THE TREASURE CHEST

During the past few days, there has been a great flurry of work going on in my little corner of the universe.  The family is hogging all the TV's and Pay TV and as I would rather watch paint dry than suffer the Olympics (surely I am not the only one).... I have spent lots of time plugged in to ITunes, singing to myself and putting the finishing touches to the Ikea Cabinet I mentioned in the last post.    There are lots of pictures - stick with me!

Every drawer has different handles, there are bits and pieces (some steam punk in style and some just because) stuck everywhere.  It was a blast to do.    All the drawers are lined with leftover papers.

I pre-drilled small holes in the centre of each drawer to accommodate a handle of some type.  In the end, I used jewellery head pins folded in half with the head chopped off - so in other words, a piece of fine wire - I then threaded the jewellery bits and pieces on.  A 'face plate' (best description) was used over the hole  to stop the handles from damaging the decoupage.  Each jewellery bit that was used as the plate, had a hole to line up with the one drilled in the drawer.   A dab of E6000 glue was used to keep the plate in its place and then the wire handle was threaded through the centre holes.   The  wires were then bent back against the inside of the drawer front.  A dab of glue holds these wires in position.  I may find something to cover the wires with.   The wires were pulled through  the holes, leaving enough space to allow the handles to swing freely and prevent breakage.   They are delicate but reasonably sturdy.

The cabinet itself was given one coat of black gesso (Jo Sonja's).  It was given a light sand before the decoupage was added.   I gave each drawer a coat of  Mod Podge and a light sand.    To give an aged look, a mix of paint and sealer were wiped on and off.   A further couple of coats of Mod Podge were applied with a very light sanding to knock off any lumpy bits, in between each coat.   I finished with a coat of wax and some elbow grease!

Having found some Alice in Wonderland papers in the scrap booking shop, I "need" to decoupage something else.   The family had better keep moving.....maybe the cricket bats would look good with a bit of decoration.

I did make photocopies of some of the scrapbook papers because I wanted a couple of repeats.   If you do this, make sure you use a laser printer otherwise the ink will run, the minute you hit it with the Mod Podge.

Bye for now.
Sue xxx