Shabby Chic Beadboard Sign DIY.

Well, I've been very busy with my new job, so I haven't had time to make any entries  for quite a while, but I did manage to make some cute vintage-look beadboard signs over the last month.  I had lots of extra beadboard left over from my Armoire makeover. I've always loved vintage signs and have wanted to do a project like this for a while now. Here are  the photos of the finished signs in my garden, and home , and then I'll give you a breakdown of the items you need to DIY these yourself, and a quick tutorial.  They're  really easy and fun to do. The possibilities are endless- just let your imagination and creativity guide you.





In the garden

Le Jardin Sign

Close-up of detail.

Close-up of crackle detail

Close-up of painted and distressed detail

Here's a list of what you'll need to complete these projects:

Beadboard or wood in desired size

Acrylic or latex paint ( One dark and one light if you plan on doing the crackle effect)

Paint brushes- foam or bristle

Stencil brush

Lead pencil

Antiquing medium or glaze

Old tee-shirt rags

Raw umber or other dark brown color acrylic paint ( to mix with antiquing medium)

Crackle medium

Stencil or font from computer ( for lettering)

Images from computer ( for Rosemary and Lavendar images)

Sandpaper ( and palm sander if you want0

Hammer or screwdriver

Decorative upholstery tacks

Matt acrylic sealer - spray or brush on.

Twine or ribbon for hanging

I used pine beadboard for my project and acrylic craft paint, so I didn't need to prime the wood beforehand. Once you decide on the size, sand the edges of the wood or beadboard for a worn , soft look. Then brush with one or 2 coats of paint.  If you plan on doing a crackle effect, use a dark coat first, let dry, then coat with crackle medium- all over or just in small areas as I did on my large  Rosemary and Lavendar sign.  Once the crackle medium is dry, brush on a light color over the crackle medium and the cracks will begin to show almost immediately.  The thicker the paint, the larger the cracks. It's really important to only brush once over the crackle medium, or it won't work, so I suggest practicing on a scrap first until you get the hang of it.  Of course, you can skip this step if you want, and it still looks good.  Let the paint dry thoroughly. 

If you're using  a stencil, dip the stencil brush in the dark acrylic or latex paint, and rub most of it off onto a paper towel.  Then using a swirling motion, and barely any paint, fill in the stencil letters.  This will give it a soft, worn look.  If you want to use a font from the computer, you'll have to do a few extra steps.  Once you have the lettering the way you want it, rub the back side of the paper all over with the side of the pencil, then place your lettering on the painted board and trace the lettering.  This acts like carbon paper, and you'll get an outline of the lettering.  Then usung a small craft brush, carefully paint the lettering.  Don't worry if you don't get it perfect, because you're going to sand it and distress it later, and it will all get worn down anyway.  Let your lettering dry.  If you want to add any other decorative stencils or hand painted details, do this now as well.  Let dry.

Now for the fun part.  Take a hammer or srewdriver and start hitting the wood anywhere you want to create dents and crevices.  You can even use a metal chain.  It's a good time to get some of your pent-up frustrations out.  Go as crazy as you want - or not - whatever you like.  Anywhere you have a dent will get filled in with antiquing medium later, and take on an aged look- like dirt has collected over time.  When you're happy with your dents, or have all your frustations out, mix your antiquing medium with the raw umber paint, at a rate of 4 parts antiquing medium to 1 part paint.  You don't need a lot, so don't mix up too much.  Paint over the whole sign with the antiquing medium,using a foam brush, and then using a damp t-shirt rag, wipe off most of the antiquing medium, using a light circular motion. Wherever you have a depression in the wood, the dark color will stay, and the raised parts will get wiped almost clean.  The harder you wipe, the cleaner it will get.  You may have to rinse of the rag a few times and keep working  it until you get the look you want.  If you take too much off, you can always go back and add more.  Once you're happy with the effect, let it dry several hours or over night.  Now , sand the edges and corners, as well as some sections on the actual sign.  If you have hand painted any areas, make sure you go over them so they look aged and worn.

