DIY Cloches - A Tutorial.....and some really exciting news!

 I'm sure you have all noticed how cloches are everywhere in interior design right now,

 I decided after seeing what some of  them are selling for that I needed to see what I could come up with on my own.

       

Here are the items I used to make my cloches, a terra-cotta drain tray for a flower pot, some glass hurricanes (to use with candles) some cabinet door knobs, & two metal lighting pieces (I don't know the right name for them so I'll call them collars). I found all the materials for this project at Re-Store.

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Here's a close up of the "collars" & cabinet knobs, you could also use small wood finials instead of the knobs, might be a little more decorative.

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Here it is finished - doesn't look like it was made from a bunch of random parts all painted to match, does it? 

I started by Gorilla Gluing  the knobs on top of the collars. I don't have a picture of this step but I just centered them then used a piece of painters tape to hold it in place while it dried. After it was dry (1-2 hours according to the directions on the label) I hit it with a couple coats of Krylon's Ivory spray paint in a satin finish. I did this when it was pretty cold outside (California cold-Im guessing around 58-60 degrees) it caused the paint to pucker, or wrinkle. I knew the glaze I was planning on using would highlight the wrinkles so I just went with it. I also gave the flower pot drain tray the same paint treatment.

Next I covered all the painted pieces in Valspar's Asphaltum (black) glaze, you can find this in Lowe's paint department. I like to let it sit for about 15 minutes until it's kind of tacky & just starting to dry. I then take a paper towel & run a very small amount of water on it then squeeze it so that it's evenly distributed throughout & barely damp. I don't apply any pressure & kind of drag the crumpled up paper towel over different areas of each piece (I guess using it similarly to how you would use a paintbrush if you were dry brushing something). You can do this more or less depending on your preference. I always start off light then remove more & more. It never looks as good if you have to add the glaze back on then repeat this step.

 After the glaze had dried I sealed it with Crystal Clear by Krylon.

The last step is to run a very small bead of Gorilla Glue around the top rim of the glass hurricane (which used to attach to the candle holder) keep in mind that you are now going to be using it upside down. If you've ever used Gorilla Glue before you know that it expands so its crucial to use a small amount to avoid bubbles & drips. Which is also why you need to use Gorilla Glue - because even with the smallest amount this stuff creates a serious bond. In addition most hurricanes are pretty lightweight so it shouldn't be a problem when using the knob as a handle.

Next you can either flip the drain tray part upside down or use it right side up - I did both (above) & fill it with whichever type of accessories you prefer. I used succulents, a sprig of lavender, & an asparagus fern stem in these but I've also seen birds nests, eggs, even photographs. Really anything that fits will work.

Left: Here they are displayed on top of my wine cabinet in my dining room.

 

Super easy & quick project - the longest part is waiting for the paint to dry!

**AND NOW FOR THE EXCITING NEWS!**

These cloches will be available for sale in my new boutique opening in downtown Paso Robles!!! Im so happy to finally be able to do what I've been hoping to for so long! Thankfully my family is very supportive & have already done so much to help me get started. The "Revamped" boutique will be located inside Reminisce - "A Village of Shops", at 14th & Pine Streets in Paso Robles, CA . Because I will be in a space that is currently leased, I don't have an exact date that I will be able to move in, but I'm told that it should be around February 3rd! I need to make some improvements to the space before I start staging my products but I figure that I should be up & running no later than Valentine's day.

I'll post more on this later but for now, I need to get to work!

Embarrassing Results & French Provincial Nursery Furniture

First of all, let me say that the "giveaway" I did last week was a total flop (as any of you regular readers have probably seen). Not even one entry! Pretty embarrassing. But no point in dwelling on the past, I have too many new things going on, starting with these French Provincial pieces I did for my friends' nursery. They're expecting their first baby, a little girl & they didn't have a huge budget to work with but we knew that they wanted to go with a French Provincial style. So Heather (the new mom) & I did some shopping for used furniture that could be refinished.

We found this cute little side table at Goodwill, I thought it would be good next to her rocking chair with a little lamp the perfect spot for holding bottles or pacifiers at 2:00 am. The price tag on it said $15.00 which I thought was ridiculous for G.W. (see my post here). So I pointed out the "gouges" which were actually more like nicks in the top & asked if they could do any better, they came back with $7.50 - we took it. It was actually a lot more walnut colored than what you can see in the picture, & plastic looking on the top.

Here it is after: I used an Olympic custom blend white (matched to their crib color) satin finish. I went over the top of it with Valspar's asphaltum glaze. This was the first time I've used a glaze this color. I think it came out ok, but I really wish I had been able to find a gray glaze. The black is obviously a huge contrast from the white & I think it's just a little harsh looking for a nursery. It probably would've otherwise been fine.

This is the dresser/changing table with the same paint treatment I used on the side table. The original hardware is shown here in this picture although I don't like the look of it with the new finish. I'll be replacing them with vintage looking glass knobs & pulls.

Here's a closeup of the legs on this little chest of drawers. It had such cute details. I would've loved to have been able to keep this for my daughter's room, it could double as a perfect bedside table. It also would've been adorable in a living or dining room, maybe with the large bottom drawer removed (one large drawer that looks like two) & replaced with some natural colored baskets to hold books or DVDs in a living room or table linens for a dining room.

