Sewing Table

I was able to get the second table in my craft/sewing room painted last week while hubby was out of town again.   This one is my sewing table where my sewing machine sits.  The first table I painted was this one and you can read about that here.

The sewing table was just getting a coat of Pure White chalk paint on the top since I have the bottom skirted in a toile fabric.

Here it is after the first coat.  The Pure White is a color that can easily wind up needing three coats on a piece. 

After the third coat and some clear wax she was done and pushed back against the wall. 

I waited a couple of days before putting everything back in place, but it takes a long, long time for this to be truly cured.  However, I don’t have months to wait before I can use this table again for some sewing!

Although I went with the Pure White because I wanted these tables to be white, I have to say that, as for as the lighter colors go, the Old White is my favorite.  Being a fan of Heirloom White, the Old White is very close in the chalk paint colors. 

Not a fan of the Pure White, but since I still have half a quart left I will be using it up on certain future projects.

I recently got another can of Old White to start my roadside rescue dresser makeover and that is up next on my painting list.  I do need to take a day to get back to finishing my sunroom valances though, so it may be a week or so before I have some pictures to share of the dresser. 

What Drought?

It’s been a difficult Summer for plants. I just lost a basket that had been waxing and waning all Summer even though I was watering it.  I guess being in full sun all day even though it was petunias wasn’t working for it.  I’ve already made a small list of things that I might try next year.   One urn I planted took off with the heat.  I showed you this one by our garage earlier in the season planted with colorful foliage plants.

This is what it looks like today!  You can’t even see the urn anymore!

I have got to find out the name of that purple plant because it just took off in the heat and humidity!  I did also use a Miracle Gro expandable soil mixture with some regular potting soil when I planted this pot, so that may have helped, too. 

The coleus also held up well, as did the licorice plant {although it is mostly blocked by the purple plant}.    All in all, I was really pleased with the plantings in this urn and will have to refer back to this picture next year.  Looking at this pot you’d never know we had a drought this Summer!

 

Quick and Inexpensive Halloween Decor

It’s a little earlier than I would normally post a Halloween project, but after seeing something similar at Hobby Lobby for $21.99, I had to try and make it for less!  Theirs had a tall thin candlestick along with a pumpkin that had a face on it.  A lovely item and one I may look for when it goes on clearance, but I wasn’t paying $21.99 for one.

This is what you need ~

a candlestick of some kind {I had this short one in my craft room already},

black craft paint,

a pumpkin to fit on top of the candlestick {I got mine from the dollar store},

a hat {which you can make, but I did buy this package from Hobby  Lobby} and

some embellishment {the expensive one had crepe paper made into a collar or ruff}; I chose this Halloween hair elastic, also from Hobby Lobby. 

Paint your candlestick {it doesn’t have to be black, but for this copy cat project that is what I went with, plus I had black in my supplies}.  I also then took apart the pumpkin I bought at the dollar store.  I just wanted the larger base one.  You can save the parts you took off for another project.

I glued the Halloween hair elastic to the bottom of the pumpkin and one of the hats to the top.

I then glued that to the now dry candlestick.

Walla! Done in under an hour and it cost me less than $10.00. 

Plus, the size I made will fit under one of my cloches!

Linking up with

Tutorials, Tips and Tidbits at Stone Gable

Share Your Creations at Kristen’s Creations

 

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Prize Ribbon Swap

I recently joined in on a Prize Ribbon Swap hosted by Tabitha of Creative Wings Boutique.  This was a little different for me, even though we were to use fabric and ribbons, which I always use!  Admittedly, I did do it a couple of times before I was happy with the final outcome. 

My partner was Francie from The Scented Cottage Studio.   One of the things Francie told me was that she loved purple!  Looking at some of the past swap posts that she was a part of helped me come up with this prize ribbon for her.

I have a purple patterned fabric base {using a disc as my foundation} with some pretty pleated purple/lavender ribbon and then added in the various embellishments and image from there.  Lots of seam binding and some pretty purple ribbons hang off the bottom. 

