Category: giveaways.

better not pout.

Published on by Quandie49 Comments

Today I’m sharing the gift that I put together for my Secret Santa recipient at work.  Since we’ve exchanged our gifts by now, it’s safe to go public with this one.

I started out with another crusty old toolbox that my picker found for me.

When they start out this crusty, plus are an unappealing color like … hmmm … what can I call that color that is blog appropriate? … I like to give them new life with paint.

In this case I also decided it was a good idea to seal it (after washing it thoroughly of course).

This time I used the Dixie Belle BOSS as a sealer.  I gave it one coat inside and out and let it dry 24 hours before painting.  I probably could have gotten away with painting sooner this time, but the BOSS is most effective if given a day to dry.  Better safe than sorry, right?

Next I painted the entire outside of the box in two coats of Dixie Belle’s Drop Cloth.  Once that was dry, I taped off a red cross and then painted that plus the inside of the box in Honky Tonk Red.

I sanded the edges to distress and then added one of the newest re.design with prima transfers.

I bet you guys are going to love this new set of transfers as much as I do.  This one is called Classic Vintage Labels and contains a collection of 27 ‘labels’.  These are going to be perfect for use on clay pots, galvanized watering cans, glass jars … the possibilities are endless.

I decided to use a more durable top coat than wax on the inside of the box so that it would hold up to potential liquid spills (based on the contents, which you’ll see in a minute), so I pulled out Dixie Belle’s Clear Coat Flat.  I applied it using a new to me tool, their blue sponge.  To use, simply dip the sponge in the clear coat and wipe it on.  It worked really well for this project.

My red and white color scheme had a double meaning.  First, I wanted the box to look like a first aid kit (sort of an ‘open in case of emergency’ vibe) and second, it also has a peppermint theme.

I’ve included all of the ingredients for making Peppermint Patties.  In case you aren’t familiar, that’s basically hot chocolate with peppermint schnapps.

I threw in this pair of vintage shot glasses that I found at an estate sale …

Plus this cute mug from Hobby Lobby …

You might think I was super creative when I thought to add some broken candy cane stir sticks to my photos, but that wasn’t quite how it happened.  Actually, as I was setting up for my photo shoot I dropped the mug with the sticks inside.  Fortunately the mug survived the fall, but every single one of the candy canes broke.

Luckily I just happened to have a second package of them so my photo shoot was salvaged and I decided to put the broken sticks to use as props for my photos.

Hopefully my Secret Santa recipient loved her gift!

I know I really enjoyed putting it all together!

Thank you to Dixie Belle Paint Co and re.design with prima marketing for providing the products used in this project.

day 12.

Published on by Quandie107 Comments

Welcome to the final day of my 12 days of giveaways!

I first want to say a huge thank you to everyone who participated by leaving a comment.  I so wish that each and every one of you could be a winner … well, in my eyes you are all winners … but I wish I had enough prizes to share with all.  I very much appreciate each of you and want to again say that without you, there would be no q is for quandie.  So thank you for following along, leaving the occasional comment, or otherwise supporting my blog.

A couple of you have been asking if I was going to announce the names of all of my winners, and I have to confess that I had to make some time to pull together an organized list.  So I sat down with my coffee this past weekend a came up with the list:

Giveaway no. 1 was already shipped out to Susan Williams.

Giveaway no. 2 went to Laura Hopwood.

Giveaway no. 3 went to Kim Moran.

Giveaway no. 4 was shipped out to Jennifer Knopf.

The lucky winner of giveaway no. 5 was Melissa Sullivan.

Giveaway no. 6 (which is yet to be shipped, because I only want to send Mr. Q to the post office one more time in this busy holiday season) will go to Regina (please note, I won’t reveal last names if the winner did not make it public in her comment).

Giveaway no. 7 went to Paris Burns, who happens to be a neighbor of mine so she stopped by and picked up her prize.  Paris is an amazing gardener and she lives near the park where Mr. Q and I walk most days, so I’ll be looking forward to seeing some rusty stuff in her garden next summer!

Giveaway no. 8 was won by Wendy Olgine.

Giveaway no. 9 was won by Debbie Payne (check your email Debbie, I’m waiting to hear back from you).

