Stuff...

Chairs are put together, and the finishing touches are next. (I even reupholstered our kitchen chairs while I was at it!)

 (before is on the left, after is on the right)

However, I will be participating in my first Craft Fair Saturday, December 7th at Vista Ridge High School, so I am working feverishly on finishing my remaining picture frames, Christmas ornaments, and getting my salt & pepper shaker sets ready. I am finishing the remaining frames in Denver Bronco paper (both new logo and old logo), and I am loving how they are turning out!

I also have six clocks to finish and assemble - not sure how they will turn out, but I am looking forward to the final results.

More after the madness of this week is over. I hope everyone had a fabulous Thanksgiving!

Houston, we have progress!

Well, the seats for the cane barrel chairs are upholstered!

I used 2-1 inch layers of foam (it was on sale and about half the cost of the 2 inch foam).

After I used a spray adhesive to attach the foam layers to the new seats, I covered them with batting, and then the pretty green fabric I got on sale at JoAnn Fabric. 

 

A few dozen (or more - I lost count!) staples, and the seats are now ready for an application of Scotch Guard.

I can't wait to put these awesome chairs together!

Chair progress...

I was driving myself crazy jumping from one project to another like a chicken with my head cut off, and not really accomplishing anything, so I decided to focus on one project at a time. 

My chairs. They need to be finished. 

So - I applied primer to the chairs, and I can't believe the difference already.

Once they are painted white, I will apply Minwax Polycrylic - it is a fantastic finishing coat/sealer, and it will not yellow with age. It's also water-based, so no noxious smell burning your nose hairs, either. I will be applying the clear satin-finish to the chairs. I love it!

And the fabric will look absolutely gorgeous on the white chairs. Here's a look:

They are a beautiful set, and when they are finished, I know I am going to be hard-pressed to let them go.

Back in the saddle again...

After a nice, long vacation in Arizona visiting family, I decided to tap into my crafty side and work on a project that was waving it's hands in front of my face yelling "Work on me!" 

So I did.

I ordered a boatload of craft paints, stencils, and paintbrushes. I also ordered a bunch of clear glass salt & pepper shaker sets to paint.

Yup. Salt & pepper shaker sets. 

I have seen a lot of hand-painted glass projects, and I thought why not? Everyone uses them. Everyone I know has different sets for different holidays, even if it is just for showing off on their table. So I decided on four holidays - Easter, Valentine's Day, Halloween, and Christmas.

They turned out pretty nice.

I had so much fun painting them - I forgot how much I loved just painting. I do have these sets up for sale in my Etsy store for $24.99 a set.

In other news, I have several projects waiting for me to start working on them. I have a couple dressers, a set of end tables, a pair of cane barrel chairs, a crib, a desk, and another craft project - clocks!

Can't wait to get started!

Third table is done!

This little round table took the longest to refurbish. It had quite a bit of damage from water, so I had to replace the top, and I basically took the entire table apart in order to put it back together.

It turned out pretty nice.

I have a couple projects looming over the horizon once I get the 1920's desk and the pair of chairs completed. I have a really nice crib and a fantastic older dresser to refurbish.

No updates for a while though - I am going on a road trip to visit family.

More when I get back!

Funky Retro Time!

Aaaand the second of three end tables is done! My funky 70's table I got for free has been totally re-painted, new hardware painted black & added - it looks so freakin' cool!

I love how this formerly destined for the junkyard table turned out! It goes to show that just because something is old and looks bad does NOT mean it can't be refreshed, re-imagined, or up-cycled into something wonderful!

Third table to be worked on next, then - my 1920's era desk!
 

Mid-Century Delish!

I finished the mid-century Dixie table tonight, and it turned out so much better than I could have imagined! The Valspar color Encounter is absolutely beautiful - it suites the table so very much.

It is listed in my Etsy store for sale - I hope it finds a good home with someone who falls in love with it!

Done!

The bedroom set is finished! The very last thing I am waiting on is the replacement mirror - the original was broken by accident by family members whom shall remain unnamed. (You know who you are!) :-)

Here is a side-by-side view of the before and after of the pieces - they turned out great!

(No before pics of the bedrails - sorry!)

As soon as the mirror is done I will be listing this set for sale - I hope it finds a good home!
 

