The vintage window

This past week, Brett and I had some friends down to visit . While they were here, my friend Amber introduced me to a fabulous little (and when I say little, I mean huge) indoor flea market. I have been in Fort Walton for about 4 years, and had seen this place and never made time to go in. Boy, what I have been missing!! This place has everything from antiques to junk that can be refurbished into amazing things for your home.  After my third trip in 3 days to this lovely shop, I had finally found an old window, something I had been wanting for years, and had never known where to find one that wasn't 50 or more bucks! So, after grabbing up this little beauty for $10, I came home right away to get started on a project with it. I introduce to you the vintage window shelf!

Supplies:

Old Window

Plain pine shelf board (you'll need to get a length that will match your specific window, and I wouldn't

      do anything more than a 7 1/2 inch width)

2 L-mounts

Paint (I used white to keep with the vintage look) and wood stain (I used American Walnut)

2 large D hooks

2 fairly large screws with anchors (use what size you think you will need to hold up your window securely)

Acetone (optional)

Cotton balls and Qtips (optional) 

Old towel

Mild soap and warm water

Window cleaner and paper towels

Before I started on the actual project, I had to clean up my window a bit. When I bought it, the window had been sitting outside in a shed collecting dust and dirt. To remove the grime, I mixed together about a teaspoon of mild liquid soap, and about a cup and a half of warm water. Using an old towel with the soapy water mixture, I gently rubbed at the window, to get off the dirt, but carefully enough not to take off more paint (but, if you do take off some paint, no worries - it's an old window with dents and scratched anyways!). After the dirt was removed, I used acetone on the glass itself. Sometime in the past, my window had been painted, and not carefully I might add. So, I removed the paint from the glass with acetone soaked cotton balls, and Q-tips for in the tight corners. Then just simply use window cleaner and paper towels to clean up the glass a bit more. 

My window before cleaning

Next, it's time to paint the shelf. I started out using a thin coat of off-white paint, using X strokes to make a vintage-look. After the paint coat is dried, take a wood stain and, using a paper towel or old towel, apply the stain in thin, random strokes, keeping some of the paint to show through.

I love that a new piece of wood can look beautiful and vintage

While the paint and stain are drying, attach the D hooks to the back of the window, in the corners

This is a picture from another project,
 but it's the same concept.


 

Once the paint and stain are dry, it's time to attach it to bottom panel of the window. Now, I already had some L-mounts at home to use, but the way my window was shaped, and the size of the mounts didn't work. If you have this problem, don't worry, it's an easy fix. All you will need is an electric saw, and an extra pair of hands. The only thing that needs to be done is figuring out how much you want off. I had to take off half of one side of the mount to fit, which can cause the shelf to be a little bit less sturdy, but still sturdy enough since I only have empty vases with a few silk flowers.

Notice half of the bottom of the mount is missing

Now that the shelf is securely attached to the window, It's hanging time. If you're not sure how to use anchor screws go to this link here for step by step instructions for hanging your window. 

And you're done! For decoration, I used some old bottles we had around the house (chardonnay bottle, whiskey bottle, and a pickle jar - all clean and label-free, of course) To add some extra interest to the bottles I used this tutorial to dye my bottles jewel-toned colors of purple, blue, and green. For a final touch, I used a few silk flowers and some curly willow branches.