Cake and Tea for Two

Hello friends! I have something new to share.  I've been working on a shabby tea set. I was thinking of something fresh and summery.

 

 

I built and painted the furniture bright white and added the blue and yellow check fabric. I had to think about what else would be cute and tea party appropriate. So I added strawberry cupcakes, napkins, plates, and the cake stand.

 

I need to make up a few more things, like the cups, a teapot, maybe a doily or table runner, and a centerpiece. It's a work in progress, but it's coming together. Doesn't it look nice?

More PB style bed

Hi friends!

I hate it when I get clumsy.  Clumsy happens and it sucks. I was getting the Pottery Barn knock off bed out to give it a fresh coat of paint when I dropped it.

The headboard came off the rails.  At least it was a clean break at the joint, so it was easy to fix. I got it re-glued and managed to give it some more paint yesterday.

This paint job is so much better!  I even sanded down the edges to give it some wear and tear aging. I really like the ivory paint this time around. I'm considering just how much wear and tear I want. Maybe just a little. It is still a work in progress after all.

I'm not sold on the blue ticking stripe mattress. I might have to change that to red so it's more matchy-matchy with the redwork dahlia quilt. They clash when I turn down the quilt.

I have some solid red cotton and more of the red ticking stripe to work with. Maybe solid ivory sheeting?  What do you think?

By the way, I still haven't finished the dahlia pillows. Maybe when I nail the sheeting, I can finish the pillow backing.

Thanks for stopping by!

Shabby Chic Dining Table

One of my coworkers cleaned out her garage and storage areas.  She gave me two boxes of miniature things. Inside was a real treasure trove! There were books, magazines, some furniture, accessories, DMC floss, needles, fabric, and beads.

There was one particularly cute dining table with broken legs. It was calling to me to remake it. Yes, it needed rehab. It told me that it wanted a new look, it wanted to go shabby.

First, I had to make a new leg. I carved it from a scrap of wood I had from a previous project. I glued all the legs back on.

Second, I found a tube of Nutmeg Brown paint that almost identically matched the base stain and painted the new leg.

Then, I cleaned the rest of the table. It had mini-hold residue and plenty of dust. Next, it got a coating of Wicker White acrylic paint. After it dried, I lightly sanded down the paintbrush marks and lumps.

It was already looking pretty good!

Haley declared that she loved the table and that it should be pink.  After a bit of contemplation, I agreed that distressed pink would be great! I gave it a wash of very pale pink, then sanded it again after it dried.  It needed more distressing and age coloring.

After smudging some watered down blackish-brownish paint into the crevices, it really started to look just right. I sanded down various places for wear and tear. Some very watered down black mixed with brown paint went into the corners.

Then, the table top just wasn't right. I had put this one away for a while and come back to it.  I decided to marbelize it. After a bit of wicker white, off-white, dolphin gray, taupe, and some thinning agent later, I had a pretty decent looking marble job. I used some clear gesso on top of the marble paint, lightly sanded it down to smooth out ridges and lumps, then finished with matte varnish.

Voila! I'm finally happy with this table! I also managed to put some furniture in the Willowcrest and make a nice scene to show it off.

(French toast, napkins, tray, and blueberry pie were by Kim Saulter.  Nutella by LugArt Petit. The jam and other tarts are from sources unknown.)