July 2025

**Affiliate Links May be Used in the Post.  Thank you for supporting Occasionally Crafty by visiting the blog today!**


A few weeks ago,  I showed you my Kids’ Bathroom Makeover.  By far, my favorite part of the makeover is the transformation of my golden oak cabinets using Java Gel Stain by General Finishes.  I finally got around to writing up a tutorial for you, as well as some things I learned if you want to give it a try yourself.





First, let me just say that this post is not sponsored.  I read several posts I found on Pinterest extolling the virtues of the gel stain, so I knew I had to try it.  The only thing is, it can be hard to find.  Here in Phoenix, I had to go to a tiny little vintage thrift store to find it.  Luckily, you can order it on (affiliate link) Amazon here.   Just make sure to plan in time for shipping, and while you’re there, order the sealer as well.



There are other colors besides Java.  This color is a rich dark brown, which is important to know because the pictures almost appear black.  Make sure you pick the color you really want.


To get started, you’ll need the following
Application:


1. Prepare your surfaces.  If you are using previously stained cabinets, like my golden oak ones, you don’t need to sand or strip them at all!  Just wipe them down with soapy water and dry.  Make sure any gunk or debris is cleaned away.  Remove all hardware (keep track of which door or drawer they belong to!) Tape your floors and walls,  and around anything on the cabinet itself you don’t want stained. Lay down plastic sheeting to protect surfaces if desired.
  
2.  Place your doors on painting pyramids so you can paint the edges easily.  Make sure you aren’t in direct sunlight, or your stain will dry too quickly.  I set up in my garage (sorry for taking your space, husband!)  Using a sponge brush, paint on your first coat of stain.  It is very thick so a little goes a long, long way- but don’t be too stingy or you’ll need more coats of stain.  I chose to use the brush because I had lots of little nooks and corners on my doors.  I’ve seen others use a long sock with a plastic glove on underneath.  Use what you’re most comfortable with. 
 
3.  Apply the first coat.  Try to go in the same direction with your brush on each section of the door.  Freak out because the first coat looks scary.  It is splotchy and you can see all your brush strokes.  I promise it will get better.  I painted the front sides in the morning and let them dry for a few hours, then came back in the afternoon to flip them over and stain the back sides.  In between, I went inside the house and painted the cabinet itself in the bathroom.  Let the first coat dry overnight.* Side note- this works on wood veneer or fake wood too!  Parts of my cabinets are not real oak, and those parts took the stain just as well as the real wood did!  So just stain it all.


4.  Apply the second coat directly over the first- no sanding is needed.  Again, do the fronts in the morning, backs in the afternoon, and dry overnight.  You should see much better coverage and your brush strokes should blend in easily as it dries.  


5.  Apply a third and final coat in the same manner.  Let dry overnight.  I’ve put together a collage so you can see the difference each coat makes.  





In the 2nd and 3rd coats, you can’t see my brush strokes at all!  You may need to touch up a few spots after the 3rd coat, but if not, continue on to seal your cabinets.


6.  After you are happy with the coverage and it is completely dry, apply two coats of sealer.  The sealer dries much more quickly than the stain, so I did one coat in the morning, then returned and did a second coat in the afternoon.  Sand lightly in between coats for even coverage. 
 
*Please for the love of gorgeous cabinets, choose a high-quality polyurethane sealer.  You don’t want all your hard work to go to waste!


7.  Let cabinets dry a full 24 hours after applying the last coat of sealer before moving them.  I actually moved them inside after 24 hours and then waited another few days before hanging them.  That’s partly because I had to spraypaint my hardware and buy the knobs I wanted, but you might want to think about doing that too.  It would stink to spend all that time and effort only to get a bunch of chips while hanging the doors.


8.  Reattach hardware.  Drill holes if attaching knobs or handles.  Rehang doors.  Apply bumper pads on the insides of the doors to protect them from being chipped when being closed.  Enjoy your gorgeous cabinets!  



 Huge difference, right?  I love it so much!  If you have any questions I’d be happy to try to answer them- just leave me a note in the comments or email me.  Have a wonderful weekend and have fun staining!

I may be linking this post up to some of these parties- check them out with me!

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Disclosure:  Affiliate Links are contained in this post.  I was contacted by Paint-A-Pillow and was given all supplies to create two pillows in return for an honest review and promotion of their product.  All opinions are my own.
Today I am so excited to show you a great new company that specializes in DIY Designer Accent Pillows! You all know what big fans of Cutting Edge Stencils we are. Both of us have remade our bathrooms into masterpieces, and I even used their stencils to make a greeting card.
Well now they’ve branched out into DIY pillows, using the same quality stencils. The company is called Paint-A-Pillow, and you can find them at this website. You won’t believe how many choices they have!
Paint-A-Pillow was kind enough to supply me with enough materials to create two pillows, and show you just how easy it is to make your own too. 

