Igloo Table and Stools

You never know what you may find when you're out picking. One day we stumbled upon something similar to this beauty.

A very large aluminum Igloo Cooler that was still in awesome condition. There was no rust, the lid still sealed and the spout still worked. Although, the color of the spout was a little dingy. The minute we saw it we instantly knew it would become a table, but then came the journey of figuring out just how we were going to turn it into a table. Much discussion was had between not only us, but friends as well. Many ideas were tossed around, and in the end we came up with this:

The old logo sticker got a makeover. It was old, dingy and tearing off, so I hand painted a new one on in colors that coordinated with the design in our heads. The rest of the work was courtesy of Charlie. He created a wooden base, painted it black and copper. The top was cut from a piece of plywood and then covered with a luxurious faux ostrich skin fabric. The handle was removed from the lid and a wooden base for the copper colored Lazy Susan was added. Now, to get to the inside of the cooler you just lift up the wooden circle under the Lazy Susan....see....

It's open all the way to the bottom of the cooler. You can fill it with ice, drinks, or even milk as one festival goer suggested this weekend.

Charlie also painted and recovered the coordinating stools. The were once black wrought iron with a wicker top, but you would never know that by looking at them now. He used the copper paint and faux ostrich skin on those as well.

Here's one last shot of it before it sold at Arts in Heart this weekend.

Graphic Flower Coffee Table

Let me first start by saying....this coffee table was huge and heavy! We completely forgot to take a before shot, but you can use your imagination. It was a quite large, very heavy solid wood coffee table. We had no clue what we were going to do to it, but it was too good of a bargain to pass up so we drug it home. The only two things I was sure about were...

A. It was heavy

B. It needed to be on wheels....so we put it on wheels!

Eventually we were inspired by this:

 http://www.sawdustandembryos.com/2012/07/burn-pile-buffetpart-2-using-stain-to.html

We were going to go the stain route, like the tutorial, but we opted for a different method, paint. I am super comfortable with paint. I have been painting for years, so paint it was.

We started out by giving it a white wash base coat all over. Then came time to start the flower. We had actually narrowed it down to two different flowers and simply couldn't decide so we called in the help of a friend to make the final decision. Once the flower was chosen I began drawing and mapping it out  on the table top. After I laid all the lines down then I started painting. Eventually, after I thought I was somewhere close to being finished I had this:

I knew I wasn't totally done with it yet, but I needed to step away, so that I did. I got a good night's sleep and came back with a fresh pair of eyes, touch of paint here, touch up there, more here, more there and we eventually got this:

You may not be able to see the subtle differences in the images, but trust me, a much needed night's sleep did this table good. Once Charlie decided I was done and he wasn't letting me change it anymore we put a couple of coats or polyurethane on top to protect my masterpiece.

Here are a couple of shots from Arts in the Heart this weekend in Augusta, Georgia where we sold the finished piece. It was so big we just sat it in front of the tent. it made for a great conversation piece/attention getter for all the festival goers waking by our booth.

Creativity is Running Rampant!

We're in the home stretch of getting ready for Arts in the Heart. We have one more weekend to work, and a TON of work to do. Our most recent creations had some rather interesting components.

Yes, you are looking at a vintage golf bag, golf balls, golf clubs and a vintage aluminum 55 gallon Igloo cooler. 

Yes, we were crazy enough to create furniture out of these items.

Below are a couple of not so great cell phone pics that I snapped super quick the other night. You can't see the gorgeous details, but you can get the idea of things. 

Then that brings us to this:

Right now it just looks like a sofa that Michael Myers got a hold of, but by this time next week you won't even recognize it! Stay tuned!

Birthday Present for Mom

Generally I would only write posts about pieces for sale, but this turned out so good, and can be custom  made for anyone, so I just had to show it off.

I made this for my Mom's birthday, and she loved it! She's always hounding my brother and I about having pictures made, but who wants to do that! Instead, I created her a work of art with both of us on it. I used some new techniques that I had never tried before, and they turned out great.

