Another Recycled Lamp

When we purchased our house, the owners left several lamps in the pitifully staged house. Seriously, there were a couple of TV trays (like from the 1960s) with lamps and timers in the rooms that did not have overhead lighting. I redid the mid-century lamp from the basement. Check it out: HERE

 And I wanted to see what I could do with two of these:

For about five minutes in the 1970's I thought these glass lamps were interesting, but I always felt like there needed to be something inside them. 

Seashells in a beach house ... maybe. Silk flowers ... NEVER.

The shape reminded me of blue and white ginger jar lamps...which I like. Since there is no way in the world I could ever paint something like that myself, I thought I would decoupage with cocktail napkins. It seemed to be a simple, interesting technique. 

I headed to Tuesday Morning (one of my favorite places) looking for inspiration.

I ended up with a package of guest towels, $2.99 for 16. I liked the repeat pattern and the fact that there were only 2 colors. 

I got my sharp little scissors and put on Netflix while I snipped away. Once the patterns were cut out, all I had to do was carefully peel away the two white layers of paper, leaving me with a very thin layer of paper with the pattern. I had watched some videos about using cocktail napkins for decoupage. Really pretty simple.

While I carefully practiced the scissor skills I learned in elementary school, I watched anther episode of REIGN.

Next I reached for the Annie Sloan Chalk Paint that sticks to glass.

I chose Versailles, a pale, grayish green, and applied 2 coats.

I used the Annie Sloan decoupage medium, because her stuff is designed for the non-professional crowd. 

All I had to do was paint the medium on the spot where I wanted to apply my paper, stick it on, and cover it with a thin layer of the medium. I then waited 20 minutes for the medium to dry and added a second coat. The instructions say to use 4 - 5 coats for best results. Super easy. I covered the entire piece with the medium so the finish would be the same. This product is an all-in-one glue and glaze.

It "popped" a little more than I wanted, so I used the Annie Sloan dark wax to tone it down. Because of the glazed surface from the decoupage medium, I did not start with the clear wax. I could not find any instructions for using dark wax with the decoupage medium, so I just made it up as I went along. I turned out fine.

(Forgot to take a picture of the dark wax application)

The lamp was looking not right, so I decided to add gilding wax. I started with my finger and then got a Q-tip because the areas were small. The more I applied, the better I liked it. It was a little tedious, so I put on another episode of REIGN. Then it hit me - I was recreating the costumes of the royal characters with their gold-threaded damask!

Do you see it, too??

One lamp down, one to go.

 Or should I try something else? Please let me know what you think!

The lamp next to gilt-edged poetry books from the 19th century that belonged to my great-grandfather (the books, not the century).

While the contractor is tearing down walls in the next room, I was hanging the pictures to make a little vignette. Hubby has always said I want to hang the pictures before the walls are even up. He is literally correct this time. 

New Life for Mid-Century Lamp

It has been a busy and frustrating week - lots of things started but nothing finished. So I thought I would share a little project I did a few weeks ago.

When we bought our house last year, several odds and ends were left by the sellers. The basement had two pretty scary looking items - a plaid sofa bed and...

this charming lamp. Hard to believe that anyone would have bought this.

While learning about Annie Sloan's Chalk Paint,  people suggested practicing on scraps of trim. Since I was thinking about painting glass and some other lamps left in the house, I decided to get crazy and see what I could do.

Still skeptical about non-traditional surfaces, I started by cleaning off years of grime with baby wipes.

I then painted the lamp with ASCP Chateau Gray.

I used a blow dryer to make the paint crackle.

Totally cool result. Looks like really old paint.

After waxing with ASCP Clear Wax, I applied the Dark Wax lightly everywhere and more heavily to the crevices to make them recede.

Wanting to try as many different techniques as possible, I colored some Clear Wax with ASCP Duck Egg Blue. 

I then applied that light blue wax on areas that I wanted to pop out - the little buttons and the raised portions.

On the right side the light is catching the blue and giving it a real glow. On the left side you might be able to see the blue without any additional light - really interesting effect.

I put the lamp in my little temporary setting with yard furniture. Since we will be starting the remodel soon, I have almost no furniture in the house.

I can sit in my bouncy chair and read my gardening book!

For anyone who has read this far ...

 I WILL GIVE  AWAY THE LAMP TO THE FIRST PERSON WHO CONTACTS ME.

Mid-Century Modern is not my style. But if it works for you, let me know. 

We will post in the comments when someone claims it. 

The Mirror with a French Touch

Think I rescued this from an old chateau? I'll tell you the real story.

My mom rescued the mirror from a church yard sale ... for all of $1. Notice the glass around the mirror. Not sure why.  And whatever glue they used to stick the mirror to the glass has caused some damage to the reflection. The wood trim was originally that strangely patterned brown stain you see at the bottom.  The white is just where I cleaned my brush off on the wood. What is it about ugly stuff that makes me want to start with the graffiti?