I picked out my stencil and several paints and embellishments to accompany a rug I have in my living room, and within a week my supplies arrived.
I had to take pictures of the packaging because I thought it was cleverly put together.
Everything was secure in the box, with a separate box for the pillow inserts and accessories. Underneath the inserts and accessories were the stencil itself with the pillow cover, ready to be painted on!

Here are the paints I picked. I felt they were a good quality paint and reasonably priced. I used my green A LOT, and there was still paint left over after two pillows.

I was also supplied with tools and brushes to get me going. If you enter our giveaway below, you can win a free starter kit which includes the following items: 

• Stenciling frame (pat.pend.)
• Reusable pillow stencil
• 17”x17” Cotton pillow cover
• Pillow insert: linen/down alternative
• Mini roller and 1/2″ stencil brush
• Paint tray and stirring stick
• Illustrated instructions
• Free mini stencil and practice fabric swatch
• One free fabric paint (choose your color above)

I love that they included a swatch of fabric. I immediately tested out all my paints to see how the colors would look on the fabric once dry.

I also picked out a few embellishments. There are quite a few to choose from, including studs, rhinestones, tassels, and even flowers.

So now I had everything I needed to get started!

I think my favorite thing about the whole process, was the way Paint-A-Pillow created a way to keep the pillow cover and stencil, stationary. If you look close you will see that the stencil lies on top of the pillow cover and is held down on a cardboard frame with brads. I had no problems with it shifting around, and only need to hold the stencil close to the pillow towards the edges.

I started with lighter colors first and moved to darker colors as I went along. Here’s a look at the pillow cover all painted with the stencil still on… And here’s a look with the finished design! It turned out so neat! I tried to get a little creative with the flower using some shading. I wanted to give the pillow a little texture and pop. If you need any help with the painting part of this project, be sure to check out a full painting video tutorial below. It really helped me feel confident to do this! After the paint dried, I heat set the paint by running an iron over the entire design for 30 seconds. I need a bigger iron! Anyone want to buy me a heat press? 🙂   It took awhile, but setting the paint will allow me to wash it, dry clean it, or even use them outdoors! Need some pillows for your patio set? These would be awesome!

Now the pillow cover was done. But if you’re going to add any embellishments, you need to do that before putting the pillow form inside the pillow cover. I decided to go with tassels for my pillows and couldn’t decide between a standard tassel and the suede tassels they offer, so I went with both! Paint-A-Pillow has a great tutorial video for applying embellishments that made my tassels go on super easily!

Another thing I love about the pillows is that the stencils match the ones offered by Cutting Edge Stencils, so if you’ve done something on your walls, you can match the decor with pillows! A few things I feel like Paint-A-Pillow could improve on is pricing and a the idea of reverse stencils. While picking your own design, paints and embellishments makes these pillows very customize-able, I would have a hard time paying that much for two complete pillow sets. The items individually are priced well, so perhaps if you already had a pillow to start with, buying a stencil and paint would not be more than going to the store and buying a finished pillow. As for reverse stencils, the thought came to me as I started my second pillow and placed the stencil back on top of a blank canvas. I though how neat it would be to be able to reverse the imaging so that the leaves and flower could be left natural and the background could be painted in. Wouldn’t that be neat? If that were available I would have done one the way you see it, and one in opposite to compliment each other.
With all that said, I think Paint-A-Pillow offers a solid product. Their stencils are second to none and the easy process always surprises me with great looking results!

Here are the tutorial videos, and keep scrolling to enter the giveaway! 

a Rafflecopter giveaway 

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I’ve been a little MIA on the blog for several reasons.  But I’m checking in today to share a quick  printable for Halloween.  I originally shared this at Pocket Full of Pink last year, but thought all my new friends would like to see it.  This would make a great decoration or even a card for a friend, with a bunch of Halloween treats! I have mine displayed in my home and everyone comments on it!
If you’d like one for yourself, simply click here.  From there, you can print it our download it.  You can print this up to 8×10 with great quality! If you have any problems getting the file, comment below or email me, and I’ll send it to you.  Happy Halloween everyone!

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School pictures slightly terrify me.  I drop off my child in the morning, hair perfectly in place, clothes spotless, smiles bright.  The only problem is, I don’t know at what point in the day their picture will be taken.  Will it be after recess, when clothes can get muddy and hair becomes windswept and messy?  Will it be after P.E (see “recess”)? 

