My new favorite color

I’m really drawn to galvanized metal items and soft grey colors these days.  I especially LOVE the contrast of mixing them in with shabby chic white decor.  I’ll be bringing LOTS of items in this color to the upcoming Rebel Junk Vintage Market on February 2&3.

In addition to the ‘real thing’ (all of those items are already packed away for the show) I’ll have lots of faux painted items, like the ones shown above.

 I’ve also got some distressed turquoise metal items, shown above.  For some reason, I decided to buy some dark turquoise spray paint a while back; and I painted these items with it.  Did not like it once they were painted though, so they have just sat in storage.  Got them out and was going to sand them to prep them for repainting, but decided that I actually LIKED the distressed dark turquoise!

These items and much MORE will be available for purchase at the

Rebel Junk Marketplace

Come visit my booth, and don’t forget to ASK for your 20% discount.  Discount given ONLY to those who have read about the show via my blog and/or Facebook page; and only if you ask.  My booth only.

 

What to do about cigarette burns on old furniture

This tall end table / lamp table with one little drawer was in pretty good condition, except for the badly damaged top.

A couple of VERY deep cigarette burns and several areas where the embossed gold design had worn down completely.  But it was plenty sturdy, had a lower shelf and a drawer (storage is always a big plus!) and it had ‘nice legs’!  I decided to buy it and see what I could to with it.

The CLEANEST vintage drawer innards I have ever seen!  Missing knob is no biggie since I usually change them anyhow.

The cigarette burns were not just ‘singes’ . . .  they were divots, burned clear through that top layer of wood; and just sanding them was not going to do the job.

I filled them with some wood putty, then sanded smooth once the putty was nice and dry.  The gold embossed border which was worn away in some spots was very inconsistent.  At first I thought I could just sand the rest away.  But it was very deeply  embedded in some spots and just barely on the surface of others.  So I just sanded enough to remove the surface sheen and painted as I usually do.

That little drawer was perfect for another one of the aqua ceramic knobs I have.

I went fairly light on the distressing because of the issues with the top.

I was concerned that the variations in the embossing would bother me, but it doesn’t.  And you can still see where the filled cigarette burn divots were . . . .  ‘a good distressing job covers a multitude of flaws’. (You may quote me on that!  hehe)

All in all, I an quite content with how it turned out.

Available for purchase in my booth at Stars for $79.00.

~::~

Oval pedestal table

I showed you this third oval table in the last post about the nesting tables.  Here’s the ‘how I did it’.

I’ve had this old pedestal sitting around for quite some time; pondering what to do with it.

This oval piece of wood was in a batch of stuff that was left behind at Michael’s house when I moved last summer; that I recently picked up.  It was the perfect size to use as a table top for the pedestal.  Since the pedestal was a dark brown, I did a dark brown base coat on the oval.  Two coats of aqua and lots of sanding.  I wanted his one SUPER distressed.

I painted the base aqua and distresses it to bring out all the pretty detail.  Once both were painted, it was time to put the two together.

Fortunately for me this pedestal base already had a cross bar for attaching to a top already in place.  (had it not come with one, it’s pretty easy to make and attach one)  First ‘found center’ on the underside of the table and marked it.  Then I glued the base to the top with e6000; and let that set overnight.  Then two screws on either side of the cross bar to.  Most people will JUST use screws.  I prefer to ‘glue and screw’.  (and if you’ve ever watched “Holmes Makes it Right”, Mike Holmes is a proponent of ‘glue and screw’!)

And here is the finished table in my booth at Stars.  I especially like that it is MUCH more distressed than the other two.

This is the current front view of my booth; the trio of tables is right behind this stuff.

Outdated / Updated little end table

Poor little outdated and unloved end table!!  I’m not sure exactly WHEN this was ‘in style’, but I actually LIKE this style; with the drawer and open area.

It was pretty banged up, but I’d need to sand it to prep it for painting anyhow.  What’s a few more minutes of sanding to remove the scratches.

Sorry about all the shadows in the photos!  We’ve had some crazy sunny spring weather.  (Our spring weather typically consists of April showers with lead to May showers which lead to June showers.)   A couple of pretty deep gouges on the side there that required a bit of wood filler to repair.  Nice clean drawer innards.  Since I had to remove the drawer pulls to sand and repaint; I decided to fill the holes and add a single knob.  It just looks strange to me for the single drawer to have two knobs.  (Does that bug you too?!?)

I only had ONE of these fabulous cast iron lion’s head drawer pulls; so I’ve been saving it for the ‘perfect project’.  THIS seemed like the perfect piece to use it on.