Giveaway no. 10 was won by Carrie (Carrie, you also should check your email if you’re reading this), a name near and dear to my heart since my grandmother’s name was Carrie.

The deadline to comment on Friday’s post and be in the running for giveaway no. 11 was last night at midnight, and no, I don’t stay up late to draw the name of a winner.  I’ll draw the name later today, but your comments are time stamped so any comment left after midnight will not be eligible to win.

And this brings us to giveaway no 12.  I wish I had some kind of amazing grand finale prize, you know, like a new car or a trip to Italy.  But instead I have another complete set of the same stuff that made up prize no. 11.

So this gives you a 2nd chance to win these fabulous products from Fusion and Homestead House!  Not quite as exciting as a car, but still a fabulous prize.

Thank you to Homestead House and Fusion for sponsoring this giveaway by providing all of the products I’m giving away today.  In addition, extra thanks to all of the companies that provided items for my 12 days of giveaways including Homestead House Milk Paint, Fusion Mineral Paint, redesign with prima marketing, Dixie Belle Paint Co and Maison de Stencils.

The rules:  to be eligible to win today’s prize leave a comment on this blog post.  If you can’t think of anything to say, tell me if you’re a Scrooge or more like Buddy the Elf this time of year.  Your comment must be left on the blog, not on Facebook or Instagram.  You are not required to follow my blog, although it would be awesome if you did!

I will randomly draw the name of a winner for today’s prize from all of the comments left on this post by Wednesday, December 25, 2019 at the stroke of midnight (U.S. Central time).

The fine print: no purchase necessary, you must be 18 years of age or older to win, void where prohibited by law, the number of eligible entries received determines the odds of winning, approximate retail value of prize is $100, if the prize is not claimed by Friday, December 27, another name may be drawn at random to win, blah, blah, blah.

Good luck!

homestead house milk paint.

Published on by Quandie106 Comments

When I decided to do this 12 days of giveaways thing, I reached out to my friends at Fusion/Homestead House and they were super gracious and provided some great stuff for me to give away.

First, a little background info for you all, because this all gets a little confusing sometimes.  Homestead House Milk Paint is a Canadian company that has been around since the 1980’s.  They also have been manufacturing Miss Mustard Seed’s Milk Paint since 2012.  The MMS Milk Paint is branded differently (the packaging looks different) and comes in color palette that Marian Parsons (a.k.a. Miss Mustard Seed) developed herself.

However, aside from colors and branding, these two products are manufactured by the same people.

Check out all of the gorgeous colors available in Homestead House Milk Paint here.

Fusion Mineral Paint is an off-shoot of Homestead House too.  Fusion paint is an acrylic paint though, not milk paint.  Regardless of whether we’re talking about Fusion Mineral Paint, Homestead House Milk Paint or Miss Mustard Seed Milk Paint, the one common thread that runs through all of these products is the company’s commitment to high quality non-toxic paint and wax.

If you are someone that paints a lot (like me), you really need to be aware of what you are exposing yourself to on a regular basis.  So be sure that you are using a product that is safe for both you and the environment.  And if you are using a more hazardous product, be sure to use the proper protective gear such as gloves, eye protection and/or air masks.

One of the colors of Homestead House Milk Paint that I’ll be giving away today is Barn Red.

I used it on a pair of faux ski’s that I painted and stenciled back in 2017.

Some of my other favorite Homestead House Milk Paint colors include Maritime Blue, which is the really pretty periwinkle blue that I used on this watering can …

And Laurentien, which is the fabulous aqua that I used on these small vintage chairs …

I tested several of their shades of yellow …

before landing on Ochre for the Jenny Lind bed in my guest room …

They have some great neutrals too, like Bedford which is the light grey on this beautiful dresser.

I consider Midnight Blue to be a neutral too, and it was gorgeous on this dresser.

And of course there is Coal Black which I used on our master bed.

If you are a lover of Miss Mustard Seed’s milk paint but want to branch out and explore more colors, you really should check out the Homestead House Milk Paint line.

If you’re familiar with Fusion Mineral Paint, you may have noticed that many of the Fusion colors are the same as the Homestead House Milk Paint colors (like Laurentien, Coal Black, Bedford and Midnight Blue).