And when my child takes her picture, will she smile one of her best smiles, or will she try too hard and stretch that smile across her cheeks like the Joker?

I never know what I’m going to get until I have them in my hand.

Luckily, my daughter’s first school pictures, taken way back in 2010, turned out pretty adorable.  Her picture is the subject of my layout today.

We just took this year’s school pictures a few weeks ago.  Now my son is in Kindergarten.  I’m a little scared to see what they look like, because he is a goof and a half!

Thanks for stopping by today!

P.S.-  I am doing some blog re-design, so don’t freak out if you see some changes. There’s only one way to get this done and that’s piece by piece.  Your patience, please 🙂

Have a great week-

Bring spring inside with this colorful Spring Subway Art Chalkboard!

Wow, it’s been awhile since I posted.  To be honest, when it’s cold and snowy/rainy/foggy, I have very little motivation to do anything except sit on the couch in a warm blanket, reading a book.  Of course, I have to participate in real life, but in my down time, I haven’t been able to muster up the motivation to create.

Well, now that March is just about here, I figured it’s time to get creating again.  One of the things on my to-do list is to replace one of my favorite decorations.  I made this Spring Subway Art Plaque a few years ago and love to display it each spring.  Unfortunately, it got destroyed in our move!

So, I decided to make a new project with the same design, but with a totally different spin.

I used this cute scrolly chalkboard from Hobby Lobby, and adhesive vinyl from Expressions Vinyl.  Oracal 651 is the best to use on this project, as the chalkboard has kind of a slick surface, but honestly I used scraps, so some colors are 631 and some are 651.  Use those scraps!

First, I imported a photo of the plaque to Silhouette Studio so I could make sure my design would fit the way I wanted.  I changed the page sized to match the actual dimensions of the plaque.  Then I imported the shape (you can find it here) and filled the words with the colors I wanted to use when I actually cut the vinyl.

Then I just cut by color.  Since this image isn’t really layered, I can push the same colors close together to cut and just place each piece by hand, eyeballing it as I go.  If it was a true layered image, I’d keep each color in it’s correct spot as I cut, then layer it all together. Here are some progress photos as I transferred each line to the plaque.
And here’s the finished project! I can either hot glue a ribbon to the back to use as a hanger, or display this using a plate stand.  I’m thinking I have a perfect spot for this on my built-in shelves! Are you ready for spring yet?  Someone please send me some sunshine!

Note: This post may contain affiliate links. By clicking on them and purchasing products through my links, I receive a small commission. That’s what helps fund this blog so I can keep bringing you fun new craft projects to try at home!

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Welcome to the Handmade Hangout- where you can link up all things made by YOU!





This week I’m featuring three of my favorite projects from last week’s linky.


#1- IKEA Trysil Dresser Makeover by Techie’s DIY Adventures







2.  Sea Salt Caramel Bars from The Rebel Chick:





3.  Liberty Plaque from The Happy Scraps







I can’t wait to see what you all have come up with this week!  Please, just follow a few little rules when linking up.

1.  Become a follower of the blog where you linked up.  Of course we’d love it if you follow all our hosts on whatever platforms you use most!
Blog – Facebook – Pinterest – Instagram – Twitter – Google+
Blog – Facebook – Pinterest – Instagram – Twitter – Google+ Blog – Facebook – Pinterest – Twitter – Hometalk – Google+ Blog – Facebook – Twitter – Pinterest – Google+ – Instagram Blog – Facebook – Twitter – Pinterest – Google+ – Instagram – Hometalk
2.  Share our button or party link in your post or wherever you share your linky parties
 

Link up your projects!

I am so excited that it’s time to prepare for Girls Camp!  In our church, girls 12-18 have the opportunity to spend a few days at a camp where they not only learn things like first aid, compass reading, fire building, and such, but also have the opportunity to grow as a person, leader, and daughter of God.  I love camp and I am so excited to be the Girls Camp Leader in my ward. This year, our stake has a theme of “Strive”.  Each ward or congregation then takes that theme and comes up with a “sub-theme” for their girls. This year, we decided to do a Wizard of Oz-themed camp.  As Dorothy had to “strive” to find her way back home, so we all strive through our journey here on earth to make it back to our Heavenly Home, represented by the temple.  This also goes really well with the Mutual theme for this year- “Press Forward….” Last night we had a kick-off for our girls to introduce them to our theme and help them get excited for camp. I wanted to share with you one of the decorations I made.  I love this because it will also be a fun decor piece to have in my home.

Michaels had these distressed frame chalkboards for 50% off last week, so I snagged one (get a similar one here) I have terrible chalk drawing/writing abilities, so I knew I wanted to vinyl this up.

