March Madness Day 31 - Blue Mason Jar Box - Blue Box

It's the last day of March Madness and I'm so glad you stuck it out with me for 31 days (actually 30 cuz I missed one day).  I'm not sure you are going to miss these daily posts but I'll certainly have a hard time adjusting to it.  

I was hoping for a big grand finale for the last day but my last 2 weeks have been crazy busy at work and at home so that didn't happen.  However this blue box isn't too shabby to finish up the month.  

When I bought this box it was similar to the many John has made for my painting classes and the price on it helped it to jump in my cart.  All put together and painted already.  

I wasn't too crazy about the blue color but I could make it work but the yellow had to go.  

To calm the blue down I did some serious sanding.  It took forever since it was some type of regular latex with a gloss finish.  I finally got down to a matte finish.

Ane covered up that bright yellow with some Rust-Oleum Linen White.  It needed a little something for the front of the box.  That's a large flat space, so it got a vine stencil in Linen White.

And for a fun surprise it got Linen White handles on both sides.  

This box is a bit bigger than John's so 3 Mason Jars fit with lots of wiggle room.

The blue works with the white and a coat of Clear Wax she's ready for someones table.

Another look at the before and after.  Hardly looks like the same box.

Later.....

March Madness Day 21 - Chair Brightening

When I bought this chair I knew it needed to be lightened up.  So Rust-Oleum Linen White it was.
I love that white.

Here's the chair right out of the thrift store.  The seat of the chair is so rotten and isn't attached.  There is a couple holes in the round piece on the back but other than those things it's a good solid chair.  

I tried to find something to put in that circle but came up with nothing.  So the holes got patched and I painted it Rust-Oleum Serenity Blue that matched the chevron color perfectly.  

Then I added the Serenity Blue in a couple more spots.  Loved that the chevron triangle on the back of the chair so I made it stand out with the Blue accent.  

So fresh and summery now.

I also added blue to a couple spots on the legs.  And added Annie Sloan Clear Wax.  I personally do not like dark wax on white, I have dark waxed a few white items but not many.  

One more before and after look.  

Later....

March Madness Day 5 - Coral and blue bowls

Last week I was teaching a chalk paint class and the colors that were chosen were coral and light blue.  The class was for Mason Jar Boxes so I painted these bowls in the two colors for a visual example.  I loved the colors and it was the first time I ever painted coral.

They fall right into the Pantone 2016 colors that I talked about on day 3 {here}..... planned or not planned?

Totally planned.

All 3 pieces were painted with Rust-Oleum Chalked Paint, Sealed with Rust-Oleum Top Coat and then to add a vintage touch the Valspar Antiquing Wax.  

I got this little cabinet many years ago from a house that was going to be burnt down.  My sister and I were pickers that day and hauled 3 truckloads home.  This was one of the items John shook his head because it was in such bad shape and still is.  I haven't done a thing to it and it's put together so terribly, nothing is straight on it, but it's one of my favorite things.  I love the hand made charm and the natural distress, this is one of the items I would never paint.

This lamp I got from the owner of the company I work for.  He bought a cottage and this lamp was in it and he thought of me when he was cleaning up the items that they didn't want.  It's another favorite for me.  

No matter how hard I try I'll never be able to duplicate the distress of this table.  

Later....

Circle Challenge

Before Christmas my girlfriend brought me a bag full of wood circle pieces.  She challenged me to find something to do with them, her father makes a beer can holder and this is the part he throws away and he has LOTS of them.  She's like me..... it's hard to throw a perfectly good piece of wood in the fire.

I tried many things but nothing worked.  I put them away and searched Pinterest many nights trying to find something.  There is many ideas but not really anything I liked.  The challenging part is the hole in the center and the sharp lip around the diameter. 

So this girlfriends 50th birthday is coming up.....  I had one idea that I needed to try so I could surprise her with completing the challenge.   This is a bad cell phone photo with it laying on the table but John and I finished it just minutes before walking out the door to the party, no time for formal pictures.

I brought it with to her surprise birthday party and her dad had to rush right over and check it out.  Poor guy still thinks I carved each of these flowers out of those oak circles.

Back board and wood knobs are painted with Rust-oleum Linen White with Clear and Dark Wax. 

The circles are painted with Amy Howard Cartoucsh Green with Clear ad Dark Wax.

She had one of the circles painted red already so I just added a heart and a fun window bracket thingy with an old screw to cover up the hole and some twine for hanging. 

So proud that I passed that challenge, it wasn't easy and she loved it.  

A true trash to treasure with a bit of memory for a friend.

There might still be a few of these going in the campfire but I'm willing to try again to find another use for them. 

Sometimes you don't find what you need on Pinterest so you have to use your own creativity

Later....

Jars, Light and Hot Chocolate

A couple items from my weekly finds last week didn't need anything but a little washing and a new location.  This is my table centerpiece right now.  I love fun shaped jars in clear or blue.  Add a little candle light and they sparkle.  

