simply vintageous...by Suzan

My " picker " friend ( Dorothy - my competition actually ) took me to a favourite place of hers today -
and btw who does that? Who takes their competition along with them to pick? Unheard of and incredibly generous on her part - and I bought this for 10.00!!!
Now we're talking - don't have a clue when I'll be able to finish it because I'm actually drowning in piece to do - but I couldn't walk away from it at that price - just wasn't physically able to do it - even though I promised John that I would wait before purchasing any new pieces

Did I mention it was only 10.00?
I purchased a dresser that you are going to go nuts when you see - I promise you - if you're not already nuts
( and most of you are as nuts as I am already - this I know by now, lol ) than you will become stark raving mad.
AND I bought a dining table - and all 3 items came to the grand total of 100.00 - UNBELIEVABLE!!!
I took my camera so I could share photos with y'all ( I think I'm becoming a southern belle ) but I was so busy doing cartwheels I completely forgot I had it with me.

And remember the little bench I got for 5.00?

Well after a little bit of tape - and a little bit of stencilling - and a little bit of paint - and a whole lot of patience
it looks like this. When I finally got to take a good look at it I realized it was an Ikea piece - and because I am now officially a furniture SNOB I kind of held up my nose and thought Oh - it's Ikea - what am I going to do with this -
Now pls keep in mind I used to live in Ikea - was there all the time - never gave real wood a moment's thought - I'm such a turncoat really, lol

Anyway because it was Ikea I thought I'd better do something a little extra special with it and came up with this - I know a lot of people out there must be sick of seeing them but I don't think I'll ever tire of it - I just love the Union Jack -
We'll see if it sells - if it doesn't it won't be the first time I sand everything off and start over ( won't even tell you how often I've done that - it's embarrassing really ) There were so many ideas crammed in my head on this one I just grabbed one of them and went with it.

I used graphite - paris gray and pure white - and left it pristine - no sanding or distressing on this one.
The Stencils come from the Dollar Store - and they're pretty incredible because they stick on to the surface which is such a plus - if you ever see them in your neck of the woods - BUY THEM - they look like this

you just peel off the protective paper on the back - don't mind the condition of them - I've used the same ones for more projects than I can remember - and I don't use a stencil brush - I always use a foam brush - which I used to buy at Home Depot and have now discovered my dollar store carries them as well - I think I got 5 of them for 1.00 - can you see my little union jack printed out lol -

oops this is the one from Home Depot - but the dollar one is the same except the handle is plastic -
And you can wash them out for a long time before it's rendered useless -

I added stripes to the legs for a little extra something something - not sure if I should have -