It’s not a table

Hello, everyone! I am ‘back’ from Bella’s Vintage Market, and it was a lot of fun. And a lot of work. And a lot of HOT! This was only my second market, and I never really considered the whole pack-everything-up-on-a-hot-July-afternoon angle!

I promise there are pictures, but I haven’t even looked at them yet! So I thought I’d share another makeover that went with me to the market.

I found another set of three oak barstools (you can see my other sets here and here):

Since I’ve been on a French typography kick lately, I had a grand idea to transfer three vintage French ads to the tops of these stools. I had read about Mod Podge transfers and Citra Solv transfers, so I had high hopes of getting one of these methods to work!

It wasn’t mean to be.

I tried Mod Podge transfers at least three times, and I always ended up with something that looked like this:

or this:

Really charming, right?

When I tried the Citra Solve transfer…I got nothing.

So, it was on to “Plan C.”

Yes, I resorted to my now famous technique using the overhead projector!

I found three different chocolate ads from The Graphics Fairy. I pulled out portions of those ads that seemed to fit well on a stool top, and painted them up!

This one is my favorite. As with my other projects, I distressed the lettering to make it look old and faded. And to help hide my mistakes!

I think this one is my least favorite, although it may be growing on me. I was free-handing the various flourishes, and they could be better!

I think my flourishes were better on this stool! Actually, this one may be my favorite. I don’t know.

Here they are as one big happy family!

These went home with a great couple that drove two hours one way to purchase a French coffee table I haven’t shown here yet, as well as another not-a-table typography project yet to be revealed! I thought they had great taste!

Hope you like them too!

Linking up to these great parties!

Today is the day!

My sister’s minivan is loaded.  The trailer is loaded.  The truck—will be loaded very early in the morning!  I’m off to Bella’s Vintage Market!  Hope to see you there!

I’ve never hauled a trailer before, and I’m VERY NERVOUS!

Yes, we used almost every blanket and sheet in the house!

Remember to like Bella’s Vintage Market on Facebook for $1 off admission.  The first 10 people at my booth who mention my blog or Facebook posts will receive a free gift!

From pine to divine

I came across this cute little cabinet…buffet…washstand…at Deseret Industries a few weeks ago. It was finished in the classic orange-y pine stain, but I loves the cute little spindles on each end. That little detail is what makes me think ‘washstand’ when I look at it. Obviously it’s not a true antique, but may be a cute little reproduction (?)

This is one of those projects that did NOT go well at first. Have you ever come across a color of paint that you just can’t make work? Once upon a time, I decided to paint our basement family room yellow to bring some light into it. I wanted a warm, sunny, golden color.

What I got was an anemic key lime pie.

I think I lived with it about…oh, 24 hours…before deciding THERE’S NO WAY!!

But I couldn’t just get rid of all that good paint, could I?? So I’ve tried to use it on various projects, and even succeeded to some extent or another. But I tried it on this little cabinet, and it was an EPIC FAIL! Glazing only made it worse. Normally you would consider “yellow” to be a warm color, right? Well, this yellow is the coolest shade of yellow I never imagined! And when I applied a warm glaze to a cool shade…ugh!

Well, a fifty-cent ‘oops’ paint sample came to the rescue, and the whole thing got repainted in a warm, lovely cream (with a dark brown glaze, naturally).

Nothing really new or revolutionary, here! But I love the classic, romantic feel of the piece.

I made a couple of linen hand towels (with ruffles!) with graphics from the Graphics Fairy. I love how they look with this piece.

So there she is…disaster averted!

This little cabinet will be available for sale at Bella’s Vintage Market at Wheeler Farms (Salt Lake City) on July 9! “Like” them on Facebook for $1 off admission. The first 10 people at my booth that mention reading my blog will get a free gift!

Linking up to these great parties here.

World Traveler

Vintage suitcases seem to be all the rage lately, and I caught the bug! I had something particular in mind for this suitcase, which I found at a consignment store.

The top had a tear, and there were a couple of other flaws—not the least of which was a dirty, faded brown color. So, first things first—I painted the whole thing white!

My husband asked in disbelief: “You painted a suitcase??”

Yes, dear.

But that’s not all.

I did a search on Google for “vintage luggage stickers.” Click on the “images” tab, and you won’t believe what you’ll come up with!

Images like this one:

Or this one:

Or even this one:

And so many more!

I must have chosen about 30 different, cool luggage stickers. I copied them into Microsoft Word and adjusted the size, and then I printed them on cardstock in shades of white, beige, and gray (I wanted them to look old…plus it’s what I had on hand).

I cut out each ‘sticker’ and mod-podged them to the suitcase. A big “Vegas” sticker covered the tear!

Finally I lightly glazed everything with some dark brown glaze, concentrating on the stitching especially.

So now my suitcase looks like it has been all over the world….

…I am so jealous…

…and what’s a suitcase without a stand to put it on?

I found a luggage rack at an auction, and I painted it white and replaced the flowery ribbon straps with some upholstery webbing.

Put them together, and I think this would make a really fun nightstand or end table!

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Thanks to {Primp} for featuring this project!

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Linking up to these great parties here as well as

Book Birdhouses

By now everyone has seen a book wreath. Probably you’ve seen a book bundle (especially the ones with the covers ripped off). I personally haven’t made the former, but I have several of the latter. My husband thinks it’s a shameful way to treat perfectly good books, but I haven’t seen him actually trying to read any of the books I have brought home!

A couple of months ago I saw my first book birdhouse, and I was smitten. I couldn’t figure out how it was created by just looking at it, so I began an Internet search! Second time lucky; I found the instructions at Country Business. So I promptly dismantled a couple of my book bundles, and made some birdhouses instead! A couple of you noticed them in my pictures of my French Café Table:

…and I promised instructions were forthcoming! So here they are.

First you need an old book, minus the cover. Around 200 pages will give a very nice, fat, birdhouse. If your book is longer than that, you might end up using some of the end pages for another project.

Fold the first page in half toward the spine.

Then fold the top corner down to meet the spine, making a triangle. Flip that page over; you’re done with it now.

On the second page, fold the bottom corner in to meet the spine, making a triangle.

Then fold the top corner in to meet the spine.

Alternate pages one and two, and you’ll be making a book birdhouse like the middle-sized one in the picture above (the bottom edge of the roof is slanted, rather than horizontal).

The other two birdhouses are slightly different. The first page is the same, but on the second page, fold the top corner in to meet the spine first.

Then fold the bottom corner in to meet the spine.

Next, carefully tear the page away from the binding from the bottom half-way up. Fold it up to make a triangle.

This is what method number two looks like when you’re about half-way done.

When you’ve finished folding all of your pages, glue the first and the last pages together, and you’ve got a birdhouse!

I did have a problem with some of the pages wanting to come completely free of the binding. I generously glued them back in place.

My three birdhouses have taken up residence on my French chocolate coffee table. As you can see, I used a little brown craft paint to paint pseudo-openings on them. So those paper birds have a way in, you know!

These are probably going with me to Bella’s Vintage Market next Saturday. I’d like to try tying some twine around the spine and suspending them from my tent! Hope it works!

Confession: My husband may have a bit of a point. I had no problems turning an old math text into a book birdhouse. But for one of the other books, I kept catching glimpses of the story, and I thought to myself, “I might have liked to have read this book!”

Thanks to Craft Gossip for featuring this project here.

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Linking to these great parties, Too Much Time on My Hands, and