Refurbished for an Industrial Decor Finish

I found these photos in a file on my computer and thought I would share the process with you. A few years ago I found this old trunk at a flea market for $30. It had great bones with a beautiful cedar lining.  I knew it was a great Wood Icing project and I just couldn't pass it up.  At the time I found this piece, I was really into the metallic and industrial designs.  I loved the challenge of taking something old fashioned and changing it to fit into the loft/industrial décor. 

Most of my projects require a few repairs, usually the veneers and minor broken pieces and this project was no exception.  There was a crack all the way across the top of the lid, which broke right off and fell on the floor while I was preparing the surface.  This caused a delay in progress because I had to call on my handy dandy husband to put it back together for me.  Since I have the patience of a gnat, I feel he is a little slow to the finish line but once he gets done with a repair it is nice and solid and good forever. 

This area had to be filled in with Textura Paste and smoother over.  I allowed this layer to dry. Then sanded smooth before I applied the checkered design for the metallic finish. 

I removed the raised pieces off the front with a chisel and hammer which caused more damage to the veneer.   But of course that is never an issue with an open bucket of Textura Paste around, just fill and sand smooth.  Now I have a clean palette to go with. 

I am in love with foils and texture together.  First thing I did was create my design of large squares of plastic canvass, custom cut in the exact size to achieve a checkerboard finish  I then spread the Textura Paste over the entire surface (one side at a time)  then pressed in a square of the plastic canvass  into the paste, leaving every other space smooth. 

Once I had allowed it to dry overnight, I sanded it smooth, removing all the boogers and cleaning up the edges. I then stained it with a dark color comparable to our Wood Icing Furniture Glazing Color (Tree Bark mixed with Licorice).  I allowed the glaze to dry completely.

Wood Icing Glazing Colors  click here to purchase









 

Wood Icing PolyAcrylic Top Coats - Dull, Satin and Gloss





Next was the addition of the metallic silver foil and a clear glossy top coat, comparable to our Wood Icing PolyAcrylic Gloss top coat. The goal was to create a finish  inspired by the look of mercury glass.

We raffled this trunk off during one of our events in our Wood Icing Gallery a couple of years ago.  All proceeds went to Breast Cancer Research.  I would love to get my hands on another trunk like this and do this finish again.  If I just keep my eyes open I feel it will appear on the horizon sometime again for me.

Join me in a workshop, if this finish intrigues you and you would like to learn this and more metallic finishes for furniture and cabinetry  Tuesday, September 10, 10am – 2pm  (lunch included) for $159.

You will create the following finishes

one metallic finish with texture using foils for a rustic finish
one metallic finish with texture using foils for a contemporary finish
one metallic finish using Iron & Rust activator
one metallic finish using Brass or Copper along with the Patina activators

Click here for more info

Call the Wood Icing Gallery at 636-536-0409 to register.

The Wine Tap Cabinet

I just love all the embellishments this cabinet came with.  And, I am so excited to show off this makeover.  After this cabinet sat around in the studio for longer than I want to admit, I finally found what I wanted to do with it. This was my most fun project to date! 

I had many suggestions for what I should do with this old radio cabinet, (at least that is what I think it used to be).  The suggestion to turn it into a wine cabinet appealed to me the most, but with a twist. 

Heather and I like to serve wine when we have events in our studio, but serving wine from a bottle can be challenging when we are so busy at the event and preserving the half empty bottles at the end of the night is a problem, so we started purchasing boxed wine to make things a little easier.  We place cool packs inside the white wine box to keep the wine chilled. No buckets of ice to mess with. Sooo much easier and I really think the wine tastes fairly good.  Of course, I am apparently not too picky about my wine (what the ever) ....

At one of our events, while serving someone a glass of wine, someone said we should hide the boxes under the counter so our guests wouldn't know we were serving boxed wine. The truth be known, Jack and I keep boxed wine in our pantry.  We actually do enjoy the taste, besides the two of us cannot seem to finish off a bottle by ourselves so it cuts down on the waste as well.

When I decided to turn this cabinet into a wine bar it crossed my mind that maybe I should create a cabinet for my boxed wine to give it a little  class and to make using my boxed wine more convenient and fun.  Here are the results of my idea. 

Thank goodness I have my handy Jack that knows how to hammer and saw like a pro. 

Yes, these wine boxes get hidden inside this beautiful cabinet.

Of course, this was done using Wood Icing™ and Chalk Paint® decorative paint products.

 

Custom color mix of  Chalk Paint® decorative paint colors Florence and Duck Egg
a color wash of Old White, clear soft wax and then embellished with Gold Gilding Wax. 

 

Jack installed these wine glass hangers from the hardware store.

This is the Wood Icing™  "Tooled Leather" finish surrounding the wine box spigot.

 

Now that we are finished with this one I can't wait to make another one. Wonder what I might find in some little re-sale shop for the next one. Stay tuned ....

Fly Fishing Boxes

I just had to share these adorable little fly fishing boxes my friend Cynthia Winegarden sent me. She did this with Wood Icing Textura Paste and used our Reptile Fabric to creat the snake skin finish, then she pressed these cute little pewter fish into the paste while it was wet.

I am in love with these! They would make a nice little gift for that guy who has everything. If not for fly lures I wonder if cigars would fit??

My mind is racing for things to use these for, since men are so hard to find gifts for. At least things they would really appreciate having as a gift.

Iris Jewel Box

I just finished this Iris Jewel Box. I was in search of something to finish so I could create a raised relief using Wood Icing™,Textura Paste and then painting over it with Chalk Paint®. I found this jewel box that has sat around for years, in fact I am not even sure if I still have the hinges and the drawer pulls anymore. Not to worry, I will come up with something. 

As you can see I didn't think to take the before shot until after I had applied the Iris design with the Textura Paste. Better late then never, I suppose.

I am in love the Chalk Paint® decorative paint color Emperor's Silk  but was unsure of what the second color should be with it. Heather had suggested the Olive Green, but I wasn't so sure I liked it.

But when my husband saw it and went nuts over the colors. (In his words "Those color's are crazy good together".) Suddenly, I had a whole new perspective of this color combo. Funny how that works isn't it? Hope you like it too.