Grandma's Table: Stephanie's Remake

This is just a quick post on a recent redo I finally finished.  I forgot to take before pictures which KILLS me but I still wanted to share the end result with you.

We are moving into a new, larger studio, which has been so exciting and yet a tad bit overwhelming!  Who knew I had so much stuff.  Our house will finally be our home again and I can't wait.  We are moving into the Delavan Center in Downtown Syracuse.  

I have been taking a lot of pictures and can't wait to share the final reveal with my peeps!

In the mean time please come play with us on Pinterest or keep updated on Face Book!

Katie's Hope Chest

This summer our beautiful, oldest daughter is getting married to her high school sweetheart (who I must say, is pretty cute himself).  

Katie & Nick have been together since they were 15-they are now 20 (old, right).  People say, "well isn't that too young to get married?" Normally we would probably agree, but we knew from the moment they started dating that they would get married. They just clicked.

 Nick fit instantly right into our family and the chemistry was just there-they're one of "those" couples.  When he bought her a puppy for Christmas one year later-the deal was sealed.

Katie is an old soul.  Out of our 5 kids she's the "goal setter".  She sets a goal, plans it out, and executes  it with precision, then moves onto the next.  

She knew that college wasn't her thing, and decided in high school that she wanted to become a hair stylist? A What? She said she wanted to go through the BOCES program and get her certificate, so that she could start working right out of school.  You wanna do what? 

You have to understand, this was a kid with a 95 average, she played sports and had worked since she was 16-she was going to be our Ivy Leaguer. Not that there is ANYTHING wrong with a hairstylist , everyone needs one, but honestly, BOCES carried such a stigma with my generation, and we just didn't want her to regret her choice later on-I mean all teenage girls want to be hairstylists at some point in their lives-I know I did.  

But she was determined that this was what she wanted to do.  And because we are firm believers in letting our kids find their passion we said "do your thing!" and she did! 

So, right out of school she started working as a hair stylist. Now, in the overachiever fashion that makes Katie-Katie, while she's working, she's going to school to be an Esthetician (a skin care specialist) and will graduate  in August.  

We are so proud of her (can you tell)!  

Nick proposed on a warm afternoon in the park. Obviously, she said, "YES!" 


Since she is the first daughter, (first child) to get married 

I wanted to create and old fashioned hope chest for her.  I plan on doing this for all my children & their spouses. 

But Katie is far from old fashioned, so this hope chest had to have a twist.  In typical Katie fashion her wedding is NOT your "typical traditional" wedding either  

She is getting married at Bolt Castle in Alexandria Bay, which is followed by a dinner cruise around the St. Lawrence/Thousand Islands.  

See something else you should know about our daughter, ever since she was little she wanted to be a princess. For her senior ball, she picked out a dress that reminded her of Bell (Beauty & the Beast) not that, that cute little boy with braces looked anything like a beast.

So when it came time to plan her wedding Bolt Castle was the first place we thought of.   Yet,  Kate is a modern day princess.  Her bridesmaids are wearing black, with sashes made of a snow leopard. Her bouquet is made up of "black roses" (don't be alarmed they're just deep red), and the groomsmen are wearing Air Jordans. 

Katie with her bridesmaids looking for dresses

not her actual dress we'll save those pictures for after the wedding

I knew this cedar chest had to reflect Katie's personality, as well.  I also wanted it to be timeless too.  An heirloom she could leave for HER daughter.

I started with a plain cedar chest from a local unfinished wood shop.

Black, white and purple are her favorite colors. So those were a must.

I used metallic paint to accentuate the small details.  

This also pulled in the silver handles that we added at the end.  They were just $5 handles we purchased at Hobby Lobby and sprayed silver.  I love the way they give the piece a "traditional feel" and glammed it up a bit

We added the plaque on the front to make it personal, as well as traditional, but amped it up with the snow leopard patterns on the legs, the purple faux in the front and the small purple flowers on top. This keeps it modern and fresh.

I added even more pattern on the back just to make it funky.

The colors are all Benjamin Moore: 

French Lilac 1403, Snugglepuss 1405, Mauve Bauhaus 1407.  Silver Half Dollar 2121-40, Steel wool 2121-20 and Gray 2121-10.

Yesterday was her Bridal Shower and we gave it to her then.

She was thrilled! 

Now, if the wedding goes off without a hitch, we'll be happy too!

