My Repurposed Chair

I saw a ladder back chair driving by a house one day that was used as a planter, can you say, oh so cute. I was inspired!

So there I was on a mission to find an inexpensive ladder back chair so that I could use it to make a flower planter. I certainly was not going to spend much $$ on a chair since it was going to be left outside in the humid, south muggy weather getting, well ya know, all shabby. All the more charm right!

When I found some time to shop, my girlfriend, Kim and I headed over to my favorite thrift antique MALL The Depot, a thrifters dream. Check out my post on it Here.

Anywhoo, off we went, then towards the end of our trip with my dogs a barking I spotted the jewel, she was perfect! The chair was marked down to $6.00 (woot!) one of the back pieces were broken which made it perfect for a repurpose project.....

The Depot at Gibson Mill

                         

         Here is the chair before the color it simple. Isn't she pretty........I almost hated to paint her but
pressed on.

If you look at this pic below you will see I have circled the part that was broken.  I ended up just breaking it off  and using something I had kept lying around for a rainy day.

The hardest part of a project for me is simply deciding what color to paint it.  Or what color glaze to add to it.  I mean we crafters have a plethora of choices when it comes to color and design.

OK, the hard part is done so I decided to use yellow and aqua some color samples I had on hand.

Sorry the picture below is blurry. I used my camera phone on all these shots so there ya have it! That's my excuse this time ;)

I decided not to take a lot of pains with this since like I said it would be out in the weather.  So I did not prime it.  I do my projects by trial and error.......that is my best teacher, well OK that and google.

When I put the yellow color over the wood finish I loved that the brown showed through in places especially when I did a light sanding to distress it. Perfect! Then I broke out the aqua color for the seat and two back rungs. Wowzers, it was a little bright so I needed to tone it down a bit.

I added a dry brushing of the yellow over it and she was good to go. 

Remember the broken piece on the back of the chair that I took out?  I had a metal scroll candle holder that the candle holder thingy had broken off.  I took that and added a small screw and wa-la! hung it in the center to give it a finished look.

I used a can of spray varnish and coated the chair to help protect it from the elements.

As you can see I just sat my flowers on the seat instead of cutting out the weave of the chair.  I always explain to my so talented hunk-el-barry (aka hubby) what my intentions are and he lets me know if it will work or not. He informed me that cutting it out the way I had envisioned would not work to say the least.

So now I have a much loved repurposed chair flower planter that adorns my front walkway.

Off to color another project simply

PS: Have you ever felt like you were talking to yourself? Well that's me (hand raised) I'm new to blogging in  blogland. So If you landed on my post be so kind as to follow me so we can become acquainted!

Till next time,

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A Thrifter's Paradise.....~The Depot at Gibson Mill

I have to devote a post to my favorite antique Mall, The Depot.  I live in Concord, NC just 2 miles from my home is a thrifter's paradise.  The Depot at Gibson Mill you have to experience it in all it's glory, no really seeing is believing.  The Depot, once a mill is an 85,000 square foot antique designer mall with 470 booths.  They are the largest antique designer mall in the south and it is just around the corner from my home (happy dance)

Some history, once a part of Cannon Mills, the charm of the 20 ft ceilings, wide wooden floors and exposed brick remains.  From antiques and reproductions to imports, collectables and new furniture, there's quite and eclectic of quality merchandise under one roof.

The Design Center within The Depot allows shoppers “a one-stop experience for all your building, remodeling and decorating needs indoors and out.” The Design Center houses vendors in contracting, cabinetry, flooring, landscaping, fine art and photography.

 I am not a shopper by any means however when it comes to unique finds and a thrifty purchase, I love the hunt. Here are a few of my recent Depot finds.

A Lantern

A red crate I love that I use as a planter for my pretties

So if you are ever in NC you do not want to miss a visit to The Depot. Be prepared if you do this  it is an all day event if you want to see all the booths,  remember 85,000 sq ft.....it's big Oh,  wear comfortable shoes!



Till next time,

A Chip off the Ol' Block!

So I finally got around to panting the outdated ugly knife block over the Christmas holidays. Of course like most all my do over projects I FORGOT to take the before picture, ug! The blocks are all pretty standard so you can just use your imagination, right!

I started by cleaning then lightly sanding and jumped in with a bold color which happens to be my fav.... RED! That took about 3 coats.  I simply used my handy dandy craft pant. I took some sandpaper and did a little distressing on the edges. Then I stenciled my last initial with a pop of aqua and I really like the out come.  I am starting to love these two colors together.....

What do ya think?   Get out your ol' block and color your world and share the fun!


A quick tutorial
1. The obvious is to remove the knives from the ol' block :)
2. Wash it thoroughly and let dry.
3. If it has a shine  whatsoever on the finish you will want to lightly give it a sanding. Or you could slap a coat of primer on it. I happen to skip the primer step.
4. The fun part..PAINT it with a few coats of your favorite color until you get the coverage you like.
5. (optional) distress with some sandpaper or steel-wool.
6. (optional) Stencil something fun on the front or you could call it good at this point.
7. Add a finish to seal it off if you want to keep it from chipping and that's it you're done.






Blessings,

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