Category: just stuff.

just stuff that is cool.

we’re talking trash.

Published on by Quandie11 Comments

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.

winter isn’t over yet.

Published on by Quandie32 Comments

Spending last week in sunny Las Vegas and then returning home to sub-zero temps reminded me … winter isn’t over yet.  At least not here in Minnesota.  We still have plenty of winter left.

I don’t know about you, but I’m usually at a loss when it comes to decorating after the holidays are over.  As much as I’d like to jump right into gardening season, it just isn’t reflective of our weather reality in a northern climate.

So when I saw the Skate Rental stencil while perusing the Wallcutz website, I decided that although it’s listed in the Christmas stencils section, it’s really more ‘winter’ than ‘Christmas’.  It would be perfect for the part of winter that comes after Christmas, but before spring really arrives (which seems to last about six months in Minnesota).

My next task was finding something to put the stencil on.  I was super happy with how my Rudolph & Co. foot board sign turned out, so when I saw a headboard/foot board combo for sale on Facebook Marketplace I jumped at it.

I snagged this set for $35.  The seller didn’t have the side rails, and I suspect that’s why she’d priced it low.  So for a mere $17.50 each, I had the raw materials for two signs.  I think I’m going to hang onto that foot board for another Rudolph & Co sign, but the headboard was perfect for a Skate Rental sign.

As a bonus, the nice people at Wallcutz agreed to sponsor this post by sending me the stencil free of charge.  So I measured the headboard to determine what size would be best and sent in my request for the largest version of the stencil, 26″ high by 18″ wide.  One of my favorite things about Wallcutz is that you can order their stencils in a variety of sizes to suit your particular project.

I started by painting the headboard in Dixie Belle’s Drop Cloth, my favorite warm white.  Then I started stenciling.  I knew that I wanted to use more than one color to give my ‘sign’ a more custom look.  I also knew that I was going to be hanging it on my dark olive green house, so I wanted to work with that color.

So I began by taping off various sections and stenciling them.  Most of the wording is done using Dixie Belle’s Caviar, except for “Pine Mountain” which is stenciled in the Juniper from Suzanne’s Fall Colors collection.  The pine boughs are also stenciled in Juniper, naturally 😉

Taking a cue from the example of this stencil on the Wallcutz website, I decided to paint in a block of the Juniper and then stencil the “Old-Fashioned Family Fun” over that in Drop Cloth at the bottom of the design.  I simply used the stencil as a guide to mark the area where I wanted my block, then taped it off and painted it in with two coats of Juniper.

Once dry, I removed the tape …

 and then I put the stencil back in place and stenciled the wording over it.

The blades of the skates were stenciled using Dixie Belle’s Gemstone Mousse in Diamond.

The skates themselves were stenciled using DB’s Farmhouse Green.  The laces are a separate stencil, and I added them once the Farmhouse Green was dry using DB’s Cotton.

I wanted a whiter white for the laces, so that’s why I went with the Cotton instead of Drop Cloth.

One last thing to note, I often fill in the bridges with a fine artist brush when stenciling.

Today’s q tip:  if you want a stencil to look like a hand-lettered sign, fill in the bridges.  If you want a more industrial, stenciled look, don’t fill in the bridges.

If you aren’t familiar with the term, bridges are the gaps in a letter (or other design element) that are necessary to hold the stencil together.

It’s fairly easy to fill those in with a small artist brush, and I think it makes a big difference to the end result.

Since I’m keeping this sign for myself, I’m being way less cautious (ie. more lazy) than I would be if I was selling it.  I just gave it a quick coat of Dixie Belle’s spray on wax to seal it.  For maximum durability, I probably should have used a clear poly sealer … but hey, whatever.  If it doesn’t hold up, no worries.  I’ll just re-do it.

I have the perfect spot to hang this on the side of my house next to the door.

This is the door that we use on a regular basis (rather than our front door), so I get to admire the sign every time I go in and out (which isn’t all that often in this cold!).

What do you think?

If you have any favorite decorations for this part of winter, be sure to leave a comment and share your ideas with all of us.

Thank you to Wallcutz for providing the stencil, and to Dixie Belle Paint Co. for providing the paint used for this project.

a visit to the library.

Published on by Quandie25 Comments

I gave up reading ‘real’ books quite a few years ago.  At least when it comes to fiction.  And by ‘real books’ I mean those made out of paper with a cover.  It’s just so much easier to read on my Kindle.  It lights up at night, I can make the font larger (good grief, I feel old when I say that), and I can take a bunch of books with me on a trip without weighing down my suitcase.

