I know! Let's dive into this before doing any research!

I've skipped over a dozen posts on other blogs regarding how to paint laminate. It didn't apply to me at that moment and I didn't plan on buying laminated furniture.

Then lo and behold! At an estate sale this french style furniture was set out and soooo reasonably priced that I just had to buy it. Missing pulls didn't matter. One leg falling off the dresser barely registered. It was cheap!

But look! Laminate. Only after I sanded the sides a little too much did I go to my laptop and take a little look at the How To's. I didn't know the sides of the furniture were essentially covered with wallpaper. You can see above where I sanded down to white. Oops. I fixed it and used No-Sand to finish deglossing.

Those slippery tops took a little more ooomph, as in Palm Sander, but I got it done.

 There is potencial here. I pictured the set in a pretty gray with white trim.

The yellow faux finish looked so tired.

A fresh coat of gray changes everything. I mixed CeCe Caldwell's Beckley Coal with American Paint's Home Plate to get the gray. The white trim is American Paint Navaho White. The pulls were sprayed with a 20-year-old can of mystery gray blue. See? Sometimes it does pay to keep everything!

 

A very little dark wax to bring out the detail .....

A graphic on the top ......

A couple more graphics ....

And I was done.

Here's a peek at prepping for my first show. More on this later!

Someone will love this set, right?

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UPDATE: Both pieces sold on the first day of the show!

yay

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 Inspector 22 had a big day!

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BLOOPER!!!!

Argh Matey! I am a pirate with a lace eye-patch and I am BAD! Har!

Linking to:
miss mustard seed
french country cottage
be different act normal
nifty thrifty things
shabby nest
funky junk interiors

You have to start somewhere - a new hobby

Ever since I first laid eyes on the little hopping needle-felt bunny that I put on the bottom of a few of my posts, I have wanted to learn needle-felting.

I am in LOVE with this bunny!

I thought it would be complicated and require taking a class, that is until I saw some how-to books. Then I saw a kit at the fabric store. Whoo Hoo, my little mind said, Now we're talkin'!

I picked the hedgehog kit and headed home to get started. First: take the wool and make a smooth egg-shaped body. Roll roll roll, stab stab stab OUCH stab stab OUCH stab DAMMIT! stab stab OUCH!

My smooth egg was actually looking more like a brain. stab stab stab. And I really didn't want a hedgehog, I wanted a rabbit. stab stab stab. So I veered off-course and made a smaller brain ball for the head. stab stab stab. Now I had a snowman.

Then the one and only needle broke. grrrrrrrrr

I drove to Medford, to the only yarn shop. Oh? Out of needles? You don't say. I have to drive to Ashland? Really? grrrrrrrrr

In Ashland the ladies at the yarn store were really helpful. I learned about making wire forms as a base. I also learned about wadding up wool and tying it up in panty hose, then machine washing and drying it. The result is nice felt balls without the finger stabbing. I picked up another kit, this one with 4 'real' needles, decent THICK foam and helpful tips. YAY for tips! I left loaded with wool and a brand new plan.

Above are two foam pads: the left is from the yarn store kit and the right is from the hedgehog kit. Is it no wonder I stabbed myself repeatedly? What were they thinking with that tiny piece of foam?

Before I go on I want to say this is NOT a tutorial. This is just one of my misadventures from which you might learn from my mistakes.

Stage One. The brain-snowman becomes a very roughed-in rabbit but his ears are too short.

Oh look. A kangaroo rat.

A kangaroo rat with mumps.

Bunny butt! Oh. Sorry.

Stage Two. I started adding body parts and lengthened the ears.

Good lord. Now the ears are too long.

The rabbit is looking a little creepy but I think he's getting there. And, I have an idea of how to finish off the paws but I'm going to google it first. I think botched paws would be hard to fix.

Stay tuned for Part Three in which the bunny is completed. Meanwhile I leave you with bunny-bum.

Linking to
my uncommon slice of suburbia
coastal charm
elizabeth and co
flamingo toes

Working on the weekend - The Other Project.

Do you remember this display?

In my booth when I was the area retailer for Miss Mustard Seed
Milk Paint?

I had to give up the paint when my health started giving me fits and the fatigue was getting bad. I have since bounced back but the paint line is someone else's now.

 And the little cabinet that was the bottom of the display went into my guest bathroom where it's been for the last few months.
Until, I had an idea. Out with the little cabinet and in with To Be Announced. heh heh heh

Then

 Now

Then

Now. The white trim is American Paint Company Home Plate with a few drops of Sackcloth added.
The panels are Annie Sloan CoCo, Ce Ce Caldwell Old Ochre, and a light beige I mixed up with what I had on hand.

I had covered some of the old distressed areas with wax so those areas began to appear again with light sanding. Then it was Miss Mustard Seed Furniture Wax over the entire piece. I put a teeny bit of Antique Wax in corners but lightly, lightly, as I wanted a smooth, creamy look this time.

More then

And now

What I didn't know was how difficult it is to put pulls on a curved drawer. Mr. Bad did it for me last time and mentioned it, but it didn't sink in.

I spent almost an hour out in the garage digging around for pulls I thought would work only to find they weren't even close.

Then I got medieval on the last pair and started bending them and bending them until the angle of the screw matched the back of the pull. Geez. You can see how the pull is bent out on the ends.

I used a bright contact paper inside to liven up the neutral colors a bit.

Another piece that I totally love but can't keep. sigh. I asked Mr. Bad about adding on to the house so I could have more room for furniture but I don't recall his exact answer. But I got the gist of it, I think.
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And what's in the guest bath waiting its turn for paint?

A very cool old cabinet. Check out those pulls!

linking to
miss mustard seed
nifty thrifty things 
flamingo toes
my uncommon slice of suburbia
diy show off

Working on the weekend

Over the weekend I completed two projects while carefully averting my eyes from the third. I was ignoring a HUGE dresser that is mostly done, but I needed a break. Here's the before picture (I do have the top drawer):

Purdy, huh? It was a Craigslist find and the seller told me his job involves foreclosed houses and that in one house this dresser was the only thing left behind. Imagine that.

The trouble with a giant piece of furniture is that it is giant. Simple as that. I'm ready for it to be done long before it actually is. However, I will persevere and finish it this week. Besides, its Giantness is in the living room right now.

So, on to what DID get done.

I found this little table at the As-Is store and I was so excited! Then I got it home only to see that all the veneer had to be removed from the top. Well. Guess we're gonna go with the 'raw' look.

 

I found the burlap backdrop at an estate sale. I have no idea what they were for. They are enormous drawstring sacks, about 5' by 7'. Once they were filled how on earth were they moved? The mind boggles. They make terrific backdrops though.

 Aside from adding the star, I just put wax on the top. The star was done with a fat Sharpie and then rubbed into the wood. Carefully.

 Texture, texture!

And more texture. I layered paint over paint and wax and sanding. First I dry brushed Annie Sloan CoCo, then French Linen. I sanded a little and dry brushed a light gray I'd mixed up. Then APC Home Plate, sanding and dark wax.

For the top I used Fidders Jacobean dark wax which is amazing stuff.

It sounds like a lot of work doesn't it? It's really not. The dry brushing is random and haphazard. Sometimes I don't even wait for the previous coat to dry.

My finished little western table.

Linking to

my uncommon slice of suburbia
coastal charm
nifty thrifty things
flamingo toes 
my uncommon slice of suburbia
diy show off