Jars on Sticks

So I like everyone else on the internet am totally in love with Apothecary jars.  Though I refuse to pay the price that most stores are asking.  With that being said I have found one or two jars in thrift stores and made sure to quickly snatch them up.  I've noticed on the web many DIY'ers making their own jars with candle stick holders and vases.  I found a small candy dish (or so I believe it's a candy dish.  It was used as one by my grandma when I was a kid) at a local GW.  At first I was going to do nothing to it, but then when I put it with my other glass vases & doo dads it just seemed to short.

Soo I epoxied it to a glass candle stick.  I also bought a dollar store vase & glued it to a matching candle stick.  However it will later be turned into a faux mercury glass vase.  For now tho they are sitting pretty on top of my newly redone hutch (pictures of that coming up soon).  So instead of one project being finished last week I completed two.  No the glass wasn't a big thing but it did get the breakables off the stand and in a place of honor.

There are no before pics or even during since it's pretty easy to do.

Here they are alone

All I used was a Styrofoam plate, epoxy that I got from Hobby Lobby for like $4, and a plastic knife.  Squirted the epoxy and onto the plate, mixed as directed then placed a bit of glue on each piece.  Found the center of the dish & vase then placed the candle stick on.  I then took a very old and very heavy german-english dictionary and weighed down the stick on the vase.  On the candy dish I used a big can of Greens.  Yes yes very expensive weights I know.  Let them set for about 20mins then put them up for 24hrs to make sure they were good and glued (plus I have cats, I'm not so stupid as to leave them in anywhere they could get them).

Here they are with some of the other glass doo dads.

I don't think they all show up too well.  I need to rethink how they are arranged.  though I must keep in mind the vase in the back if not both vases in back will become faux mercury glass soon.

Now I'm off to paint a jar or mirror or something like that.

Enjoy your weekend,
Sarah

Project Pile Up

"Project Pile Up" is quite the understatement.  Our entrance/downstairs looks like a junk room.  It's really the only free spot we have in the apartment for me to store items I want to work on.  It originally was suppose to be my craft room however my stuff piled up before an actual "room" was established.  Add to that fact that in the winter it is severely cold downstairs.  There are no heating vents so it's the equivalent of many of your garages.  So cold & piled high room does not make for good decorating.  So we came up with the plan for me to complete 1 project a week, that way we can slowly get the downstairs organized.  Oh did I fail to mention that since the downstairs was to cold I had been doing all projects in our newly redone kitchen?  Yeah, it's true.  So when you see my pictures don't hate on them too bad.  The kitchen is a little cluttered, but for now it works.

Moving on to one of this weeks projects,  the end table.  I found this little end table at one of our many local Goodwills.  She was only $4.99 and I couldn't resist her pretty little urn shaped bottom.  Now mind you there were 2 end tables there that day but I could only afford one and she is the one I chose (sidenote: I went back a few days later & the other table was still there so in the back of my mini SUV she went).  She was in pretty decent shape minus some scuffs and things on the top.  So I got to work by sanding her down a bit then priming the top (I only primed her because I had left over primer from the hutch I was painting.  That's a post for another day tho.)  I did forget, like usual to take a before I primed picture.  oops.

Behind the table on a little white chair you see a peek of a project in progress, not to mention an ugly wicker shelf that was there while the living room was being rearranged lol.

So once the primer had dried for ohhhh a week I got started on mixing my fake chalk paint.  A week is a good amount of time for primer to dry.  See I was making sure that it was really, really dry.  Okay that and I was finishing a hutch up.

So I painted the base first:

with some paint I bought for .69 cents from a local rehabitate place.  It's Sherwin Williams Blue Bell.  Took two coats and it went on like a dream.

Then it was time for the top:

The top was not exactly a dream.  It was painted with Color place Ebony Stone Black (in other words very black lol).  Now in this color only have I ever noticed the difference between cheaper paint and higher end-ish stuff.  This paint is almost like water even with baking soda mixed in.  The blue was nice & thick.  I don't know if black is just one of those colors or what.  We used it for 3 or 4 projects now and with each one we had to add more coats of the black than the lighter color.  Anyways back to this project.  Once it was all dry I sanded the roughness out somewhat and then polyed just the top. 

I thought I was done but then I remember the other little table I had previously painted and decided she needed a 2nd make over to match the newer table.  I do not have a before she was painted picture but to say that she was a mess is an understatement.  Got her for $4 at a St. Vincent thrift store.  It was in a very scratched up veneer.

Originally when I painted it it was the same blue all over, however when I polyed the top it turned yellow.  I'm not sure if I'm doing something wrong or what, but I've noticed all my poly turning yellow on lighter colors.  I made sure to buy the clear gloss, but seems to not matter.  I don't know if I should try something different to protect or if I'm just doing it all wrong.

Anyways those are the two tables.  I am very pleased but my b/f does not like the combo.  He thinks the darker color should be on the bottom.  However that didn't work with the poly.

Those are my 2 projects for Monday and Tuesday.  Wed. Project will be posted tomorrow. 

I hope you enjoyed my two little tables and please come see me again,
Sarah