French Roses Decoupaged and Stenciled Box

Bonjour Mes Amis!

Today I wanted to share with you my latest favorite project that I just created, this Frenchy vintage wooden box!

I sure wish I had taken the time to snap a before photo.  I found the box earlier this summer when we were vacationing in northern Michigan.  It was brown, and had an old print decoupaged to the lid.  While at one time it may have been pretty, it was in dire need of a makeover!

While I wasn't immediately sure how I would transform her, I knew that I wanted to do some stenciling and decoupaging as well.

 I began by hand painting the box creamy white, inside and out.

As I was working on it, inspiration struck!

I had a really neat stencil from DecoArt of vintage looking French script, that I was just dying to use. And you know how much I love all things French!

So I used a light tan chalk paint, also by DecoArt, to stencil the script to the lid.

Then to the front, back and sides of the box, I stenciled  gorgeous fleur de lis and swirl motifs, also in the same tan 

I knew that I wanted to decoupage roses to the lid, so off to the Graphics Fairy I went.

 I knew as soon as I spotted this gorgeous vintage pink rose print, that it was just what I was looking for!

So I cut out the roses by hand (a bit tedious!), then decoupaged them to the lid.

 Aren't they stunning?

 I knew that I wanted to decoupage something to the inside of the box, so again I popped over to the Graphics Fairy and looked around til I found this beautiful ornate vintage label.

 I thought the pink, cream and gold tones were perfect!

I then added a Parisian street address to the label for fun

Our very favorite hotel we stay at in Paris is on Rue Ecoles.

 Here is the back side of the box.  I painted right over the metal hinges, then distressed them for a time worn look.

 I must say I love the way the box turned out!

While I would dearly love to keep her, I created her to add to my Etsy shop.

So that just means that I'll be on the hunt again for more boxes to transform, and next time I will be sure to create one for myself!

 Hope that I've inspired you a bit!

Au revoir!

Cherub Treasure Box

Bonjour Mes Amis!

I've been meaning to share with you this gorgeous cherub box, which was given to me by a sweet friend as a birthday gift this past May.  I just love it!  Not only is it totally "me", but it looks perfect on my French Provincial hutch in my craft room.  And as a bonus, the inside of the box has little compartments, perfect for storing treasures and bits of this and that.

 For today's photo shoot, I brought the box to our dining table.

The box is wood, with a hinged lid.  Just look at the gorgeous cherubs on the glass insert!

Love!

 I love the front, too!

 Lift the lid, and this is what's inside...........

 I had so much fun filling the box with bits and pieces of craft supplies and other treasures, like the glittery French bird tags that I created.

 More fun little bits of inspiration!

 I love ribbon, so the box is perfect for displaying and storing some of my favorites, along with more of my tags.  I especially love the fleur de lis ribbon!

 Vintage French vocabulary cards, and a few of my glittered paper roses that I made from vintage sheet music await a future project.

 My friend also included several great ribbons, including this neat large wooden spool with gorgeous blue velvet ribbon.  (she knows my taste so well!) Love!

 More fun little bits and pieces.  Wooden birds ready for embellishment, and my glittered hydrangea blooms.

 Here is one last look at my box.

I must say it is one of my very favorite things!

Have a fun and creative week!

Au revoir!

Bird Themed Cloche

Hope you all are off to a good week!

The summer sure is flying by, and with working in the yard, playing on our lake, and other fun things, it's been hard for me to get motivated to write a blog post!

And I apologize that I've not been visiting much lately either!

So today since it's raining, I thought it would be a good time for me to finally sit down and write:)

I love glass cloches of any type, don't you?

So when I spot those vintage cheese domes and their bases while out thrifting, I usually swoop them up. 

(Actually my hubby picked this up for me, he's my very own personal "picker"!)

While they can often be boring as is, with a little paint and embellishing, they can go from drab to fab!

This cutie is my latest transformation, and  I had so much fun making it!

I painted the wood base a pretty pale pink chalk paint.  I distressed  it just a tiny bit to give it what I like to refer to as "that aged over time look that is so appealing".

 I then created a sweet tag by using one of my all time favorite images, this gorgeous French bird graphic from the Graphics Fairy.

After mounting it on heavy chipboard, I just had to add some glittery fun!!

 To the inside of the cloche I tucked one of my faux bird's nests, which I fashioned from Spanish moss and green moss from the craft store, and even a few little twigs and leaves gathered from our yard.

Nestled inside the nest are four adorable little pink bird eggs, which I created from polymer clay and oven baked.  I even added brown speckles, to make them look more realistic.

(you have seen real pink eggs before, haven't you?)

 Oh, I almost forgot to mention that I tied to the handle a pretty pink bow of crinkly vintage seam binding.

I've placed this cutie in my Etsy shop.  Now I just need to find more cloches to transform!

Have a great week!