Category: thrifting.

the top heavy cupboard fix.

Published on by Quandie50 Comments

I promised I’d share what I ended up doing with that top heavy mini-cupboard.

If you’ll remember, I found it while thrifting a week or two ago.  I almost put it back on the shelf because I wasn’t sure it would be worth the effort to save it.  It had such a wonky, top heavy look.

In addition, what I didn’t show when I mentioned it last was that it was filled with gross contact paper.

I think yucky old drawer liner might be near the top of my list of things I really don’t like to deal with.  Right after smoky smells and mouse pee.  I mostly try to avoid old contact paper, but I completely draw the line at the other two!

Fortunately, the adhesive on the contact paper had really deteriorated, so it came off rather easily.

Next I had to deal with that top heavy look.

I asked you guys for suggestions, and several of you had some really good ones including just removing the door, or maybe moving the door to the bottom, or even flipping the cupboard upside down turning the top into the bottom and then cutting off the old legs and adding new ones.  I did pop it upside down to see how it would look and that might have been an option that worked well.

However, after consulting with my handyman Ken, we decided to remove the door and then cut back the top half of the cupboard so that it was stepped back rather than flush with the front.  If you look closely at the photo below, you can see where I marked the new measurement for Ken.

Ken simply used a jig saw to cut everything off beyond that 5″ mark.  Then he did his best to recreate the curved sides below the upper shelves.

I wanted to possibly re-use the door on the bottom section, but Ken felt it was too warped to use.  I suppose we could have added a new door, but in the end, I think it’s fine without a door.

After sanding and cleaning the piece, I painted the inner bits with Dixie Belle’s Kudzu, and the outer bits with their Drop Cloth.

I just love this combination of white and green, especially in springtime.  OK, well, spring is definitely not here yet, we still had some single digit temps last week while I was working on this one.  But surely it’s just around the corner, right?

Next I lined the shelves with that pretty gingham scrapbook paper you’ve been seeing me use a lot of recently.

Once again, I am totally kicking myself for putting the majority of my garden themed props out in the potting shed, including my green flower frogs.  There is still a 3′ bank of snow in front of the door.  So for now, I have to make do with my basic uncolored frogs.

Finally, I added a Classic Vintage Label transfer from re.design with prima to the ‘work surface’ before giving everything a coat of clear wax.  Well … not the paper of course, but all of the painted parts.  The paper, by the way, is not adhered.  It’s loose, so if someone wanted to switch it out for something else they could easily do so.

In addition to those frogs, I also staged this one up with the itsy bitsy dresser that I painted up a while back and few other bits and bobs.

Isn’t it sweet?

This little cupboard would be the perfect addition to a craft room, potting shed, desk top, etc, etc.

I think Ken and I did a good job of eliminating that wonky top-heavy look and giving this little cupboard a fresh new look with some paint, paper and a small transfer.  Ultimately, I’m glad I didn’t put this one back on the shelf at the thrift store.

What do you think?

The cupboard is for sale, so if you are local be sure to check out my ‘available for local sale‘ page for all of the details.

Thank you to Dixie Belle Paint Co for providing the paint used in this project.

a march thrift haul.

Published on by Quandie24 Comments

Housekeeping item no. 1 – Congratulations to Marguerite.  I drew her name at random to win the Moody Blues giveaway.  Mr. Q sent it off in the post yesterday!

Housekeeping item no. 2 – Some nefarious person has created a fake profile on Instagram using my photo and the name ‘lindastrand1234’.  It is not me!  Do not be fooled.  Please note that my only profile on Instagram is qisforquandie!

OK, now on with today’s post!

I headed out for a bit more thrifting with my friend Sue last week.  Thrifting can really be hit or miss, and last week it was mostly a miss.

That’s about it for the smaller pieces.  Pretty blah, right?

I had to laugh at the reindeer candle holder.  He seems to be solid brass, but someone spray painted him brown.  Do you think they were trying to create a chocolate reindeer?  It really doesn’t seem to work in the same way as those chocolate bunnies.  Maybe because candlesticks made out of chocolate would probably be a bad idea.

I grabbed him because I thought it would be an interesting experiment to try and strip that spray paint back off.  And if that fails, I can always spray paint him gold.  Either way, I’ll hang onto him until the Christmas season.

