a pair, and a pair

I have some blogger guilt.  Haven't posted in a while, so sorry :)  I didn't realize how busy I've been until I looked at the calendar today and realized it's the last day of July.  I did work on a few great things last week.

First up is this great pair of brass lamps.

I read an article that said you could use chalk paint on metal.  I was very hesitant at first, but since I snagged these guys off Craigslist for cheap I figured I'd give it a shot.  Slapped on the first coat and let it sit overnight, just in case it needed extra drying time.  It didn't, but who knew? :) 

If I were going for a super distressed look, the 1 coat would've done the trick, but I wanted these guys to look a little more finished.  While they were drying I got started on these awesome side tables.

I used some of the negotiating tips I learned here from the amazing Holy Craft, and got these tables for a steal!!

I knew right away that I wanted to use Valspar's flood tide(turned chalk paint) on the base and legs, but wasn't sure about the drawers.  While I figured that out I went back to my lamps that used 3 coats of Valspar's Lincoln cottage, turned chalk paint with my special recipe.  Then a coat of soft wax to seal em up, and check out the transformation!!

They look like they belong on my yellow buffet, and it was tough to let them go....but down to the shop they went!  I really love their shape and think the black suits them perfectly!!  While I was taking lamp photos I figured that the drawers on the side tables should be grey.  I would love to tell you the exact color, but I've mixed it up so many different times that it's now my "custom" grey.

And keeping up with that whole chalk paint on metal, I painted the hardware the same color as the tables.  I thought to give it a little character I would paint the "shell" detail the same as the drawers too.  The table bases and drawers each took 2 coats, a little distressing and some paste wax to seal them up. 

My husband rarely voices any opinions about the stuff I do other than to say "Good job babe!"  But these tables we had a half hour conversation about how they should stay at our house.  So you better get down to the shop and make them yours before he steals them back.

Head down to Persnickety's Awesomeness Emporium to check out my new stuff and all the other amazing pieces in the shop!!  Find us on Facebook at Persnickety's Awesomeness Emporium or Good one, Den! to see what we'll come up with, or just continue to follow along here!!!

Thanks!!!

Denniel

A Giveaway!!!

Ok y'all, here it is, my very first giveaway.  Hopefully this goes as well as I'm imagining and I'll do another giveaway down the road. 

Since this is still a fledgling little blog I'm giving away 2 small-ish things....

First you can choose either a Scary Mary or Scary Gary

And second, you can choose one of the pillow covers I've done

There are more to choose from on my fb page

How to enter....

I'll even give you 2 chances to win.  First, become a follower on my blog(in that little box in the upper right hand corner) and leave me a comment letting me know that you've done so.  Second, like my fb page, and leave an additional comment.  For those of you that have already liked my fb page, you can still leave that second comment saying you're a "liker".  I know some of you have been patiently waiting for the giveaway, so I don't want you to miss out.  All comments need to be received by Saturday July 21st, and I'll announce the winner on Sunday the 22nd. 

Thanks for following along, and Good Luck!!!!!

Ruffled Table

Since summer is finally here in good old Washington, garage sale season is in full effect.  Last weekend being no exception the whole gang loaded up and off we went.  I found this amazing table at a warehouse type swap meet place.

Such a great shape, and AMAZING legs!!  But it was a little wobbly and had some cracks.  I couldn't walk away from it, so it came home with me.  Then came that moment of panic....can I fix it, will I be able to make it "un-wobbly".  Aaacckk!!  So I let it sit in the workshop (aka the garage) for a few days.  Then this morning I thought ok, man up and do it.  So I did, and thankfully when I flipped the table over I realized that the screws just needed to be tightened and the wobbly went away.  I sanded the top just a little to get rid of the water stains and other random marks.

I bought a few new paint colors from Lowe's yesterday so I would be ready to work on projects and not give myself anymore excuses.  After I bought said paint I knew right away I wanted to use the Valspar Flood Tide.  So I got started on the top.

While painting the top a moment of inspiration...ooh, 2 toned could be great on this piece and I knew I had some white chalk paint leftover from another project.  So after I did 2 coats on the top and legs, I pulled out my tape and got to work on the white.  When then 2nd coat of white dried I did seal it with a soft wax.

