Easy Peasy Wood Transfer

You remember the cabinet I found at the Dump? Costing $8.00? Once again good ol Websters Chalk Paint Powder came to the rescue and it came up a treat!
I have wanted to try the Wood Transfer technique for ages and as this is going in my work area it didnt matter iff I screwed it up so lets do this!

 

I found a video via google and simply did what they told me to do and it worked!

Find an image you would like to transfer on to the wood. I use The Graphics Fairy who has the most amazing website and can also be found on Facebook

I saw this one in my Facebook Feed and simply HAD to try it!

And a link ........French Beekeeper

Peel all the labels from an Avery Label sheet and use the side the labels would be on. Put it in your Inkjet printer. (I need to mention I tried Unistat Label sheets and Avery. Unistat sucked.)
 

Use the side the labels were on

 
Print out the image you would like and then simply press onto your wood. Gently rub over the paper to ensure the transfer has come out on your project.

I let mine dry overnight then put a layer of Léssentiel Wax over the top to seal it. You could also use a spray on sealer or good ol Feast Watson Polyseal.

Pretty easy peasy .......

I also used Google to find out how to reverse an image and had a play with our logo ......

Good Times ..........

Revamp, restore & Be Fabulous

Let's fill a corner shall we?

Absolutely run out of room to store my Jar collection and like to keep things relatively clutter free but simply cannot bring myself to part with these vintage jars!

What to do???

Into The Garage and stood looking at a 30 odd year old corner unit that had been used to house garden crap and various bits and bods.

Pretty crappy yes?

Bloody good clean and scrape but no other prep work needed when using Websters Chalk Paint Powder.

Usual mixture of:

2 x Tablespoons of Websters Chalk Paint Powder
1 x Tablespoon of water
1 x Cup of random leftover paint that was in the garage ~cool color huh?

Second batch of Websters with Antique White USA.

I thought I would try a little bit of stripey sort of latticework. I simply put masking tape over the section I wanted to stripe up and stippled the paint on with a small brush.

Removed the masking tape and made up a washed out mix using the leftover Websters and a cloth to create a sort of wishywashy look

Door is done and ready to go on as soon as I have someone to hold it up for me ....... I tried the L'essentiel White Wax on this project as I wanted a softer look to really showcase the Jars. I kinda like the White Wax!
Not in stock at FS Vintage yet but stay tuned!

So basically we turned this :

Into this:

Using Websters & Léssentiel Wax.

Easy peasy.

Revamp, Restore & Be Fabulous.

Gimmie the news!

Here we are back safe & sound from our recent jaunt to the US of A. Two years hard work was worth it and we have already started to plan the next trip!

So back to business!

Recently we were lucky enough to find a big batch of vintage Fowler Jars from the 70's to the 90's. The jars were carefully wrapped in newspaper which I simply could not bring myself to throw away.

Boxes & Boxes of Jars along with lids & clips that I stopped counting after 100! But as usual ... I digress.

+

I started thinking about what could be done with aforementioned Newspapers rather than tossing this little bit of history in the bin.

How bout a decoupage Hatbox?

Materials Needed:

1 x Hatbox or similar
1 x Pack Wallpaper Paste
1 x Paintbrush
Batch of Old newspapers or anything else you like. I have also printed out some free french papers I found on the amazing The Graphics Fairy   (lovelovelove)

I slathered the wallpaper paste all over the hatbox and left to dry overnight .......

I then used my Feast Watson Poly Sealer and wiped over the entire project before again leaving overnight to dry.

Finished project ~ perfectly Fabulous for storing anything you like!

Revamp, Restore & Be Fabulous

Retro Tip to Fabulous French

I found this retro cabinet looking a tad worse for wear with a couple of the drawers simply falling apart as we unloaded from the trailer.
Can you see the potential?

Let's do this!

Started the process with a darn good clean using my preferred method of a damp cloth with a touch of Eucalyptus oil.
I then used liquid nails & tacks to make sure all the drawers were back in working order.

Three coats on this one as it is a laminate and I was not 100 % sure how the amazing Websters would adhere .........

I need not have worried .......

I really wanted to try this Valspar Paint as my research had shown it was apparently the best product around to use with Websters Chalk Paint Powder .........

Mixture:

2 x Cups Valspar Day & Night Paint
4 x Tablespoons of Websters Chalk Paint Powder
2 x Tablespoons of Water

A double mixture to ensure there was nice thick coverage and I wanted to do the back and inside the drawers as well.
Have to say I am loving this paint. It glides on like a dream and the coverage is brilliant.

While having a look through Facebook I saw one of my all time favorite pages ~ Time Worn Style was selling a roll of Vintage Laura Ashley Border paper.

I knew I could find a use for something as fabulous as this so purchased and proceeded to restyle these tired old drawers. Just three .... didn't want to over do it so just three drawers.
I used a regular wallpaper paste purchased from Bunnings and mixed according to instructions. I let it dry overnight before painting over the top with our Valspar & Websters mixture.