Next up, these metal ceiling tile/ceramic tile thingies.

Again, I only grabbed these because I thought they might present the opportunity for a fun project.  I’m challenging myself to come up with a way to give these an updated look.  You’ll have to stay tuned for that one.

This next piece was a no-brainer for me.

I always grab these wooden totes when I see them.  They are so fun to makeover (take a look at a few I’ve done here, here and here).  This one will go into the stack of small projects for a snowy day (which we’ve had quite a few of lately).

Last up for the small items are these two galvanized pieces.

Let me ask you guys something here, do you think galvanized is on the way out?  Is it too closely associated with farmhouse style?

You may remember this galvanized tray that I thrifted quite some time ago …

I added that Vanilla Bean Farm wording to the front and took it to the shop, and there it sits.  Not selling.

So I was hesitant to pick up these two galvanized pieces, even more so because they were both priced rather high for what they are.  I literally will be lucky if I can make more than a dollar or two re-selling them.  But as seems to be the theme in this post, I thought they would both make fun projects.

I have been having a lot of luck lately selling pieces that have the I.O.D. Rose Chintz paint inlay on them, so I decided to go that route with the first galvanized tote.

I painted it in Dixie Belle’s The Gulf, and then blended in just a little bit of their Sea Glass in the center to add some depth.  Then I applied the paint inlay (my how-to post on this process can be found here).  Once dry, I sprayed it with a matte sealer to keep the inlay from smearing.  Then I sanded it very lightly and gave it a final coat of clear wax.

I painted directly over the galvanized metal without any sort of primer.  I find that chalk style paint does a very good job of sticking to galvanized metal like this as long as there isn’t a shiny topcoat on the metal.  I did wonder if the process of pulling off the paint inlay backing sheet would pull off any of the paint and there was just one small spot where that happened.

I’m OK with a little chipping, but if you’re not you may want to apply a coat of Dixie Belle’s Slick Stick before your first coat of paint over galvanized metal.

Next up is the galvanized container with the brass handles.  I actually picked this one up because I was looking for something to hold the amber bottles that I shared a little while back.

I was hoping they would all fit in this galvanized container, but it’s only big enough for three of them.  Nonetheless, I decided to do it up for that purpose.  I started by cleaning it, of course.  Then I painted the inside in Dixie Belle’s Anchor because it was a little stained and grungy looking.

Next I wanted to clean up those handles a bit.  I suppose I could have tried polishing them with some brass cleaner, but instead I decided to add some of Dixie Belle’s Gilding Wax in Bronze.

It was just enough to freshen them up a bit.

Next I added some sections of the gold Somewhere in France transfer from re.design with prima to the front …

and back …

The gold over the galvanized metal is pretty subtle, but I think it adds just a little something extra.

In addition to that meager pile of small items, I also picked up this kid sized cupboard.

I have to say, I put this in the cart and pushed it around a bit, then I almost took it back out of the cart because I just wasn’t sure I wanted to tackle it.  But it was only $6.99, so I figured if nothing else it would be yet another interesting experiment to see if I could improve upon it.  My biggest problem with it after the cherry red paint is that it looks so top heavy.  I’m really not at all sure how I’m going to solve that problem.  If anyone has any ideas, please share in the comments.

That brings me to my find of the day.

I dug that gold framed mirror out from behind a few other large mirrors.  I’d seen just the tip of it poking out.

Isn’t that lovely?  I think I’m probably going to hang onto this one.

What do you think?  Which item would have been your find of the day?  Leave a comment and let me know!

the biscuit box.

Published on by Quandie11 Comments

You might remember this simple wooden recipe box from one of my thrifting hauls in February.

There’s nothing particularly special about it.  I just really enjoy giving these small sorts of boxes a new look, so I tend to grab them when I see them (except apparently when I’m visiting my mom and don’t want to pack it in my suitcase, kind of regretting passing that one up now).

I gave it a light sanding with 220 grit, then I cleaned it and followed that up with two coats of Dixie Belle’s Sawmill Gravy.  Once the paint was dry, I sanded the edges to distress them a bit and then wiped away the dust.

Then came the fun part, pulling out all of my transfers and deciding what to use on this box.

Originally I was going to go with something more colorful, but I ended up picking out a subdued floral from I.O.D.’s Brocante transfer to begin with.

