wallpaper emo

A few weeks ago, I was shopping at a little junque shop in town.  I say junque because junk is a bit harsh, but antique is a bit of a stretch.  I saw this little metal terrarium thing complete with candles and silk flower bits (I appreciate the thought, but not so much the outcome).  I didn't buy it first time around, but then a couple of weeks, went back and decided it just needed to come home with me.  AND I needed to do a little fussing with it until it was more rusty crusty and full of character.  Below is what it looked like when I brought it home.

Before, as purchased.  Not bad, just not me

I have used this product before and like it a bunch.  It is Sophisticated Finishes and it can be found at Michael's.  It comes in a bunch of different finish options and is a 2 step process.

This set gives an aged copper patina

First you paint on the base coat.  I had the aged copper kit, so the first step made everything deep copper metallic color.

After the first step of the process.  Copper metallic finish.

Then, you add the patina liquid and let it sit.  I did a lot of dappling with a sponge brush and just let it run wherever.  As you might guess, the tray got the best of the patina since it is flat and the liquid doesn't run off.  If you like "extra crusty", you can toss a little salt in the mix and it does a bit of the pock thing.  Kinda cool.

After the second "patina" step has been added.

I liked it, but it was a little too orangey for the look I wanted, so I got on line and found out that Sophisticated Finishes also has a kit that is iron and rust.  Since I used up the last of my copper patina on this project and I had a coupon for 40% off at Michael's, I decided to replenish my rusty crusty maker stock with the iron and rust.  I then dabbled on both steps so I wouldn't completely obliterate the coolness of the finish I already had, but I could just tone it down a bit. Below is the result.

After adding dabs of the Iron/Rust set

I like it.  Funny how sometimes it just takes a little more layering before you're happy with the result.

Then came the fun part of putting some stuff in the structure.  I printed off some stuff from the Graphics Fairy and decided on the Birdie Darling sheet music cover.  I added an actual bird's nest which was abandoned in one of my Christmas wreaths one year, put in some Quail eggs, a little lace scrap to soften things, a crusty old finial, and the cute little porcelain bird which was on clearance at Michael's (OK, yes, impulse buy, but I did resist the first time I saw it and only bought it the second time around, so I think I get a little credit!).  I'm not sure I'm totally happy with the inside vignette yet, but the fun thing is, I can play until my heart is content now that I have it looking the way I wanted.  I like that now it isn't so obviously new like it was before.  Rusty and crusty and a little elegant.  Ahhhhhh, PERFECT!  And, pretty easy as well.  If you like to alter stuff to look like old metal, I think the Sophisticated Finishes do a pretty good job.  The kit runs around $12, but you can get several small projects out of it and, of course, if you use a coupon, it is much more reasonable. 

Filled with fun "junk"

It has cute little ball feet although its just balanced on my architectural piece right now.

I'm linking up with Kathleen's White Wednesday over at Faded Charm and Debra's Vintage Inspiration Friday.  Stop on over and get filled up on eye candy galor!

Don't forget my Romantic Prairie Style "Show Me Your Style" Photo Challenge that you can enter for a chance to win your very own copy of the fabulous Fifi's Romantic Prairie Style.  Read about it here.  Hope you gals don't mind, but I'm pushing back the deadline to enter the challenge to April 30th.  We all need more time, right?  Or maybe that's just me...smile.

Until next time,

The new furniture strangely made the tiny room feel much more spacious...
Bookshelf: Hemnes storage combination (Ikea)
Desk: Liatorp desk (Ikea)
All mirrored furniture: Hayworth collection: Jewelry Amoire, Lingerie Chest, Vanity table with Mirror and Bench (Pier 1)

Still need to find a great chair. Until then, my lil' wire-y one will have to do.

Added a new super girly chandelier... why not. (Home Depot)

The storage in this desk is AMAZING.
Awww at the poor lil' wire-y chair...haha. That's the only thing left to find! The perfect chair.
If you're interested in my pink keyboard cover, I got mine on amazon.com.

In the process of getting a glass topper for the desk. I'm paranoid about ruining it before then.

Spruced-up my little bookshelf. It used to be my Papaw's- he kept his records in there. I painted it white. I decided to add some short cafe curtains to cover the clutter inside. The top shelf houses my nail polish collection. The bottom shelf holds random books.

The new shelf is great for photo storage- From my photo boxes to framed ones to display...

One of my favorite wedding pictures. Brad is not in it though...lol
To-do: Find wedding picture to display in office that actually has husband in it.

Added a new lamp from Target...

And yep, my makeup/filming area stayed just the same!

aaand this is how I work... Still haven't decided if I'm a PC or a MAC. :/

-xoxo-
Tiffany

Hi Blogger Friends,

A week or so ago, I posted about some of the finds I got while out antiquing and one of them was this little fella.  He was so cute with his little ivy wreath crown and bird's nest, but he was painted an old gold.  I love old gold on some things, but on him, not so much.  Don't get me wrong, if for some reason, I could only have purchased him with the agreement that he had to stay as is, I still would have picked him up, but luckily, that was not a stipulation of purchase!  Like so many of you out there, sometimes, we just think, "but I could make it so much BETTER..."  And off we go, paintbrush in hand.  Here's what he looked like when I got him.


I had wanted to leave a little of his gold peeking through.  Hmmmm...I painted him all a watered down white and then wiped some of the paint off.  YUCK!  That wasn't even photo worthy.  He ended up in the sink with me and a brillo pad.  Back to the original...after numerous coats of a little white paint mixed with a little walnut glaze, then watered down walnut glaze to go down in the cracks, he ended up looking a bit like an old bronze statue.  I kind of liked him, but when I got up this morning, that old painting jones got the better of me and I got back at it before I even ate breakfast (or got dressed for that matter-I know, it's a sickness).  I wanted him lighter.  After a little more white paint mixed with a little glaze, ragged on, I sort of liked him, but he was a little chalky looking and the walnut glaze in the cracks seemed a bit too...well, wal-nutty.  SO, add some black paint to the watered down concoction and drippled that all over and then wiped if off the surface, just leaving it in the cracks.  Better.  I think we're getting there.  This is the result.


In this picture, he looks a tad zombie-ish, so I think he may get a little more dabbing of color in his face.  Tweaking, tweaking, always tweaking...sigh.

Overall, I think I'm happy with him, but there's always room for improvement, right?

Don't forget to enter my ROMANTIC PRAIRIE STYLE SHOW ME YOUR STYLE PHOTO CHALLENGE.   Click over to that post to get the low-down and send me your take on the romantic prairie style.  You never know...you may be in fabulous Fifi's next book!  No, I don't have any inside information, no I do not know if she has another book planned, but nothing ventured, nothing gained.  One thing I can say for sure, the winner will receive a copy of Fifi O'Neill's stunning new book, Romantic Prairie Style.  Archive photos are fine, you don't have to snap new ones, as long as they are YOUR personal photos of your home, garden, or studio.

Linking up with Kathleen's White Wednesday.  Pop on over for some great white inspiration.

Until next time,

Today is the day, yessirree...we have a winner of Fifi's fabulous new book Romantic Prairie Style and one of my little lavender sachets. AND I have something exciting to tell you at the bottom of the post, so bear with me.


Thank you to all who entered and became followers and tweeted and posted on Facebook.  I wish I had a book to give all of you, but I don't, so we'll just have to congratulate the nice gal who's "number came up".
Mr. Random Number Generator came up with the number belonging to....