The Chair

The Chair is my next big project, and I'm afraid that it is a true BIG PROJECT.

My goal is to strip all the paint off, down to bare wood. Here you can see the folly of that idea: there are at least eleven layers of paint on the chair. In order, as far as I can make out, starting from the outside and working in, we have:

bright blue
red
orange
lime green
cream
mint green
black
bright yellow
emerald green
mint green again
pale yellow

The black may have had thick white splotches all over it; perhaps an animal print look? Anyway, there are thick white splotches embedded in there too.

I began the stripping process with my little Ryobi detail sander. That was getting me nowhere fast. Next I went to gel stripper in a can. That took off one, and sometimes three, layers at a time. It worked best on the seat of the chair; it didn't seem to affect the spindles. When I emptied the can, I reverted back to the electric sander. Then I tried coarse steel wool, first with mineral spirits, and second with chemical stripper. My second can of stripper is more powerful, so it seems to take off more layers more quickly.

I'll keep you posted on my progress.

French Flower Buckets Meet Oil-Rubbed Bronze

I love browsing my favorite thrift stores ~ I never know what treasures I might find.

A year or so ago I found a cute galvanized French flower bucket for pennies, and I have enjoyed decorating with it after I painted it a nice bronzy black. But I realized that I would prefer to have two of them when I decorate my mantel; I like a little symmetry up there.

So, guess what I found on my last visit to the thrift store? A French flower bucket! But instead of galvanized metal, it was painted with folksy flowers and a red interior. Fffft. Off to the store I went to replenish my supply of oil-rubbed bronze paint before this spraying session began:

I got over-anxious to paint and forgot to take a before photo until I had this much paint on the bucket.

Here it is, all finished:

And here is the first one I found ~ it is a little shorter than the new one:

After: the symmetry I wanted.

I also picked up this rather flimsy metal pot at the same time:

It got its own coat of oil-rubbed bronze paint, and now it looks like this:

Scruffy Frame Renewed

I bought the world's ugliest framed print at the thrift, with plans to renew the frame with paint and a new mat. The old matted print is trash now. Here's the before:I'm showing the frame in portrait mode because I plan to hang it that way, even though the original print is in landscape mode.

I'm handy with a spray can so I won't have trouble painting the frame. But cutting a new mat is a different story. I hope to convince cajole sweet-talk Art Lady Greta into cutting what I need. Update: When I bought the mat board at Dick Blick they cut the exterior to size and cut the four openings in each mat ~ for only $4. That kind of deal is worth it to me.

Here is the freshly-painted after:
And here it is in the hallway next to another frame I revived with black spray paint also:

Ultimately, I will have a third frame too, for portraits of David.

A New Project

A BIG mess in the craft room right now: I'm working on a journal of our past vacations. Inspiration was the black spiral journal shown in a previous post.

For years, I've kept daily notes, as well as little paper ephemera, when we go on vacation. I've never known what to do with it all, until now. Hoping a finished book will emerge from that room in the next few weeks.

Dreaming

I just discovered the dining room hutch I want. By IKEA:I picture three of these side-by-side along the one very long and high wall in our dining room (it's supposed to be the living room really). Three will take up over nine feet of wall. Just think of the adorable vignettes I could arrange behind those glass doors! The seasonal displays! The teacups! The pitchers!

I'm saving my pennies.

Love Letters

The Professor and I decided not to give each other special occasion cards anymore ~ instead, we are writing a "love letter" for the other in a blank journal on each special occasion. We have matching journals that the Professor picked up at the book store. I like to decorate the page besides writing. So far: our anniversary and Valentine's Day.

Over the coming years, we will be able to go back and read the thoughts of previous years. And they will be all bound up neatly. For good.

Birthday Dessert

I created this chocolate mousse tort out of my desire to use up some of my freezer stash. I had an angel food cake loaf, purchased on clearance last fall, that really needed to be used up. With a birthday party tonight, I thought it was a perfect time.

I used my old stand-by chocolate mousse recipe and spread it between thin layers of cake. More mousse slathered on the sides and top, and it was done. The cake softened a bit in the refrigerator.

I always have trouble getting the melted chocolate to be smooth once I mix it with the beaten egg whites. That's what the dark lumps are in the mousse. But it still tastes good!