If you’ve been following me for long, you know that my ‘workshop’ is out in the carriage house …
And it’s not heated. Plus we have to fit our cars in there in the winter.
So I haul all of my supplies inside the house before we get a freeze, and then I do most of my painting in the piano room.
I put a drop cloth over the piano and it becomes a workbench, and I keep the supplies I use most often in the Specimens cupboard.
It’s definitely not glamorous. And whenever we’re having guests I have to put everything away.
It’s also not very much space to work in.
So as fall approaches each year I start to pile up a bunch of small projects to work on after the Christmas season is over and I’m steadily working my way through that pile.
Today’s small project is a simple wooden tray that I picked up at a garage sale last summer.
It definitely seems to be homemade. You can see that the wood piece that makes up the bottom originally had hinges on it, and the one shorter side is a bit thinner than the others. Someone clearly cobbled it together out of bits and pieces they had on hand, you gotta love that.
After first painting the tray in Dixie Belle’s Dried Sage and deciding I didn’t like it (even though I’ve used Dried Sage on numerous projects that I loved), I ended up going with a very simple makeover. I added two coats of DB’s Drop Cloth. Once dry, I added some bits and pieces of French typography from my transfer scrap pile.
I used google translate to make sure I wasn’t putting nonsense on my tray. That first line, Tous droits réservé, is simple, it means ‘all rights reserved.’ Évreux is a place in France. And that bottom line is just a name, followed by the word ‘printer’. So, in other words, it could be considered an advertisement for a printer.
After the wording was in place, I added a small embellishment to the bottom of the tray too.
I’d considered going with something a bit more elaborate, but I figured most people would be putting stuff inside the tray and thus potentially covering that up anyway.
I sanded the edges of the tray to distress them, and then finished everything off with a coat of clear wax.
I added some old books, a pair of crusty old paint brushes in a ball jar, and an antique camera for styling.
You may remember that I purchased a dollhouse while out garage saling this summer.
It was a bargain at just $5. It needed a few repairs, but nothing major. I asked my handyman Ken to create a replacement shutter for the window next to the door, and he made quick work of that.
Ken also created a new window sash for the upper right window, and re-installed the glass in that lower window, which involved adding new stops to keep it in place.
I also needed to replace some of the ‘roof tiles’. Conveniently enough, I found a pack of popsicle sticks that were the exact size I needed for $1.50 at another garage sale.
I cut them to size and glued them in place.
Easy peasy.
As I was working on those repairs, I noticed that there was a signature on the bottom of the dollhouse.
Looks like Al made this dollhouse back in 1978. It’s held up pretty good for 45 years old, don’t you think?
Initially I decided to use the Dixie Belle Patina Paint to create an aged faux metal look to the roof. I first gave it a base coat of black with their Caviar paint, and then painted the shingles with their Bronze patina paint. Then while the 2nd coat of the Bronze was still wet, I spritzed on the green spray.
But that’s where things kind of fell apart. I started painting the body of the dollhouse with Dixie Belle’s Drop Cloth, but that warm white just wasn’t working with the bronze roof.
So then I decided to paint the body of the house with DB’s Sea Glass. And I sort of hated it. Sea Glass is a very pretty color, and it worked nicely with that verdigris patina on the roof, but the whole combo just wasn’t what I was envisioning for this makeover.
Then I reminded myself that my original idea for this house was to paint it white. All white. So that’s what I did next. I painted over everything with DB’s Drop Cloth.
But I wanted the shutters and front door to stand out just a bit more, so I mixed up a custom paint color using 50% Drop Cloth and 50% French Linen to create a nice, pale grey.
It’s just enough to let those features pop, without taking away from the monochromatic look I was going for.
I felt like the trim over the door was the ideal spot for typography of some kind, so I cobbled together an ‘address’ from the I.O.D. Label Ephemera transfer.
Perfect. I love it!
Once everything was painted, I distressed the edges a bit to make it look a little bit worn. I feel like distressing adds so much character to a piece, even a dollhouse.
I finished off the painted areas with some clear wax, then I used hot glue to affix some wreaths to the windows and door. I attached the lights around the roofline with some Stick-Um candle adhesive, which is basically a super sticky wax.
