Thursday 20 October 2011

Monroe Madness or Masterpiece..

This one is for Sandy.

In the words of Marilyn Monroe;
“Imperfection is beauty, madness is genius and it's better to be absolutely ridiculous than absolutely boring.” 
I feel like this quote was written for this piece of furniture!! It's been a case of one step forward to take two steps back, but let me begin...
FIRST ATTEMPT

My friend Sandy brought me this little coffee table complete with glass top, and asked me could I paint it in cream and gold for her shop 'Revival'


The top was an old chippy veneer which I tried to take off by sanding, by scraping, and then with white spirits but it hardly seemed to make a dent. Against my better judgement I then whipped out my gold spray paint and began.
After this, I painted the entire table with Annie Sloan Chalk Paint 'Old White' but it was no good as the top surface was uneven and just looked rubbish. I then tried to rub it down with a sponge to bring out the gold...but nah it just wasn't happening! Sorry I didn't have the heart to take a photo of this stage.

ATTEMPT TWO
This time I rubbed all the white off and was left with a thin coat of gold which I left on. Then I painted the legs in a deep glossy black, waxed them and ordered a Marilyn Monroe poster to attach to the top - perfect what with this table having a glass top. I used PVC glue and got to work


EEEEEeeeek. Yikes. Etc. 
I have tried this method before and failed, and I thought there may be the possibility of bubbles BUT LOOK at the lines and wrinkles!!  Any tips on this method from my fellow bloggers would be very much appreciated, especially as we don't have 'mod podge' in Ireland.

THIRD ATTEMPT
If this piece was for me then I may have given up at this point, but as it was for Sandy I kept relatively calm and carried on by peeling all the top off;


Then I went to a local shop and bought the only Marilyn poster that they had, even though I had concerns that the face was too big.. but BOY am I glad I did!

My dad helped me at this stage (thank goodness). We simply cut the picture to size, set it on top, and used his electric screwdriver on four corners to attach the picture and the little black plastic screw caps. No glue in sight!
What do you think?




I just love the pop of pink and ruby red lips!

The Shabby NestFurniture Feature FridaysTickled Pink at 504 MainRedoux


HOG

42 comments:

  1. way to make lemonade out of lemons! it looks awesome! so unique and SO cool!

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  2. I absolutly LOVE this piece!!!! Ive had some miserable "steps" happen with some of my pieces too and I just tell myself its becasue something better is supposed to be and the table is trying to me that....Your Marilyn is stunning..I love her!

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  3. Oh WOW...this is awesome and what's even more awesome...my son is in Ireland studying in Dublin and I am leaving on Tuesday to go visit him. Don't know where you are in Ireland but seriously, if you want me to bring you some Mod Podge, just say the word! How fun would that be...2 bloggers meeting all because of Mod Pogde, ha!

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  4. I'm such a HUGE fan of Marilyn. I love how you have designed this vintage table too. I'm a blog writer over at Jacque's Soda Parlor. Every Sunday we host a Sundae Shake Up Party. I would love to for you to stop by and share it with us.
    And, I'm going to pin it to my Pinterest too!!! LOVE, LOVE, LOVE IT!

    Jacque
    thesodaparlor.blogspot.com

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  5. Love it! I have that Audrey Hepburn picture I spied in the corner that I was thinking of slapping on some cute little table myself. What fun.
    ~Pam
    pamspaintparlor.typepad.com

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  6. Oooohhhh...absolutely FABULOUS!!

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  7. In this case mistakes are good. Love the table now the best. You can make your own Mod Podge by mixing equal parts water with white glue. Same stuff.

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  8. OMG, I want it. I'm so stealing this idea.

    Thank you!!!!

    Shannon

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  9. Love this! I have been wanting to paint her so bad! This might be what I needed. I have already painted Audrey, so she is next. Thanks for the inspiration.

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  10. How awesome and unique!!! Love your idea and you pulled it off so well!!
    Congrats on your feature at POWW!!!

