Furniture re-do and vintage gift

November 25, 2011

Yesterday was a day of giving thanks for all the things we are blessed with in our lives, I'm grateful for my health, my family and friends, and this wonderful life I'm living through the blessing of god.  I hope all of you had a wonderful Thanksgiving.
 
I have been meaning to post this a few weeks back and kept putting off.  My sister gave me a piece of furniture she had sitting in her barn,it was being used to store pet supplies.  I told her i was looking for a piece of furniture to store some of my craft supplies, and suggested this piece she had.       warning.....ugly, drab piece of furniture with no pizazz...

 There was no back to it, so we added that, and we had to add another top shelf.  I decided i wanted to paint it due to the fact that the oak veneer plywood was so dry and cracked and the additional shelf we added was not of the same wood. So i had to do some putty work and alot of sanding before putting two coats of primer on it.

I knew i wanted to have a painted piece and try one of the many glaze techniques out there.  I have never worked with a glaze before, so this project was a trial and error one for me.  I had some golden yellow paint and thought for my first project i would use this instead of buying both the paint and the glaze, being the glaze was not cheap. 

 I used Valspar antiquing glaze from Lowe's.  After reading the directions on the bottle of glaze and several websites, i have discovered that Less is best.... That stuff goes very far.  I started slapping that stuff on there like i was painting and it was not as easy as i had thought, i was making the biggest mess.  I understand why they say to practice on a piece of board first to get the technique you want. I had to do alot of wiping and reapplying.  Well to make a long story short.........It took me a few days at working a little section at a time to sorta get what i was looking for.  

I think painting with a light color lets the glazing show up alot, so maybe for my first attempt picking a light color like this golden yellow was not a wise choice.  For my next piece, i want a dark burnt red color with the glaze on top, i have seen several pieces done this way and turned out really nice.  I finished up this piece with a few coats of polyurethane.  Sorry but i didn't get a picture of it in my craft room yet, maybe later.  I have several pieces that i want to try this technique on, so more on this at a later date.

Now for the wonderful gift.........
Earlier this week was our anniversary, and my husband knows that i like old shabby, vintage things, well he surprised me the other day with this gift..........

An old milk can with the lid!!!!!!!  It's shabby looking, but i love it..........He knows the way to this antique loving heart.  He told me he can sand it down for me and paint it, but i love it just the way it is.  Thank you honey !!!!!!!!  you're the best.

View of the handle reads "Cream City" he found this in an old barn of a friend who was cleaning out.  "Lucky Me" .

I'm liking this post up to Farmgirl Friday for Deborah Jean's blog hop.  Lets see what other farmgirls are up to..............

                                        
                                   Live simple........................Sheryl

redos and future projects with shabby finds

May 29, 2011

Good morning, What a beautiful morning, although its hot and dry and we are still praying for rain. Some areas had rain a few days ago along with some severe weather and more tornadoes.  Our hearts and prayers go out to those folks who have been affected by the tornadoes and flooding across our country. 

I thought i would show you some of my redos and some shabby finds and future projects.  Awhile back i posted a chair that i repainted and distressed, well, here's the finished look.



before .........(blahhhh..drab...)

I have to show you what my sweet son-in-law scored for me the other day.  I like getting the word out to my friends and family about my love for shabby, vintage stuff, because you never know what they may bring you................

Is he Awesome or what!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  he has a good eye.

I'm not sure what type of table this pedestal came from.  It's shorter than an average dinning table and taller than a coffee table.  Hubby and i haven't decided what type of top to put on it yet, or if we are gonna cut it down some or not.  Love the metal claw foot on the bottom of each leg.  I think it would make a cute lamp table in a living room.  What do you think??????

       

Remember the old child's rocker i found in my shed that belonged to my daughter's great-grandmother???????  I have been slowly stripping and sanding away all the chipped white paint that was hiding this beautiful oak wood.  I know you hate hearing this, but...........I had a before pic way back with the torn canvas seat on it and the chippy white paint, but cant find that pic.  So here is a pic during the process.   

       The wood was so dry and cracked it soaked up anything i put on it.  This pic is during the process of putting some cherry wood stain on it.  I love the wood grain of oak.

