Stain and Foil Tutorial: A Table in Need of a Little Drama!

It’s been such a long time since I last wrote a blog tutorial!  

I have had several questions recently about some of the products and techniques I use.  
I thought it would be fun to walk you through the makeover of this sweet vintage table and share
a little insight and tips along the way!

I have gotten out of the habit of taking before pictures, so you’ll have to forgive me for this partial,

mid-project pic!  This table started out with a well worn, dark brown finish.
I started with a coat of Country Grey Chalk Paint® with the intention of doing a two-color wet
distressed technique.

I opted for sanding and staining the top.  This isn’t something I usually do!

I have never cared for working with furniture stain at all!  
My experiences with traditional furniture stain have left me with brown fingertips,
ruined paint brushes and horrible headaches.  I have always been sensitive to the harsh
chemical odors emitted from those little cans. For that reason, I have pretty much avoided stain
at all costs, until…

I was introduced to Bio Savvy Stain!  This stain is completely non-toxic and fume free!  

It also cleans up way easier than traditional stains!  
No more stained fingers and ruined paint brushes! Dark Walnut is my favorite of the 4 Savvy Stain
colors and the one I chose for this table top.  You simply brush this stain onto your raw wood surface,
no need to wipe back! The stain penetrates the wood, leaving a beautiful rich color behind.  
Your stained surface does not necessarily need to be sealed, but I have used Annie Sloan’s clear wax
as well as Artisan Enhancements Clear Topcoat Sealer over my stained surfaces for added protection.  

Both work great!

Bio Savvy Stains can also be used like a glaze!  I still use Annie Sloan’s dark and black waxes for

aging and adding richness to my paint finishes.  I chose to do a glaze technique here instead,
for two reasons…

First of all, I loved the idea of glazing my Scandinavian Pink over Country Grey paint finish with the

same Dark Walnut color that I had used to stain the table top. It pulls the piece together for a
cohesive look.

Also, I really like the matte finish I can achieve with the “stain glaze” technique.  

As you can see, I just brushed the stain onto my dry paint finish and immediately wiped it back with
a lint-free shop towel.  I also used baby wipes in some areas where I wanted to remove more of the
stain.

If you’ve been with me for a workshop, you know how much I love my Kirkland Signature wet wipes!  
I used them to do some wet distressing on these table legs as well.

After having stained, painted and glazed my table, I decided those fancy legs needed some metallic
accents!  You’ve seen me use a lot of gold gilding wax on past projects. Leaf & Foil applications
create a different kind of metallic finish.  Metallic foils offer more of a dramatic effect, where gilding
waxes are softer and more subtle.

I felt like these table legs were in need of a little drama.

Artisan Enhancements Leaf and Foil Size can be used to apply metallic leaf or foil.  Foil is much more reasonably priced and less messy to work with. Although there are a lot of foil colors to choose from, my absolute favorite is Soft Gold, especially with pink!

A word to the wise...Leaf and Foil Size is super sticky stuff!  Be very careful opening that container. If you end up with Size on your fingers (which you probably will) or any other surface you didn’t intend to apply it to...hand sanitizer or rubbing alcohol should help with removal.  Don’t use your favorite, high end paint brush to apply Size or you will certainly regret it. I use cheap chip brushes for larger applications. For more detailed projects, Artisan Enhancements has very reasonably priced small stencil brushes, which is what I am using here.  I was able to remove most the size from this brush by soaking it in rubbing alcohol after use, but it will probably be my designated detail Size brush from here on out.
Simply apply the Size to the areas you want to be gold (or whatever metallic foil color you choose).  Apply Size sparingly! A little goes a long way. After about 20 minutes the size will be tacky and ready for the foil.  
Note: Artisan Enhancements Size will remain tacky for at least 20 hours...so if you have to walk away from your project for longer than 20 minutes at this point, it’s not a problem.  Unless your cat rubs up against said project… That would definitely be a BIG problem. I honestly worry about this every time I step away from a Foil project! Thankfully it hasn’t happened yet!  (knock on wood!)

This is the fun part!  Metallic Foil is sold by the roll or by the foot.  I like to cut my foil into strips. Here I’ve wrapped a strip of foil around a table leg where the Size had been applied and allowed to tack up.  You must apply the foil SHINY SIDE UP! It seems completely backwards, but this is just how it works. Sometimes I just use my fingers to rub the foil onto the surface, other times I might use a dry paintbrush or a scrubbing brush to “burnish it.”  

