Union Jack Stool

Before the snow arrived last night and this morning,  I was able to pick up a few treasures from St. V de P (they're calling St. Vincent de Paul's in our town 'Vinnie's.'  Is this being done anywhere else?).  I can't wait to get to work on them...

For now, here's a peek at a cute vintage stool I picked up at an auction a few weeks ago. 

I'd like to say that this stool is an antique, but there isn't enough information for me...however, the lid was padded with the ol' horse hair and the covering was real leather...so if you want to live on the edge, call it an antique.

I ripped off the top and replaced it with new foam and fabric.  You can read about how I fold upholstery corners at 'Upholstery Corners...My Way.'

I used a heavy cotton with a tiny neutral stripe, masked off the Union Jack flag with tape, and sponged on muted red & blue-grey paint.  Be careful not to water down the paint too much; this will cause it to bleed past the tape lines and this won't do!  Use less paint on your sponge pouncer (or stencil brush)...less IS more in this case!  After the paint dried, I scuffed it up with some rough sandpaper. 

The bottom got a couple of coats of off-white chalk paint and was gently distressed using water and a green dish scrubby...yes!  That's it!  A green dish scrub is all you need.  No sandpaper...it's overkill.  The paint softens when you apply water, and the dish scrub roughs away the paint in a jiffy. 

Here she is now:

Surprise!  The lid lifts off for some incognito storage.  It's painted and I added a little paper liner. 

This little guy is for sale - $50.  Check out the details here.