Cork Ornaments

Cork ornaments are quick and easy to assemble.

All you need is an imagination, a glue gun and a few buttons.

I used a glue gun to assemble the corks in a tree formation and a champagne cork for the base. The buttons came from a collection aquired over the years for one project or another. I made sure that each tree had a unique combination of buttons, pins and paint.

 I painted and used push pins as accents when I ran out of buttons.

 A few more combinations and styles.                                                                         

Corks work perfectly for grape cluster ornaments. I used acrylic paint to give the cork tops and bottoms a grape-like look. Jingle bells were tied to the tops with coordinating ribbon along with grape leaves accents.

These cork ornaments are simply embellished with beads but look great on the tree.

           A few more using ribbon and bells. 

This little green tree looks very cute on the tree. I coated the tops and bottoms of the corks with a generous dose of Mod Podge and dipped them in green glitter. I used a neutral colored raffia ribbon around the outside. This would be a great craft with kids as it is quick and easy to complete.

Chair Therapy

Chairs are my all-time favorite pieces to transform. Working with color and fabric just has endless possibilities. No two chairs ever turn out the same and they can truly compliment a plain desk or vanity.

This chair was screaming for a makeover! The warm toned equestrian material paired with the soft brown leather made a beautiful transformation. I added dark brown cording around the leather sections to define the edges. The paint is a Benjamin Moore color called Marscapone.

This is the "before" pic of the equestrian chair. It shaped up nicely.

This is a LOT of color to digest in one chair but it was loads of fun just letting go and using every paint color in the cabinet. The fabric has lots of pizzazz and the chair had so many little knobs and carvings for color opportunities. Not for everyone but I love it.

Close up of the detail on the base and legs.

Here is the "before" pic. Its a chair I picked up for $10 at a yard sale.

Close up of the detail on the back of chair done in orange, green and slate blue.

The "Whiphand" toile material made a nice accent.

This straight back chair went perfectly with a secretary desk in the guest bedroom. I used Benjamin Moore Advance paint in Marscapone and slightly distressed the finish. Also applied a polycrylic finish to protect the distressed edges.

Topped off the chair rail with antique finials.

A close-up view shows the heavy handed sanding effect that allows the oak wood to contrast against the blue paint.

Made 4 of these chairs to go with the Roman Numeral clock table shown to the side.

I heavily distressed this Tahoe Blue chair and used a butterfly themed material to cover the seat. 

Hopefully this little "Time Out" chair won't need to be used much - but just in case...

Kid chairs are also lots of fun to create. This little rocker sold quickly to an owl fan.

This vanity seat has a cute pink and white nursery rhyme themed fabric and a multi-colored button trim. The metal seat was sprayed in a pink berry color and the wooden seat handles were sprayed in a ballet pink for contrast.

Tables with Attitude

Tables come in all shapes and sizes for any room in the house. Accent tables can be a focus of conversation by adding a splash of color, a unique stencil or fun paper toppers. Here are a few that were rescued and restyled.

I used larger Roman numerals and a dial to represent the exact time of my grandson Cayden's birth. I also added the "Moulins" stencil for a touch of color. 

This old oak claw foot table turned out beautifully with butter and cream colored chalk paint finish. It is slightly distressed and sealed with several layers of Minwax Polycrylic so it can be used in a kitchen setting. 

This is a two-tier pie or cake table finished with Annie Sloan french linen and graphite chalk paint. It is sealed with clear wax and buffed to a nice shine.

Just for the heck of it I added these claw grasping a clear glass marble knobs to the leg base. 

 I added Old Hollywood themed wallpaper and layered a round beveled piece of glass to protect the paper. The hints of gray and black colors of the wallpaper and matched the paint choices perfectly.  

Bette Davis deserved her own table so I painted this little plant stand in Annie Sloan Emperor's Silk red, added some flapper fringe and installed black knobs to the base. This little table sold fairly quickly to my surprise. 

I call this little Paris-themed table "Le Tirior Rouge" (the red drawer). I used a plain white chalk paint for the base and Emperor's Silk by Annie Sloan for the drawer. 

Found a Paris knob to accent the red drawer.

The top of this side table was covered with a black and white Paris-themed paper and capped with a glass top for protection.

This is one of those projects that started with the knob. I had this pink and yellow knob in my collection just waiting for the perfect table or dresser. I actually picked the paint colors to match the knob for this project.

Yes - its really pink! Found this side table in the back of an estate sale warehouse. It was filthy and missing it's drawer knob. It had a thick white coat of paint that I cover with pink and yellow chalk paints. It is slightly sanded and sealed with clear wax. 

This was a clamshell game table that had spent about 2 years outside. It needed some TLC with new hardware, some extensive re-gluing and sanding. I decided to make a chess table after finding a secret drawer for chess piece storage under the clamshell top. The base is painted in Annie Sloan graphite and the top is Emperor's Silk red. I used graphite and gray for the chess game surface with a Tahoe Blue accent frame.

The top folds and twists to form the clamshell appearance. I added wheels to the base for ease of relocating the table after the chess game is over. The chess pieces are stored in the secret storage area beneath the table top.

This round top table was perfect for a wine cork topper. I started from the outside and worked inward with several brands of wine corks. I used E6000 glue to make sure they would stay firmly in place and then topped it with 1/4" glass. The base is Black Beauty Benjamin Moore Advance paint and the top is a gray chalk paint. I sealed both paints with a polycrylic prior to gluing.   

As the cork got closer to the center I turned them on their side and cut them in half. It gave a nice look to the design.

This thrift store coffee table got a topper of wine labels and glass. It is sitting outside on my patio because it fit perfectly in an alcove with some Adirondack chairs. 

Here is a close up of the actual pattern used in the collage format.

Secretary Desks

Secretary desks are so much fun to transform. There are many unique designs of the secretary desk from the fall front top to the pull out writing surface style. Each comes with it's own personality reflected in the many desk top nooks and crannies as well as the intricate carvings and inlays. Here are a few that I picked up at estate sales or thrift stores and restored to give them an updated look for resale. 

This is a beautiful tri-fold up secretary with three slots tucked underneath. The pull-out writing surface was the perfect spot for the periwinkle accent color.

 I added the lion's head detail (from a pair of earrings) and detailed in a metallic gold paint.

This drop down version was painted with a mint green and black beauty color. The birdie and branch are appliqued with 3 coats of clear sealant. The drawers are lightly distressed and the hardware was sprayed with black gloss.

The drop down reveals mail slots along with a tiny drawer with glass knob for highlight.

This desk is quite similar to the periwinkle and cream colored desk noted above. Its a trip fold top with mail slots and drawer.

The desk was finished in a black and blue gloss along with metallic gold trim along the inlay detail. This is a close up pic of the detail on the lower drawer.

The writing surface pulls out to add about a foot of extra space. I added a lion's head drawer pull for a beautiful focus when the tri-fold is in the open position.