Lane Hope Chest

Happy February everyone.  Hope you're all staying warm.  We have been in the deep freeze with record breaking temps & snowfall most of the winter so far.  I have never been more ready for Spring to arrive.

I have had this project on the back burner for several months now.  It's a Vintage Lane Cedar Hope Chest.  It was in pretty good shape, just needed a good cleaning.  Here's the before picture:

It had so much potential with the padded top & the trimmed out detail on the front.  

I painted the body Black, distressed it & gave it a clear wax.

My mind was racing just thinking about what I was going to put on the front.  I wanted to try my hand at decoupage.  I am the first to admit, I'm decoupage challenged.  It is not an easy medium for me.  I never seem to be able to get all the ripples out no matter what I do & this drives me crazy!!! 

I had a paper I was dying to try & this piece was perfect to experiment on.  This is the paper:

It's the Document gift wrapping paper from Ballard Designs.  They discount it after the Holidays so it was super affordable.  I just love the look.  I decided to cut the letters apart for a more filled in look, then I overlapped & decoupaged them onto the front of the chest.

I upholstered the top with a Cream colored Matlasse fabric.  It looks like a plush quilt, love it!

Here is a close up of the front.  So loving this paper.  My decoupage didn't come out to bad.  I'll keep practicing until I'm happy with it though.

Available at V Trading in Grand Blanc, MI

I love this transformation.  I can see this at the foot of some one's bed.  I have big plans for the rest of this paper, I have almost three full rolls left.  That paper is too cool to wrap presents with.  What would you do with this paper?

Thanks so much for stopping by.  Don't forget to check us out on our Facebook, see what we are doing in between posts.  Stay warm & pray for Spring!  Dee

Tables, Tables, Tables...

Where did the week go, let alone the Summer?

I have been painting like a fiend this week to make room for another custom piece I have coming in the next few days.

We were able to complete four tables, not bad for a five day week.  Once again I do not have before pictures of most of this work, I promise to slow down & do better on this.  I just get so excited to get started.  Here is the first table:

Available at Sassy Fabrics in Grand Blanc,  MI

My husband picked this coffee table up at a yard sale while he was working in Kentucky about a month ago.  It sat in our garage waiting for inspiration most of the Summer.  Finally he decided to paint it himself.  The body is painted black & the top is painted Pure white.  He has been talking about this "Subway" art style for at least 6 months, now was his opportunity to try it.  We found these basic card stock paper stencils at our local hardware store & they worked perfectly.  Then we added the Fleur de lis on both sides in Paris Grey. 

Here's a better picture of the top.

This would be perfect for the college apartment, don't you think?

The next set of end tables were in rough shape when I got them.  They had been left out in the rain & the tops had completely bowed & popped off the bases.  Luckily I had a couple of old table leafs that were the perfect width for replacements, so with the help of a friend, we cut one in half & screwed them on.

I painted them Graphite & once again used my favorite stencil on the tops, sides & drawer fronts. These pictures just don't do them justice.

Loving this stencil...

I sold these to a friend before the wax was even dry.  Love it when that happens :)

The last table I actually have the before picture.

Okay, I had already started sanding this piece but I did remember to take the picture before I painted it.

I'm using a new chalk paint called "La Ferme Millesime" or "The Vintage Farmhouse".  It's made in Texas & goes on like butter.  I love it so much that now I am a retailer for this chalk paint.

Here it is in my booth.  I love that they are packaged in the mason jars.  It really lets you see what the color looks like.

Back to the table,  I chose the color "Carriage House"

Available at Sassy Fabrics in Grand Blanc, MI

Then I put a Medallion stencil on the top in Pure White.

Just dresses it up.

So Shabbilicious .......  

So that is the tale of the Tables.  I will be sharing a tall tale about a unique table I found on the side of the road very soon.

Here's a peek :) Stay tuned, this one will knock your socks off..

 Check us out on Facebook to see what we've been up to. 

  Thanks for stopping by,  Dee

French Laundry Ironing Board

About a year ago I seen one of the coolest up cycled wooden Ironing boards & since then I have wanted to paint one.  I found one last week from a fellow vendor that was perfect.  You can see my inspiration here.

I sanded it all smooth & painted it black.  Now it was ready for graphics.

 I had my eye on a sweet french script stencil & this was the perfect project to try it out on.

I found this stencil from a shop on Etsy called "Wall Masque Stencil Co."  I love it's versatility.

I had a vision for the look I was going for.  There was an application I used to do when I did faux finishing called "Shadow Stripe".  It was a shiny stripe next to a flat/matte stripe. This was the look I wanted, but with words. So I used a gloss black for the stenciled words over the flat black paint.

How cool is that!!?

Now I'm not done yet.  I wanted to add white graphics over this.  I created it on my computer & transferred it on with my overhead projector.

