Sewing machine table redo

If you're not familiar with my sewing machine table, it looked like this;

The clear varnish I put on the tabletop was bad or was old, it stated it was for outdoor use.

One rainstorm later and it looked like it was going to split apart.

While I was on a painting spree with my incredible paint I got from a paint store in town,

I pre determined this was going to to get paint. why not do it at the same time.

I was really proud of the stain I concocted with vinegar and rusty nails, but alas it wasn't meant to be.

Probably why the varnish didn't work. 

Light bulb moment.

I set up shop on the living room floor with a box and plastic that came on the couch.

I threw paint on everything, it was liberating.

How the tabletop looked before paint;

It was a very educational process to how the paint was going to go, so I splashed some on and after one coat it looked like this;

Pretty darn good if I do say so myself!! 

The stain was seeping through the white and was giving it a nice old wood look.

It was more white than I had anticipated,  but as I let it dry it turned more yellow.

This time I was not going to redo this again, I did some research and found that Spar urethane can go over painted and stained surfaces and is made to go outdoors.

I bought a whole gallon. I know I'll use the whole thing by the end of summer.

I put on two light coats of the Spar urethane;

It does have a brown tint to it so the wood wasn't so yellow when it dried.

Look how amazing the wood grain looks!

Please forgive the messy background, my husband is in the middle of drywalling the garage.

This morning I reattached the tabletop to the sewing machine legs and that was that!!

Here is what it looks like now;

We've been having trouble with solicitors, hence the sign, it will go on a fence post once we get the landscaping done, (after the garage.)

Thanks for stopping by!

W

DIY hand painted plate decor.

I still haven't figured out what to hang in our dining room, 

or I can't find where the previous decor went.

Both.

I was at the dollar store picking up things I refuse to pay more than a dollar for,

I came across these heavy duty ceramic square plate.

Perfect!

I have some clearance paint from Joanns that is specifically for glass and ceramics.

Ceramcoat, Bobby Blue and Aqua cool pearl.

I mixed it with some dark navy acrylic paint.

If you wanted to you could simply bake them to use them but considering I want to hang on the wall I'm not too worried about how durable the paint is going to be.

I knew I wanted to do some round designs and I've pinned a few million mandalas on pinterest.

I printed out some of the designs I thought would work,

I was running out of ink and I didn't really want to waste ink on this.

 It also helped when I had to transfer the design to the plate.

I cleaned the surface with rubbing alcohol to at least make sure I got the dirt off.

On the first plate I just used carbon paper and pencil to transfer the design.

The red ink made it really easy to see where I've been.

however I learned you need to scuff off the gloss on the plate for the carbon paper to transfer.

I did try the wax paper transfer but it was a total disaster!

After painting the design with a brush I thought it looked like poo.

So I went back with a "dotter" tool that I use for nail art to define the design.

Here is the first one I did, way too much detail that didn't transfer so I made it up as I went along.

It's not perfect, but if you came into my house this isn't the first thing you would notice anyway.

A better picture of the first plate.

The second plate I prepped with acetone, I let it soak for a few minutes and then took some 

sandpaper to knock the gloss off.

Then cleaned it with the rubbing alcohol so the acetone wouldn't mess with the paint.

The transfer worked much better with the proper prep. 

Although I should have centered the design...

oops.

So I did some brush circles around the main design to mask the fact that it is way off center!!

But I love how it makes the design stand out.

Third plate was easier after I figured out how to transfer the design.

I also added dots to everything, because I like it.

The fourth was a simple flower design,

Easy peasy!

Due to the paint Ceramcoat Pearl colors it was hard to get a good photo.

Again with the dots...

It's really hard to get a good photo of these!!

Finally all three of them are left to dry!

I plan on putting on a clear coat to seal them before I hang them!

Thanks for stopping by!

W