Bling for the Bedroom

I picked up a pair of nightstands several weeks ago at Savers (kind of like a “Goodwill”). They were lovely, solid wood…just boring. But they sat…and sat…and sat…in my garage because they wouldn’t speak to me and tell me what they wanted to be! Ornery buggers.

(This is the best I can do for a “before” picture. I swear I took one, but I can’t locate it…sorry!)

Then, the magical day happened…I read a tutorial on The Ivy Cottage for a faux-silver-leaf wall, of all things! What’s the faux part you ask? Amanda uses tin foil and wallpaper paste! She said she had successfully used the technique on furniture, and that was all I needed to know…and off I went to Home Depot!
Be warned…this is not a technique for the faint of heart. There is nothing difficult about it, but it’s fiddly and time-consuming…and STICKY!!
Here’s a peek at my finished product:
Here’s a brief description of the steps I took (again, many thanks the The Ivy Cottage):
1. Cut many, many, many squares of aluminum foil! I used regular old scissors. Amanda suggests tearing them with a straight edge, but I didn’t have a lot of luck with that technique. She also suggests using heavy-duty foil, but I missed that part! I would change that if I could.

2. Use a foam brush to spread a thin layer of wallpaper paste on your furniture. Apply a piece of aluminum foil, and smooth it down as best you can. On flat surfaces, I used a rubber spatula, but almost every where else, I had to rely on my fingers to get in all the grooves and details. You will get wallpaper paste on the surface of the foil (and possibly everywhere else). (You might also find funny red splotches as you smooth your foil on, and you'll wonder if the kids did a lousy job wiping the table--again--and you have last night's pizza sauce mixed in with the wallpaper paste now. But just before you yell at them, you might realize you sliced your finger open somewhere along the way, and you're bleeding into the wallpaper paste. Can't blame the kids for that one!) Go with it; it will be just fine! Make sure you overlap the edges of the foil.

(I would like to note that wrapping the legs was a royal pain!)

3. When everything is completely dry, use a damp rag to wash away the glue residue. The foil is remarkably resilient, and it stood up to a little scrubbing beautifully.

4. Apply a drop of black acrylic paint to the foil, and rub it in and around with a paper towel. If you get too much, dampen it and you can wipe it right off. This is really like glazing a piece of furniture. The paint darkens the foil and gets in the wrinkles, giving it some “age” and character. I really liked the change this made in the overall look of the piece..

Note: I realized…too late…that I hadn’t been very careful in placing my foil shiny side up all the time! I decided that that added “character” to the piece as well, and I left it! Then I had to make sure to do the same thing on the second nightstand.
5. Protect your masterpiece with two coats of Minwax Polycrylic. I chose to brush it on, rather than spraying it on, because brushing gives a thicker coat! Also because the electricity was out right then!

6. I chose to keep the original pulls. I sprayed them silver (Rustoleum Aluminum, to be exact), and then applied black Rub-n-Buff over the surfaces. I think it matched remarkably well.

So what do you think?

Is this a technique you’ve ever tried before?

Or would you consider it now?

 10/2/12:  You can see another foil project here! *********************** This project has been featured at Beyond the Picket Fence, Craft Gossip, and

Thank you!

Linking up to these great parties here, and be sure to check out Amanda's inspirational blog: .

Link Party No 59/ Ruffle Top for a Baby

I moved the tutorial for this project here.

Ok, I bet you all are busy with 4th of July just around the corner. Still, do you have any projects that you want to show off and share with everybody? If so, you came to the right place! Here are the rules;

1. Please post something YOU made. It doesn't matter if it is crochet, quilt, clothing, anything would be fine. I want to see it! If you use someone's idea or patterns please give them the rightful credit.

2. Link to your specific post, that way it is easier for everybody to find and read it.

3. Please grab the "Tea Rose Home" grab button, and link back from your post. If you can mention the party in your post or place the button on your side bar, that would be great! I want more people to have a chance to come and show off their creation.


<center><a href="http://tearosehome.blogspot.com"><img border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5462799092490427250" style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 126px; height: 160px;" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuoA01dPDcxCv9Ku09VYtszSXA0_T7FXqIzGCrwEgkVFc0iH6Odrctb37Xnb2X1S-la8wBXHBzIAuYLRqt-QdLdVoVbXgOK8JmMJuJJddy66mk2pygB_tIigOtSDA50N0l7LEbzg3Ii-M/s200/GrabButtonLinkParty.jpg" /></a></center>

Our Berry Garden

Here is a picture of me in my early twenties, standing in the yard of the house that I rented in Maine  for eleven years. Behind me is the neighbor's house that I think I decorated 

a thousand times (in my dreams). 

