Faux Copper Lamp

I seem to have a thing for lamps lately.  If you read my blog then you may remember the floor lamp I did recently, you can see it here.  I see some very cool lamps at the thrift shops all the time. I like the older lamps that have the nice lampshades with an actual frame you can work with.

Last weekend I went shopping at Collettes Vintage flea market & found the perfect style lamp.  I loved the shape of both the lamp & the shade. Plus the shade had the good frame.  The old cord was very worn so I asked my hubby to replace it.  It's inexpensive & very easy to do.  Better to be safe then sorry.

I had a paint technique I wanted to try. It's called "Copper Verdigris".  Here is a picture of the lamp before, well kind of before. I was so excited to get started that I didn't remember to take the dang picture until I had already started painting.

This is a glazed ceramic lamp & yes I am painting it.  Will it rub off once it's dry?   Hope not, guess I'll find out.  I gave it a quick sanding for good measure.   I'm using a paint I used back in my Faux Finish days.  It's called Modern Masters.  It's a fabulous paint, their metallics are exceptional.  

It's used on the castle roofs at Disney.

So this is the color I went with,  it has a nice dark copper look to it.  It's pretty opaque so it only took one coat.

Once that was good & dry I gave it a quick coat of The Vintage Farmhouse distressing paint in "Milk Pail", my favorite color.

Looks kind of scary at this point.  Now for the fun part,  I let this dry then I did another coat of the same color but I used a sea sponge.  I wanted to give it some depth.

You want some of that copper to show thru in some places.  After that dried, I took alittle bit of a lighter blue called "Mason Jar" & sponged it on lightly.  I wanted the shape to pop so I highlighted the raised detail of the lamp.  I'm really liking it at this point, but I think it needs a little bling.  

So I added another metallic paint called "Warm Silver". Once again I applied it with the sea sponge very, very sparingly.  You just want it here & there.

Now I'm loving this!  I let the whole thing dry over night.  I was a bit nervous weather the paint was going to rub off but so far so good.  I did do a coat of spray poly first, then I did a coat of wax.  Not a speck of paint rubbed off when I buffed out the wax.  Woo Hoo!!

Now for the lamp shade.  It needed some help, the poor thing was so stained.  Do you remember the French paper I used on my last project, here?  I wanted to try this paper on a lamp shade.  I stripped off the silk fabric,

This is what the bones of the good old lampshades look like.  So many possibilities....

I used Modge Podge to glue the paper to the frame of the shade one panel at a time.  You have to be very patient with this.  I did every other panel first then went back & finished the opposite panels.

Here is the lamp all done...

I am really in Love with this now....

Notice the subtle sparkle that last metallic layer added?

Such a pretty lamp....

I hope this inspires you to try this fun paint technique.  It's easy to do & looks amazing when your all done.  I may have to try this on a larger piece sometime.   

Thanks so much for stopping by, please check us out on Facebook.  Have a great day,   Dee

Sweet Waterfall Vanity

This has been my month for the Roadside Treasure scores.  It seems like I have found something cool every week for about a month now.  Seriously, I'm just counting in my head & I'm at at least 9 items. My best score was the Charak table, you can read about it here.  I found this sweet little Waterfall Vanity the very next week:

It was missing the mirror, but was in great shape!

I added a little trim here & there, cleaned it up & painted it with my new Vintage Farmhouse Paint in a color called "Milk Pail".

I wanted to use a fun color on this piece & this was perfect.  The same week I found the vanity I also found the perfect mirror to go with it & yes! it was also a Roadside Treasure.  I swear!!!

You can see the silver is very worn & perfectly chippy.  It was just meant to go with this vanity.

Here they are together in my Booth.  LOVE IT!!

I had a bench we picked up a few months ago just waiting for a vanity. We painted it "Mason Jar" in the Vintage Farmhouse chalk paint & put some funky fabric on the seat cushion.

How cute is that!?  Some teenage girl is going to so want that.  

What do you think? Is it to over the top?  I like it!