So I hadn’t stepped foot in a library in years.

My mom, on the other hand, is a regular patron of her local library.  She needed to return some books, and get new ones, while I was out there last week so I went along for the ride.  I was pleasantly surprised to find that her library had quite a lot of decorating books that appealed to me, so I used my mom’s library card to check a few of them out.

I spent a good part of my time out there pouring over these books, so I thought I would do a quick review on each for you guys.  Just in case you’re in the market for a new decorating book.  Or perhaps you want to go see if your library has some of these!

I’ll start at the top of the pile and work my way down.

Modern Farmhouse Made Easy by Caroline McKenzie was the newest of the books in my pile having been published in 2021.

If you’re one of those who is in agreement with the ‘farmhouse is out’ opinion out there lately, this book might be a good one for you.  There are lots of good examples on how to give the farmhouse vibe a more modern twist …

But with plenty of vintage appeal to keep me happy too …

I enjoyed the section on ‘how to get the look’ depending on whether your style is traditional, rustic, minimalist or cottage.

It was fun to see a couple of houses in my neck of the woods used as examples for exteriors, one in Stillwater and one in Ellsworth, Wisconsin.

My only problem with this book was that much of it felt unattainable to me (ie. way out of my price range) and most of the homes shown were new construction.  It was definitely worth checking out from the library, but doubt I would ever purchase this one.

Next in the pile is Restore.  Recycle.  Repurpose. by Randy Florke with Nancy J. Becker.

This one was published in 2010, and is a Country Living book.  I tend to really like the Country Living books, so even though this one is around 12 years old I thought it would be worth a look.

The focus of the book is on how to be ‘green’ through reusing vintage finds, which is right up my alley.  It included lots of practical ‘how to’ info, and I loved that many of the examples were from genuinely old homes.

Some of the décor shown was perhaps a bit outdated, but a lot of it felt timeless to me.

One piece that really jumped out at me was this desk …

We’ve all seen these old (super heavy) mid-century steel desks, and I love how this one is painted in that gorgeous turquoise.  The next time I see one of these for sale I may have to take a second look.

Flea Market Chic by Liz Bauwens and Alexandra Campbell was published in 2012.

This one had a plastic cover over it, so it was tough to get a good photo of that cover.  I wasn’t about to deface a library book by trying to remove it.

This book has a distinctly UK vibe that always appeals to me.

I always keep an eye out for painted furniture inspiration too, and this book had plenty of it.

The Rachel Ashwell book, My Floral Affair, was published in 2018.

Are there any other Rachel fans out there?  I have to say, I still absolutely love everything she does, even if I no longer have much in the way of ‘shabby chic’ in my own home.  I actually own most of her books, but had never seen this one before.

It’s filled with gorgeous floral eye candy, whether it’s real flower arrangements …

pretty floral china …

or subtly flowered wallpaper …

There are a few examples of classic Rachel Ashwell shabby chic style painted furniture too.

I have to confess, it makes me a bit sad that this style is no longer as popular as it once was.  I’d love to still be creating pieces like the one above, but I fear that they wouldn’t sell well.  Any opinions on that?

Of all the books I’m sharing today, this is probably the only one that I would actually purchase.  And you know what?  The more I think about it, the more I think that the next time I see a gorgeous set of old floral plates at the Goodwill I’m going to buy them and start using them.  Who says you can’t have pretty mismatched floral china?  Who cares if it’s no longer trendy, right?

That brings me to the bottom of the pile and The New French Décor by Michele Lalande.

Published in 2007, this is the oldest of the books I checked out.  It’s translated from French, and thus it has a very authentic European vibe.

Much of the featured décor has that mad scientist feel, if you know what I mean.

Lots of taxidermy, animal sculls, labeled apothecary jars and creepy anatomy drawings.  If you’re into that look (and I know there are plenty of people who are), then this book is a good option for you.

There was some fabulous painted furniture inspiration in this book as well …

One of my favorites was this Swedish piece …

And I was inspired by this snowy garden photo.

Clearly I need some of these mini greenhouses to pop up out of the snow in my garden.  Although they’d have to be a bit taller, I think this size would mostly just be buried in snow in my garden.

My friend/picker/ex-coworker/garage sale mentor (she has a lot of titles!) Sue recently suggested that I check out our local library, so I might just have to head over there and see what kind of decorating books they might have.

How about you?  Do you have a library card?  Or maybe you own some of these books, or see one that looks like it could be a favorite?  Or maybe you have another favorite decorating book that you’d like to recommend.  If so, be sure to leave a comment!

just around the corner.

