Burlap and Graphite Chair

 Last month, I won this little, ladder-back chair at an auction for two dollars.  After fixing up sets of chairs, it is refreshing to paint a single chair.  I always feel exhausted by the time I paint, wax and upholster a whole set of dining chairs!

 This was an easy project.  I started by removing the torn seat cusion and then painted directly over the rough, orange-brown stain with Graphite Chalk Paint. The Chalk Paint did a wonderful job of masking the uneven finish beneath it, not requiring any pre-sanding on my part.

After the Graphite paint dried, I sanded it all over, so that it was completely smooth and nicely worn along the edges.  Then, I waxed the chair with a mixture of  Fiddes & Sons clear and rugger brown waxes.

I chose burlap to reupholster the seat cushion because I wanted to keep the chair simple and nothing says simple like burlap.  I used my favorite stencil from Maison de Stencils, which is the same one I used on my slipcovered parson chairs. 

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Halloween "Boo" Banner and Stencil Giveaway Winner

I am happy to announce the winner of my stencil giveaway tonight!  

I used the random number generator...

...and the winner is:  lucky #7 from Ruffles and Relics.  Congratulations!

Thank you, Maison de Stencils for offering this giveaway and to everyone that entered.  I wish you all could have won!

Nancy and I have started having craft night once a week to make items for the shop.  Last week we made some "Boo" banners for our October sale this coming weekend.  

Our sale is October 15th-16th at 3011 Main St. in downtown Soquel.  We are working on getting the whole shop decked out for Halloween.  I am looking forward to showing you all the pictures after this weekend!  If you live in the area, stop in for a "spell".

We cut the banner out of burlap and used my vintage brass stencils for the lettering.

We decorated the sides of the banner with strips of black and white tulle mixed with polka-dot, ribbons.

I am saving most of them for the shop, but I am going to put this boo-tiful banner in my etsy shop!

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Pair of Paris Gray Side Tables

I picked up these matching side tables at a local thrift shop on their half-off day.  They were rather plain and boring, but the price was right and I figured I could do something to make them more appealing.  

I decided on two-toned paint for this pair.  I used Paris Gray and Old White Chalk Paint, but the tables still looked too plain and boring to me.

In order to create some character for these plain Janes, I decided to add a design to the drawers and bottom part of the tables.  I found a simple, flower stencil at the craft store that fit on the drawers perfectly.

Now the Plain Janes are not so plain!

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Paris Gray Pedestal Side Table

I picked up this small, vintage side table at a yard sale a while ago.  It was an orange-brown color when I found it with a small hole drilled in the center. I really like the turned pedestal base on this petite table.

After filling the hole with wood filler, I gave it two coats of Paris Gray Chalk Paint.  Yes, I am still loving the Chalk Paint!  I already need to order more Old White and Country Gray.  I guess I will be using the Paris Gray and Duck Egg Blue a lot until I get enough money for a new order.

After painting the table, I realized that it looked too plain and it needed something to dress it up.  I found an image on the internet, printed it and resized it with my copier. I used tracing paper to trace the design on top of the table and then filled in the traced design with a white paint pen.  I really love using the tracing paper and the paint pens.  They make it so easy! 

 I used a stylus pen to trace the design through the tracing paper.  For those of you that don't know, I stylus pen is an instrument with a metal tip that has a tiny metal ball on the end.  I went to the art supply store to find one and the man working there told me they did not carry them and he snidely remarked,  "Who uses those anymore?!".  Well, I looked around and happened to find them down one of the aisles.  I saw him when I was checking out and I held it up and said, "look what I found"!  He was not amused, did not say a word, and walked away.  I was just trying to help him learn about his inventory. What is up with customer service these days!?

I lightly distressed the whole thing including the design and finished the table with a coat of clear wax.  

Tutorial Tuesday: Faux German Grain Sack Slipcover

I love antique German grain sacks with the fancy scripts, but they are too expensive for me.  One German grain sack can cost $150!  My youngest brother just left for Germany on a mission for his church.  I told him to be on the lookout for some antique grain sacks for me.  In the meantime, I decided to make a German grain sack inspired slipcover for an ottoman I picked up at an estate sale.