All of that Christmas frippery could be easily removed after the holidays. The Stick-Um residue can be removed with a hot soapy rag.
I didn’t do anything to the interior of the dollhouse except use a Magic Eraser to remove some pencil marks on one of the floors.
This way the future owner can dress it up with their own style.
To be honest, this ended up being one of those ‘what was I thinking?’ projects. I don’t need a dollhouse. I don’t have a spot for a dollhouse. In fact, I got rid of my own pretty spectacular dollhouse six years ago (more about that here).
But this dollhouse was a mere $5 investment, so really, what do I have to lose other than the time it took to paint … and then re-paint … it?
And it ended up being a rather fun project to work on.
I had actually planned on doing this well ahead of Christmas, because I thought it might be the perfect time to sell it. Wouldn’t it be adorable to find under the tree? While it would make a fantastic gift for a child, it would also just be fun to have as Christmas decor.
But once again, time got away from me and here we are with just one week to spare.
I went on Facebook Marketplace and Craigslist to see what kind of competition there will be for selling it and there were tons of dollhouses for sale there! I didn’t even take the time to count them all there were so many. So clearly trying to sell a dollhouse around Christmas is not a unique idea.
The prices for those similar to this one ranged from around $150 to $250. I’m going to price mine well below that though. I really just want it to go to a good home. If any of you locals are interested, be sure to check my ‘available for local sale‘ page for more details.
Meanwhile, I think I did right by this 1978 dollhouse.
In the bleak mid-winter, frosty winds may blow. But you also might stumble upon a fabulous estate sale when you least expect it.
Such was the case last Friday when my friend opK and I got together for a little shopping. She had seen an ad for an estate sale up in Centerville, MN which is about 20 minutes north of us so we decided to check it out.
As soon as we walked up to the property I knew we were in for a treat. Just take a look at the garage.
Those yellow metal motel chairs were fabulous, but a little out of my price range.
As was this fantastic wooden cart …
I could just picture that out in the garden holding a big Christmas tree all lit up. Unfortunately it was priced at $220 which was a bit high for me.
The garage was full of fun vintage items, and it was very tidy (definitely not always the case at estate sales).
The person who lived here clearly liked to keep things organized.
The entire house was open as well as the garage, but by the time I got in the house I’d picked up a few things to purchase so I couldn’t be fumbling around and taking photos with my phone. Suffice to say the house was also really cool with some amazing french doors, a wrap around porch, and views of the nearby lake. The decor was definitely dated, but all I could think as I went through was how amazing this house could be if someone updated it just a bit.
When I was checking out with all of my goodies, someone asked if the house was sold, or still going to be listed. The person running the checkout said she wasn’t sure but it was rumored that the house was going to be torn down and replaced with an apartment building, at which point there was a collective gasp amongst everyone in the room.
If the rumor is true, it certainly will be a shame.
Although I didn’t splurge on that awesome cart, I did bring home a few other goodies.
I was drawn to the painting because I thought it would make a great companion piece to my genuine Al Teeter .
I’m planning to use both of the paintings in the q branch when I complete its makeover this winter (promises, promises).
I always nab vintage books like these when I find them at a good price.
It probably seems a bit strange that I also picked up a bunch of old, gunky paint brushes.
But I have added transfers to these in the past and went on to sell a few of them.
I plan to use some of these in the q branch makeover too.
I never seem to be able to pass up ironstone when I see it either.
This platter is huge at 19″ across, it will probably go in the ‘to sell’ pile because it’s too large to fit in my Welsh cupboard where I display most of my ironstone.
I do love the shape of it, I have another smaller platter in this same octagonal shape.
I took a bit of a gamble with this next item.
I was banking on being able to take it apart and clean the glass. The dome was held in place with some kind of woodgrain looking tape. It took about 20 painstaking minutes with an exacto knife but I eventually got the tape off and was able to wash the glass.
That tiny little label on the base says “PERU” on it.
Does that mean these butterfly specimens are from Peru?
This sort of entomology taxidermy art has been seeing a resurgence in popularity lately. It works really well with the dark academia aesthetic. I’ll likely bring this into the shop as soon as I can figure out a way to do that safely. The glass is quite delicate and I don’t want to break it.
