CHRISTMAS REMAKE OF OLD DOLL HIGH CHAIR

Happy Weekend Everyone!

I recently visited a flea market and found an adorable little 18" wooden doll high chair for $5. It was in remarkably good shape. When I saw it hanging on a peg, I immediately saw it as a little sparkly Christmas high chair. So, I scooped up my treasure and brought it home with me.  

Yesterday was the day I finally got to spend the time it deserved to bring this little forgotten high chair back to life!

Typically I absolutely LOVE the traditional Christmas colors of red and green. But this little guy was screaming "Retro TEAL!" So I spray painted the chair with a teal paint and let it dry.

(This photo shows the napkin the I used on the chair:  snowflakes and snowman on the chair and peppermint stripes to wrap the little rods on the chair).

I added one of my favorite DecoArt Media products: Vintage Effects in white. There are all sorts of ways you can apply it but I chose to lightly dampen a cloth and wipe it on, adding more as I went until I reached the white wash effect that I wanted.  

I found an adorable Christmas napkin that I wanted to use. I removed the back two layers of white tissue from the napkin; leaving only the top layer. I tore around the snowman image. You tear the napkin edges because they blend into the base much better when not given a nice cut edge. I brushed DecoArt Media Matte Medium (a clear glue and sealer) onto the area of the seat that I was adding the snowman. 

I laid the napkin image in place being sure there were no wrinkles and then brushed the Matte Medium over the image to seal it. I then added more random snowflakes around the snowman using the same method: tearing around them and then applying them with the Matte Medium. I also added snowflakes on a bar across the top of the chair and also on the front of the lifting tray of the chair using the same method. You can gently heat set these to speed up the process. Once dry, I added a bit more of the Vintage Effects over the seat and the other areas to better blend everything together.  

Then I added the stripes to the little rods by painting the bars with Matte Medium, adding the stripes and then painting over them with Matte Medium to seal them in place. You can gently heat set to dry them or let the dry naturally. I did not add more Vintage Effects white wash over them.

Next, I added Holly Green, Light Green and Candy Cane Red Stickles over the snowflakes and the snowman to give this little chair some real Christmas sparkle. Let the Stickles air dry completely. 

Once that was finished, I used a bit of DecoArt Media Fluid Acrylics Cadmium Red Hue and my finger to highlight the edges of the chair.  I think it really adds a lot and pulls everything together.

The little tray lifts and it also needed some Christmas cheer! Using a couple of Tim Holtz stamp sets, I stamped "Merry Christmas" onto a plain piece of white tissue paper using Wendy Vecchi's Carnation Red Archival  permanent Ink.  I stamped the holly onto the plain white tissue paper using Wendy Vecchi's Leaf Green Archival permanent ink. Heat set the ink and then tear around the words and holly.  Glue them in place using the Matte Medium and then brush over them to seal them. Again, you can gently heat set this. I added the Stickles to these images as well and let them air dry. Once dry, I added the red paint along the edges with my finger.

Here are a couple of pictures of the finished chair.  This will be so adorable sitting next to my vintage Christmas tree in my entry way this Christmas. I'll probably have a little vintage Santa doll standing in it.

Thanks for stopping by! Be on the look out at flea markets and garage sales for little vintage things like this that you can completely redo and use as Christmas decorations and so forth. Just looking at this makes me happy and brings back lots of childhood memories of my own Christmases when I was a little girl.