Queen Bee

My mom purchased this piece of wood furniture for me a few months ago,  knowing I like to transform things.  

It was chipped and scuffed up,  it sat in my garage for awhile and then eventually I moved it inside my office indoors to think about what to do to it.   Before the holidays I was going to put wheels on it and turn it into a hot cocoa bar.  I got another rolling cart instead so it continued to sit.  I decided it would make a cute mini-bench. 

I started out by sanding the top a bit for better adhesion and then putting several thick coats of Martha Stewart pewter paint on it.  I did on both top and bottom but then I decided to only put the design on the top part,  this way I wouldn't feel bad about baskets underneath. 

I cut a design out with my vinyl cutter and applied it to the top.  Then,  the other day when we were priming a bunch of furniture in the front yard I put this one in the mix.  

Normally you don't have to prime a chalk paint project but,  I wanted to have a good white solid base underneath for distressing and this was an easy solution while we were already doing others. 

After the primer dried,  we painted the posts white and the seat and base in the color of ASCP Provence.  After it had thouroughly dried, I removed the stickers (very carefully!) to reveal the design. 

Here is part way.  You can see that silver popping through.  

And here is the full Queen Bee design. 

I brought it back inside after it was waxed and sealed, to see if the storage underneath would work as planned.  It does!  

I used some sandpaper to add distress around the edges and I think it turned out great.  It already has a new owner coming to get it tomorrow.  :)