Still trying to decide what type of seating to do on it.  Like i mentioned earlier, there was a canvas type fabric tacked with upholstery tacks will no padding of any kind.  So I'm open for suggestions if any of you out there have any to give.  My first thought before i started stripping it was, i wanted to leave it in that shabby old chippy look and just do a burlap seat of some kind.  But when i discovered it was oak under all that chippy and goop, i had to bring that wood back to life.  I'm pleased with the way it looks thus far, now i need to figure out the seating part.  Let me know what you think in my comments.

          Thanks, and have a happy and safe memorial weekend.

                                       Live simple............................Sheryl

Cleaning out the shed........shabby treasures

Saturday April 30, 2011

This week while cleaning out the shed and trying to get organized, i found two shabby treasures i had hidden in the back under piles of stuff.  Thought i would drag those beauties out and dust them off and see if i can find a place to display them.  I get lots of inspiration from the beautiful blogs i follow that showcase their treasures proudly.  I have always had a love affair for old, shabby, antique and vintage things.  I guess i kept alot of them tucked away, afraid the kids or animals will destroy them.  After admiring your treasures and decorating style through blogging, I think it's time for me to showcase and display mine proudly.  So today i will show you a few of my hidden treasures.

Someone gave this to me along time ago.  Not sure what it is, sorta looks like a laundry cart of some sort.  If anyone knows what this treasure could be, let me know.  Anyway, i had used it to put plants on for my daughters wedding.  It was painted a different color to match her color scheme.  The other day i dusted it off, hit it with some red spray paint, distressed it some, ( my favorite thing to do) and will drag it out to the patio to display plants.  I know i didn't get a before pic.....This pic is taken after i started spray painting it, sorry my camera is not the best, so bare with me. 

It folds up also, the pieces of wood in the middle lay flat when in the open position.  So i don't think a laundry cloth type bag could hang from this, like you see in some older laundry carts.  I think you could place a basket on top when in the open position....Hmmmmmmm i don't know.  I layed a piece of wood on top and set my plant on top for now.  Let me know if you have any creative suggestions.  That's Dally in the background, sorry, I'm sure she was watching something move.......She loves chasing anything.

I will take pictures later, when i find it a permanent spot.  Not sure where i want it yet.

Thanks to Amy over at "All things Home" for inspiration and the "will" to drag this big scale out of my shed, and dust this treasure off.  It's a large scale that was used in a feed store to weigh feed sacks or potatoes.  I  had it displayed on my patio also with plants, but it was stored away in the shed for hurricane Katrina, and I haven't brought it out since.  So, thanks Amy, I'm displaying my scale proudly............

This is something else that was in my shed.  It's a child's rocker that stands about 30 inches tall.  It was painted white, with a torn out canvas seat, i know i know......i did get a before pic before i started stripping it, but i cant seem to find it. I had intentions on painting it for my new grandbaby "Jessie", but after i stripped it and noticed it was oak, i don't have the heart to cover up the beautiful grain of oak with paint.  So its a work in progress, lot of sanding and scrapping to get all the paint out the groves of all the spindles.  I will keep you posted on that project.

My daughter gave me several of these old chairs that came out of a restaurant.  I started playing around with one yesterday.  Here is a before shot. dark, blahhh..............

I spray painted it with Krylon satin in a Jade color.  Love, love this color.

I decided to add some character to it by doing my favorite thing, distressing it.  It's so fun to make something look old and tattered.  The seat was easily removed, a few screws holding it in place. 

Here's the distressed look, sorry close up does not do it any justice.

I haven't decided on fabric yet for the seat cover. I will post finished project later.

I promise this was not in my shed.......This was hanging in my living room. It's painted a dark burnt red color, was given to me by a friend.  It's an old window, and he put the mirrors in place of the window panes which makes it super heavy.  I managed to get it off the wall my myself without cracking the mirror.  Since i was in a distressing mood and i have been wanting to change the look of this thing, out came the sand paper again.........by the end of the day i was standing in a heap of dust from all the distressing. 

I managed to get it hanging back on the wall, and now that i have it inside i don't think the distress shows up enough. Hmmmmmm......... may have to hit it a little harder.  I don't think i will attempt to take it back off the wall just yet.  I will wait till hubby gets home to give me a hand.

Well i enjoyed my weekend, kids gone, hubby gone, just me and my sandpaper had a relaxing,  peaceful weekend.  It's fun to re-purpose things around the house and find new purposes for things you may discard.  With today's economy it's wise to shop around your own home for things to decorate or re-invent.

                                          Live simple,     ..............................Sheryl