A blackberry hedge separated our yards, from which I harvested sweet blackberries for days on end, sometimes in the early cool hours of the morning, sometimes after the day had calmed just before the sun set. 

I have such fond memories of those days. I knew that when I owned a home, I'd have a berry garden of my own. 

My first berry garden includes five varieties of blueberries, and a friendly (thorn less) blackberry bush at the end of the fence. To keep the berries company are Little Lamb hydrangea on the left, underneath the dining room windows. 

We planted our berry garden just outside the dining patio, which is at the end of the hydrangea hedge. 

I'm so excited to pick our first berries!

Another Coffee (Table), Please

I have seen a couple of beautiful coffee tables pop in in blogland, inspired by my French Chocolate coffee table. I would love to highlight these in a post, so if you’re making one, be sure and send me a picture!

This project was featured on My Repurposed Life and Coastal Charm.

I am busy getting ready for Bella’s Vintage Market, and since I decided I was keeping the original coffee table, I decided to create another one (or two).

I loved the square shape and chunky legs of this table, to it had to come home with me.

I found another perfect vintage French ad at The Graphics Fairy, and after a lot of sanding and another night on the floor, I was left with this:

Note: I didn't worry about getting a perfectly uniform surface. I wanted this to look like it was made over from an old crate or sign or something, so the imperfections in the finish are fine with me!

What fun!

I think this particular ad makes even less sense in English.

I don’t care; it looks good!

I distressed the lettering, then stained the top with a two-layer approach of Minwax English Chestnut followed by Antique Walnut Stain. The bottom I painted in Behr Ultra Pillar White (at least, I’m pretty sure that’s what it was), and glazed it.

…and…Voila! (that’s French, right??)

I also replaced the boring wooden knob with a pretty bin pull.

I still like the chunky legs…how come we only say that about tables and babies??

What do you think?

This piece will be available for sale at Bella’s Vintage Market at Wheeler Farms (Salt Lake City) on July 9! “Like” them on Facebook for $1 off admission.

Linking up to these great parties here.

Guest Posting at Living with Punks

I am guest posting at Living with Punks today. Please head over there to say hi to Susan and see what I did with some of my scraps. Here is the sneak preview...


You can find the complete tutorial for this project at Living with Punks; see you there! :)

2011 Goals – How are you doing?

Can you believe we are only a few days away from the half-way point of 2011? The first six months of this year have just flown past way too quickly. Summer is officially here and it won’t be long until another holiday season will be upon us. Yikes!

At the beginning of the year I participated in The Nester’s 2011 Home Goals Party. I am guessing many of you did too. You may remember instead of making a laundry list of things to buy and projects to complete around my house, I choose to create seven simple goals which focused on appreciating my surroundings and using what I already had to its fullest potential.

Since half the year is gone, I thought it would be a good time to revisit these goals to see how I am doing. More importantly, I also hope to inspire you to do the same!

Here is my list with an update of my progress:

Plan my garden before planting
I am happy to say this goal has been achieved. Instead of randomly buying plants as in years past, we have designated sections of the garden for herbs, vegetables, and ornamentals. It was worth the small amount of planning and I will continue to plan before planting from now on.

Use the herbs I plant
This one is in the “kind of category.” I have used some basil and a small amount of the oregano. The dill, cilantro, thyme and parsley, however, have been neglected. Time to get cooking!

Be a tourist in my own town
This is the goal on which I have made the least progress. I hope to remedy this during the coming summer months by taking advantage of all the local things my home town has to offer.

Organize and clean out
I have been doing a pretty good job. I started the year off with a bang by cleaning out a lot of unused items but have slowly let things return to normal. I need to regain my enthusiasm and continue where I left off.

Learn how to use my sewing machine attachments
I have played around with some of the attachments but as you can see from the picture above I definitely have a ways to go. I have to admit it has been fun seeing all the different stitches this old machine can sew!