This plastic ornamental piece is at the bottom center of the dresser & was painted a nasty gold color before. The white with black glaze looks much more sophisticated.

You'll have to excuse my daughter's sweatshirt covered car seat to the left, they were literally getting ready to carry this out the door when I realized I hadn't taken any "after" shots of it. Heather & Ryan live up North in the Bay Area & were down for their last visit before the baby is born, so I had to get this all finished as well as put on her baby shower this weekend-I'm about 20 hours behind on my sleep! We had just come back from the baby shower, which explains my pathetic attempt to "stage" it in 15 seconds as you can see in the first dresser pic. I had just grabbed a couple decorations I had brought back from the shower that were sitting on my dining room table.

Here it is before, in all it's 1970's glory. It had the typical cream colored paint with gold accents & it was filthy! But then again, we picked it up off Craigslist for $25 bucks. The guy who sold it to us had some sort of Christian charity that helped families in need so we counted this purchase as our good deed for the day.

I also refinished a rocking chair to match the rest of the room. I just need to re-upholster the seat & back. I should have that available to see here in the next couple days.

Lastly, I'm going to have some very exciting news to share with you guys in the next couple days so stay posted to see what I'm up to.

Seriously?

Wow, you guys are on the ball. This contest is already halfway over & not even one new follower, pretty sad. I'm hoping it's just that my followers also tend to be slackers? As opposed to the other option, being that you don't want to recommend my blog to your friends. There are only a few days left so get on it & prove me wrong! PLEASE!

First ever Revamped giveaway!!!!

First of all, I hope you all had happy holidays with your family & friends. Mine was great, & my kids got totally spoiled, like they always do.

So to get an early start on the new year & all my plans for Revamped, I'm holding my first ever giveaway contest! I realized that if I plan on using my blog for advertisement and/or sales of my products, I'm going to need some more followers! So here's the rules;

Tell as many people that you think would enjoy reading this blog as possible to sign up as a follower. They can't sign up to follow anonymously, I have to be able to verify that they've actually become a follower. Then have them leave me a comment on this post. For each person that signs up as a follower & leaves a comment that says you referred them, you get one entry, up to as many as you can have sign up! The person to refer the most new followers will receive this Revamped wine themed serving tray & set of magnets made of re-used wine corks from a couple Central Coast wineries! I wish I could send the actual wine, but this will have to be the next best thing. ; )

Here's a little better shot of the serving tray. It's made of bamboo & finished in a black satin enamel. I used various labels from a few of Pomar Junction's varietals. Their tasting room has a beautiful setting if you ever have a chance to visit. The white card in the upper right hand corner of the tray is not attached, it is holding the wine cork magnets & is just there for the picture. The trays dimensions are 20"x 14", & it will be sealed in a wipe-able liquid resistant clear satin finish.

The wine cork magnets are mounted on ceramic block magnets (not the cheap "magnetic tape" that only holds 1 sheet of paper per magnet!) This is an example of the labels that may be included on your magnets, here I chose Tolo & Chronic Cellars two of my favorite! I might up it to a set of six for the winner.

So come on ladies, spread the love! If you each get me one new "follower" that will double my readers, not hard to do at all! The more referrals you give the more chances for this wine themed package to be yours! To make it extra easy, you can go to the "Invite YourFriends" link on the right hand side of this page - just under the followers pics.

You have until 1:00 am New Year's Day - now get started!

What the ____ Goodwill?!........And all the other thrift stores on the Central Coast!

     Is it just me, or does anyone else notice how ridiculous goodwill is with their pricing? Actually, I should say Central Coast area California Goodwill's (and all other area thrift shops for that matter). I read tons of other blogs on a daily basis & it seems like I'm always seeing posts where you ladies are scoring $5.00 wing back chairs or side tables for $2.00. These prices are unheard of at Paso Robles second hand stores. I realize I live in an area with a higher cost of living, but seriously? Whoever does the pricing at our Goodwill stores I think tends to forget that these items are used (and in most cases, in pretty crappy condition). I'm not a total cheapskate but I just think it's pretty stupid to pay the same price for something at a thrift store for what you might find a similar item for on an online sale. Case in point, I was shopping at a Paso thrift store the other day & I noticed a used glass lemon curd jar that I KNOW came from Trader Joe's that had a $2.00 price tag on it! Thats about a dollar less than what it cost to buy it full of the lemon curd!!! Granted, it had a cool hexagonal shape & I've even saved mine to refill with homemade sugar scrubs to re-gift but this is an item that probably should've gone in the recycling! Who are you overzealous thrift shop pricing employees?

     I also noticed these two cute French Provincial nightstands at Goodwill the other day. The one on the left had a price tag of $19.99 & the one on the right was on "sale" for 11.99. I pointed out to an employee that they were practically the same thing & asked if I could get the $11.99 price on ea. They said that the price was based on how long the item had been there. Which sucked for me, because I actually liked the one on the left a lot better.

