Project 11 & 12 Decoupage French Ad Coffee Tray & Nautical Table

This old night table got a little bit of a change. I printed out some old map graphics that I found on the Graphics Fairy site and I gave her a nice French Grey chaulk paint.

 I used modpodge to fasten the maps and then when that was dry I covered the top in a thin coat of laquer for protection.

Now this is a table befitting a home at the shore.

Here it is when I found it.. the before. someone had given up on her.

Below is another very simple project of decoupage which is one of my favorite art mediums.

I came across one of those vintage trays for holding pyrex casserole dishes, and wanted to spruce up the bottom for use as a coffee table tray. I chose a graphic from The Graphics Fairy and printed it out on 2 pages.

Then applied modpodge to the tray and decoupaged the paper print out onto the tray. You have to smooth a lot to release air bubbles.
When it is all dry, another coat on top for protection and it is done!

I hope you like them, and give it a try,

Joining these blog parties
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I'm back in Florida for some R&R and Beach exploring

Flew down to the Gulf Coast today with part of my crew.
I am really hoping to do 4 things that I've not done yet.
1. Go to Sanibel Island and hunt for seashells.

 Hope to find something great like the last time we went to Boca Grande

2....I want to go to the Hot Springs that are down here. ... Has anyone ever been to them?  I just heard about them, it sounds delightful.

Doesn't this arial view below look cool?

And the illustration below showing that it is 230 feet deep!! 87 degrees year round 

The Springs is the only warm mineral spring in Florida. It's water has the highest mineral content of any warm springs in the world, even more than the famous spas in Vichy and Aix les Bains in France.
Some say The Springs was the spot Ponce de Leon searched for, fought for and died for, believing that here, indeed, was the Fountain of Youth.

Something else on my list this week.

3.... have some Bahama Mammas which I can't seem to get up north. ( a delicious rum drink that really feels "island style")

While I was back home in New Jersey, i did manage to get all my slipcovers for the dining chairs down here finished. My sis was a sweatheart and helped me get them all done.

4... Iron them, slip them on and write words on them in fabric paint

.. so I squeezed the slipcovers all in a suitcase, because we flew this time, and they went as my luggage.
I'm sure I will have to sacrifice some Rest and Recreation time to iron them all, but I am so glad to have them all sewed up and can't wait to see the final result.... well ...all 7 chairs cause one is still back in New Jersey. ...An excuse to drive down again next fall. :)
I will post the "final reveal" when I get them all ironed and slipped on, and painted on.

What happened was last time I was down here, After doing a overhaul of my Dining sideboard/ hutch thingy and Dining table..( posted about here and here...
 I started the slipcovers but never had enough time to finish them. I also ran into a small glitch that I should have taken into consideration but stupidly overlooked. That glitch was that I had not washed the drop cloth before I started sewing, and you really have to prewash, because it will shrink the first time you wash it. After that the cloth is fine. So I needed to start over after making 3, uggghh...because that is when I read the advise of prewashing, somewhere on someone's blog.
So learn from my mistake and wash your dropcloth first.
 ( I know I am behind the curve on this one, most of you will already know that)
But I was able to load one of the chairs into my SUV and bring it north with me to use as a fitter for the rest of the ones I needed.

I am going to try to find time to write  beachy words on the tops of the chairs with fabric paints, for a little added flare. It doesn't wash out, I already tested it. I am really liking the additional texture that it adds. Don't you?
I did it on a few throw pillows that I made.

One side is a novelty boat fabric with splashes of aqua color, the other side is a dropcloth fabric with the seaside words written in white fabric paint.

 Each one of my 8 dining chairs will need to get a different beachy word.
 What 8 beachy words can you think of for  this project?

Thanks for stopping by!

I'll keep you posted.

Join in on the party fun: I am going to try to get to them all...(I'm just a party animal)

Miss Mustard Seed

Chic on a Shoestring

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Masterpiece Monday

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Cottage Beach House Table Intervention

I am back in Florida and I am at it again. I HAD to do an intervention on this table. It was too Beetlejuice looking for my taste. Honestly, it's not my fault, It came with the house.

Still working on the chairs. But I Beachified that hutch you see in background
 previously here in this post.

I'll cut to the chase and give the BEFORE of this black laminate Horror

And the AFTER

And the HOW

The last time I was here at the Florida house I had posted how I wanted to change the look of my dining table. Which as you can see has 2 big black  laminate squares for legs.