Finally, you may have noticed the green shutters in the background of my haul photo. I didn’t find those at the estate sale, instead they were from a shop in Forest Lake called Vintage Junky. We stopped in there after the estate sale. I plan to use them as part of my Christmas decor, so hopefully I’ll be sharing that soon.
It was an unexpected bonus to find such a fun sale in the middle of winter … well, really it’s just the beginning of winter, but I’m trying not to think about all of the winter that is still left to come. Hopefully we’ll find a few more of these random estate sales to tide us over until next spring!
Earlier this year I picked up this wooden crate at my friend Jackie’s garage sale.
Apparently it once held bombs. I’m not sure what she was doing with a box of bombs … uh oh, maybe I shouldn’t be saying ‘bomb’ so much, my blog is going to end up on some kind of a watch list.
The rope handles on the sides were intact, and I think they add a nice touch.
I didn’t want to alter the original stenciling on the crate, just in case someone … you know … likes it?
But the opposite side was completely blank, so I knew I could do something there.
I also thought this box would be the perfect size to hold a small tabletop sized Christmas tree. It is 10″ tall x 13.5″ wide x 12″ deep.
I went through my numerous Christmas stencils and decided that the smaller version of the Rudolph & Co stencil I had would fit quite nicely on the blank side of the box.
I stenciled it using Dixie Belle’s Caviar.
Next I pulled out this faux tabletop tree that I purchased at Target a few years back and it fit perfectly in the box.
Obviously this was a super quick and simple project. But how perfect is that box for a little Christmas tree?
I’ve brought this box into the shop this week, so if you’re local be sure to head to Reclaiming Beautiful in Stillwater if you want to check it out!
First up, I realized that I hadn’t mentioned that I drew Marguerite’s name as the winner of my Peachy Keen giveaway, so congrats to her!
Next, I also realized that it’s been a while since I posted about any of my garage sale or thrift store finds.
In fact, I checked back and I think the last post about a garage sale item makeover was back in August. Seriously, how in the world does time go by so quickly?
Well, despite the fact that almost two months have gone by since I last posted some finds, I have been getting out to garage sales nearly every week (not counting two weeks of traveling, and then a week of covid) with my friend opK. I don’t seem to be bringing home any major hauls, but I have found a couple of things here and there. It just never seems like quite enough stuff for a complete blog post.
For example, here’s my ‘haul’ from last week.
See? Not too exciting.
But let me share a bit of what I’ve done with some of these pieces.
Let’s just start with the stack of shaker boxes.
You know me, I have a problem resisting boxes of any kind.
The colors on these were a bit dated though, and I’m not sure anyone needs a complete stack of 7! So I decided to break them up into two sets, and give them an ombre paint job in shades from white to gray.
I started with the 4 smallest boxes.
They are all painted in Dixie Belle paints, starting from the top of the stack and working down I used Drop Cloth, Sawmill Gravy, French Linen and Hurricane Gray.
I added random bits of various transfers to the front of each. I had to search a bit to find sections that were small enough for these little boxes, but I used some of re.design with prima’s Classic Vintage Labels, and some of I.O.D.’s Traditional French Pots.
I also added a sweet little bee from re.design with prima’s French Labels to the top box lid.
I painted the larger 3 boxes in a similar fashion using the three lighter colors, and then found transfers to fit on them as well.
These scraps came from the same sets, along with the bits on the bottom two boxes that are from the small version of the Seeds transfer from prima.
I know it’s often difficult to really tell the size of items in photos, especially when there isn’t anything shown to provide scale. The biggest box is 7″ across, and the smallest is a mere 3″ across.
As I was looking around for items to stage them with, I realized that the smaller boxes would be pretty adorable on top of one of my mini dressers.
How cute is that? I may just have to keep those now.
Next up, you may have noticed the trio of amber bottles I found.
I knew I could give these a quick update with some faux apothecary labels.
Um, but wait a moment, didn’t I have three of them? Yeah, I broke one of them while washing them up. Drat.
After washing them, I used Mod Podge to add some faux labels. I shared this quick process and a source for a .pdf of the labels in a post back in February (here).
Next up, how about that clock?
It doesn’t have a lot going for it as a clock, but when I opened it up I realized that the clock face and mechanism would come right out leaving a cool little shadow box.