    After she walked away I quietly took this opportunity to point out to my daughter that "These people don't low what they're talking about". The one on the left was made entirely of particle board & laminate. The one on the right was solid wood with dovetailed drawer joints. So for $11.99 (still too high in my opinion) I took it home. Still deciding if this will be available for sale or whether it's going in my daughter's room - she's pulling for the 2nd option.

     Our thrift shops also sell sweaters for $5.00-$7.00. I don't personally buy any of my clothes second hand but I'm pretty sure I can go to Ross any day of the week & buy a brand new one for that price! So to that I say, "What the ____ Goodwill?" YOU ARE NOT A NEW RETAIL STORE, YOU ARE NOT AN ANTIQUES STORE, YOU ARE NOT A VINTAGE BOUTIQUE! Price your things accordingly!

    What do you guys think? This is ridiculous, right?

Distressed Barstools - wish I could keep them!

If you've been following my blog you've probably seen the last post I did on the living room table set for Caitlin & Jeremy. They also asked me to refinish their bar stools. Like their tables, these too were handed down to them from Caitlin's mom. Good thing she has good taste! Although the finishes on these pieces were dated they had good lines and were built well (the most important things to look for). So these bar stools started out as "rustic pine" furniture that I'm sure we all remember from 5-10 years ago. Caitlin & Jeremy's new dining set is done in a rubbed black finish. Caitlin gave me the liberty to do whatever I thought would look best to these. I wanted it to tie in with the table but not match it exactly. Here's how they look now.

Because I didn't want everything too matchy I decided to go with a little more distressing on the bar stools as compared to the table. After spraying them with several coats of Rustoleum's Indoor/Outdoor black in a satin finish, I hit the edges with a palm sander & then added a few more "distressed" spots so that it didn't look too factory finished.

After the distressing was done I applied a brown glaze (Valspar's Mocha-available at Lowes) with a sponge brush then after about 30min, wiped the glaze off with a barely damp cloth. The nailhead details were too hard to tape off before painting so I just sprayed over them then went back & hand sanded certain areas which ended up bringing through the copper metal. Both stools got two coats of oil based polyurethane in a satin finish (although it looks a lot shinier in the pics). I forgot to mention that I had my boyfriend remove about 4 in. from the legs of the stools to accommodate the lower counter height of their new kitchen.

Caitlin loved the stools & her mom (who they first belonged to) said she couldn't believe they were the same chairs. I have to say, they do go perfectly with the rest of the furniture in their great room. The dark walnut stain I did on their tables ties in perfectly without being so matched that it looks like they hit up a JC Penney catalog sale. Im SO jealous of how quickly their new house came together, they moved in a month ago & everything looks perfect already! Glad I can say I had a hand in it!

Im linking these up to a few other blogs, you can check out some great projects at the following parties;

Caitlin & Jeremy's living room tables

You might recognize this before picture from a post I did on a side table I refinished for my sister's guest room a while back. These two tables are actually the remaining pieces to that exact set. I did take "before" pics of them but somehow they're M.I.A. . Anyway, Caitlin's mom had given her these tables & she had used them in her living room this way for several years. Recently Caitlin & her husband Jeremy were able to buy their first house (Congratulations!) & some new furniture to go along with it. Although they got some really nice new pieces they didn't have the budget to buy all new furniture (who does?). So Caitlin asked me to help her with the dated country style set that went with this table.

This is what I came up with. After sanding down to the bare pine I used Varethane's Dark Walnut gel stain which was perfect for covering the rest of the white paint that had been wiped into all the crevices - which I didn't think would EVER come out! I also picked up a few knobs to replace the wood ones at Re-Store then hit them with my favorite Krylon spray paint in Oil Rubbed Bronze.

After the stain dried I decided to try a new sealer I had read about on Miss Mustard Seed's blog. Wipe on Poly - it supposedly gives the look of an oiled hand rubbed finish. What actually happened was as I was wiping it on it started lightening the stain & even removed enough that it stained my hand! Im sure this wasn't supposed to be the outcome but I followed directions exactly as they were printed on the side of the can so I don't know where I went wrong. I have to say, I was pretty unimpressed with this product. After allowing that to dry I re-sanded then re-stained & ended up sealing with a few coats of spray Spar-Urethane in a satin finish. I wish it coated a little thicker but overall I think they came out pretty nice. Just remember if you're using the Spar-Urethane on a project to sand or rub with a fine steel wool in between coats.

Here's the coffee table in Caitlin & Jeremy's living room, along with some of the new furniture they bought. I didn't have the best lighting for these shots & I took them kind of quickly but all the furniture looks really nice together in person. Not to mention these pics were taken as they were still unpacking but they have a beautiful house & every time I stopped by to go over options for the tables with Caitlin it looked better & better. Caitlin & Jeremy, you guys were awesome to work with & thank you for giving me "creative control" with your tables. I'm glad I could help make your new house your home.

P.S. - I'm currently finishing up some bar stools for Caitlin & Jeremy's breakfast bar, They'll sit right behind where their couch is, facing the opposite way. You can see the kitchen in the background of the last picture. I should have those pics up in the next couple days so, stay posted!

I'm linking this project up to the following link parties;