The whole process was so easy peasy I wondered ....Was I doing something wrong????

Now for a Stencil ....... Found out I used way to much paint and you should dab or stiple rather than slather ....

 A couple of coats of Dark wax on the edges & Clear all over .....

And finally some fab 40mm crystal knobs .........

The finished project ....

Revamp, Restore & Be Fabulous

Websters Chalk Paint Workshops

Websters Chalk Paint

There is no place like home

Well Dorothy - it is time to leave and head home to Australia. We have had a bloody brilliant time and enjoyed ourselves as much as last time.

We love visiting America and will definately be back in about 2 to 3 years and think we may do the other side like New York and Boston. Mr Fab wants to see Chicago as well so we will begin the next round of saving and scrimping and working hard to make our dream come true.

We both LOVED the cruise annd would absoluttely go again in a heartbeat. I just asked Mr Fab his favorite part of the trip and he said without hesitation - The Cruise.

Now it is back to work and back to normal. We have The Vintage Fair on the Saturday after we arrive home first thing and we are both looking forward to it. Probably not the best thing to have committed to something like that the day after such a huge trip but we did all the prep work prior to leaving so basically we simply have to pack the car up and we are good to go.

Did I tell you we have also committed to two Markets a month now? We will be at Handmade Redcliffe the first Saturday of every month and Handmade Samford the third Saturday of every month. Our Workshops will be on the alternate Saturday mornings so Busy Busy times ahead.

We also have three new pieces to Revamp, Restore and make Fabulous as soon as we unpack so basically we will be hitting the shores of Australia ...... running.

Thankyou for your support and for reading about our misadventures here in the US. We will continue to Blog as we have done previously to show you what we create and do here at FS Vintage.

Dont forget you can stop by and visit us at 46 Ballynde Street Bracken Ridge QLD or call us on 0402 065 606 to make a time that suits you.

Our website is available to anyone not able to visit us in person at www.fsvintage.com.

Look forward to seeing you soon and hope you continue to enjoy what we do.

Remember to ......

Revamp, Restore & Be Fabulous!

Farewell till we meet again America .....

Have I mentioned how much we love Iowa? 

*sigh*

Thankyou to our friends Michelle & Mark for having us in your home and making us feel like we were in our own.

*bottomlip tremble*

*cough*

Ok so we spent the last couple of days chilling out and just enjoying the time with our friends till we see them again. There is something about Iowa we both love. From the houses to the people - everything makes us feel very Zen.

On Thursday evening we decided to show M & M - an Aussie Barby. We grabbed some steaks the size of a doorstep, made some Potato in Jacket and make sure you are sitting down people .....

I made a Pavlova ....

Oh yeahhhhhhh I DID. Keep the fainting and swooning in shock down to a minimum please.

We drank good wine and just talked and ate and basically had a blissful time.

On Friday evening we all piled into the car and went to The Snus Hill Winery. This was very very cool. What happens is you take some picnic fare like cheese or fruit or whatever you like and you grab a bottle of their wine to partake in as you listen to some fab music and chill out on a balmy mid western evening...

*blink*

In heaven much?????????

The music was awesome with some very cool blues to soothe the soul .....

Sadly all good things must close for at least a little while so on Saturday morning we loaded ourselves and our stuff into the hire car and began the trek across country to LA. 

Ok ok I will admit it here and now - I did get a wee bit emotional after giving them a huge hug and had to quickly get in the car .....

We drove across Iowa, Nebraska, Colorado, Utah, Arizona, Nevada and finally back into California. Mr Fab kept amusing himself by doing impersonations of .... me.

Apparently I do some quite odd things .....

I wish it wasnt as funny as it is.

Make a note here: Under NO circumstances stay at the Green River Ramada ....... UGH

I asked Mr Fab did he want to divert to Reno for a quickie divorce but he said he wants to stay married to me......

*girly giggle that I promise will NEVER happen again*

A very long drive but again we have seen quite a lot of America!!!! Just out of Nevada we hit quite a stretch of traffic and Mr Fab did start to get a wee bit cranky with nutters who were driving ....

THEN we hit the LA freeway.

DEAR GOD PEOPLE!!!! Seriously??????? I mean SERIOUSLY??????????? 

Gertie the GPS kept saying : "Stay to the left then stay in the left lane but move the right lane ..."

Across 5 lanes of gridlocked traffic???????? We had a couple of people make rude gestures and one woman in her big black truck with daffodils was very undaffodilly as she screeched past us.

I need to mention how incredible Mr Fab was. We do work well together but it was insane stupid scary in that traffic. I am navigator which I did very well indeed - but then the Fuel Gauge made a beeping sound and told us we had 25 Miles left of petrol.........

*GAHHHHHHHHHHHH*

We both just looked at each other and had those "OH MY GAWD" faces people get in situations like that.

We followed Gertie and her instructions all the while noting out loud that we had 10 miles of petrol and 2 miles to destination ....... SHUTUP GERTIE!!!!!!

