Faux Copper Lamp

I seem to have a thing for lamps lately.  If you read my blog then you may remember the floor lamp I did recently, you can see it here.  I see some very cool lamps at the thrift shops all the time. I like the older lamps that have the nice lampshades with an actual frame you can work with.

Last weekend I went shopping at Collettes Vintage flea market & found the perfect style lamp.  I loved the shape of both the lamp & the shade. Plus the shade had the good frame.  The old cord was very worn so I asked my hubby to replace it.  It's inexpensive & very easy to do.  Better to be safe then sorry.

I had a paint technique I wanted to try. It's called "Copper Verdigris".  Here is a picture of the lamp before, well kind of before. I was so excited to get started that I didn't remember to take the dang picture until I had already started painting.

This is a glazed ceramic lamp & yes I am painting it.  Will it rub off once it's dry?   Hope not, guess I'll find out.  I gave it a quick sanding for good measure.   I'm using a paint I used back in my Faux Finish days.  It's called Modern Masters.  It's a fabulous paint, their metallics are exceptional.  

It's used on the castle roofs at Disney.

So this is the color I went with,  it has a nice dark copper look to it.  It's pretty opaque so it only took one coat.

Once that was good & dry I gave it a quick coat of The Vintage Farmhouse distressing paint in "Milk Pail", my favorite color.

Looks kind of scary at this point.  Now for the fun part,  I let this dry then I did another coat of the same color but I used a sea sponge.  I wanted to give it some depth.

You want some of that copper to show thru in some places.  After that dried, I took alittle bit of a lighter blue called "Mason Jar" & sponged it on lightly.  I wanted the shape to pop so I highlighted the raised detail of the lamp.  I'm really liking it at this point, but I think it needs a little bling.  

So I added another metallic paint called "Warm Silver". Once again I applied it with the sea sponge very, very sparingly.  You just want it here & there.

Now I'm loving this!  I let the whole thing dry over night.  I was a bit nervous weather the paint was going to rub off but so far so good.  I did do a coat of spray poly first, then I did a coat of wax.  Not a speck of paint rubbed off when I buffed out the wax.  Woo Hoo!!

Now for the lamp shade.  It needed some help, the poor thing was so stained.  Do you remember the French paper I used on my last project, here?  I wanted to try this paper on a lamp shade.  I stripped off the silk fabric,

This is what the bones of the good old lampshades look like.  So many possibilities....

I used Modge Podge to glue the paper to the frame of the shade one panel at a time.  You have to be very patient with this.  I did every other panel first then went back & finished the opposite panels.

Here is the lamp all done...

I am really in Love with this now....

Notice the subtle sparkle that last metallic layer added?

Such a pretty lamp....

I hope this inspires you to try this fun paint technique.  It's easy to do & looks amazing when your all done.  I may have to try this on a larger piece sometime.   

Thanks so much for stopping by, please check us out on Facebook.  Have a great day,   Dee

The Cream of the Crop 2013

Happy New Year!  I hope your Holidays were everything you hoped for.  Mine were perfectly enjoyable.  Now that we have them behind us it is that time of year again, time to look back.

Drum roll please......

Top three most viewed:

First:  The Charak Table was the most viewed & the most comments.  Oddly enough, we chose not to paint it.

Second most viewed:  Vintage Windows.  This is also one of my personal favorites.

Third most viewed: My Wedding Chairs. This also had the most features.

MY PERSONAL FAVS!

1.

This antique phone table was so fun to do.  I love the color & the graphic was just perfect.  

2.

My French Laundry vintage ironing board.  I had a new stencil to play with & used a technique I learned years ago when I did Faux Finishing.

3.

This Sweet Waterfall Vanity turned out beautiful.  The vanity & the mirror were both roadside treasures, but what was so surprising was that I found them separately but in the same week. They went together perfectly. Love it when that happens.

4.

The Cornbread Yellow Cabinet was a team effort.  Loved the Chickadees.

5.

This Shabby Lamp Makeover was a challenge but so worth it.