This brings me to day 11 of my 12 days of giveaways.  In addition to the Barn Red milk paint, today’s prize also contains a package of Homestead House Milk Paint in a color called Soldier Blue.

Um, hello.  Can you say gorgeous?!  I haven’t tried this color yet, but I kept a package of it for myself and can’t wait to use it.  It looks like just the right blue for Pantone’s 2020 color of the year, doesn’t it?

This prize also includes an array of Fusion waxes including their metallic waxes in Rose Gold, Copper and Pearl, their clear furniture wax and the Homestead House Antiquing Wax.  You’ll also get a package of the Fusion Fresco, which is a powder used to add texture to your paint.  I’m also including another fabulous Staalmeester brush.

Thank you to Homestead House and Fusion for sponsoring this giveaway by providing all of the products I’m giving away today!

The rules:  to be eligible to win today’s prize leave a comment on this blog post.  If you can’t think of anything to say, just let me know whether or not you’ve tried milk paint.  Your comment must be left on the blog, not on Facebook or Instagram.  You are not required to follow my blog, although it would be awesome if you did!

I will randomly draw the name of a winner for today’s prize from all of the comments left on this post by Sunday, December 22, 2019 at the stroke of midnight (U.S. Central time).

The fine print: no purchase necessary, you must be 18 years of age or older to win, void where prohibited by law, the number of eligible entries received determines the odds of winning, approximate retail value of prize is $100 if the prize is not claimed by Thursday, December 26, another name will be drawn at random to win, blah, blah, blah.

Good luck!

the stockings were hung.

Published on by Quandie97 Comments

I get a lot of my inspiration from pinterest, and I bet a few of you do too.  Quite a while back (probably at least 4 or 5 years ago) I pinned this …

I wish I could give credit for this photo, but there were no links or watermarks or anything.  I really loved the look of that painted and stenciled sock stretcher.

So I started snatching up sock stretchers when I saw them at garage or estate sales.

In case you’ve never heard of sock stretchers (or sock blockers), they are used to keep your woolen socks from shrinking as they dry.  You wash the socks, and then put them over the sock stretcher to dry.

Based on the numbers stamped on the backs, I’d say you must have been able to buy them in your size thus keeping your socks shaped just right for your feet.

The thing I can’t figure out is why every time I’ve seen them at sales, the seller has just one of them.  Wouldn’t you at least need to have a pair?  I don’t know.  But check out this article for more info on sock stretchers.

Anyway, I pulled out my selection of sock stretchers to give them a little makeover for Christmas.  I started by painting them in Dixie Belle’s Sawmill Gravy.  Turns out that a couple of them were bleeders.  This provided me with a great opportunity to show you what that looks like in a side by side comparison.

These were both painted in one coat of Sawmill Gravy. The one on top has an orange-ish stain that is bleeding through the paint.  This was easily fixed by adding a coat of Dixie Belle’s BOSS, letting it dry overnight, and then painting over it.  Then one more coat of Sawmill Gravy was all it needed.

Next I pulled out some of the new stencils that I received from Maison de Stencils.  This time I used Dixie Belle’s Gravel Road paint to do my stenciling.  I like using Dixie Belle paint for stenciling because it’s nice and thick.  People often ask for tips on getting a crisp look with stencils.  Using a thicker paint like the Dixie Belle paint, or re.design with Prima Marketing’s Chalk Paste, helps keep your paint from seeping under the edges of your stencil.

I didn’t use any of the stencils ‘as is’ exactly, instead I just placed portions of words where I thought they looked best on the sock stretchers.  I tried to space them out so they looked uniform, but also so that they filled in most of the space.

Once the paint was dry, I sanded lightly and then gave them a coat of wax.  Some of them needed holes drilled into the top so that I could hang them with string.

I think maybe I need to add some sprigs of greenery to the tops of mine like the one in the inspiration photo has.

In the meantime, the stockings are hung on the pine cupboard with care.  In hopes that St. Nicholas will … well, I guess he can’t really fill them up with any goodies, now can he?

