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I found this tray table at a flea market a couple of months ago. While the dealer was transporting it to sell it, a sharp object of some sort pierced the wicker tray and put a hole in it. However, I still fell in love with this piece and I knew my husband could do something to salvage this sweet little table.
The before pictures are coming up, but here was the solution to my problem. I got some quarter-inch plywood at Lowe's. All it took was a 24x24 sheet. My husband traced the top of the table and reduced his tracing by 1/2 an inch all the way around and then took his jigsaw and cut a new piece to insert over the damaged wicker. The insert needed to be a little smaller than the lip of the tray.
You can see how beautiful this table is. The details are stunning. Once the new oval was cut, my husband spread wood glue all over one side of the new piece of wood and pressed it into the tray. He weighted it down with heavy books to make sure he had good contact while the glue was drying.
The next day he painted the entire piece white, and although his new oval insert wasn't perfect, it all blended in nicely.
I'm thrilled with the finished product. Now, if you like this stencil, here is the source, and if you put in the code Miss Maggie you will get 15 percent off your stencil. This is a great offer to my readers, and just so you know, I receive nothing for promoting these stencils. I just love to share great sources with you when I find them.
Thanks for visiting.
Fridays French Country Cottage My Romantic Home Miss Mustard Seed
Potpourri Friday Common Ground
I just wanted to show you this lampshade that I embellished with this gorgeous silky rose and some velvet vintage ribbon. When I found this floor lamp, it was dark brown and the shade was a deep red. I found a replacement shade at a yard sale the next day that fit perfectly, but it was too plain and blah after I had painted the base of the lamp with Old White.
I learned how to make this rose from Carol at The Polka Dot Closet. I love Carol's blog and I absolutely love this rose that she did a wonderful tutorial on. You can find the instructions to make these here.
You can see how beautiful this soft romantic lamp looks among rustic and primitive items. I just love the look.
I also wanted to share these gorgeous signs I found at a flea market this weekend. They are about 4 feet tall and they were movie props. I wish I knew which movie they starred in. Wouldn't they make great shutters?
One last thing before I leave you today. This weekend is the monthly warehouse sale for the Little French Flea Market. We'll be open Thursday through Sunday from 9:00 to 4:00. If you're in the area, please come and see us.
Thanks for stopping by.
Partying at these beautiful blogs.
Wednesdays Savvy Southern Style Ivy and Elephants
Thursdays The Shabby Creek Cottage No Minimalist Here
Fridays French Country Cottage My Romantic Home Miss Mustard Seed
Common Ground
Rooted in Thyme
Last week I got lucky when I was out and about and I found this wonderful round occasional table. It was in good condition except that the finish screamed mid century and that's not my look at all.
My husband was kind enough to paint the bottom with my favorite aqua color and the top got a coat of Old White.
I scoured Pinterest for some "pinsperation" and combined several of the clocks into one design for my sweet little project. I had the stencils, the rubber stamps, the graphics and I knew I wanted an old world feel.
I had this lion image, which I'm not even sure where I found it, but it was black and white. I used Picasa to convert it to sepia tone and did my reverse decoupage treatment. The rest of this table was done with various stencils.
I stenciled the Roman numerals on first and then I added the small compass numbers underneath the larger numbers. I found in my rubber stamps this fleur de lis stamp that you see on the outer edge by the Roman numerals.
I used an inexpensive line stencil to draw the lines on the edge of the design and then used the word "Paris" and the date from some of my Maison de Stencils.
I stuck to the brown tones and a tiny bit of charcoal to keep my sepia tone going. I cheated a little bit on the clock hands by printing out a graphic I found on Pinterest and then I just traced it onto my piece and filled it in with the brown paint. Use pencil if you try this, not ink.
When I was happy with the look of the table top I gave it a good heavy sanding to give the whole table a worn, aged look. Lastly, it got a clear coat to seal in the design.
I've been wanting to do a clock face table for it seems like forever. I'm so glad I gave it a try. I love the results.
Thanks for stopping by.
I party at these beautiful blogs.
French Country Cottage My Romantic Home Miss Mustard Seed
Common Ground
The Charm of Home
I love transforming small little cabinets into one of a kind pieces, and this little gem was no exception. It's almost a total tone on tone color scheme that is simple yet elegant.
It was a reproduction silver chest, probably from Bombay Company. I painted it Old White and applied this beautiful image with my old standby transfer method of reverse decoupage. I've had several questions on this process, but I can't respond because the people who had questions are a no-reply status. E-mail me if you have specific questions and include your e-mail address.
I will try to answer some of the questions here. First of all, this technique works best on flat paint or chalk paint. The images will not stick to shiny slick surfaces. If you like a shinier finish for your finished piece, you can always go over it with a clear satin or gloss spray when your project is completed. Second of all, I have the best luck with black and white graphics like the ones you can find on Graphics Fairy or Pinterest. I have a whole Pinterest board devoted to black and white printable images, and you can find many images there. Lastly, be patient. Once your reverse decoupage is complete and your image is transferred, take light sandpaper and sand your image lightly to get off any fuzzy residue of the paper. When this is complete, I go over the graphic with clear wax. That brings back the crispness of the ink, and then I spray the finished product with a clear coat. I like Deft lacquer spray the best, but Valspar makes a clear spray suitable for indoor/outdoor use as well.
I like to embellish these little pieces with a little extra detail. I found this fabulous scroll stencil on Etsy at Wall Masque Stencil. Isn't it fabulous? You can use it with joint compound to make this raised plaster effect. I have also done a tutorial on this raised plaster technique using joint compound. Click here to see it.
