The Longest Before & After

Once in a while you have a project that you feel as if you will NEVER EVER EVER finish.  This is one of those projects.  Yes these "before" pictures are taken sometime during the summer.  Note the sunshine and dry grass.  To start with this chifforobe http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chifforobe was not easy to move around.  I'm embarrassed to say it sat on my front porch (yes hill billie style) for longer than I or my neighbors care to talk about. Secondly, I just wasn't sure how to finish it.  I saw it as fun piece with different rough finishes and crazy hardware.  What I ended up with was a little bit away from the first idea, but ultimately a better idea.   



A Better Picture was not to be had, this baby is tough to move.



The finish was really rough, but that was a lot of the charm for me.  There were pieces and parts missing.  I decided to cannibalize one other piece and just attach it on the bottom of this piece

 

The white trim on the bottom came off of a book case that didn't make it.  I played Taps in the background, so it's okay. 



We took the front door off and had glass put in.  I actually bought this piece just for the door at an auction.  I had not previewed it and knew it was rough.  I wanted to just mount a mirror in the door and lean it against a wall in my house.  Once I got it home, I realized it was worth saving.



Laying on it's side waiting for the makeover

  I decided I wanted to keep as much character as possible without letting the piece look too sloppy.  I left the bowed wood in the back.



Bowed wood in the back. 

Wasn't sure if I should paint this great detailing.




The front





From the top

  Once I got the glass in and the drawers out, I decided to go with Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in a Paris Grey wash.  I wanted the rough wood to show through and use a white washed or limed finish.



One light coat of Paris Grey



Once I got the whole outside painted, I decided to go with a pop of color on the inside.  I didn't want it to be too boring.  I painted the inside with a wash of Provence.  When it was done I just waxed it with Annie Sloan Clear Wax, buffed it up a little and it was done.

Fun Camera display on the top





Some rich turquoise items to play off of the Provence





 

Rough inside before and after





A little more Turquoise



  

The big picture in all of her glory



It looks rougher in the picture than it does in person.  I think its a interesting addition to the booth at Well Worn.

I hope you like it.

Be Merry,

Melony



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Morticia would be Proud

Christmas at Well Worn came a little earlier than I had planned.  I had taken some time off of work with the idea that I would decorate for Christmas the day following Thanksgiving.  I'm one of those people who doesn't appreciate Christmas prior to Halloween.  I didn't know that the downtown Chico Christmas preview is the week before Thanksgiving.  So I was told that all of the vendors in our antique mall decorate a few days before, in honor of the Christmas Preview. Since this is my first year as a vendor at the mall, it was a little surprise.  I had intended to do an off white tree with hints of burlap and silver.  Fortunately, I did a quick look around the store and someone else had done an artful job of decorating their booth with an off white tree with burlap and silver...whaaaa?  Don't you hate it when you think you have a good idea only to find that someone else has the same good idea?  What's worse, is when you see it and they probably did a better job executing the idea than you probably would have.  Dratted "frolic girls".  Kidding, I love their booth and creativity.

So, on to plan "B".  I had a beautiful selection of french antique postcards that I wanted to use as ornaments on my tree.   Most were in warm tones of black and cream, so I thought they would look great on a off white tree.  I still wanted to use the postcards, so now what?  A black tree?  Hmm.  I don't know, I really like glitter, white, gold and a beautiful green tree.  The thought brewed and stewed for a couple of days and I just decided to do it.  Since I didn't have time to order a black tree, I went to our local Salvation Army and bought a fake tree.  Next step, paint the thing.  I would not advise that you paint a fake tree.  It's a huge pain.  When you are in the middle of the process and really wondering if it's a good idea, it's not helpful if your daughter comes home and states "that's festive".  I was halfway in the middle of the black mess, very doubtful and wishing I could stop, but too committed to stop.  Should you decide to paint a tree, put the first coat on with the cheapest Walmart flat paint, then follow with semi-gloss, shimmer or whichever type of paint you would like on top.  If you try to paint with any of the less flat paints, it will just slide off of the branches.  Don't ask me how I know.   
The other problem with painting a fake tree is the smell.  It's really stinky for a few days.  I didn't put lights on my tree, I'm not sure if it's more flammable than a non-painted tree, I really don't want to know.