Learn how to use my camera settings

My photo taking skills have improved as I have moved beyond the auto setting and I am now playing with the aperture setting. Next on the list is learning how to adjust the shutter speed.

Continue to remember a house is just a house. It is the people who live inside and the friends who come to visit which are most important.

I consider this to be my most important goal of the year. I try to remind myself daily to remember what is truly most special in my life.

There you have it. Overall I believe I am doing well but have room for improvement. Luckily there is still time as there are as many months ahead in 2011 as have already past.

So, how about you? How are you doing on your 2011 goals? I would love to hear the goals you have accomplished and the ones you need to start focusing on. Thanks for sharing!



SUSSEX IN THE SUN .......... hopefully !!!! ..........

Am off to stay with my sister for a couple of weeks in Horsham, Sussex. Every summer, our husbands go off in  ....................

the Morgan to Le Mans but, this year they are off, driving in Spain. Meanwhile, my sister and I eat and drink our way through all of the lovely restaurants in the surrounding area and polish off quite a few bottles of my sister's cellar !!!! haha. Well, considering our husband's will be enjoying the delights of Spain and what it has to offer, it would be rude not to, wouldn't it ?!!
........... I probably won't be commenting on your posts for a few days but will make up for it on my return.
Also, many, many, thanks to my blogging friend Simone of The Bottom of the Ironing Basket.

I won her fantastic giveaway of a pot of Dr. Perricone's Cold Plasma which is worth a pretty penny and much needed on my face !!!! I am looking forward to at least 10 years being taken off of my age  and many offers of modelling assignments so, thank you SO much Simone. I have been reading Simone's blog ever since I began blogging two years ago ( note to self ..... have some sort of giveaway myself to celebrate my 2nd blogging anniversary !!) Simone lives fairly near me and loves London as much as I do. Her blog is one of the most beautiful in Blogland and you must go over and see for yourselves. She is kind, open and generous and her blog is a joy to visit.

See you all when I return and, please don't forget me !!

first two images by me and last image from Dr. Perricone website.

Link Love No. 58!

Hey, I am back! You might be wondering where I was the last few days. I have been so busy with lots of other things (Psst, that includes the guest post I am doing for Living with punks on Monday...) and couldn't do a post for a couple of days.

Today we had BIG block party with our neighbors and it was lots of fun! I did a face painting booth for the kids and it was a great turn out. Pretty much there was a long line pretty much the whole time. I was going to take some pictures to share, but I did not have a moment to do so.

Well, I had lots of projects that I loved at this link party; it was so hard to choose only five projects! I went back and forth and I finally picked five projects that I am going to highlight this week. I am sorry if you did not get picked this time, but I really appreciate all of your participation in my link party. Thank you!

Ok, the first one... My jaw almost dropped when I saw this charm bracelet. Can't Stop Making Things created this one of a kind very unique piece of jewelry. I need to keep some of my kids small toys, just to make this bracelet!


This is one of those "WOW" projects too. Do you have unattractive book shelves or TV armoire made out of laminate? Well, DIY Kinda Girl did an amazing job on transforming those type of furniture! She shares what kind of products she used to accomplish the project on her blog, go check out how she did it! :)


The Fourth of July is just around the corner, have you decorated your house for one of the biggest holidays yet? Just Sew Sassy shares a step by step tutorial on how she made this unique patriotic pinwheel burlap wreath on her blog. So pretty!


I have to agree with what Simple Simon & Co said, peg dolls are not for girls anymore! They did such a great job on these that my view of peg dolls has totally changed! I know my boys (I mean my hubby included) would LOVE these!


I believe she is new to my link party...4 the Love of Woodshared this beautiful piece of furniture she transformed. I love the writings on top, it adds character and beauty. Thank you for stopping by and come again! :)



Have a wonderful Sunday everyone!

Two Signs

I finished a couple of little sign projects today. The first one was made from a unique old piece of trim that I found at an architectural salvage shop. I loved the knothole in the middle of it!

Hmmm… I think I like it on my bookcase!

The second sign is another one made from a recycled cupboard door. I needed to replace the one I sold at the Spring Market (it wasn’t even for sale…but I sold it anyway)!

This one is a little smaller than the original one, but I like the door better!

These pieces will appear at Bella’s Vintage Market at Wheeler Farms (Salt Lake City) on July 9! “Like” them on Facebook for $1 off admission.

Linking up to these great parties here.