The ottoman's finish and fabric were in flawless condition, so I decided on a slipcover, rather than reupholstering.  I used a painter's drop cloth from home depot and dug through them to find one that was not gray.  The one I found was a pretty, warm color and I did not have to use any bleach.  I just washed it with regular detergent on warm and then dried it to pre-shink the fabric, before making the slipcover.

This is actually my first slipcover and it really was not as difficult as I expected it to be.

  I started by measuring the top and sides of the ottoman, cutting out the sections and pinning them together over the ottoman.  Once I had the pins in place, I removed the cover and sewed all the seams together, sewing the corners last.

After sewing all the edges together, I tried the new slipcover on the ottoman. I did not want the fabric to cover the whole top portion because I wanted to add a ruffle to the bottom.

I found a German grain sack stencil from Masion de Stencils.  I know that stencils can be expensive and I have successfully cut my own before, like this one, using a craft knife and freezer paper.  If you have an editing program, you could design your own grain sack and cut your own stencil too.

I mixed my red, white and black fabric paints together to come up with a charcoal gray color and then stenciled the grain sack design on the top, making sure I located the center first.

The trick to getting a really clean looking stenciled design is to go over the stencil several times using very little paint.  This keeps the paint nicely within the lines.

After letting the paint dry, I cut strips of fabric and made the ruffle to attach along the bottom edge of the slipcover.

I left the bottom edge of the ruffle raw to go with the rustic quality of my faux grain sack.  I also left the wrinkles in the drop cloth for a more relaxed look.

It is a perfect fit!  

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Paris Gray Chalk Paint and Stenciled Table

I am excited to show all of you my first, completed Chalk Paint project!  I used Paris Gray with clear and dark wax for this little, Parisian table.

I found this vintage table at a yard sale a couple of weeks ago with Mr. Rubbish.  I offered the guy $2 and he said no, but he would sell it for me for $5.  I decided to take it and Mr. Rubbish was not happy about it.  He said it is beyond hope and that I wasted $5.  I felt kind of bad about buying it, but I was determined to prove him wrong.

I loved the way the legs are shaped and my favorite part about it is the vintage caster wheels.  I admit, it was in need of major help, though.  You could see the screw holes and the line joining two pieces of wood in the top and the legs all had ill-repaired cracks that were quite visible. I just filled all the screw holes and cracks with wood filler.  You do not actually have to primer when using Chalk Paint, but I primered the top of the table anyway because it was in such bad shape and I figured an extra coat would help mask the problems.

Aren't the caster wheels cute?!!

I applied two coats of Chalk Paint in Paris Gray and then stenciled the top.  After stenciling, I realized that it was not perfectly centered and, being the perfectionist that I am, I had to sand it down and do another coat of Paris Gray before stenciling the design over again.  This time I made sure to measure and locate dead center before I started.  Sometimes I am so excited to get started on a project that I overlook, important preparatory steps like this.

After the stencil dried, I sanded it to distress and then applied clear wax and rugger brown wax (both Fiddes & Sons) over the tabletop and legs. Miss Mustard Seed has a great tutorial here on how to apply the waxes and where to purchase the Fiddes & Sons waxes for only $14 per can.

This was my first time using the dark wax (I usually use glaze) and it was a little tricky.  I just used a tiny bit of dark wax on my brush and applied it in sections, blending it over the clear wax.

I bought two, large, vintage stencil brushes, with natural bristles, on ebay for $9 each, to use for the wax and they worked great!  I did not want to spend $35 for a wax brush from the Chalk Paint stockists, especially when I would need two of them (one for the clear and one for the dark wax).  I will show you a picture of the wax brushes I found in my next post.

I really love the two finials in the center of the table base.  The are actually made of iron.  Conveniently, the Chalk Paint is designed to stick to metal as well as wood, so it had no problem adhering.

I found a wonderful independent thrift shop by my house with excellent prices. I got a whole bag of vintage, hardback books for $5, the other day!  I took them home, removed the covers and made book bundles for the shop.

 I have been coming across old, skeleton keys at yard sales and I've been snatching them up for $1 each.

I think the strange, little table, with all the cosmetic problems, turned out pretty cute in the end!

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