Annie Sloan Christmas Shelfie: Coloured Linen Stockings

The last of my projects, but by no means the least, these adorable little stockings bring lots of colour to my whole Christmas Shelfie scene. Easy to do, they make great little gifts on their own, but of course, they work best filled with lots of lovely treats too!

You will need: 

• Fabric Scissors 
• Colourful Embroidery Thread
• Coloured Linen - the combinations I used were Aubusson + Provence, English Yellow +Antibes, Napoleonic Blue + Barcelona Orange and Scandinavian Pink + Provence. 

Firstly, make a pattern by drawing out your desired stocking shape, allowing for seam allowance and a hem for the top. Cut out your Coloured Linen using your pattern piece with the fabric scissors. Sew up your stocking and hem the top. For the fringed detail you will be folding in half a strip of linen the width of your stocking. Choose a complementary Coloured Linen, and hand stitch it with the contrasting embroidery thread, with a festive little stitch of your choice (as you can see I've used a cross stitch). Once completed start to fringe the fabric by pulling one thread at a time. Sew in a contrasting loop of Coloured Linen at the top to hang your stocking on your shelf! 

Voila! I love how bright and cheery they look, especially with the contrasting fringing. They make excellent presents too, I must say! 

Take a look at my Facebook page later to see them hung up on my Christmas Shelf! 

Yours, 

Annie 

Annie Sloan Christmas Shelfie: Painted Birds

I found these beautiful wooden birds in November when I was in Cape Town for my stockist conference. They were from this incredible warehouse/market call The Old Biscuit Mill, which was full of little artisan studios and independent shops - just up my street! I took them back to my studio in Oxford and have been waiting to paint them. They were just perfect perched on my shelf, all they needed was a little paint of course!

You will need: 

• Wooden Birds - try to find ones with a beautiful shape and form
• Chalk Paint® - I chose Giverny, Old White and Graphite 
• Artists' Brushes

With these sweet little birds, I loved the shape but as they were quite small against the other projects I needed them to stand out and hold their own, and not get lost amongst everything else. I chose my bright and bold Giverny as the main colour to paint them, with my black Graphite and Old White used to highlight the wings or the beak and also, as you can see, to just be a little free with the paint, too! I flicked and dripped the paint to create a really fun and rich patina. The whole idea is to be free and have fun, so this is a great little project to do if you have little ones!

Aren't they sweet? I love the way they look on the mantlepiece with the other projects, make sure you have a look on my Facebook page tonight to see them nestled here and there! 

Yours, 

Annie 

Annie Sloan Christmas Shelfie: Concrete Candle Holder

In my previous blog post I spoke about how, at this time of year, I love gilding. So here is another project that uses a little metal leaf, but this time with a stencil.






























This candleholder was a gift from the wonderfully creative blogger Hester, who ingeniously made it by hand from concrete. I loved its handmade-yet-industrial feel, and wanted to give it some festive pizzazz with a little paint, some stencilling and some gilding.

You will need:

• Concrete Candleholder 
• Gold Size 
• Masking Tape 
• Amsterdam Green Chalk Paint®
• Stencil Brush
• Small Flat Brush
• Brass Leaf 
• Valeska stencil

To recreate this look, first paint a solid line almost halfway up the piece, all the way around the candleholder, using masking tape and the small flat brush to create a straight line. Once dry, work out exactly where you will place the stencil. Here, I've reversed the stencil to create a cross, however you could flip it to create a diamond shape. The choice is yours! Using the masking tape to hold the stencil down, paint the design on the concrete all the way around.

Once the paint has dried, use your stencil again to dab a small amount of the Gold Size onto the painted stripe. As soon as the Gold Size has turned from pearlescent to clear, press the Brass Leaf down gently. Leave the leaf on for 5 minutes before wiping away the excess. You can now seal in the leaf and paintwork with Clear Chalk Paint® Wax.

And there you have it! I love the way it looks traditionally festive with the green and gold, yet the concrete makes it modern. What do you think of this project? And the projects for my Christmas Shelfie so far? Please do let me know!

Yours,

Annie

Annie Sloan Christmas Shelfie: Gilded Wooden Logs

During the holiday season I find myself wanting to create all things shiny and bright, so you'll usually find me gilding anything in sight! These wooden logs were destined for the fire, but with just a little Gold Leaf they've turned in to something precious and worthy of their place on my Christmas Shelfie.

