Vintage school chair fun!

I have a zillion vintage and antique children's chairs from when that was my obsession and many of them are school chairs. So, I grabbed one of them and got my flat black spray paint and I was off! Whoo hoo, playing with kid's chairs! They are so much fun.

Here's what I did.

 I'm on a nursery rhyme roll.

 Who doesn't love a little lamb?

And the pair:

Another fun project done. On to the next. I think I'll do something for grown-ups. :-)

Linking to these creative folks:
http://www.thegunnysack.com/2011/11/whats-in-gunny-sack-link-party-14.html
http://my1929charmerblog.com/
between naps on the porch 
the girl creative
mod vintage life
coastal charm
my uncommon slice of suburbia
fireflies and jellybeans
crafty scrappy happy
house of hepworths
http://www.the36thavenue.com/
savvy city farmer
primp

Missing my junking partner

Last week I lost my junking partner to old age. He went on all junking expeditions with me. (He had exceptional taste.) Well, he actually went almost everywhere with me. His leaving has left a huge emptiness in our home.

Miss you, buddy.

The reward for hard work is hard work

I get my booth at the antique mall on Thursday! There is soooo much work left to do. I have to make a sign. I have to make my hang tags. I have to finish painting a couple things. I have to figure out prices for new things.

Since I didn't have a clue how I was going to set up, and I didn't want to stand in front of an empty booth, dumbstruck, I decided to stage my booth in the garage. Using a buffet as the back, I taped off the dimensions and started hauling furniture out there.

 My creative neighbor and her creative daughter came by and helped figure out the best arrangement. Then, after a lot of 'No, put it here' and 'Ewww, let's move that', we got the first rendition of the booth done. Without walls, of course, but still.

This is the hypothetical left side of the booth.

Do you see the new chair?

And the right side. I have lots of antique mirrors to hang, as well as Christmas bling, so the wall won't be the blank spot you see here.

Closer. This is so "before." Before polishing, before ironing, before painting (the vanity).

So, there's your sneak preview. If you are close to Medford, Oregon on Thursday, come see my progress at American Mercantile. I won't make you work. Honest.

Some fun with Chalkboard Paint

I have 2 of these antique school desks that I used as nightstands in the guest room. Since the guest room is now my work room and we have the Giant Wall of Murphy Bed, I haven't needed them. This one doesn't have its original seat so I thought, hmmmmm. I've wanted to do this 1st-grade-primer-look on a childrens' school chair for ages but never got to it. So I thought it would be perfect on this desk and I could make a chalkboard out of the top. The back and the seat are flat black paint to match, but sprayed with a flat sealer coat. I did the lettering with a seamstress pencil because chalk didn't work, but I really wanted that chalk look. This was an absolutely, totally fun project. Now I'm going to do more - I have 4 old school chairs in my storage room. FUN!

I am crazy excited to do a series now. Geez, the work just piles up!

Linking up to these fun creative types:
http://www.domestically-speaking.com/
primp
http://savvysouthernstyle.blogspot.com/ 
http://verymerryvintagestyle.blogspot.com/ 
http://thetrendytreehouse.blogspot.com/search/label/Share%20Wednesdays 
http://modvintagelife.blogspot.com/ 
http://somedaycrafts.blogspot.com/ 
http://www.myrepurposedlife.net/ 
crafty scrappy happy
http://designergarden.blogspot.com/ 
bloggeritaville
http://www.the36thavenue.com/ 
http://www.remodelaholic.com 
http://www.findingfabulousblog.com/ 
http://debbie-debbiedoos.blogspot.com/ 
http://www.shabbynest.blogspot.com/ 
thegunnysack.com
http://knickoftimeinteriors.blogspot.com/
chic on a shoestring decorating  
a diamond in the stuff.
diy by design

On the bright side!

Besides chalk paint, besides BIG pieces of furniture, there are these whimsical, crazy pieces that aren't getting much attention lately. The bright colors and patterns are the result of me channeling Alice in Wonderland and especially the White Rabbit. The White Rabbit is my muse. You should see my house - there are white rabbits everywhere. yikes

This is my Circus Box. I did this one for myself but as my house filled up with painted furniture
I had to make hard choices. This is now on etsy.

Before:

After:

This stool had 700 layers of old scary paint. It was nasty.

Before:

and after:

My Pin Up Girl bench is unlike anything else I've done. Va Va Va Voom!

Before:

 and after:

Check out the fabric:

My little coffee bean shaped bench was done for charity.

Before:

 

and after. A terrible picture but you get the idea.

 

and finally, for today, my wacky doll highchair. (That is used as a plant stand.)

Before:

 

and after:

 

The crazy fabric was designed by Jay McCarroll, the very first Project Runway winner!

Check it out:

Wacky, huh?

Linking up to:
http://missmustardseed.com
http://www.remodelaholic.com/ 
http://redoux.blogspot.com/ 
http://frenchcountrycottage.blogspot.com/ 
http://www.thegunnysack.com/  
http://www.thegirlcreative.com/
http://www.myuncommonsliceofsuburbia.com/ 
primp
http://www.myrepurposedlife.net/

Illustrating with Chalk Paint

I call this my Chick Chair. I wanted to try the bright looking ASCP Antibes Green because I'd run across a cute grain sack that appeared to be the same shade of green. I had hesitated on purchasing the Antibes Green because it looked too bold, but I was assured it toned down with wax. Okay.

