I made this wall art from repurposed cabinet doors. It’s perfect for Christmas, and easy to change out so you can use it year round. Make this easy cabinet door art from upcycled cabinet doors, paint, an embroidery ring and fabric, and some greenery!
A Long History with Cabinet Door Crafts
I went through a stage a few years ago, where I seemed to collect old cabinet doors.
I’d have friends bring them over.
My husband would find them at job sites.
I even had a neighbor come up to me one day and say, “I thought of you earlier today because I saw a pile of free junk in front of someone’s house!”
Not exactly what I hoped would trigger people to think of me, but apparently I didn’t mind too much. Sure enough, I hopped in my car and went to get me some more cabinet doors.
Repurpose Old Cabinet Doors with This Cabinet Door Art
Turns out, I find it pretty easy to find uses for old cabinet doors.
I’ve used up most of my stash over the years making art display boards, breakfast in bed trays, teacher gifts and more.
But I still have a few stragglers, including this old cabinet door I found recently in my office. It was begging to be transformed with creativity and I knew a upcycle cabinet doors craft was in store for me!
Having recently seen some embroidery hoop “wreaths” at a craft fair, I wanted to try my hand at making one.
This straggler was the perfect size to be a backdrop for my wreath! And I think it’s a really fun way to repurpose kitchen cabinet doors.
HOW TO MAKE EMBROIDERY HOOP WREATH ON A REPURPOSED CABINET DOOR
At the end of this post, you’ll find a printable instruction card on how to make this project. However, I wanted to go into a bit more detail and offer photos of my process, as well.
Wreath + Cabinet Door Art Supplies
- Old Cabinet Door to Repurpose
- Pain Sprayer and Spray Shelter (if spraying indoors)
- Spackle
- White Paint
- Wood Stain
- Embroidery Hoop
- Cricut Explore Air 2 or Maker and Iron On Vinyl
- Faux Greenery or other embellishments, such as Fabric Rosettes
- Hot Glue Gun
- Ribbon
Fill Any Holes on the Cabinet Door
The first step when you want to repurpose cabinet doors is to fill the holes from where the door handle was.
I used spackle to fill them in, and then wet-wiped them clean. For this particular piece of cabinet door art, you don’t need it to be perfect – you just don’t want a gaping hole to show.
Paint the Door
The next step is to paint the cabinet door.
While you could paint it with a brush, you don’t want it to look streaky. I used a paint sprayer and recommend you do the same.
If you’re dealing with freezing cold weather (as I was), you’ll have to do your painting indoors. For this, I recommend a spray tent, which will protect all the stuff outside of the tent that you don’t want to get painted.
(Note: this post was originally written as a sponsored post for HomeRight. I’ve since gone back and updated the post to improve it, but want to be transparent about why you see HomeRight products in the pictures!)
Do you see all that stuff in the back ground? And that I’m painting on carpet??
No worries! Everything stays contained in the spray shelter and I can paint right in my office!
Age and Distress
Once my door was dry, I moved it downstairs where I had better lighting.
The white was nice and streak-free, but a little too bright for me. I wanted more of an aged look for this project.
So I grabbed some wood stain and clean rags and then just smeared a little on. I started in the crevices since that would naturally look darker than the flat parts.
Make sure you have a second, clean rag ready to go that is lightly damp. Once you have the stain on, immediately take the damp rag and gently wipe the stain off. You don’t want this to sit for a bit like you do when you stain wood. Instead, start to remove the stain immediately.
Wipe as much or as little away as you’d like. I wiped most of mine away leaving some in the crevices and edges.
Embroidery Hoop Wreath
Now set your door aside and get started on your embroidery hoop wreath! I promise this is super easy too!
Use an embroidery hoop as your wreath form and find a piece of fabric to fit the center with about a 1.5″ overhang. My embroidery hoop is 15″ but you’ll want to size yours to your specific cabinet door.
