Little Purple Table

Until I painted Julie's Desk, I have never painted a piece of furniture purple. I enjoyed it so much I decided I needed to do another piece. I had recently picked up this small side table with violin shaped sides. I used the same color as on Julie's desk, however this time I alternated it with a white wash.

Aren't the legs a lovely shape?

I painted the top white and applied a graphic of a French letter with the cancellation stamp.  

The graphic came from The Graphics Fairy.   I printed it backwards on my laser printer and then used nail polish remover to transfer it to to the table.

While I was at it, I also painted a purple frame to match the table.  The bird also came from The Graphics Fairy.

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This little purple table is for sale.   See my Portfolio and Available page for details.

Button, Button who has the Button (Table)

This fun side or occasional table was a lot of fun to do, and a lot more work than I was anticipating.  It took a LONG time to glue all those buttons on there!

First I started by painting the table in a pretty cream color, then distressing it and rubbing it all over with a dark stain.

Next I purchased buttons in a particular color way and then dyed them to give them a bit of age and patina.  It would have been fun to do this with vintage buttons, but it would have been far too expensive, and would have taken me even longer to find the buttons.  I had to buy three packages of buttons.  Unfortunately, the first Michael's I went only had one.  I found another at another Michael's location, and then continued to look when ever I was nearby, but they never got another package in the same color way in for weeks and weeks.  Finally, I found the third package at a Michael's in Utah while I was there visiting and brought it back with me!

The last step was to use a product called Envirotex Lite from a company called Environmental Technologies to pour an epoxy finish over the buttons.  I got it at my local Ace Hardware, but you can find it on Amazon. 

If you decide to try this, be sure to follow the instructions.  You can only pour 1/8 of an inch at a time, so I had to pour it on in three coats.

The finish is VERY durable and feels nice and smooth.  I have had so many people touch it and be surprised that it isn't glass or plexiglass. 

It was a lot of fun to work on.  However, next time I think I will chose something a bit bigger than tiny buttons.

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The Button Table is for sale.  See my Portfolio and Available page for pricing and dimensions.

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 I'm sharing at:
Elizabeth & Co.'s: Be Inspired 
Primitive & Proper's: Piece of Work Wednesday 

Door Table (is that like a wall flower???)

I've noticed that my coffee tables never sell at shows, I I think I know why.  I use them as displays.  I think people don't notice the table because they are looking at what is on the table, or they don't want to take away my display table, and may not even know it's for sale.

So, I came up with a solution.  I built a simple yet awesome display coffee table so that if I have another coffee table I can display it on its own and this one will remain for my display.

Here's the top!  I found this cool/strange old door at the RE-Store.  It was a kind of Dutch door, but only the top 18 inches or so opened.  Strange, huh?  Anyway this made it the perfect length for a largish, but not huge coffee/display table.

I screwed four legs that I found at good will to the bottom and that's it.  No painting, nothing, just like that.

Here she is in action, and just to make her feel good, she did get noticed quite a bit.

Here is a close up of her 'charges.'  She did an excellent job displaying the little pretty things.

Sveta's Settee

OK, so this really isn't a settee, as it has no sides or back, but Lincoln and I debated and couldn't decide what to call it.  A bench?  An ottoman?  Nothing really seemed right, so I went with the word I liked the sound of.

Sveta is the name of one of my dearest friend's little girl.  This is her mama's color, but this is perfect toddler bench height as Leo has repeatedly demonstrated.  Plus, she's wearing the sweetest skirt!

I do wish I had a before pic to show you.  It was horrible.  Even John Henry was grossed out.  Under brittle and broken vinyl in a loud 1970's olive green print, was deteriorated cotton batting.

I did, however, remember to take a few pictures of the process.

Here she is in her underclothes.  I couldn't find my batting, but I had an extra mattress cover from the futon that we sold when we moved here.  I cut that up and used it as the batting.  It worked beautifully. 

 I made the piping from cotton cording and several strips of drop cloth sewn end to end.  Miss Mustard Seed has a great tutorial on this here.

Then I made the ruffle.

Do you all know about the best way to make a ruffle if you don't have a ruffle foot for your sewing machine (which I don't.)  Increase your stitch width to the widest it will go, then hold onto your thread while your sewing, letting it slip from your fingers every few stitches.  It takes some practice to get the hang of without breaking your thread, but it is FAR easier than trying to gather the fabric later.

Back to the zipper foot to attach the piping to the ruffle.  Be sure to leave enough room for the staples.

 Then staple the ruffle on from the underside as close to the cording as possible.

800,000 staples later. . . .

TADA!

Isn't the shape so much fun (although that curve was a royal pain to upholster.)

 Custom piping for some lovely contrast.

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Sveta is for sale.  See my available page for details.

I will be sharing at:
Miss Mustard Seed's Furniture Feature Friday
Primitive and Proper's Piece of Work Wednesday 

Country Girl

I picked up this cute side table at a yard sale a few weeks ago.  I didn't take a before picture, but I sure wish I had.  This is the first time I have ever come across a piece that has been *attacked* by a stain/poly combo.  I've never come across a reason that I wanted to use this kind of combo, so I'm not sure what the logic behind it is, and clearly neither did the person who attempted to finish this table before me.  WHAT A MESS!

 

 I stripped the top and stained it Dark Walnut.

The bottom I painted BEHR's Magnolia Blossom, my go-to creamy white.

I distressed her pretty well and went over her with a dark colored wax.

This sweet French Country girl is for sale for $70.
Email me at applehouserevival@gmail.com if you are interested.