So I pulled that out, then painted the outside in Dixie Belle’s Drop Cloth. Then I freshened up the inside with a coat of their Caviar. Once dry, I added a small stencil to the inside back.
This stencil is from a pack of 6 x 6″ stencils that I ordered on Amazon last year for a few projects. Unfortunately, when I went to share the link for them I found that they are currently unavailable. I’m sure you could search out other small Christmas themed stencils though.
Anyway, after adding the stencil, I placed some bottle brush trees and a cute little carved reindeer inside the shadow box, and lit them all up with some fairy lights.
So cute! Having that stencil in the background really adds some dimension to the piece.
I did feel like the front needed just a little bit of quandification though, so I added some Tim Holtz transfers.
Last up is the lantern.
I liked the raw wood look on the sides, but the metal ‘roof’ looked a bit cheap up close.
So I decided to use some of Dixie Belle’s Patina Paint to give it more depth.
I started by painting the top with a base coat of DB’s Caviar (black chalk paint), then I painted on two coats of their Iron paint followed by the Green Spray to create a rusty finish (for a full tutorial on this product, check out this post).
Ahhh, so much better! To get that texture I stippled the paint on rather than brushing it. I advise doing that if you don’t want to see brush strokes in your finished look.
Next up I added some bottle brush trees with fairy lights inside the lantern.
Along with a little carved Santa.
The lights I had on hand ended up being a bit wonky, so I’m going to have to get some more fairy lights for this one. But you get the idea.
I’m in the midst of getting a lot of my Christmas merch ready for the shop, and most of what I’ve shared in this post will be heading over there soon! I’m trying not to rush the holiday season, but I have several really cool holiday projects completed already that I’m dying to share with you guys. So be sure to stay tuned!
I picked up this little tin pail at a garage sale recently.
My friend opK thought it may have originally been a lunch pail, but I wasn’t sure. It would only hold a rather small lunch. But I did a little online research and found identical pails being called ‘lunch pails’ as well, so she was right!
I suppose you could fit a hunk of homemade bread with butter, some hard boiled eggs and an apple inside. Isn’t that what children brought for lunch back in the olden days?
You definitely couldn’t put a Lunchables in there.
I didn’t much care for the original patina on this one, it wasn’t very pretty, so I decided it would be a good candidate for a paint job.
I started by cleaning it well and then giving it a coat of Dixie Belle’s B.O.S.S. to prevent any rust spots from bleeding through my paint. Next I painted the inside in another of Dixie Belle’s new Cottage Core colors, English Ivy.
I love that DB added this green to their line up. It reminds me a lot of the English green that I’ve been talking about this summer. I suspect I’m going to get a lot of use out of English Ivy.
I must point out that the lid is a really tight fit on the pail, so painting the inside probably wasn’t the best decision I’ve ever made. The paint would be worn off the edge of the interior in no time, so I decided to just go ahead and ‘pre-distress’ it.
I added some wax to both the edge of the lid and the edge of the pail to allow it to open and close more easily, but it’s still a tight fit.
I’ve already given you a little hint in that photo above as to what I did on the outside. After giving it two coats of Dixie Belle’s Drop Cloth, I added the I.O.D. Rose Chintz paint inlay to the sides of the pail.
Once the paint inlay was dry, I spray sealed it with some RustOleum matte clear sealer. Always remember that you have to seal the paint inlays with a spray to avoid reactivating the paint.
Then I added a few bits from the re.design with prima French Labels transfer to the lid.
I cut the bee in half horizontally, and applied the halves one at a time to accommodate the little ring handle on the lid.
I used some 220 grit sandpaper to distress some of the raised detail on the pail, then I gave everything a coat of clear wax.
I think this little lunch pail is totally adorable now.
You just never know what you’re going to find at a garage sale.
Last week my friend opK and I went up to the Chisago city-wide sales. That’s Chisago with an ‘s’ in the middle, not Chicago with a ‘c’. Chicago is the 3rd largest city in the U.S. with a population of 2.7 million people. Chisago has a population of 5,788 people and is located just under 40 miles north of us. Definitely not large, and I’m not even sure I would call it a city, it’s more of a town.
