"Free" Dandelion Storage Table

(or Dandy-Lion)

I purchased this fixer upper on a local sales site for $2.50! Yes! That's right! $2.50!! Beat up, missing hardware and some loose joints, it was ready for a facelift! 

I was so excited to get started that I forgot to take a before picture. Here it is glued up, wrapped and ready for its re-appearance! 

After prepping and priming, the lid got a fresh coat of white paint, while the drawer front, top and sides were dressed in a medium gray. The inside of the storage area and the inside of the drawer got a coat of  sea glass light green.

Wanting to customize the "new" little guy, I downloaded a piece of clipart of a dandelion with the seeds blowing off into the air.  I transferred this design by tracing the design on the reverse with a pastel and then taping and transferring the design onto the lid.  I also traced some of the seeds onto the top of the stand.

The lid still needed a little something. The word "free" came to mind to convey the seeds drifting off into the air.  The font I chose is called Freestyle (I just now noticed the name...FREE).  I transferred this to the lower right side of the lid, using the same method as the dandelion.

All of the designs were handpainted in the same medium gray as the base. The seeds that flowed onto the top were painted in white.

Since the stand was missing some hardware, I picked some up off of ebay. (That search took hours, because I didn't want to have to fill and drill new holes.)  

Ready for the "after"?  

Here it is!

The top and lid got a couple of coats of poly and it was off to its new home!

I LOVE seeing pieces in their new homes!!

Gray and Coral Chevron Desk

We're celebrating! Hard work pays off! Our first feature!

This little beauty came to us in not-so-nice condition. Someone had loved it very much. It had stickers on it. The finish was worn. If I remember correctly, there was still a couple of lost crayons in one drawer.

(Wait, let me grab my coffee...okay, ready now.)

I LOVE updating pieces; seeing the color go on and watching your vision for the piece play out is so rewarding, However, I really dispise the prep work for painting a piece.  Removing stickers, sanding, priming, filling in big chips, regluing loose joints, on and on and on. Why can't we just paint??

Often, there's more time and effort in prepping the pieces than in the actual delightful, relaxing painting. I know, right about now, some of you are thinking I"m crazy. You could be right, but I actually dig (like that throw back word?) the painting process.

After prepping this little desk (UGH!), Olivia had a vision for it. (She takes after me...) She painted the base a medium, charcoal gray. The top was given two coats of vivid white.It was coming along beautifully. But there was one thing wrong. Looking a tthe colors and the revamp plan, the Colonial knobs were like a burlap sack with a woman's formal gown: they just didn't match.So, they were primed and painted white to match the top. They looked SO much better!! Now the purse matched the gown!

Sometimes, I prefer handpainting, such as in our Fleur De Lis Table http://bit.ly/15AZtVA but not always.

Sometimes a stencil is what a piece needs. That was the case for this desk. The next step was the most fun. Using a chevron stencil by Cutting Edge Stencils found here on their website http://bit.ly/15EjHUk We have used their stencils for other pieces, that we'll share in the future. Their stencils are ahhh-mazing! They're bendable, strong, and they clean up easeily.  For the desk, we wanted an oversized chevron so we purchased the larger one from Cutting Edge. Using a trendy bright coral, we gave the stenciled area two coats of paint. After removing the stencil, there were a lot of bleeds and uneven edges. It's frustrating when you think a piece is going to be done and BAM! More work; but thankfully, the straight lines in the stencil made it easier. All it took was some painter's tape and a paintbrush to clean them up.

I'm feeling better now.

In the end, it all came together into one little charming piece. And, all of that hard work: sanding, priming, unsticking, regluing - yeah, all of that paid off! Not only did the desk find a new home, Cutting Edge Stencils gave us props on their blog! Take a look! http://bit.ly/15J2K49 We are so excited, humbled and blown away!

I guess Mom, Dad and the teachers were right; hard work DOES pay off. Now, go do some hard work, enjoy the process, and get some kudos!

LABOR Day DIYs!

I hope you all had a wonderful Labor Day!

Mine was definitely a LABOR day. We're taking a small break from the vintage furniture painting that Sow's Ear usually does, and we're making some updates around the house. This weekend was a crazy-busy one. We did manage to squeeze in a family picnic in between all the projects.  

Stephanie, over at By Stephanie Lynn @ http://www.bystephanielynn.com/2013/09/sunday-showcase-party-210.html is hosting a linky party, asking her readers to share their recent projects. I'm going to her party!

Ready to take a peek at what we accomplished? It might not seem like a lot, but it was labor and time intensive. I have the blisters to prove it!

I'm very frugal when it comes to anything! Honestly, unless it's something that I fall absolutely in love with, I'm always looking for a way to do it myself...CHEAPER!