Here is the image I used on my little silver chest. It's called French Quarter, and it's a great image to use on furniture if you want to give it a Frenchy flair. I use this reverse mod podge technique a lot. I can give my upcycled pieces a hand painted romantic look for anywhere between 29 cents and 59 cents. You can't beat that, and I save hours of work with a single transfer.
Thanks for visiting.
You can find me partying at these beautiful blogs.
French Country Cottage My Romantic Home Miss Mustard Seed
Common Ground
Ivy and Elephants
This was supposed to be last week's post, but we had a little design flaw that had to be worked out. This bench was made from found objects, mostly objects found in my stash.
Here is the inspiration photo I found on Pinterest one day when I was looking for potting bench ideas. When I saw this, it just so happened I had just come across a Radio Flyer wagon and had also just found a kitchen cart at my favorite flea market.
I rummaged through my stash to see what else I could find to complete the project. The shelf is made from an old dresser drawer front and the trim you see on the front of it was made from the bottom skirt from the same dresser. I had two of these windows, some cute little brackets found in my travels that were never used and some curtain rod brackets.
The inside of the wagon was pretty rusty so my husband sanded it with a wire brush and painted the inside of the tray white. Then he removed the wheels which are being saved for another project and attached the wagon with bolts to the top of my kitchen cart. All the wood got a coat of Old White to make things look uniform.
I am fresh out of plants and potting soil since it is the dead of winter (even here in California) so I'm sharing this project as a beverage cart/food cart. Wouldn't this be great for parties if you lined the wagon and filled it with ice? Simply place your sodas and other beverages in the ice. Your glasses can go on the shelf and you have another shelf on the bottom for extras. This kitchen cart had a wine rack underneath perfect for an out door barbecue.
Here is the before picture just as we were about to fit the wagon onto the top of the table so we could drill the holes. I know my husband reads my blog and he is probably saying "We?" I will admit he did all the labor and heavy lifting on this project. I was simply the director. If you are wondering about our design flaw, it was that the window had to be attached with L-brackets on the front and the back at the base. Otherwise, the weight of it caused it to lean. Now it stands straight and tall.
Thanks for stopping by. The Little French Flea Market is open this weekend. You can find the address on Facebook. We are located in Chatsworth, California.
I may be partying at...
Mondays Le Chateau des Fleurs The Graphics Fairy
Between Naps on the Porch Metamorphosis Monday
Wednesdays Ivy and Elephants
Fridays French Country Cottage My Romantic Home Miss Mustard Seed
Common Ground
Saturdays Funky Junk Interiors
I was hoping to share a Pinterest inspired project this week but we just couldn't get the finishing touches done so I will share it next week. This week I'm sharing a simple two-tiered pedestal that I found at the flea market. It's totally vintage and was painted a not so exciting plain white.
I spruced it up with some aqua paint on the base and left the shelves white. I added one of my favorite black and white images with my reverse mod podge method that I have shared countless times.
I used an inexpensive stencil and dabbed some joint compound to give it some three-dimensional features and I love the end result.
Here are a couple of my latest projects and some new images I have been using that go along with this same theme. I love the aqua with the black and white.
This is a great color combination and aqua is a really popular color this year.
And now for some exciting news. I've been a vendor at the Little French Flea Market for the last year and have loved the experience of having one-on-one contact with my customers. Well, now there is the Little French Flea Market Warehouse, and I just joined in on the fun. This is where all my projects that I do for the flea market will be while we are getting ready for the next big event. I, of course, am still a vendor at Aubergine Emporium in Simi Valley, California so you can find me in both places.
The warehouse is open Thursday through Sunday the 4th weekend of every month or by appointment.
This is a fun place to shop and I'm very excited to be joining this group of fine dealers. You can follow Little French Flea Market on Facebook to receive updates and contact information.
Thanks for your visit. As always I love it when you drop by.
I may be partying at...
Mondays Le Chateau des Fleurs The Graphics Fairy
Between Naps on the Porch Metamorphosis Monday
Wednesdays Savvy Southern Style Ivy and Elephants
Fridays French Country Cottage My Romantic Home Miss Mustard Seed
Potpourri Friday Common Ground
The Charm of Home Rooted in Thyme
I thought I would take a break from my usual projects and share some crystal pendants I made for the last flea market. I made 20 of these and they are all different but they could be used for a lot more than just jewelry.
I used some of my old lamp crystals and decoupaged an image to the back of the crystal. I then wrapped them with copper foil and soldered the foil. You do need some stain glass training for this technique.
I got many compliments on these and customers seemed to like them. As usual, when I introduce something new, the concept is slow to take off. I sold a few of them, and I'm sure I will sell more of them next time.
I used a simple ball chain to keep my prices reasonable. To age the chain and the soldered foil, I used an aging chemical to turn the metal dark. One caveat if you try this, the chemical does not seal the metal so it can rub off on your skin.
I used Deft lacquer spray and gave each chain three sprayings of the Deft, turning the chain as I went. Then I used some furniture wax on the back of the pendant. I wore my pendant for three days and not a drop of the aged metal wore off on my skin or clothes. I do love these pendants. I can just imagine how pretty they would be on altered bottles, lamp pulls, chandeliers or whatever else you can think of.
Thanks for your visit.
I may be partying at...
Mondays Le Chateau des Fleurs The Graphics Fairy
Between Naps on the Porch Metamorphosis Monday
Wednesdays Savvy Southern Style Ivy and Elephants
Fridays French Country Cottage My Romantic Home Miss Mustard Seed
Potpourri Friday Common Ground
The Charm of Home Rooted in Thyme
Saturdays Funky Junk Interiors
