Occasionally things break, don’t let that be the end all and trash the item. Use your creative ideas and figure a way to reuse the broken item. For example, I was using this mirror as a chalk board for messages for parties and art festivals. Unfortunately it was dropped; the mirror shattered to pieces and the wood chipped on the edges. I thought about just tossing it and moving on, but then an idea came to me.
Last mothers day my husband installed a bar rack in our room and hung bathroom curtain hooks from it. I was able to hang my long necklaces from it and it was amazingly convent and appeasing to the eyes (yes that’s one of my adorable daughters posing for the camera).
His crafty work got my mind thinking, I could use the top part of the mirror board and turn it into a hanging rack for tea cups! It took a while and a lot of searching on Pinterest to finally get the right plan/idea in mind, so without further delay I give you my tea cup hanging rack (pear and plum colors):
Hope the following steps help you to try your hand at re-purposing broken items. Use those creative juices and feel free to use any tips and tricks stated below.
1. My husband did a great job cutting this piece to a great size.
2. I sanded down the rough edges.
3. I then painted the piece using primer. Make sure to do at least two coats.
4. Make sure to lay your piece flat so that the paint doesn’t run.
5. Now for the first of many colored layers, I started with a lite green. Spray paint goes on smoother and doesn’t leave you with lines like a paint brush with leave. I did two spray painted coats.
6. I then porceded to tape off the sections that would be painted another color.
7. I highly recommend using a clear paint sealer once you’ve taped all areas needed. This way the paint won’t bleed under the tape and spread (as you’ll notice in some example pics below – step 9).
8. I used white primer paint first, then a plum purple I wanted see at the end of the project. Remember to check your garage/house for any leftover paint before purchasing new paint. It will save you a good bit of money.
9. Peel the tape off before the paint completely drys. And notice what happens if you don’t do the clear sealer before painting – pic on right.
10. Now it’s time for another layer – an extremely lite green color (closer to the pear color I like). Yes I sprayed over my hard work, and a little around the craftsmanship in the middle. This makes for a great layered effect later on – you’ll see.
11. I spray painted the hanging rod white first and then the lite pear green color. I sprayed it the same color as the main piece. I wanted it to blend in.
12. Using a foam brush and a darker pear green color, I painted particular areas that helps my piece stand out.
13. I carefully taped off lined areas and painted. First the clear sealer, then white primer, and last but not least the gorgeous plum purple color again. Once again I used a sponge brush.
14. It’s time to sand! Have fun with it. It doesn’t have to be perfect. As you can see, there is a great layering effect with the paint colors coming through – even got a little wood showing 🙂
15. I made sure to seal my paint work with a spray on sealer. This includes the rod.
16. While the sealer dried, I painted some shower curtain hooks plum purple to match the tea cup rack piece. I found these particular hooks at target. I love that they are flowers.
17. My loving husband helped screw in the rod as well as measure out and put in place the hanging wire.
18. Once it was completed, I quickly hung it and began hanging my collection of tea cups.
Thanks for reading! I look forward to hearing how you re-purposed a broken piece and gave it new life.
Katie
Peach Pear Plum Cafe 