I also decorated the tree with dictionary page garlands and flowers.
I wanted a tree that was different and set the booth apart from the other vendors.
Here are a few pictures...what do you think?   


Dictionary flowers and Garlands



Decorated with Antique Postcards & Shoe Forms



Vintage Ornaments as well as flour sifters make good ornaments




Dried Hydrangeas to soften the black





No, Virginia, not your usual tree.




German Glass Glitter Banner and a Dictionary page wreath

 Wishing you days and Holidays that are Merry & Bright,
Melony

MIA and a Constant State of Repair

Hello there,
I must confess, I've been MIA for a while now.  Some of my blogging tools have been unavailable for a short time.  My laptop cord/battery charger was broken and I had to order a new one.  While waiting for it to arrive my husband was working on my car which was sporting the check engine light.  I also lost my cell phone for a time.  I found the cell phone days later, lodged in the hole of the truck seat; where the seat belt comes out.  Last but not least, my sweet kitty cat was shot with an arrow by some disturbed person.  I now have a laptop that works and charges, the car has been repaired and the cell phone is found.  Best of all sweet little kitty is healing nicely, with just a few bald patches and sporting his "franken kitty" scar from the incident.  I hope to get back on track and start blogging regularly again. 
Thanks for putting up with my inconsistencies!

Poor little Dude

Hoping that your Thanksgiving holiday is full of pleasant gatherings and a heart of gratefulness.
Thankfully yours,
Melony

Happy Fall Y'All

I'm not sure how and when it happened, but Fall has arrived.  In a few months I'll be saying, I'm not sure how and when it happened, but Spring has arrived.  I always seem to be surprised at the passing of time.  It just sort of sneaks up on me.  I feel as if I'm "busy doing nothing" at times.  Such is the life of an antique dealer.  Many projects in different stages of undone.  It is very satisfying when I get to the point when something is complete.  At the moment, I have many items that aren't quite done, so I'll just share a bunch of pictures from our booth that feature a little fall flair.


Our booth number is 68.
  These vintage film reels would be great on the wall of a home theater.



I can't get enough of these little white pumpkins.



A few pieces of black amethyst.

 

I had fun making German glass glitter banners. 
The pictures don't capture the sparkle.
They're gorgeous in real life.

I had to show a close up of this chair.  I think it's perfect.

Love this cake caddy.
Yep, another glitter banner.
How fun would this be at your birthday party?







Turquoise and Brown make such a warm combo.



Not the best picture.  The banner says follow your bliss.



The picture isn't the best, but the message sure is...

I hope you can Follow Your Bliss today, even if it's just for a small window of time.

Followin' My Bliss,

Melony

Put a Bird On It

My friends neice says bird as 'boid'.  So we joke about "putting a boid on it".  Seems to me as I went through some of the booth pictures that I "put a boid on it" quite a lot.  Oh well, here are a few pictures from

 Well Worn.  Enjoy.



Lu Lu is our new mascot.  The nutcracker squirrel sold.





Don't let the chandelier fool you, Lu Lu is a cowgirl at heart.



Not a bird exactly, just "bird inspired".

Even the salt and pepper shakers?

Gilded birds

Mr. Well Worn says these look like they're fighting--men.

Sweet little Villa Barnes inspired "granite" bird.  Check her out on my side bar.



If you see any-wish upon a star!  If you don't Just Wish.

Melony

Takin' a Chance....on Sundance

This is going to be a long one....

I don't know if you'll think I'm a creeper when you read this...but sometimes I feel like the furniture I paint "speaks" to me.  I know, I know, just flat out weird when you write it out loud.  I bought this desk/vanity at an auction months ago and it's been under a tarp in our driveway the whole time.  (Can you say REDNECK?) 

