March Madness Day 23 - Distressed Mirror

I had a project in mind and thankfully it was completed without a trip to the ER.

I had this old round mirror and wanted to wear off the reflective back enough to have a few poppies poking through.  I took paint remover and got the black paint off the back of the mirror, then there is a reflective coating that makes it a mirror vs a piece of glass.  I researched it and found one site that you could use oven cleaner to remove the reflective coating..... it didn't work.  Another way was to use muratic acid.  I also read all the dangers of using it and the bottle has skull and crossbones on it.  I opted to not do it..... skull and crossbones were speaking to me.

Then my wonderful neighbor had some chrome cleaner that was pretty strong and he thought it might work.  His wife brought it down and advised me to make sure I used it outside.   Well his wife and I gave it a shot right inside the garage.... that enough ventilation right?  It's a big garage..... We tried it on a new mirror that I had laying around so if it ruined it I didn't wreck this old round one.  As we stood over it and watched it did nothing, we smelled nothing, no smoke, no green fumes..... nothing....  I wiped it off and some of the reflective coating came off too.  

Fast forward to that night as I'm trying to fall asleep and my throat is sore and I have a bit of a dry cough.  Coincidence.... I don't think so.  I think the warning from the neighbor to do this outside was some pretty good advice.  You'll be happy to know I did the old round mirror outside, even in the cold snow.  This one didn't come off as easy as the newer mirror so it was a couple days standing outside trying to remove the reflective coating.

Finally got enough removed to still be able to know it was a mirror but have poppies peeking through.  

This project wasn't something I would ever repeat again, both for the danger or it and I like the look but I don't LOVE it.  The frame was painted in Annie Sloan Emperors Silk with dark wax. 

Later.....

March Madness Day 19 - Red Vases

Adding a little more red to my living room with these fun vases.  I knew as soon as I found them that they were going to be mine but what I didn't know is that I'd paint them red.  

Before.....

They look good in red

Annie Sloan Emperors Silk with only dark wax.

Close up of the details

Another look at the before and after.

later....

March Madness Day 14 - Red Box

So my furniture shopping a week ago was all about the gray/blue/tan decision.  I stressed and stressed not knowing which way to go.  

Remember this box from a few weeks ago? 

It's been painted red.

The furniture sales guy was all about trying to talk me into picking blue, I'm ready with my decision so John and I take an afternoon and go back to the furniture store.  John wants nothing to do with it until my mind is ready and then he will come in and agree with me..... or not.

The carved keys are pretty fun and give this boring box some interest.  

The sales guy was good, I mean like really good.  He's been doing this for 20+ years and he knows what he's doing.  He helped me with the gray/tan choice and made me feel so much better about it.  He knew how to pick out the pillow fabric and went through the entire rack of swatches picking out only the top 3-4 choices.  All this while John is bored and trying out different chairs..... yakking about comfort, not comfortable, size, wants, napping, colors, tired......... and driving me crazy.  

One more look at the before plain boring box with the red key dream box.  Painted with Annie Sloan Emperors Silk, distressed and only waxed with Annie Sloan dark wax.  (just like me to break the rule of dark wax ONLY after clear).  Using just the dark wax gives it a richer color but you better be sure cuz there is no turning back.

He finds two possible pillow fabric choices and lays them on a couch with our couch fabric and asked which one.... I point left to a paris type tan/gray/black/brown fabric with script wording all over it... John is standing behind me and he points right at a gray/black and red fabric with color splotches all over it.   Ummmmmm John have you seen our living room lately.... there is no red in it!

Red goes great with aqua....... yep that's what happened.  The sales guy and John ganged up on me and got their red splotches fabric.  Then remember the sales guy was good right????  He was listening to John talk and watching him the entire time and took him right upstairs to a really comfortable RED recliner..... lays the pillow and couch fabric on it and has John sit in it as he reclines him backwards where he's almost upside down.  

So now I have to figure out how to balance red with my aqua.  Oh don't worry Mr Sales Guy was smiling and sharpening his pencil this whole time.  I didn't want those stinkin' couch pillows to begin with but you pay for them no matter if you get them or not...... would have been better to take my loss with no pillows.  