But before I applied that floral to the left side of the box, I filled in the other half of the front of the box with some wording from re.design with prima’s Paris Valley transfer and then layered the floral over it.

The Brocante floral went up and over to the top of the box.

Then I filled in the opposite corner with some of I.O.D.’s Floral Anthology transfer.

The transfers from the top and front of the box wrapped around to the sides a bit.

And I added a bit more to one of the sides using transfer scraps I had on hand.

Once again I didn’t bother to paint the interior this time around because it was in great condition.  I did line the box with some scrapbook paper though.

This size box is perfect for storing a pile of old black and white photos.

If you happen to have some that you need to protect from the elements a bit.

II think the box itself has that old sepia/black and white sort of look, with just a touch of hand-tinting on the top, don’t you?

By the way, here’s a follow up on the bleed-thru boxes that I shared back in early February.

The majority of you suggested that I go ahead and try to sell them ‘as is’, so I did.  I’m happy to report that they both sold.

I do want to be careful to note here that I wouldn’t recommend trying to sell furniture with bleed-thru though.  If you have stains or wood tannins bleeding through your paint on furniture, you should that Dixie Belle B.O.S.S. out and seal your piece and then paint it again.

Also, as I noted in that post, it was the final clear flat coat that drew those wood tannins through the paint.  So this time around I opted to topcoat the biscuit box with clear wax, although I don’t think this box would have been a bleeder anyway.  Still, better safe than sorry, right?

In the meantime, how do you like the biscuit box?  I plan to take this one into the shop, unless one of you locals wants to snatch it up first.  If so, be sure to check out my ‘available for local sale‘ page for more details.

Thank you to Dixie Belle Paint Co for supplying the paint used for this project.

hoppin’ down the bunny trail.

Published on by Quandie17 Comments

Throughout the year, I’ve been picking up cute bunnies whenever I see them at the thrift store or garage sales.  I’ve managed to accumulate a handful of them.

And now it’s time to pull them out and get them spruced up for the shop.

The galvanized bunny mold just needed a good cleaning, and some goof off to remove the residue left by the packing tape that was holding his two sides together.

Isn’t he sweet?

The copper mold bunnies also just needed a bit of cleaning.

Next up came the faux stone bunny.

I think he was supposed to look like he was carved out of granite, or something like that.  I’m not sure.  But in reality he is some sort of resin or other man made material.

I decided he could be improved with some of Dixie Belle’s Patina Paint.  I debated going rusty at first, but ultimately decided to go with the bronze paint paired with the green spray (you can find all of the details on using this product in this post).

The patina paints lend a very authentic looking faux finish, in my opinion.

I went ahead and added a couple of quick coats of Rustoleum’s matte clear coat to protect him from any excess handling.

Next up is the cute bunny pull toy.

I really didn’t like the heavy grain of the wood, or that particular shade of brown, so I gave him a paint job using Dixie Belle’s French Linen.  I followed that with a quick stencil job using a portion of one of JRV’s Crock Minis stencils and Dixie Belle’s Drop Cloth paint.

I also painted the wooden dowel handle to the pull toy in Drop Cloth.

While working on the rest of the bunnies, I also remembered that I had a trio of ceramic bunnies that my friend Sue found for me.

Normally this sort of thing is not my style at all.  But I’d seen a video … or maybe it was a blog post?  I really don’t remember … but I’d seen someone, somewhere, spray paint these in a chocolate brown to make faux chocolate bunnies.  So I thought I’d give it a shot.

Of course, when you live in Minnesota, it’s winter and you aren’t blessed with any sort of well-ventilated spray painting booth, you have to get creative.  So here’s what I do …

I rest a big flat piece of cardboard on a snowbank, spray quick, and then haul everything back inside to dry.  I had to do that about 4 times to get the bunnies fully coated on all sides.  But I made it work on a slightly warmish afternoon last week.  Well, OK, it was 37°, but hey, that’s above freezing.

My paint of choice for chocolate bunnies was this one …

It’s a paint and primer in one, and they say it will work on any surface.  Since I was painting glossy ceramic bunnies, I wanted to be sure it would stick.  It’s also has a satin finish rather than the matte finish that I usually prefer, and I think that makes these look more like glossy chocolate.

Yum!  Doesn’t he look delicious?