Instant gratification!  This is such a fun technique to teach in workshops.  

There are always lots of “oohs and ahhs” as the foil is pulled away!

If you feel you’ve missed a spot or wish there was more foil left on your piece, you can always apply more Size, let it tack up and lay your foil back down.

If you end up with a bit of foil in a spot where you don’t want it, I find the best way to remove it is either a light sanding or just covering it with a bit more paint.  It’s pretty forgiving. Just work with the finish until you love it!

After having accented all six of my table legs with foil, I was ready to seal my paint finish.  As mentioned before, the Bio Savvy Stain can be sealed with Annie Sloan wax or Clear Topcoat Sealer.  I prefer a brush on sealer such as Clear Topcoat or Clear Finish over foils. Although Clear Finish is great for enhancing the sheen of metallic foil finishes, I didn’t want my overall paint finish to be shiny, so I opted for the matte Clear Topcoat Sealer.  If you’re not familiar with Clear Topcoat Sealer, here’s a brief video explaining the product and how to best apply it.

I hope you’ve gained information from this tutorial that will be useful to you in your future projects!  Are there techniques you’ve seen featured on my blog that you have questions about?

Please don’t hesitate to email me!  I would love to hear from you!

Thank you for your visit!
Best Wishes and Blessings,
Amanda

A Little Princess Window Display

I so enjoyed putting together the May window display at Camas Antiques again!  Last year my theme was the Secret Garden.  This year I went with another Francis Hodgson Burnett classic, A Little Princess.

So, as you can see it was all about pale pink paint finishes, ruffles, frills and flowers!  The featured Annie Sloan Chalk Paint® mix - Old White with a dash of Scandinavian Pink!

Pretty dishes, of course!

A beautiful antique secretary in Paris Grey Chalk Paint® - Read more about this makeover project here.

Stacks and stacks of luscious bed linens!  Many have found new homes but there are still a few lovelies available!

Urns, tables, chairs, topiaries, dresses, glitter book stacks, concrete birdbaths and more...

It came together so beautifully.  But I can't take all the credit.  I had some wonderful helpers!

My 6 year old daughter punched out dozens of pink paper butterflies to glue to the tree branches donated from my in-law's farm.

My husband loaded and unloaded the heavier furniture and concrete pieces more times than he cares to remember!

And my sweet friend Deanna of The Dollhouse at Camas Antiques spent the day helping me haul loads of goodies from my house to the store.  She also helped me arrange and rearrange things throughout the day until everything fit just right!

Taking photos of a window display is tricky business.  The only way to get photos through the glass without the glare is to take them at night.  Unfortunately the lighting isn't ideal in the dark.

So, here we have a few photos taken during the day from inside the display!

The window has endured many changes since these photos were first taken, but the larger pieces are still there, even the bed which has sold.  Fresh merchandise has been added throughout the month.  Just 10 more days until everything changes!

These sweet bedside tables painted in a mix of Scandinavian Pink and Old White were a late addition to the display.  They have since sold and left the window.

I will be working on more projects to add to the display this week and hope to share the details with you here over the next few days!

Thank you for your sweet visit today!

Best Wishes and Blessings,

Amanda

Subtle Details...A Vintage Buffet Makeover

Last week this lovely little vintage buffet made her way into my booth at Camas Antiques!  I was putting the finishing touches on her just moments before this photo was taken!  It was kind of a mad dash to get her to the shop, so I didn't quite get as many photos as I would have liked to!

When I picked her up, she was sturdy, clean and had great hardware but she was dark oak and I envisioned a much lighter, brighter look for her.

I mixed Old White and Pure White to create the color Annie Sloan calls "Original."

On the doors I applied a raised stencil relief using Artisan Enhancements VP Antico and their Fleur with Laurel and Crown stencil!  If you're interested in learning more about the raised stencil relief, please visit this blog post where I have described the technique in detail and shared a time lapse video of the process.  Normally I jazz up the relief with foils or glazes but I decided to keep it simple and subtle this time...just a hint of French elegance.

I did go over the entire piece with a light French Linen Wash and a little Old Ochre in select areas.  Unfortunately it was hard to capture in photos the subtle depth that these washes created.