I will admit, going the 2 toned route, especially with these great curvy legs was a bit tedious.  But I really think it turned out amazing. 

When I was painting the curvy part white my 7 year old came out to the "workshop" and asked if I was giving the table ruffles.   I cracked up and said, no buddy, but from now on I will call it the ruffled table :)  This will be going down to the shop with me on Thursday this week.  Come down and check it out, or just say hi.

And stay tuned later this week I'm putting together a little give away you won't wanna miss!!

table redo part duex

So I've actually redone this table before but sadly I don't have any "original" before pics.  It's a great table but it just seemed kinda sad sitting in the shop not getting the love it deserves.  A few weeks ago Mandi and I kept walking past it and talking about maybe painting it again. 

 Right away my brain hit overdrive thinking about all the different color combos I could paint on said table.  Mandi suggested white, I had just finished a 2 tiered table in white and didn't really wanna go there again.  Then my sis in law also suggested white and I reluctantly caved.

  I pulled out my trusty sander and started to get to work....about 10 minutes in the little sander that could, just couldn't anymore. Poop!! Now what? Being that I am "frugal" I knew there wasn't any kind of budget for a new one.  Luckily I have pretty great friends and one that would let me borrow her sander.  So sand away the clear poly on the top and existing sage green paint I did! 

 Then I pulled out my batch of creamy white chalk paint and put 2 coats on.  On the top I did 2 coats of dark mahogany stain and sealed the whole thing with wax....after some light distressing of course.  Now I sorry I ever doubted the white suggestion.  This is another piece that I would gladly keep for myself :). But I guess I'll take it back to the shop and wait for it to find a good home!

This is 1 coat of paint and 1 coat of stain, big improvement, but not quite done.

Almost done!  Needs some distressing and a clear coat of wax!

Tada!  All done and in the shop now!!

On a personal note my laptop is in varying stages of dysfunction so I am learning the ropes of blogger on my phone.  Hang in there with me if you dare :)

Potty Talk

I woke up inspired and motivated but didn't know what I wanted to work on.  Then it hit me!  A mini makeover for my under loved powder room.  It's the only room in our house that I didn't feel like I needed to paint when we moved in 2 years ago.  But I did have an idea.  I knew I wanted it to have black and white accessories, and the taupe/beige color it was worked well enough.  Until that is I noticed a few spots that needed to be touched up.  Luckily the previous homeowners left the paint they used behind and even labeled it.  Yay!!  Or so I thought.  The original paint was flat and the touch up paint was semi gloss.....

The one main wall had several spots that needed touch up, and after realizing I couldn't just leave the semi gloss splotches, I thought, hey, I can tape off a large square and use it to frame some kind of artwork or something. 

Not sure if you can really see the contrast in this picture, but I noticed it EVERY time I went in there.  About a month ago I had this funny idea to paint a smaller chalkboard square inside this square and write funny little sayings on it.  So when I decided today to do the mini makeover I knew I was grabbing the chalkboard paint for sure.  And then I thought, hey why not a border for this lovely "builder grade" mirror in here too!

I know you see those cute red mirrors and are thinking, wait I thought she said the powder room was black and white.  Well I got those mirrors as a housewarming gift from my awesome Aunt Debbie and loved them just as they are, so I added a cute red toned rug to make it all work together :)  I always thought that I would frame this mirror out, in my delusions of grandeur I would also paint this bathroom turquoise, add some wainscoting, and an amazing chandelier....but it's nice to have dreams right?  So for now I will tape and paint!!

So I got out my level, pencil, and painters tape and off I went!!  And because I'm vertically challenged I also dug out the step ladder to get the top of the mirror.  After 3 coats of Valspar's Chalkboard paint, I was ready to peel the tape and add some chalk.

I figure during the holidays I can draw stars or pumpkins, or whatever's seasonally appropriate.  Yes I realize the "saying" may not be everyone's sense of humor, but I live in a house with 3 boys, so potty talk and bathroom humor always gets a laugh.  Hope you enjoyed my mini makeover, it was fun and pretty easy and my family thinks it's great, which always helps!  Become a follower and see what else I come up with!