My thought was to use Efex bendable furniture molding to transform this from the 1970's to the 1770's. I drove out to the Empty Nest in Warrenton, VA. They are my closest Efex dealer and still about an hour away. But the drive was worth it to meet Janet and her wonderful staff. I have been cyber-stalking them for months and knew they would be able to give me the inspiration I needed. They took the moldings out of the packaging to let me play with them and even let me cut a frame into pieces before I paid for it! 

I ended up with two Efex frames (F15), two cans of Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in French Linen and Versailles, and the seed of a plan. 

The first step was to paint the glass with ASCP in Versailles. Yes, you can paint glass with this paint. Amazing, huh?

The second step was to paint the wood with ASCP in French Linen. 

The next morning all was dry and ready for some fun. Here is the frame before I deconstructed it.

This was my original plan, but I thought I better make sure. Looking pretty good. But what if I put more of the decoration at the top?

I'm liking this better. But it feels a little top-heavy.

 Now we're talkin'.

But the short pieces are not doing it for me. My original thought had been to cut apart the four sides, but I decide to cut the short sides in two also, leaving me with 2 large pieces and 4 small pieces from each frame. 

I think it is best to stretch the material and then make the cut with scissors.

You can see how each of the short sides can become two pieces that are mirror reflections. The edges are a bit blunt, but that is easily fixed with the scissors.

You can see the little crumbs that I trimmed away.

After I finish all the cuts, I have four pairs of leaves and four large pieces for the top, bottom and 2 sides.

I first put all four of one shape together, but it reminds me of a bad '80s hairdo.

Alternating is definitely much preferable.

Time to glue. There are loads of tutorials out there, but the short story is: trace the shape with a pencil, apply contact cement to the back of the Efex and where you are going to attach it, let dry 15 - 20 minutes, press the piece on. Done.

Next I apply a second coat of ASCP in French Linen, covering the moldings too.

Here's the truth -Not real sure what I'm going to do next. So I put a touch of ASCP in Versailles on the molding and apply Annie Sloan Clear Wax.  Hmm. Now what?

 I want it to look really old, so I start with some Annie Sloan Dark Wax and rub it back as I go. Again, there are lots of videos on how to apply the clear and dark waxes. Watch those if this is new to you.

 I'm liking the look so I keep going, covering both the French Linen and the Versailles, adding extra in corners and around the molding, like hundreds of years of dust and grime are covering this thing.

Then I apply gilding wax to the moldings. This is getting fun!

And the close-up.

 It turned out even better than I imagined.

I am thinking about using it at the top of the stairs. Or maybe near the front door. 

New Life for an Old Sofa

According to my mother, this was one of my grandmother's first (and favorite) furniture purchases when she married in 1926. From Mom's childhood perspective, it was originally upholstered in brown "horsehair" that was itchy to sit on. All of my memories of the piece had a skirt covering the legs. For the last 25-30 years I have tried to talk my mother into exposing these great legs! So she gave me the sofa and I did it. 

And this is what I received. Fitting for Halloween - orange and scary. 

My mother had it upholstered in an indestructible orange fabric in 1968. Fur from every dog my parents ever owned was embedded in the fibers. That gray shading on the left is dog fur. Yuck. 

As I stripped off the fabric, I found small toys, game pieces, 37 cents in change, a TicTac, and an M&M - I microcosm of Grandmom and Grandad's life. I also found thread from the original greenish-brown velvet upholstery.

The wood was originally stained dark brown, but I forgot to take a picture. I painted it with Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in Old White, used clear wax and dark wax, then distressed it with sandpaper. The final touch was gilding wax.

 I remember this teal colored fabric from my childhood. My grandmother also used linen slipcovers in the summer, which I remember. 

The small samples are from Fabricguru. Selection and prices are good, and my order arrived in just a few days. I had to pay for the samples, but they gave me a discount code that more than covered what I paid for the samples. I will use them again.

If you look closely, you can see the gilding. The speckles on the wood are original to the piece - I guess their version of distressing. The blue fabric was what an earlier upholsterer used in lieu of burlap. You can also see how dark the original stain was.

I did my first upholstery shortly after college with help from a library book. Now I use Youtube.

My favorites are a series of 7 videos beginning here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YskrFzNoPKg

He is restoring a sofa the same age as mine. This is how the professionals do it!

A professional would have had straighter lines, but that would easily have been $1000.

I ended up finishing the edge with the same fabric I used for the upholstery - not nailhead trim or gimp. I felt like the sofa would be too busy. I like how it turned out.

I can hardy wait for my living room to be finished.  I will be refinishing(and sharing) some chairs from my other grandmother to create a room with a French cottage feel.

I bought the needlepoint pillows at Marshalls or TJMAXX many years ago  and would love to find more. I found a few on ebay, but they cost more than what I paid for them brand new! Any suggestions??