If you are using the decorative upholstery tacks, hammer them in where ever you want them.  If the tacks are too long, you can cut off some of the pointed end with wire cutters, hammer them into the wood, and then reinforce them with hot glue or carpenters glue.  Once everthing is the way you like it, spray the whole thing with acrylic sealer and let dry.  I used garden twine to hang my signs for a rustic look, but you could also use ribbon or picture hangers.  Or just lean it against a wall.

That's it.  Enjoy and have fun!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Shabby- Chic White Armoire Makeover - Part 2 ( The Reveal)

As promised, here is the final reveal of my armoire makeover.  As some of you  will remember, my husband found this vintage wardrobe/armoire left out at the end of a neighbours driveway in February.  We brought it home and I have been giving it a complete makeover.  It actually ended up being a lot more work then I had anticipated, but the final result was well worth it.  I just love how it turned out.  Here's a recap on how the armoire looked when we found it:



Before.

It had a funny old-wood smell to it- not moldy or musty- but just old, and I'm happy to announce that I finally got rid of the smell. I tried everything- baking soda, coffee grounds, vinegar wash, mild bleach wash.  None of these solutions worked.  Finally I coated the entire interior with Bin primer ( this is a shellac based primer that seals in odours and stains).  This got rid of the old-wood smell, but left a strong shellac odour which I really didn't want in my bedroom.  I have left it airing for several weeks, and finally added two lavendar sachets-one in the bottom drawer and one hanging in the main compartment.  Finally, it is suitable for putting into my room.  I decided to use it as an accessory armoire, and put some really pretty details on the inside.  So now , down to business, and here are the final  steps I did to get it looking great.  You can see Part 1 here.

After

This is the end result, and I will post all the steps on how I got this look, immediately following, for those of you who are interested.










Here's the front view before I added the glazing.

This is a view of the top side panel, before I added the final glaze.

I used Behr  Faux Glazing Medium and Behr Ultra latex paint in a flat sheen, both from Home Depot.  The color is called Bear Rug, and the code is S-G-790, for anyone that's interested.  I bought a sample size, since you really need very little paint  for the glaze.  The ratio is about 3-4 parts glazing medium to 1 part paint.

 

First you brush on a layer of the glaze.

Then you wipe off most of it with a damp, soft cloth.  The glaze stays in the cracks and crevices of the beadboard, as well as the areas the I distressed with a hammer.  It also gives the piece an old worn look, which is the look I was going for.

Here's another close-up of the glaze before it's all wiped off.

I used a small foam brush to get the glaze right into the crevices.

I used a piece of the scrap dowel inside my damp cloth to get some more of the glaze out of the cracks, as I didn't want it to be too dark.

Keep wiping off the excess until you get the look you want.

Here's a close-up of the bead- board side panel.  The trim around the panels is just wooden dowels that I cut with a saw and mitre box. The dowels mimic the bead in the bead-board, and are very inexpensive and easy to cut.  I just glued the cut dowels around the edges with Weldbond glue and let it dry over- night with painters masking tape to hold it in place.

Here are some more side views after I had wiped off most of the glaze.

Here's a close-up of the door with some good views of the distressing that I did with a palm sander and some glaze wiped over it.  I bought the crystal knobs at Home Depot as well.  I had originally intended to use some vintage crystal door knobs from my husbands old family home, but I couldn't find an  economical way to convert them into pull knobs.  These ones cost about $4.00 each and I like the added sparkle of a little "bling" on my new armoire.

Here's the bottom drawer, with close-ups of the wooden applique's that I added and the crystal pull knobs.

Here's a last look at the before and after:



Before






After

 

Well, I hope you've enjoyed the process so far ( I say so far, because I have even more to reveal with the inside of the armoire).  I did something extra- special on the inside, but you'll have to come back to see that in my next posting.  Otherwise, the posting would have been w-a-a-a-y too long. 

Until next time.  Au Revoir.

