Category: just stuff.

I wanted to share one last IOD paint inlay experiment with you today.

According to IOD, the paint inlays can be re-used up to three times.  So I thought I’d try using a sheet more than once to see how it goes.

I started with this trio of books that I had lying around.

I painted the middle book (Robinson Crusoe) in Dixie Belle’s Kudzu and stenciled the spine.

I thought it would be nice to have a coordinating color to go with my pair of floral books.

Next, I painted the smallest book on the top of the stack in Dixie Belle’s Drop Cloth.  I let the first coat dry, and then added a second coat and while it was still wet I applied the IOD Rose Chintz paint inlay.

As a reminder, you can find a how-to on using the paint inlays here:

It was fairly easy to apply the inlay to a book cover …

As you can see, the texture of the cover causes the inlay to not transfer perfectly.  But I think that is part of the charm of an inlay and it gives the book an authentically distressed look.

Finally, I painted the third book in DB’s Drop Cloth as well, and then I pulled out my used inlays.

For comparison purposes the inlays above are (from left to right) unused, used once over Kudzu, used once over Sea Glass.  As you can see, the inlay will pull some of the paint you are working with back off with it when you peel away the paper.

I decided to use the inlay that had been used once over Sea Glass for my 2nd book.

And here you can see the result.

That book on the bottom of the stack is the one done with a 2nd pass of the inlay.  The design is quite a bit more faint.  I rather like it, it’s as though it has faded over time like chintz fabric would.  In fact, I think I like the look of the used inlay even better than the fresh first time inlay.  I thought I would see more of that Sea Glass color transferring back off the inlay.  Had I used the Kudzu sheet, I think you’d see some of that green coming back off onto your project though.

I’ve had fun playing around with the paint inlays.  I think they will be great to use on various small projects like my watering can, flower crates, and now these painted books.

I also think they’d be awesome for collage style art projects.  Also, one packet of the paint inlays will go a long way on smaller projects.  I’m not so sure that I would choose to use them on furniture though, especially furniture that one intends to sell.  The cost is a bit prohibitive (and spoiler alert, as you’ll see in this coming Friday’s post, you may need more than one packet of paint inlays to cover a piece of furniture) and I’m not sure they add enough value to allow you to recoup that cost by charging more for the furniture piece.  Be sure to stay tuned for Friday’s post where I’ll explore this subject a bit more!

Continuing my experiments with the IOD Rose Chintz paint inlay, I pulled out this watering can to see how hard it was to apply the inlay to a non-flat surface.

Normally I don’t paint galvanized cans like this one, but I had attempted to add an IOD French Pots transfer to it a couple of years back and as you can see, that didn’t really work out very well.

The French Pots transfers from IOD were the first generation of this design, and they were a charcoal grey color.  The color wasn’t really dark enough to show up well on galvanized metal.  Although I can see where that faded appearance might appeal to some.

Just for reference, the newer black Classic Pots and Traditional Pots transfer show up much better on galvanized metal.

But for this watering can, I felt like my best option for ‘fixing’ it was to paint it.  The only way to get that transfer off would have been to sand it off, which would have compromised the patina in that spot.  It never would have looked right.

So I painted it with a coat of Dixie Belle’s Sea Glass.  Then I applied the Rose Chintz paint inlay (for details on how to apply a paint inlay click on the image below to see my how-to post).

It really wasn’t difficult at all to work with the inlay on the curved surface.

Rather than use a brayer to press the inlay into the wet paint, I just used a wet cloth to smooth it into place.  I was worried I would have problems with the design getting smudged, but even over the curved surface it was easy to get crisp results.

One sheet of the paint inlay was not quite enough to go all the way around one side of the can.  I wanted to be sure and share this with you because there is a very definite line where the inlay ended.

I wasn’t expecting the line to be quite so obvious, so just be aware of that.

Since a) I’m a total cheapskate, and b) I was doing this watering can just for myself and therefore knew that this wouldn’t be noticeable where I was putting it, I decided to just try to soften that line rather than use another sheet of the inlay to piece in that space.

Before you seal the inlays (with a spray sealer), the paint (because they are indeed just paint) can be manipulated when wet.  So you can use a small artist’s brush and some water to reactivate the paint and move it around a bit.

Hmmm.  I may need a bit more practice at that.  I think I succeeded at softening up that edge a bit, but clearly I need to work on my fine painting skills.

Regardless, I’m quite happy with how this project turned out.

This watering can is joining a few other painted versions that live above the shelves in my pantry.

The 2nd one in line is one that was already painted white when I found it, but I added the IOD Petit Rosier transfer to it.

The 3rd can in the lineup was also already green when I purchased it.

So far I’ve left it alone, but you never know, I may add something to it one day.

And the last one in line is one I painted in Homestead House milk paint in a color called Maritime Blue.

I just fell in love with that pretty shade of blue.

I’ve done one more quick project to show how the paint inlay looks when re-using a previously used sheet and I’ll be sharing that on Wednesday.  Otherwise, I still have quite a few sheets left and I’ll be on the lookout for more fun ways to use them!  Have you tried them yet?  If so, be sure to leave a comment and let us know if you liked them or not.

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.

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!

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 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?

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?