French Stamp End Table

Before:  Nondescript, blah table:

After:  Wow!

I like to paint with Annie Sloan chalk paint (old white).  The Graphics Fairy has fantastic images.  I really like this french stamp image.  It was tiny, but The Graphics Fairy has a tutorials on how to enlarge images and various methods to apply the images.  The stamp printed out on 6 pages (reversed image)!  After cutting it out, I applied Mod Podge on the top of the painted table; carefully placed each piece (face down) on top of the Mod Podged table and smoothed out all the bubbles.  After a night of drying, I used a wet sponge and with  a lot of patience, gently wet/pealed away the paper until I got to the image.  Some of the image pulled away, but I liked the look.  After the image dried again, I applied 2 coats of Mod Podge (drying between coats) to the top of the image.  Then hand sanding.  A dry brush with a bit of Annie Sloan Emperor's Red chalk paint. More sanding.  Finished with Annie Sloan clear wax; dark wax, clear wax. <whew>

Girly Chair

I have the knack of finding really ugly chairs...it's a gift.

 

 

With paint, left quilted silk fabric and a bit of gilding, it's now a pretty girly chair.

 

   2 coats of ASCP Pure White; finished with oyster pearl paint/water wash

 

   

     I had some left over fabric from two living room chairs; deep watermelon color quilted raw silk

The handle was an ugly bronze.  1 coat ASCP pure white; 1 coat oyster/water wash; venetian gold rubbed gilding; final coat of oyster/water wash

Pop of Green

What was once a very blah table is now a bright and happy accent piece!

After: 3 different colors of ASCP

Before...bleh

 

I painted the table with 2 coats of Annie Sloan Chalk Paint (ASCP) Pure White. Next, one coat of ASCP Antibes Green. I watered down ASCP Provence and applied it twice as a wash (letting it dry between coats).  200 grit sand paper to age the piece.  Final step:  applied Annie Sloan clear wax and buffed.

Union Jack Accent Table

This is one cute table! Union Jack top, sassy casters on the bottom.  But, ewwww....this was once an ugly table.

 Once again, I used Annie Sloan Chalk Paint, the best paint in the entire world.

This section took me the longest to draw/paint.

Table will go on sale for the Chartreuse Market Days, April 5th & 6th.  Will consider early offers for purchase.

French Label End Table

I am very proud of this project...

This was one ugly, beat-up end table:

 And After:

 

I painted 1 coat of ASCP (cream = soft butter color).  The wood stain bled through, so I had to paint the entire table with a primer/sealer.  2 more coats of ASCP (cream).  For the label, I used a french label from The Graphics Fairy.  To enlarge the label, there is a section on the website dedicated to transferring images.  I used the 1st method to enlarge the label.  It took 4 sheets of paper (8.5x11) to print the entire label.  I cut out the label; taped the edges together, and applied mod podge to the front of the label; then placed the wet image face-down onto the top of the table.  I then smoothed out the air bubbles with a putty scraper.  The image dried overnight. To remove the paper, I wet it with water and slowly rubbed the paper off with my fingers.  Some of the image came away completely, but I liked the look...it gave the entire image a worn/antiqued look to it.  I then waxed the entire table/image with AS clear wax, then antiqued the table/image with AS dark wax.  A little sanding; then clear/dark/clear wax.

Whew!

Thrift Store Books

I was trolling for chairs at a local thrift store...no chairs, but 3 cool books!

The first: "A Treasury of Gilbert & Sullivan" (first edition, 1941)

Great book; very retro illustrations!

The second: Funks & Wagnalls New Comprehensive "Standard" Dictionary (1955)

With the flags of the 48 states:

and third: a book written in Russian. Defintely Soviet-era. Maybe a book about discussing religion...all religions were banned during the Communist regime.

I was going to use all 3 for crafts/art, but maybe just use the dictionary...hmmm