With the lion’s head drawer pull creating a bit of a ‘Gothic theme’ to this make-over; I decided to add to enhance that theme with a cast iron sconce added to the top, at the back.

I resisted the urge to add and stenciled designs.

I kind of wish the sconce was longer and reached the sides, but it will look better once there is ‘stuff’ sitting on the top.

I’m really liking how this one turned out.

It’s at the bottom of a stack of three furniture pieces in my booth at Stars, so you can’t see the sconce in the pictures.

Visit my Stars web page to get a 50%0ff coupon valid on EVERYTHING in my booth through 5-31-2016.

Prettied up trinket boxes

Cute little trinket box with magnetic closure makes for a quick and easy make-over.  (found the box at dollar store!)

I cut a piece of paper big enough to cover the existing image; but left the pretty border still visible.

Then I glued a stamped piece of muslin on top of that; just a little off-center.

I added a little scrap of matching paper to the underside of the lid.

The sticky label on the bottom of this one just so happened to peel off perfectly; which is NOT usually the case.  IF it had not come off without damaging the bottom of the box, I would have glued another piece of paper to the bottom as well.

Just so happened to find another box at a different store, with the exact same design.  Went with a simpler design on this one.  Covered the whole top and front with vintage dictionary page; added a vintage post card image and a ‘paper’ key.

This one is a soap box that I saved.

This one had a very pretty design on the existing paper, so I just needed to partly cover it.  A piece of paper and a crown stamped on muslin, off-center.

A little piece of matching paper to cover the ‘non-removable’ label on the bottom of the box.

And a little piece on the underside of the lid ‘just for fun’ (this piece wasn’t really ‘necessary’ because it’s not covering anything  . . . I just thought it added a little interest!)

MORE banners

So, while I had all my banner making supplies spread out all over the living room; I found some MORE supplies to use up.

These bigger, glitter-edged letters are pretty ‘fancy’ as is, so I opted for a simple vintage sheet music backing.  (after trying out a LOT of other design options!)  These cut-out  paper the letters are made from paper that looks like faded book pages.

For these, and whenEVER possible, I do ‘hole punches’ for adding the hanging string to the banner.  MUCH less time-consuming than gluing string or ribbon to the back.

I had three full sets of this particular lettering; with 2-3 of each letter; so after I used up all the D’s and M’s I had on these dream banners, I still had a LOT of letters left.  But not a lot of options for  words to spell, with some letters having been used up.  So I laid out all that I have left to see what other words I could spell.

 I had used up all the sheet music backings that I had pre-made, also; so I went with dictionary pages for the Paris banners.  (* I make the banner backings ahead of time and always have a stash of them on hand.  That way, when I’m in a creating mood I can get right to it; without as much ‘prep work’ before hand.  Plus I like to have ‘busy work’ to do while I am watching TV, and this kind of thing is perfect for that!)

~::~

On this one, that I already took to Stars; I used tea stained sheet music for the backing.  (but I only had enough of the tea stained pages to do one banner)

I sure hope ‘DREAM’ banners are popular because I now have a LOT of them.  NOW I just need to figure out what to do with all the left-over ‘odd’ letters . . . . Q – X – V = Z – J   . . . . .   Maybe for some altered art projects??

‘Fancified’ wood shelf

Recently had Michael build a few wood shelves for me.

I decided I wanted to do ‘something more’ than just paint them this time.

But of course I still had to paint it first!  This is a low and deep shelf, so I decided to ‘raise it up’ a bit.

I grabbed some boards from my sign board stash and constructed and painted this base.  Then glued and nailed the two together.

Decided it still needed a tad more ‘oomph’ so I added this braided trim.  (I have a stash of trims; purchased at craft store.)

Ta~Da!

It has gone to my booth at Stars.

And the BEST part is that it was the prefect size to top with this metal shelf; which made the perfect display for my crowns!

Sometimes, your answer LITERALLY falls from the sky!

Remember my ‘Yard Debris Wreaths’ from a while back?

I had added the nests and birds ‘as a finishing touch’, but they STILL didn’t feel done.  But I had NO idea what else to do!!  Some of you suggested adding a tag; which I tried – and nixed.  They are so ‘organic’ that the tags looked out-of-place.

The one with the nest AND bird is hanging on my front door, and the one above on the shutter door to a cabinet in my living room.

EVERY time I looked at them, I think: “They STILL need something!”  But I don’t know WHAT!!  sigh.

