Recycled Buffet

I've been meaning to post this project for about 6 months. It took until about a month ago to get some pictures and even then they are not the best because they were done through my not so good cell phone.

My friend had this buffet she found out for the trash about 20 years ago.  It was pretty beat up and my friend had wanted to refinish it. She asked for my help and we scheduled a day and set out to refinish it some how.

We started by sanding over the entire piece. We then used dark brown paint and put a coat on the buffet. A weathered/crackled coat came next.  We waited until it was tacky and then put a quick coat of off white paint as a top coat.  When the paint was dry we took a rag and amber colored acrylic paint that we watered down. We brushed on the amber paint and wiped off with a rag to desired antique look.  When completely done we polyurethaned the piece with a few coats.

My advise would be to not place anything on the piece for a month as the polyurethane has to cure. It can cause discoloration in spots where you place something while it is still curing. Same with if it is in direct sunlight as it is curing.  If I ever remember I'll take some better pics and repost them.  Oh, I gave the amber octagon glass knobs to my friend as a gift to complete the look. I think it looks awesome!

Recycled Furniture

I found the table for my work bathroom! It's all wood so no problems there. I found it on craigslist for $20 but got it for $15. My inspiration is going to be this picture from this site:

http://www.remodelaholic.com/2010/12/twin-end-tables-painted-green.html, but with my own spin.

My Inspiration

Again I'm going to try to recyle materials to keep the cost low. I'm thinking a black top with the rest being an "Alligator Green" (left over paint from my living/dining room walls) and then I have two wooden knobs left over from the arts and craft center project that I'm thinking of painting a solid black to accent the table top. I'm going to try the black glaze this time. I can't wait to get started! Here's the before picture of the end table.

Stay tuned for the finished product!

Salvaged Art

I orignally began creating this piece for an art exhibit for staff and faculty to show case their artwork at the local college I work at. This is an annual art exhibit and the first one I've participated in. Talk about interesting- there was artwork that was amazing from many different professions and a myriad of art materials.

I wanted to create something from a piece of salvaged art and photographs I've taken from trips over my life time. It just so happened that I've been looking for a piece of artwork to hang over my bed for 2 years now and that is where this piece ended up finding a home after the exhibit.

We have a couple of unique salvage shops in our city and I while I usually enjoy a good garbage picking find, it was winter here and that's not a fun garbage picking time, therefore I ended up perusing the shops.

Historic House Parts: www.historichouseparts.com
ReHouse Architectural Salvage: www.ReHouse.com

I found this cabinet door with all all hardware on it for under twenty dollars. It was painted a horrible peachy color when I found it but I liked the 4 seperate glass panels all being framed in. An idea began to form of putting photographs in each panel. I love black and white prints and went through photoshopping pictures from trips. I sent them to http://www.scottsphoto.com/ which I love because they do great work! I painted the frame black then did a weathering glaze followed by a coat of off white paint. I took the hinges off and spray painted them black. The tricky part that took hours of experimenting was how to adhere the photographs. I ended up using scrap-booking photo corners on each photo and then very carefully and patiently putting a dab of super glue on each corner of the scrap-booking edges (not the actual photo). I measured first and then placed thick books on top of the back of each photo to help them adhere. I was planning to hang the artwork from the hinges but this didn't work out so I purchased frame hooks and hammered them into the back. I then went to a local craft store and purchased etching scripts (the words in black on each panel). I carefully cut the scripts, placed them on the front and using an etching stick adhered them onto the glass.

The outcome turned out lovely and fits in my room perfectly. The art exhibit went well and I received many compliments. My goal is to participate in it next year to help me to keep creating!