Amazing Grace

Introducing "Grace", I don't know how much you know about this lovely girl but the word out on the street is that she is just simply "Amazing!"

This old tattered and scuffed up piece took inspiration from the classic favorite hymn "amazing grace". 

I had found some very old hymn books at a local garage sale where a lovely family of Mennonites lived, their children gathered and eagerly helped me with all my items out to the car and curiously asked what I would do with the items-as I told them of my plans on how I would use the sheet music from the hymn books, all of their eyes just lit up with excitement! I knew I had to make this piece extra special in the spirit of those children-and so begins this journey.

I always like to do any sanding thats needed first, so out came my my handy dandy rotary sander for this job and i must say it finished up pretty quickly.

Next I chose my colors, in this case I'm using General Finishes "Halcyon Blue" along with "Millstone". The colors turned out absolutely beautiful and the application was just smooth, silky and leveled out wonderfully! 

(No, I do not sell paint, I like to try out various brands and use them accordingly, I also like to mix my own colors and styles so ... that was purely an unbiased opinion and is "just my own opinion", you should always use what you personally like and are comfortable with).

I love the contrast of crisp clean paint along with richly stained wood so next 

I made sure the counter was free of any dust and then chose General Finishes "Java Gel Stain" to use as the finish.

I applied it in a nice even coat with just a simple foam brush in a open and ventilated area.

Next, use a clean rag or T-shirt to wipe off any excess stain making sure you are working in the same direction of the grain.

What an absolutely lovely rich finish that Java Gel gave! I couldn't be happier!

Now for the "artsy fartsy" part! I Decoupaged the sheet music to the top drawer and the cabinet panels with Mod Podge. I like to kinda lay out my random design first as shown above.

Next, brush on a thin even layer of Mod Podge working in small areas. Use a soft cloth to wipe and smooth out any bumps or air holes you may see until the pages are glued flat.

After it dries, I like to take a small piece of fine sand paper -sanding off or away from the edges for a crisp clean line finish.

Edges are now smooth and have a finished look, I am ready to do a little artwork as the hymn pages serve as the perfect canvas for this!

I chose to use some of the words from the classic favorite hymn "Amazing Grace" (also I made sure I decoupage the Amazing Grace sheet music front and center). 

In keeping the thought and the spirit if those sweet children in mind I decided to keep the artwork light, cheerful and whimsical. You can get soo many ideas for your furniture work by learning about artistic techniques and taking art classes, this will always help give you fresh ideas that you can incorporate or translate into your home decor or furniture pieces.

When the artwork was finished, I applied a couple of layers of the Mod Podge over the painted artwork, make sure you sand between each coat to smooth over any page edges that are rough.

And the end result is a sweet fresh updated "One-Of-A-Kind" finish that is sure to bring a smile to anyone's face!

I hope you had fun with me on this project, I love to interact with all of you and would love to hear about your one of a kind projects that you have done, or maybe even some products you have used to get a specific look or texture, I'm always looking to learn about great new techniques -so don't be shy, stop by my blog or any of my socials and say hi!

Until next time, keep those creative ideas flowin' and those brushes wet!