ok, let’s do it again!

Published on by Quandie

First off, thanks so much for all of your comments on Friday.  If you haven’t already commented, you have until Wednesday to leave a comment on that post (not this one) to be eligible for the giveaway.

I was really surprised that Bessie the cow was such a fan favorite.  I never thought that one would get so many votes!  And I was especially happy to hear that so many of you enjoy seeing these smaller projects, and also that so many of you really appreciated seeing 5 days of posts.  So guess what?  I decided to do it again!

I thought about it and realized I have five more things completed that I could post about.  Much like last week, none of them are earth shattering revelations, but I hope you guys will enjoy them nonetheless.

I’m starting out today with the simple wooden crate that is front and center in this photo that I shared last week …

I have to tell you guys, it was from the ‘free pile’ at a garage sale.  I’m sure the person getting rid of it thought no one in their right mind would want some dirty, paint splattered old wooden crate.

But I knew I could paint it up and turn it into something special.

I started by cleaning it well.  Maybe I should elaborate on that process today.  In the summer I like to pile all of my dirty finds (hmmm, that sounds a little off, doesn’t it?) in the yard.  Then I bring out a small table that I often use to paint on because it’s just the right height for working standing up.  Next I bring out the Dawn Powerwash Dish Spray (and by the way, this post is in no way sponsored by Dawn, I just love this stuff).

Have any of you guys tried it?  I especially like the Apple scent.  This product is the perfect solution for us.  We don’t have a dishwasher, so we like to keep up on the dishes by washing them as we go.  We rarely have enough dirty dishes at one time to require a sink full of soapy water.  Instead we just spray, wipe and rinse and we’re done.  Easy peasy.

I’ve also found that it works really well for washing up my garage sale finds.  I put an item up on the table, spray it with the Powerwash, scrub it down with a scrub brush and then hose it off.  I do this on sunny days so that I can then set each item out in the sunshine to dry off.

Washing years of someone else’s dirt and grime off of things has never been one of my favorite parts of what I do, but this makes it much easier.  Plus the grease fighting properties of dish soap are beneficial for items that are going to be painted as well.

OK, so I washed the box and let it dry thoroughly (it was a few days before I got around to painting it).  Then I painted just one quick coat of Dixie Belle’s Sea Glass.  I didn’t even try to get full coverage because my plan was to sand it back quite a bit anyway.

I wanted it to look clean, but not freshly painted.  As though that could be an original, old paint job.

Next I pulled out some left over bits of the Cosmic Rose transfer from re.design with prima (if you’re keeping track, I used part of it on a bed and then another section on a re-sized drawer, and I’ll probably get one more small project out of it after this as well).  I cut and rearranged various sections of the transfer to fit my box.  For example, I cut the “Spring Flowers” bit out separately and applied that to the bottom.

Then I centered the floral section on the front of the box and wrapped the excess around the sides.

Once the transfer was applied, I sanded over it lightly with 220-grit sand paper to give it some age as well.  Then I added a topcoat of clear wax.

The inside of the box was a little stained, so I lined it with some more of my favorite October Afternoon scrapbook paper.

It was the perfect color to match the Sea Glass.

So, there you have it.  Another super simple makeover using paint and a transfer.

Eventually this will be going to Reclaiming Beautiful to sell.  I won’t be making it in there this week, but maybe the following week.

In the meantime, if you’re local, I’m always willing to sell items to people who can pick them up.  I apologize to all of you who live further afield, but I just hate shipping things!

As always, thanks to Dixie Belle Paint Co for providing the paint and to re.design with prima for providing the transfer for this project.

If you’re looking for Dixie Belle products you can find them here.

If you’re looking for re.design with prima products you can find local retailers here, or online sources here.

I don’t typically add the small items to my ‘available for local sale’ page, but I will start doing that just in case anyone is interested.  So if you are local and in need of a fabulous wooden box, check out my ‘available for local sale‘ page.

47 thoughts on “ok, let’s do it again!”

  1. Thank you for this wonderful update. I bought a box a couple of months ago and it’s just sitting there waiting for me to make it salable. Well now I have a way! Thanks for the inspiration – it’s beautiful and fun and might I say practical. I also love the heads up on the Dawn product. I’ve been using a spray bottle of Simple Green bit the Dawn seems great too.

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  2. I love Dawn I’m general so I might try the power wash one. Especially for projects and outdoor furniture.
    Oh what a grand look for the wood box!

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  7. Love the every day posts and really enjoy seeing the smaller items as well, but I do LOVE the furniture make-overs! This box turned out great as well – I never seem to have your vision for transforming items 🙂 Beautiful!

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  9. Thank you for sharing so many neat things! I will be looking for the dawn product, I’ve never seen it. That wooden box went from plain and drab to adorable!!! I especially like the smalls, because I still have room for them!! LOL

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  10. My eye caught the camp stool in the photo – any ideas for that? I picked up some vintage ones years ago and haven’t figured out what to do with them. Not sturdy enough to sit on – but so cute!

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  14. Oh how I wish I lived nearby! I want this box! I have a box non-collection. This would be a beautiful addition to my plain boxes and could hold so many pretty things! I want it!

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  16. Miss Quandie! A Quandie a day keeps the blog blahs away!!! If you’re able to do it I say yes yes yes! I’d just LOVE seeing ALL the things that you do…..you have such an inspiring knack for transforming just about anything! I think that the “smalls” require even more ingenuity than the furniture in a way. So that’s compounded ingenuity for us out here in blog land (-: (-: (-: And I liked hearing about your cleaning process and that you clean up multiple things at once.

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    1. Thanks so much Connie, that is so nice of you to say! And yes, it’s like an assembly line where I wash up a whole bunch of stuff at once. That process is reserved for the weekends!

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  20. Linda, I do love seeing your smalls! It inspires me every time and motivates to look at similar objects in my own house from different angle. So yes please, the more smalls the better.

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  23. I am loving this box. The color and transfer that you used are so pretty. I also love the hydrangeas that you placed in the box. Beautiful 😊

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    1. The Annabelle hydrangeas come in super handy for photo shoots. Sadly, we had a massive rain fall shortly after I took these photos and now the flowers are all looking pretty smashed up and it’s going to be another month or so before the Limelight hydrangeas start blooming.

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