Hello sweet Friends! Feels like I was just here! If you missed yesterday’s post, I shared some cute striped sweater pumpkins made from thrift store sweaters as part of the bHome What I Love about Fall Tour. That tour also included an awesome giveaway for a $250 Amazon gift card. Visit HERE to see how you can enter!
The title for today’s post says “Paris”, but it’s really all about animal inspiration. This month’s Get Your DIY On theme is “Animal Inspired DIY Projects”, and while I was thrifting for sweaters for yesterday’s pumpkins, I came across the perfect animal-inspired piece to create something fabulous with:
I’m pretty sure I could rock this faux leopard coat, don’t you think?
Seriously though, I just did not have the heart to cut into it, although it would look fabulous covering a bench. But I think I’m going to save it for Halloween!
I found this alternative while on the hunt for a bench or chair to use the leopard on:
Pretty fancy, eh? Anyone else out there have a snakeskin blouse?
When I found this, I knew just the project I could use it on…this jewelry box I picked up on clearance at the thrift store a couple of years ago for only $2.49!
Gotta love clearance at the thrift store! It was in rough shape and the insides were already half coming out. Luckily the rest was pretty easy to remove as well.
Here is how it looks now:
Ooh la la.
Much better.
After removing all the insides and scraping the excess glue off the best I could, I painted it with three coats of DIY chalk paint in Ultra Pure White.
Then I used this stencil and this stencil to add the graphics to the top and drawer fronts using black Deco Art acrylic paint.
You can see in that photo that the stencil left breaks in the letters, a tell-tale sign that it’s a stencil. I like to fill those in using a liner or script brush so it looks more hand-painted:
I did it on the flourish above the letters as well. After letting the paint dry several hours, I very lightly sanded the letters with 320 grit sandpaper to smooth out any raised areas. Then I sealed with Annie Sloan’s clear soft wax.
And where is that sexy snakeskin print?
On the inside of course…
The perfect compliment to the frenchy exterior.
I used matte Mod Podge to adhere the fabric to the sides all around the top layer and the lid. They looked pretty rough, so they really needed covered. Then I cut pieces of foam core to fit the bottoms of each level and the lid, and wrapped them in the snakeskin fabric, adhering with spray adhesive. Then I hot glued them in place.
The top knob was missing so I added this little glass one from Hobby Lobby…
One of the drawer pulls was missing also so I replaced two of them with simple round ones I removed from an antique piece. Both sets of pulls got a new paint job.
My Get Your DIY On girls are sharing animal-inspired projects today too:
Owl Lamp Makeover by April at House by Hoff
Halloween No Sew Flag & Sign by Nancy at Artsy Chicks Rule
Simple DIY Wooden Garland by Krista at The Happy Housie
If you liked this makeover, you’ll like this one too:
Romantic Flatware Box Makeover
The party fun starts this Sunday at 7:00 pm EST. The party stays open for ten days, then we’ll share our favorites!
So bloggers come link up anything Animal-inspired, and dear readers…come by to get inspired by our blogger friends!
I’ll be back on Tuesday with a fun thrifting video and I’ll share what I did with this little rocker:
As always, I appreciate y’all stopping by! 🙂
UPDATE: See how I made over this rocker now HERE.
XO,
Don’t Miss a Thing!
If you like what you see, there are several ways to follow along!
Email * Facebook * Pinterest * Hometalk * Twitter * Instagram
Addie says
GGGrrrrr….that coat is so YOU!!!! It does look good on you!!!
I LOVE~LOVE~ LOVE that jewelry box…..if I lived out there I would buy it!!! It was pretty sad looking in the beginning. Great job….as usual!!!!
God Bless!!!
Addie
Christy says
Ha ha that coat has really grown on me! Yes this was a sad sad little piece to start, probably why it took me so long to do something with it…glad I finally did thank you! XOXO
Christina in FL says
OOOooo lah lah! Love this one! I can totally see this holding little things in the kitchen also. 🙂 the animal print inside is wonderful. Way to rock the theme. 🙂
Christy says
Thanks, Christina! oh yes, it would also work great in a home office to hold all those little things! XO
Lindsay Eidahl says
Love the coat and love the makeover! 🙂
Christy says
Thanks, Lindsay! I’m seriously going to rock that coat for Halloween! 🙂
Rachel C. says
Wow! You’re amazing! I tell you, you are my go to person for inspiration now! I love your style! I love your eye. You pick up things I never would have thought about picking up & then make them beautiful!