I wanted to get to it and I knew I needed to get to it or take it to storage.  But sometimes I just run out of time.  In a nutshell I work a lot at my "real" job, or maybe I should more accurately say, I work a lot of hours at my "real" job.  I really wish that I could work my way out of a job with my endeavors at Well Worn.  Dare to Dream.  (If  you are my supervisor and reading this, I'm joking, I LIVE to push paper, especially if I can do it in triplicate.)  All this whining to excuse away the fact that I haven't painted this piece yet. I decided that I would tackle it today.  It was my day off and I should be able to knock it out in a day easily.  Especially since I have my new tool, which I like to refer to as "the lazy girl's paint" Annie Sloan Chalk Paint. LOVE.  No sanding no priming, just slap, wax, thank you ma'am.  I thought about this piece last night and decided to paint it Paris Grey with Old White accents.  I would pair it with a chair painted in Paris Grey with a great upholstered seat.  Perhaps a linen like fabric with a damask stencil painted in Paris Grey.  Oh, I had it all planned out.  I took the piece out and it was Dir-tee!  So what is a lazy girl to do when she has a piece to clean?  Give it a light sanding of course.  What, you don't do that?  The piece had a finish that was slightly bubbling and peeling.

Sanding is thirsty work

I decided to just sand the whole thing lightly and then clean it, it's actually easier to do it that way if you're lazy efficient like me.  Next step paint all the accent pieces with Old White.

I was about 30% done painting the accent pieces when I heard a little voice (not really) say psst...why are you painting all of my gorgeous carved wood accent pieces? 

Gorgeous

Wouldn't they look better stained and highlighted?  I ignored the little voice and carried on.  After a minute or two I decided to check it out.  Guess what?  A little Dark Wax on the accent pieces looked FAB-U-LOUS.  Now what am I to do?  I really waffled at this point.  Remember, I am Lazy Girl Painter.  Okay, but what color will look good with dark wood accents?  Turquoise of course.  I don't have turquoise in ASCP (Annie Sloan Chalk Paint).  Now what?  If I'm going to take off all of the white I just painted, I'm definitely NOT painting with anything other than ASCP.  I've already added too many steps.  Solution?  Just make my own turquoise with ASCP, so a little of this, a little of that and I have a color close to turquoise.  How's it look next to the only accent piece that hasn't been painted Old White?    SMASHING.  I.Love.It.  Now here is the dilemma.  If you are just painting for yourself, you can choose and do whatever you want.  If you are painting for a potential customer what do you do?  I knew that painting this piece Paris Grey and Old White was the safe option.  It would be more "commercial", in other words it would appeal to more people and most likely sell sooner and easier.  But once in a while you just have to listen to the furniture and/or your gut.  This piece was screaming to me, I want to be noticed, different, dare I say "art"?  So the piece got it's way.  I had to finish painting all of the accents Old White.  Then I went over everything with my "turquoise" concoction.

  After that was all done, I took a wet towel and rubbed all of the paint off of all of the accents.  I know.  It took for-evah!  It was almost dark by the time I got that part done.  Then, I sanded the top and stained it with Minwax Jacobean Stain.  I was planning on painting the top Paris Grey.  So this was a little backwards.  Normally I sand a piece before I paint it. I don't recommend painting and then sanding.  I was inspired by this piece http://europaintfinishes.blogspot.com/2011/10/sundance-dresser.html  and by the whispers of my vanity/desk in my driveway.      I almost hate to add this link because their work is so awesome.  My stuff doesn't even compare.  I had noticed this post some time ago, but couldn't remember the exact look of the piece.  That's pretty apparent, when you see that my color placement is the exact opposite of  their Sundance piece.

I hope that some bodacious funky chickie comes into Well Worn and sees this and "gets" it and takes it home.
So, what do you think, should I have stayed safe and commercial?

Just need to find some more hardware for the top and she'll be done.

Live Large Today,
Melony

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