Friday, June 29, 2012

Pretty Papier-mâché Night Stand

I believe my mother first sent me a link to this project (we are always sending each other pretty things and fun ideas - I love my mum!) I absolutely loved it, so when I moved to Chicago and found myself in need of a night stand, I decided it was time to give it a try!




I had lots of cardboard boxes to use after unpacking, and collected news paper from friends and family. Hooray for re-use!



Cut out the basic shape (mine is a little more basic than the original.)




Added a shelf...


 with reinforcements.



 Added overhang and reinforcement to the top.



 Then a couple of layers of papier-mâché!



 Next up - paint!



 I used what paint I had, and used much simpler methods. Basically, puts some paint on it.  First coat was a dusty peachy color.  The newspaper showed through a bit, but I decided that would just add to the patina look.



 Then with a brush on the dry side, I brushed a light coat of pale blue over the peach.



It turned out pretty nicely, though you can't see much of the peach showing through in these pictures.



And it looks neat in my tiny room!

I am still considering rubbing some gold paint over it.  We'll see.