March Madness Day 7 - Lavender Love

I'm making this quick tonight as I cough, shiver, sneeze, swallow hard to keep my toast down and just lay here on the couch.  Saturday we took care of 2 of our grandchildren and they were fantastic, however they like to share everything with their grandma and grandpa.  So this time they shared the flu virus.  I thought we had beat it since it's been 2 days.... nope it hit us both hard this afternoon.  We were suppose to watch 3 more of the grandkids tonight and to me that's the best day ever........ I called their mommy and said to make other plans.... then I pouted a little.   Hopefully this doesn't last long, but to me not long is 2 hours and so far it's been longer than 2 hours.  I don't sit and do nothing well but it helps when you can't move your head or you think it might burst.  

Okay that was more than I thought I could type so let's move on.  I did a little experiment with the soon to be popular lavender.  Mixing Annie Sloan Emperors Silk, Aubusson Blue, and Old White gives you shades of lavender that found a couple of my items in the to-do pile.  

Added a little Paris Gray to the wood bowl and Pink to the Mason Jar to help me like Lavender.... it works.

One of the 27 butterflies done...... they work perfectly when I have a bit of color to use up and hanging within a gallery wall or leaning against a stack of lavender items they add the perfect touch of whimsy.  

Here is the before pile of butterflies.

And the before large wooden bowl. 

There are 2 smaller wooden bowls done too but I have no before picture.  Someone out there has to be a lavender fan and if you aren't these just might win you over.

Later.......

March Madness Day 6 - Key and Mail Hanger

A few weeks back I shared one of my weekly finds, here it is again in it's before stage.

And I must say it's beautiful in the after.  Painted in a cream/brown..... Annie Sloan didn't disappoint.  It's a mixture of Coco and Old Ochre, they are both amazing colors.  After a little distressing I finished it off with Annie Sloan clear and dark wax

Stenciled a Old Ochre skeleton key and added a few hooks.

An amazing transformation for being pretty and functional.

One more look at the before and after.

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....

March Madness Day 4 - Weekly Finds

I had a jackpot week for finds so let's get this party started.

First was this fun chair, it's a bit wobbly but Mr Hemmer can take care of that.  He's already done with it, the seat is ready for fabric and I've just happen to have some.  The round detail is missing it's medallion so I'll have to find something to replace it or just leave it open, either way it will work.  

Another lantern but of so ugly.  Not sure if it will be what I'm thinking but it was cheap enough to give it a try.  Can you see a lantern theme for this family's summer wedding?

A couple jars that were priced decent.

A green jar with a fun shape.

Y'all know I like deer and these two caught my eye.

Container for a plant, summer is coming..... as it's snowing a good 2" already.

Another box

I screamed a little when I found these and then really got excited when they were 50% off.  2 for the price of 1 couldn't be better.

Another large bowl

A big ole' pepper grinder

Another lantern........ 

This find wasn't found by me, a faithful reader thought of me when she found this at a Goodwill store.  Yep it's me, she knows me too well.

I told you this was a good week.   A childs wood chair.

A tin of buttons, OMG this person had no idea what they had and the second hand store had no idea they gave them away for a song.

He's also a salt or pepper shaker..... he'll look sweet up north by the deer shakers.

And this clock..... it does not work but once again it's got great bones so I'm not sure what it will be when I'm done with it but I'm sure I'll come back and show you.  

Wowsa that was quite the day, makes me really anxious for garage sale season.  

What did you find this week?         Later......

March Madness Day 3 - Painted Treasure Box

Day 3 and still going strong..... hahahaha 

This little treasure box tugged at my shopping cart so of course I rescued it.  She's looking pretty fine in her light aqua paint.

Here she is before the paint.  Good solid treasure box with a fun details in her cover.  And some very nasty felt ridiculously glued to the bottom so that it took me forever to pull, scrape and sand it off. 

I kept the inside unpainted for that wood look and also if someone wanted to fill it with Starburst Jelly Beans they could.  

Why didn't I fill it with Starburst Jelly Beans?  Dang!!

I do paint with other colors......... just on a blue kick lately.  It's coming up hot for this summer.   

Here's a  couple pictures from Pinterest with the 2, yes there are 2 this year, Pantone colors for 2016.  

Rose Quartz and Serenity

And with the combination of the two lavender will be very popular too.  

I love how there are so many different shades of blue in this room.  The blanket looks lavender. 

Tonight I went furniture shopping and trying to pick out a style and fabric is overwhelming.  I tried to stay neutral with a tan/brown/grey and the guy was trying to talk me into blue.... I told him he didn't need to twist my arm cuz I would fold for a blue couch in an instant..... if I didn't have a husband that doesn't want to buy a couch again in a couple years.  

No furniture bought but every stinkin' show we watch on tv tonight had a blue couch....... URGHHHHH!!

Later.

March Madness Day 2 - Silverware Box turned Mail Hider

A few weeks back I shared a silverware box from my weekly finds.  I love it when I find these boxes and I really like when it's a double decker.

Here is the box again in it's non-painted stage.  There is lots of felt and work that goes into cleaning up the inside, one thing they got right was making these boxes durable.  I haven't found a one that is broken or missing the felt insides.

This box was painted with a white inside and a powder blue outside.  I wanted a fun pop for the inside so I put grandma's wallpaper in there.  

These boxes are a really good spot to hide your mail until you have a chance to pay the bills or throw away the junk mail.  This drawer is so fun.  

A great design for the top when you're hiding the clutter from your table.   The last box I had like this sold in about 30 minutes after posting it, they are hot and if you like this one head on down to Jackie's Tease Tanning and Gifts on Main Street and snatch it up. 

One more look at the before and after.  It's a beautiful blue with a lot of function.  

Later......

Trash to Treasure Tuesday - March Madness Day 1

The month of March is known as March Madness to a lot of people.  I think it's because of all the birthdays this family has in it.... okay that's probably not why.  

This gal doesn't follow basketball, brackets, or colleges but March Madness could mean a Painted Photographer post every day in March!!  

Pure Madness for me..... what am I thinking?  

I'm thinking about you that's what.  

Somedays they might be small projects and somedays may be bigger projects, somedays I might not have time and you'll have to wait a day or two for me to catch up, but I promise to give you a pretty good stab at 31 posts in March.  

So let's start March out with the first post of the Madness and since it's Tuesday a Trash to Treasure is in order.   Maybe you remember this lantern from one of my weekly finds in January.  

Just in case you don't recognize it I added the before.  I was told by a couple people that they didn't quite understand what I seen in it.  

And actually I dropped it right after that photo, it fell apart and what did I say?  

"it's much easier to paint this way"

John put it back together for me

I seen this lantern pretty enough for a special wedding in August.

I added tulips that look like old wallpaper from grandmas house on the back.  

All cracked and peeling, just the way I like it.

I was going to add a frosted piece of plexiglass to the front door but I like it without. 

Once more a before and after.  What a fun way to start out the month.

Later........