First up, thank you so much for all of the comments on Monday’s post. I know Mr. Q appreciated all of the well wishes on his birthday, and I enjoyed reading all of your comments as well (although I wasn’t able to respond to all of them). Remember, you have until Sunday to leave a comment on that post to be included in the drawing for the giveaway!
Today on q is for quandie we’re talking trash. Well, my kind of trash anyway. Vintage trash cans to be precise.
My picker Sue found a pair of old metal schoolhouse trash cans for me last summer.
That isn’t exactly a true ‘before’ shot. I cleaned these up a bit last summer when I could hose them down out in the yard. They were quite grungy. I also gave the insides of the cans a quick spray paint. I really thought I’d taken a ‘before’ photo before doing all of that, but I’ll be darned if I could find it. After that clean up, I put them aside out in the carriage house to await their moment in the sun.
After being inspired by a vignette in one of the library books that I was studying while visiting my mom, I had an idea for the trash cans so I pulled them out of the carriage house and took that quick ‘before’ photo above.
Since I had two trash cans, I decided to give them each a different color scheme. I painted one of them in a couple of coats of Dixie Belle Drop Cloth, and the other got two coats of their Caviar.
Once the paint was dry, I sanded them to distress. I’ve learned the hard way to distress my painted pieces before adding a contrasting color to avoid dust from one color getting into the other. This is especially important with red and white!
Next I taped off some swiss crosses.
I don’t get super precise with these. I just sort of eyeball it, and measure a little to make sure they are even, and the lines are straight.
I painted a cross in Honky Tonk Red on the Drop Cloth can, and a Drop Cloth cross on the Caviar can.
Once the crosses were dry, I did sand them to distress them a bit, but I was very careful not to drag any of the dust into the neighboring color.
I’m quite happy with the results of both combinations.
But I bet you can guess which one is my favorite!
You know I love me some black and white.
You may have noticed that I left the rusty rims of the trash cans unpainted.
I felt like just that touch of rust and old paint around the edge lent some authenticity to the cans. I sealed the insides of the cans and those rusty rims with a couple of coats of Dixie Belle’s clear coat. However, the painted exteriors received a topcoat of clear wax instead. There’s just something about a waxed finish that feels more authentic to me too.
I really debated keeping this black one for myself, but couldn’t find a spot for it. So I took them both into Reclaiming Beautiful last week.
Which one is your favorite? Black and white, or white and red?
Thank you to Dixie Belle Paint Co for providing the products used for this makeover.
q is for quandie 
I’m so glad to see that I am not the only one who picks up all the vintage trash cans when I find them. They are a great item to repurpose to fit any style. Plus they just don’t make them like that anymore. Love how these turned out. 😍
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They really don’t make them like that anymore! These are really solid and heavy. Hopefully the new owner will get many years of use out of them!
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I never see those around here, but maybe because I wasn’t looking! Love them and the black and white is my fav! Unless it’s Christmas, then I have to go with the red and white for a spectacular Christmas tree 🙂
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Ohhh, that red & white one would be amazing for a Christmas tree. If it doesn’t sell now, I’ll tuck it away and bring it out again at Christmas time!
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Black and white is my favorite too… had it been navy and white I would have had to have it for my cabin😉.
Since you used wax on these I wanted to ask, if you wax a painted piece and want to redo it (paint a different color) how do you deal with the wax finish before repainting?
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Navy and white would be awesome! Especially with cabin season coming up. Hmmmm, now I may have to try and find something to paint in navy and white. As for painting after wax, it depends on a few things. The brand of wax (because they aren’t all made the same way), how long ago it was waxed (many waxes can be painted over after they are cured, which is usually around 30 days), and the final look that you want (if you are OK with some chipping or not). If it is freshly applied wax, but you realize you hate the end result and want to repaint a.s.a.p. (been there, done that) you can remove the wax with steel wool and some mineral spirits. Be sure to rinse the piece with clean water before re-painting.
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Thank you, good advice
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These are fab! I have an old can with the swinging type lid( aka finger pincher🤣) and this is just the inspiration I needed. Glad I didn’t spray paint it right away!
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Awesome! Have fun painting your trash can!
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Oh I like these a lot! I do THINK I remember this kind of trash can from grammar school but hadn’t given it a thought until reading your post! So, thanks for that……very cool, very nostalgic! Yep, I like the black and white one best, too!
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I remember them having a few spit balls stuck to them in grade school … ewwwww!!!! But, yeah, I do remember them from school too!
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