Average But Inspired

Inspiring creativity at home with crafts, DIY, and home decor projects.

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Plumbing Pieces Kitchen Art – Monthly DIY Challenge

Whew! It’s time for another Monthly DIY Challenge! Can you believe it? I sure can’t! (In case you’re new here, some blogger friends and I team up to share projects with a common theme on the second Wednesday of each month. You can check out all of the projects, which are linked at the bottom of this post!)

This month we had to use plumbing pieces.  [Insert LOUD, annoying, negative buzzer sound here.]  plumbing_graphic

I am NOT a fan of plumbing pieces. They scare me. They took me outside of my comfort zone (aka any aisle in Michaels). I was a TOTAL fish out of water** on this one, folks. Literally, I was wandering the aisles of the home improvement store looking at all of this plumbing stuff, just praying that NOBODY would ask me if I needed help. I didn’t want to be like “Oh yeah, I’m just browsing.” ‘Cause who browses for plumbing pieces?! Awkward.

Luckily there were no helpful sales associates at the store that day, so I sucked it up and did the best I could on my own.  I found some cool looking copper pipe straps and used them in a piece of DIY art for my kitchen.

Average But Inspired shows you how to make unique art for your kitchen using copper pipe straps, wooden utensils and some paint!

SUPPLIES

To make this, I used the following supplies:

  • Copper pipe straps
  • Optional: White vinegar & table salt (if you want to gently age the copper pipe straps)
  • 12″ x 12″ piece of plywood
  • Wood stain
  • Americana Decor Chalky Finish paint in white
  • Americana Multi-Surface paint in Blue Bird, Apple Green, and Vanilla Shake (mixed together)
  • Americana Decor Creme Wax in Brown
  • Wooden kitchen utensils
  • Upholstery tacks

DIRECTIONS

First I placed my copper pipe straps into a bowl of salt and vinegar in an effort to artificially age them a bit.  I let them sit there for about six hours.  There are many methods of aging copper if you do a Google search, but this used ingredients I had on hand so I went with it.  It didn’t age them a lot, but that was OK for this project.  Plumbing Pieces - Aging Pipe StrapsPlumbing Pieces - Aged Hardware

While my pipe straps were soaking, I stained my 12″ x 12″ piece of plywood.  Plumbing Pieces - stain board
And after the stain dried, I dry brushed the entire board with a coat of white Americana Decor Chalky Finish paint.  Plumbing Pieces - Whitewash Board
I then painted plain bamboo kitchen utensils with a mix of Americana Multi-Surface paint. Once they dried, I lightly applied a layer of Americana Decor Creme Wax in deep brown to give the utensils an aged look.   Plumbing Pieces - Paint Spoons Plumbing Pieces - Age the Spoons
Next up, I freehand painted the word “Eat” on the plywood. I used the white Americana Decor Chalky Finish paint again for a tone-on-tone look. Plumbing Pieces - EAT
Once that dried, I marked where I wanted my pipe straps to be and got to work hammering them into place. This was the most difficult part of the whole process because I am totally incapable of hammering a nail in straight. So nothing really lines up despite my best efforts, but oh well. Let’s pretend that’s part of the charm of the piece, shall we?Average But Inspired shows you how to make unique art for your kitchen using copper pipe straps, wooden utensils and some paint!

Well now that you’ve seen what I created using plumbing pieces, make sure to check out what my very talented friends created as well!  You can click on the pictures below to be taken to each project.

– Bre

To see where I’m sharing this post, please click here.

**My husband will tell you that this is surprising. He contends that I must be an expert plumber because I regularly suffer from the age-old problem that accompanies low-rise jeans – – – plumbers’ crack.

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Comments

    • Bre says

      Hi, Seana! Thank you!! The ladies in this group really pulled through with some great stuff! I appreciate your nice note because this project is far from my favorite! 🙂

  5. Kendra @ www.joyinourhome.com says

    Love it Bre! What a neat idea! Plumbing pieces was totally out of my comfort zone too! But it was fun 🙂

    Reply

    • Bre says

      Thanks, Kendra! I feel like I took the easy way out, but oh well! I am excited to check everyone’s projects out. I am a little behind on that!! Hope you’re having a great day!

    • Bre says

      Hi, Kelly. THANK YOU! 🙂 I appreciate your sweet note and that you pinned it. Have a great day! 🙂

  13. Brittany says

    What a creative idea! I love the look of copper. You would have never known you were “out of your comfort zone”! I think I need to make one for my kitchen! Love love love this idea! Pinned!

    Reply

    • Bre says

      Hi, Brittany – thank you so much!!! You are too kind. I appreciate your note and that you stopped by. Thanks again and have a great day!

    • Bre says

      Hi, Angela – thank you! Thanks for the invitation as well! I think I’m probably too late to link up now, but I will try to remember to join you this week! Thanks again!

  18. Erica says

    This is super creative! I love the idea of using actual kitchen utensils in the art. And I have to say, I think copper + aqua might just be one of my new favorite combos! I had no idea they worked so well together 🙂

    Reply

    • Bre says

      Hi, friend! Thank you! Yay for copper and aqua! It’s a fun springy combo, which is just what I need right now with this arctic weather! 🙂 xo

  19. Erin says

    Okay – so this is as cute as can be! I seriously might borrow this idea for a little wall in our kitchen!
    I love the colours you chose too!

    Reply

  21. Samantha says

    Oh my word, I love this! You nailed it! Makes me want to wander down the plumbing aisle…definitely not something I ever thought I’d say! And, you cracked me up with your low rise jeans comment! Haha!

    Reply

    • Bre says

      Hahaha, thanks, Samantha! The low rise jeans are such a problem, but I can’t give in to mom jeans just yet! 🙂

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