Up-Cycled, Dusty & Rusty Desk Organiser

Hello hello my little munchkin!

Thanks for stopping by and checking out the goods on offer!

Today I have some step by step instructions on how to upcycle a desk organiser and take it from "meh - everyone has one of these" to "Dayyyym - this thing has seen some stuff but she still has some sass AND some class!"

Do with that what you will, I'm in a cheeky mood today!

So anyways! Here are the step by step instructions and if you need a product list, links or you want to watch a video version of this you will find those below!

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Step 1. Clean

The organiser itself was in a bit of a state when I first got it so first thing to do was to get it cleaned!

There was some make up residue - clearly, whoever the previous owner was, they had a thing for foundation and eyeliner :)

I used some a purpose cleaner and a cloth and gave everything a good scrub. For hard to reach spots I used my cleaning toothbrush.

Step 2. Prime

Once it was all nice and clean, I primed all parts I was going to decorate with Pentart Bonding Primer and then let that bonding primer set. Ideally, you should always let your primer sit for about 24 hours before you do anything else to it. I have to be honest. I don't usually have the patience for that anymore. Naughty, naughty me.

Step 3. Decoupage

After priming it was time for my favourite step - decoupage time!

With so much real estate on offer it would be silly not to use it for good, right?

The choice fell on 2 Decoupage Queen Rice papers - "Spring Stripes" and "Atelier". Fun fact, Atelier is one of the rice papers from my own line, even though it is now retired (You can still get it from some retailers!).

So. Spring Stripes went on drawer sides, that's one of my favourite decorating things. If there are drawers... Well, you can bet that I will decoupage their sides. I just love love love that it adds a little element of surprise to your project.

You thought that it's all on the outside and it can't get any better and then.. yoohoooo, little surprise, cherry on top. Call it whatever you want. It really brings the whole thing together.

And then Atelier. It went on the outside sides, and then I had some leftover and there was still real estate open on the front so I thought what the heck, let's use it up!

There wasn't enough to go across the whole front so I decided to split the paper in to 2 and do 1 piece on each side and leave the middle open for some embellishments.

Step 4. Add Moulds

Time to add moulds!!!

So I decided to go for a slightly more of an edgy look with my mould choices, little did I know that it was going to turn in to a VERY different project soon!

I ended up using 2 Finnabair moulds "Baroque Frames" and "Amun and Bast". Helpful tip! If you are struggling to get clay out of your moulds - try "basting" your mould with a little baby oil before inserting clay! It really does work wonders!

Step 5. Paint

As far as painting goes, I have to be honest, this one was a hard choice at first because I could not decide on the direction that I wanted to go in.. All monochrome and light, bright and colourful... How do you pick?

Long story short - I ended up painting the insides of drawers dark green, inserts at the top of the organising ivory and the rest of it textured beige which I mixed myself with the help of Pentart 3D powder. I have no other explanation for my colour choices other than - I had to pick SOMETHING... So I did haha!

Step 6. Dry Brush

Dry brushing is the part that ended up stalling the project. Soooo I picked this mahogany brown as my dry brushing colour and instantly disliked it. BUT. I did not want to back out of it either. So I did a little dry brushing and set this project to the side. And there it sat for at least 2 weeks until I finally decided that I was either going to finish it or put it in the bin.

Rememeber, I did a tiny bit of dry brushing while I was still on the roll. Then came back to it 2 weeks later. And that was where things took a wild mahogany coloured turn and before I knew it, my heavy hand had done all of the work and the organiser was looking like something that was left out in the cold and wet rainy weather that we get here in England almost daily.. For about 2 years or so. In other words she was looking rather rusty.

And I LIKED IT!!!

Finally, project was back in business, and I actually felt excited about her rusty look as It's been quite a bit of time since I did anything with this funky effect.

I should add that there was a couple of coats of varnish that did not make the video edit in between this and next step too!

Step 7. Clear and Dark Wax

After varnishing, I saw the light at the end of the tunnel and moved on to the last few steps of this project.

Of course, none of my projects are ever complete without a little bit of wax - ESPECIALLY, a little bit of Black wax on the edges. Ooooh it's my favourite. So DRAMATIC! Remember to always apply some clear wax first before adding any dark or black wax on to your project. Thank me later!

Step 8. Metallic Waxes

Final Steps kids!

I don't use silver coloured waxes very often. But this project definitely called for a little bit of that Brushed Iron/silver look with all of that rusty stuff going on. So I reached for my Finnabair waxes, to be more specific - a combination of "Brushed Iron" as base colour and an itsy bitsy bit of "Old Silver" wax over the top to really highlight those top parts.

And so here she is!

Finished off with a few metal embellishments from Finnabair's Mechanical collection - honestly, go get yourself some, they're the best!

What do you think to the finished look?

She now proudly sits on my craft desk and holds some of my brushes and most reached for items!

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Products used:

• Decoupage Queen "Spring Stripes" and "Atelier" rice papers

• Pentart: Bonding Primer, Decoupage Glue, Heavy Body Gel, Paints, 3D powder,

• Finnabair: Baroque Frames & Amun and Bast moulds, brushed iron and Old Silver waxes, mechanicals

• DAS air dry clay

• Baby Oil

• Liberon Black Patinating wax

• Polyvine heavy duty wood varnish

• Rustoleum Clear Wax
  

You can purchase most of these products here:

TH Decor (USA) - https://thdecoratl.com?aff=40 

Mad Arches (UK) - https://www.madarches.co.uk/?ref=S6rpKbt9 

Decoupage Queen (Worldwide)  - https://decoupagequeen.com?aff=51 

Amazon UK - https://amzn.to/3JdFM1J

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Watch the video here: