A New Look for a Roadside Find

It has been a wee bit busy around these parts over the past week. Our kids are now out of school for their spring break and then of course we celebrated the very blessed Resurrection of our Lord on Sunday. I have also been working diligently on our Home Office reorganization and makeover. 

This has been my project for the past few days.

(This piece has been sitting in our garage until last week when I decided to use it to hold the office printer.)

One Sunday a couple years ago, I was on my way home from church and this little baby was just sitting out by the side of the road.

At first inspection she seemed to be solid wood...

and as you can see she is also pretty beat up.

I thought this would be a great fit for our home office given her Mission style lines and size.

So I went ahead and started doing a little sanding, and as I sanded I realized that I was right, she is all wood.

Then I did a little painting and staining. I actually found a chalk paint over at my local Walmart for only $7.99 so to save some time in prepping this piece, I decided to give I it a try. 

To be honest I really liked the chalk paint itself but didn't care for color of the white wax. It was kind of yellowish to me, so instead I applied a clear polyurethane to both the stained top and the painted body. I wanted to keep the original hardware because I really like its look and I also opted out of distressing the piece.

And I am stoked about the way she looks now!!!

Today we are taking the kids down to Washington DC. We're hoping to catch some of thoses magnificent cherry blossoms. Hope you all are enjoying this beautiful spring week. 

Also don't forget to stop by this evening for our 8th 

Share Your Style link party!

XO

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A New Look for My Thrift Store Find ~ Patinated Watering Can

A few weeks ago I shared with you a watering can I picked up at a second had store for only $2. I thought it was kind of cute and figured I'd probably end up painting it. As it turned out I received the spring issue of  The Cottage Journal and fell completely in love with the beautiful urn on cover, so decided to use this picture as my inspiration.

Here is my little watering can before...



Kind of boring right?

Well with some aqua spray paint, Minwax and a little watered down chalk paint, I was able to give this can a whole new vibe.

All I did to start was to paint the entire can in Rustoleum's Aqua spray paint. After it was dry I gave it a rub down with Minwax stain in dark walnut using a paper towel. I tried to wipe most of the Minwax off leaving it darker in the areas of the rope detailing. Finally when it was dry, I drizzled the watered down chalk paint on to the can. This gave the can the beautiful mottled appearance.

I think my little watering can likes her new look. Isn't she just the perfect container to fill with spring flowers?

XO

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Little Country Chair in Antibes Green

A couple years ago when I acquired the desk I painted in the spring, {click here to see the desk} this country chair was thrown in for free.

So the little chair sat in our garage with stuff piled all over her for a wee bit over 2 years. Then I saw Dee's chalk paint chair over at A Lapin Life and got the idea to paint my little chair with the Annie Sloan Chalk Paint I had won at the Haven Conference in June.

 It took 3 coats of Antibes Green chalk paint to completely cover the chair. After the paint was dry, which didn't take long, I used 100 grit sandpaper to distress the piece.

The green color was really bright so I decided to take it down a bit by applying Minwax stain in a dark walnut. After I brushed the stain on I quickly wiped it off with an old rag.

The Minwax gave my chair that warm worn look I wanted.

I think my little country chair really likes her new green coat.

Now I have to think about just where to put my Antibes Green chair...mmmmmm??

Update...I found a spot for my green chair...click here to see where she is now living!

 I hope you are all having a great day!!!

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DIY Serving Tray

While I was in Florida last month, I happened into a wine shop down in Tarpon Springs and they had these really cute serving trays made with wine corks...here's the pic...

This one had a $45 price tag on it!

Now I've had this tray for several years now and although I still get plenty of use from it, the style of the tray no longer reflects the tone of the decor in my home or back patio where I plan to use it.

 I thought the best way to transform this tray would be to paint it with my homemade chalk paint first and then change up the surface of the tray. I grabbed some paint I already had, and using a simple chalk paint recipe, I mixed up a light turquoise paint and brushed it right over the black sides and bottom of the tray. The best thing about chalk paint is that there is no prep work involved...all you need to do is to just start painting! (Click here for the recipe.) After the paint was completely dry, I distressed it with 100 grit sand paper.

Then I dipped into my wine cork collection which was beginning to overflow a wee bit, and using 44 corks of varying sizes, I cut them in half length-wise. I chose to use wine corks not only because I happen to have an abundance of them, but the corks themselves are functional as well as stylish. They are absorbent so they can sop up any of the condensation which tends to form on glasses and pitchers containing cold beverages during the warm summer months. In addition they also provide a non-slip surface for these items as well.

I arranged the cork halves end to end and when I finally came up with the configuration that worked best, I simply glued them with my trusty glue gun right onto the existing tile.

I also added some jute twine for a little more detail in addition to hiding a few spots where there was an occasional gap between the corks.

Now I have the perfect serving tray for hosting small summer gatherings on my back patio.

I hope this post has provided for you an idea or two of how to update a serving tray or anything else you have using simple wine corks, some chalk paint and a hot glue gun!

Have a super day!

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My Two Tiered End Tables...the Reveal!

Ta da...here are my thrifty two tiered end tables that I picked up for a song at a recent yard sale. I know originally I said that I was thinking about using them in Grace's room, but when I brought them upstairs...well I don't know...they just didn't feel like a good fit.

Then I thought of maybe using them as plant stands...not a bad idea, could be kinda cute. But as I was walking past Michael's room to take these two lovelies back downstairs...it hit me. The style of the tables were just all wrong for Grace's room. Her furnishings have those beautiful French inspired lines, all curvy and tres girly...these tables are plain and simple, more of what my mother use to call "Early American" back in the 60's. More like the furniture in Michael's room which has an "Americana" look and feel, all done with reds, whites, and blues! So the wheels began to turn and this is what I finally decided to do with them!

I painted them using homemade chalk paint basically because I really didn't want the hassle of prepping these babies. (Love that about this paint!) I mixed up a blue and used the white from my painted desk project. I decided to only distress the top tier. I originally distressed both top and bottom tiers, but for some reason I wasn't feeling the love, so I painted over the distressing I had done.

As you can see I stenciled red stars onto the top tier. The top also received only one coat of paint to allow some of the wood to peek through. I shopped the house for baskets to fit under the top tiers of each table...they don't match but that's OK...if you look closely neither do the tables nor the lamps!

Now they are very happy living in Michael's room and I think Michael is thrilled to have them!

Here is the before...

and here again is the after...

They look so much happier don't they?

Thanks for stopping by to check out my tables

and

have a great weekend!

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