SEW what??

Once again I've gotten busy working on projects, but thought I would add a quick post!  I finished several things this week, but thought I would show you the antique sewing cabinet I did.  I happen to love it :)



This is what it looked like when a very gracious friend of mine donated it to me.  OK, maybe it didn't have all that dust on the top of it, but you get the idea.  The machine inside still works and even has a serial number that dates it back to the late 1940s.  I thought that was pretty cool.  Now the sewer in me was so torn with what to do with this cabinet.  Leave the machine, take it out, leave it in, take it out.  Started to make me feel a little crazy.  Luckily I have lots of creative friends and people I can bounce ideas off of.  Consensus ruled and I took the machine out.  It is in great condition and can be put right back in should the new owner want it.  Felt like that was a good compromise, and something I could live with :)  I also wanted to try something new paint wise.  I LOVE the look of  Annie Sloan Chalk Paint, but have not reached the point in my budget where I can justify spending $40.00 on a quart of paint.  So I decided to Google diy chalk paint and found a recipe that works for me!

Here's what the first coat looked like using Valspar's Gypsy Teal in chalk paint form.

Not too bad, but it could definitely use another coat...so a second coat was added, and it looked amazing.  After it dried, I added clear wax and ta-da!

If I could, I would paint everything some version of aqua, teal, or turquoise, but I don't think I can get away with it.  But I think this color really is awesome, and just a little bit of that original wood shows through, without looking totally distressed.  And look at it opened up!

Could be an amazing side table, or craft table, the front drawer hinges open also.  I'm excited to take this down to the shop this week!  Come check it out and see what else I've finished!  Before you do, become a follower and see what else comes of my "creative process".  Time to work on some pillow covers!!

Patriotic?

Been another busy week.  I seem to either be swimming in projects or have nothing to work on.  Which is actually ok, lets me kind of balance things out at home, and keeps me from burning out on stuff. 

This last week my awesome friend Adrienne suggested we get together and have a "project" day. 

She had a few things she wanted to sand and restain, so I loaded up and went to her house. 

The thing at the top of my to-do list was this awesome desk.  Another donated item, from a very generous friend's mom.  The most info I could find on it was a stamp on the bottom of the drawers that lead me to believe it was manufactured somewhere around 1947 or later.  Which explains why it took so much time to sand that dang green paint off.  I realize the picture is bad but that sucker was REALLY green :)

This is the top after several rounds of sanding...which actually led to an idea.  Initially I thought I would have a project that wouldn't require any special staining or painting techniques but we all know how that goes.  With all the paint that wouldn't come off and the amazing imperfections that were on the top I decided something "different" was definitely in order.

On went a coat of spray on Kilz.  Thank goodness for primer!

This is the first of many coats of Krylon Georgia Clay.  As the desk was sucking in all the paint it occurred to me that to save time and myself a trip to the store that the drawers might need to be a different color from the desk.  They got several coats of Valspar Churchill Vanilla.  When they were dried I distressed the edges and knobs a little and added a clear coat of wax to seal them.

After 2 and a half cans on the desk itself the top was still very distressed so I decided to add to the effect with Valspar's Antiquing glaze in Asphaltum which really made the dings and imperfections stand out. Then came my bright idea.  We kept throwing around the words ombre and tone on tone.....Adrienne had this great glaze in her box of supplies.  Valspar's Bronze and Patina glaze in Copper 135. Some eyeballed stripes taped on and voila!!

I know it's not ombre, and not exactly tone on tone, but the 2 coats of glaze really makes the top stand out, in a good way of course!  I love all the projects I work on but I think this one really turned out great and I'm having a hard time agreeing that this desk should go to the shop and not stay home with me.  My husband says it almost looks patriotic.  I could add a small blue square and stars, what do you think?

I think the 2 tone looks great and hope that this guy finds a great home.  Come down to Persnickety's this weekend and make it your own!!  Before you do remember to become a follower and see what else I come up with.