I  had no idea what it was. It has holes at one end through which I presumed bolts would go to keep it clamped shut. Wayne said its something to do with locking up rifles. Since I have no idea about rifles I’ll take his word for it.

Anyway, I thought surely there must be a use for it. Its an interesting item, the timber weathered and the paint worn off in places. In short: it was my kind of ‘thing’.

I decided that if I clamped it together it could work as a tealight holder. A table centrepiece, if you will. I envisaged the pieces clamped together with leather thongs, tied in the many interesting knots which Wayne knows how to do, sitting on a table on our deck on warm summer nights.

Till then I decided I could make use of it in Gully Road. I found some tiny glasses, filled them with white decorative gravel, added a couple of drops of lavender oil… tied the blocks together with raffia – voila! A pretty, nice smelling addition to the bathroom.

z

I got the best comment from a reader the other day. A lovely lady from North Carolina wrote in to let me know that she loved my blog and that my makeovers had inspired her to do some stuff for her own house. Welcome to the blog Victoria. I hope my blog continues to amuse and inspire you.

Today I have two mosaic projects to share. They’re easy to do and I know that when Merrill gave me a hand with one of them she became all excited and went off and did her own kitchen table top! It now looks a million times better and she’s rightfully proud of it.

the school desk

My first mosaic project was a small school desk. This was an old school desk I bought at a country school fair for $2. I bought 3 of them… You can never have enough small timber tables. Or cabinets. Or frames…

Anyway, this is what the table looked like when I got it.

I cleaned it up and used it on the porch for a while, I have pretty much just moved in to my house in Fentonbury then.

When I started making the porch look pretty and inviting, I realised I needed a table to sit coffee cups and books on. I looked around and thought one of the school desks would do perfectly with a makeover.

I had never tried mosaic till then, but how hard can it be, right? I looked it up online and got my supplies. I undercoated the table and got right to it.

I decided to make a pattern using small square tiles (I did have to break some in the end) but I tried to keep it as simple as possible. Once the tiles were set in place with the glue, I grouted with vanilla coloured grout cause I didn’t want it too whte.

Finally I gave the table a coat of Antique White USA (do you ever get tired of hearing that colour mentioned?) and it was done.

The table is now acting as a small desk in the purple room in Fentonbury with the small fold up chair I found at a farm auction a few years ago. I got it free cause no one else saw the potential of it and it was on the rubbish pile. Unlike the galvanised watering can I paid $50 for…

It was my first auction… I got into a war with a lady over it… Thats now on my list of things never to do again.

 

All I did to the chair was sand off most the peeling old red paint and estapol it.

the pine cupboard

For a while it sat on the small deck and did, in fact, hold boots and shoes. It was plain pine, and thus ugly in my opionion. I thought it’d look much better painted white, distressed and with a pretty top. The top wasn’t meant to be seen so was just chipboard.

Sorry I don’t have any before photos. It was just too ugly.

I’d found these old crazed green tiles at a tip shop, very old fashioned. They were the inspiration for the top.

First thing I did with that was move it from the porch to the garage where I would work on it. I figured that since it was heavy and since it needed distressing anyway, I would push and roll it up the driveway thus killing two birds with one stone: transportation and distressing.

The gravel gave it some nice dents and scratches.

I undercoated, then painted the cupboard a pale green which I tried to match to the tiles, then … YEP! Antique White USA. (I have loads of the stuff, I gotta use it up!)

When the paint was dry I rubbed some watered down burnt sienna artists acrylic into the cracks and scratches to give it an aged look.

Next I broke the green tiles and after sacrificing one which, like Humpty Dumpty, could never be put back together again, I found a technique which allowed me to break tiles then put them onto the top in the right shape!  (Thanks Merrill – she helped with this!)

I used plain white tiles I found at tip shops, not all the same thickness, broke those and used them in a random fashion to achieve a contrast between the oblongs of green and the randomness of the white. The result is an uneven ‘textured’ surface with a sort of geometric pattern.

Of course, you always run out of grout before you finish…

And the edges were really rough. I had to find a way to finish those off smoothly which I did by some sanding and some imaginative grouting.

Lastly, the cupboard needed new handles. I got Wayne to make me some spoon handles. Very cute.

The cupboard was intented to live on the porch to hold boots and provide a spot to sit to pull them on, plus hold a pot plant or two. Since the porch is still a hold-all for timber and tools for other ‘not quite finished’ projects, its been useful in the grooming room to hold blankets.

For the time being its found a home in Fentonbury.

z

I love collecting old bits of furniture. The only reason I dont live in a house with narrow walkways between towers of furniture is that I am also pretty good at controlling my urge to acquire.

Not having much money helps too.

As does the occasional purging of things I dont need. I have a good relationship with the owner of an antique shop in New Norfolk and have sold a few things through her in the past.

My biggest regret is that I can’t buy all the bits and pieces I would love to have, to upcycle, renew and make over.

Actually my biggest regret is that its really not easy to find interesting old furniture at affordable prices any more.

There are days when I wish I didn’t have to work so I could spend my days making over furniture… maybe one day…

So. The title mentions a cabinet so I guess I better get on with it!

I found this little cabinet in a 2nd hand shop in New Norfolk many years ago. I liked the shape of it and needed something for the bathroom so I grabbed it.

I didn’t have to do much to it, clean it up and re-paint it to refresh it mainly. A good clean and paint inside mostly, cause it had been used in a shed and had paint stains on the shelves.

I kept the old handle though cause its interesting with the old paint chipping off.

 

It then got moved the bedroom where it was my bedside table for a while.

When we moved to Wind Dancer Farm, I put it in the guest room and kept spare blankets in it.

Now its back in Fentonbury, in the kitchen.

Yes… the skirt on the bottom is broken on one side. I didn’t want to fix it cause imperfections are part of the charm. I love my little cabinet in all its wonkiness.

z

For a while now I’ve admired some of the word art I’ve seen on Pinterest. And you already know I have this thing about chipped paint, old stuff and the shabby look.

So I when I found this big old frame at a tip shop, I knew I had to have it. It was just what I needed to try out a new technique for ‘chippy’ paint I’d seen here.

This is what the frame looked like when I bought it. More or less. I’d already removed some of the mess. There had been something on canvas in the frame originally, it had been ripped off and this painting was done on the plywood backing. Hm. Interesting.

I removed the plywood and undercoated it so it wouldn’t show through the fabric. I cleaned the frame, then I used vaseline to create areas which would remain black when I spray painted it white.

I don’t usually use spray paint for my projects. For one thing its just too expensive. For another, I prefer to paint. This project called for flat white spray paint, and given that a brush would have smeared the vaseline, I had no choice.

Plus I was itching to try the technique.

While the frame was drying, I covered the plywood with some fabric I’d accidentally found on a trip at Spotlight. Uhuh. I was NOT shopping. I was just walking past and it called out at me!

I used the hot glue gun to attach the fabric to the ply, then put it back into the frame. The finished product looks fantastic!

I have taken it to Fentonbury where it now hangs above the bed in the main bedroom.

I had some fabric left over so here’s something I whipped up last night: I thought a cushion would add something to the room. I think its cute.

(Ok, so I’m not a great sewer, alright?)

Not bad for an old frame someone threw out huh?

z