Scavenger Chic

Serving Cart with French Lettering

• By Joan
• November 30, 2017
• 8 Comments

This is my latest find, a cute little drop leaf serving cart with a glass removable tray.  It came with 4 casters, but right now they are nowhere to be found.

Those missing casters  weren’t going to stop me from giving him a makeover.

Overall, he was in pretty good shape.  There were a few cracks and scratches here and there, but his biggest problem was a split and falling out lower shelf.

Normally I buy my paint off the shelf at the local craft store, but this time I was contacted by Dixie Belle paints to see if I would like to try out their line of Chalk and Mineral paints.

Before agreeing, I had to check out their website to see if they had any colors that I use or would be interested in.  OK, they had a few. They also carry glazes, stencils, waxes, brushes, you name it.  I would be glad to put their colors to the test.

Dixie Belle sent me 4 colors, one of which was this Hurricane Gray.  I must admit it was smooth and yummy and went on in just one coat with complete coverage.

By the time I was finished painting the piece most of the table had already dried.

Turning him over to do his underbelly.  The warped and splitting lower shelf was only held in place with a few small nails and was easy to pop out.

I used the popped out shelf as a template for the new shelf.  

To give my cart a little  interest I wanted to add a little french lettering.  Since I took Spanish in school my French is pretty much limited to ‘oui’ and  ‘fermer le bouche’ which apparently means shut your mouth.  My sisters kindly taught me that second phrase in middle school.

I found this vintage 1862, Parisian letter  over at Vintage Me Oh My.  I have no idea what it says, but the handwriting is beautiful.

This is a piece of the same letter with the lettering made bolder and converted to just black and white so that I can transfer it to my table.

Now over to Microsoft Publisher  where I’m enlarging it to my table size of  28″ x 39″.

A 28″x 39″ enlargement will print out on 16 sheets of paper.  Each one needs to be trimmed then taped back together again.

I could use transfer paper, but I don’t have any  :), so I’m just using a piece of black chalk scribbled on the back.

Tape your printout in place then go over the lettering  with a pen. Your image is not transferred.

This is another Dixie Belle Paint,  sandbar. It too, has a great smooth consistency but for lettering it’s easier to work with if you add a little water.

If you don’t like the distressed look, you may want to skip this step…sand down any edges where you would like the natural wood to show thru.

Final step, finish with clear and/or vintage wax.

I love the removable tray, and by leaving it the natural wood color it really stands out.

I did finally find the casters.  Somebody (probably me) had put them in the tin with all my other casters.  I was probably putting things away when I was expecting guests for Thanksgiving. Too late for a picture though.

Have a great weekend.  Stay inspired.

Shared at Metamorphosis Monday,

Wow us Wednesdays, Talk of the Town,

Saturday Sparks,

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