There were only a little over a dozen garage sales participating, but we also found a few random renegade sales to stop at. I call them ‘renegades’ because they are held by proprietors that didn’t bother to officially sign up for the city-wide sales, but are still having a sale during the event.
I didn’t come home with much, but it was still a fun day. The weather was gorgeous, the people were nice, and I brought home a handful of goodies starting with this swan planter.
As you may have noticed, I have a little bit of a non-collection of matte white pottery.
I’m no expert at identifying this stuff unless it is clearly marked with McCoy, Haeger or some other manufacturer’s name. The swan has a USA marking, but no manufacturer’s name.
But I did a little googling and I believe that this is a piece of Hull pottery, and is barely worth anything more than the $8 that I paid for it. Still, I’ll add the swan into my little non-collection for now.
Next up is this pair of wooden bobbins.
These were a mere $1.50 each, and I like to use them to hold ribbon.
I also picked up a handful of copper plant i.d. tags.
I’m not at all sure what the fate of these will be, but they were only $1 for all so I grabbed them. I like adding these to a gifted floral arrangement with a message on them (like ‘thank you’ or some such), I also like using them simply as a photo prop. But I also like using this style of plant tag for its intended purpose, as I did in my herb garden (although those weren’t copper).
Another fun find in Chisago was this vintage first aid kit.
It’s in rough shape, but I think I can freshen it up and add a protective clear coat. I’m not sure what to do about the contents though.
I’m leaning towards tossing them because I think they are kind of gross. Although I’d keep the little First Aid Guide booklet. I’m sure there are some purists out there who believe in keeping these sorts of things intact, but I’m not one of them.
I plan to sell it, and I think it will have more of a market if it’s actually functional rather than just decorative. A future owner could fill it with fresh first aid supplies and keep it on their boat, or in their camper van, or on a shelf in the bathroom where it could be both decorative and functional.
What do you think?
I’ve been saving my find of the day for last, although if you’ve been paying attention there have been little glimpses of it in the background of my photos.
Yep! I bought a genuine fake Matisse at a garage sale.
The woman selling this told us that her mother was an art teacher, and one of her students painted this. Art students often practice by copying a master’s work.
It is very clearly marked on the back, so it’s not as though this was any sort of attempt at forgery or anything.
So no, I didn’t actually find a real Matisse at a garage sale. Instead, I now own a genuine Al Teeter.
The original Matisse is called The Green Stripe … or The Green Line … I’ve seen both names online. It is a portrait of Matisse’s wife. Here it is …
I definitely don’t know enough about art to judge whether or not Al did a good job of copying this painting. Although it does seem as though Al’s made his ‘green stripe’ a bit more obvious than the original Matisse.
In addition, his brush strokes aren’t quite as bold, and some of his colors are a bit off.
Nonetheless, I kind of love the Al Teeter.
Once again, I’m debating. Do I keep the Al Teeter? Or do I sell it? I haven’t made up my mind just yet. What do you think?
Whenever I share items that are going to be outside in the garden, I’m frequently asked the same question, ‘will it hold up outside?’
And sometimes the legit answer is that I don’t really know. Especially if I’ve only recently started using a particular product and haven’t had a chance to test it over time. But I’ve got a few years of experience under my belt now, so I thought I’d give you some honest feedback on how some of my things have held up.
Let’s start with transfers.
I added a Classic Vintage Label from re.design with prima to a watering can back in early 2020. I did not use any sort of topcoat over it, although a topcoat is recommended for transfers.
I used it in my front window box that summer, and it held up great for year 1.
I don’t always leave my watering cans outside in the winter, but after leaving it outside for all of summer 2021, I also used it on an outdoor Christmas tree that year.
At that time it was holding up quite nicely.
For summer 2022, I had it hanging from a cupboard door sign on our deck.
The transfer was starting to deteriorate a bit then.
I stored it in the potting shed last winter, and then brought it out again in the spring.
Here’s how it was looking as of a few days ago.
Hmmmm, not so good, right?
So there you go, a transfer without a topcoat on galvanized metal will last about three years.
But here’s the good news. It was super simple to remove that deteriorating transfer using steel wool and a little water.
It barely even took much elbow grease, it just scrubbed right off without damaging the watering can in any way.
