How to create an ambiance ... (Part I)

When I learnt I was going to take part in a fair in a castle, I thought...No way I was going to have plain white tent walls! I needed to have a castle-worthy decoration:-)

A few flea markets later, I had almost everything I needed:
- an old steamer trunk I fell in love with... The inside was all dirty so my mum and I made it like new again by gluing bluewallpaper inside, cleaning and varnishing the outside, sticking bits of old newspapers on the side...( and I glued back inside the old picture that was under the lid!)





- a second, smaller trunk because it was lovely too, and shone like new once revarnished
- a wicker folding screen my mum revarnished



- a round folding table
- a small chandelier to light up the scene.

I had the choice between two chandeliers, but I think I chose the best one :-) For what I needed at least! My mum made the second one on the right from an old lantern.

Oh, and I needed a better mirror than the plain one I had been using so far, and which would not have fit at all in the castle ambiance! So, from another flea market, came this easel. We made a mock up of a mirror with a frame that we had, and I planned to cut my plain mirror to the frame's dimension.


Rummaging in the attic, we found the rest of the necessary elements:
- satin curtains
- old frames
- a bronze vase
- a red carpet
- a candelabrum

I was told I would have a 9m2 tent to myself, so we did a mock up of the setting... I was quite happy with it! I had to refrain from preparing more decoration though, because... I had to fit the clothes racks somewhere :-)
This was a full week-end's work, but... It was worth it, wasn't it?