Quick update...

We found, or rather my husband found, another table on Craigslist for $20. It is also very 70's retro, but this one is round, and is big enough that it could be a small coffee table for a smaller living room.

It has great bones, but it does need a little more rehab than the other tables. I am totally seeing a two-toned color scheme here, with black hardware.

On another note, I found out that the mid-century modern table is, in fact from the early 50's. It was manufactured by Dixie, which I learned was swallowed up by another furniture company some time ago. This little table is worth a lot more that I originally thought. I am now leaning towards staining it the original color. We will see.

Next post, hopefully, is the finished bedroom set!

New projects...

I have been working to get the furniture set completed so I can get it listed for sale, and start working on a couple new projects. I recently lucked out finding a mid-century modern nightstand/side table on Craigslist for $20, and I found another funky 70's retro nightstand/side table for free on Craigslist.

Oh, the possibilities! I am actually undecided how I will refurbish the mid-century modern piece, but I am totally feeling a funky apple green with black knobs for the retro 70's piece. I even found a couple really cook back plates for the knobs I am still looking for.

I am going to paint them black. I am currently scanning eBay for some cool retro knobs, but I think I am going to check out the ReStore here in town.They have some really cool stuff, and more importantly, every sale benefits Habitat for Humanity. 

Hopefully, my next post is that of the completed bedroom set!

Progress!

I have been waiting for a few tools to arrive so I could push forward on the bedroom set I am working on. The little wire brush (and I mean little) finally arrived last night, and the new wax I will be trying arrived yesterday afternoon.

I was using Minwax paste finishing wax on all my projects, but when I went to apply wax to the blue desk drawers, the wax started taking off the paint. To say I panicked is an understatement, but I immediately stopped applying the wax, touched up the paint, and ordered a furniture wax my friend Holly recommended on her blog, Quinnspirations. I ordered Annie Sloan Soft Wax from a local store, Shades of Amber. 

This stuff is amazing! I am going to use Annie Sloan wax on all my future painted pieces, and stick with Minwax for the stained pieces.

So, I used the little wire brush on the corners of the nightstand I had to re-finish, and on all the little edges on the mirror and the feet of the dressers. The mirror is the biggest pain to redo because of all the little edges and crevices.

I also had to repair a spot on the bottom edge where it fell over and the mirror broke, but you can't tell now. I then stained the first coat on the mirror, and applied another coat of stain to the nightstand  and the dresser drawer fronts.

I got the first coat on the bed rails too, but I put them up out of the way to dry, so I couldn't get a pic of them. The coolest thing I found? On one of the bed rails, I found some writing. It says Full, Maple, and Mrs. something (can't make out the name) - the pic did not come out, but I will get a better one to show later! I am so going to keep that visible since it is part of the history of the furniture set.

More as I get the pieces finished and move on to the headboard, foot board, and the dressers!

Let there be light!

I wanted to try my hand at a lamp, thinking if I can do furniture a lamp would be a piece of cake.

Well...yes and no.

Instead of spray painting the lamp I found at DAV, I decided to use this gorgeous shade of paint i am going to paint a desk with. It is Swizzle Stick from Valspar, and it is yummy-licious! (I am really beginning to love all things Valspar - they have FABULOUS spray paint, and love their colors in their Signature line of paint!)

I followed my normal steps of cleaning up the lamp and then priming it with Kilz (love Kilz!) - the lamp was pretty ugly originally.

Blech, boring, and badly in need of tarting up!

So, three very thin coats of Kilz later (on purpose - when painting furniture I discourage a lone, heavy coat of primer - you run the risk of streaks and a clumpy final product after you paint.)

I also paint in very thin layers. I have found painting multiple thin layers of paint prevents drips, clumps and streaks. And the final product is so very shiny! (pardon the Firefly reference.)

Isn't she purty? No wax finish on the lamp - the shine of the paint is nice enough for me.

And since I had the paint out, I started on the drawers for the desk. 

I will chronicle this project at another time. I am going to push ahead full steam on the bedroom set I am staining. I hope to have a good portion of the set finished this weekend. The desk will be the next project I work on after the bedroom set is complete. (I am running out of room in my garage!)

More later...