These would be great to incorporate into a tablescape for Easter when you don’t want anyone to eat the decorations!

Or you could just pop them into an Easter basket.

I’ll be hoppin’ on into the shop with these on Wednesday, hopefully there’s enough time left between now and Easter for all of these bunnies to find a good home.  And maybe I’ve inspired you to create some faux copper or chocolate bunnies of your own!

my las vegas thrift haul.

Published on by Quandie4 Comments

Well, I’m back from visiting my mom out in Las Vegas.  I always call it Las Vegas, but technically she lives in Henderson, Nevada.  Anyone familiar with the area knows that Henderson is a sprawling residential area to the south between Las Vegas and Boulder City.

Our trip was a bit of a roller coaster.  On our first day in town my mom’s car broke down as we were headed out to dinner.  It completely died while we were driving down the road.  So we spent the first evening of our vacation waiting two hours for a tow.  That was Saturday night, so we then had to wait until Monday to get a prognosis on the car.

While we waited, my sister and I decided to walk over to the Goodwill.  I’ve mentioned before that my mom conveniently lives just around the corner from a Goodwill store.  Since we were on foot, and I’d have to carry anything I purchased back to mom’s house, I didn’t actually buy much.  But I thought it might be fun to share what I would have purchased if I’d had a car.  Well … and also if I didn’t have to pack it in a suitcase to get it back home again.

First up, this metal sphere.

Those are always fun for the garden.  If you can read that tag you’ll see that it was $4.99 which I thought was a good price.  It was actually light enough to carry back to mom’s, but it would have taken up a lot of space in the luggage.

Next up, this pair of funky metal candlesticks.

I’m not sure if you can tell the size of them in that photo, but the tallest was about 3′ tall.  These never would have fit in my suitcase.  Plus, they were a bit pricey, as was that giant brass bowl in the background.  Overall, I have to say I did find most items my mom’s Goodwill store to be a bit overpriced for me.

However, it would have been fun to give those the rusty treatment using the Dixie Belle patina paint.

Speaking of candlesticks, I also thought about grabbing these …

However, they ranged in price from $5.99 up to $9.99 and I didn’t think there was enough of a profit margin for re-selling them.

I should mention here that I don’t qualify for the senior discount at my mom’s Goodwill, you have to be 65.  Here in Minnesota you only have to be 55 or older.

There were a few glass bottles that would have been perfect for adding apothecary labels to like the amber Kombucha bottles that I shared before I left.

But since I haven’t attempted to sell my apothecary bottles yet, I’m not at all sure if there is a market for them so I didn’t grab them.

I found a few copper pieces too.

These were in pretty rough shape though.  Both were missing the handles on their lids, but I’m sure I could have come up with a way to replace those.  But again, far too bulky to put in my suitcase.

There were also a handful of wooden items that would have been fun to paint including this trash can (it’s upside down on the shelf).

Wouldn’t that have been fun painted?  Maybe with a transfer or a stencil of some kind added?  Or even just a simple swiss cross (like this pair of trash cans I painted)?

Again, that item was far too large to put in a suitcase.

However, these two little wooden boxes would have fit nicely.

I’m really not sure why I didn’t purchase those.  I think I was hoping to find something better.

I was truly bummed to have to leave these next few items behind.  First were these metal baskets.

They had handles, and were reminiscent of a locker basket.  I totally would have grabbed all six of them had I been at home.  You never know when you might need a cool basket to contain stuff.

And I also would have loved to purchase this buffet.

It was $49.99, so a reasonable price.  Wouldn’t that have looked amazing with a paint job and some fresh hardware?

Dang, it was hard to walk away from that one.

So, what did I buy?

LOL, yep, that’s it!  I mean, really?  How could I resist that reusable bag?  It’s perfect for me.  Now I just have to remember to bring it when I go thrifting with Sue next time.

As for the wooden bowl …

Well, I really just wanted to see what it would take to bring this back to life.

I gave it a good wash with hot water and Dawn dish soap, then I sanded it lightly with 220 grit sandpaper.  After wiping away the dust, I pulled out my Salad Bowl Finish from Homestead House.

I’ve had this one little 1.75 oz jar since 2017, so a little goes a long way.  I looked it up, and you can purchase this jar for $10.99 from The Painted Heirloom (which is where I like to order my I.O.D. products online as well).

