Items Currently For Sale!!

I am about to have a baby in a couple of weeks, so I am taking a much needed break from the furniture biz.  I won't be posting anything for sale until January at the earliest.  

In the meantime, check out this tutorial I did last year for stenciling furniture with patching plaster.  Stenciling with the patching plaster really changes the look of a boring piece and it is super durable!

How to Use Patching Plaster to Make Appliques

Hello all!   I have had numerous people ask me where I buy the appliques that I add to my furniture.  Well, I don't buy them, I make them!  In this tutorial, I will do my best to show you how I do it!  FYI- Learning how to do these took me MANY tries.  I am kinda special that way.  I hope that you are able to pull these off without all the screw ups, but if it takes you awhile, don't worry, you will get it!

I decided that these boring mirrors from Ikea needed some added pizzazz.

 

I picked a cute corner floral stencil by Martha Stewart and got out my patching plaster.  It is very important to make sure that the plaster is smooth.  If it is lumpy, I add a little water and mix it up with my hand mixer.

Center the stencil where you want it to go.

Now you are ready to add the plaster.  I dip my finger in the plaster so I have a good dollop to start spreading over the stencil.

Now, slowly spread the plaster around the stencil.  Add a little pressure to make sure the plaster is seeping into all the holes.  I dipped my finger in the plaster a couple of times until the whole area was covered.  Make sure the surface is fairly smooth.  Wipe the excess plaster that may be outside the edges of the stencil with a paper towel.

 Very carefully, pick up an edge of the stencil and lift it off. 

 It may or may not be perfect when you lift it off.  If there are only minor imperfections, you can usually fix them with a toothpick and a steady hand.

I added another applique to the opposite corner.  As you can see, there is some plaster smeared around the applique.  You can easily wipe it off once the plaster dries.

 It takes about 2 hours for the plaster to dry.  One it has dried, sand it gently with some 220 grit sandpaper to smooth it out, then prime.

 Once the primer is dry, lightly sand the whole piece.
Now you can paint! 

After the paint is dry, sand the appliques and any other areas you would like to distress with some 60 grit sandpaper.

You can either leave the appliques white and seal the piece with wax, or poly, or you can add some stain.
Here is the final product-

 I love how they turned out, don't you?