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Personalized Lazy Susan IKEA Hack!

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!

Personalized Lazy Susan IKEA Hack! | Where The Smiles Have Been #Ikea

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Personalized Lazy Susan IKEA Hack!

Supplies

 

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.

Personalized Lazy Susan IKEA Hack! | Where The Smiles Have Been #Ikea

 

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.

Personalized Lazy Susan IKEA Hack! | Where The Smiles Have Been #Ikea

 

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!)

Personalized Lazy Susan IKEA Hack! | Where The Smiles Have Been #Ikea

 

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!

Personalized Lazy Susan IKEA Hack! | Where The Smiles Have Been #Ikea

 

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.

Personalized Lazy Susan IKEA Hack! | Where The Smiles Have Been #Ikea

 

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.

Personalized Lazy Susan IKEA Hack! | Where The Smiles Have Been #Ikea

 

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…

Personalized Lazy Susan IKEA Hack! | Where The Smiles Have Been #Ikea

 

….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.

Personalized Lazy Susan IKEA Hack! | Where The Smiles Have Been #Ikea

 

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!}

Personalized Lazy Susan IKEA Hack! | Where The Smiles Have Been #Ikea

 

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.

Personalized Lazy Susan IKEA Hack! | Where The Smiles Have Been #Ikea

 

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! :)

Personalized Lazy Susan IKEA Hack! | Where The Smiles Have Been #Ikea

 

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!

Personalized Lazy Susan IKEA Hack! | Where The Smiles Have Been #Ikea

Personalized Lazy Susan IKEA Hack! | Where The Smiles Have Been #Ikea

Personalized Lazy Susan IKEA Hack! | Where The Smiles Have Been #Ikea

 

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. ;)

Personalized Lazy Susan IKEA Hack! | Where The Smiles Have Been #Ikea

 

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!

Year-Round Happy Everything Wreath: A Coton Colors Knock Off! | Where The Smiles Have Been

 

Pallet Wood Roman Numeral Anniversary Sign

Pallet Wood Roman Numeral Anniversary Sign | Where The Smiles Have Been

 

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

How to Make a Family Growth Chart Ruler with Yearly Photos

 

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!

DIY Burned IKEA Cork Trivets: Cheap & Easy IKEA Hack! | Where The Smiles Have Been

 

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!

Silhouette Challenge: HOME DECOR!

The Framed Horse Glass Etching Project DIY Watercolor and Vinyl Quote Art DIY Fall Decor Pillow Wrap DIY Rustic Wood Sign {tutorial} + more Silhouette Home Decor Ideas Pineapple Wooden Welcome Art - Upcycled Pallet Art How To Create A Custom Shaped Photo Mat What NOT To Use Stenciling On Wood DIY Dry Erase Calendar Wooden Pallet Bathroom Wall Art A Feminine Family Wreath Map Themed Decor with your Silhouette DIY Lily for Target Candle Holders Nursery Canvas Wall Art No Place Like Home Baseball DoorHanger Personalized Lazy Susan IKEA Hack! What A Wonderful World Wood burning a Frame & Coasters How to Stencil a Pallet Sign Home State Sign

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!

Where The Smiles Have Been | Crafts. DIY. Home. Mom Life.

NitkaDesign

Wednesday 24th of May 2017

Your idea is fantastic:-))) I have to find it in my storage room and give it the second life!!! Thanks for sharing the idea:-)))))

23 Home Decor Ikea Hacks | Find It, Fix It or Build It

Monday 15th of May 2017

[…] from Where the Smiles Have Been gives a step-by-step tutorial, showing us how to create a personalized lazy […]

Morgan Brown

Tuesday 5th of July 2016

Searching through Pinterest and came across your blog! I was looking at the DIY Lazy Susan and noticed the last name. My maiden name is Backus, don't see that last name a lot! :)

Emily @ Small Stuff Counts

Thursday 30th of June 2016

Hey there, I featured this project in my blog post of 15 DIY wedding gifts to make with a Silhouette! Thanks for the Silhouette inspiration! If you want to check it out, I published the blog post this morning: http://smallstuffcounts.com/diy-wedding-gifts/

12 Housewarming Gift Ideas You Can DIY | Crafting Zone

Friday 3rd of June 2016

[…] think very many homeowners even think about purchasing a Lazy Susan, so creating a personalizedversion for them will be greatly appreciated, especially once they use it and realize its […]