I’m working on a mirror right now with the drop cloth rosettes and think I may be addicted to the rosettes! I think many of my projects in the future will have rosettes on them!
Thanks for sharing all your ideas! You’ve helped me tremendously!
Christy says
I think I responded on Facebook, but I’ll say it again, thank you so much! Your sweet comment means the world! XOXO
Krista says
Wow! That snakeskin fabric is the perfect addition to this beautiful piece, Christy!! The coat is hilarious… I wonder where you can wear it? Might need to come to Canada for some cold weather!
Christy says
Thanks, Krista! We do dip down to about the 30’s here, but not sure I could rock that in public lol. I will be working it into my Halloween costume this year though! 🙂
Angelia says
Love seeing you work your crafty magic! I do have a question….I know you make over all of these pieces and sell most of them in your shop. So…if I were to flip over this box have you painted the bottom of this piece? Meaning you see no original color. I only make over things to decorate my own home, I don’t sell any items. Just curious for future reference. I guess this question goes for all of the items you paint. Should I paint the bottoms and underneath on a small table making sure no “brown wood” is showing if I’m painting the entire piece white?
Thanks for your tips! ????
Christy says
Thanks, Angelia! Funny you should ask on this particular one…usually I paint ALL the brown on, and cover the backs of smaller hanging projects that I sell with pretty paper. For furniture I don’t paint the bottom, but I try to be neat with my paint, even on the bottom edges, because I know it will be seen on the bottom when it gets loaded into their vehicle. For this piece though, I did not paint the bottom…rare for me ha ha, and I didn’t realize it until I was putting it in my car to take to the shop. If you are just making it for your own use, I don’t think it’s a big deal though. No one will see it. 🙂
Annie (Canada) says
Christy…You look MARVELLOUS ???? ! Love the pose ???? lol
Love the jewellery box re-design, you’ve taken it from sad and kind of masculine to chic and feminine <3
Christy says
Ha ha thanks, Annie! I kind of love that cheesy coat now lol. 😀
Debbie in TX says
Wow, this is so pretty. You really did a wonderful job fixing it up. It would even look nice on an entry table or book shelf. Thanks for inspiring us. And that coat would be fabulous for Halloween : )
Christy says
Thank you, Debbie!! Yes it would be great for collecting and sorting mail on an entry table…never even thought of that! XO
Rose says
The inside was a total surprise,I love how it looks.
Christy says
Thanks, Rose! XO
Joanne Taggart says
Awesome makeover! The animal print is soooo fun! I’m also looking forward to reading your tutorial on chalk painting furniture. Thanks Christy!
Christy says
Thanks, Joanne! If you have any questions after reading my tutorial, let me know! XO
Becky says
The box is great, the lining really makes it, but the thing I notice most is, if we were neighbors, I could borrow your jewelry, haha! : ) Great taste!
Christy says
Thanks, Becky and ha ha…I don’t even wear half of my jewelry! I keep it for staging lol! 🙂
Paula@SweetPea says
Great update!! It looks so ratty before and now it looks wonderful.
Christy says
Thanks, Paula! It was in really rough shape, hence the $2.49 price tag. That’s why it took me so long to tackle it lol…glad it’s done! XO
Marie from The Interior Frugalista says
You know how I love a good jewelry box makeover and yours is awesome! Love the snakeskin blouse lining. That coat is fabulous and I can’t wait to see your Halloween costume, Christy. Something tells me it’s going to involve a large strand of pearls and a cigarette holder 😉
Christy says
Thank you, Marie!! Ha ha…I was thinking something a little more dark to go with our outside décor since I hand out the candy. We shall see! 🙂
Doreen @ Altered Artworks says
That is one beautiful makeover. I have a similar box that I also took from drab to fab, and it’s one of my fave projects.
Christy says
Thanks, Doreen! I love redoing boxes like this…so many possibilities! 🙂
Erin Taylor says
That coat suits you perfectly. Such a great coat for this cold season. Btw, the transformation of your Paris Jewelry Box is so great !!!