First, there was the stairway/hallway wallpaper project

I don't have any "before" pictures, but believe me the 1980's wallpaper that graced this space was not graceful in any way. It had a cornflower blue, mauve and beige color palette. Not horrible, but the crayon, pencil and tears were not helping matters.  I had the strange blue/green Berber carpet that had to stay. At our local Habitat Restore I found a paisley wallpaper with the same strange teal color, along with tan, bronze and gold. The best part ---- ONLY $1 per double roll!!  Yep!  LOVE it!

Although this seemed like a straight forward project, there were angles, cut ins, railing brackets. It was really time intensive, but I think it turned out very nice.

By the way, see those nice teal knobs on the dresser? They used to be white! I colored the white glass with a teal sharpie, let them dry overnight, baked them in a 350 degree oven for 30 minutes, and VOILA!! New, updated, color-matched knobs!

Second up -- the Dreaded Deck

It was painted 2 years ago and definitely needed a new coat of makeup! I repainted the floor; UGH!! Drudgery! Then came the fun part!  Putting the eyeshadow, liner and blush on the foundation.

I purchased a 6 by 8 foot outdoor rug at Home Depot for just over $17  http://tinyurl.com/kun6fbf .  I made a stencil and with a couple of cans of paprika and white spay paint, created a one-of-a-kind outdoor rug.  More updates included the pillow covers for the reading area. Fabric Guru ( http://tinyurl.com/l3nwwre ) has become my online go-to for fabric. Even with the $4.99 shipping cost, I can find current patterns at affordable prices. The antique headboard potting bench was a project that my brother completed for me as a Christmas present. He's a good guy!  Another project FINI!

Third up...bedroom curtain tie backs and DIY easy Roman shades

Kind of following the directions from 365 Days to Simplicity (http://tinyurl.com/mbbuh2r ) and some $1/yard fabric that I picked up at Wally World, I made three Roman shades that replaced the worn out, gross mini blinds in my bedroom. The directions for the custom tie backs are found here: http://sowsear2.blogspot.com/2013/09/one-of-kind-curtain-tie-backs.html What d'ya think?

And, Fourth, but not last (sigh) Upcycled Burlap Covered Boxes

Using office paper boxes I recreated the burlap storage boxes found at One Kings Lane for a fraction of the price. The original price for this set of three boxes was $69; and the largest box was 8"H x 15.75"W x 12"L http://tinyurl.com/kr7dzx3    With my trustly glue gun, scissors, and some paitence, I was able to reproduce a much larger box for $.25 a piece. The boxes were free and I found the burlap coffee bags at a local greenhouse supply warehouse for 25 cents a piece!! You can't get much more frugal than that!

Well, I think that's enough for one weekend, don't you? Phew! I'm going to go take a nap!

The Lady and the Gentleman - in RED

Lady and Gentleman in Red

Darn it!! I have this terrible habit of getting too excited about new projects. I forgot to make absolutely sure I had before pics of both of these chairs. Oh well, I'm not gonna take them apart and start over! Here's the before of The Gentlman (he's called that because he's just a little bigger than The Lady).

Both members of this couple had seen better days: the cane was brittle and coming apart; the veneer was worn through in a few places; joints were loose.  But, they have wonderful "bones."

On a side note: don't ever, ever try to make red chalk paint with high definition paint. It makes the paint thin and watery. Also, ALWAYS use tinted primer when using very pigmented colors. Please don't ask me how I know this. :)

Anyway, this homeless couple was brought in, clean up, sanded, primed and ready to dress up.  After all the prep work, they needed to be really dressed up. So they were given a couple of coats of a bright red, like lipstick red. Then all the edges were distressed. After all of that the red was still too bright. It was like putting a pair of knee-high Chucks on a 70 year old woman. Some of them can carry it off, but this pair still needed to have age-appropriate garb.  

To take care of that, a dark wax was applied. What a difference! The red was still really red, but the wax brough out all the little details and gave the paint just a little more depth. 

Now that the paint was done, it was time to tackle the seats. My handy hubby came up with a solutions. He cut out plywood bases to replace the cane bottoms. Using 1/2 inch plywood, he routered the bottoms, creating a lip that extended on top of the seat. He made sure to leave a little give in the size to accommodate the batting and fabric. 4 little blocks were glued to the bottom to give us something to screw through once the seats were put in place. I know, it's a little technical, but we thought and thought about a solution. It's always exciting when you see it and are able to come up with a plan to carry it out!

The plywood was covered with a thin foam, batting and finally the upholstery fabric. It's "stuffy" enough to be dressy, but can still be country, primitive, modern or traditional. I fell in love with it the first time I saw it. Yo cover up some "outstanding" cane holes, I added a wide, black, braided trim. That was the final touch!

It was like putting that beloved brooch on you coat! They looked completely new! 

 Although this pair doesn't match, they are definitely are a couple. After all, clones can be boring. I think they will look great in an entryway, at the foot of a bed, or any corner that needs brightened up. And now presenting the Happy Couple - The Lady and Gentleman in Red!

The Genleman - larger and manlier

The Lady - because she's smaller, daintier