Happy Toddler Shark Chair:

With the hand-painted details and appropriate sanding for a vintage look:

with imperfections and personality:

A tip for painting something like this that has lots of nooks, crannies, and joints: use spray paint. It’s nearly impossible to hide brush strokes, and it’ll cut your painting time by over half.

A tip for achieving a vintage look: use desaturated colors, and use a different base color if you plan on doing some sanding. It’ll make those “wear marks” look more authentic.

I girl’d it up for someone special that has her first birthday coming up. My favorite spray paint, 1/2 yard of this great fabric, grossgrain ribbon trim and lots of Mod Podge created this:

Hope she likes it!
{and sidenote, after fabric and mod podge is dry, you can easily remove the fabric and it won’t damage the wood.}

Here’s the before:

And here’s the after:

The width of the fabric was the perfect for the height of the gate. I cut 1″ notches along the width of the fabric and ripped strips off, then wove them through the gate with a little knot at the top and bottom. Other ideas I had along the way include spray painting the gate something a little more vibrant using spray paint for plastic, or hanging baby toys on it. I know you’re not supposed to help the gate stand out, but, HELLO?! How can you not see it already?

Fabric used: “Sweet Spot” and “Ring Toss” brand new fabrics from Waverly.

…on my bucket list of “in my someday house”

This straight-out-of-the-seventies ceramic owl planter {$6.99} met my can of white spray paint {free} for a fun favor holder:

And this wooden tray got slightly less country and a little more Valentine-y when it met a fun pink spray paint {$4} and spray glitter {$3} and piece of scrapbook paper + mod podge. I wish you could see better, it is COATED in glitter!

The secret to a great line when you’re painting is getting the right tape! Scotch’s Blue Painter’s Tape with Edge-Lock will give you great results each time if you do this secret extra step. Check out my little video on how I tape off lines (please disregard the fact that I think my hair is long enough to wear a pony-tail when it’s not). The really dimply wall texture Shannon had put this tape to the test, but we had almost no touch up to do!

Here are the before pics:

Here are the after pics:

The stripe behind the low bed draws your eye up, making the room look bigger. The natural look of the strie ties in the shells on the lamps and the other browns in the room. It helps give the room dimension.

We mirrored the stripe on the opposite wall behind the dresser.

Close-Up of the Strie:

Here’s a quick look video at the before and after.

Now for the Giveaway!

Scotch is giving away a FREE ROLL OF Blue Painter’s Tape with Edge Lock to 16 READERS! Leave a comment below for your chance to win!

Comments will close at midnight PST on Wednesday Jan. 26 2011. Good Luck!