Published on by Quandie18 Comments

And just like that, I’m back from visiting my mom.  Isn’t it funny how trips fly by so quickly?  Oh, what am I saying?  Time in general just flies by so fast these days, am I right?

I had a lovely time visiting my mom.  The Las Vegas area was experiencing a warm spell last week and temps were above average while I was there, so I was able to enjoy five glorious, sunny days in the 70’s … only to return to -8 in Minnesota!  Jeesh!

That patio makeover that my sister and I gave Mom last year is really paying off.  I spent a fair amount of time sitting on the patio, soaking up that warmth with a cup of coffee and a good book from the local library.

I’ll be sharing reviews of those books later in the week, so be sure to stay tuned for that.

I also visited the Goodwill that is literally just around the corner from my mom’s place.

I usually stop in there when I’m visiting.  Although obviously it’s not like I can buy much, only items that I can fit into my suitcase.  But honestly, that’s not usually much of a problem since they don’t typically have much in the way of my kind of vintage out there.

This is a good example of the usual sort of thing I see …

Creepy, right?

But this visit was the exception to the rule.  I saw a couple of items that I wished I could purchase starting with this copper boiler …

It was $19.99 and I would have snatched that up in a heartbeat if I was at home.  It would have made a fantastic window box like the ones I have on my carriage house and photo cottage.

Of course, mine are just galvanized.  Copper would be so much more fabulous!

I also saw this adorable kid sized antique roll top desk.

It was also $19.99.  And it would be such a fun project!  Can’t you just picture it painted in some chippy milk paint?

By the way, my mom’s Goodwill offers a much better senior discount than mine here in Minnesota.

She can get 40% on Wednesdays, and 20% all other days.  At my Goodwill I get 25% on Wednesdays only.  I was surprised to find that these details were different in a different part of the country.

I did find one thing I could purchase, this set of canisters …

They were half off (with an orange tag), so a bargain price.  And to be honest, even more of a bargain for me since my mom insisted on paying for them!

There are actually three in the set (they were all stacked inside of each other at the store).

And being able to stack them meant I could fit them into my suitcase!

The wooden lids on these do not fit tightly, so I knew they would not be suitable to use for food storage.  But I thought they’d be great for storing art/crafting supplies.

Another great option would be to use them on your potting bench and fill them with seed packets, flower food, or garden tools.   Gardening season is also just around the corner!

They had lots of possibilities, so I brought them home and gave them a quick makeover.

I started by giving them a good cleaning, including using a Magic Eraser to get any scuff marks off.  Next up I added some of my favorite IOD Pots transfers to them.

These are the black ones from the Classic Pots version of the transfer, although the black ones in the newer Traditional Pots set look pretty much the same.

I ended up painting the lids black using Dixie Belle’s Caviar.

Originally I thought I would leave the lids ‘as is’ because I liked the sort of faded driftwood-ish appearance of them, but once the transfers were in place I felt like black was a better option.

I finished everything up with a coat of clear wax for some protection.

I’ll probably bring these into the shop on Wednesday, so if any of you locals need some canisters for your craft room or potting bench be sure to stop in.

I had a very relaxing get away at my mom’s.  I have to say, now that I’m retired it practically feels as though my mom’s place is just around the corner.  It’s a quick 3 hour flight, and I can generally find some pretty good deals on flights to Vegas.  Now that I don’t have to ‘use up’ vacation time to go, I think I’ll be visiting much more often.  In fact, my sister and I already have a trip out there booked four weeks from now and I’m already looking forward to some more of that warm weather!

a british bird cage.

Published on by Quandie18 Comments

As I mentioned last week, I’m actually off visiting my mom in Las Vegas this week!  But not to worry, I have scheduled a few posts in advance, just to keep you company while I’m gone.

I went thrifting with my picker/ex co-worker/friend Sue last week and one of the items I came home with was this giant bird cage.

I’m not sure if you can judge the size of that thing in that photo, but it is about 40″ tall and 18″ wide and deep.

I think the best thing about it is that it comes apart easily.

So, not only easy to transport, but easy to fill the inside with whatever you want to put in there.  A pretty fern?  Some books?  Some sweet concrete birds?

Just don’t plan on putting a live bird in there, this thing is for décor purposes only.

I love all of the layers.  Maybe simply because it reminds me of a big wedding cake, and I could really go for some cake right now.

Of course I had to give it a little bit of quandification.

