Painted Shelf

A little shelf re-do to go over my newly painted vanity... 

which is in the bathroom... where I just made over the cabinets with gel stain... 

Plain wooden shelf....it's HEAVY!

Sprayed with rust colored primer then applied several different colors... 

wines, rusts, burgundy and some black thrown in...applied randomly

Smoosh and dab the paint while still wet...

I decided to make the knobs kind of turquoise-ish,

 along the lines of the Vanity finish...so I applied light aqua...

Dabbed on a little darker aqua color with my finger..

When dry, brushed on olive colored glaze and sponged off.

This is how they turned out...I also coated them with a high gloss clear sealer

I added a black glaze over the shelf part too...

It's hanging over this vanity table I just repainted....

Then I saw these tiles I have and propped them up there...

not sure if I'll apply them permanently or not, can't decide...

Since I'm in makeover mode I gave my vintage makeup mirror a little love too.

I really like this mirror...it is BIG!...found it years ago. 

When I bought it, it had regular incandescent bulbs...

Six..., Big..., Heat Producing bulbs.

Since sweating and getting a sun lamp burn 

while trying to put on makeup is never a good thing, 

I ordered fluorescent vanity bulbs from an online specialty lighting store. 

Perfect.

I just replaced the mirror too since the vintage one that has been 

in it had kind of a "soft focus" look to it...

Here I was thinking it was just my eyesight. 

I brushed on a little gold paint over the existing finish on the frame as well to freshen it up.

Now I have a place to hang my hats...

...and my tassel I made

I made this long ago and used a bunch of different ribbons and trim...

you can see more tassels I've made in the past Here

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Hand Painted Fabric

"Hand Painted Chair Cushions"

Crab Chair

When I posted on my Facebook Page 

saying I had sold this Crab Chair, I got quite a few

comments and emails asking about painting on fabric...

...I also posted this pic of a couch I had painted .

I got more comments and questions, so I thought I would 

write a post and show you some of the 

painted fabrics I've done in the past

I've always used regular acrylic craft paints when painting fabric.

I know there are specific fabric paints and textile mediums you 

can add to acrylics to make the paint softer but this is just what I've always done.  

I figure if it doesn't come off of my clothes, 

it's not going to come off of any other fabric,

and a good portion of my clothes are proof of that!

I bought this couch at a yard sale, spray painted the 

base with tomato red and painted my design

over the existing navy cushions that it came with.

In the case of furniture seats, I find that the acrylics become 

softer with use and nothing peels or flakes off.

This couch is in a surf shop where it gets lots of use and

 has been sat on with wet, sandy swimsuits and has held up beautifully.

Canvas Bags-Front

These are premade plain canvas beach/tote bags 

that I painted for the same surf shop

Canvas Bags-Back

When painting on canvas like this, I always mist the fabric with water

until lightly damp before painting. 

I find it helps the paint go on more smoothly and to sink into the fibers of the fabric.

Also, be sure to put a plastic bag inside whatever

you are painting so the paint doesn't seep through

to the other side

You can thin the paint with just a bit of water but not too much or it will bleed. 

 Bleeding paint is fine if that is the look you are going for...I did a little of that in the pics above

Canvas Bags

If you were painting on something you were going to wear,

 I would probably use the fabric paint or the textile medium.  

In the case of furniture and these bags, 

the straight acrylics were fine.

Canvas Bags

These are chair cushions I painted a looooong time ago.

Sorry for the poor pic, this is a scanned photo..

from way back before digital cameras

I recovered the seats with plain canvas and 

painted with fish, crab, lobster and lemons.

Another chair cushion...this one with a bird and flower theme

...yep PRE digital photos

and again, way before digital cameras so it's kind of hard 

to see these but these pillows were so cute!

I made the pillows out of canvas, painted them with blue sky and clouds 

with the words "Sleep" and "Dream" on one side.

On the backs I painted pink and gold swirls, then 

finished by hot gluing feather boas to the edges for "fringe"

Remember the cushion I made and painted
for this Dog Bed From an End Table? 

On this one, I was smart and painted the fabric
BEFORE I sewed the cushion....
it's really much easier that way ha!

 I also used acrylic paint on these two cushions
I made for more End Table Dog Beds.

I made the cushion with a cotton printed fabric
then painted the paw print

And another cushion I made and painted with a paw print....

These are our Christmas Stockings  that I painted.

I purchased premade canvas stockings and 

painted designs on them for each family member..

A little zebra...

A little Rubik's cube...

And of course some diamond and animal print.

guess which one is mine...

I didn't realize until I started putting this post together 

how often I actually have painted my own fabric.

If you need special fabric for a project, why not paint your own?

It's easy, durable and will be one of a kind

UPDATE:

I've added a couple more painted fabric projects,

click the links to check them out...

Painted Shell Pillow

Beach Theme Christmas Stockings

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Be Colorful

Vanity Table Makeover

I'm giving my bathroom a little makeover.

You can take a tour and see how it started HERE 

and read about my gel stained cabinet makeover HERE

This is stage 2 of the makeover...my vanity table...

I don't have a before "before" pic of how this started.  It has been like this for years.

It originally started as a small plain table that fit perfectly in my bathroom space.

I built and added a top piece to raise the height and added a drawer for storage...

Started by painting the base in a reddish brown and primed the top...

Added black glaze over the brown base and a couple of shades of aqua on the top...

Repainted an edge around the aqua with the brown paint...

Added an olive colored glaze over the aqua...

I brushed it on and dabbed off with soft cloth...

Lightly drew on a design with white chalk to get the placement down.  

I started with the center design and just kind of made it up as I went...

Started painting with various shades of rusty reds and wine colors...

Dry brushed gold over the base...

And that's it!

This is the rug that was the inspiration for my colors

I'm using this little stand I got at a yard sale for the stool.

I sprayed it bronze and dry brushed with gold

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