Sunflowers!

Sunflowers happen to be one of my favorite flowers. It reminds me of my younger son, who has always loved them and wanted to have them planted!

I've done a handfuls of sunflower tables, but this one I'll be sharing with you is a little different!

This is my first one I created, and was my favorite of all of my sunflowers. Until now... now, I can't decide which I prefer.

OK, on to this new sunflower.... This was the table I had to start with.

We just had the release of our new Wise Owl seasonal colors, and one of them is Goldenrod, so I decided to use it on the base of the table.

For the aged look on the base, I used MinWax oil-based stain and sealed the base with our Wise Owl Varnish in Satin.

I had decided to use this table at our local festival here in Franklin, PA, to do a demonstration on my staining technique. This was what the design looked like at the end of the two days of staining during the festival.

I knew I had a lot more detailing to do, but when I got it home and started really looking at it, I decided I wanted to try some COLORED stain on this one! So, before I did the extra detailing, I used General Finishes Dye Stain in Yellow for the sunflower.

At this point, I still wasn't sure about the leaf/ stem. I didn't have any of the GF dye stains in green, but I DID have a different colored stain that I had never used before and decided to give it a try. This one was made by RePurpose. I was pleasantly surprised with the stain.

Once the water-based stains had dried enough, I went in and did a lot more detailing with my oil based stain. When the sunflower was complete, I wasn't liking the raw background.

I used a walnut stain for the background and added some of the ebony around the edges.

When the stain was all cured, I applied our Satin Varnish for protection.

Isn't she lovely?! Sunflowers are definitely a favorite! This one sold pretty quickly.

Now, tell me - which do you prefer? The colored or the raw?

Keep in mind, the picture with the raw wood (no color) doesn't have as much detailing done yet. Here's another comparison you could look at to make up your mind.