I started out with a photo of each of us. I dropped down to black and white and had a little fun with them in Picasa. 

I already had the layout of the piece in my head so I just went to town. I started with a gallery wrapped canvas, some acrylics, Mod Podge and printouts of the photos. I gave the canvas a quick coat of yellow, not even a solid coat, I just brushed it on haphazardly and let some of the white canvas show through. I let that dry then added the photos. I found all kinds of tutorials online for various photo transfer methods, so I just followed the instructions and low and behold it worked. Then came the "artistic" part. I had to embellish and jazz it up, so I had fun with the acrylics and my brushes. 

I think it turned out awesome!

Pieces in this style can be custom made using all sorts of images, colors, phrases, etc. Family members, pets, sports teams favorite singers, actors, etc. would be perfect for this style of piece. I actually see some awesome collegiate collages in the future. I can create them as big or as small as you need them. 

Make a Wish Painting

Here's another creation from last weekend. We started with a framed print, but the print was hideous so we chunked the print and started from scratch. I thought  had a before picture, but I failed....I completely forgot to snap it.

We gave the frame a custom distressed paint job in silver, white and black. I wanted to keep the overall color of the frame fairly light because of the cheery nature of the "Make a Wish" phrase. I thought this would be a great piece for a nursery or a child's bedroom, so dark simply was not the way to go. 

Then I moved on to the painting while Charlie finished up the clear coating on the frame. I applied a couple of layers of turquoise acrylic for the base coat  and then painted away with white acrylic. I love the simple graphic quality of just using two colors. I think this would add a touch of whimsy to any space.

We love how it turned out, and I'm sure there will be more of these to come in different sizes. I think we may experiment with different paint jobs on the frames, and maybe even different color combos on the painting it's self. Actually, if you love this but you need a specific size or color I could easily make a custom one for you. This particular one is $65 and the dimensions are somewhere around 24x36. I'll have to update this with more precise measurements later. I'm currently working out of town, and I completely forgot to measure it before I left, but I just couldn't wait to share it.

For your viewing delight here's a shot I snapped the other night. I'm currently at Kiawah Island, which is about 30 minutes outside of Charleston, South Carolina. For golf lovers, it's the home of the Ocean Course, which was the site of the 2012 PGA Championships. This particular shot was taken from The Ryder Cup Bar located in the club house of the Ocean Course, and I do believe this is the green for the 18th hole.

Milk Jug Table and Chairs

We had a busy weekend at Reinvention. We spent all day Saturday working on a few awesome projects. This Milk Jug Table and Chairs is one of the fruits of our labor.

 We started with a vintage milk jug similar to this one.

Ours was much prettier. It had a great turquoise and green patina that we loved. We chose to add to the existing patina to further enhance the milk jug and make it coordinate with chairs by adding black, red and white paint and distressing the whole piece to make it look like we found it that way. It's finished off with a few layers of clear coat to protect it from everyday wear and tear.

For the table top we used reclaimed wood painted with chalkboard paint. The edge has a funky white circle border that has been clear coated for both protection and looks.


The chairs were thrift store finds that used to be part of my Jen Ell's Revenge Display.

They started off red, then we painted them black and distressed them so you can see hints of red and the wood grain peeking through the black. The chairs already had great carvings and lines, so we chose to accent them with white paint and then distress them again. We chose to make the chairs a bit more comfy by padding and upholstering them with a great black and white damask oil cloth. So not only are they super cute, but with the oil cloth they are virtually waterproof and stain resistant. I wouldn't turn a two year old loose with a sharpie, but most other things will wipe right off.

Of course we're biased, but we love it. I think it's the perfect set for that little corner or spot that just needs something. It's the perfect size for two people to share a meal together, and it's even great for the kiddos. Just hand them some chalk and let their creativity run wild.