Recycled cornice board....

Hi Everyone!  I hope your week is off to a great start.  It was hot and windy all day yesterday so no shop work.  It was too windy to open the big doors and too hot in the shop to be out there.  Instead I worked on some things inside the house.  And then a storm came through and it rained!  Thank goodness!  We needed the rain.  It has been so dry and windy here.

I was looking through my drafts the other day and found several that didn't get posted so after some editing...here's one of those posts.  Do you remember I showed you this cornice molding from a house from the 1880's era that I was given?  I decided to turn it into something pretty and useful.

It needed a bit of repair.  Whoever removed it from above that door was not gentle about it.  After repairing some holes, I decided the top ledge needed to be a bit wider.

 I cut a 1x4" board down to the right length and width.  I miter cut the ends to match the angle on the top of it and attached it to the cornice.  This way it can be used as a small ledge...adding to it's usefulness. 

 Then I painted it with Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in Old White.

 Don't you just love the details on it?  I sure do.

 I cut down the rails from an old broken chair to create pegs.  I painted them to match and attached them with glue and screws from the back side.  I took it to the craft fair back at the end of April, but it came home with me.  So I've added it to my stash of inventory for the next craft fair.  I'm hoping I will find it a new home soon because it's just too lovely to be in storage and I have no wall space for it.  Thanks for stopping by.

Linking to:

Headboard sign...

Hi Everyone!  I hope you are having a great week!  Things are finally getting back to normal since all the visitors this summer.  And boy do I have work to do.  With the unbearable heat wave, I'm not as far along in my building of craft fair items as I would like to be.   

Do you remember me showing this headboard to you that my dear aunt Barb found and gave to me for free? Well, it's really too small and really light weight to become a headboard bench.  So I had an idea to make a sign out of it instead.

So I cut the legs off and painted it with ASCP in Old White and distressed it some.

But now my dilemma is what to do with it?  I could make a sign or I could turn it on it's side and do some sort of Subway sign.  But this is what I did....

I hand painted the sign and then added pegs to the bottom for hanging coats or bags.  I'm envisioning it in someone's entry way.  The pegs at the bottom are the bottom 3 1/2" of the legs of a chair that was broken.  I cut them off, drilled a hole with a spade bit to recess the pegs into the board, added glue, then screwed them in from behind.  When the glue was dry I painted the pegs to match the sign and there you have it.  I'm really happy with how it turned out.  Well, I've got to get back out to the shop and paint and sand some benches, not in that order.  Thanks for stopping by.

Chalk painted chair...

Hi Everyone!  I hope you are all surviving the heat wave that's going on around the country.  It's been so hot here this past week that it takes my breath away every time I step outside.  It has made it next to impossible to get any building done, so I'm now behind on my projects for the two upcoming craft fairs that I'm attending.  I've been working on small projects in the house and have yet to move the building inside.  But if the heat doesn't break soon, than that's what I'm going to have to do.  Cut my boards outside, carry them in and then put them together in my living room.  I had to do it that way last summer too.  I would rather not, but sometimes you have to do what you have to do.  

So just what have I been working on...

This chair/step stool has been here on the farm ever since I can remember.  I've seen pictures of my older brother at about age 16 months sitting on it, looking just like it does in this picture, so I know it's been here for at least 40 years.  Before I moved in, it sat in the kitchen at the bottom of the stairs going up, holding the door open.  I moved upstairs into the hallway because I didn't need it in the kitchen and wasn't ready to remake it.  But now that I have the island in my kitchen almost completed, I needed stool and this is almost the perfect size.  It's a hair short, but I didn't want to spend much money on the island so I had to use what was on hand.  I could have taken it apart and reupholstered the back and the seat, but I didn't want to spend any money on this remake, so I painted it with ASCP in Graphite.

So here it is after it's paint transformation.  Sorry about the lighting on the picture, the back isn't really blotchy in the center.  I was surprised with how the chalk paint went on this one.  It didn't leave a texture like it does on furniture pieces and the vinyl still feels really soft.  We'll see how it holds up.  I can always reupholster it later when I feel like spending a little money on it.

The only thing I have left to do is attach the painted cork to the steps of the step stool part.  And the only reason I have to do that is because when I pulled the carpet off that had been on the steps it left a very gritty feel to it that I can't get off of it. 

I have a few more small things to do on the kitchen island and a couple of other stools to remake and then I'll be showing you the big reveal.  Well, thanks for stopping by.

Also, don't forget to sign up for the Uprinting.com giveaway.

Link Parties:

http://moderncountrystyle.blogspot.com/2011/07/paint-please-link-partyoh-and-my-table.html

http://www.missmustardseed.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/furniture-feature-fridays-copy.png

http://www.504main.com/2011/07/tickled-pink-no-57.html

My first Chalk paint project...

Hi Everyone!  Happy Friday!  I'm so sorry I've been MIA lately.  I've been working on projects trying to get ready for two craft fairs and I've been busy with work.  You know how it gets.  I wanted to share with you the first project I did with Chalk paint.  This is a piano bench that I've had since I was around 8 years old.  I had a really cool, antique (even back then) upright piano.  We moved to a new town and it was to be the last thing loaded on the moving truck, but it did not fit.  So we had to leave it behind, but the piano bench had already been packed.  And this is all I have left.  I never took lessons again because of course no piano to practice on.  But this bench has moved around with me and has been living in a corner of my living room with family pictures on it.  I recently moved it to the end of the couch I made but haven't been happy with the color.

Or the two-tone look. And I've never wanted to refinish it and have always been a little nervous about painting it.  But I'm not sure why.  So I thought this was a great first project for me to try out chalk paint.

 What an ugly orange inside.  I just had to show you the inside too.

 And here it is now with Country Grey.  The top took two coats of  paint to cover that water stain and keep the red mahogany color from coming through.

 I lightly sanded the edges and places where feet would hit the stretcher at the bottom.

I know the book that came with my kit said to wax and then sand, I did it the opposite.  I'll have to try it the other way too and see what the difference is.  I used the clear wax and then the dark wax but only in a few places.

And I really like the way it turned out.  I liked not having to prime it and then paint it, but even if I had, the top color would most likely have needed two coats because that red and water stain have been there forever!  Overall I'm really happy with the chalk paint.  I can't wait to try out the other colors.  Well, thanks for stopping by.

Chalk paint....

Hi Everyone!  I know I'm probably the last to finally try Chalk paint, but I finally saved up my pennies and purchased some.  I have wanted to try this forever so I just had to share.  I got mine from Shades of Amber. 

I can't wait for this weekend so I can start using it!  More to come.  Thanks for stopping by.