Arrow Footstool

The clock is ticking but I have time for one more post before Christmas strikes! I want to show you a $10 footstool I redid for client last week.

Here's a BEFORE picture.

I began by stripping off the stubborn blue paint and sanding it down to the bare wood.

Then I repainted portions of the stool with various layers of Annie Sloan Chalk Paint

and sanded it down again.

Next I painted an arrow design on it with the help of some Frog tape.
And you guessed it... sanded THAT way down!

Finally I gave it a few coats of Spar Urethane. 

It was quite the process just for one little footstool but I am thrilled with the results.

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What'cha think?

 I love it.

It's vintage with a modern edge. 

And look...

even the bottom is pretty!
Ha!

It's amazing how a little paint and elbow grease can transform a simple piece.

 We originally purchased the footstool for my Erica's office makeover,
but now I think it might go in the boys' bathroom or perhaps their basement.
Time will tell.

As always, thanks for reading 13CCF. Wishing everyone a very MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

~Wendy

Wooden Star

Merry Christmas from 13 County Custom Finishes! I hope this post finds you happy, healthy, and in the holiday spirit. As you may have noticed I’ve been enjoying a little time off since the office makeover.  Well... technically I "enjoyed" the first week. Since then I've been busy baking, decorating, researching, purchasing, returning, repurchasing, tracking, gift wrapping, and letter writing. Basically living in overdrive until Christmas morning arrives.

Today I want to take a minute to show you one of the decorations I made for my daughters' bedrooms. I love decorating their bedrooms for Christmas each year and this was a really easy DIY project.

 First I purchased some basic 3/4" x  3/4" x  8' pine
from our local Carhart Lumber.
Lath strips would have worked just as well,
but I was looking for something a little more heavy duty.

I cut the boards into five 24 inch pieces.

I'm now in the market for a new saw. 
The throttle thingy got permanently stuck in the ON position!!!
OMW..it scared the **beep** out of me, ladies. LOL!
Sorry for the language.

After my ears stopped ringing and my nerves settled,
 I put a little Minwax stain on them.

When the boards dried, I simply laid out the pieces in a shape of a star.

(And yes, just in case you're interested, I looked up the rule
to make sure I was using the right form of lay and lie.)

Finally I connected the ends using 22 gauge wire.

I wrapped a string of battery operated LED lights around it
and tah-dah...

A STAR IS BORN!

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So what'cha think?

I love the simplicity of the star! 

 Not only will it look great for Christmas,

but the girls could probably leave it up year round. 

 If not, I know it'll look great in our basement or at the cabin.

As always thanks for reading 13CCF. Stop back next week. I have a really cool footstool to show you!

~Wendy