Tuesday.

This one was frustrating. I finally just cut it in half. Much better. Pretty happy with my 2 part series.

Materials: polaroid photos from a 1973 trip to Rome, old postcard, vintage children's books, Korean school book, acrylic, gouache, back of an airline ticket.

Monday.

A week of collage challenge.

Mixed media, acrylic, on puzzle box cutout.

Herbal Remedies

I was bored the other night and found a stockpile of terra-cotta pots in the basement. I hate dried herbs and I feel ridiculous buying bushels of herbs from the grocery store when my recipes call for a tablespoon. So I bought a few herb plants for my bay window sill. I used a 1940's lettering book that I picked up on vacation for reference with the type on the pots. It's just acrylic with a matte sealer on a basic terra-cotta pot. If I can keep these alive I think I'll try growing Thyme and Cilantro too.

Coffee Table Makeover

Here are some before/after pictures of my coffee table refinish job. I have a Lane Acclaim series 1960's coffee table that I love the shape of but the piece was stained brown and had accumulated a quarter inch of Pledge residue over its lifetime. I bought a matching end table at a flea market this summer for $5 that was being sold as a microwave stand, so I used that as the test subject before redoing my coffee table.

(Above is the table completely sanded). The first and worst step is stripping the varnish off. This is completely awful, no way around it. I started with all the environmentally friendly stuff and by the end I had goggles and ventilation masks on, using chemicals that started melting my rubber gloves. The end result is not very rewarding, it actually looks like you ruined your furniture but it made sanding easier. After I sanded the piece down, I used a tung oil finish. I did about two coats and sanded with steel wool between them.

As you can see I still need to paint the tips of the legs black like the original tables. I also found the perfect location for the red wire vintage basket I picked up for free at an auction.