I lined the pull out tray with some Cavallini London map paper.

Then I added just the smallest bit of wording above each of the doors.

Are you sensing a bit of a theme here?

The transferred words and date are both from IOD’s Label Ephemera transfer.

How fun would it be to add different things inside for each season?

This cage is really too large for my small house, but for someone with larger rooms it would be fantastic.

So, if any of you locals are interested, yes, this slightly British bird cage is for sale ($48).  Send me a quick email at qisforquandie@gmail.com or leave a comment on this post if you are interested and we can set something up for when I return from my mom’s house.  And if no one calls dibs by the time I get back, I’ll be taking this one in to Reclaiming Beautiful.

What do you think?  Do you need a British bird cage?

a little less factory.

Published on by Quandie10 Comments

A while back my picker found this little cupboard for me.

I have to say, I’m pretty sure that she has a lot more faith in my abilities than I do sometimes.

This is a new-ish piece made out of that factory coated, shiny, particle board stuff.  I really wasn’t sure I’d be able to do anything with it, so it sat out in the carriage house for months.  But I pulled it out a couple of weeks ago and decided to give it a go, with my main goal being to make this cupboard look a little less factory-made.

After removing the knob, I sanded all of the surfaces inside and out to take off a little of the shine, and then gave it two coats of Dixie Belle’s Slick Stick.  As per the Dixie Belle website, “Slick Stick allows you to paint shiny, slick, or slippery surfaces with ease. Surfaces like PVC, glass, Formica, laminate, metal, and more are easily painted and stay painted.”

Next up I painted the inside of the cupboard in Dixie Belle’s Kudzu.

I just love that green!  This is the color that I debated using on the washstand that I shared on Wednesday.  I decided against it for that piece, but I had to use it on something!  It’s gorgeous paired with the Dixie Belle Drop Cloth that I used on the exterior of the cupboard.

I dug through my stash to find a substitute handle that felt a little more vintage to me.  I painted that in an undercoat of Kudzu, followed by a couple of coats of Drop Cloth.

I think this handle goes a long way towards making this cupboard feel more vintage and less ‘factory’.  It’s a vast improvement over that dinky little wood knob it came with.

Ditto the gold transfers that I added to the glass.

These are from a mish mash of re.design with prima transfers.  I used left over bits from Flower Collector, Cosmic Roses, and the bee is from their Gilded Home & Nature transfer.

This cupboard can be hung on the wall, or set upon a shelf, desk or table somewhere.  It would be perfect for housing some of my matte white pottery.

But I’m not keeping this one.

It is up for grabs to a local buyer, so be sure to check out my ‘available for local sale‘ page if interested.

Tell me, what would you display inside this cabinet?

talk is cheap, and so am I.

Published on by Quandie29 Comments

Some of you have wondered how I keep my prices so low when I use expensive transfers on pieces.  That got me thinking.  After all, I don’t disagree.  Transfers are not cheap.

But I am!  So if I’m making it work, maybe I should share the math on that with you guys.

One of the transfers that I get lots of use out of on my smalls is the IOD Label Ephemera transfer.  This one is actually retired (so disappointing), but you can still find it to buy (for now anyway).  I have to admit that I have 3 of these in my cupboard unopened, just in case they get hard to find!

It’s usually priced right around $30.  I get at least 10 projects out of this one transfer.

And often even more.

So that means that in the end, I’m spending $3 or less per piece.

Another transfer good for multiple projects is re.design with prima’s Classic Vintage Labels.

There are 27 separate labels, plus those two adorable bees.  So obviously this one goes far.

I have a couple of favorites from this set, like this one …

and this one …

Oh, and this one …

and then there is this one …

OK, I love quite a few of them.

  I have to admit that there are a couple of designs in the set that I don’t really like and tend not to use.  So in all, I probably get around 20 pieces out of each Classic Vintage Labels transfer that I purchase.  This one also retails for around $30, so I’m spending around $1.50 each.

Seriously, look how much personality I’m adding for $1.50!

Another one from re.design with prima that I’ve gotten many small projects out of is the Everyday Farmhouse transfer.

This one is awesome for just adding a little wording, especially if you like that farmhouse vibe.

You can get at least 20 projects out of this one.

It has a couple of designs that are sized just right for buckets.

The Everyday Farmhouse transfer also retails at around $30, so again, if you can get 20 items out of it, that’s about $1.50 each.

Last week I posted about the various IOD Pot transfers, those are also good for getting lots of projects out of one transfer.

You can also find this set online for around $30 (although some places charge more, so be sure to shop around).  This one has 32 designs, so even less than $1 each!

