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Feature Friday- Vintage Seed Packet Art

by Suzy on May 13, 2011

A few weeks ago, my daughter and I went yard sale shopping together. We were mainly out to find some furniture for her new apartment and managed to find a nice couch for $25. I personally do not need furniture. With the last child out of the house, we are in fact downsizing.

But that certainly didn’t stop me from picking up two bar stools. With the price of $5 each, I simply could not afford to pass them up. Especially when they had so much potential!
I have lately been fascinated with vintage seed packets. They have such a wonderful look! And it is the time of year to start planting, so it seemed appropriate to do something vintage and colorful to these two lonely little barstools.
I began by cleaning all of the filth off of them and painting them both with several layers of white semi gloss paint. Since we already had some white paint leftover from painting baseboards in the house, this just seemed meant to be.

I then did a google search for vintage seed packettes and printed a few of them off. I narrowed it down to peas, corn, beets and peppers. All chosen for their colors. And since I only had two bar stools, my mother helped me narrow it down again to Peas and Peppers.

I sketched out the design on to the top of the stool, and using acrylic paints, began to fill in the colors. The easiest way to go about this is to start in the back ground and work your way to those items that are in the foreground of the picture.

I began by using an antique white around the edges of the picture. And then started filling in color in the back ground leaves.

Unfortunately, I did not take a bunch of pictures in between the start and finish of the paintings because when you are working with acrylic, you have to work fast to get a good blend as it dries quickly.

This is the completed pea stool. I added the name of the seed company to the bottom to give it a nice vintage look.

And here is the completed pepper stool. On both stools, I added a contrasting color to the rungs. Red for the peppers and green for the peas.

I love how they came out. Now I just need to find a use for them. The hubby is giving me a hard time because we don’t have a bar. I guess I could take up drinking. But frankly, its just one of those projects that I felt compelled to do. So, my lonely little stools are still lonely, but at least they are well loved…

If you enjoyed this tutorial, you might enjoy my Faux Wood Inlay Tutorial. In this post, I take an old sewing table and turn it into a fancy looking wood inlay piece. But you won’t believe how easy it is!
Also, check out my Faux Tiffany Lamp Tutorial where I take a thrift store lamp and make it into Tiffany. With elmers glue. Really!

{ 48 comments… read them below or add one }

1 Danee August 11, 2011 at 2:44 pm: beautiful work. I can't draw or paint so JEALOUS is the word that comes to mind.

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2 Rita @ TesoroFino.com August 2, 2011 at 4:35 pm: I've got two stools that I've been dying to paint for my kitchen; thanks for inspiring me to get busy. These are gorgeous! xoxo

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3 Mae June 6, 2011 at 4:33 pm: Wow, great job! They look so detailed and real. I like it.

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4 lindapendante dreams May 29, 2011 at 12:26 am: These are the most stunning things I have ever laid eyes on. Your work is exquisite! You have some true treasures there.

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5 Laura @ Our House Of Joyful Noise May 27, 2011 at 1:44 pm: Very nice work!! Inspires me to get back to more illustrating myself. I was curious of you put any kind of glaze or finish over it, to protect the artwork & the paint from getting scratched. >> Unless they are purely for decorative purposes, and no one will be sitting on them. Very impressive. : )

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6 Lindsey May 26, 2011 at 4:22 pm: You painted those by hand? That's amazing!

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7 Nicolette @ Momnivore's Dilemma May 26, 2011 at 1:04 am: You have pure talent.

Thanks for sharing this at Creative Juice Thursday. Hope to see you back again this week!

Btw: I use my stool to write at my dresser!

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8 Nicole@Thrifty Decorating May 26, 2011 at 1:03 am: Absolutely beautiful! (But I would have to mod podge….I could never free-hand something that beautifully!)

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9 Vivienne @ the V Spot May 25, 2011 at 11:36 pm: Oh wow! Those are amazing! I can't believe you free handed the seed packets. Really fabulous work!

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10 Maggie May 24, 2011 at 10:49 pm: what amazing job you did, you are to come to my house next
You are featured at passionatelyartistic.com
Thank you so much for linking with us.
Maggie

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11 Heather at Dragonfly Designs May 23, 2011 at 4:36 am: Gorgeous!!! Will be featuring on Wednesday!!!

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12 Wendy May 23, 2011 at 2:30 am: LOVE! I can't believe your daughter wouldn't want them for her apartment!

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13 {nifty thrifty things} May 21, 2011 at 5:14 pm: Wow! You've got talent! Love it!
Thank you so much for sharing this @ {nifty thrifty sunday} last week!
Hope to see you again tomorrow!
xoxo from Germany,
Vanessa @ {nifty thrifty things}

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14 Nancy May 21, 2011 at 4:02 pm: I have just the place for these-in my veggie themed kitchen! You have some mad skills with your painting. Nice job.

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15 Christina {The Tattered Tag} May 20, 2011 at 8:42 pm: Hi Suzy~

Your stools turned out so charming!! Thanks bunches for linking to my K.I.S.S. blog bash last week. Looking forward to seeing what you share this coming Sunday.

~Christina~

Drop By The Tattered Tag

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16 Jane May 20, 2011 at 9:50 am: What a transformation! Also checked out your Tiffany lamp. How cute!

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17 Kassi @ Truly Lovely May 19, 2011 at 11:15 pm: ADORABLE stools!!! Love the look they give the kitchen bar!! Thanks for sharing this on Fancy This Fridays!! Hope you'll stop by on Monday to see if you are a giveaway winner, featured post, or BOTH!