Have you painted anything fun lately?

Thanks for stopping by, check us out on Facebook to see what we're up to. Have a great week,  Dee

Chippy Blue Dresser

Hope you all are settling in to the back to school routine. I for one am thoroughly enjoying it. It's amazing how much more I can accomplish once school starts.

My Mom surprised me with the cutest little dresser she picked up one day in her many travels.  She warned me it was in rough shape.

This poor little thing was so dry that two of the drawers had big cracks in them & it was also cracked on one side.  The paint was also cracked & totally chipping.  

There were crayon scribbles all over on it.

You can see in this picture the crack on the side & how dry it was.

We decided to start by sanding off the chipping paint.  So my ever patient Husband took the palm sander to her.   Once she was sanded & smooth, she didn't look so bad.  

She has this amazing aged patina. With all my faux finish & painting knowledge, I doubt I could duplicate this beautiful patina.

I decided to just clear wax her.  It would be a sin to strip & paint this little beauty.

Here she is with her new polished look.

 I just love the different depths of color & texture.  And the size is perfect for a bathroom, dining room or guest bedroom.

This is by far the chippiest piece I've ever done.

Which is probably why I love it so much.

She shined up beautiful.......

She's not perfect, one of her drawers is wonky, but their all tongue & groove. 

This little beauty is going right onto my booth.  Wish we could keep her because both me & my Husband just love it, but alas we have no room for her.  I'm sure someone will love her with all her wear & imperfections.  

Don't forget to check us out on Facebook to see what's happening. Thanks for stopping by & a have a great day!  Dee

Cozumel, the Color

I love Cozumel.....

 Warm tropical breezes...

The coral reefs..... 

The beautiful Aqua blue warm ocean...

Don't you just want to go there & stay forever?

Someday I hope to visit, but until then I will settle for using my new favorite color.  You guessed it, "Cozumel".  It's a color by Clark & Kensington from Ace Hardware & I love it!

This is the first piece I painted in this color:

I was in love after the first coat....

We happened to have a twin bed that went nicely with the table so we painted it the same color.....

I added a little bling, this is actually a metallic paint called "Oyster  Pearl". It didn't photograph very well, but looks very sparkly in person.

Super cute together, don't you think?

I just couldn't wait to use this color again, so I had an old phone table that needed a new look.  Does anyone even use a phone table anymore?

I found the perfect retro graphic at my favorite source The Graphics Fairy. 

Then I added a little modern spin to it:

What teenage girl wouldn't love this?

What would you use this cute phone table for?

Cozumel... someday I hope to see it. For now I will just enjoy the color.  Thanks for stopping by,  Dee

Turquoise Blue Dresser

Hi everyone, I hope you all had a great Spring Break. I for one am happy to get back into the back to school routine. 

In the middle of last Summer my Mom was visiting my Aunt who was giving us a couple of desks. She also had an enormous dresser in her basement she was hoping we could use.

Here is a picture of the before:

When she came home & showed me this picture. My first thought was "Wow, I'm not sure paint could help that poor thing."

So there it stayed & waited, & waited, & waited.

Finally six months later we were ready to tackle this project. After putting hours into cleaning, gluing, & clamping it was ready for paint.

With all that detail I thought a bold color would really look good.

We went with this gorgeous turquoise blue, it's called "Pacific Palisades" from Benjamin Moore.

 

Wow what a difference paint can make!

After I took these pictures I realized we had the drawers in wrong.

Here is what it is supposed to look like:

Available at Sassy Fabrics in Grand Blanc, MI

Can you believe those handles? This is a style you either love or hate. I have to admit, it's growing on me. 

So what do you think? Could you live with this dresser?

I am so proud of my Mom, she did this one all on her own. I think she did a beautiful job. It turned out as vibrant & beautiful as she is.

Isn't she cute? She's full of energy & loves to laugh & have fun. Thanks Mom for all your help!

See what we're up to on Facebook. We have some exciting new things coming up. Thanks for visiting & have a great day!  Dee