You will need:

• Metal Leaf (I've used Brass here, but Aluminuim or Copper would look equally grand and festive.)
• Gold Size
• Stencil Brush 
• Masking Tape 
• Dry (very important that they are dry!) wooden logs 

I love highlighting one texture by contrasting it with another texture that's the complete opposite, and knew that adding a 'bling' strip of gold across the bottom of my logs would bring out the gorgeous natural patina beautifully. 

Using masking tape to create a crisp, clean line tape off your design and apply Gold Size with a small brush (I used my Stencil Brush to push the Size in to all those nooks and crannies) to the area that you'd like to gild. The Gold Size looks pearlescent in colour when first applied and will become clear after 5-10 minutes - this is when you should apply the leaf. Place the leaf on to the wood, gently pushing it in to the crevices using your fingers, and then 5-10 minutes later brush the excess leaf away with a soft brush. 

Carefully peel off the masking tape and then apply a little Clear Chalk Paint® Wax, or if you want to tone down the brightness try adding a little Dark Chalk Paint® Wax too.

Here they are, don't they look glorious? It's such an easy, simple and inexpensive way to create gorgeous festive ornaments, and they've received lots of compliments already!

As always, I'm going to be posting them looking all fabulous on my Christmas Shelf later tonight over on my Facebook page, so make sure you keen an eye out for them!

Yours,

Annie.

Annie Sloan Christmas Shelfie: Boho Painted Candlesticks

Yesterday I introduced my Christmas Shelfie and the first painted piece to join my festive fireplace mantelpiece. Today I'm sharing project number two, my painted candlestick holders. 

I found these candlestick holders in a second-hand shop for under £2 and was drawn to their shape, although I wasn't overly keen on the shiny, metallic finish. So, inspired by the gorgeous hand painted designs I had seen in one of my favourite places, Charleston House in East Sussex, I painted a loose bohemian design on them. 

You will need: 

• Two candlesticks- these particular ones were made out of glass, with a shiny finish. 
• Chalk Paint® in a variety of colours. I used Scandinavian Pink, Giverny, Old White, Honfleur, Antoinette and Château Grey.  
• Chalk Paint® Wax (I used a little White Wax to soften the look as well as to protect my handiwork)
• Pure Bristle Brushes - for painting and waxing, of course! 

As I wanted a real bohemian, 'arty' feel I drew inspiration from the painted fireplace at Charleston House, with its decorative circles and lines painted by Vanessa Bell in the 1920s. I started by painting the candlesticks with a base colour of Scandinavian Pink – a colour very similar to the dusky pink used everywhere in Charleston! 

Once the base colour is completely dry you can add your designs.  I had planned a little bit of my design beforehand but mostly just freehanded as I went along, adding a little Antoinette circle here or Giverny dots there. I chose a gorgeous earthy, yet interesting colour palette of: Giverny, Old White, Honfleur, Antoinette and Château Grey.

When you are happy with your design, apply Chalk Paint® Wax to seal your work. 

And here they are! I absolutely love the way they have turned out, to see them standing proudly on my Christmas Shelf make sure you head over to my Facebook page later tonight! 

Tune back in tomorrow for another creative and quick project from my Christmas Shelfie!

Yours, 

Annie

Annie Sloan Christmas Shelfie: Painted Wreath!

Introducing my Christmas Shelfie!

This week I'll be sharing six quick and easy, small projects that you can recreate at home to give your house a festive feel. They all look wonderful sat upon a fireplace mantelpiece, or on a living room shelf.

Today I'm sharing the first project - the painted wreath!

What you need: 

• Christmas Wreath (This wreath was beautifully made by the wonderfully talented Lucy who works in my shop on the Cowley Road, Oxford. She is a florist and made this wreath out of the catkins of an alder tree.)
• Chalk Paint® - As you know, I'm all about colour so the shades I chose to paint this wreath are of course, bold and bright! I chose Giverny, Antibes Green, Emperor's Silk and Florence, colours that I knew would stand out against the brown of the catkins.
• Small Artist Brushes- These are perfect for getting in to all of those nooks and crannies. 

All there is to it, is to get painting! Try to distribute the colours evenly around the wreath to get them all work together in harmony. 

 

And voila! My finished wreath!

I love the way it has turned out, it stills looks natural and rustic, but adds a little colour to the room. It's going to take pride of place above my mantel shelf - which I'll be revealing later today on my Facebok page! 

Come back tomorrow to see the second piece that I've created for my Christmas Shelfie.

Yours, 

Annie