Shabby Chic Chair (Happy Birthday, Rebecca!)

Front and back view of the finished chair.  Thrifted for $3.

One of the back legs needed repair.  A triangular 3"-4" piece had broken off the leg.  I formed and attached a patch, primed and painted it to match the paint.  I rearranged the padding under the existing upholstery and then covered the backside (which was not finished) with some drapery fabric we had on hand.

My wife calls it "shabby chic".

I call it her birthday present!

I've Been Workin' On The....

DOLLHOUSE!

Finished the roof. Since the top is a flat roof, I used the sand paper as flat sheets like a rubber roof on a flat surface. Then I used a 3/4" piece as a ridge cap between the slant and flat roof sections.

Used old glass cut to size and framed it with 3/8"pieces. Cutting the glass to size is the challenge.

Done - Inside and Outside

Inside....

Outside

One New Project; One On-Going

This toy box was purchased at a thrift store for $10. There were a few places that needed to be better secured. I filled a few rough spots with wood filler. I have done a little sanding and will finish sanding and paint the box.

Since the last view of the doll house, I secured the porch posts and put one coat of paint on them. You will notice the porch roof is started. I used 40 grit sand paper. I cut 1" strips, giving me eight strips. I placed a notch for the shingle effect one inch apart. I glued them with a quarter inch overlap over each row. Double click on the picture for a close up view.

Ready for Pick-Up or Delivery

The chairs were sanded between the primer and this final coat of paint.

I used black primer for the first time to prime these chairs that we'll give to our youngest daughter.  I think one coat of satin finish black will be all that's needed on top of this primer.

Building Dollhouse Stairways

After several aborted attempts to design a staircase to fit the holes existing at the time I acquired the doll house, I decided to use paint stir-sticks as the material for these stairs.  It is delicate work, but I think we'll be happy with the final product.

Keeping the Workplaces Organized

I had lots of help cleaning out the shed Wednesday! 

Completed Wood Box

The wood box is finished. Repaired the lid. Secured the corners and the hinges. Then lightly sanded the whole box. Used Provincial stain to darken the areas where the wood grain showed. Then I used a paste wax over the whole box and buffed it to give it protection and shine.

Details

These were the only two porch posts with the dollhouse when we bought it.

I hand-carved  two which will be placed on the ends of the porch.  The two original will frame the door.

Wooden Box

Purchased for $1.  Needs some work.  Board split around hinges.

Need to decide about finish.

An inside look....

Progress

Trimmed out the windows and door on the front of the house. Painted them a light tan color.

Put a trim piece on the ends to cover the cracks where the board meet. Gives some definition to the ends.

Doll House Painted

Painting the exterior is another step in the process. We used paint we had on hand. Rebecca liked the color for the house. Next I will work on the window trim.

Saturday's tasks.

Finally back to working on the doll house. Found this product to give stucco effect. It worked well from my standpoint. It dries so you can paint it in 30 minutes.

Stucco effect.

Painted star white to blend better with the porch trim.

Oak Chair

Chair refinished for friends. I failed to take a before picture. I then reupholstered the seat.


Made detailed pieces for each arm. The old ones had broken.

Porch Renewal

From the second picture you can tell that the porch was dark brown color. We decided to stain the railing white and paint the floor the color of the house. We like the way it turned out. The view from the street really sets off the house.

Backyard Trellis

We were able to get this trellis at a 75% reduction. Works good for our purposes.

Rebar Deer

My friend Andy agreed to teach me how to weld. I had never done this, so he brought his welding equipment and we set up to weld a deer out of rebar I picked up at the local salvage yard. My welds are not nearly as nice as Andy's but the deer looks good in our back yard.

Bottle Tree

We had an old weed type tree in our back yard. We didn't care for it. I was going to cut it down when my wife suggested we make a bottle tree. So we left it about 7-8' and drilled holes for the dowel rods to be used to hold various bottles we found. Once we started a few friends gave us bottles to ads.

Split Rail Fence

A friend took out an old split rail fence. I picked up the rails we needed to make a definition to our corner. Before the bush was all alone and it looked it. We picked up the post we needed and completed the job for $40. Then we put some wooden cardinals on the posts. We have several wooden cardinals in the back yard so this tied it together.

Vintage Cedar Box

A thrift store find need that needed to have hinges repaired. I used Mod Podge to reseal the picture on the top of the box, then we used shoe polish to restore the look of the wood and ended up with a nice usable box.

Porch Shelf

My wife wanted a shelf for the front porch that she could use to change with the seasons. I took an old mirror frame from a dresser, turned it upside down and put a 1"x4" board on top. I cut a grove for holding a plate or in the picture decorative trays. I painted it and used a dowel rod for a flag holder. We were able to make this with things we had on hand. The desire is to take advantage of what is available.

Doll House

This is a winter project. I bought this base of a doll house at a thrift store for $10.

Took these old shingles off. You can't tell from this picture but the windows were not cut level at the top on the upper level. So I squared them. My wife wants me to put a stucco finish on the exterior. I have not done that so we will see how it goes. I will keep you posted.