Now, for today’s giveaway!  If you’ve been following along, today is day 10 of my 12 days of giveaways.  I’ve drawn names for the winners of prizes 1 through 8 so far.  You can still leave a comment to win prize 9 from Monday if you leave a comment on that post by midnight tonight.  If your name is drawn as a winner, I will notify you by email so be sure you’re checking your mail.

Today’s prize package includes lots of fun stuff to use when stenciling.

If I draw your name at random you will receive 4 stencils from Maison de Stencils including the very handy grain sack stripe stencil.  Plus these re.design with Prima Marketing products; the mini paint roller (which works fantastically when doing larger all over stencil work like on my velvet inspired wrapping paper), a 1″ stencil brush, their chalk paste in Iron Gate and Vintage Lace and their Decor Wax in Diamond Dust.  Did you know you can stencil with their Decor Wax?  Check out this post to learn more about that technique.

Thank you to Maison de Stencils for sponsoring this giveaway by providing the stencils, and to Prima Marketing for providing the roller, brush, chalk paste and decor wax.  Also, thank you to Dixie Belle Paint Co for supplying the paint I used on my stockings.

The rules:  to be eligible to win today’s prize leave a comment on this blog post.  If you can’t think of anything to say, just tell me, have you seen any good pinterest inspiration lately?  Your comment must be left on the blog, not on Facebook or Instagram.  You are not required to follow my blog, although it would be awesome if you did!

I will randomly draw the name of a winner for today’s prize from all of the comments left on this post by Friday, December 20, 2019 at the stroke of midnight (U.S. Central time).

The fine print: no purchase necessary, you must be 18 years of age or older to win, void where prohibited by law, the number of eligible entries received determines the odds of winning, approximate retail value of prize is $100 if the prize is not claimed by Sunday, December 22, another name will be drawn at random to win, blah, blah, blah.

Good luck!

flower power.

Published on by Quandie122 Comments

Have you guys heard?  The Pantone color of the year for 2020 is Classic Blue.

I think someone at re.design with prima must have had the inside scoop on this because one of their new transfers that is being officially released today is a gorgeous floral design called Cosmic Roses that has lots of Classic Blue.  As soon as it arrived in my preview box I knew I had to find the perfect piece to put it on so I started surfing Craigslist.

I really couldn’t believe my luck when I snagged this piece.  Sure, it needed a bit of cosmetic work.  It also needed some small repairs including replacing some glides inside to help keep the drawers straight.  I also added a bit of glue here and there, in particular the veneer on the bottom of each side was loose and had been chipping off.  But for the most part it was in good shape, and it was exactly what I was looking for to showcase this gorgeous new transfer.

Once the repairs were done I also removed those drawer pulls from the bottom drawer and filled the extra holes with Dixie Belle’s Mud.  I also removed the casters.  They were handy for easily moving the dresser around, but obviously not original to the piece and they looked a bit weird to me.  They sort of make the dresser look like a kid playing dress up in mama’s high heels, right?

Next I cleaned the entire piece with TSP substitute.  I realized as I was cleaning it and my white rag was turning slightly orange-ish that this piece would likely be a bleeder.  So I painted a test spot to see what would happen.  Sure enough, the stain bled through my paint.  So I coated the entire thing with some Dixie Belle BOSS and let that dry overnight.

Then came two coats of Dixie Belle’s Sawmill Gravy.

I’d call this color a pale greige.  It definitely has a warm grey undertone, but also leans a a bit beige … so, greige.  It’s one of those chameleon colors that really changes depending on what color is next to it.  I knew it would work beautifully with the blues and greens in the transfer though.

Overall the transfer was just a few inches wider than the dresser so I decided to wrap the ends around the sides, which worked out perfectly.

When I got to the bottom of the dresser I had about 5″ left over.  In hindsight, I think I would have been happier had I centered the design on my dresser vertically as well as horizontally.  But hindsight is always 20/20, right?  I did decide to bring the design all the way down to the bottom trim though.  I also carried it over onto the legs.

By the way, this transfer comes in 6 pieces.  To read more about how to apply these large transfers, check out my how-to post here.

Once the transfer was in place, I sanded the edges of the piece lightly to distress and then I waxed this piece with a new product coming soon from Fusion.

