Wednesday, May 23, 2012

Mantle Redux

Good Wednesday Morning my Friends ~

...another soggy day here at the farm...
yesterday was a mixed bag of hot sun early on, then wonderful thunderstorms in the aft ~

The power went out for a short bit so I decided to change out my Keeping Room's mantle
(again)

remember a couple of posts ago ~ i changed the rugs and mentioned that I needed to 'tone-down' the blue paint on the mantle a bit?

(you can see the brightness of the blue in the photo below)


well I did & here is the result:





Here's what I did:

I took a small bottle of
Folk Art Antiquing Gel Medium (Dark Brown) and a sponge brush ~
watered down the medium just a tad, and then splotched (real professional word, huh?) it on all over the blue paint & wood...




then I took a damp paper towel and smeared the medium around into the nooks and crannies of the wood, architecture of the mantle and especially onto the blue paint...

I let it dry a bit, then took a dry paper towel
 (ok...many dry paper towels)
and wiped away the rest of the medium.



I let that dry for a couple of hours with the floor fan and then I took brown shoepolish and polished the entire thing...let that set up for a bit, then brushed the whole mantle with a shoe brush ~
bringing a mellow glow to the finished work.
(whew!)

Lots of elbow grease, but I love how it looks now ~
let me know what you think about it?

(the two larger black dolls are from The Burlap Owl, the white prairie doll I purchased at Millstone Mercantile...the printed rabbit is from the Fishersville Antiques show ~ and I made the rest)
((the hooked HOME SWEET HOME rug is from Sherry Kristoff))

Many thanks for the encouraging emails about my new fabric design!!!!

Blessings from the Farm!
Lori

14 comments:

Lee Hill Primitives said...

Love it! It turned out so perfect. Great dolls too.

Unknown said...

As Freddie Prinz used to say,LOOOKING GOOOD!!!! Ya put a smile on my face this a.m. to see my Home Sweet Home rug displayed on your mantle!!!!
XOXO, The Queen

Prims By The Water said...

Lookin real good! You did a fine job on your mantel and the display is wonderful too. Great job! Take care, Janice

Primitive Stars said...

Hi Linda, wow, loooove it, turned out wonderful.Your decor on the mantel is so sweet,the dollies, bunnies and all. Your home is so prim perfect,cozy and country.Blessings Francine.

Unknown said...

Fantastic!

http://www.loganmakesamess.com

Mugwump Woolies said...

Looks great...really anchors the grouping and brings it all together.
Robyn

Chocolates4Breakfast (Terri Malinovich) said...

Your hard work paid off! It looks wonderful!

Jeanne said...

LOVE IT! You did a great job.

Deppen homestead 1862 said...

Hi,Lori~ I also love it~
just love the entire room~
smiles
Teresa

Ronnie said...

Wonderful!

Nancee said...

It's Fab...What a great project for a rainy day! You're an inspiration!

Lurena Sheary Williamson said...

It is perfect!

Jan D said...

Hi Lori,

Have you ever tried Briwax? You can get the color and the soft sheen. Look up Briwax, it comes in several Colorado.

Jan

By Thy Hands Tinkerings said...

I love it !!!!! I love the whole room Lori!!!!

You did a wonderful job, I love the blue and that tv cupboard too!

Tam