French Provencial Bench

     I just have to show this collaboration effort. It was done before I discovered blogging, so there are no before pictures, but it's easy to see what went on. My friend, Kyle, had this king-sized headboard he didn't know what to make with. It is French Provencial with framed wicker panels. He normally curb-shops, but he waited this one out at a thrift shop for only $5. A short while later, my daughter dragged a French Provencial coffee table in off the curb and the two pieces landed close to each other. As luck would have it, the Wisteria catalog arrived and on the cover was a beautiful French Provencial bench, that we drooled over and - "hey wait a minute!"... If you put the wicker panels on top of the coffee table, there's the bench!!! The ochre color was a mistint and the cushion was made from a thrift store curtain. Perfection!!!

Cowboy Desk

    This little desk had spent years in the humidity of a produce locker. It was moldy and hairy and had spider balls all over, not to mention duct tape on its legs. Nothing was broken or missing so it was a quick sanding job, primer on it's formica top and porch paint on its legs. Porch paint is a wonderful thing for pieces that involve children because it's so durable. The cowboy came from the Graphics Fairy , a wonderful blog spot to find great graphics, and a clear coat of shellac to finish it off.

Thank you very much Graphics Fairy!

Bird-side table

      This is a pretty straight forward redo, nothing really hard involved.  I found this table at a yard sale (sorry, no picture) for $10.00.  I usually don't pay this much for a small piece, but it was so cute!  As it turned out, the former owners had used it to store thier spare change, and a lot of it got caught in the interior plywood so after trucking it home and pulling out the drawers, I got a hefty sum of $3.65 for my trouble.  I saw it in a soft turquoise and painted it that way originally.  Now I don't remember why I covered the blue with yellow, but I think I like it better now.  Anyway the picture on top was in a calendar from last year and it just fit the top with a little cropping.  Since the top veneer was peeling, I cut a piece of  1/4 inch plywood to fit where it had been and attached the picture.  I'm sure everyone has their own way of glueing paper down, and it seems each different type of paper requires something different.  For this paper, since it was so heavy, I sprayed the back and the front with clear satin finish so it wouldn't absorb so much water, then used ModPodge to adhere it.  The satin variety looked really nice on the textured paper, so I covered it with a couple of more coats and glued and nailed the whole thing on to the top of the chest. Really quick, but really cute.