Painting, Stenciling and Glittering!

Bonjour Mes Amis!

To me a perfect day involves just what you see in the title of this post! Add in plenty of cold Diet Coke, a decoupage project, and a glass of Pinot Grigio (or two!) at night, and I am a happy camper!

So with that, I thought I'd share with you a few of my recent projects.

 I just love finding trays to transform, and have made over quite a few in the past few years.

So when I found this one recently, I was super excited!

Well, not so excited at the "before", below!

While I am sure that whoever painted the fruit on it thought it was a masterpiece, I couldn't wait to get home and begin the makeover!

I am quite particular with the trays that I purchase to redo.  Often I will find them made of very flippy, flimsy balsa wood.  I don't even bother with those!  What I do look for are those that are sturdy, have a nice weight to them, and are very well constructed.  If they have neat handles on such as this tray, it is even more of a score!

 So, I ended up painting it a creamy taupe chalk paint, then added one of my favorite French patisserie stencils, from DecoArt.  I must say I am happy with her new look!

I've put this puppy in my Etsy shop if you care to take a peek!

 In these photos, you will notice my little collection 

(three or more of anything constitutes a collection, right?)

of vintage demi John's.  I just love them and have them on display in our kitchen.  I've found them at yard sales, though not nearly as often as I would like!  The one on the left is my recent score, at only $2!!

 Moving on, I wanted to share with you a custom order that I just completed, for an Etsy customer who was decorating her baby girl's nursery.

To me, it is such a thrill to play a little part in someone's lives like that.

Or when I know that my work is being used at someone's wedding or shower.

Anyway, she was looking for open back ornate frames (and you know how I love ornate anything!!).

I lucked out and found these vintage beauties, which were all actually "gaudy gold" when I discovered them at an antique mall.

 I've painted them vibrant aqua, and the largest one white, some of the colors she is using in her nursery.

 Love!

 She also commissioned one of my stenciled crates in the same color.

I love painting and stenciling crates for my shop!

 And another favorite was this sweet large oval framed "S", for her daughter's first name.

Look closely, and you will see that the letter is covered in fine silver glitter 

(you can never have too much glitter!).

Fine creamy lace and silk flowers add a feminine touch.

 I had so much fun creating it!

 Ok, one last thing to share.

This is the "before" of a sweet little petite chest, which I am currently working on for 

DecoArt.  I've got great plans for her, which involves, you guessed it, paint, stenciling, and decoupaging.

 It's not vintage, but I did find her at the same antique/consignment shop that I purchased the frames at.

I'll be sure to share her reveal to you in a future post!

Au revior!

Tray Chic!

Hi everyone, hope your year has gotten off to a good start so far!

I just love trays.  Whenever I'm out thrifting, I always keep my eye out for interesting and sturdy pieces that I can transform.  It's amazing what a little paint and tlc can do!

Whenever I come across well built pieces, even though they might not look too terribly attractive, you can be that I quickly scoop them up!

Do today I thought I'd share with you two trays that I just finished and added to my shop.

 While I don't always know just how I will transform each piece, with a little thought inspiration usually quickly comes!

I had so much fun with this little wood tray!

It wasn't ugly or anything when I found it, just plain wood.  I could almost hear it begging to be painted my favorite creamy dreamy shade of white!

I thought it would be fun to add this fork, knife and spoon graphic, that I found over at the Graphics Fairy.

 I cut them out by hand, then decoupaged on after painted and distressing the tray a bit.

I never need to be told to eat (hahahaha!), but thought the "bon appetit",

which I stenciled on by hand, would be the perfect addition.

 I was super excited to find this large and heavy wood tray, below, in the same thrifting expedition.

Again, it wasn't hideously ugly or anything (like many of the trays I find start out as!).

It was just plain ol' brown wood.

So I painted it the same shade as the tray above, then added one of my favorite Frenchy stencils, this pretty French patisserie sign.

 I just love all of the swirls and fleurishes.  I hand stenciled it in a dark midnight blue, which I thought was much less harsh than black.

 Tres chic!

 I've transformed many trays over the years, and thought I'd share with you some that I sold several years ago in my shop.

You know how much I love aqua.  I thought it was the perfect choice for this tray that had great curvy lines and pretty metal handles.

I decoupaged it with a French label, also from the Graphics Fairy.

 Sometimes I actually remember to take "before" shots!  Usually, I am so excited to get started with makeovers that I remember when it's too late!

 I added white little polka dots as fun accents, and glazed it to give an aged appearance.

 This little metal and wood tray is a real cutie, I think!

(check out the before, below.  Not so cute!!)

I painted it a bright and cheery aqua, then decoupaged copies of gorgeous floral vintage wallpaper, also from the Graphics Fairy,

 I nearly forgot I made the tray below til I was looking thru my photos.

I really love using vintage French book pages in my creations.  I decoupaged torn pages, along with these gorgeous vintage French rose prints (which were quite alot of work to cut out by hand!).

 This tray below was a favorite of mine, too.

(darn, I should have kept that one for myself!!).

It is solid wood and quite large, with great curved.

I found this darling bird image, again at the Graphics Fairy

(gee, I would be lost without Karen over at GF!), and decoupaged to the tray that I painted cream.

 Such sweet little birdies!

 Ok, last of all, a beachy themed tray.

I painted it my favorite aqua shade.

I don't have a close up of this one, but I decoupaged copies of vintage sheet music,

called "By the crystal sea", as well as this gorgeous mermaid.  Both found at the Graphics Fairy.

So that is it for now.

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Wishing you a creative and fun day!