Wednesday, November 6, 2013

Bicycle Bench {Freezer Paper Transfer}


A whole new world has opened up to me - transferring images using freezer paper!
Special thanks to Our Prairie Home for the inspiration and tutorial (who gives credit to yet another blogger... haha).  But when I saw her awesome pillows over a year ago I totally wanted to try it.  On everything.  But... that's me for ya.  Mainly I didn't do it until now because I kept forgetting to buy freezer paper.  Dude, I wasn't really even sure what freezer paper was.

I went to the haven of all graphic art, The Graphics Fairy and found the perfect image of vintage bike.  My mom was pretty sure I should do some beautiful old french typography, which I agree would have looked amazing (perhaps even better) but it's just not really me, yo.  That seems so fancy.  I'm so not fancy.  And we are a biking family.  So the bike just seemed like a good fit.

Let's see what we started with:


This beautiful (in it's day) little bench was actually my mother in law's when she was a little girl.  She gave it to me a few years ago and I knew it had to be turned into something special.  The right inspiration just evaded me... and so it just sat.  In my barn.  Getting more and more faded and lonely.......  I bought some fabric for my new coffee chair that I just adored and knew right away I wanted it to go in this bench. 

 But that was before I took off this:


And it revealed this:


The blank slate was just too much for me to cover up.
I sent to work sanding off the blue jazz.....


Then used spray adhesive to attach the freezer paper to a regular piece of copy paper, so that the waxy side was out and printed my image.  You have to be very careful handling it so the ink doesn't smear.

***THE PRINTER MUST BE AN INKJET!  Will NOT work using a laser printer!!


I positioned the paper where I wanted my image to go and used the back of a spoon to rub the ink into the wood.  I had to go over it quite a bit so that you could see it well.



Ta da!!


Then I put several coats of polyurethane on top.  The first coat just soaked right up into the dry wood and you couldn't even tell I put it on!


I decided to leave the twisted edge that was nailed down around the edge - just to keep some of the authenticity and charm of the piece.

The iron (?) legs were super dirty and rusty so my little girl and I worked together cleaning them with a toothbrush and a baking soda/vinegar solution.  Then I rinsed it off in the bathtub.  Sure wasn't the best idea I've ever had to let it sit there overnight and dry... behold major rusty spots in my clawfoot tub now!  Ack!
Check out the beautiful patina!



And now it's the perfect place to rest my coffee (and feet!) when I'm enjoying my cuppa' joe in my newly redone coffee chair. :)




Pin It


Like what you see?  Follow Kammy's Korner on:




You might also like:



32 comments:

  1. Oh my goodness...your bench looks wonderful and I am so going to try the transfer method. Just finished doing a French Typography transfer using the water method, this looks like a much better option.

    ReplyDelete
  2. It came out amazing! I was able to get a free ink jet printer off craigslist, but I can't get it to work so I can do this!! I really want to do it!!

    ReplyDelete
  3. This is gorgeous and your tutorial is so clear and well written. Your revamped bike table came out great! Now I'm looking at furniture in my house to see where I can try this transfer method. Thanks!

    ReplyDelete
  4. This is amazing. Do you know if color transfer is possible this way?

    ReplyDelete
  5. WOW, that looks great! I'm going to have to try that.
    Marie @ Fort Ledbetter

    ReplyDelete
  6. So clever and I would have never thought of pulling off that cushion. And love the freezer paper idea, brillant! I'd love it if you shared it on our liknk party http://thecraftiestallie.blogspot.com/2013/11/its-that-time-again-friday-follow-along.html

    ReplyDelete
  7. Wonderful! I wanna do it myself, but I don´t know what freezer paper is : D

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Available in grocery stores,in with wax paper aluminum foil,plastic bags, etc.

      Delete
  8. This is so neat! I can think of a lot of ideas that I can do based on this! Thanks for the tutorial. Your bench looks great!
    I found you on Think Pink Sunday.
    http://www.excuseourmess.com

    ReplyDelete
  9. This is great! Does the type of printer matter?? thanks!

    ReplyDelete
  10. How sweet to receive such a wonderful gift, then turn it into a great little table! I'll be looking into wax paper transferring now.

    ReplyDelete
  11. I love it! I had no idea it was that easy to transfer images with freezer paper. I always thought you had to use some special machine. Paper, spray glue, freezer paper & printer?! I've got to give it a try. Thanks for sharing.

    ReplyDelete
  12. This is one of those techniques I have read about and have yet to try, I really need to! Beautiful choice, I love the bicycle and that bench is amazing.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Oh my I love this, I've been wanting to use a bicycle graphic on something. Great inspiration!

    Katie@ theshabbycottagehome.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  14. I have a similar bench that is sitting down in our basement that used to belong to my husband's aunt. I had no idea what to do with it since it's covered in a pink taffeta - ugh! But now, maybe I will tackle it and make it a treasure with your technique.

    Val@ lovemydiyhome.com

    ReplyDelete
  15. This looks fabulous, I am going to try the freezer paper transfer!

    ReplyDelete
  16. Holy cow! This is so fab! I hadn't learned about the freezer paper transfer method (although I DO know what freezer paper IS!). ;-)

    ReplyDelete
  17. Wow! I love it! This is so much easier than one would think. Cute idea!

    ReplyDelete
  18. Oh my goodness! I really need to try this. The 2 rolls of freezer paper in my sewing room are calling me! Thanks! sherri@threadridinghood.com

    ReplyDelete
  19. Wow love this idea must remember this!

    ReplyDelete
  20. Kammy,
    A very clever way to treasure a piece of family history and add your generation to the stool. I look forward to following more of you magic.
    Karen Marie
    Dragonfly & Lily Pads Blogspot

    ReplyDelete
  21. Hi,
    I just found you and LOVE your table!!! Am going to watch your posts now and follow you and your projects. LOVE your house but then, I love old houses. Mine was built in 1880.
    Renee

    ReplyDelete
  22. On which paper do I spray adhesive too ???

    ReplyDelete
  23. Did I miss the place in the post where she talked about which type of printer this technique works with?

    ReplyDelete
  24. LOVE YOUR POST SHOULD YOU LET THE PAPER DRY AWHILE WHEN IT COMES OUT
    OF PRINTER BEFORE PUTTING ON WOOD ALSO CAN YOU USE THIS METHOD
    TO PUT ON A WHITE SACK KITCHEN TOWEL ETC HOPE TO HEAR SOON

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Nope, the ink will transfer when it's wet. Just be very careful not to smear it! Also, you can use this method on a white sack kitchen towel - any smooth fabric - but the problem is the ink will wash out so you need to seal it in somehow - I'm not sure though what you would use for that. I transferred images onto chair cushions and it worked out great, you can see them here: http://www.kammyskorner.com/2014/02/rattan-dining-chairs-makeover-image.html

      Delete
  25. I loved the idea. Look forward to try it. Thank you.

    ReplyDelete

Comments - Next best thing to chocolate! :) Please let me know you visited!