Here is the new little jar that joined my collection.

Keeping this in a collection on the white chalk painted tray keeps it grounded and together.  

Bear with me as I take a few photos.... it's hard to stop.

The branches are still from this fall with pink berries on them. 

I finally broke the news to John that I'll be painting the table once again.  This will be there 3rd time.  This black paint was a high gloss that I did many years ago before chalk paint was even heard of and it shows everything from dust to fingerprints.  It also causes everything to stick to it, I usually have a table cloth on it to hide the dusty look and then I have to peel the table cloth off the paint.  Since chalk paint can go over any surface without sanding it's a perfect solution.  

Hummmmmmm what color will I paint it this time?

My next weekly find that just needed to be washed up is this cute coffee cup.  

I have a hot chocolate station for the grandkids and it found a spot right on top.  

Again bear with me as I take a few too many photos.....

More jars in the house........ who knew??

A simple little winter tree chalkboard to match the deer and tree cups.  

Chalkboard is Linen White Rust-Oleum with only a clear wax.

If you attended my Mason Jar Box class this is the box turned on it's side.  

Thinking outside the box.  hee hee hee

Makes you want a hot chocolate now doesn't it?

I found those deer/tree glasses at a second hand store last year.  They are great for hot or cold drinks and they look fun too.

Two very fun additions to make me smile as I walk in my house.      Later........

More white

I've been trying to transform the colors in my house to white and blues. Why?  I don't know, time for a change, white continues to show up everywhere and I really like it.

Sunday after my last painting class I decide I should paint something for myself once.  I have this old dot-matrix printer table in the dining room painted from long ago in a yellow and green, you remember the kind with the long slot in the back for the paper to be on the shelf with the printer on the top.  I've painted and sold so many fun unique table that would have replaced this boring table but of course I kept boring for me and sold fun to others.  So today was the day to paint boring once again.

Check out boring and busy 

Now here is white, clean and symmetrical.

I had a new family photo to hang up and the last time I hung our family photo it was just temporary until I could paint the frame.  As you see in the photo above temporary became permanent.  Now it's white and updated with 4 more people.

I had that back board out in the garage and thought it might be a nice addition to the boring dot-matrix printer.  I haven't attached it yet due to the dang light switch and I'm not sure that I like it.

The shelves got cleaned off and ended up white and clear glass

I love it, now I think John needs to replace the black breakfast nook with stained wood vs the black.  Hummmmmmm who is going to tell him?

Before and after

Have I convinced you to paint white yet?    Later.....

Trash to Treasure Tuesday - Step Stool

I hit my favorite second hand store on Friday and run into my very good junkin' friend.  We had a good time complaining about the prices on the "junk" in the store, but we also found some good deals and snatched them up.  KR found this step stool and said "here's one for you painted photographer"

So of course I couldn't wait to start on it.  I had a new look I wanted to try out on something flat and boring.  This was it.  

I pour some Rust-Oleum Orange onto a paper plate and let it sit to get thick and dry.

I painted the stool with Amy Howard Vintage Affliction on top of the already white paint.  The Vintage Affliction got a solid coat but could be streaky because that wasn't going to be the final paint color.  

When the Vintage Affliction was totally dry I sloppily put on the thick crusty Rust-Oleum Orange.  I didn't hit everything, I just slopped it on and in some spots it was puddled.

Waiting for thick puddled paint is a long process so make sure you have another project to keep you busy.  I had about 14 going that night so I was just fine.  

when the paint is about 80% dry I took a paint scraper and distressed the paint on the edges and the flat surfaces.  Making sure to scrape down to the white paint and get globs of thick paint built up on the scraper.  Then push it back onto the stool.  Scrape and push, scrape and drag, scrape and pray you're not messing this up.  Exactly what I did but probably more of the later.  John had ventured off to the neighbors so at least I didn't have to listen to him tell me I ruined it.  You're going to get all the colors of the paint scraping up and making a thick mess.   I think the Amy Howard paint is such a nice smooth hard paint that it helped to peek it through without scraping it all off.

Ignore the dirt on my floor, it fell off the wreath I put on the bench and thought I pushed it out of the way...... 

After thinking this wasn't working and ready to give up I just globbed the paint in various patterns and let it dry overnight.

The next morning I had a 1 year old photoshoot and thought I needed to use the stool.   So I ran out to the garage to grab it just the way it was.  The little boy would be sitting on it so it really didn't matter that I ruined it.  But I had to clear and dark wax it just to make sure

I love it.  I love the globs of paint, the Base White and Amy Howard Vintage Affliction showing through, and the dark wax that gives it depth.

On Sunday Melanie and Junior thought this was the best stool ever.  Of course they liked it because it was easy to crawl on and stand on top of it.  The mom's liked it because it sturdy and wide enough for them to be safe.  So it has the seal of old time painted look and function... it will be for sale but for right now I think I will enjoy it for a bit longer.

Another fun Trash to Treasure Tuesday and a new way to paint.         

Later...