Trash to Treasure Tuesday

Tuesday might be a good day for Trash to Treasure so I'm giving it a shot to share a trash to treasure project the first Tuesday of every month.  I'm trying to get better at taking pictures of all the steps, notice I said TRYING. 

My trash to treasure project started out with a pallet board that was in the garbage at work.  I have a hard time walking by the bin of thrown away boards without checking them out.  Some may have split only on the ends which can be cut off and transformed into many projects.  If you've ever tried to take a pallet apart it's next to impossible so when the boards are apart and fairly good it's a dang miracle and they must be saved from the trash. 

So when I said TRYING this is where I failed.  I didn't take a picture of the pallet board nor did I take a picture of it with the coat of paint so if you can imagine a that part for me it would be great.  I painted it with Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in Florence.  Then I painted a white arrow onto the board in a very free hand motion.  No worries about getting sharp lines or points, that will all work out later.

I then sanded the entire board after both paints were dried.  Sanding over the arrow is the key to the non-perfect arrow.  I like the look of the arrow being something you may have found at an abandoned cabin or business.  A sign that pointed you to the beach or the pumpkin patch. After the sanding your sign looks very dull and lifeless and a bit dusty.

I wiped off the sign with a lint free cloth an applied a thin layer of Valspar Sealing Wax with a cloth, waited a few minutes and buffed it to a pretty shine.  A closer look of the sanded arrow with a clear wax applied.

I then applied a layer of Valspar Antiquing Wax making sure to get it into all the little grooves in the wood.  

I then buffed it off leaving the darkness in the grooves and getting a pretty shine to the sign with a bit of age.

This is usually John's job but he was busy and I was in a hurry to hang my new arrow.  Measure the board to find the middle and attach a picture hook.  I learned this trick from John.... hold the nail with a pliers (in my case a wire cutter cuz I was too lazy to find the right tool) to avoid hitting your fingers with the hammer.

My new arrow sign looks great on the freshly painted dining room wall.  It's a tan/gray, it's really light and I love it.  I was tired of the dark tan wall and soon the red wall will be painted in the same light color.  The style is light and bright and I'm ready for a change. 

And you guessed it.... I might be painting the table... there is a can of Florence in the garage just waiting to be used.

That's it for my Trash to Treasure Tuesday. 

 Later....