So if you want to add a little something to a galvanized piece, but you want to have the option to remove it down the line, a transfer without a topcoat is a great choice.
And you know what, I really liked that transfer on that particular watering can.
So I did it again.
I added back the very same Classic Vintage Label. And once again, I opted not to seal it. I like the idea that it’s somewhat temporary. In a few years I may decide that I prefer my watering cans without labels. Or maybe I’ll want to try some other sort of decoration on it. Who knows?
You’re probably now wondering if adding a topcoat over the transfer will improve it’s durability on an outdoor item, and unfortunately I have to say that I don’t know. I haven’t actually tried that.
Now, how about adhesive vinyl cut with a Cricut machine?
I added our house number to an ironstone platter way back in 2014 after getting the idea from this pin on pinterest.
source: onsuttonplace.com
I simply used my Cricut machine to cut adhesive vinyl to make mine.
I have it hanging outside next to our back door. It’s up all year round, including winter.
And 9 years later it is still going strong. Honestly, I’m rather amazed that it has held up over all this time. I totally expected it to start peeling after one season.
But nope, still looks good.
I still have a few of my pieces of garden china scattered around the garden too.
These were also cut from vinyl on the Cricut. I put them away in winter, but they stay out the rest of the year … and they get wet every time I water my pots. But again, they still look great.
The painted ‘signs’ that I create with stencils and chalk style paint hold up just fine outside too.
Even when they are simply top-coated with some of Dixie Belle’s Big Mama’s Butta, as that one is.
I tend to change these out seasonally, so none of them are out all year long. But I do bring them out year after year and they continue to look great.
Next up is the general category of furniture that was meant to be inside, but I’m using it outside … starting with my repurposed guest bed.
I have to report mixed results with this one. The headboard with its I.O.D. paint inlay has held up fantastically well. And I left it up all winter.
Unfortunately, the footboard planter is not doing as well, even though I put it away for the winter. The headboard gets a bit of protection from rain by the overhang of the carriage house roof, but the footboard really doesn’t. It also gets a lot of splash up from the driveway. Then add in the fact that I have placed heavy planters on a shelf that is attached to the back of the footboard, which was probably not meant to hold that much weight, and the end result is this.
The bottom trim is pulling away, and that has created a bit crack in the paint, which is now allowing more water to get in there.
I plan to pull this apart to see if we can shore it up a bit, and then repaint it, sometime before the snow flies. Or maybe that project will wait until next spring. Either way, I’m not giving up on it just yet.
You may remember that I have used dining room chairs as ‘peony cages’.
and over time all but one of them have fallen apart including the one shown above.
I do have its matching chair still wrangling a peony out next to the potting shed, but I’m sure it’s on its last legs.
And if you’re noticing, yes, this is the one peony I have that has ended up with a fair amount of powdery mildew this year.
Bottom line, indoor wood furniture is not meant to used outside and chances are good that any glued joints will fail after a few years.
Iron furniture will hold up a bit better, and if you like a little rust (as I do), it can work out great outside.
I have an old iron headboard that supports the Annabelle hydrangea next to our deck.
I also have an old iron bed that I keep trying to grow clematis on, and somehow it never works out.
I once had an absolutely spectacular Nelly Moser clematis in this spot, and one spring it just didn’t come back. I’ve planted at least three replacements of different varieties since then, and not a single one has taken off. I can only guess that the amount of shade on that garden has increased over the years. The Nelly Moser is a variety of clematis that is more shade tolerant as well, so maybe I need to try that particular variety again.
I do have one other indoor iron item in the garden, well, two really, a pair of andirons that I grabbed free at the curb.
I’ve placed them on either side of my metal arbor.
One last product that I’ve used on pieces for the garden that I want to include in this post is the Patina paint line from Dixie Belle.
I used the Bronze paint with the green spray on a concrete Japanese lantern …
and on a terracotta buddha.
And I’ve used the Iron paint with the green spray to make numerous garden ornaments rusty.
Some of these items have held up better than others, and that depends on the material underneath the paint rather than the Patina Paint itself. Terracotta tends to allow moisture to wick through from the backside, which then causes pieces to deteriorate. But plastic or metal items are holding up perfectly well, even over several years, and after being outside all winter.