A quick q tip for you in case you’re not in the know.  Homestead House, Fusion and Miss Mustard Seed Milk Paint are all made by the same people.  So The Painted Heirloom calls this product “Beeswax Salad Bowl Finish by Fusion Mineral Paint”.  Don’t be thrown off by that, it’s the same thing, as is the Miss Mustard Seed’s Beeswax Finish.

What I like about this product in particular is that it is food safe.  It was originally formulated for use on things like cutting boards and wooden salad bowls.  So it was exactly what I needed for my thrifted bowl.

Isn’t that wood grain lovely?

By the way, after our visit to the Goodwill on Monday, we learned that the engine in my mom’s car was toast, and were told it may or may not be covered under warranty.  At that point we went ahead and rented a car to drive while we waited on that news.  Fortunately, by Friday the warranty work was approved and my mom got a loaner car.  I have to say, she was a little stressed that entire time not knowing if she was going to have to cough up $6,000 for the repairs.  Thankfully, it will all be covered under warranty, even the loaner.  Clearly she has a guardian angel looking out for her!

I have a couple more posts I plan to share from my trip out west, so stay tuned for those.  I also have a few projects underway, and since I came home to something like 17″ of fresh snow outside, I’ll probably have plenty of time to work on smaller projects indoors over the next few weeks!

 

this little piggy.

Published on by Quandie5 Comments

I picked up this pig shaped cutting board a while back.  Well, to be honest, far enough back that I don’t really even remember where I got it.  Was it a garage sale?  A thrifted find?  I’m not sure.  But I had it in the stash waiting for a makeover.

I have a feeling that there was a time when every high school shop class churned out these pig shaped cutting boards by the millions.  They seem to be fairly common around here.

I added a French Market stencil to one way back when I was still hosting an occasional sale out of my carriage house.

In fact, I stenciled quite a few different cutting boards back then.

But lately I’ve been more into painting them.

But for this pig, I decided to go back to my roots and give him a quick stencil using one of Dixie Belle’s silk screen stencils from their Farmhouse set.

First up, I washed the cutting board thoroughly with very hot water and some Dawn dish soap.  Often times these old cutting board are pretty grungy.  Then I sanded it down to some fresher wood.

Then I applied the stenciled design using Dixie Belle’s Midnight Sky paint.

Let’s talk for a minute about silk screen stencils.  They are a bit different from traditional stencils.  For one thing, they are made out of a flexible, adhesive backed vinyl rather than the stiffer mylar of typical stencils.  Also, rather than a fully cut out design, the area to be stenciled is backed with silk screen.  That means bridges aren’t required in the design.

If you aren’t familiar, bridges are the areas that hold inside pieces in place, like below in the letters “P”, “O” and “A”.

So silk screen stenciled designs can look less, well, stenciled.

One downside to the silk screen stencils is that they don’t hold up to tons of use though.  I find that the silkscreen gets a little clogged with paint after a few uses if I’m not super diligent about cleaning them immediately after use.  And as we all know, I’m definitely not super diligent about that.

So if lots and lots of repeated use is something you value, and you aren’t all that good about cleaning your stencils, you may not like the silkscreen stencils.

You can see the result of a slightly clogged silk screen stencil on my pig.

Once I saw that rather rustic result from the stencil, I decided to make it work by adding some age back to the wood using Homestead House’s Antiquing Wax.

In hindsight, I kinda wish I had followed my own regularly given advice to lay down a coat of clear wax before adding the dark wax.  That allows you to move the dark wax around a bit more for a uniform look.

But no, I didn’t do that.

So I did end up with the dark wax being more pronounced over my stencil, basically where the cutting board was more worn.  This is definitely a case of do as I say, not as I do.

I will say that I think I certainly accomplished my goal of adding back some age though.

This definitely doesn’t look like freshly sanded wood with a newly painted stencil, right?

I should be sure to point out that this little piggy is no longer food safe, but rather intended for décor only.

What do you think?  Do you prefer the stenciled look, or the painted with transfers look?  Leave a comment and let me know.

craving some green.

Published on by Quandie19 Comments

I know I’m a month early for St. Patrick’s Day, but I just didn’t want to wait that long to share this little project.  Hopefully I’ll find something else to paint green between now and then.