 

Yes indeed, the green became rich and mellow with some sanding and the application of wax.

 And then I thought, hmmmm .... needs whimsy to go with the grain sack. So I added my "flock."

And that's when I realized ASCP was never intended for illustration. I had to learn to work with it, which really wasn't that difficult, just different from what I expected. You can't blend color on the image or easily add color to wet paint. The technique is more like painting with acrylics using a pallet knife.
Dab Dab Layer Layer.

So let me introduce you to the babies. (I love little chicks)

I might just keep this one.

Linking to these creative folks:
http://my1929charmerblog.com/sundays-best-party-11-6-11-new-cohost-and-the-winner-is/
http://www.shabbynest.blogspot.com/ 
http://www.betweenuandme.com/2011/11/crazy-cute-link-party-26-and-homestudio.html 
http://www.thegirlcreative.com/search/label/Just%20Something%20I%20Whipped%20Up 
http://savvysouthernstyle.blogspot.com/ 
http://restoreinteriors.blogspot.com/ 
http://www.domestically-speaking.com/ 
http://primitiveandproper.blogspot.com/ 
crafty scrappy happy
http://firefliesandjellybeans.blogspot.com/ 
http://www.houseofhepworths.com/ 
http://www.the36thavenue.com/ 
http://savedbysuzy.blogspot.com/ 
http://www.alchemyfineliving.com/blog/ 
http://missmustardseed.com
http://www.remodelaholic.com/ 
http://www.thegirlcreative.com/ 
http://www.thegunnysack.com/ 
http://www.myuncommonsliceofsuburbia.com/ 
primp
http://verymerryvintagestyle.blogspot.com/ 
http://www.myrepurposedlife.net/ 
http://designergarden.blogspot.com/ 
http://www.findingfabulousblog.com/ 
http://debbie-debbiedoos.blogspot.com/ 
a diamond in the stuff
savvy city farmer

More before and after

I love looking at before and after images. I cruise the web looking for them because I find them so inspiring. Every now and then I see a Better Before and wonder what were they thinking? When I was compiling images for this post I ran across my OWN Better Before, which I'm not going to show you. :-) I'm going to repaint it and maybe we will have a Before-After-Way After post. Meanwhile here are some befores and afters that don't embarrass me.

Telephone bench done with Red Pepper Milk Paint and chalkboard paint.

I didn't realize this little bench had once been upholstered when I found it.
The fabric is a vintage Calla Lilly tea towel.

 

Before-after piano bench - commission piece

My art deco bench painted with graphite Chalk Paint, with French Script fabric.

Another Union Jack! This one was upholstered with a wall hanging from Urban Outfitters 
and painted with Milk Paint.

Next, I'll show you my AFTER chair. Sooooo frustrated I forgot to take before pictures.

Linking to these great places:
http://my1929charmerblog.com/sundays-best-party-11-6-11-new-cohost-and-the-winner-is/
http://www.shabbynest.blogspot.com/ 
http://www.betweenuandme.com/2011/11/crazy-cute-link-party-26-and-homestudio.html 
http://www.thegirlcreative.com/search/label/Just%20Something%20I%20Whipped%20Up 
http://savvysouthernstyle.blogspot.com/ 
http://verymerryvintagestyle.blogspot.com/ 
http://restoreinteriors.blogspot.com/ 
http://www.domestically-speaking.com/ 
http://primitiveandproper.blogspot.com/ 
crafty scrappy happy
http://firefliesandjellybeans.blogspot.com/ 
http://www.houseofhepworths.com/ 
http://www.the36thavenue.com/ 
http://savedbysuzy.blogspot.com/ 
http://www.alchemyfineliving.com/blog/ 
http://missmustardseed.com
primp
http://www.myrepurposedlife.net/

Morning has broken

Fall is my favorite time of year. I love the colors and the crisp air. This is the view from my livingroom window, it's my fall decor captured at dawn. Mother Nature does a fabulous job, doesn't she? I could look at this forever.

 Have a beautiful day!

Whoo Hoo! Another month!

Yesterday I had my monthly appointment with my hematologist, and he said I didn't have to have chemo for another month. That makes 6 months without chemo. It's the furniture, I just know it. It's the passion that keeps me going.

So much so that while the doctor wanted to discuss future treatment, I wanted to talk FURNITURE. My Honey got us back on track to treatment. Sheesh. I had the doctor laughing at my misadventures.

So, in short, the next step for me is a clinical trial in Portland. And I immediately thought JUNKING! Hippo Hardware!
And junking!

One of my above mentioned misadventures was having a solid core door fall on me, but luckily (sadly) my empire desk got in the way. Look at the damage! Yikes. Coulda been my head.
But my poor desk!

Today I am doing reconstructive surgery. I'm using some gooey Wood Filler form Elmer's and it seems to be working well. Which is great because I bought it accidentally, thinking it was something else. (Love it when a plan comes together.)

:-)