It’s also super easy to spot repair your outdoor pieces with the Patina Paint when necessary, as I did with my buddha.
I hope some of you found this info helpful. If you have any questions about how well particular items have held up outdoors that I didn’t answer above, be sure to leave a comment and ask!
Today I’m sharing the makeover of that wooden medicine cabinet that my friend opK found for me at a garage sale.
After giving it a thorough cleaning out in the yard using some Dawn dish soap and the garden hose, I scuff sanded it. Then I painted over just the hinges with some of Dixie Belle’s B.O.S.S. The hinges were a bit rusty, and the B.O.S.S. will help keep that rust from coming back through new paint.
Next I painted it inside and out with Dixie Belle’s Sawmill Gravy. Once that was dry, I added part of the Maison de Paris maxi transfer from re.design with prima. This transfer includes two 12″ x 12″ sheets with coordinating designs on them. I used one full 12″ x 12″ design on the front of the cabinet …
Isn’t that pretty? The entire transfer is a charcoal grey except for the pop of purple in the lavender sprigs coming out of the urns.
It’s a super subtle detail, but oh so pretty.
I used half of the other 12″ x 12″ transfer sheet on the inside of the cabinet.
The color is a bit more obvious in that one.
I did debate painting the inside of the cabinet in a lavender color, but ultimately decided that purple can be a bit polarizing. People either love it, or they hate it. So I felt like the cabinet would be more marketable with a more neutral color choice with only the merest hints of purple.
I also only gave the inside back of the cabinet one coat of Sawmill Gravy, and then sanded over the rough wood to distress it. I wanted to retain a little bit of that rustic barnwood-like feel.
I felt like the front of the cabinet needed just a little something more at the bottom of the door to balance out the transfer up above, so I added a little bit of wording from the old Memoir transfer from re.design with prima.
One of my readers, Monica, sent me two boxes full of transfers a while ago. She’s packing up for a move to Florida (hmmm, lucky her!) and thus cleaning out her stash. It was so nice of her to share her cast offs with me. This Memoir transfer was one of the many that she sent (thanks again Monica!).
It worked well here because it’s in the old dark grey color that all of those original prima transfers came in, which paired nicely with the newer Maxi transfer.
The final step in this makeover was to add a coat of clear wax over everything, inside and out.
I’m pretty sure that it goes without saying that the new look is a bit of improvement over the old.
What do you think?
This cabinet is for sale locally, check out my ‘available for local sale’ page for more details.
As always, thank you to Dixie Belle Paint Co for providing the B.O.S.S. and paint used for this project.
My friend opK and I headed out to some random garage sales last week and although I didn’t find much, I did bring home a couple of goodies that I thought I’d share with you.
First up, a fabulous toolbox!
I couldn’t pass that one up, it came with a tray …
and a few random magnets.
I don’t think I’ll be hanging onto the magnets though.
I also picked up this little aluminum (?) bucket with a lid.
Both of those items are going to get a makeover.
I somehow ended up with a bit of a color scheme going with my next purchase, a stack of vintage books.
The colors on those books almost perfectly match the toolbox.
I did pick out a couple of red and blue books too though.
Looking at all of these books sent me on a little trip down memory lane. As a teenager, I read pretty much anything I could get my hands on by Phyllis A. Whitney, Victoria Holt and Philippa Carr … although I just discovered that Victoria Holt and Philippa Carr were the same person writing under different pseudonyms, who knew?
I wonder if I would still enjoy reading them today? I may have to crack one open to find out.
As for Booth Tarkington, I could have sworn that he was a famous football player. LOL. I have him mixed up with Fran Tarkenton who played for the Vikings in the 60’s and 70’s. Apparently Booth Tarkington is actually one of only four novelists to win the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction more than once.
That’s about it for my very small turquoise haul from last week, although I’ll also share this fabulous old medicine cabinet that opK picked up for me at an earlier sale.
It’s just a simple primitive wood box with some narrow shelves inside, but it’s going to be a fun one to make over. In fact, I’ve already gotten started on it. I’ll be sure to share it soon, so stay tuned.
I plan to use some of these in the q branch makeover too.
As you may have noticed, I have a little bit of a non-collection of matte white pottery.
q is for quandie 