We made it to a petrol station and basically sat there blinking for a few moments before a high five and Mr Fab crawling out of the car to throw in $20 of gas....

Now it is time to be vegetables in our Travelodge at LAX hotel and think about tomorrow .....

After all tomorrow is another day .....

Revamp, Restore & Be Fabulous.

Come sit under The Apple Tree with me.

Check out this morning and collecting the Hire Car for the last part of this lot of Fabulous Fun. We are driving back to Iowa following Mish & Mark in their car.

I have mentioned Mr Fabs Howard Hughes like behaviour since we embarked on this trip and I have honestly never seen anyone so completely obsessed with washing his hands and using hand sanitiser. Well the worst happened and this morning he woke up feeling vaguely dodgy so decided to knock it out of the ball park ...*clever use of Baseball analogy* and take some Panadol or similar. I gave him some I had brought when we arrived and the good thing about the pain relief here is it is bloody brilliant.

I didnt even THINK to read what the container said as they had worked for me so figured they would for him as well.

As we were driving I kept saying to him " Are you ok?"

He didnt sound right and kept saying he was tired. I was baffled as he had managed a good sleep the night before and was fine when we started.

We pulled in to visit Apple Tree Antiques and I thought I might read the container ........

*sigh*

"Will cause sleepyness and do not take more than 1 in 24 hours"

He had ......... 3.

He promptly laid the seat back and fell asleep while the rest of us wandered about the Property.

OH MY GAWD PEOPLE!!!!!!

I had pretty much passed out, swooned, fainted, been revived, fainted again and had to have a Bex and a good lie down BEFORE I even entered the Sorting part of the store. They have the Shop where everything is marked and set up beautifully and they have the junk shed where everything is tossed in willynilly and you walk through carefully while open mouthed in gobsmacked shock.

Well for someone like me who Revamps & Restores I was almost in tears by the end of the first round of looking. So much delicious chippy goodness I was in heaven.

Vintage masons randomly stacked on raggady old shelves next to scrumptious chippy boxes and crates piled high on top of raggady old electrical transformers ........

*sigh*

STOP IT TRACY!!!! *slap slap respounding forehead slap* I spoke quite severly to myself that I am FS Vintage and I have a job to do. Masons need replenishing back home so lets get this done NOW.

There was a cabinet inside filled to the brim with rare jars and I am pretty sure my heart stopped beating for a full second as I looked at Jars I can dream of finding.

The prices at Apple Tree are reasonable but I enjoy the thrill of the hunt and finding the rare jars for myself. I have managed to find ONE Lightning Jar in Australia which made me swoon so it was quite gobsmacking to see a few of them in varying sizes in one place. I have now actually seen a Number 13  Vintage Mason ...... Yep they had a Number 13. The interesting thing about the Number 13 is they are constantly touted as rare. Yes they are rare in so far as they are vintage jars but my research over the many years we have been collecting is that the housewives during the depression did not in fact smash them should they have a 13 on the bottom. Times were harsh back then and to waste a perfectly good jar by smashing it would simply not have been done. Think about it people ....... these people were literally living day to day, hand to mouth and no money to spare for anything. Could you see a Depression Housewive deliberately smashing a preserve jar simply because the number 13 was stamped on the bottom?

No - neither could I. HOWEVER - I was seriousy tempted but had to behave myself.

I was hearing the seductive siren call of a Gallon Lightning Jar but I have to be mindful that Mr Fab is over the top indulgent in our Collection at home and in fact has selected various Jars from our shipments to keep on the Fabulous Kitchen Shelves but I am pretty sure I would have used all my Indulgence Tickets for a lifetime iff I had of purchased any of the Rare ones here. The Hoosier Jars also almost sucked me in but .................... * sigh* I was strong.

Back to Fabulous business and replenishing stock. We grabbed some stock jars ..... And it is pretty amazing that we have to import them to Australia and here they are laying about like apples fallen from a tree .......

Also grabbed some pretty fab vintage cigarette tins for The Shop which we will have for sale with us when we do the VIntage Fair on the 19th.

Mish and the owner kept asking me had I seen West End Salvage which is a show on here and I had to admit I had not. I had walked past this guy three times and he had said Hello and Howdy everytime so he must have thought I was a complete knob as I had no idea who he was.

I wandered back to The Shed and said to him:

" You are on a TV Show right?"

He laughed and told me about West End Salvage and what they do so I will be tuning in to check it out when we get home.

He is also a Priest ( damn iff we are not constantly seeing Messangers of God on this trip????) and then he said he had to have a hug with me ......... So we did.

He may well have thought I was a dumb Aussie with all my questions ........

He also gave me his autograph ..........

Good Times ......... Good times indeed.

We arrived safe and sound at Polk City Iowa and after some washing and general tidy up it was an early night for all.

Tomorrow is another day of Junk Shops and groceries ....... I Love grocery shopping in America!!!!!!!!

Revamp,Restore and Be Fabulous.