It will be awhile before the furniture arrives so I have time to plan the merger and last week the recliner was delivered so I now know that Annie Sloan Emperors Silk with dark wax is a perfect match for the red.  I knew there was a reason I never got rid of that red tall end table.  

Later......

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.......

Trash to Treasure Tuesday - Red Side Table

I think last week was my Trash to Treasure Tuesday however I forgot so let's just pretend it's this week.   I love trash to treasure Tuesday when I have a real piece of Trash.

I found this little side table on the curb waiting for the trash.  It gave someone lots of function, they painted it, overly used it and some how smashed a big ole' hole in the side of it.  

When I seen it sitting on the curb I squealed a bit but I was going too fast with someone behind me to stomp on the brakes so I cruised around the block while saying..... no one else stop, no one else see it, don't pick it up.... She was all mine, snow and all.

I didn't take a picture of the hole in the side of it because the hubby was so on top of this one it was crazy.  He had it tightened up and the hole patched before I even asked.  

I seen a side table just like this on Pinterest with Annie Sloan Emperior's Silk and Graphite top that I loved so since I got me a new can of Emperior's Silk I decided to give it a try.  Annie Sloan nailed the red color, she's really my favorite color however I have nothing in my house this color, but I do have it on my outdoor porch so that counts.  

I painted the inside walls and the drawer.  Painting the inside and the bottoms of your projects is a must.  ALWAYS paint them, it makes your projects more finished. 

The sun was so bright in the house when I took these that it washed on the deep color a bit.

This next photo shows the rich red color.  To keep the color deep and rich I did not clear wax.  I skipped the clear and did only dark wax.  Now if you've heard me during class that's a no-no, never dark wax first.... always clear and then dark.  But I'm a rule breaker and I only dark wax the graphite to make it blacker so since I didn't want to mess up with getting clear on the red I just went for it and dark waxed the whole thing without clear wax.  It's beautiful and I'm sooooooo lucky.

This is the side with the big hole in it..... can't even tell.  The hubby did a fantastic job with his patching skills.

The before and after from real trash.

Why didn't I paint her white?  Because then I would want to keep her..........  Later....

Painted weekly finds

I've had so many of my weekly finds painted up and ready to go to the shop but they needed to be photographed so you could see them.  I needed daylight and I needed them to be all cute and put in the perfect location...... well this weekend I got the daylight and tried to stage them for pretty pictures.  I am not a stager, my house is not stage quality unless I rearrange my furniture for the perfect wall away from the bright windows and I have lots of windows, not too close to the pellet stove for the "yellow" cast of light... and so many more excuses that I said "screw it" put them on a table and just move on.  

So you get to see them with no frills, just their plain pretty little selves standing alone.  So let's do this.

My 4 plain wooden bowls with a 4 new Annie Sloan colors I picked up in December.  

The 3 mirrored wall hangings.

With their new color Annie Sloan Coco and dry brushed with Annie Sloan Old White.  They will be perfect for a little texture on a gallery wall.

I painted a few jars with the Annie Sloan Emperior's Silk and then added a little Old White for the second one and then a little more white for the lighter pink.  They are perfect for little pops of color during the Valentine season.  No before pic for them either, these were before my weekly find posts.

The top wooden bowl with some details carved in got painted.

In one of the new Annie Sloan colors Old Ochre.  I love the shape of this bowl and the details along with the heavy distressing.  

Remember these?

They are now pretty red.  

A tin sugar canister needed a little loving.

Now she looks pretty and will be ready to brighten someones kitchen cupboard.  

The original handle was broken so this wood handle became the new top with a little black paint it's perfect.

Small wooden bowl shown on the bottom right.

Made a perfect place to display a heart in time for Valentine's Day decor.  

And this boring wood coat rack....

Is now........ you guessed it RED.

This plain wood tray with the beautiful heart painting (very pretty in it's first life)

Is now a white tray with flowers embossed on the bottom.  I love trays, don't you?

This tray just got a little red paint to match the tiles.  (no before pic)

And one more..... the tall wood and metal candle stick.

Is now pretty in red with the Valentine candle cup.  

I have lots more but that's all for tonight.    Later....