Chrysonbon makes a great vanity set. It has lots of little pieces, just about everything you could imagine for a vanity tray. These are available for purchase on my website. See bottom of page for link.

While they are very plain to look at right out of the package, they are wonderfully detailed little castings, and in perfect scale. They can be made to look just stunning with a bit of work...

I think that the color of the pieces looks just like the old celluloid vanity pieces!

Lets' make them even better.

First, I find it lots easier to leave the pieces connected to the plastic stem as I work. I can hold on to the entire set and work without needing tweezers or worrying about where to grab hold when things are wet. If you prefer to remove them all first, you certainly may.... just be sure to keep track of them! They are easily lost in the carpet!

Mix a small amount of brown acrylic paint with stain and antiquing medium.Apply it around the edge of your piece as shown here using a small brush.

Then, quickly take a larger, very soft brush and pounce up and down on the paint, blending it in from the edges toward the center of the piece.

You do not want to cover the entire piece, just feather the paint so that it is darker around the edges and lightens as it moves toward the center of the piece.

You will need a dark rose and light pink acrylic paint for your roses.

I can hear you groaning way over here!!! Wait, don't panic. These are so small, that it doesn't take much of anything at all to look like a rose..

These pictures are to show you the strokes I used. I did them bigger and added arrows so you would be able to see what I had done.

The first stroke is downward and then curving to the side. This is the center of the rose.

Around that center are four little C's that make petals.

Yes, I know, it looks like a big blob....

Just have some patience. And remember, you will feel better when YOURS look like blobs knowing that they all start out that way!

Use a toothpick or even tinier brush and load it with the lighter pink. Make accents through the center and petals as shown here.

This is a bit exaggerated so that I could get it to show up in the photo.

When you do yours, it will be smaller, and the two colors will blend together more as you stroke through the paint.

Load your brush with dark green paint and put the point right next to the rose. Make a dot, and then pull it away into a little comma with a point on the end. Simple leaf.

You can use your lighter green to accent the top edge of the leaf.

Now, if you are a tole painter, then you will know how to condition your brush and side load it using two colors at once etc. If you have those skills, then by all means use them. This is not a tole painting course, so I am only showing you the very simplest way that anyone can make something to represent a rose......

I put a rose on the brush, comb, and corner of the tray. I also put them on the ends of the nail buffer, and around the edges of the lids for the hair receiver and powder/jewelry box. Also, paint one on the front of each jar bottom.

When the are all completely dry, you can mist them with a light coat of your acrylic sealer to protect your beautiful paint job.The carefully cut each piece off the plastic stems with a sharp xacto knife, cutting right up against the pieces so as not to leave any lumps or bumps. Touch up where the pieces were cut off with the brown paint if necessary.

Oh Almost forgot! The small oval picture frame gets a rose painted at the top. The rectangular frame, I choose to paint solid gold.

Start any arrangement with the largest pieces first. In this case, I positioned the mirror, and hair receiver first, then added the brush comb and a perfume bottle.

As the tray does not have enough room for ALL of the vanity set pieces, I decided to make a jewel box out of the powder jar.

This is the base for the powder jar.

Start by draping a tiny piece of lace out and over the side of the jar. Remember you want your pretty rose right in front, so drape the lace to the side of your painting. Glue it down well.

Apply a good amount of glue to the inside of the jar.

Drape a strand of beads so that they are also spilling out of the jar. Don't those beads look huge in the photo... and so small when you are handling them!! They are size 24 antique glass beads which used to be used on beaded purses!

A couple of vintage crystals will look just like a pair of earrings when you tuck them into the box. Add other stones, and findings.

Then take the lid and tip it off the box. Find a nice position for the lid and then glue it into that position.

If you want to add some sparkle, just combine crystal beads and metal findings, bell caps and beads to make lovely perfume bottles. Do not use zap a gap or other crazy glue type adhesives, as they will cloud your beautiful crystal beads.

Below are other suggestions for bead and finding combinations. Let your imagination go wild!