Rhapsody in Blue - Hippie Christmas #3

November is here and that means the 3rd installment of my Hippie Christmas challenge. I know I promised the coffee table, but I am saving that one for next months grand finale...I think it is going to be a pretty cool transformation. Anyway, back to this month.

I snatched this guy up on the corner of Blair and Gorham during student move out. The trash truck was literally a half a block behind me, so I had to be quick. I loved the cutouts and the odd little wings at the bottom were a fun design element.

After a coat of primer and initial application of my periwinkle blue, I noticed this happening

...cracks and bubbles like this means the paint is not adhering. After further investigation, I found that even with the primer, a few spots of the base wood still had some layers of the varnish from the previous paint job. After sanding, rubbing with a bit of mineral spirits and then re priming, I was ready for the paint. My advice is if the finish looks questionable, sand, then prime... you will save yourself some time. You can normally tell from the touch. If it is slick, chances are their is some residue left. I am normally so excited to get to the fun stuff, I have been known to create more work for myself when I rush thru the prep. Lesson learned.

Now the fun stuff. With a serene coat of blue to highlight the delicate cutouts, I still needed something for the top.

Last week I spent a few days helping my dad clean out his old farmhouse. Among the cool treasures (more on that later), I found boxes and boxes of old sheet music from my grandmothers collection. Some dating back to the 1920's. I liked the texture, detail, and of course the recycling factor, so I got out my trusty Mod Podge and went to decoupaging.

The little winged ends seemed to have been an after thought in the construction of this side table, because after a little closer look, I found they were quite unfinished on the ends. Instead of cutting, trimming or filling with putty, I choose to just disguise them. After all, the whole point of fixing up a curbside cast off is that it is not a huge investment and making this wood look like a finished edge would have taken a lot of that.

So, besides covering the top with the strips of sheet music, I made those raggedy edges look crisp and clean by covering them too. Kind of worked with the linear lines anyway. After all the sheets were in place and another coat of the Mod Podge to seal, this once dark, clunky piece was ready for her encore.

I read a quote once from a decoupage artist that said something to the effect of "If something stays still long enough, there is a good chance I will try to cover it in paper." I have to say I share that philosophy. It is really a fun and easy medium for transforming things. I have used maps, comics, newsprint and even Suduko pages. Little risk, as most would end up in the recycling anyway, so give it a try the next time you are feeling creative.