Upcycling a stool.

Before

I have been meaning to do something to this tall stool for sometime, albeit I rarely use it.  I have had it for more years than I care to remember, and in fact I think it might even have been my mum's at one time.  (It was the stool I used to sit on when decorating cakes many moons ago).  It has seen better days!

Seat - before

As you can see it also had a material top, which was always getting "grubby".  Anyway I had a vision of how I wanted to revamp it.  First it was cleaned and rubbed down a tad (Don't you hate preparation?  I did cheat slightly and instead of creating a mess with sandpaper, as I was working indoors, I used my hand steamer, a scourer and a microfibre cloth).

Painted with Dove Grey Glitter

I then painted it with Crystal Glitter - Chalk & Glitter - Furniture Paint in Dove Grey.  ( could have used the antique white glitter paint, but opted for the grey.  I gave it a couple of coats and then waxed it with Rustoleum wax.  I love this gliter paint it just has a subtle glitter in it.

Close up of Glitter paint

Then it was time to tackle the top.   I discovered that the seat removed, but didn't want to go remove and remake the pad.

The finished seat  (Better picture below)

I gave the original fabric a coat of gesso mixed with some metallic fabric paints and IndigoBlu Slapiton.  I then applied the plain rice paper, and then a tore images from a flowery sheet of rice paper in my stash, Painted on more Slapiton and sponged on more IndigoBlu fabric paints in pink, purple, blue and green, mixed with more Slapiton.  A final coat of Slapiton was then applied all over.
(For any non-crafter wondering about Rice Paper - this is like tissue paper - and you could actually use a single ply of a napkin.  Rather than cut out the images, you apply water to the paper around the image you want, and gently tear it away from the rest of the paper).

The bonus is that the seat is now easily cleanable with a damp cloth!  (win, win!)

Make-over complete

As I took the early photos indoors, I decided to try and take a better one outside - erm yes we had a little snow today!

The finished seat

The outside pictures are a more realistic colour than the one taken inside at night!   I wanted a vintage feel, and think I have achieved what I aimed for.

If I get fed up with it, I can always apply some more fabric paint, and either stamp on it or do some paint fusion (folk painting) on it.