Butterfly side table

Butterfly side table brings Spring into the house...


This time of year, it's great to bring a little of the Spring indoors, even though, truthfully, the weather around me has been more winter-like than anything.

I have been wanting to paint some butterflies on something, but needed a good medium on which to do it.

I have accumulated some inexpensive fold-up/stacked tables. The ones that are really cheap and used as little end tables or tv trays that you can find at any store for dirt cheap-I think I paid $2 for mine.

I have also accumulated an assortment of wood trays, so I decided to combine the two and came up with a really cute table that is perfect for displaying butterflies.

I attached a tray to the top of the table and painted it in  Annie Sloan Old White Chalk Paint.  Then hand stenciled my butterflies on top.  (I threw in a couple of dragonflies as well!).

I stenciled a butterfly on burlap and displayed it in a frame I had recently painted.  It is a nice touch on top of the table.

The result is definitely the Springtime feeling I was looking for. 

  

Now if only the weather would cooperate!

Sweet Crafting!
DeeDee

Crazy over pentagons!

Recently, my daughter decided that it was time to change things up a bit in her room; that she had outgrown the flower stencils on her wall and pastel colors flecked throughout on her bedspread, curtains and pillows.  A really good friend of hers, who just recently had her room re-done in all things zebra, had sparked this need for change.  Thinking I might have time to take on a new project, I found myself volunteering my crafty services and offering to redecorate her room to whatever she wanted.  I didn't know what I was getting myself into when she revealed to me what she would like the "theme" of her room to be.

Pentagons are probably the most annoying shape in the geometrical universe.  When you put pentagons and throw them in the middle of a bunch of hexagons....well now you just have pure chaos!

If you haven't figured it out yet...my daughter decided that she would like her room redone with a  SOCCER theme.  There's a reason there isn't a whole lot of room decor with a soccer theme.  While seemingly a simplistic design, the pattern on a soccer ball is actually quite complex and not easily duplicated, I can assure you!

I have gone crazy with this shape.  I decided to hand paint them on a new white comforter that I had purchased on sale.  I had to make my own soccer ball stencils to place on and trace because trying to free hand a soccer ball is nearly impossible to get right.  Because of the rounded 3-D effect of a ball, the shapes are never all the same size...and drawing pentagons and hexagons are hard enough as is!

 

I found some plain cork circles at IKEA (I think they were supposed to be trivets), but I thought painting them and hanging them to use as a picture board would be interesting.  I made them look more rustic...then hung them on the wall...complete with some favorite pictures.

 My daughter has had her bedroom furniture since she was a baby, so I had no problem changing it up a bit and making it fun.  I took off all of the knobs in hopes of replacing them with soccer ball knobs, but couldn't find enough for all of her drawers.  I started the tedious task of hand-painting all of the knobs and part-stamped, part-hand painted soccer balls on all of them.

Then I added some color to some white chalkboard paint I had and added chalk strips to the front of her drawers.  My daughter loved writing the labels on each drawer so that her Dad knows where to put away her clothes!

                     

I wanted her to have some artsy/crafty items on her wall...ones that were "sans" soccer balls, so I antiqued a small cupboard to hold her Swarovski Crystal collection (she has just 2 now!) and hung it on her wall.  The little figurines look adorable in it!

A couple of more art pieces on the walls...

and her room is ALMOST complete.  I am planning a big mural for one wall that I have not started yet and I have a fun chandelier that I have yet to hang, still, I think it is coming along pretty good and she really likes it so far!  

 
Until next time...I will be dreaming of Pentagons!

Sweet Crafting,

DeeDee

Little Ugly Chair.....

Months ago, I found this little ugly chair for $4.99.

I liked the carving on the back of the chair, and I had some fabric that I was dying to put onto something, so I decided to take it home with me.

When I went to take off the fabric from the cushion, there were just a TON of staples to remove and I think the fabric that was used was actually a placemat?!

Anyway, when I finally got the placemat off, it revealed an old, stained, yellow cushion underneath.  Obviously, this is why someone tried to cover it, and I guess picked the closest thing they could find...thus, the placemat.

I started by painting the chair with the Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in a new color that I got, French Linen.  I then "distressed" it a little with the Graphite Color and added some Old White for effect.

Then I worked on putting my lovely little fabric on the cushion

And finally, screwed the cushion back on and.................................

The Ugly Duckling has become a Swan!  It is a really cute little chair and my husband really liked it too so we put it upstairs in our balcony hallway, where it looks just perfect.

Sweet Crafting!

Dee Dee

A BIG project...

It has been too long since I have blogged, but it is not entirely my fault.  I am officially blaming technology on this one.  Shortly after the holidays, my PC contracted a nasty little virus, which left me without a computer for weeks!

Now, I have my fair share of technology that kept me going, IPhones, IPads and all that.  However, I was really excited to share on my blog a new project that I am in the middle of and without a computer, my pictures could not be uploaded, so I decided to wait.

Well, I am currently the proud new owner of a Mac computer and couldn't be happier.  Not only with the computer, but with the fact that I can now finally post something new and the BIG project I am currently working on.