All of this being said, on occasion I do really splurge like I did on this fabulous toolbox.

Although I only used half of it, this IOD transfer (June, Ode to Henry Fletcher) was also $30.  So the half I used was a $15 expenditure (I’ll be able to use the other half on a future project).  But I was able to sell this toolbox priced accordingly (for $65), so it was worth it.

And then sometimes you just have to go all out!

That’s re.design with prima’s Parisian Letter transfer.  It also usually retails around $30.

It took two sets of their French Ceramics transfer to cover all of the drawers in this linen press …

But I still think that was worth it too!

And then of course there is the Rose Celebration transfer from re.design with prima.

This one is really a splurge at around $45, and you really can’t break it up for multiple projects.  But if you want to make a statement, this is the way to do it.

So tell me, do you use transfers on your projects?  Have I convinced you to give them a shot?

the turquoise tacklebox.

Published on by Quandie28 Comments

Some of you may remember way back in 2018 (gosh!  4 years ago!) when I dressed up some toolboxes with some prima marketing transfers.

I sold the black one and the green one, but the turquoise one … which actually is a tacklebox, rather than a toolbox … was one that had been gifted to me by my co-worker Jodie.  I wanted to keep it, it’s perfect for holding my hot glue gun and extra glue sticks.

I have to confess, those pink roses were never really ‘me’ though.  But somehow re-doing something that I keep inside a cupboard was never at the top of my to-do list while I was still working a full time job and blogging.  Now that I’m retired from the day job, I’m determined to get around to doing a few makeovers for myself, starting with this tacklebox.

The first step was to sand down the transfers a bit, just to smooth them out so that their outline didn’t show under a new coat of paint.

Next I cleaned the box with some soapy water.

I definitely wanted to keep that turquoise color, so I pulled out some Dixie Belle paint in The Gulf.

It was quick work to paint a single coat of paint over the box, and that was all it took to get the coverage I wanted.

Pretty good coverage for one coat, don’t you think?

After sanding to distress and vacuuming away the dust, I added a few words from IOD’s Label Ephemera transfer.

The number “05713” on the right is from a Tim Holtz transfer.

I added a topcoat of clear wax to bring out a little depth to the paint color, and to protect the paint job.

By the way, I did not paint that little plate that holds the handle in place, that’s the original color.  The Gulf was a pretty good match!

If I was planning to sell this one, I would have taken the time to paint the inside of the box as well.  But since I’m keeping it for myself, and since the color still works, I just left it alone.

This was such a quick and easy makeover.  I bet it only took me about an hour including dry time.  I guess I probably could have squeezed it in while I was still a working woman 😉

So, what do you think?  Do you prefer the ‘before’ or the ‘after’?  Are you a fan of the original rusty patina, or do you like the fresh paint job better?  And how about that color?  Should I do more toolboxes in vibrant colors, or do you prefer the more neutral look I usually do?  I’m curious about all of these things, so leave me a comment and let me know.

a little june in january.

Published on by Quandie15 Comments

Well, the hubbub of the holidays is over.  I don’t know about you, but I’m one of those people who take down and put away my holiday decorations starting December 26.  Except this year I didn’t start until December 27, because I had family over on December 26 to celebrate my nephew’s 40th birthday.  He was visiting from Philly, so it was fun to have him here for his big birthday.

But now I have all of my indoor decorations down and stored away for next year.

As for the outside stuff, well, that’s a different story here in Minnesota.  We had some sub-zero temps over this past weekend and there’s no way I’m braving that to take down decorations.

Plus, the bulk of them are frozen in place under a layer of snow now anyway.  They won’t be coming out for a while.

So I focused on a few indoor painting projects this past weekend instead, including this rather giant toolbox.

I don’t think that photo above does a good job of showing the size of this one, but here is the toolbox along with a few of the other things I purchased last summer.  Seeing it in relation to the chairs puts it in a little more perspective.

It’s really quite the beast.  And in its original state, it was also quite heavy even while empty.  I honestly don’t think I could have even lugged it around when filled with tools (or anything at all for that matter).  When you opened it, two layers of trays opened up accordion style on either side.

As much as that was pretty cool, I asked Ken to remove them for me.  For one thing, they added considerable weight and for another they would have been nearly impossible to paint without resorting to spray paint.  They also would have limited the possibilities for future use.  Sure, you could have used it for your fishing lures, or your socket set, but as you’ll see in a minute, I don’t think the new look screams tackle box or toolbox.

