Tweaking a Tabletop

I have a antique secretary that is a family piece of furniture.  I had a few things displayed on it but it was sorta boring.  So I decided to tweak it with a table top rearrangement.

I used books as a riser and placed the lamp on top.  I also added a small doily with a silver box on top of it.  The layering provides more interest and the books give some height to the lamp.

I also recently scored this great framed cottage art print from a relative who didn't want it.  This sets the cottage mood for the whole room.  It is a large print maybe three feet square and it is a definite focal point.  

I usually don't think of looking for seashells at the thrift store but, I found this bag of large shells at a local thrift store.  They were only $4.  They look really good in my remodeled cutlery tray on the dining room table.  You can see how I took this Pfaltzgraff  tray and remodeled it here.

I will join these link parties:

A Stroll Thru Life's Tabletop Tuesday. 

A Picture is Worth a 1,000 Words' 2nd Time Around.

Coastal Charm's Nifty Thrifty Tuesdays.

House of Grace's Twice Owned Tuesdays.

Reinvented's Trash To Treasure. 

Tales From Bloggeritaville's Thrifty Thursdays.

Please go and visit these blogs and get great ideas for your home.

 

Bottles, bottles, everywhere...

 Image Pottery Barn

Everywhere I look I am seeing bottles.  They look coastal.

 

 Image from Pottery Barn

They look romantic glowing with candles.

You get the idea.  They are showing up in decor everywhere.  And, a vintage bottle is always a great find.  So shopping the antique stores recently I came across two.

 

This bottle is similar to PB's in the first picture.  It is encased in wicker, old, and really unique.  I priced the one similar to mine, 16 inches high on PB's website, it was $179.00.  My bottle at local antique store $18. 

 

 I don't have a comparison for this bottle but it has all the great features of a vintage bottle.  The great green color, thick uneven glass with flaws, and bubbles that show it has been hand blown.  This bottle has a round bottom, so it can't even sit upright, that has me really intrigued.  This bottle I got for $5.

If you don't have any luck at an antique store.  I found this really cute bottle at TJMaxx for just $4.99.  It came with this really neat tin seahorse tag.  Love that.  I purchased the corks for the last two bottles at Walmart in the craft department.

 I will be joining these parties:

Three or More Tuesday at The Gypsy's Corner. 

2nd Time Around at A Picture is Worth a 1,000 Words.

Trash to Treasure Tuesday at Reinvented.

Nifty Thrifty Tuesday at Coastal Charm.

Toot Your Own Horn Tuesday at Silly Little Sparrow.

 

 

 

 

 

Tray Reinvented to Table Top Centerpiece

I have this tray I found at the thrift store.  I watched it for several months and then it was marked down to a $1.  I decided that if I purchased it for that and if it didn't work out I wasn't out much.  So, I got it. 

This is how my tray started out.  It was a very abused silver plated tray.  The silver plate had been worn off down to the brass on over half of the top surface.

So I did an experiment with it.  First I sanded it with a sanding sponge.  Then I spray painted it.  It took several coats of white spray paint. 

I

I was very pleased with how the handles and the trim turned out.  I aged them by sanding off some of the paint with the sanding sponge.

I wasn't as happy with the surface of the tray it bubbled and wouldn't take paint where it was pitted, but it did look very shabby.

I used the tray as a base for my spring table decor.  I first took a bird cage and lined the bottom with sheet moss and then put a pillar candle in it.

I then placed a urn on the tray with a nest perched on top.

I next placed a little butterfly framed shabby style on the tray.

 

Now for a little surprise instead of eggs in the nest; just to hint at summer, I placed two seashells in it.

There you have spring table decor.  A variation might be to place sheet moss all over the surface of the tray and not just in the birdcage.  You could also place an electric pillar candle in the birdcage instead of a real one.  I will show you how I created the butterfly picture tomorrow.  I will be linking to Marty's Tabletop Tuesday at A Stroll Thru Life, Diane's 2nd Time Around Tuesday at A Picture Is Worth A 1,000 Words, Nifty Thrifty Tuesdays at Coastal Charm, and Trash To Treasure Tuesdays  at Reinvented.  Please join these ladies and check out all the great treasures being reinvented.