Edgar - Transformed

Poor broken-necked Edgar was in pretty sad shape when I dug him out of the crawl space.  His head was across the room, he was beat up, and he was ugly.

First things first, we had to get that head back on.  I just used some wood glue but the clamp I tried to use wouldn't keep the two pieces together and I am way too impatient to stand there holding it for any length of time.  So, Problem Solving 101 -- can you see the black hair band (just below the crack) that I literally took out of my hair to hold his head onto his neck long enough for the glue to dry? A successful project is all in the tools.

There was a big chunk of wood missing from Edgar's neck where the break occurred, so the next thing I had to do was to fill in that missing piece of his neck.  We live in the country, not overly close to any real shopping, so I was hoping that I could find something lying around the house that would do the job.  I was surprised (and thrilled) to read that Polyfilla worked on wood.  Who knew?

So once again I gathered the proper tools (in this case a spoon and a paper bowl) and mixed up some Polyfilla then slapped it carefully applied it to Edgar's neck.  I figured that it didn't really matter how ugly it looked now because a little bit of sandpaper could solve that problem later on.

It did look ugly and it took a long time to dry.  Um, perhaps because it was on in such big globs? Hmmmm.

Eventually he dried and I sanded him down and then primed him.  At this point, there wasn't any hint of his previous violent life.  He could tell lies to all the young egrets and none of them would suspect otherwise.  Perfect. (Sorry for the bad lighting in this basement shot).

Edgar - Starting His Clean Life

Then he was painted with an antique white and put into his place in the bathroom.  Only,....he kind of disappeared against the wall colour.  I wanted him to have subtle colouring but this wasn't what I had imagined.

Hey, Edgar has legs.

I've read so many fabulous blogs that have used glaze to accentuate exactly this type of detail.  So I ran out to Canadian Tire to pick some up.  Only, Canadian Tire no longer carries glaze.  What?  But I've only just jumped onto this band wagon, how could it have left town already?  Okay, okay, no panicking.  Let's try Home Depot.

The super friendly, super helpful gal at the paint department scratched her chin and furrowed her brow, "I don't think we carry that anymore," she said.  Ack! While I worked to get my heart rate back down to something less scary, she was able to scrounge up something for me.  Phew. 

So off I rushed home (not thinking for the moment that if my first foray into glazing worked out well, there would be no more glaze in my future), laid Edgar out and gave him a good glazing using the only paint I had on hand - burnt sienna acrylic craft paint as my colorant.  All right, time for the big reveal.  Ta da,....Edgar was now pink.  Uh-huh, pink.  I guess diluted burnt sienna looks pink.

I tried to snap a picture of Edgar in all his pinkness but it didn't come out.  I don't know if it was my tears or his embarrassment.  Either way, there are no pictures of pink Edgar.  This is kind of what he looked like.

Source

Back to the store.  I picked up more acrylic paints:  black, sun gold, and burnt umber.  I figured that there must be a combination in there somewhere that would remove this girly prison that Edgar was now in.  I honestly can't tell you the proper combination of the paints, but I did use all three.  Mostly the burnt umber and only a single drop of the black.  I think.  I painted it on and wiped it off and for his second Ta Da,.....

Well, not only is Edgar no longer pink, he looks fabulous and masculine again.  

Here is his before doing anything shot.  

Naked Edgar

This is how he looked with his antique white.

Too White Edgar

And finally, this is handsome Edgar with his burnt umber/black/sun gold glaze.

Handsome Edgar

I am so happy with how he turned out.  He doesn't get lost in the wall paint anymore. 

One last before and after shot:

BEFORE

AFTER

In his spot by the window, with legs.  :)  

Here's where I'm linking up:

Tuesday Time Out - Reasons To Skip The Housework

Get Your Craft On - Today's Creative Blog

Wow Us Wednesday - Savvy Southern Style

Whassup Wednesday - Elements Interiors

Strut Your Stuff -- Somewhat Simple

Hookin Up with HoH -- House of Hepworths

Feature Yourself Friday - Fingerprints on the Fridge

Flaunt It Friday - Chic on a Shoestring

Frugal Friday - The Shabby Nest

Weekend Bloggy Reading Link Up - Serenity Now

Feature Friday - Spunky Junky

Frugalicious Friday - Finding Fabulous Blog

Sundae Scoop - I Heart Naptime

Whatcha Got Weekend -- Lolly Jane Boutique