I  had intended to paint the words in solid, but after outlining the letters, I liked the way it looked.  Unfortunately I lost a lot of the contrast of the background when I applied the wax.  You can still faintly see it when the light hits it just right. 

It was really hard to get a good picture in this bright light.

I still love how it turned out. These old ironing boards are so much fun to paint.  There are so many new ways to use them nowadays. Pinterest has a ton of ideas.  I would use it for a sofa table or it's perfect for entertaining.  Couldn't you just see it in someone's vintage style laundry room or sewing room?

I'll keep working on this technique.  I've already got a few ideas rolling around in my head.  I just need to get my hands on another Ironing board.

Thanks for stopping by!  Be sure to check out our Facebook. Take time to enjoy your summer,  Dee

Custom Black & White

I've been a busy bee this past couple of weeks with some Custom work.  Of course I did not get any before pictures, I was just so excited to get started.  You all know how that is, right!?

So this post will be short & sweet, but full of pictures.

My client wanted everything black & white.

I painted another clock face on this cute little Octagon table.

There are two stools so I put No. 1 & No. 2 on them.

A group of pedestals.....

I love how the chalk boards came out.

And the "Creme De la Creme" a beautiful Gate leg table.

This client was awesome, she let me do whatever I wanted, it just had to be black & white.  Custom work always makes me a little nervous.  I was relieved when I saw her reaction after seeing the first few pieces.  She was so happy with all of it.  She has a few more pieces waiting in the wings for me.  

Hope you all have a great week.  Don't forget to check out my Facebook!  Thanks for stopping by,  Dee.

Vintage Windows

Don't you just love Vintage Windows? I think I may have another obsession. They are just so fun to work with, there are so many possibilities.

In my last post I shared a peek at some old windows that I would be working on next.

We were able to finish up two of the three this week & I couldn't wait to share them with all of you.

The first one we painted Blue, "Sea Reflections" by Benjamin Moore...

And the Second one we painted it a green called "Tree Frog" by Clark & Kensington, but I wanted it more pastel so I added some white.

I love the vintage graphics from Karen at The Graphics Fairy & that is where I found this graphic. It's actually two different graphics that I put together.

You can read about how I transfer & paint on the graphics here. 

This is the same blue color I used here.

And this is the table I used this green color on. You can really see the frosted paint I sprayed on the glass to protect the graphic in this picture.

These windows are pretty good size, the blue one is 25" square & the green one is about 3" bigger.

Both available at Sassy Fabrics in Grand Blanc, MI.

So which color do you like best? I still have the larger two paned window to do, we have painted it Primer Red.  Any suggestions?

Follow us on Facebook to see what we are working on. Thanks for stopping by & have a great weekend!

UPDATE:

Here is the third window!

I used two different graphics again on this window, the banner is from an Etsy store called Graphique. The dress form is from Free Vintage Digital Stamps. Do you like the Primer Red?

Another Clock Face Table

Happy Valentines Day to all you good people!  I hope you had a lovely day shared with your loved ones, I know I did.

A couple of weeks ago I picked up the most perfectly round coffee table. It was just what I was looking for to paint yet another clock faced table. If you follow me you already know this is my obsession.  I think it's actually bordering on a mental condition.  Every few months I just have to paint a clock face on something. I know, weird right?  On the positive side,  so far every item I've painted a clock face on has sold.

This was my inspiration:

It's the Heloise Wall Clock from Ballard Designs.  I love the colors & the style of the numbers. I normally do roman numerals, but I liked the big fat numbers on this clock. Here is the before picture of the table:

So perfect for this project! I sanded the whole thing really well as the top is Formica. After giving it a good cleaning, I gave it two coats of Paris Grey on the bottom & Old White on the top. After that was good & dry, I did a Duck Egg Blue wash over the Paris Grey.  I just finished another piece using this same application, you can read about it here.

Now I have a blank canvas.

I created the images on my computer in Publisher. I changed the letters & numbers to my own liking. Then I laid them all out & spaced them accordingly. To transfer the images I just turned the image over & scribbled with a pencil on the backside, then turned it over right side up & traced over the image.  Then I painted it in with a paint pen.

Here it is all painted in, sanded, distressed & waxed.

A close up of the cool details.

Available at Sassy Fabrics in Grand Blanc, MI

 

I added a nice little stencil to the outside edge.

Love these legs with the little black metal tips......

My version of Ballard's Heloise wall clock. 

What is so fun about painting clock faces (for me anyway)is you can add any detail you choose. These letters & numbers have significant meaning to me. There are so many things you can do when painting a clock face. You can do just the 12, 3, 6 & 9, or you could give it a really different background. You could even create a work of art with the clock face floating on a smaller scale off to the side. The possibilities are endless. 

Well, I hope I have inspired you to try painting a clock face on your next project.  If you have an epic fail, you can just paint over it. It's just paint after all.  Leave me a comment, I love to hear from you.  
Thank you for stopping by & have a great weekend! Dee