I had a piece of canvas dropcloth leftover from another project that I used for my fabric.
You could really use any type of fabric you want, though! Have a piece of fabric cut at the store, use a tablecloth or curtain from the thrift store, buy an inexpensive sheet set.
Whatever gives you the texture and color you want for your backdrop!
Once you have it cut, you need some iron-on words. I used my Cricut to cut my letters out of heat transfer vinyl. If you don’t have a Cricut or Silhouette, you could try to find a pre-made iron-on quote that is ready to go! I’ve seen them at craft stores like Michael’s. I used this pre-made file from Cricut Design Space and then sized it accordingly for my project.
Follow the manufacturer’s directions to iron-on your vinyl quote. Be sure to center it on the fabric the way you want it to look after it is placed in the embroidery hoop!
Center the fabric in your embroidery hoop. At this point, I also placed a piece of ribbon between the two rings of the embroidery hoop for me to hang it from later.
Pull your fabric nice and tight as you tighten the outer hoop so that there are no wrinkles in your fabric. You can see that I placed the outer part of the hoop with the tightening screw down towards the 5 o’clock position. I knew that was where I was going to put my greenery and I wanted it to cover that part of the hoop.
Then flip your hoop over and use a hot glue gun to glue the excess fabric to the back edge of the embroidery hoop.
It should look like this on the back when you’re all finished.
Then glue on your greens and a bow and whatever else you have on-hand to spruce it up a little!
Attach Your Wreath to Your Repurposed Cabinet Door
I attached the ribbon to the back of my cabinet door by using more hot glue. You could also just use a thumbtack. That would let you change the wreath out for different seasons!
I Love My Christmas Cabinet Door Art
Look at that smooth finish on the cabinet door! I love how the paint sprayer gives you such a professional finish in so little time!
Repurposed Cabinet Door Art With Seasonal Wreath
This easy cabinet door art uses upcycled cabinet doors, paint, an embroidery ring, fabric, an iron on decal, and some greenery! It's perfect for Christmas, and easy to change out so you can use it year round.
Materials
- Old Cabinet Door to Repurpose
- Spackle
- White Paint
- Wood Stain
- Embroidery Hoop
- Faux Greenery
- Ribbon
Tools
- Paint Sprayer and Spray Shelter
- Cricut Explore Air 2 or Maker and Iron-on Vinyl (or Storebought Iron-On Vinyl Quote)
- Hot Glue Gun
Instructions
- Remove door handle from the cabinet door and fill holes with spackle. Wipe the area clean with a damp cloth and let the spakle dry.
- Spray the entire cabinet door white using a paint sprayer. If spraying inside, use a spray tend. Leave to dry.
- Use wood stain and rags to distress the door. Starting in the corners and crevices, smear the wood stain onto the door, and then immediately begin to wipe it off using a clean, damp rag. Continue working until you like the look of the finish. Set aside to dry.
- Take your embroidery hoop and fabric, and cut fabric to size so there is a 1.5″ fabric overhang on all sides of the hoop.
- Use a Cricut and iron-on vinyl to create an iron on quote for the fabric. Ensure the quote will fit nicely within the space available in your embroidery hoop. If you don't have a Cricut, buy a premade iron on quote online.
- Iron the quote onto the fabric, so it will be centered once the fabric is in the hoop.
- Center your fabric in your embroidery hoop and place a piece of ribbon at the top of the hoop, between the two rings, before tightening the screws. The ribbon will let you attach the wreath to the cabinet door.
- Pull your fabric tight as you tighten the outer hoop, ensuring there are no wrinkles in your fabric.
- Flip the hoop over and attach the excess fabric to the back of the embroidery hoop using a hot glue gun.
- Using your hot glue gun, glue on extra decorations, such as faux greenery and a bow.
- Hang the wreath on the repurposed cabinet door by running the ribbon up and over to the back of the door where you'll attach (you can use a thumbtack or glue gun).
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