 I asked for ideas and you wonderful women had come up with some great ideas for me, but one tiny problem kept me thinking. That was the fact that the glass top is so heavy, it can not be lifted off, unless I had 4 men, which sorry to say, I just didn't have!!
 But it could be lifted a tiny bit to slide something between the glass and the stump.
 Now, just what was it that I wanted to slide in there?  ... I had to keep thinking. We are talking paper thin here.
 Ultimately I was  inspired by one of my trips to Home Goods.
Where I saw this this little nautical side table.

 I love the nautical maps and instantly got me an idea. I can re create that with a lighter paint job and get the look I wanted.

So off I went to Michaels for some scrapbook paper, which would be perfect to recreate that look above. Look what I found. It even says the Gulf of Mexico! Our house is down there on the gulf side in the Southwest Florida area. This will be perfect!!

and some with postcards and ships.

See where I m going ?
First I had to paint this table, remember it is laminate, so I used the gripper, from Home Depot.

Carefully tape

2 coats of gripper, 2 coats of Behr "table linen" later.

Now for that pesky top I told you about. I cut some brown paper to fit.

And mod podged the maps onto that.

Just adjusting till I like it. Then let dry and slide into the space.

So the final result which I love...

Nautical love

The overall effect is so much brighter, and more befitting a home by the sea!

Still working on those chairs!

So once more, the Horrid Before

The  Beachified After

 Joining the parties at:

Vintage Inspiration Friday: #33 New Spaces at Relics Antique Mall

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Metamorphisis Monday

Cottage Beach House Decor Balls

I was browsing around in Michaels craft store one day a few weeks ago, and spotted these decor balls.
I took this picture right there on the floor with my i phone.

And my brain got to thinking, yeah I can make them.

So I am sure because great minds think alike that someone else out there in bloggie land

has also made these in one form or another. So Kudos to all the great minds who have made these balls too.

I was going to make them with the styrofoam balls they sell at Michaels, but they were a bit pricey so I used some $1.00 nerf balls from the dollar store and also some baseballs I had laying around,

and twine, as below.

And of course some hot glue.

You just start at one end and glue and twirl. I've used twine and regular rope, and sisal rope.

The first 2 are twine.

The one below is with sisal rope.

I love the natural color. I use them on my coffee table with my latest vintage pitcher finds

 I wrapped some in real fisherman's netting and hung on the towel ladder for a nautical look at the entrance to the bathroom.

And here they are again in a grouping with a couple of other items. A store bought monkey ball and a wicker ball. ( haven't figured out how to make the wicker ones yet... the monkey balls I make are much smaller )

The results are a lot of fun. And I actually love making them!

Showing them off at 

Make it 4 Monday.
DIY Show Off Project Parade & a Giveaway!
MarketPlace Monday

Linking up:


Flaunt it Friday #25

comfy Old chair gets a Beach Lift

Friday, July 30, 2010

  I had this old chair that I purchased around 1995 that was desperate for a re-do.It started out in my bedroom at home as a little escape for reading. Then it got pushed out of there for a exercise bike and relegated to the basement to withstand some character building abuse from the kiddos. 

  So in mercy, I drug it down the shore and stuffed into my tiny serene bedroom, where it hardly got any use till recently, when we had the back deck renovated and made it into a sunroom right off my bedroom which now houses all kinds of comfy furniture for taking in the view.

  So here is the before.... hardly fitting in with the beach vibe we were going for....right?

Ugly old and torn seat covered with a sheet

I really wanted to find a fabric similar to the one in this Coastal Living magazine picture below.

With a bit of a nautical vibe. (This was in my vision file since 2002) 

My vision file is just a file of stuff I love.

 And I love the look of this chair right down to the cozy blanket on the ottoman!

Inspiration Love

So I finally found the fabric I would use! 

But I am such a procrastinator some times.

This was one of those times. I'd made a slipcover once before for my sofa and I sewed for 12 hours straight, just stopping for nourishment! It's not something I am great at and didn't really look forward to.

Finally though this job was going to get done!

And here is the end result:

Much more beachy

It fits in the room much better now in it's new skin. And it's still one of my most comfy little chairs!  This nautical fabric is now available in my online fabric store, FreshCutFabrics.com   It is called Millbrook stripe by Waverly.

Thanks foe stopping by!