This past Memorial Day weekend, my husband and I made our very first trip to IKEA, and it was truly amazing!  We snagged a few items and I’ve slowly been jazzing them up.  The first hack project that I undertook was customizing a set of their cork trivets with a wood burner.  It was so easy and I LOVE the way they turned out!

I finally got around to beautifying another one of our finds: a plain Lazy Susan that I personalized with some stain and paint, and here I’m sharing all the deets on just how easy this DIY project was.

Oh, it’s also Silhouette Challenge time again…woot woot!  This month’s theme is Home Decor with a bonus challenge of Wood….nailed it! :)  Keep reading to see all 19 projects that are being shared today by me and my fellow Silhouette Challengers!

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Personalized Lazy Susan IKEA Hack!

Supplies

• IKEA SNUDDA Lazy Susan
• Orbital hand sander & sanding discs
• Wood stain & rags
• Silhouette Cameo, 12″ x 24″ cutting mat, & transfer tape
• Personalized stencil (I used 813 stencil film)
• Black craft paint & foam brush
• Polycrylic & paint brush

 

The Original IKEA SNUDDA Lazy Susan: aka Miss Susie

So here’s Miss Susie in her original condition.  She was a lovely light wood and totally functional, but rather boring….sorry girl, just keepin’ it real.

 

Our Personalized Design

I am a HUGE-GINORMOUS-MEGA-FAN-GIRL-ON-STEROIDS lover of personalized stuff.  I just can’t help myself when it comes to slapping our names, monograms, birthdays, anniversaries, or other special factoids about our little family on just about anything….clothing, bags, keepsakes, ornaments, and especially home decor.  That’s what makes OUR house OUR home, ya know?  {You can check out my Project Gallery for lots of proof!}

My husband, on the other hand, does not share my personalization obsession.  Let’s just say he….tolerates it.

When we first bought Miss Susie, we were talking about ways to beautify her, and Matt had his heart set on us (and by us, I mean me) transforming her into a bourbon barrel head (he is a bourbon connoisseur, which is why I made him a set of custom glasses for his libation of choice).

While I think that would indeed be very cool, I don’t really want an ode to liquor adorning our dining room table 24/7/365.  I mean it’s not bourbon’s table….it’s our table.  So Momma here won out (of course) and I threw together a simple design featuring our last name and wedding year that I would paint on Miss Susie after she got her staining.

But don’t you start feeling bad for poor Matty!  No, I compromised with the staining….more on this in a bit.

 

Cutting Out the Stencil

Miss Susie is 15″ wide, so I couldn’t cut out the stencil in one piece since my Silhouette Cameo‘s maximum width is 12″.  No biggie!  I just used my Knife tool and sliced off a section then moved it beneath the rest of my design on my cutting mat.  Then I’d just piece the two sections together during application.

Next came finalizing my cut settings for the stencil material I’d be using: Oramask 813.  This stuff is the bee’s knees for stenciling on wood!  It’s much more cost effective than vinyl too, and cuts/weeds like a dream, unlike contact paper.  It’s a thin, light-weight film that still has some structure, so it cuts perfectly, and the light tackiness is perfect for getting a good seal along the edges while painting, but not so sticky that it’s difficult to pull off or could potentially damage the piece.  It also doesn’t hurt that I have a HUGE roll of this stuff….you can see it in my pre-vinyl organization mess.

I used it on another wooden home decor project for March’s Silhouette Challenge, which had Typography/Word Art as the theme: our Pallet Wood Roman Numeral Anniversary Sign! (See, *more* personalization!)

 

I then pulled out my 12″ x 24″ cutting mat from my vinyl/supplies storage organizer and added a sheet of the 813 stencil film (and as you can see, I have a difficult time cutting a straight line….).  Then I loaded it into my Silhouette Cameo and got to cutting!

 

A few moments later, my stencil was perfectly cut (yes!), so I trimmed it up and weeded (or removed) the excess film.  I then added some transfer tape over the top then set it aside for the time being.

 

Sanding Off the Clear Coat

Miss Susie came sealed with a clear coat that needed to be sanded away prior to staining.  I initially did a practice area of stain on the underside to see if sanding was actually necessary, and yep, it sure was.  Nuts!  Oh well….thanks to our hand sander this step didn’t take long at all.

You could very easily do this sanding by hand too if you don’t have a power sander.  I had to put my biceps to work and sand all the edges by hand and I survived.

 

Staining the Wood

Now it was time for Miss Susie to get dressed up!  We bought a can of a dark stain and I started applying it with a rag, going in the direction of the wood grain.  After letting it sit for a few minutes, I wiped it off and started to let it dry…

 

….but my husband didn’t think it was dark enough, so another round of staining was performed.

I was all like “You know I’m painting the design on in black??” and he was all “Yeah, it’ll all be really dark and cool and subtle and look….bourbon barrely. {insert charming grin}”  So I darkened Susie up some more.

 

Applying the Stencil

The next day, Miss Susie was fully dried, so I applied the stencil to her using the hinge method, which you can read more about here.

{Lighting change!}

 

Painting the Design

The next step was painting on the design, so I pulled out a bottle of black craft paint as well as a foam brush.  Using very little paint on my brush, I dabbed along the stencil, filling in the entire design.

I did two light coats then pulled the stencil off before the paint had dried completely.  After the paint was nice and dry, I then added a light coat of polycrylic to seal the wood and also add a nice subtle shine to help counter-act the (super) dark stain.

 

Our Final Personalized Lazy Susan IKEA Hack!

And here’s Miss Susie all dressed up!  MUCH better than the original, no?  It’s amazing what a little makeover can do for a lady. ;)

Personally, I think the stain is still a wee bit too dark, but my husband is all about it, so Susie ended up being a nice compromise….me and my personalization with Matt’s dark bourbon barrel vibe.  Marriage FTW! :)

 

I also wish I would have used a thicker font for the “Est. 2008” portion, or at least done a small external offset to thicken it up a bit.  Oh well.  It’s more noticeable in personal than in these photos.  I still love this piece!

 

And here’s an action shot during dinner last week.  Miss Susie is looking sharp and serving a nice purpose….and she definitely makes us feel like real fancy people. ;)

 

Other Wooden Home Decor Projects

Here are some other wooden home decor projects I’ve created with the help of my Silhouette!

Year-Round Happy Everything Wreath! A Coton Colors Knock Off!

 

Pallet Wood Roman Numeral Anniversary Sign

 

Family Growth Chart Ruler with Yearly Photos (and FREE Cut File!)

 

DIY Burned Cork Trivets: Another IKEA Hack!

Don’t miss my first IKEA hack where I jazzed up some plain cork trivets with a wood burner!

 

The Silhouette Challenge!

Like I mentioned, it’s Silhouette Challenge time again!  Make sure you check out what 18 of my bloggy buddies are also sharing today….LOTS of great home decor ideas!

1. Whatcha Workin’ On? // 2. Two Purple Couches // 3. Made in a Day // 4. Ginger Snap Crafts // 5. Architecture of a Mom // 6. Simply Kelly Designs // 7. Crafty Bonds // 8. Practically Functional // 9. DailyDwelling // 10. DIY Just Cuz {Sam} // 11. unOriginal Mom // 12. Decor Adventures // 13. Creative Ramblings // 14. My Paper Craze // 15. Where The Smiles Have Been // 16. Get Silvered // 17. DIY Just Cuz {Brittany} // 18. Weekend Craft // 19. Create & Babble

 

Thanks so much for stopping by!