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Monday, September 5, 2011

Antique Ephemera as Furniture Embellishment

This is one of the niftiest tricks I have found in a long time.  I love antique lettering, and used to play with it in art classes back in high school.  This craft takes it to a whole new level, and its a blast.

One takes an antique ephemera design and enlarges  it to the size that would be appropriate for the piece you have in mind, in this case a side table.  Then scribble on the back of the paper with pencil, and tape the design right side up.  Trace the outside of each letter/design element, and a slight tracing will be left on the furniture.

Next you outline each  letter/design element with a permanent fine tip marking pen, and color it in with a wider tip marker or paint it in with a brush and oil base paint.  I will warn you it is time consuming, but if you've a bit of artistic ability, and don't most of us?, using the outlines you will be surprised at the credible job you can do.


I used the method on this tray that I had had for sell at the antique mall for at least five years, and sold it at my last flea.o.logy sale with its new French influence.  I have done tables, trunks and trays so far, but have in mind to try some chairs and stools. 

And just for fun, here is a mannequin that I finished up for the flea.o.logy sale as well.  If you like her I have a detailed description of how to make her in my archives.  She did not have as good a luck finding a home as some other items, but she goes to the street market in the Avenues next week, so we can always hope.

Thanks for taking a peek at my latest crafty craze.

8 comments:

  1. Don'tchajust LOVE that image transfer technique!? Love your trey! Could you share where you found that image?

    Deborah (happily visiting from
    http://upcyclingmylife.blogspot.com/)

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  2. Love what you did with the image transfer. I haven't tried it yet. But it's on my "to do list"! Your mannequin is amazing!
    www.projectqueen.org

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  3. Lovely stuff Paula ~ now I see what we were talking about on the phone yesterday! You are the Queen, do you know that? And that's saying something...coming from a British subject! (*_*) xo

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  4. I fell in LOVE with these pieces and wondered how it was done. You did beautifully!

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  5. those all look amazing! thanks for sharing your tips!

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  6. I absolutely love your mannequin! Drool! Now I have to find one and do it... Where did you get it???
    Liz

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  7. I actually made the mannequin using paper mache. If you want to know how I did it, find my post that is titled something like "Bigger than a pinata" ... it will tell you how.

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