Shabby Chic White Chair ( How One Man's Trash Became My Treasure )

 

As I mentioned in one of my earlier posts, one of my neighbours had left an armoire, side table and T.V. on the end of his driveway, with a sign saying "free". I, of course grabbed them up with the intention of transforming them into something " awsome," at a later date. The T.V. is happily living in my husband's " man-cave" in the basement (this room will one day ,of course, be redecorated). But for now, it holds an assortment of mismatched furniture no longer wanted upstairs, and my "found" treasures. I will be revamping the armoire and side- table soon, in a future post, but for today I have another tale of a discarded treasure

It seems this same neighbour is moving, and as I was driving by the abandoned house, I spied a little white chair sitting out by the side of the road.... in the dark.... all alone. I stopped the car and got out. Could it be a hidden treasure? Upon closer inspection, I saw that it was indeed made of wood- a little rickety, and definately in wrough shape. The paint was chipping off ( bonus in my books), and it looked a little grungy. And it was covered in snow. But no matter- I took that lonely little chair home with me.

This is what the chair looked like when I found it ( after a good cleaning with TSP). Oh, and I had to put a little wood glue between the two front legs and the seat cuz it was a little wobbly.

  It already looks kind of Shabby Chic, but I can do better !!!!!!

 Here's the chair in it's original condition.

These are the original cracked and chipped areas of the chair. Close-up detail of the front.

Here's a close-up of the back. It's already chipping- so I don't have to do much to it.

Took out the handy-dandy palm sander ( in freezing,snowy weather)

Thank god we have a car-port for shelter)

I really should have warn gloves- my hands were freezing.  But I did wear the oh-so-fashionable dust-mask and safety goggles!!!! ( Sorry- no pics as the hubby was at work)

Then I sanded some more areas that still looked to shiny.  I went right to the bare wood in some spots, and in other spots I just smoothed out the really rough chips and cracks.  Don't worry- I left plenty of chippy paint for that lovely Shabby Chic look.

See the nice big chips toward the back of the chair!!!!!! Now that I'm thoroughly freezing, I dust off the chair and take it back into my work area for some final touches.

I hot-glued some antique-finish furniture tacks over the exposed steel screws, after clipping off the part that sticks into the wood.

Then I added  more antique- finish furniture tacks to the front for some extra detail.  Now, all I had to do was go over the whole chair with a light coat of brown shoe polish ( I read about this technique on an

 e-how posting on the web).  It gives  the painted wood an aged look, darkens the newly sanded areas, and protects the chair all in one.  Great, cheap idea !!!!!!

Now she's ready to go to her new home in my living room.  I decided to use it as a display table/plant stand since it's pretty rough for sitting on.  I can just see my mother sitting on it and ripping her pants ( Youch!!!!)

And here she is in all her Shabby Glory!!!!!!

I really love this option with the blue hydrangeas and the birdhouse, but I already have two bunches of

 off-white hydrangeas in the ajoining living/dining room.

This blue vase is really pretty too!!!!

 

And here's the third option.

  I'm not really sure yet what is going to perch on the chair- maybe one of my readers can make a suggestion.  My living/dining room is antique white and a soft grey/blue combo.  My husband suggested a live trailing plant of some sort- maybe with white flowers. 

Well, there she is......rescued from a life of being thrown in the trash.  I'm really happy with it, and best of all- it was free and very quick to do.

Bye til next time.  Au Revoir!!!!!

 

I'm linking up to Metamorphisis Monday at

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Faux Vintage Plaster Plaque- Do-it-Yourself

I've been wanting a vintage plaster architectural piece for over my bathroom window for some time now, but didn't want  to spend money on anything that we don't absolutely need.  So my challenge was to make one, from things that I already have around the house.  I have so many odds and ends of things, that I figured I could come up with something.  Here are some ideas that inspired me.