To find more inspiration, please come and find us on FaceBook, Pinterest or LinkedIn.  And if you're in the Syracuse area, stop on down to the Syracuse Arts & Crafts Festival next weekend and say HI!

Shared with these wonderful blogs:

Krafty Cards Etc...

BeColoful

Jenny's Jewelry Box Makeover

You'll hear me say this over and over again...I LOVE TAKING SOMETHING OLD AND MAKING IT NEW AGAIN!  Like, it's an addiction for me.  When I first started painting furniture I used to plan, draw things out, create different color combinations, blah, blah, blah! But as my business grew time became short, so I just started to "wing it" and the results have, for the most part, been pretty cool.  Now, that's not saying I haven't switched up mid way through a design, just because something didn't sit right with me, but for the most part the "freedom to create" mentality has been working pretty well for me.  Especially, when a flexible, open minded person gives me "free range" OH, HOW I ADORE THOSE PEOPLE!  Case and point; Jenny's Jewelry Box!

I had done other work for Jenny (see her owl mirror here) and she had mentioned she had a jewelry box that she wanted to have redone.  "Well, absolutely! Bring it over!" I said.  Always up for a challenge!  I actuallly had never "done or redone" a jewelry box of this size before!  I have done a million smaller ones but never one this large and when she plopped it down in my foyer, I thought, hmmmm...what a fabulous piece.  The thing was though, I felt limited in my design because of the "Greek Styled" scalloped top and pillars.  So, I had to think about my approach for awhile.

This was the space that it was going in.  So, I knew the colors had to be a bit deeper and more richer than the pieces I usually do.  It was time to grow up a bit.  I loved the the leather and iron fixtures and furniture, so I knew those had to be incorporated some how. BUT I do know Jenny too, and I knew it had to be playful and fun as well.  

I decided to go with a "faux" leather look (see the tutorial here) on the pillars and legs.  Then brought in the "iron" look by spraying the hardware black.

The playfulness is found in the Cheetah print on the side and the decorative elements through out.

 

  The really cool thing about this jewelry box too, is all the hidden surfaces, things you don't necessarily see right away.

My most favorite part of this piece, the one that just kind of evolved, was the top.  I wanted to personalize it, like I do my smaller jewelry boxes but yet, I wanted it to be more sophisticated, so I chose her initials  and then built my design around that.

There you have it!  

How do you tackle your "redo" projects?  Do you just wing it or do you plan it out?  Do you choose colors first, or just let it evolve?  I'd love to hear your ideas!  Write me here or leave a comment on our Face Book page!

Another Syracuse University Fan!

Here’s that rocking chair I've been squawking about all over town!  When I picked it up from my friend Karen’s second grade classroom it was, shall we say, in dire need of some lovin’!  Or maybe that was the problem it had been “LOVED” to death. I’m sure it had been in her possession for quite some time, either that or her second graders are a pretty rowdy bunch (which, if you've ever experienced a second grader, you know it's a distinct possibility). So, she contacted me for an upgrade and you all know I never shy away from a good challenge.

Let me tell you something about my friend Karen, she is an avid SU (Syracuse University) fan and every year, without fail, she incorporates "March Madness" into her lesson plans.  Now, most of the time SU makes it into the highly anticipated basketball tournament (most of the time, being the key word here) but that doesn't stop Karen's loyalty. So being the die-hard fan that she is, she wanted the chair to reflect her team spirit. BUT, other than it having the universities colors (orange, blue & white) and the school mascot (Otto the orange guy), she pretty much gave me artistic range.  I absolutely LOVE when people give me artistic range. First off, that word is just sexy to me “artistic range” sounds so chic and sophisticated.  Secondly, I love when people respect my judgment, my work, enough to say, “Hey I trust you. Do your magic girlfriend!” So I did, and this is how it turned out!

I think Karen was very pleased with the end result! She wouldn't even let the kids go near it! Hahaha! We’ll see how long that lasts!  Good thing we’re such good friends-she can always call me for touch-ups!

Here are the next two pieces on the chopping block.  These I got over the summer at a garage sale; $15 for the pair! FANFREAKINGTASTIC! I live for a good bargain.  And the best part of these two pieces is that they are going to be my design choice and my color choice, free artistic range at its finest!

Happy Holidays all! Have a joyous time with your families! I know I will. Peace!

Happy Painting! Mary