Then, while I was out working in my yard last week, picking up pine cones from the grass, I came across ONE of the wispy tree twigs that I had used to make the twiggy wreaths a while back.  It was just ONE little branch, and I still have a whole basketful of them leftover in my garage, AND about 15 wreaths already made; so I was just going to toss it into my yard debris bin along withe the pine cones.

Then BAM!!! Major BRAINSTORM!! 

THIS (this little twig that I had in my hand) is exactly what the moss and bark wreaths need!!!!

It’s a very subtle added touch, but just that little ‘something more’ that they needed to feel ‘finished’.

The twigs show up much better in person.  So after I did the one on my front door with the branch I had just picked up in my yard; I went to my stash in the garage to find some to add to the other wreath.

I seriously LOVE these wreaths now!

And I kinda think I like the asymmetry of the second one MORE.

This is what I used to attach the twigs.  First I found the ‘spot’ that I wanted it to originate from and ‘punched a hole’ into the wreath with the point of my scissors.  I squeezed a fair amount of tacky glue into the hole and inserted the thick end of my branch.

Then I ‘played around’ a bit with positioning the wispy branch ends.  When I found the spot I wanted them to stay in, I used the floral pins (shown above) pushed in to hold them down.  It was a little tricky to find a spot that the pins would GO through, between the pieces of bark.  Then I just glued another little piece of moss on top of the pin to disguise it!

Do you agree with me that this was the perfect finishing touch for these wreaths?

Sometimes, your answer LITERALLY does, fall from the sky!

Trying my hand at some mixed media art

Mixed Media Angel Plaque

Still ‘sorting and purging’ the craft supplies that I didn’t get rid of before I moved.

Came across this ‘thrifted’ plaque (which originally had a simple abstract design) in a box of frames,  It was either ‘USE it or donate it’ time . . . . I decided to use it.

I had NO IDEA what I was going to make of it when I first started.  I applied a page of sheet music; then layers of old clothing patterns, extending over the edges.

I ‘tested’ some assorted papers and thought about making it a ‘vintage key collage’; but I’ve dome LOTS of those.  Forcing myself to do NEW things right now . . .  and I settled upon painting an angel.

It took two coats of acrylic craft paint to cover the paper.  It’s been a while since I’ve painted eyes . . .and does it ever show!  sigh.  Then I outlined everything with a black Sharpie.

I glued a piece of gold pipe cleaner for her halo; and some little gold metallic stars on her wings.  I thought about giving her a tiny ‘key charm’ necklace, but the chain didn’t look quite right; so I settled for painting a heart on her chest.

Painting OVER the edges was new to me, so I only attempted it with the wings.

Here you can better tell the size, fairly smallish at just 8″ x 8″; even though it’s not a very good ‘photo’.  The flash made a lot of glare and the lamp is reflecting in the glass in the lantern on the right, completely obstructing the ceramic bust.

SO, that was my new adventure for now.  I’m TYING to ‘ease my way’ into less ‘physical labor intensive’ projects.  I’m not getting in younger, after all!

Super simple soap box upcycle

Remember this GIANT jar of soaps in my bathroom?

See that extra big square bar, behind the oval bar sitting in front of the jar?

That extra big bar of soap came in a really nice box.

TOO nice of a box to just throw away.

Long sides on the lid so it closes securely.  Would have been a nice box just for storing small craft supplies in . . . . but you KNOW I can never leave well enough alone!

Since this box was ‘mostly plain’, it was a super simple make-over.  First I added a piece of paper over the writing on the underside of the lid.  (I got this cool wrapping paper with the writing on it from Ballard Designs.  It was NOT cheap, but it’s SO pretty!  And I’ll get a lot of mileage out of it using it for craft projects.)  ANY kind of paper could be used for something like this: old book pages, vintage sheet music, wrapping paper, tissue paper . . . .

For covering the outside, I measured from the front, across the top, down the back, and around to the bottom; so I had one long piece to cover the whole area.

HELPFUL HINT:

For applying paper to things like this, I’ve found it MUCH easier to put the glue on the ITEM (as opposed to the paper).  Tacky glue is my glue of choice.  I covered the front part with glue and pressed on the paper; then applied glue to the top and smoothed the paper over it . . .and continuing all the way around to the bottom.  By just doing a small section at a time, it’s easier to smooth out any air bubbles.

Since the sides were plain, I didn’t need to cover them; but if they had needed covering, I’d cover the sides FIRST, letting that piece overlap a little on the front and top.  Those little overlapped pieces will be covered when apply the rest of the paper.

Easy peasey!!!  As an afterthought I decided it needed something on the front.  I just ran a little piece of a twig across my belt sander to give it a flat side and glued it on as a handle.

These make great little gift boxes or storage boxes.