The To-Do list is growing!!

So with the completion of the wing back chair and the side table, I also completed a coffee table finished in a french white, distressed and glazed with a charcoal grey.  It was absolutely beautiful.  Unfortunately, you'll have to take my word for it because I never took pictures of it.  I was so excited to complete it and get it to my local consignment store, Home Again Decor, that when I went there three days later to get some good shots of it set up in the shop, it had already sold!!  WooHoo!!!  but lesson to me.... take MORE pictures from beginning to end... geez lady!!

So anyhooo, I have since been a little crazy with CL shopping and two weekends of Garage Sale Finds!!! My to-do list is growing and my little tiny craft room is bursting at the seems.  I have some items I know what I'm going to do with but I need help with a couple.  I'm hoping you can look at them and give me some ideas... What would you do with these? 

These are two beautiful chest-like end tables.  I just love the rustic wood and the old hardware!  Should I just leave them as is?  Would it be aweful to paint them?  They are raw wood and pretty easy to damage, stain, etc.  So I'd like to finish them some way.

I had been watching this chair on CL for about three weeks.  Originally put on for about $300 and while I knew it was worth it, WAY over my budget (ha... budget...!  I don't have a budget for this stuff but feel guilty paying more than $20 for something..)  The price had been dropped about three times with the final at $200.  I sent the post'er an email saying how beautiful it was and how I had been admiring it.  I explained that I'd love to buy it but could only afford $100.  If they got to a position where they needed to get rid of it and would take $100, call me...  Which she did, about 30 minutes later!!  I picked it up that evening thinking I should have offered her $50!!  darnit!  Anyhow, this is absolutely Gorgeous!!  Much bigger and prettier in person than the pictures.  I want to paint her an antique white, distress her, glaze her and reupholster her.  Thoughts??  I really would like to do it all in an antique white.  Even the upholstery but wondering if you have other thoughts on how this would look better?  The skys the limit with this piece really.  I'm sure it would look good with any type of cloth and paint job...

I also picked up four antique glass door knobs.  MAN, i just swooned when I saw them!  I want to do something beautiful, lovely, and appropriate for these.  Not sure if I want to put them all on one piece or split them up individually.  Of course there's the coat rack option... which is what I first thought of but there are so many crafty people out there who may have better ideas... Do you have any ideas on what I should do with them??

Another CL find was this beautiful mirror! 

Do you have any items you just don't know what to do with??  Share them... who knows if you'll get a great idea!

A friend for the WingBack Chair!

So I'm on this kick to eliminate the wood in my house.  No more orange-ish oak for me!!  I broke the news to my husband that I wanted to paint, distress, and glaze our kitchen cabinets.  He took it better than I thought and had a great recommendation.  He asked that before we take on that huge project, I do some smaller projects to 'master' the process.  GREAT IDEA!  So I started with a side table.  A very pretty little table I picked up off Craigslist.  She was beautiful before. (stupid me didn't take before pics) but she really was flawless.  Very sturdy construction, solid oak.  I know there are Oak people who shriek in horror over the thought of painting such a piece, but I have to say she's a vision.

My previous post was introducing you to my Upholstery Creation... A vision in black and white!!

Well she really needed a friend.  A little side chair to accent her design... her curves...  her style.

Isn't she pretty!  I painted her a winter-white.  A color as close to the color of the cloth used on the chair as I could find.  Then I used the same stencil on the drawer front as on the back of the chair.  She is glazed with a charcoal to give her an antiqued look.  I absolutely love how the glaze shows the grain of the wood on the top.  LOVE LOVE this!  I'm doing my Kitchen Table this exact way but I'm going to distress it.  I wanted to distress this side table but I have to admit I'm a little anxious about distressing things.  I really like the look but am worried I will ruin the piece by over distressing it or make it look cheap.  I'm going to do this on a piece I'm keeping vs selling first.  :-)  My next project to complete the chair/table ensemble is to do a lamp to set on the table!   super fun!!

