A few weeks ago I walked out of Portland's largest garage sale with a piano under each arm. Of course, these pianos were quite small, tiny really. I imagine they were designed for a baby just barely walking, at the most two years old. I have seen tiny pianos such as these on occasion at antique stores and just imagined how cute they would be painted. Well, here was my chance.
I will admit that it was more of an undertaking than I had imagined. In order to properly paint this piano, it had to first be disassembled. I cautiously removed the top panel and was immediately glad that I had not decided to attempt painting without first taking the piano apart. It was pretty dirty inside, in fact each key needed to be cleaned individually. Talk about tedious work! I will think long and hard before attempting a full sized piano cleaning/painting after working on this tiny instrument.
The chair I had found separately but it was the perfect size and therefore paired up and painted to match.
Both piano and chair were painted in Old White and lightly distressed with fine grit sandpaper.
Right from the start I knew I wanted to do something with vintage sheet music on the front of this piece. It wasn't until I had finished painting that I discovered in my stash of ephemera this antique French piece titled "Le Petit Piano." A friend had given me not one but two of these sheets some time ago! Are you thinking what I'm thinking?
Two tiny pianos and two Le Petit Piano music sheets?
Suddenly I needed to know how to say"meant to be" in French! I googled it... "destiné à être!"
I used Artisan Enhancements Image Transfer Gel as a decoupage medium to adhere the paper to the front panel of the piano. Did you know that Transfer Gel also works as decoupage? It does! And, you can paint a layer of it over top your adhered image and it will serve as your sealer as well.
Once I was finished with my decoupage and it had dried completely, I finished off the entire piano and chair with Annie Sloan's clear wax along with a bit of dark wax in a few specific areas such as around the decoupaged graphic and in some of the corners where dirt might have collected were the pieces naturally aged.
Do you like my little vintage millinery doves? I brought home a whole flock of them from an antiquing trip with my mom a few months ago. They have been waiting to make their way into a photo shoot.
Can you spot Le Petit Piano up there on the table in my booth? It's difficult with all of that merchandise crowding the display!
Something else that is somewhat hidden in that display is this great antique oak pedestal table on wheels, also painted in Old White! I think it is quite lovely, and although it is for sale I don't mind telling you that I secretly hope it sticks around for a little while at least because it sure is handy to have in my booth!
Hopefully this Mother's Day weekend will be a busy one at Camas Antiques! All of my dealer friends have been filling their booths with new treasures in preparation of the holiday weekend and the Mother's Day sale on Saturday! If you live in our area, be sure to visit our Event page on Facebook for more details and do come to downtown Camas for the festivities on Saturday, May 9th!
Thank you for your sweet visit!
Best Wishes and Blessings,
Amanda
Sharing With:
Home Sweet Home at The Charm of Home
Feathered Nest Friday at French Country Home
Show and Tell Friday at My Romantic Home
Treasure Hunt Thursday at From My Front Porch To Yours
Friday's Unfolded at Nancherrow
Furniture Feature Friday at Miss Mustard Seed
What's it Wednesday at Ivy and Elephants
