A Bench Makeover

I scored this bench at a yard sale for $5! I didn't know what I was going to do with it right away, but everyone is soooo into the distressed furniture look, so I thought I would give it a try. The technique itself was actually pretty simple, and I do like the way it looks, but I definitly don't think I'm going to distress every piece of furniture I re-do. So here it is before: First I just sanded it down, but didn't worry if I didn't get every little dent out (I mean, it is supposed to look old and a little beat up). Then I put my first coat on. I used American Accents, java bean. It looks kind of purple in the can, but goes on more like a brownish stain. I let that completely dry before rubbing my candle on the areas I wanted distressed. Then it was my first coat of antique white. Between each coat of white, I rubbed off the wax, and applied a new layer of wax before the next coat. That way I didn't get a thick layer of paint before I tried to rub the wax off. I think it took 4 coats of the anitque white. I rubbed off the last of the wax, then lightly sanded it for even more distressing.

And this was what I got! Like I said, I do like it, but probably won't be doing much of it. I need to do a coat of Minwax Wipe on Poly, and then it will be finished. But I'm toying with the idea of putting a big "G" on top of it, so I haven't put the finish on yet.

Here it is from the top. There's no distressing on top. That's how I wanted it. It's long enough though to put our entire last name on it. What do you think? I'm entering this in Kimba's DIY day on Thursday, so look for it there! http://asoftplacetoland-kimba.blogspot.com/

The Leaves Are Turning

Fall, oh how I love Fall! I love my sweaters and jeans, my Uggs and knee highs, my scarves and poofy jacket, hot chocolate and hot soup....okay most of that usually comes in winter. But when I see the leaves turning colors, I know we're just one step away from that cold weather!

Decopodge Fun!

I have a new love, yes, it's decopodge! One little project, and I'm hooked! Decopodge is a sealant/glue. I did a very simple tester project to start out with. Here's what I used: Just a bit of paper that caught my eye, spray adhesive, decopodge, ribbon and, of course, my little bottle I bought at a yard sale for 10 cents. All I did was cut out some paper, sprayed the back with the spray adhesive, then stuck it to the bottle. I waited for it to dry, then painted the decopodge over the paper with a small wide-tipped paint brush. It dried pretty fast, then I just tied the ribbon on around the top, filled it with water and stuck in a flower I cut from my garden. Here's what I got....

A little flower vase to sit in my window! I ended up giving it to a friend of mine. For some reason or another, I always give away flowers in little vases. Pretty cool, right? :)