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  11. Well, your persistence paid off - it turned out great.

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  12. Wow...third time was a CHARM! Amazing piece, I love it! Makes me want to hunt down some crappy top table and try it myself!

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  13. I like the big face better than the original poster. I mod podged book pages to my bathroom walls and ran out of it during the project. I watered down PVC glue. It worked like a charm!

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  14. Oh my goodness gracious that is BEAUTIFUL! Just incredible. I'd love for you to link this up to my very first Fresh Friday Link Party!
    -Maureen

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  15. Very cool, you should consider a "pop art" series-- bold graphic images on traditional furniture, could be really interesting... I'd like to see a Lichtenstein on a highboy...

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  16. Ooooh, I love it, love it, love it!

    I thought I fell in love at the first attempt (wrinkles aside!!) but the second poster?! It's GORGEOUS!!

    Sarahx

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  17. Next time, glue half use a pizza roller to iron out the wrinkles then do the other side. It is not your fault glue and paper have a mind of their own believe. I am in Marketing. You didn't give up, I am glad you made this page. Your attempts were honest and posted along with the successful piece. BRAVO!

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  18. Lovely work:) You can use a decoupage glue instead of mod podge for the projects like this.

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  19. So you didn't glue the 2nd poster down? You just screwed it into the wood and put glass on top of it? Wondering if I could pull it off on a children's table?

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  20. Well I think that's Awesome, Do you have elmers glue, or just regular school glue, add a little water, then put a light even coat on . If you do end up with air bubbles you can prick it with a pin> smoothe from the center out!

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  21. When applying the paper/poster, start out by rolling it up, then apply just a little glue at a time. keep unrolling and apply glue as you go. If you get air bubbles, a trick I have found that works is to make a tiny pin prick hole into each bubble (work doing one at a time)and use a roller, a spoon or your fingers to press the air pocket out of each. But, you must do this when the glue is still very wet.
    I LOVE what you did and I am now going to have to give it a go! Thanks for the post!
    Linda Harris

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  22. I LOOOOVE this project! Really! And I used Anonymous´ tips too. From Rio de Janeiro/Brazil to Ireland, thanks for the artistic post.
    Ivana Rowena.

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  23. Your table is fabulous. just an fyi...mod podge is basically just watered down white glue (elmers?) I just buy a bottle dilute it. i bottle glue to half bottle warm water. mix well and keep in a sealed jar. hope this helps

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  24. Hi there,I enjoy reading through your article post, I wanted to write a little comment to support you and wish you a good continuationAll the best for all your blogging efforts.
    Thanks:
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  25. Thanks for the ideas your share here
    So far, I am looking for a source of reference on various websites
    Now I have found what I was looking for all this time
    I keep the spirit to strive to be the best, one of which is a reference from your idea that really helped me.
    Once again I want to say thank you
    rebana jepara mebel jepara


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  26. Would you want to sell any of these?

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  27. It is just fab! Modge Podge available in Vibes and Scribes Cork and online at http://shop.vibesandscribes.ie

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  28. I love the post. I did not have success with trying to anchor a poster down with just 4 screws and no glue. Can you offer additional tips? Even with the glass top (which I would think the screws prevent it from holding down the poster) how does it stay flat and not curl?

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  29. F A B O L U S !!!

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  30. I love that table and have been on a mission to make me one like it for over a year now, well, I finally found a suitable table! Just finished putting the glass top on it. I had rather have it decoupaged on but didn't think I could do that. Thanks for the inspiration! You can see if here if you like: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10207774966914982&set=a.1922579987039.110860.1318282006&type=3&theater. :)

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  31. I have had great luck with wetting the paper (or poster) first and letting it sit a few minutes to absorb the water, then putting it on the glued surface and pressing it down from the center out. My theory is that with wetting it with water first stops the glue from absorbing more in some areas than others. Hope this helps.

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  32. I died when I saw this!Girl U certainly do rock and your dad does too!Thanks for sharing!You guys did a AWESOME JOB!

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