A friend of mine recently purchased a paint-your-own-pottery business.  I was super excited for her!  My daughters and I just absolutely LOVE going there and I think with my friend running the place...it will be absolutely fabulous!

I offered to help paint some furniture for her, to give the place a fresh, new look.  So, diving right in, my friend came over with 4 pieces for me to decorate.

The first project was a pretty simple one.  Turn this old table into a kids chalkboard table.  Little did I know that I would end up with a numb thumb from scraping off all of the decade-old stickers on the top of the table!


After they were off however, the task was pretty easy

Here is the finished result...

Some chalkboard paint for the top, a couple coats of Annie Sloan Old White Chalk Paint with a light layer of Annie Sloan Duck Egg Blue over it, an attached metal bin painted in the same Duck Egg Blue attached on the side to hold the chalk and erasers, and some painted numerals on the sides...

Much improved!

My next project was a bit more complicated.  It was a big wicker bar that will actually be used as a shelf display piece.  Because the bar was most likely stored outside, it was really beat up looking and the color was faded.  I went through four spray paint cans of antique white to give it a fresh look.  I then painted the inside "blocks" with a mix of Duck Egg blue/Paris Gray (again, Annie Sloan Chalk Paint!).  I decided it needed a little something extra, so I adorned the front with a small banner that reads "Paint & Create"

I moved onto the next piece, which was a very large hutch.  I could think of a lot of potential for this, so I was VERY excited to paint it!

I did a wash of Paris Gray Chalk Paint over the whole hutch, leaving some areas uncovered to show the natural wood.  I then did a little "spot antiquing" by taking some Graphite Chalk Paint and adding it to corners so that they looked a little worn.  I also took of the hardware, painted them in Graphite Chalk Paint and then waxed with a dark wax to finish it off.

I antiqued some book pages and added a garland across the front.

And the finished hutch came together like this...

(please excuse the setting, it is cold here now and moving this outside for a pretty picture was NOT an option that day!)

My final project was a bar cart/wheel cart.  It was a really cute piece and a great find by my friend.

A fresh coat of paint and a little french typography was in order!


I decided on Duck Egg Blue for the base with a wash of Paris Gray over it as I was trying to stick with a certain color scheme and look for the store.

And...ooh la la! Now the table is so adorable!  In fact, I am dreading giving this up! It is a great piece that would look awesome as a bar cart in a dining room!

I am hoping that they help give her business that fresh, new look which is really needed.

I really love these pieces and will be kind of sad to give them up, however, I am very happy that they will be put to good use and be able to be enjoyed by many!  

I am anxiously awaiting the next shipment of furniture to paint...stay tuned!

Sweet Crafting!

DeeDee

A New Year's Transformation!

Did you make any New Year's Resolutions this year?  Every year, I usually have a few in mind that I would like to accomplish before the year ends, and I even write them down so that I can reference them throughout the year to see if I am indeed doing just that.

Well, not this year.  I haven't even thought about one New Year's Resolution yet.  Maybe because there is a lot that I need to accomplish so I am just procrastinating!  Maybe because I have been on a serious holiday break (almost 2 weeks!) and I am not quite ready to face reality yet!

My $6.99 find!

There is one goal that I have accomplished (finally) and I am happy to say I am quite proud of it.  I had purchased a chandelier some time back (a great value for $6.99!) with the hopes of re-doing this and having it hang proudly in my dining room by the time all of my Christmas guests arrived. Sadly, Christmas came and went with the same ugly dome light and no lovely chandelier.

I then set my sights on having this light finished by New Year's Eve.   I have to admit, painting the chandelier was quite the feat.  The brushed silver finish was hard to get covered correctly and there were tons of creases and crevices to paint!  Every time I thought I had every speck covered, another sliver of the ugly metallic color would show through and I would have to spread on another coat.  I was starting to second guess how great of a "steal" this chandelier was!

It finally started coming together.  I had to purchase some new sleeves for the lights, which I covered in a burlap material that was actually part of an old coffee sack.  I also covered the chain in the same material (I was not even going to attempt to paint the chain!).



Finally, after nearly 3 coats of paint, I felt I had adequate coverage and I used my Annie Sloan Dark Wax to darken and age the color as well as give it a more antiqued look.



I added in a little bit of gold leafing in some of the creases.  Not much, I just wanted to give it a hint of color.



I purchased a huge tin of buttons some while back, and I have been looking for ways to incorporate them in some of my projects, so I decided to dangle some from the outer arms.  I waxed these and gold leafed a few to match the color and style of the chandelier as well.

The finished project was done, hung and actually lit up (can you believe I didn't test it out before I finished it-what faith I had in a $6.99 light!) by New Year's Day.  Yeah!!

It looks so much better in our dining room then our no-personality, builder-model dome light.  It adds great ambiance, especially when dimly-lit!

It was a bummer that we couldn't have enjoyed our holiday meals under this new addition, but I am excited because I now have an excuse for another get together so I can show it off!


Happy New Year and Sweet Crafting!
DeeDee