Annie Sloan Project: Bee Print Side Table

Graphics on furniture always have a way of taking a pretty piece to the next level. I love adding them to painted pieces to show a little more flair and my Nashville area customers seem to love them! Want to see how I did this one?

I started with a simple thrift store find, a side table. Only $5 at a local shop, it was in good shape and had nice lines, so it was an easy buy.

First I painted it all over with Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in Provence. I loveeee this aquaish, blueish, greenish color – it’s my favorite color, hands down! No sanding, no priming, Annie Sloan paint is pretty amazing stuff. I just wiped it down and gave everything 3 coats. You typically only need 2 coats, but I had a few spots peeking through, so I added one more just to be safe.

When the paint was dry, I took this bee graphic and printed it on my computer, layered it on top of carbon paper and taped it to hold it down. If you’ve used ASCP before, you know that it has to be waxed – I did this step BEFORE waxing.

I traced out the graphic with a fine tip pen, so that the outline would transfer to the table top.

There we go! I wanted the wings to have detail and the body to be in silhouette, so I didn’t put the body details on, but you can if you want more detail.

Then I took burnt umber acrylic paint and painted right on the lines of the wing with a fine tip brush, and filled in the body.
I watered down the paint just a touch so it would flow easier. Acrylic paint is generally pretty thick, so just a dab will do.

When the graphic was dry, I sanded it all over to distress it a bit. Now is when the magic happens!

First I did a coat of clear wax, buffed it out, then sparingly added dark wax to the areas that needed it.

And that was it! It took a little while longer for this project than most ASCP projects, simply because the legs are somewhat tedious to paint. I do love the results, though – and hopefully my customers will love it at my upcoming sale!

See ya next week for another project…. in the mean time I’d love to see you over at my blog, The Shabby Creek Cottage!