I finished off the back with another circle of the purple fabric I used on the front.  I also made a ribbon for Tabitha ~ our hostess.  From Tabitha’s blog I could see she liked pink so that was the color I went with, adding brown in as an accent color.

I used a chocolate brown pleated ribbon around a pink and brown polka dotted fabric, highlighting the ribbon middle with some pink pearls. 

I looped pieces of the sheer striped pink ribbon and glued them to the back.  I added in a monogram T in the middle {in a chocolate and pink colorway}, pretty pink ribbons, some seam binding, and another circle of the fabric attached to the back {to give it a finished off look} completed this prize ribbon. 

I also sent along a few little goodies with these two prize ribbons and I hope both ladies love them!

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Clean and Bright ~ Pure White Paint

After seeing all the great white spaces at the Where Bloggers Create party in July, it made me want to move ahead on painting the two tables in my craft/sewing room white.  Here they are as seen in my post about my space.

The one is covered in a toile fabric skirt, so I only plan on painting the top of that one.  The other one was getting a full paint job so I decided to start with that one.   Here it is in the garage ready to get painted.  I chose ASCP Pure White because the walls are very close to the Old White and Old Ochre colors and I didn’t want the tables to blend in with the walls.

The table had a mahogany colored stain on it so I knew it would need a few coats of the white, even if it is chalk paint.  Here it is after one coat.

After two coats the coverage was looking pretty good on the legs and the sides.  I had to do a third coat on the top and the shelf.

I decided to add a little interest to this otherwise plain table by adding stripes to the drawer like I saw Amy at Maison Décor did to a vanity table.  Very fun look!  I had some Coco in a sample pot so I decided to use that.  I taped off for several stripes and painted them on.

Once everything was dry I did clear wax only.  I wasn’t looking to distress or age it; I want the nice clean white look to it.

Here it is back in place in my craft/sewing room!   Without the junk I normally have on it.

I think it makes a nice difference from the dark stain it originally had and lightens up this small room a bit more for me.

Linking up with

Metamorphosis Monday at Between Naps On The Porch

Sunday’s Best at My 1929 Charmer

Make It Pretty Monday at The Dedicated House

Annie Sloan Chalk Paint Workshop

Last weekend, I went to an Annie Sloan Chalk Paint Workshop at my friend, Sue’s house.  What a lot of fun we had! 

Along with Sue and myself, Debby from Cozy Blanket was there, as well as our instructor, Jean.

Jean brought along a lot of things for us to practice on and with!

We all brought our own piece already painted in the color of our choice.  I brought this mail/desktop organizer that I found at Goodwill, thinking that the detailing would be great for adding either wax or some other technique I might learn.  I painted it in ASCP Pure White ahead of time.

Making sure our cameras are working!

Besides our own projects, Jean had brought along some molding pieces for us to try our hand at different techniques.  I don’t usually distress my projects with sanding, so this was new to me.  This is a piece with Emile applied first, then Country Grey. We lightly sanded to bring the Emile underneath out.

Here we added wax ~ clear and dark.

Jean gave us some tips for adding the dark wax when you want to have the crevices look a little darker and aged looking.

Finally, I also tried the gold gilding wax.  It is very subtle looking in the picture but it really added a nice touch to certain parts of this practice piece.

Jean also had us try a clouding technique, using two colors at the same time, on this bust she had brought along.  Here is Sue trying her hand at it.

Jean offering some tips.

We all brought along a little something to contribute to our lunch and had it in Sue’s beautiful backyard.

Then it was back to work and we started on the pieces that we brought with us.  Jean explaining what Debby could do to her piece, which was painted in Arles.

Debby working on a plate rack she brought along, as well, painted in Duck Egg.

Sue working on her little table, also painted in Duck Egg, under Jean’s watchful eye.

The final outcome of my piece.  Jean had suggested using a combination of clear and dark wax {after clear waxing} so the Pure White wouldn’t look “dirty” with just the dark wax.  I also used the gold gilding wax on the raised detailing and along those curved areas.

Me with my piece!

All in all it was a fun day, learning new techniques, and spending time with friends {including a new one}! 

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