Shabby Chic; Volume III

Clutterbee

I love your cabinet MV. I made the same mistake with the wax on my first piece. It gets easier. Have you thought about doing a different colour over the top (old white) and sanding back so that you can see the duck egg. You can just do a very thin coat so it is still mostly duck egg. The other trick is to make sure that the paint is completely dry before waxing. Also, it takes up to three days for the wax to cure so be aware of that when painting again. there are lots of really good you tube tutorials from stockists.

Metranil_Vavin

Thanks for the tips Clutterbee. I do get the impression that the wax is something you have to learn to work with!

Looking at it nearly a week on, I actually don't think it looks too bad. Hang on, I'll try and take a pic.

The wax looks a bit patchy in places, like some bits are waxed and some aren't. I think I'm going to leave it as is, as will probably end up keeping it (even though we have NO room!), and on my next project will take more care with the wax stage!

Metranil_Vavin

This cabinet is on sale on eBay at the moment, and I think it looks way patchier than mine!

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/201289436581?_trksid=p2060778.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

Metranil_Vavin

Pics aren't great as cabinet is sat in front of the kitchen window currently!

What do you think of the finish as far as you can see though?

x

thegirlsmum

i still haven't been able to find a jelly roll of fabric that i actually like the fabric so i'm looking for something to move onto.

at a craft fair i bought some modge podge but never having used it before. i want to get some chunky mdf freestanding letters and cover them with some nice papers. has anyone done this before? do i put modge podge on the letters, then put the paper on and then another layer of the modge podge? any tips greatly received because i have 2 new babies/mother's day/home decoration all needing these letters.

thanks

choille

I love the cabinet. At first I thought you shouldn't paint it as it looked so good, but it really looks fab. I love the colour.

Metranil_Vavin

Thanks

I think if the pine of the cabinet had been in better condition I would have kept it as was and just waxed it up, but it was a bit damaged in a couple of places so I decided to paint it instead.

tricksie

thegirlsmum wrote: »

i still haven't been able to find a jelly roll of fabric that i actually like the fabric so i'm looking for something to move onto.

at a craft fair i bought some modge podge but never having used it before. i want to get some chunky mdf freestanding letters and cover them with some nice papers. has anyone done this before? do i put modge podge on the letters, then put the paper on and then another layer of the modge podge? any tips greatly received because i have 2 new babies/mother's day/home decoration all needing these letters.

thanks

I've just done a clock with pva glue and decopatch papers. I used a small paint brush and covered a small area with the glue, tore the paper into bits approximately 1.5 cm square, as I stuck one on I went over it with more glue so I could overlap the next bit. I did it last Thursday and left it to dry over the weekend. I'm going to give it another coat of pva this afternoon to finish it off.

Really pleased with how it turned out. Photo to follow!

Cacran

I have done quite a bit of Decopatching.

I like to do things as cheaply as possible.

If you buy some nice paper napkins. Pull the ply's apart and use only the top layer which has the pattern. Tear it into bits.

Use PVA diluted with water (about half and half).

Spread the glue onto the item you want to cover, just enough for the bit of tissue that you are using. Stick the tissue on and coat it with the glue, overlapping enough to stick your next bit of tissue. Just carry on like that, until everything is covered. If there is any trimming needed, let it dry and use a sharp blade to cut off the hardened paper.

Paint all over the item with more of the glue and let it dry. If you can't wait, do it with a hairdryer.

You can varnish over with matt or gloss, if the item is going to be handled a lot, or just leave it without.

I keep tins and boxes, or anything that looks as if it would cover nicely.

It is easy enough for children to do it. too.

Metranil_Vavin

My son's new (old) desk. I sat at one of these in primary school