French Inspired Picture Frame

At the end of last year I found this black picture frame for $1.00 at a thrift sale because it was missing the cardboard that goes behind the glass.  The glass was taped to the frame and I still need to remove the sticky tape residue from that glass.

I instantly thought it would be so pretty painted in a French gold and white style.

I wanted the details of the scroll work to make a better showing on the frame.  All black it doesn't show it's beautiful details.

Plus there were a lot of chips and dings in the black paint.

I gave the entire piece a coat of off-white chalk paint leaving the recessed areas black to give the piece more dimension.

Again I brush over the raised areas on the frame but this time with a gray color.

Next I hit a few areas with aqua colored paint.

Then I brushed a few areas with pink.  And distressed the edges lightly around the frame.

My final coat of paint was a brilliant white.  Again just hitting a few raised areas on the front of the frame just to tone down the aqua and the pink a bit.

The last thing I applied was a liquid gold leaf to some of the scrolls on the frame.

I just wasn't getting the effect of the gold on the frame in these shots.  I was lucky because today the sun was shining brilliantly and outside I went.

Here you can see a better overall view of the finish.  It appears to be white with only a hint of the aqua and  pink.

A very shabby chic finish.  I think I will add this to the downstairs half bath as soon as I have time and energy to repaint that room.  It will coordinate perfectly with the small oval bisque plaque I bought last time I went to the Vintage Market.

Right now that bath is painted a dark color and since it has no windows the room seems even smaller.  

Can't wait to change it up with a new coat of light paint and add some light accessories to that room including this frame.  Now I just need to decide which picture to add to the frame.

Happy Crafting!

Rescued Bunny

I came across this sad little wooden bunny and just had to give him a new life.  Did you ever see such a poor little creature?

First thing I did was clean him up and give him a fresh coat of white paint.

Gave him a face including a pink nose and pink paws.

Then I added a smile and whiskers.

Next I went to my paper stash and found 5 small pennants I cut out, glued to black chipboard, Punched holes and threaded onto baker's twine.  This I hung between the bunnies paw's. using thumbtacks to secure in place.

 And here he is displaying his fine new banner with his fine new look.

Happy Crafting!

Brass Lamp and Lampshade Makeover

Well, we are finally having our first heat wave of the year.  Time to hibernate indoors until the sun goes down.

Last night at about midnight I decided I needed a lamp on the bedside table I just finished.  Hmmm. The only one I could move into the guest room was brass with a dark green shade.  No! Just not right.

I think I get a little daring in the middle of the night. Anyway I decided to paint the lamp aqua.  Now what to do about  the shade.  Well, I read somewhere you can paint fabric with chalk paint.  So that's what I did.

Like I said it was the middle of the night so I forgot to get before pictures.  The shade was dark green like the one above.  And the lamp to the right is very similar to the one I had

I gave the lamp 2 coats of aqua chalk paint.  I really like the color and the shape, now.

The lampshade also took 2 coats of paint.  I used a small stiff brush to work the paint into the trim.

When the paint was dry I used a stencil with gray chalk paint to add the focal medallion.  I was initially concerned that the very dark green fabric would be difficult to hide.  But no, the paint completely covered the dark color.

The lamp gives off a nice soft light for bedside the bed.  Not too bright and glaring.  I have a reading light that is mounted on the wall directly over the bed.  So there is need for bright light from this lamp.

Now I just might have to paint the reading light shade to match this lamp.  I will have to give that some thought.  The fixture is also shiny brass.  Maybe I will paint that to match this lamp, also.

Happy Crafting!

Angel candlesticks

While cleaning my workroom I came across this pair of angel candlesticks.  One of my saved for the future projects I had forgotten about.

I liked the shape but not the color.  There was a bit of white wash but still too much gold tone for my tastes.

So I am painting them with chalk paint.  I couldn't decide if I was going to use pink or white.

I decided to go with the white first.

close up of original finish

I went with a combination of both.  Here is a picture of just the white paint on one of them.

First I painted the entire piece off white and then mixed some of the white with pink to create a blush color that I used on the high areas to give them an overall blush color.  I let that dry.

Next I mixed a little pearl acrylic paint with alcohol in a mister and sprayed the areas I wanted to give a very slight sheen to.

I had a really hard time photographing these to show the blush color I ended up with, they are actually as softer shade of blush pink in person . No matter the lighting or background I just couldn't get a true color.

They have a very soft pink tint.

I am afraid I need to get to bed since I ended up working on these after dinner and then took pictures.

Hallie is sitting here looking at me with that look of "why are you still up" I want you to go to bed so I can cuddle for awhile before I start my night antics.  If you have a cat you know what I mean.  They don't sleep at night.  For them it is time to play.

Here are the finished pieces.

Really bad lighting

Happy Crafting!