In the meantime, you may remember that I picked up this … um, I don’t know what to call it … little cupboard thingie? … while thrifting recently.

I’m sure many of you were wondering what in the world I was thinking.  I have to admit, I was wondering that when I got it home too.  What was I thinking?  These cheap little things are a dime a dozen, why would I spend my time on it?

But in the end I thought, if nothing else, it would just be a fun little project to work on.  And sure enough, it was.

I started by using a small flat saw to cut off those knobs.

I knew I would be replacing them with library card catalogue style pulls, and they were glued in place so I didn’t want to risk doing damage trying to force them off any other way.

Next I scuff sanded the whole thing a bit so I wouldn’t see shadows left by the raised areas of the hand-painted birdhouses under the new paint.  After cleaning it, I gave it a coat of Dixie Belle’s Midnight Sky.  That’s because I was originally thinking I’d paint it black.

But once I had the black on, I thought that seemed like a rather boring choice.  It’s just a small, inexpensive item, why not go bold?  Maybe it’s all of that white snow we’re surrounded with here, but I’ve been craving a bit of green lately.  So I pulled out one of my favorite shades, In a Pickle milk paint from Sweet Pickins.

I mixed some up and painted over the black.

In my opinion, the layer of chalk style paint was not a wasted step though.  This little cupboard had a shiny, plastic-y sort of finish on it.  Milk paint would not have adhered to it very well at all.  That can be OK, if you want a chippy finish (or if you add a bonding agent).  But it could have possibly chipped a lot, and I didn’t really want that.

So, that brings me to today’s q tip; if you want to use milk paint over a shiny pre-existing finish but you don’t want unpredictable and potentially excessive chipping, start with a base coat of chalk style paint.

As you can see on my piece, once you distress the edges you will see both the original color and the base coat color under your milk paint so choose your colors accordingly.

After distressing, and then adding a coat of clear wax, I added those card catalogue pulls.  My friend Sue found a pile of these at a garage sale for me.

Next up I added slips of green and white gingham scrapbook paper to the pulls, and also lined the drawers with it.

This piece makes another great place to store one’s washi tape.

Or your Tim Holtz metal number plate thingies.

Or a million other small things that need to be rounded up.

I’m in love with this green and white gingham, especially for spring.

What do you think?  Would you bother with such a project?  Spending time and the cost of supplies to make over an item with little value?  Just for the fun of it?  Leave a comment and let me know.

diy apothecary bottles.

Published on by Quandie36 Comments

My friend Sue popped by the other day with some thrift finds for me.  I’d told her all about the dark academia themed window we were putting together at the shop (fyi, if you want to see how it turned out, check out the Reclaiming Beautiful Facebook page), so when she saw these amber Kombucha bottles she thought they would be a fun addition.

She suggested that I use some of the white I.O.D. Traditional Pots transfers on them.

But I was reminded of a video I’d watched from Canterbury Cottage (that Sue had also sent to me) where she printed out apothecary jar labels and applied them to bottles.  The video even has convenient links to the .pdf for printing out the labels (find that here).

So I thought I’d go half and half.  There were 8 bottles total, so four got white transfers and four got labels.

First up I washed all of them in hot, soapy water and let them dry.  Then it was super simple to apply the white transfers to four of them.

The white transfers have definitely improved over time.  When they first came out, I wasn’t a fan.  They had more of that filmy halo around them.  But I think these look really good.

There certainly is still some halo, and you can see it in that close up photo.  But to the naked eye it’s pretty insignificant.

People always ask if I seal transfers when applying them to glass, and I do not.  They stick like gangbusters to glass.  In fact, I usually warn people to make sure you’ve got your placement just right before allowing the transfer to touch the glass because it will get sucked down onto the glass like a magnet.

As for wear, they will be fine if handled gently.  You can hand wash them with soapy water, but don’t scrub on the transfer.  For that matter, when you get sick of them you can scrape the transfer off using a razor blade.

For the next four bottles, I added those apothecary labels using Mod Podge.

Personally, I prefer working with the matte version.  You all know I’m not a big fan of shine.  I also think that in this case it gives those paper labels a more authentic look.

