Vintage Desk Secretary Gets Promoted

This beautiful flea market find didn't start out looking like this... 

See the final transformation and 

full tutorial on my new site,

AlteredArtworks.wordpress.com

Repurposing City Maps & Picture Frames

Our older daughter lives in "The City by the Bay," which also happens to be my old hometown.  She absolutely loves everything about San Francisco.  On our last visit, I noticed she didn't have any coasters, and since she is "borrowing" her grandparents' antique furniture...let's just say, the coffee table will soon need a new coat of varnish.  Until then, I decided to combine fun with functional, and use an old SF map to create coasters and a coordinating serving tray for her.

Here is the tray I started with, found at a thrift store for $3.

Someone had previously added handles onto a picture frame, so it saved me a step.

I painted the frame with an antique white paint using a light brush stroke here and there to give the tray a distressed, vintage look.  After all, paper maps are vintage, right?

After deciding on the section of the map for the tray, I cut it to size to fit inside the frame and decoupaged it into place.  Then I painted the handles sage green to match the green parks on the map.  I sealed the entire tray with antique-colored decoupage to emphasize a vintage look.

Then I cut four 4" squares from another section of the map and decoupaged them onto stone tiles.  

Not leaving well enough alone, I decoupaged a small box to neatly hold the four tile coasters when not being used.

For the photo op, I leaned the tray against my kitchen wall, coincidently right under a schematic of the Golden Gate Bridge.

Now I'm going to pop the tray and coaster set into the mail -- marked fragile, handle with care -- and surprise my daughter with a little handmade DIY.

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Hopping on the Furniture Before-and-After Bandwagon

I spend a great deal of my online time reading creative blogs.  Blogs that inspire.  Blogs that make me smile.  And blogs with great "before and afters."  These are my favorite!  I've been captivated with furniture transformations, giving cast-offs a new lease on life.

Well, after two years of reading about them, I've finally joined the bandwagon, scouring neighborhood garage sales, swap meets, vintage markets and thrift shops in search of potential victims beauties. 

And here is my very first furniture before-and-after:  the step stool.

 

The Before
(They should've paid me to take it off their hands.)
 

And with sanding, painting and a freezer-transfer, I present

The After
 

              

 

 

 

And I'm just warming up!  I've got a few more fabulous finds waiting patiently for my next makeover.

Thanks to every one of you (and you know who you are) for your inspiration.  And a special thank you to Karen at The Graphics Fairy for some last-minute hand-holding advice.



Partying here: Graphics Fairy, Le Chateau des Fleurs,Mod Vintage Life Mod Mix MondayOne Artsy Mama, Lil Luna, Domestically Speaking, Project Queen, Ginger Snap Crafts, From my Front Porch to Yours THT, French Country Cottage, Suzy's Sitcom, House of Hepworths, Katherine's Corner,My Repurposed Life, Craftionary, Doodles and Stitches, Miss Mustard Seed, Serenity Now, The Answer is Chocolate, Flamingo Toes