After it was gutted, I cleaned the toolbox with Dawn dish soap.  Once dry I painted the outside in Dixie Belle’s Sawmill Gravy, and the inside in their Silk paint in a color called Hampton Olive.

I chose this color for a few reasons.  First of all, it’s very similar to the original color of the interior, so I was paying homage to that.  Second, I thought it worked well with both the transfer I planned to use as well as the Sawmill Gravy.  I wanted to use a Silk paint because the sealer and topcoat are built in.  I thought I’d save myself a couple of steps this time around.  And this was the best option out of the colors of Silk paint that I had on hand.  Finally, I liked the idea of toning down the girly-ness with a more masculine color on the inside because as you’re about to see, this one is plenty girly on the outside.

Yep, I went full on floral for this one, with a few cherubs to boot.  That is the bottom half of the June, Ode to Henry Fletcher transfer from IOD.

I’ve had this transfer for a while and I really wasn’t sure I’d ever find the perfect piece for it, but it worked beautifully on this toolbox.  I love the way it has a bunch of flower names listed at the bottom.

I’m guessing that these are all flowers that bloom in June.  Does Jasmine bloom in June?

I added the wording on the top of the toolbox from a couple of other IOD transfers.

The “Les Roses” section is from their Petit Rosier transfer, and the “Les Fleurs” wording is from their Label Ephemera transfer (and in case you were wondering, yes, you can layer transfers in this way).

Once the transfers were applied, I sanded lightly along any edges and corners to give it a more distressed appearance.

Finally, I added a coat of clear wax.

I don’t know about you, but June feels far away to me just now.  So I thought I’d bring a little bit of June to January.

You could store all kinds of fun things inside this baby.  Art supplies, gardening tools, hats and mittens … lots of possibilities.  I am listing this one for sale (see my ‘available for local sale‘ page for more details), but I have to price it a bit higher than usual.  Those IOD transfers are not cheap (but they sure are gorgeous).  In the end, if it doesn’t sell, I bet I’ll get over it and find a spot for it at my house.  If any of you locals need to bring a little bit of June into your January, be sure to email me at qisforquandie@gmail.com.

As always, thanks to Dixie Belle Paint Co for supplying the paint used in this project.

a simple lockbox.

Published on by Quandie14 Comments

I love doing simple little projects like this one that prove how much personality you can add with a little paint, some transfers and some decoupage paper.

My friend/picker, Sue, found this little lockbox for me last summer.

It’s just your basic metal box meant for storing important documents.  It’s obviously not particularly old, maybe from the 70’s or 80’s.  It’s not really anything special, but Sue knew I could give it a fun new look.

I started by scuff sanding the surface to give the paint a better chance to stick.  Then I cleaned the box with soap and water.  Once dry, I started painting.  I painted a strip down the center in Dixie Belle’s French Linen, and once that was fully dry, I taped a line on either side of the handle and painted the outer edges of the box in Dixie Belle’s Sawmill Gravy.

I love this combination of colors, these two play really well together.

Once all of the paint was dry, I sanded the edges to distress the box, wiped away any dust and then added some IOD transfers.

These were just bits and pieces that I had in my transfer scrap pile, all of them coming originally from the IOD Label Ephemera transfer.

I cut out each line separately and arranged them to fit the top of the box.

I’d also painted the interior of the box in the French Linen.  Once that was dry, I lined it with some re.design with prima decoupage tissue paper called Washed Damask.

I used Dixie Belle clear coat in flat as a decoupage medium for the tissue, and I also gave the rest of the interior a couple of coats of the flat clear coat to provide extra protection to the paint.

I used clear wax as a topcoat on the outside of the box because I prefer the look it gives over the flat clear coat.

It leaves just a bit more sheen.  But it doesn’t provide quite as much protection, so that’s why I opt for the clear coat on the inside.  I also buffed up the lock using clear wax so that it’s nice and shiny now.

I wish I had the key to go with the box, but unfortunately I don’t.  I even went through my jar of random keys to see if I could find one that fit, but no luck.

So whatever is stored inside won’t be under lock and key.

But it will be stored in style.

This particular box is already spoken for.  One of my regular customers gave me a really fabulous, and really huge, cabinet in exchange for it.  I won’t be able to work on the cabinet until spring/summer when I can be outside in my carriage house workshop because there is no way I have room to do it in the house.  So you’ll have to stay tuned for that one!

In the meantime, let me know what you think of the lock box makeover.

As always, thank you to Dixie Belle for providing the paint and clear coat used on this project.