I had printed the labels out on your basic printer paper.  Once I had them cut out, I brushed a thin layer of Mod Podge on the back of the label and applied it to the jar.  In contrast to those white transfers, you can easily slide the label around on the glass until you have it on there straight.  Once I had it in place, I smoothed it down with my finger to remove any air bubbles and then added another layer of Mod Podge over the top of the label.

I then carefully wiped away any excess Mod Podge around the edge of the label using a damp paper towel.

And that’s it.  Super simple.  I just had to let them dry.

Unlike the bottles with the transfers, these labels would not hold up well if you got them wet.  So I would not advise washing these other than possibly wiping them down with a dust rag now and then.

That being said, they really did turn out kind of fabulous, don’t you think?

Once I was done adding labels to all of my bottles, I thought it might be fun to update this little wooden crate to hold them.

This was a super simple project.  I scuff sanded the wood, wiped it down with a damp cloth and then stained it using DIY Liquid Patina in Dark & Decrepit.

I have to admit, I haven’t found a lot of uses for this product.  I experimented with it over paint and didn’t really like that look.  However, it worked perfectly for this.  I just applied it with a rag, and then wiped away the excess with the same rag.  I did have to use a q tip to get into some of the corners, but that wasn’t difficult.

It dried quite quickly, and once dry I added some more decoupaged apothecary labels to the sides.

Easy peasy.

Unfortunately, I did not get these finished in time to take them in to the shop this week.  And in other news, my sister and I are flying out to visit our mom on Saturday, so I won’t be around to take them in for a couple of weeks.  But eventually they will make their way into Reclaiming Beautiful.

In the meantime, which style is your favorite?  The white transfer, or the labels?  Personally I’m digging those labels.  They look so authentic to me.

Posts will be hit or miss over the next two weeks while I’m off at mom’s, but I’ll be back before you know it so be sure to stay tuned.

a mid-winter thrift haul.

Published on by Quandie12 Comments

My friend Sue and I headed out for a little thrifting again last week.  It was a cold but sunny day, perfect for an outing in early February.

I came home with quite the haul.  I found a few metal items, a copper chafing dish, a pewter tray, some gold candlesticks and some silver pieces.

My favorite is the little footed tray.

I decided to give it a bit of a polish before taking it in to the shop.

I don’t normally polish my silver, I kind of prefer the tarnished look.  But this tray was a bit grungy so I decided to give it a go.  Now it’s shiny and clean.

These little trays are perfect as soap dishes in the bathroom.  You could fit matching liquid soap and lotion bottles on it too.  Or you could use it in the kitchen for olive oil and spices, like this one that I thrifted last April.

I also brought home a pile of wooden items that all went into the ‘to be painted’ stash.

I always enjoy painting stacking boxes like these.

These were particularly nice quality wooden ones.  It seems like burgundy and forest green might be coming back into fashion lately, but I still don’t like them.  You know my motto, never say never.  In a year or two I might be painting things burgundy, but for now I wanted to give these a more neutral theme.

So I painted them in Dixie Belle’s French Linen, Sawmill Gravy and Drop Cloth (bottom to top).  Then I added some re.design with prima transfers from both their Classic Vintage Labels and the new Middy French Labels.

When you’re out thrifting, don’t forget to consider the out of season stuff.

I snapped up these nautical items, but will hang onto them until summer and then bring them to the shop.  I do also plan to repaint those buoys.

I found quite a bit of glassware while we were out too.

I certainly wasn’t looking for glassware, but I was specifically on the hunt for items that I thought fit Dark Academia style.  Have you heard of it?  I’ve seen it mentioned here and there lately.  Here is how Wayfair describes it, “Dark academia interior design embraces dark colors, rich textures, and vintage-inspired decor. Dimly lit rooms with flickering candles, alcoves full of intrigue, and an eclectic collection of knick-knacks are not at all out of place.”

Reclaiming Beautiful (the shop where I sell items on consignment) is planning a dark academia themed window display this week, so I needed some stuff that would work for that.

I thought that I could makeover some of the glassware to have that dark academia feel starting with the cloche.  I painted the base in Dixie Belle’s Midnight Sky, and then added some I.O.D. transfers.

The bee is from their Brocante transfer, and the wording on the glass is from Label Ephemera.

I also added some I.O.D. wording to the glass vessel in the front of my haul photo.

That’s from the Traditional Pots transfer.