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18 SewHappyGeek May 19, 2011 at 10:18 am: Hey, just a quick note to let you know I'm featuring you tomorrow on SewHappyGeek Feature Friday! Thanks so much for linking up, and be sure to grab a button!

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19 gail May 19, 2011 at 1:02 am: how cute!

great job
gail

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20 Crystal May 18, 2011 at 3:29 pm: These are awesome! I can't believe you drew and painted them. you are so talented.
p.s. thanks for linking up to the craft challenge this month

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21 Shana May 18, 2011 at 2:07 pm: Now, that's what you call talent! Great job!

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22 Seamingly Smitten May 18, 2011 at 12:40 pm: That is amazing! I can't believe you just sketched that up so perfectly! LOVE IT!
http://www.seaminglysmitten.blogspot.com
Jenny

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23 Pam May 18, 2011 at 11:40 am: Wow! I'm bowled over by your artistic ability! These stools are awesome! They could probably be used as a little side table in addition to being used as stools, no? No matter, they're fab!

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24 Teresa May 17, 2011 at 2:57 pm: Beautiful! You are an amazing painter. That looks so difficult.

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25 Rachael@LovelyCraftyHome May 17, 2011 at 1:04 pm: Wow Suzy, at first I thought you mod podged images on the stools, but of course you hand painted them! You are so talented! Thanks for linking up to my party

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26 meijo's JOY May 17, 2011 at 11:23 am: OMG! Your are such an artist! Love It..PC

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27 Mrs BC May 17, 2011 at 11:21 am: WOW!!
I love stopping by your blog, you are so creative & always have the best projects!
x

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28 Jill May 17, 2011 at 2:14 am: What cool stools! And who needs a bar – just hold that cocktail in your hand as you sit on your fancy stools! Works just fine I find!

Thanks for linking to a Round Tuit!
Hope you have a great week!
Jill @ Creating my way to Success
http://www.jembellish.blogspot.com/

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29 Tiaras & Bow Ties May 17, 2011 at 1:51 am: You did an amazing job on those stools, thanks for sharing!
kim @ tiarasandbowties.blogspot.com
PS found you thru Be colorful Mondays

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30 Terry May 17, 2011 at 1:22 am: Great job painting these cute bar stools.

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31 Tanya @ Greetings From the Asylum May 16, 2011 at 7:19 pm: Your painting is so lovely! At first I thought that you had enlarged the pictures and used Mod Podge. This is so much better! Thanks for sharing!

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32 Cozy Home Scenes May 16, 2011 at 7:05 pm: I've always loved the look of vintage seed packets. Kudos for you on your wonderful job of recreating them. You are so talented to paint those peas so well. Maybe there is a corner of the kitchen or the back porch that could use a little stool for you to sit in. I'm sure you'll find the perfect place for them eventually!

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33 Becolorful May 16, 2011 at 4:42 pm: You are one talented artist. Wonderful work. Really. Thank you so much for linking up to Motivated Monday. Keep the great posts rolling this way. Love them.
Pam

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34 Kristin May 14, 2011 at 7:39 pm: What a fabulous idea! Love it. Stopping by from Craft Envy!

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35 Nikki ~ Let's Craft!! May 14, 2011 at 4:57 pm: Ok first of all….I totally HATE you I hate you so much I featured you!!! You can paint like mad I love it!!! I am jealous, I envy!! GRRRRR. OK moving on… stop by my blog and see your feature!!!

http://bestpartofbelieveis.blogspot.com/2011/05/feature-blogger-suzys-artsy-craftsy.html

~ Nikki

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36 Caroline @ Artfully Caroline May 14, 2011 at 1:58 pm: I totally need something this fun for my kitchen. You are so talented Suzy !! So fun and fresh

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37 NJ May 14, 2011 at 12:04 pm: You star woman you! They're so lovely

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38 Toqua's Crafts May 14, 2011 at 6:24 am: WOW! You did an amazing job painting those! They are beautiful! If I tried that it would look like my 6 yr old grandson did it! LOL

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39 Shaylynn May 14, 2011 at 12:58 am: Hello! Replying to the comment you left on my blog… of course you have my permission!

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40 Bethany May 13, 2011 at 11:40 pm: Those are crazy awesome!!!!! Your painting is beautiful–I love how you're like "Oh I just sketched this." LOL–I don't think I could paint like that in my dreams

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41 Lauren @ My Wonderfully Made May 13, 2011 at 9:37 pm: WOW! You are some artist! The shading and everything is fantastic — great job!

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42 Connie the crafterbug May 13, 2011 at 9:09 pm: You did a beautiful job! Thank you for showing some of the steps, I am sure it would have been a paint to stop for more pictures.
Connie

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43 Norene May 13, 2011 at 6:40 pm: They turned out great! I wish I had room for them.

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44 Meral Sanatevi May 13, 2011 at 5:38 pm: Çok güzel olmuş tabure yeniden doğmuş…

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45 The Answer Is Chocolate May 13, 2011 at 5:38 pm: I love how casually you say you sketched these. Seriously?! OMG you are talented. These are incredible. Thanks so much for linking up to this week's "WOO HOO Blogger's Back" edition of my weekly link party!

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46 chillin with Quillin May 13, 2011 at 5:36 pm: Fantastic job, love them!!!
Paula

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47 Lynne May 13, 2011 at 5:26 pm: Those look great!

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48 Judy Miller May 13, 2011 at 5:15 pm: love them, who needs a bar with such great looking stools:) also nice to have extra seats when company comes along.

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