On the inside I painted a pretty grey-blue.  It was a color I had mixed some time ago and had just enough left over to complete the interior.  I'm afraid I didn't make note of the color ratios...I am just not that organized!  If I had to guess, I would say it was a mix of Louis Blue and Paris Grey.

Rhododendrons, our state flower but not my favorite.  I enjoyed this one from our front yard during the short time it was a pretty pink this year

There she is...perfectly snug in my little booth, awaiting a new home!  Tomorrow the booth gets an overhaul...ready or not!  Follow me on Facebook for the reveal!

Thank you so much 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

Scalloped Cottage Cream Dresser Details

 

Last month, I replaced my husband's little old dresser of 12 years with a bigger, more masculine piece, painted with love and even monogrammed just for him!  You can see his new dresser here.  The old dresser had a makeover this week and made it's way to my shop space at Camas Antiques!

 

 

Annie Sloan's butter yellow color called, "Cream" lends itself to the cottage style so well.  It seemed the perfect color for this vintage dresser destined for a cozy cottage one day soon.

 

 

The hand painted scalloped design in Old White adds just the right amount of subtle detail to the drawers.  Painting scallops is easier than you might think.  I shared my method in a blog post last year.  You can find it here. 

 

 

Rather than do any distressing on this piece, I kept my brush strokes uneven and laid the paint on thickly.  After a coat of clear wax, I worked some dark wax into my brush strokes to accentuate them and give the finish an aged appearance.  I typically go this route when painting over something that was previously painted in a color that I don't want to show through my new finish.  It works as an alternative to a sanded back, distressed look.

 

I hope this sweet little dresser reaches it's cottage destination one day soon.  I think it would be lovely in a cozy bedroom, nursery, or even a vintage inspired bathroom.  Dressers are so versatile.

 

Thank you for your visit today!

Have a lovely week!

 

Best Wishes and Blessings,

Amanda

 

 

Sharing With:

Inspire me Tuesday at A Stroll Thru Life 

 Before and After Wednesday at The Decorated House

What's it Wednesday at Elephants and Ivy
Wow us Wednesday at Savvy Southern Style
Home Sweet Home at The Charm of Home

Feathered Nest Friday at French Country Home

Inspiration Gallery at Craftberry Bush

Show and Tell Friday at My Romantic Home

Furniture Feature Friday at Miss Mustard Seed

Treasure Hunt Thursday at From My Front Porch To Yours

Vintage Inspiration Friday at Common Ground 

 Friday's Unfolded at Nancherrow

Painted Sofa Before/After and Master Bedroom Updates

 

Several years ago I brought home an orange sofa from an estate sale.  Yes, it was orange and aesthetically dated in a way that didn't fit my style, but it's condition was pristine and it was only $30!  I was so drawn to it's curves and lovely tufting that I was able to look past the Brady Bunch orange upholstery.  I remember my husband giving me a funny look when he helped me unload it from the truck, but he didn't question my intentions.  He rarely does.  He knows better.

 

Our master bedroom is fairly large and I was hoping to create a pretty little sitting area.  The sofa was the perfect size, but obviously the wrong color.  I immediately covered it with a beautiful quilt, threw some pretty pillows on it and vowed to save my pennies to have it reupholstered one day.  Well, we all know how expensive upholstery work can be.  And it seems like after having children, your priorities get shifted and suddenly spending hundreds of dollars to reupholster a $30 sofa that no one ever sits on seems frivolous and unnecessary. 

 

If you've been following along with me here, you know that I have been working on making some updates to our bedroom.  I painted a new dresser for my husband and re-painted my old dresser for a completely new look.  With the pretty new updates happening in the room, the quilt covered sofa just wasn't working for me anymore.  I had been contemplating the idea of painting it with Chalk Paint® Decorative Paint by Annie Sloan ever since I saw other bloggers painting their own upholstered furniture.  My biggest concern was that the sofa would soak up several cans of paint and even though I would be spending considerably less than I would to have it reupholstered, I still was ready to spend over $100 making my $30 sofa look more presentable.  Recently, Debbie Hayes of Annie Sloan Unfolded painted and stenciled a sofa that appeared to be comparable in size to mine.  In her blog post, she stated that she was able to paint the entire sofa with just a half can of Chalk Paint®!  That was all I needed to hear!  A few days later, I pulled that quilt off of my orange sofa and started painting.  I created a custom lavender color by mixing Paloma and Old White.  Within a matter of hours the orange sofa was no more.  I estimate that my sofa took closer to one whole can of paint, but it was still a much more cost efficient makeover than what I had originally anticipated. 

