Easy Embellishments

Try these 12 super-easy ideas to transform everyday gear into fabulous accessories for you and your home.

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Gussy Up a Bucket

Personalize a Message Board

Enhance a Chandelier

Embellish a Chair

Spunk Up Notebooks

Add Detail to a Mirror

Doll Up Plain Boxes

Transform Desk Supplies

Boost Plain Hooks

Renew an Ordinary Umbrella

Spruce Up a Lamp

Make a Chic Jacket

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Gussy Up a Bucket

Accent the special feature of a store-bought vase, such as the leather band on this bucket, with three-dimensional silver dot stickers. Apply the stickers in a pattern that replicates the look of upholstery tacks.

Personalize a Message Board

Make a message board just for you. Glue crystals around the edges of a purchased board and apply rub-on-transfer words across the top. Add memorable magnets by gluing a pretty jewel onto a small mirror and attaching the pretty piece to a magnet.

Enhance a Chandelier

Paint a 1/2-inch band along the top and bottom edges of the shade. Then follow these steps to make the dots:

1. Remove stickers from a sheet of color-coding labels.

2. Adhere the stencil over the shade and paint the circles.

3. Let dry and remove the stencil.

4. To add eyelets to some of the circles, punch through the lampshade using an awl, dip the eyelets in glue that dries clear, and insert the eyelets.

5. For the finishing touches spray-paint the chandelier in a soft silver finish.

Embellish a Chair

Take a chair from bland to bold with easy treatment.

1. Make a black-and-white photocopy of a graphic image to create a pattern.

2. Place adhesive-back paper (we used metallic self-adhesive paper) under the pattern and trace the design, pushing hard enough to "dent" the adhesive-back paper underneath.

3. Cut out the pattern.

4. Slowly remove the backing from the pattern as you apply it to the chair.

5. Smooth out any air bubbles.

Quick Tip: Wipe the surface of the chair with water just before you apply the adhesive-back paper. The paper should "float" on the water and will be easy to move into place.

Spunk Up Notebooks

Give cheap notebooks a designer look with a quick coat of crafts paint. Apply circle stickers randomly and paint over them, covering the entire notebook; let dry. Remove the stickers to reveal circles in the journal's original color. For another look, stick an adhesive-back stencil to the notebook and paint; remove the stencil and let dry. For a little sparkle, glue crystals to the design.

Add Detail to a Mirror

Protect the mirror with painter's tape, sand the frame with steel wool, and spray-paint the frame. Glue wooden balls (ours are 1 1/2 inches in diameter) around the frame, working from the inside out. Spray the completed frame with several coats of paint; allow ample drying time between coats.

Doll Up Plain Boxes

Dress up simple storage boxes with a variety of scrapbook accessories. We used adhesive-back mirrors, metallic squares and flowers, and envelope stickers.

Transform Desk Supplies

Focus on the details in your home office. Personalize a pencil cup by lining the top with peel-and-stick metal squares and add a phrase using a rub-on transfer.

Boost Plain Hooks

Give off-the-rack metal hooks a fresh flower look with inexpensive metal photo corners. Using glue designed for metal to attach the small corners around the hook in a circular pattern.

Renew an Ordinary Umbrella

Gussy up a solid-color umbrella with a permanent metallic-paint marker. Sketch the design using chalk. Use the top of the umbrella as the center of a flower design, drawing simple dashes to create the petals. For an added touch print a fun message, such as "Let it rain."

Spruce Up a Lamp

Add some spunk to a basic lamp with inexpensive scrapbook supplies. Added adhesive-back flowers around the base of this glass lamp, then top it with a shade accented with pretty paper circles.

Make a Chic Jacket

Get fashionable with a custom-designed jacket. Use dressmaker's chalk to outline a simple design on the jacket yoke. Add grommets along the outline, following the manufacturer's instructions.

Easy Embellishments

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