Last up were these 4 glass vases.  Funnily enough, I found all four of them at 3 different thrift stores but they all happen to match.  It makes me wonder of these are vases used by a flower delivery service or something like that.

I chose them because I like the shape and size of them, and because I knew these transfers from the I.O.D. Brocante set would fit them perfectly.

There are 4 different versions of this transfer in the Brocante set, so a different one for each of my glass vases.

My favorite dark academia find of the day has to be this Nefertiti bust.

She is perfect for that design aesthetic!

I don’t often find furniture that I want at the Goodwill, the stuff there is usually either cheaply made or badly damaged.  But I did find this small dresser this time around.

I think this is going to be perfect for another Wallcutz stencil project that I’m planning.  You’ll just have to stay tuned for that one.

I really wasn’t able to pick a ‘find of the day’ favorite this time around.  Nothing totally jumped out at me as the best item.  Instead I will end this post with the item I almost put back on the shelf.

Sue picked up that 500 Gr. measuring cup and handed it to me.  Initially I thought it was one of those World Market knock offs.  I actually have one of those that we use all the time in our kitchen …

So I wasn’t sure I wanted to spend a whopping $9.50 on another.  But I decided what the hell, might as well, and I brought it home.

However, my World Market version is clearly marked “World Market” on the bottom, and this thrifted one has this mark …

So, hmmmm, it appears to be the genuine article.

Now, do I keep it?  Or sell it?  Decisions, decisions.

 

mistakes were made.

Published on by Quandie42 Comments

I picked up a pair of wooden boxes while thrifting a week or so ago.

After sanding and cleaning them, I painted them with Dixie Belle’s Endless Shore, which is from their Silk paint line (ie. an acrylic paint with a built in primer and top coat).

I pulled out I.O.D.’s Floral Anthology transfer to decorate box no. 1.

After applying the florals, I added some French wording from the I.O.D. Label Ephemera transfer.

Full disclosure, I have only the vaguest idea of what these words mean so it could be total nonsense.  But it looks good to an English speaker.

After decorating the first box, I was about to do something similar with box no. 2.  But then I remembered a customer who once told me that she wished I didn’t put French words on everything!  So, I decided to go in a slightly different direction on the second box.

I first added some grain sack stripes using Dixie Belle’s French Linen.  Then I added the sheep from the I.O.D. Brocante transfer.  The little “No. 1120” and the date in the corners are from a Tim Holtz transfer.

I also added a farm name to the side of the box from the Everyday Farmhouse transfer from re.design with prima.

Finally, I applied one of the re.design with prima knob transfers to the top of the box.

I didn’t paint the insides of either box for a couple of reasons.  First of all, they aren’t real roomy inside and getting in there with a brush would have been a pain.  Second, they are clean inside, so they didn’t really need to be painted.

So far, so good, right?

But this is where I made my mistake.  As you can see in the photos, I distressed the edges of my boxes quite a bit.  Although the Silk paint has that built in topcoat, the transfer still needs some sort of sealer.  In addition, because I sanded the edges down to the bare wood, the Silk paint finish is compromised and will benefit from some protection on those edges as well.  Unfortunately, I decided to topcoat with Dixie Belle’s flat clear coat.  As I’ve learned in the past, sometimes a water based sealer will draw tannins out of the wood.

Honestly, I should have known better.  Look back at that ‘before’ photo, this wood was very orange-y red.  The Silk paint has a built-in stain blocking primer, and it was working quite well up until I added that flat clear coat.  All of the preceding photos were taken before the clear coat was added.

But about 24 hours after adding that clear coat, the boxes started to show bleed thru.

It’s much more obvious on the back of the boxes, but if you’re familiar with the look of bleed thru you can see it on the front as well.  Especially in the area I’ve circled below.

Also, FYI, the bleed thru continued to worsen over time.  Be forewarned, that can happen with bleed thru.  It has been about two weeks since I finished these and they seem to have stopped getting worse now.

If I could go back and start over I would opt to give these boxes a coat of Dixie Belle’s B.O.S.S., followed by their chalk style paint in Drop Cloth, and then a top coat of clear wax after applying the transfers.

But I can’t go back in time, so now what?

If these were pieces of furniture there is no way I would feel good about selling them ‘as is’, but these boxes?  Maybe?  I don’t know, what would you do?  Leave a comment and let me know!