Revived WingBack Chair!

I wanted to share my first experience in reupholstery! 

She was quite a job but OH so worth it in the end.  I've found my new  obsession!  Reupholstering is now what I want to do.  That and painting old furniture.  I'm so DONE with wood and want to paint everything in my house that is wood now. Starting with my Kitchen Cabinets.  (Insert look of horror on my husbands face!)

Ok, so let's start with the chair.  Found this little treasure at a local thrift shop.  I was drawn to how big she is.  She is extra wide.  I like that.  AND she has beautiful legs.  I LOVE LOVE clawfeet legs.  Her legs were loose and wobbly but my very smart and thrifty hubby fixed that right up!    I've never reupholstered anything beyond an ottoman before, so this was going to be a mystery job. 

I started by removing all of the existing upholstery.  Holy Hannah!  there were a LOT of staples... lot.  Many Blisters and about four hours later and this is what she looked like..

not a pretty sight....

 

She was originally created with foam rubber which had degraded and turned into an aweful ORANGE gritty dust.  Very messy job.  Some of that dust is showing on the white batting.  I left the white on there and covered it with a egg crate foam mattress pad and some more batting to make it nice and full.

I upholstered this with a painters cloth.  I learned about Painters Cloth from Miss Mustard Seed's blog.  (i have a secret crush on this mustard lady... WOW to have that type of talent and creativity!!)  This is a great cost effective way to reupholster furniture if your into white.  I'm going to do this again and try dying the cloth a different color since white really doesn't work in a house with Black Labs (who shed like NOTHING!!)  Preparing the cloth is very important.  It starts out dingy brown/yellow and pretty crispy.  I bleached this cloth lots.  and i mean LOTS.  Two cups bleach in a cold full washing machine and let it sit for several hours. I did this three different wash cycles and then washed it with just detergent and dried on high.  It turned out very soft and a beautiful winter white color.

The first step is removing the existing upholstery as best you can because you use the pieces as a pattern for the new covering.  Remember to mark the pieces so you know their placement on the chair.  I used a Sharpie and just drew all over them explaining how they go.  What's up and down, how it was wrapped around the chair etc.  AND I took lots of pictures I could refer back to to make sure I could see how it was done originally.  

In a job like this your stapler is your friend.  A forgiving fabric that stretches and a stapler make this pretty easy.  It's amazing what you can pull off.  I initially wanted to paint a Damask design on her but had a hard time finding a good template to follow.  The Cricut cartridges we own had this beautiful square design with vines and leaves that turned out beautiful.  I'm kinda a HEART freak so had to incorporate a heart in there too.  It was a spur of the moment decision on what to paint but I am very happy with the end result.  Sometimes you just have to not THINK too much!!  just go with it... right?

  

 I used Acrylic Paints with Textile Medium to make it a permanent fabric paint.  I then started cutting out the pieces and attaching them. 

This is the finished product.  She's just beautiful!  I hate to get rid of her but am sure she will be cherished by her new owner!!

What's to come!

I'll start by saying, WE ARE A VERY CRAFTY FAMILY!  We've sat on the sidelines watching this whole Blog-world saying, "Wow, we could do that".   Our sitting around is ending.  We are going to do this.  We have lots of ideas to share, things to teach people, and items to sell.  We'll be setting up an ETSY.com store in case you see something you just don't want to make yourself.  Our background is diverse.  My mother is a Bob Ross Certified Floral Painting instructor.  She teaches oil and pastel painting.  She paints on EVERY medium, even if it wasn't meant to be painted on.  (dad says he has to keep moving because if he stays still too long, she'll paint him!).  We both teach Stained Glass classes in the Community School programs.  My daughter is a growing scrap-booker and stamp-fanatic.  Ever woman in the family has a talent from painting, drawing, arts and cooking.  We are super excited to grow our friend and follower network.

Lots of more to come in the future!