How to: Wooden Stool with French Typography

On our new landing at Havenwood

Welcome back inside!  We are having some nice days this week, but I am still excited to share some of my new inside projects for our new home.

I found this lovely stool in an antique shop in our area that actually has reasonable prices. So, I snapped it up and knew just what to do as I have been admiring so many projects on a wonderful site called The Graphics Fairy. I chose the above graphic from their beautiful list of french words, made an inverse copy of it in my computer's basic paint program, and got ready for some fun. :)

Finished stool with "Cafes & Legumes" french typography on top.

I used a Wax paper transfer (find a great tutorial here). Basically, you cut out an 8 1/2 x 11 piece of waxed paper, not at all creased, to put into your ink jet printer. Hint: I found that if I placed it into the paper tray with its edges curling upward, it fed just perfectly into the printer. Curled downward, not so much :(

Once you have the reversed image printed on your waxed paper, all that you need is a steady hand and a slightly damp washcloth. Quickly wipe the top of the wood with the damp cloth. Carefully carry your printed waxed paper to your work area, flip it over and place it exactly where you want it on your piece. Use a credit card, or other small straight edge to gently go over the design, being sure not to miss the edges. Peal off the waxed paper. Voile!

If it was too wet in spots, it might run a little. If too dry, it might not be dark enough. But the beautiful of this type of craft if that its not supposed to look perfect! Just old. So imperfections are a good thing. (How good to hear that! ;) ) Then add a couple coats of spray on craft sealer to waterproof your work.

An ivy plant brightens every corner in the cold months!

I have done several other things around the house using this technique and I have been amazed at all of the results.... even on my pillows :) I hope I am able to share those soon.
~Julie