Feeling A LIttle Frenchy ... Oooh La La!

I have been working feverishly, & the fever is not brought on by the heat of the 100+ degree temperatures we've been having either, but by the need to get enough projects done to fill TWO large booth spaces at my favorite craft venue in November.

A little background about myself, if you don't already know this... I am a procrastinator in just about every stretch of the imagination. I also don't do well with finishing projects either, so this does NOT make for a good combination when you have deadlines. I am determined to change this pattern this year. I've done it one year in the past, but once summer came, I fizzled out and then found myself still scrambling at the last minute with not so fabulous ideas that didn't end up working out anyway. I cheated & purchased manufactured items to fill the void. It worked, but I want more hand crafted stuff, even though the majority of the customers don't seem to really care either way.

Another "issue" I have with this craft show? I'm also moving to a different location than I'm used to, which historically draws TONS of people. It's kind of scaring me to move, since the girl I shared the space with before will still be in that location that everyone knows to go to first.

Enough about my fears & inadequacies....

If you haven't read some of my previous posts that showed some of my Primitive styled projects, you can check them out here & here.

I'm not finished with the Primitive projects yet, but for now I'm switching gears by going more in the French shabby chic/country direction. I'm starting with a basket that I picked up at a garage sale earlier this summer. Here it is in it's finished state.

The image I used came from Graphics Fairy and you can get it here. I printed it in black on my home printer onto some drop cloth, then I stitched around the edges in black. I really like how the stitching frames it and will keep the edges of the fabric from fraying beyond the stitching, so it serves 2 purposes. I applied a light coat of spray glue on the back of the fabric to adhere it in place so I could poke holes for the black scrapbooking brads that permanently attach it at the corners to the basket. I don't trust the glue to last, but needed something just to keep it in place.

I painted the natural colored basket with a flat white spray paint. The basket soaks up a lot of the paint, which I like because it gives it that worn look without having to do anything to it! I painted the top rim (inside & out) and the handles with black acrylic paint and distress sanded those.

I think this would look so pretty at the top of a pretty painted hutch or at the foot of a tall accent table in an entry. It could hold magazines too, if you want it for function.

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This project was featured at:

 

 
I'm linking  to these parties: