Rustic sign for the Cottage

This is a little welcome sign for the front door of a cottage that I made. I used my usual transfer method for the lettering but it was really easy to do this one.

All I did was to put a barely there whitewash effect on the board with a watered down primer to cover the board.  I was dry in about 15 minutes the coating was so thin.

Instead of painting the lettering I used a jumbo size sharpie marker to fill in the lettering.  These are great markers for this because they have a wide point at one end and a wedge at the other.  

Then I gave it a little dry brush technique over the whole board to age it just a tiny bit and protected it with a coat of natural wax.  The jute twine hanger gives it a rustic touch. 

Oh Canada

I don't usually do anything special in the way of decorating for Canada Day because I go to the family picnic that's held each year in our little town and catch up with ton's of family and friends I haven't seen for so long.  Some of them I get to see only once a year and this is the day.  That in itself makes it a very special day. 

This year I decided to make a couple of little tea light candle holders from mason jars.  They were really cute but didn't make much of a statement. 

I thought a flag would look good with them but a new one wouldn't blend with my style at all so I headed for my stash and picked out a really ugly old board that I had. I cut two lengths the size I needed and glued them together with some Gorilla glue.   Because they weren't a tight fit I filled the crack with a bit of wood filler. 

I gathered together everything I thought I might need and primed the board. 

I used my tracing method to get the maple leaf shape and hand painted my flag.  I hate the new look so I distressed a little, then protected it all with a coat of wax.

I can't believe how much impact this little project has. I love the little hit of colour it gives my coffee bar area.

I think it looks great, but now I might have to decorate this space for all the seasons and holidays or it will look a little blah.

A Black and White Table Makeover

I purchased this little table at a yard sale for $3 .  It had an arborite top on it and the legs had been replaced with some home made ones but it was the very sturdy.  It looked like a miniature mid century kitchen table except the legs were wood instead of chrome.  It was first thing I ever painted with my DIY chalky paint about three years ago.  At the time I was really concerned about the paint adhering to the arborite surface but I went ahead and painted it anyway.

I distressed the top corners a bit at the time (the black area is the original paint job) and as you can see, the paint had stood up fairly well.  There are a few more little dings in the paint but considering how I've used it,  it's a wonder there is any paint left.  It's been used as everything from a side table to a play table for the kids to run their dinky cars on... and it's been three years. 

I wanted to give it a new look so I decided on a partial make over.  I painted the legs white.  Then I taped off the diamond on the top.  I just left the black distressed as it was and painted the diamond first with a base coat of DIY primer and then two coats of the white.

Then used tracing paper to transfer the image I hand printed out.

Using the tracing method gives you enough of an image but you can fix any missing lines when you paint it in by hand.

A little distressing of the image and a coat of wax to protect it and I'm ready to use it again..

Right now I'm using it a side table .

It makes a great place to put a book or my coffee in the morning.

This little table has so many uses, I think it will be around for a long time to come. 

One piece... Three Projects. -part two - Desk to Tween Vanity

I few weeks ago I  updated a wash stand and had some left over pieces.  I wanted to show you how I use every single piece if I can and promised three projects from one piece. See the first project here.

 

That wash stand had a lovely little  tippy mirror on it that I couldn't use because a few of the spindle pieces couldn't be tightened enough.  However there was nothing wrong with the mirror itself so I wanted to find a new home for it. 

I repaired and painted a turn of the century ladies writing desk and chair last year but couldn't sell it because it was just too small for a desk by todays standards.  There definitely wasn't enough room for a computer and all the stuff that goes with it.   

This is how I married the two pieces together.   First I repainted the desk with a lovely soft white called Queen Annes Lace from BeautiTone .

Then I painted all the pieces that held the mirror together.

It's easier to scrape the paint off the mirror after it's dry than it is to tape it off.

I printed this postage stamp photo and used tracing paper to transfer it to the desk top, and drilled two pilot holes for the mirror spindles. 

At this point I did a dry fit to make sure everything was going to fit together.  You can see the fine lines where I traced my picture.

I  hand painted the picture and when it was dry I lightly sanded and distressed to make it look like it had been there for a long time.

Now I had to get rid of the blue inside.  It just wasn't right for a young lady's vanity.

Ahh... much better. Things are starting to come together.

























I wanted to do something different with the seat so I found a bright pink bath mat on sale and used it to recover the seat. 



I painted the mason jars to add the finishing touch and I think I've created a vanity that any young lady would love.

Canada Day Mason Tea Light Holder

Every time I look through mason jar projects at this time of the year I see tons of pretty little mason jars painted with stars and stripes in red white and blue.   My friends from south of the border are really busy.

What I don't see is Canada Day mason jars and I kinda wondered why.  So I decided it's about time someone made them.  I'm so glad I did because I absolutely love  it.

First I gathered together a bunch of stuff because I wasn't really sure how I was going to make it.  I mixed a batch of my DIY chalky paint in red.  This little bowl is about a half cup. Once it's mixed I just keep it in a jar and it will last for a couple of weeks.

Then I washed my mason jar and dried it really well.  First I gave it a good coat of the white I already had mixed. 

While the paint was drying I measured a spoon and using pliers I bent it to hang down into the jar.

It will hang inside like this and hold the tea light candle.

I painted the back side of  a small maple leaf to use like a stamp, then painted the top and bottom of the jar red as well.

A little sanding of the raised areas and some jute twine around the top and it's done.   All that's left is to add a candle.

I love how it looks and I can't wait to make some more.  I think these would look great going up a set of stairs to a deck to light the way home after the fireworks,  or lined up on a mantle. 
Where would you put yours?

Apple crate

I bought this craft style apple box a while back to use on my kitchen island. 

Even though it's cute with it's rustic look, it's not what I really wanted.  That didn't stop me from bringing it home though. I knew I would have exactly what I wanted with just a little paint.

Of course I used my DIY Chalky paint for primer first.

The paint colour I chose for this was Benjamin Moore's  "Lovely in Linen".  It's so soft and pretty. Just a hint of colour.

Once it dried I used a sanding sponge to distress the letters very lightly.

I love how it looks now. It's the exact look I wanted for this piece.

One piece... Three Projects. -part one -Vintage Wash Stand

 Sometimes I come across pieces like this vintage looking wash stand. It had seen much better days, but it came with a basin and pitcher.

Here it is after I started to dismantle the top .
See that little mirror.  It had my head spinning with  possibility.
It was missing a few pieces and was very wiggly. I tried  tightening it but could tell it wasn't going to be an easy fix, there was no way I was going to get it all back together in its original state.

After I took it all apart and tightened the spindles the base piece was quite sturdy.

I needed to fill the holes left by the spindles I had removed so I stuffed the holes with pieces of toothpicks and then smoothed over them with some wood filler and sanded a bit.

A coat of DIY chalky paint used as a primer and a top coat of Benjamin Moore's "Lovely in Linen" for  a pretty country look.  
I absolutely love this colour.  Such a soft grey with a very subtle green undertone.

It's now the perfect setting for the basin and pitcher that came with this piece.

Both pieces have a wonderful winter scene.

And both   pieces  are in excellent condition with not a single chip.

I have different plans for the mirror and the spindles.  You'll have to check back latter to see what I do with them.