They are coming out with two versions of their furniture wax that are scented with pure essential oils.  The one I used is called Hills of Tuscany and is described as ‘citrus forward, balanced with beautiful herbal scents and a hint of floral’, and I have to say that description really hits the nail on the head.  It smells absolutely amazing.  I tend to be a bit particular about scents, and I have to say that I love this one.  This wax is a total pleasure to use.

The final touch for this dresser was to replace all of the knobs with these beautiful glass knobs from D Lawless Hardware.  These are their reproduction depression glass knobs that come in three sizes.

I used the largest size (1.5″) on this dresser.  I think this piece tends to look a little smaller in photos than it really is.  It is 45″ wide and 36″ tall (without its high heels), so it needed a larger knob.

I brought in my blue chippy chair for staging because it worked perfectly with the blues in the transfer.

But I also wanted to draw out the green, so I also used this old green garden tote that I usually keep in my pantry.

I think the Cosmic Roses transfer has a bit of a 70’s flower power vibe.  At least it takes me back to my days of daisy patches.  Make love, not war. Don’t trust anyone over 30.  Can you dig it?

It’s pretty groovy, don’t you think?

Now, not to worry, I haven’t forgotten that today is day 9 of my 12 days of giveaways.  I wish I could give away the Cosmic Roses transfers, but since it’s only just coming out today I don’t have a spare on hand.  Same with the Hills of Tuscany Fusion wax, which is also just being unveiled this week.  So instead today’s prize includes the Beauty of Life transfer, some unscented Fusion furniture wax, a Homestead House antiquing wax (which is the same formula as Miss Mustard Seed antiquing wax, just different branding) and a Staalmeester brush.  This is actually my favorite brush to use with the Fusion wax.

Thank you to Fusion/Homestead House for sponsoring this giveaway by providing the waxes and the brush, and to re.design with prima for providing the transfer.

The rules:  to be eligible to win today’s prize leave a comment on this blog post.  If you can’t think of anything to say, just tell me if you remember the 70’s!  Your comment must be left on the blog, not on Facebook or Instagram.  You are not required to follow my blog, although it would be awesome if you did!

I will randomly draw the name of a winner for today’s prize from all of the comments left on this post by Wednesday, December 18, 2019 at the stroke of midnight (U.S. Central time).

The fine print: no purchase necessary, you must be 18 years of age or older to win, void where prohibited by law, the number of eligible entries received determines the odds of winning, approximate retail value of prize is $90, if the prize is not claimed by Friday, December 20, another name will be drawn at random to win, blah, blah, blah.

Good luck!

And one last thing, if you’re local and in need of a dresser with flower power, be sure to check my available for local sale page to see if this one is still available.

a magical combination.

Published on by Quandie113 Comments

Welcome back for day 8 of my 12 days of giveaways!

Over the past couple of years I’ve grown to love the combination of mid mod furniture and Fusion’s Park Bench green.

This has been an absolutely magical combination for me.

I’ve practically lost count of how many pieces I’ve done in this color.

It’s rather comical almost.

At first glance you might not realize that all of these photos are of different pieces of furniture, but they are.

This gorgeous green just makes pieces fly off the shelf.  I really should do even more of them, but I get bored doing the same look over and over.  And I’m sure you guys would get bored seeing the same look over and over.

But periodically I see a piece for sale on Craigslist or Facebook Marketplace and I know it will look amazing in Park Bench so I snatch it up.

The frosting on the cake is adding gold hardware.  In some cases I just purchase new hardware, some of my favorites include these knobs and pulls from Hobby Lobby …

But if at all possible I prefer to keep the original hardware and just spruce it up with some gold wax from Prima Marketing.

I love using this stuff on hardware.  It dries hard and once dry can be buffed to add a little more sheen.  I can’t really say that it holds up perfectly to years of hard use, but I do feel that it wears more gracefully than spray paint.

For day 8 I’m giving away a 16.9 oz jar of Fusion paint in Park Bench and a 1.69 oz container of Prima Marketing’s Decor Wax in Eternal, so the lucky winner can recreate this look.  Then, just to round things out I’m also throwing in a 16.9 oz jar of my other favorite Fusion paint color called Laurentien plus a fabulous Staalmeester brush.

