From Tossed Shelf to Top Shelf

In literal terms, this what-not shelf wasn't actually tossed. But it was sentenced to a garage sale table  featuring nothing but 50-cent items. I snapped it up for a rainy-day project.

When I got the shelf home, I remembered this pitifully beat-up--or should I say scribbled up--1952 early reader, Fun with John and Jean, that I had picked up some time back for a quarter. It's easy to see why it was nearly a freebie. But, many of the pages remained in good shape and I thought I could combine the shelf and some images from the book to create a nice display shelf for a kid's room.

I'd been looking forward to cracking open my first quart of Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in Duck Egg Blue so chose it to give the shelf a facelift. I had intended to fully distress and dark wax the shelf. But, I so liked the look of the paint on its own, I decided to stop at that.

I've always loved the illustrations in these early readers and this book was no exception. After eliminating the scribbled pages, I was left with some very nice images to decoupage onto the inside back of the piece.

To add a playful touch, embellished the front panel with reclaimed Scrabble tiles.

Hang it on the wall, or stand it on top of a dresser or table. Either way, I think it looks pretty cute.

Make it a great day!

Linking to:
Saturday Nite Special at Funky Junk Interiors

Sister Sunday at Sisters of the Wild West
Sunday Blog Love at Cherished Treasures
Sunday's Best at My 1929 Charmer
Masterpiece Monday at Boogieboard Cottage
Cowgirl Up at The Farmhouse Porch
Knick of Time Tuesday
All Star Block Party at In the Old Road
Primp Your Stuff Wednesday at {Primp}