Child's Rocking Chair with Chalk Paint



Jordyn likes the yellow ABC rocker. The unfinished rocking chair, purchased for 5 dollars at Good Will is now a cheery, vintage yellow....I used yellow latex paint and added plaster of Paris to make my own chalk paint. It looks wonderful, but I wouldn't use a shiney top coat again. I didn't mean to buy glossy ....oops. Now the vintage chalk paint is modern and slick...not my usual style. But, as I said, Jordyn likes it just find.



My Father's Daughter

I was unpacking some bits and pieces I brought back from cleaning out stuff in my mom's house. She died in May, and if anyone has had to go through their parent's belongings, you know how emotionally hard it can be. I found clock parts and gears and all sorts of old gorgeous junk from the turn of the century in the garage. It is a wonderful  inheritance and the discovery made me realize how much I am my father's daughter! For years and years my dad had all kinds of old parts and sundry pieces packed away. How perfect a gift for a shabby-vintage-loving daughter? Of course, the china and the silver tea service are also right up my emotional alley. The older we get, the more we become just like our parents?  The photo above was taken of my refurbished tea cart with the randomly placed gifts. I was sorting and unwrapping objects and placing them here and there before deciding what to do with each gem. I love the photo, it's randomly lovely and particularly poignant for me. Thank you, mom and dad.

Vintage Paper Wreath

My first post to this blog was of a Bride's Pillow I made for my friend Ashley's shower. And as this is the morning after her wedding day, I thought I'd show another item I made for her Mad Hatter Tea Party. Using an old copy of Through the Looking Glass, by Lewis Carroll (of course), I rolled pages starting from the short side and them glued them to a straw wreath form. After the straw was covered with paper rolls I dabbed a walnut stain ink stamp across the edges to give more age and some depth to the preponderance of paper. I saved the illustrations from the pages used for the rolling part and added paper frames to them, cut with my Silhouette SD. The spoons, tea pots, and a letter A for Ashley were also cut with the Silhouette (it's really an amazing cutter). When the wreath was all glued and the decorations all in place, the whole thing was sprinkled with silvery Martha Stewart glitter.  It's magic!

Before and After Buffet

BEFORE

This old buffet/server came from my local Good Will but it seemed too depressing to me so I made some changes with paint and my trusty sandpaper. (If you love old and dark furniture, avert your eyes!)

AFTER

Now that the buffet is a cream color, the carvings in the wood and the details on the piece stand out. I sanded the spots that would have been worn over time and rubbed a little mocha glaze into the crevices. I love it now!



Ashley's Bridal Shower Pillow

I made this pillow to sit on the bride's chair for a recent bridal shower. The bride crown motif is from The Graphics Fairy (so fabulous) at graphicsfairy.blogspot.com.
I downloaded the design, printed it onto a piece of cotton muslin using freezer paper and my deskjet copier. Because the printer takes only 8.5 x 11 or smaller paper, I added strips of the same muslin fabric to make a square pillow top. After sewing the pillow together and adding torn fabric strips for bows, I topped it off with a vintage rhinestone pin found at a thrift store. Ashley loved her pillow (yeah!), and I loved making it for her Mad Hatter Bridal Tea Party.