Thank you to Fusion Mineral Paint for sponsoring this giveaway by providing the paint and the Staalmeester brush, and to Prima Marketing for providing the Decor Wax.

The rules:  to be eligible to win today’s prize leave a comment on this blog post.  If you can’t think of anything to say, just tell me, when it comes to mid-mod are you a fan or does it give you bad flashbacks to your childhood?  Your comment must be left on the blog, not on Facebook or Instagram.  You are not required to follow my blog, although it would be awesome if you did!

I will randomly draw the name of a winner for today’s prize from all of the comments left on this post by Sunday, December 15, 2019 at the stroke of midnight (U.S. Central time).

The fine print: no purchase necessary, you must be 18 years of age or older to win, void where prohibited by law, the number of eligible entries received determines the odds of winning, approximate retail value of prize is $65, if the prize is not claimed by Tuesday, December 17, another name will be drawn at random to win, blah, blah, blah.

Good luck!

getting rusty.

Published on by Quandie64 Comments

It feels like it has been so long since I’ve painted an actual piece of furniture that my skills are getting rusty.  Although I suppose kid-size chairs and sleds sort of count, but they’re not like ‘real’ furniture!  Not to worry though, I’ve been working on a piece that I’m going to share next Monday.  It will have one of re.design with Prima’s newest transfers on it.  Official reveal date for those is December 16, so I’m planning to post it then.  Be sure to stay tuned.

In the meantime, speaking of rusty, it’s time for giveaway no. 7!

I’m sure that you all know by now that I am a fan of rust.  Whenever possible I try to retain an original rusty finish like the one on my front window box shown above.

But sometimes life doesn’t give you authentic rusty goodness so you have to fake it.  That’s where Dixie Belle’s Patina Collection comes in.

One of my favorite projects with the patina kit was the makeover of a plaster pedestal for the garden.

In case you’re wondering how this stuff holds up, I painted the pedestal in July 2018 and it held up perfectly well outside all summer.  I stored it for the winter and then last summer I decided to add the Patina Guard top coat to it just to test out that product.

In the end, I preferred the look of the faux rust more without the Patina Guard.  However, if you’re working on a piece of furniture or something that will come into contact with clothing, you will want to add a top coat to prevent the rust from rubbing off onto things.

Last summer I also used the rusty patina on a pair of garden urns.

This time I opted to allow them to weather without a top coat.  I’m also leaving them out all winter, so we’ll see how that goes.

So far, so good though.  They still look awesome and as you can see they are experiencing some challenging conditions.  And yes, I do believe the sign hanging over my door may seem a tad ironic in this photo 😉

If you want to learn more about how to use this stuff, check out my how-to post here.

I should also mention that I use the Iron paint and the Green spray to create my rusty looks.  The Copper and Bronze paints with the Blue spray will create more of a verdigris effect.

Now, it’s confession time.  I accidentally neglected to order the Green spray for my giveaway.  Drat!  What was I thinking?  So I apologize, the winner is not actually going to get everything needed to create a rusty finish.  However, they are going to get a great prize package that includes the Iron paint, the Copper paint, the Prime Start, the Patina Guard and the Blue Spray.  Hopefully that will be enough to create some awesome patina’s, but you’ll have to order some of the Green spray if you want to create rust.

Thank you to Dixie Belle Paint Co for sponsoring this giveaway by providing the Patina Collection.

The rules:  to be eligible to win today’s prize leave a comment on this blog post.  If you can’t think of anything to say, just tell me how you would use a faux patina.  Your comment must be left on the blog, not on Facebook or Instagram.  You are not required to follow my blog, although it would be awesome if you did!

I will randomly draw the name of a winner for today’s prize from all of the comments left on this post by Friday, December 13, 2019 at the stroke of midnight (U.S. Central time).

The fine print: no purchase necessary, you must be 18 years of age or older to win, void where prohibited by law, the number of eligible entries received determines the odds of winning, approximate retail value of prize is $90, if the prize is not claimed by Sunday, December 15, another name will be drawn at random to win, blah, blah, blah.

Good luck!