6.

Chippy Blue Dresser was another project we chose not to paint. We loved the color so we just waxed it.

7.

The Medallion coffee table.  I used one of my all time favorite stencils on this.
8.

Gate leg table.  This turned out amazing! It belongs to my vendor sister, Lena.  It's for sale in her booth now, if your interested.

9.

The Serpentine Dresser.  I just realized I have not posted about this beauty.  I will have to do that in the near future because it's worth talking about. 

10.

My Shabby Fireplace is a keeper.  Another roadside treasure!  I plan on holding on to this one a little longer. It looks so nice in my booth as a prop.

It's been an exciting year.  We started teaching paint classes & brought a chalk paint line into our booth at Collette's Vintage & Antique Mall.

This is an amazing paint & very user friendly, it's called The Vintage Farmhouse Distressing Paint.
We also started a Facebook page so you can see what we're up to between posts.  For my birthday my Mom gave me a new camera, so my New Year's resolution is to make the time to take better pictures. 

Well, I hope you've enjoyed this stroll thru my year. I want to thank you all for your kind words, inspiration & encouragement.  
Thanks for visiting me.  I hope you all have a happy, healthy & prosperous year ahead.  Dee

Sweet Waterfall Vanity

This has been my month for the Roadside Treasure scores.  It seems like I have found something cool every week for about a month now.  Seriously, I'm just counting in my head & I'm at at least 9 items. My best score was the Charak table, you can read about it here.  I found this sweet little Waterfall Vanity the very next week:

It was missing the mirror, but was in great shape!

I added a little trim here & there, cleaned it up & painted it with my new Vintage Farmhouse Paint in a color called "Milk Pail".

I wanted to use a fun color on this piece & this was perfect.  The same week I found the vanity I also found the perfect mirror to go with it & yes! it was also a Roadside Treasure.  I swear!!!

You can see the silver is very worn & perfectly chippy.  It was just meant to go with this vanity.

Here they are together in my Booth.  LOVE IT!!

I had a bench we picked up a few months ago just waiting for a vanity. We painted it "Mason Jar" in the Vintage Farmhouse chalk paint & put some funky fabric on the seat cushion.

How cute is that!?  Some teenage girl is going to so want that.  

What do you think? Is it to over the top?  I like it!

Have you painted anything fun lately?

Thanks for stopping by, check us out on Facebook to see what we're up to. Have a great week,  Dee

Le Petite Numbered Dresser

I can't believe fall is upon us already.  It's my favorite season but it sure got here in a hurry. I have been in a race against the weather.  My days of painting in my garage are numbered.

A couple of weeks ago I found a cute petite dresser in the flea market at Collette's Antique Mall where I have my booth.

I spotted this little beauty as soon as I pulled into the parking lot.

It's made of pine & had a heavy shellac on it.  

Do you ever see a piece of furniture & immediately your brain starts picturing exactly how you want to paint it?  That's what happened with this dresser. 

I needed a small piece to try out my new paint on.  I am now a retailer for "The Vintage Farmhouse" chalk paint.  Have you ever heard of it?  It's made in Texas & comes in 17 beautiful colors.  You can check out their Facebook page here.  Tell Tresa "Dee from My Painted Stuff sent you."

I chose a color called "Old Scale". It's a true black, not a grey black like most chalk paint blacks.

How cute is that?!

The stripe is in a color called "Dairy Cream" & the Fleur Di Lis is in "Milk Pail".  I envisioned numbers on the drawer fronts the minute I seen this piece.

It needed a little pop of color, so I added the Fleur dis Lis at the last minute.  

Super cute in a bathroom or a child's room.

Here it is in my booth.

It compliments the vanity on the left, it's painted that "Milk Pail" color I mentioned earlier.  I'll be writing a post on that next time.

Now I need to get busy & finish up all the projects in my garage so I can park in there before the snow flies.  Check us out on Facebook to see what we are up to.  Thanks for stopping by. Have a great day,  Dee.