I designed a decal to put on the chalkboard in Silhouette Studio.  I traced a clip art picture of the Salt Lake City LDS temple, then offset it to .050 and made the outline a compound path.  This made it cut the outline the way I wanted it. Then I just added the words I wanted.  The fonts are Bromello for the script and Cabana for the “Home”.
For those of you who aren’t LDS, I made a version of this file with a house instead of the temple.  You can snag it here. Then, just cut the vinyl, peel away the unwanted parts, and use transfer tape to apply it to the chalkboard.

I love how it turned out.  The girls liked it so much they decided they want our camp t-shirts to have this same design!  You can download a Silhouette Studio cut file of this design here. If you have trouble downloading, just shoot me an email.

Thanks for stopping by today- have a great rest of your week 🙂


Note: This post may contain affiliate links. By clicking on them and purchasing products through my links, I receive a small commission. That’s what helps fund this blog so I can keep bringing you fun new craft projects to try at home!

Did you hear that Google is doing away with Google Reader? So, if you read this blog that way you’re going to have to choose a new way to follow! I don’t want you to miss a thing, so I want to suggest you follow us through BlogLovin’:

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

If the link above doesn’t work- you can click on the button in the sidebar.

My bloggy friend Sarah wrote this awesome post about why you should use Bloglovin- so click on over and read it!

And Elle at Nutrionella wrote a great tutorial on how to use Bloglovin’ for readers and for bloggers!

What do you think of the news?

Welcome to the Handmade Hangout- where you can link up all things made by YOU!







This week I’m featuring three of my favorite projects from last week’s linky.


1.  DIY Mini Pinatas from The Happy Scraps- wouldn’t these be cute favors to take home from a birthday or Cinco de Mayo party?  I love a cute and easy craft.





2.  DIY Headboard from Old Shutters at Scavenger Chic-  I love, love, love this!  Who has some old shutters I can have?





3.  Norm of the North Cookies from Country Chic Cottage- these are so cute and easy, and my kids are excited to go see this movie.  Win- win for mom!




Thanks for linking up each week!  I’m so excited to see what you’ve been making this week.  


In case you missed it, here’s what I’ve been up to:


A Parenting Post with my favorite resources for Parenting a Strong-Willed Child





My first Valentine’s Day post of the year- Printed Burlap Valentine’s Day Subway Art







And don’t forget to stop by tomorrow for a HUGE giveaway and awesome blog post from 50 of your favorite bloggers.  You cannot miss this one!


Just a few little rules for this party:





1.  Become a follower of the blog where you linked up.  Of course we’d love it if you follow all our hosts on whatever platforms you use most!
Blog – Facebook – Pinterest – Instagram – Twitter – Google+ Blog – Facebook – Pinterest – Twitter – Hometalk – Google+ Blog – Facebook – Twitter – Pinterest – Google+ – Instagram Blog – Facebook – Twitter – Pinterest – Google+ – Instagram – Hometalk
2.  Share our button or party link in your post or wherever you share your linky parties
 

Link up your projects!

I want to take a minute to thank you for voting in the So You Think You’re Crafty competition.  I didn’t make it into the finals, but I made it a lot further than I thought I would- and I know that is thanks to my friends and followers!  


I got voted out the week before I got to share this project, so now I get to share it with you!
I have to confess, I’ve never used RIT dye before.  Never.  Not once.  So it was with much trepidation that I took on this project.  But you know what?  It was easy!  So, don’t be scared- give dye a chance!  
There’s about a million things you can do with RIT dye, and I decided to jump on the “ombre” wagon for this Ombre-dyed Shamrock Pillow.

I made the pillow cover out of white cotton using this tutorial for a simple envelope pillow cover.  Really, this part couldn’t be easier, even if you don’t sew.
Then, following the directions on the dye box (I used the powder kind- Kelly Green!), I mixed up the magical solution using hot water, dye, and salt.  When it was ready, I held my breath and began dipping.
To get the ombre look, I followed the times on the picture below. 
 

As you can see, there wasn’t a huge difference between three minutes and ten minutes, so I would probably change that next time.  

Once I was done dyeing my pillowcase I washed and dried it according to the directions, then stuffed my pillow form inside.
I finished off the look by cutting some shamrocks out off felt and gluing them to the pillow cover with fabric glue.

I LOVE the way it came out- and now I want one for every holiday! Can you imagine shades of red with hearts for Valentine’s?  Or orange and black with pumpkins for Halloween?  Once you start, you can’t stop!
I’ll link this up to some of these parties this week:  come check them out with me!

Update:  Thanks for voting this project as a winner in the March Madness Party at 4 You With Love!

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