Paris Chic Side Table

Hello everyone!

Today, I finished this charming side table.

I think it turned out pretty good and am excited to share it with you :)

But before that, I'd just like to say big THANK YOU!!!

to all the people who have bought my furniture.

Especially this year, it seems like my stuff is flying off the shelf

( well, I don't keep them on the shelf though..)

and they are finding a new home quickly, so

THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!

OK, today's 2-tier side table started out like this.

I liked the shape and it had a nice wood grain pattern.

But as usual, I wanted to paint.

( Will I ever just sand and stain a piece?)

The surface was pretty rough,

so I sanded it good.
First, I lined the groove on top white.

Then I thought I'd like it grey with black showing through underneath.

But after the first coat of black paint,

it started to look really classy and I liked it, so I kept it black.

I wanted to make it "French", even though it is made in Canada:)

The other day, I found this gorgeous image of Eiffel Tower from 1919 at

FREE ViNTaGE DiGiTaL STaMPS .

( Thank you Pamela!! )

I glued the image on top with Mod Podge,

 I added "Paris" with stencil on the bottom.

I make my own stencil often because it's fast and easy.

It's hard to find the exact image of what I want at the size I want....

It's much faster if you just make them.

If you'd like to see my easy no fuss stencil, please visit

here.
( you'll be surprised how simple it is!)
One note: It's made of paper,so when it gets moist with paint,
it'll get like this on the picture,
just press down with your fingers as you go,
 be ready to get some paint on your fingers:)
After use,lay it flat and let it dry, then place your paper stencil under a heavy book and it'll be nice and flat, ready to be used again:)

I always get so anxious the moment I take off the paper
to reveal the image underneath....
This time, I thought it looked beautiful and I almost got out of breath..really!! lol

It really looks good in person and my husband said that as well,
 when he saw the finished product for the first time.

Then I sealed the Eiffel Tower image with Mod Podge,

waxed the entire table, applied Polyurethane on both shelves,

waxed again.
I spray painted the hardware metallic silver then added a blue sparkle on it with Gorilla Glue.
My daughter suggested it might be better with clear one.
But it's blue for me.
Black, silver, blue... that's me :)

Here is my new ***French Love***

I tried to keep it chic and simple.

The top

The front & bottom

The side



Well, next project is going to be this cute cute cute side table.( the large one )
I found it last Saturday and can't wait to start working on it!!
( Actually I already sanded the top and filled some scratches)
I'll try to make it look like my another favourite style,
Swedish!!

Take care everyone:)

Sharing at:

      The Shabby Creek Cottage    

Golden Sun & Clouds Round Table

Remember this Vintage Stamps Side Table I did a while ago?

Well he's got a twin sister!!

 

As her twin brother, she started out like this.

Sometimes I know what to do right away, other times I just go with what inspires me during the project. This time was the latter.

I didn't really have a vision other than I wanted it to be

pale blue and white....

So I started painting using my usual homemade chalk paint.

Then I thought I wanted to have a golden rim:)

I did a dry-brushing with white over the gold but I thought I like more gold

so I repainted gold again.

Then I felt like stenciling.

A small but helpful advice:

* Be sure to tape your stencil down when you do a bigger surface*

Because the stencil won't stay in place and more likely to move if you are not careful enough....

Then it looked so pretty ( or so I felt )

I finished it with polyurethane and wax.

Oh I hand painted the handle white.

And here she is!

To me, it looks like a golden sun with blue sky and floating clouds :)

It's a happy looking table.

Here're the photos of the twins ;) 

I'm happy that these tables are done!

Next project is going to be a square side table.

Take care, everyone:)

Sharing at:

The Shabby Creek Cottage

Gray Vintage Dresser

I finally finished this dresser :)

According to the date of *before* pictures,

( I usually take pictures right after I bring them home)

I've had this dresser since November 2011.

*Before*

It passed the winter in the shed with no heat and because of the moisture,

 drawers were stuck for a while....aaarrrggghhh!!!

So in the spring I decided to bring her inside hoping one day the drawers go back to its former shape and start moving.

A couple of months later, the drawers started to glide.

I gave a goooood waxing on the drawer guides and they started to slide nicely:)

Time to paint!

***towering inferno*** lol

You know when you have 9 drawers to paint, it's a lot.

I painted them in my usual homemade chalk paint.

First drawer in the picture is after it's glazed in darker gray.

Glaze gives a nice character:)

I painted the grooves in white, one by one.
I love to do these tiring little painting.

It never bothers me to do it, I just enjoy it:)

Then I spray-painted the handles and waxed the entire dresser.

Sounds so easy but it involved lots of sanding,wood filling,

 painting,glazing and waxing.

Took me a whole year to finish it......

(.....but it's because I often wander around to do some other projects...lol)

Also the backing had a little tear so my hubby replaced  the whole thing,
now it has a brand new backing:)
 It's in the back so no one will see it...but
Thank you darlin' !!

Anyway, here she is!!

I'm pretty happy how she turned out.

 

The back of this dresser is my kitchen.

I didn't design the cabinet but I did choose all the materials.

  and I love it:)

Glazed antique looking cabinet doors, crystal knobs....

It feels very special, especially when you have the opprtunity to

get involved in the project.

This is when the cabinets were being installed.

Granite counter tops were installed.

And here it is all finished:)

( corner cabinet glass was missing at that point)

Kitchen is the heart of a house and I'm blessed to have a kitchen that I love!

But now it's all messy from the cooking

 ( believe me, it doesn't look like this sparkling clean right now,lol)

so I'm going to clean it up.

Take care everyone!

Sharing at:

http://www.theshabbycreekcottage.com/2013/01/transformation-thursday-no-188.html