The first thing I did was go through my craft room and house, to see what I could use to accomplish this. I already had several  scrap pieces of MDF board from previous projects, and I was lucky enought to have one piece that was already the exact size as the finished piece I  wanted.  I decided on a long, narrow plaque:  4 inches high by 24 inches wide.  This would fit perfectly over the window in my bathroom.  If you don't have this, it's relatively inexpensive at any home improvement store, and they will cut it for you to any size you want .  I had some 1/4 inch dowels , and a couple of pairs of old earrings from the 1990's that I could use for some of the detail.  I did have to buy one large wooden applique for the main body of the plaque, but this only cost around $8.00 at Home Depot. 

I took the earrings apart, and will later glue them down into the overall pattern.  It looks kind of weird at first, but the finished products looks authentic.

Next, I glued the wooden applique' to the MDF board.  Make sure it's centered and there's a boarder all around the outside of the applique'.

Now you glue the dowels around the edges, and if you want, make an interesting pattern with smaller pieces of dowel in any bare spots on the MDF board.

I hot- glued the earring pieces into place- looks really weird now!!!!!!!  But the real fun is about to start.  Are you ready?  Here we go.........................

Dip your fingers into the spackling compound and just start smushing it in all over the place.  Get it into all the cracks and spaces between the earrings and MDF board.  Put a thin layer over all the wood dowels and the wooden applique". And a thin layer overr the earrings (not too much or you'll lose the detail).

I got smart and put on gloves after a while, although it did feel good to get that stuff all over my fingers- just like a kid doing paper mache' or finger painting!!!!!

Once you get the first layer on, let it dry over night.

If there are any areas where there is too much spackling compound, just wipe it off with a damp paper towel- BEFORE IT DRIES.  When it's completely dry, add another thin layer or two, depending on how thick you want the end result.  Don't smooth it out too much because you want it to look a little rough.

If there are any areas that are too wrough, you can give it a light sanding.

Then with a wooden barbeque scewer, I scratched out any areas that were too built up with spackling compound.  You want the design to be visable in relief.  Next , prime and paint the whole piece a flat white color and let dry thoroughly.

I used a creamy white latex paint that I had left from another project.  You could use acrylic craft paint as well, if the piece isn't too large.

Now, mix equal parts of a darker color craft paint with faux- finish medium.  I used soft sage/grey color called Stonehedge Green by Ceramicoat.  This green matches some of the colors in my bathroom, and besides blue, is my very favourite color.

Paint this mixture all over the piece, getting into all the cracks and crevices, then quickly wipe off the excess on top with a damp lint-free cloth.  Use a light circular motion so that the color stays in the crevices.

With a damp sea sponge, gently dab over some areas to leave more texture, and some sort of bubbly looking areas.  You want it to look really old and crusty.  Then let the whole thing dry thoroughly- I left it over night.

Here it is all dry- sorry for the bad lighting- I took these pictures at night.

Now for even more fun!!!!!!!

Take a flat-head screw driver and start to gouge out areas of the hardened "faux plaster"

When you like the effect you've got, dab in some straight craft paint into the gouged- out areas ( the same color as you used with the faux- finish medium), and take off any excess.  The paint will be absorbed into the cracked areas and look like old cracked,  painted plaster.  I'm hanging mine in my bathroom, so I sprayed it with two coats of flat arylic sealer.   I decided it was a little too clean and bright looking, so, then I went over the whole thing with brown shoe polish, just very lightly, and it gave it an even older, more interesting look.

Then for even more interest, I hammered an antique finish upholstery tack into each corner. To hang it, I used my staple gun and stapled picture hanging wire to each side.  The plaque wasn't thick enough for a nail or a wood screw, and I didn't want to risk going through to the front and ruining it



Here it is over my bathroom window.  I just noticed that it's a little crooked in the picture

Here's a close-up of it.  I think it turned out pretty good- and it only cost me $8.00  Let me know what you think!!!! 

Well, that's it for now.  Hope you enjoyed this tutorial, and will be inspired to try making something from items you have around your house. 

My next posting will be all about my Spa's-  since I just went to a lovely spa called Ste. Annes.  I'll tell you all about it next time, and show you some cute projects and ideas you can do at home for the  "Spa" experience.

Til next time.  Au Revoir!!!!!