just use that instead of cutting your own.

2) Sand and paint your wood in the main color you want it to be i.e. fuchsia. I don't really sand mine before painting because I like the rough look. If you don't just sand the surfaces until they are smooth.

You will probably have to do at least two coats of paint.

Now, While your paint dries move on to the next few steps involving fabric.

3)Cut a piece of fabric to cover both sides of your backing. If you don't mind a messy backing on your shelf, you can save on fabric and use only enough to cover the front and the edges.

Cover your cut out backing with your favorite fabric. Just wrap it like a present, but use hot glue or mod podge instead of tape.

Below is a picture of what mine look like on the back. Mine are not perfect because I assume my shelf backing will be against the wall.

4) You need to make 1 for each opening. Mine needed three. I used a different fabric for each one, but you can do all three the same fabric, or the two ends the same with a different one in the middle. Whatever you like.

5) These flowers are super cute and even better is they are super easy. I followed the tutorial on Heather Bailey's blog. You can find it here to follow it and make your own. They really take about 5 minutes to make.

6) Once your paint is dry you will rough up the edges a bit. You can do as little or as much sanding as you want. I just did a little here and there where I thought it would look good.

7) This next step is how you get the two color effect. First dip your sponge brush in a little paint. You do not need a lot.

Now, CAREFULLY dab paint onto the parts that are sanded. It is OK to get it on the pink too. Just don't go painting the whole shelf the second color unless you want it to stay that way.

note: it is best to do one strip of sanded edge at a time so the paint doesn't dry. You can try it on the back of the shelf for practice. That is what I did.

Here is a picture of the first painted section.

8) Using a damp cloth CAREFULLY wipe the paint back off. Pay special attention to get it off the unsanded parts. I had to rub a bit on some of the pink to get the blue back off. When I say carefully wipe the paint off, I am referring to the sanded part. You want to be careful not to wipe too hard, or it will take the dye out of the wood, and it will just look like unfinished wood. You want to wipe enough of the paint off to make it look like the woods original color is blue or whatever color you are using.

Make sure to finish off all the sanded edges so they match.

9)Put your fabric covered backings into the openings, and secure with the metal tabs that are already provided on most frames. My shelf already had them in there.

Once those are secure, simply attach the fabric flower to the center of each opening front with hot glue.

10) Congrats, you made it through my first tutorial. You should now have a fun and spunky flower shelf. Keep in mind that this can be done with warmer colors and fabrics to match your other home decor.