 

 

This little sofa had been covered up with a quilt for so long that I had forgotten what a cute shape it had and how lovely the tufting was!  The Paloma/Old White mix created the most perfect shade of lavender for our room.  It's exactly the color of fabric I had envisioned the sofa being reupholstered in one day.

 

 

I know exactly what you're wondering when you look at this upholstery paint transformation...what does the fabric feel like?  Is it crunchy?  Well yes, it is a little crunchy...and I know I could apply Annie's clear wax and probably get a softer feel, but honestly no one ever actually sits on this sofa.  We lay our clothes out on it, and that's about it.  I was happy with how it turned out, so I decided to save my wax for another project.

 

 

Once it was painted in the most perfect shade of lavender, the little sofa needed a few more accessories to make it extra beautiful!  I tried to be open minded when shopping for throw pillows.  I knew I wanted to add some accent colors but I wasn't sure exactly what they would be.  I am trying to go for a "collected" cottage look in our room.  I fell in love with this little sequined, ruffled pillow at HomeGoods but it wasn't the pop of color I was looking for, luckily on the next aisle over was the satin patchwork pillow that had a lot of lovely soft colors on it to pull from.  I carried it around to a few different stores and eventually found the blanket in the perfect shade of blue to work with the pillow and accent the sofa. 

 

 

The other accessory the little sofa just had to have were some new legs.  As you can see in the before photo, the original legs gave the sofa sort of a mid-century modern look. 

 

 

Switching them out for some curvy Queen Anne style legs really helped achieve the vintage cottage feel I was hoping for.  I purchased the legs online from Van Dyke's Restorer's.  They were on sale and I ended up paying just $20 for four legs after all was said and done.  I chose to stain them with a dark stain I had left over from another project.  I felt like I needed a little bit of wood grain in this corner of the room in contrast with all of the painted pieces.  Special thanks to my sweet husband for his help in replacing the sofa legs!  I don't want to down-play his efforts, but it seemed like an easy straight-forward project, in case you were wondering.

 

 

The tiered end table is a piece that a friend of mine had for sale in her booth at Camas Antiques!  I originally purchased it hoping to use it as a nightstand in our room but it ended up being a bit too small.  I decided to try it out in the corner of the room next to the sofa, and as it turns out I think it's perfect there!

 

 

 Michelle painted this lovely table in Old White, distressed it just right and finished it off with clear and dark wax.  I love it, Michelle!

 

 

While I'm sharing in this corner of our room, I'll tell you a little bit about the new curtains I just put up.  Before, we had hand-me-down lace panels.  I liked them okay for several years but you know how it is when you change one thing in a room..it quickly leads to more changes!  I decided I wanted a more finished look with sheers and panels but I didn't have hundreds of dollars to spend, so I headed to Ikea! 

 

 

I liked the color, texture and the price of the Lenda curtain panels, but didn't much care for the tab top.  I thought I would do an alteration of some sort when I got around to it.  When I layed the panels out on the ironing board I realized that I could easily cut a little slit at the top of the curtain where it's folded over, just at the hem and feed the rod right through it.  I just tucked the tabs back behind once the curtains were hung in place.  It feels a little like cheating, but it works for me!  These have been up in our room for a few weeks now and I am really happy with them!

 

 

 This corner of our room is now prettier than I had imagined it could be, thanks to a few easy projects, a can of paint and some special accessories!  I still have a few things left on my to-do list as well as my wish list for our bedroom, but I am really pleased with how things are coming together!

 

Thank you for allowing me to share my decorating journey with you, and for your sweet visit today!

 

Best Wishes and Blessings,

Amanda

 

 

 

 

 

Sharing With:

Inspire me Tuesday at A Stroll Thru Life 

 Before and After Wednesday at The Decorated House

What's it Wednesday at Elephants and Ivy
Wow us Wednesday at Savvy Southern Style
Home Sweet Home at The Charm of Home

Feathered Nest Friday at French Country Home

Inspiration Gallery at Craftberry Bush

Show and Tell Friday at My Romantic Home

Furniture Feature Friday at Miss Mustard Seed

Treasure Hunt Thursday at From My Front Porch To Yours

Vintage Inspiration Friday at Common Ground 

 Friday's Unfolded at Nancherrow

 Vintage Inspiration at Knick of Time Interiors