peppysis: Miniature Vintage Metal Lawn Chair Tutorial

Howdy all! I know the title says "metal" chair but in fact the chair is not metal. Just made to look like the old metal lawn chairs that your Granny used to have. I love these chairs. Especially the old, worn, rusty ones. Although the ones that are refinished have their charm too.

Mine is made from a piece of paper covered wire that I can't quite remember where it came from. One might think I just hoard a lot of trash with the hopes of making a miniature out of it one day but it just isn't true. I only keep the cool stuff. I also used card stock and paint.

I have really been digging using layered card stock lately. The more you layer, with wood glue in between the layers, the sturdier it gets. Plus, you just use a fingernail file to sand the edges and it will have a solid edge. But, if you are slightly impatient like me you make have layers that show... just a little.

P.S. I didn't take pictures of me bending the wire... just wing it.

Here's what we're going for... the finished product.

P.S.S. I included zero measurements in this tutorial. Once again... wing it.

Pretty sure I wound up using seven layers of card stock.. could have been six.

I bent the pieces of paper then glued the seat parts together first, one by one. Then glued the back layers together. Not sure why really... it just felt right. I also used a fingernail pick thing and pressed in a design on the back part.

I just used dabs of wood glue when I put the chair together. I truly in my guts feel that the glue held better because of the paper-ish covering on the wire. I feel I would have had trouble if it was just metal wire. I might try making another one from a coat hanger just to check. But there is somewhat tension in the wire so it held nicely.

I'm slightly funny about my painting and will often apply many layers of paint that I am not exactly happy with before I get my final look. I initially wanted the chair to be yellow. This is the first coat of paint. I used chalk paint for this coat.

This is me with half of the paint colors I dragged into the kitchen for one tiny chair. Hey, whatever makes a girl happy right?!?!

I LOVE this part... the part of my project that I am satisfied with. I dab too much paint to certain areas, that also have wet school glue under them, then use a paper towel to take up a little paint. It left the chair with am old paint look.