an updated antique.

Published on by Quandie24 Comments

Earlier this summer my friend/picker Sue texted to ask if I wanted to buy a small table that her brother was getting rid of.  Not only was the price right, but her hubby could deliver it right to my door!

And here it is.

Just look at all of that beautiful detail.

But it had been refinished at some point in its life and given a super shiny finish.

As you all know by now, I am not a fan of shiny finishes on furniture.

Although this piece is constructed out of some lovely wood, there was no way I was going to strip the base with all of that detail.  That would have taken much more patience than I possess.  But stripping the top would be totally do-able.  So that’s where I started.

In case you are wondering, I use Citristrip for all of my stripping needs.

I like it because it’s safe for indoor use (although I did strip this particular table outside) and doesn’t have any harsh fumes.

Once I had the top of the table stripped, I then masked it off with newspaper and painter’s tape because my next step was to paint the base.  I took one look at all of that detail and decided spray painting would be my best bet.

I used Rustoleum’s Chalked spray paint in Charcoal.

Here’s something interesting I came across while looking online for a picture of the product to use, I found it at a website selling the paint for $19.90/can.  Yikes!  I buy it at my local Menards where the ‘everyday low price’ is $6.48/can.  I certainly pays to shop around sometimes!

And here’s another tip for you today, I use the Comfort Grip Spray Paint Gun (also from Rustoleum) when I’m doing a lot of spray painting.

It just clips onto the top of the can.  It totally saves your finger from having to press down on that spray button all the time.  That helps me get a smoother result with the spray paint too.

The Chalked paint can be distressed just like any other chalk-style paint.

Sticking with my theme of doing things the easy way on this project, I top-coated the paint with Dixie Belle’s Easy Peasy Clear Matte Spray Wax.

Just spray it on and wipe away any excess.

It worked beautifully over the Chalked spray paint.

OK, so after stripping the table top, spray painting, distressing and spray waxing the base, I pulled out a few options for finishing the table top.

Here’s what each one looks like when you open the can …

I immediately eliminated the Dixie Belle Weathered Gray Gel Stain (bottom) because I wanted a darker gray.  Then I eliminated the Varathane Weathered Gray stain (upper right) because I didn’t love the blue undertone it had.  That left me with Homestead House Stain & Finishing Oil (SFO) in Driftwood (now branded under Fusion Mineral Paint).  I liked the warmer tone and darker shade of the gray in the Driftwood.

That is just one coat of the SFO.   This product is meant to be applied in several light coats.  Each coat progressively adds a little more color, durability and sheen.  But in the case of this table, I really liked the color after just one coat so I left it at that.  I could have added a couple of coats of the Natural color SFO over the Driftwood to add durability without adding color, but I didn’t have any of that on hand.

Keep in mind that this is how the Driftwood SFO looks over the wood on this particular table.  It is semi-transparent, so the look will depend a bit on what you’re putting it on.

All in all, I think this gorgeous antique table has been given a totally updated look, don’t you?

As always, thanks to Dixie Belle Paint Co and Homestead House for providing some of the products used on today’s project.

If you are local and could use an updated antique table, be sure to check out my ‘available for local sale‘ page for more details on this one.

dogs in side cars.

Published on by Quandie16 Comments

Earlier this week I was on my way home from work when I noticed a car pulled over just in front of me.  The passenger had popped his hand out of the window with his phone as if to take a photo.  At first I thought he was taking a photo of me, but I figured that couldn’t be right so I took a look in the rear view mirror.  Just behind me was a guy driving a motorcycle with a side car, and perched in the side car was his dog.  And the dog had googles on!

Now, I didn’t actually pull over to take a photo, but I found a good one of a different dog in a side car to borrow from the web (and I also found out that this is kind of a thing and they make Doggles just for this purpose!)

I had the biggest grin on my face all the way home after seeing that dog.  He looked so blissfully happy riding down the road in that side car with the wind in his fur.

It just made me realize that we all need to take a moment and just enjoy the simple things.  I don’t know about you, but I could use a few more ‘dogs in side cars’ moments these days to remind me of that.

OK, I just had to share that story with you guys.  But now we can move on the official post for today.

In addition to new transfers, re.design with prima also released some new decoupage decor tissue paper designs this week.

‘Huh?  What is decoupage decor tissue paper?’ you ask?

Well, this product itself is not new.  They’ve had these decor tissue papers for a while now, but I haven’t done much with them aside from cutting one up and leaving it loose as a drawer liner.  Basically these are a fibrous textured paper that is thicker and more durable than normal tissue paper, or even just decorative paper.  The feel of it reminds me a bit of dryer sheets, or possibly interfacing material (if you have done any sewing and are familiar with that stuff).  Not only is it harder to tear, but it also is breathable which makes it perfect for decoupaging.  No more dealing with air bubbles!

I decided to finally do a little experimenting with it to see how I liked it.  OK, I’ll be straight with you guys, I didn’t especially love some of the original designs that came out so I hadn’t really felt inspired to work with them.  But I pretty much love all of the new ones that came out this week and that prompted me to get to work with them.

For my first project, I chose a design to use inside the hinged box on the mirrored box I shared with you last Friday.  I went with a design called Floral Parchment and I used Dixie Belle’s Gator Hide as a decoupaging medium.

The first thing you need to know is that this paper is not fully opaque.  In other words, it’s a little bit transparent.  Enough so that the color you put under it will make a difference in the final look.  Here’s how this paper looks over Dixie Belle’s Apricot paint color …

See what I mean?

I’ll share a few more examples in a minute, but first, here is the technique I used to apply the paper which was definitely easy peasy.

When lining something like this, I think it’s easiest to cut the tissue paper to size first.  Then do a test fit by placing it in the drawer dry.  Then pull it back out and brush a layer of the Gator Hide inside your drawer.  Next, place the tissue paper back in over the Gator Hide.  As long as the Gator Hide remains wet, you can maneuver the tissue paper around to get it straight and into place.  The paper is very easy to work with even when wet, I never felt like I was in danger of tearing it or leaving an unwanted crease somewhere.  You can even lift it back up and re-situate it if you need to.

Once you have the paper in place, go back over the top with another layer of Gator Hide.  Then use your fingers or your brush to go over the surface of the paper making sure that it is laying flat everywhere.  This is super quick and simple, nothing at all like trying to get those dreaded air bubbles out when decoupaging with other papers.

Don’t panic if it seems like the paper has gotten rather dark and obscured looking with the Gator Hide.  Once it’s dry it will lighten back up and be clear.

I was so happy with how my first example turned out that I decided to do a few more.  I pulled out some old wooden boxes that my picker found for me recently.

I rather liked the patina on all of them, so I opted not to paint them (for the most part).

Let’s just look at them one at a time to see what I did with them.

First up is the old cheese box.  Here’s how it looked after I cleaned it thoroughly.

I wanted to keep that worn look on the outside, but also make sure the inside was suitably cleaned up and sealed.  So I lined the bottom with the Washed Damask decoupage tissue and carried the final coat of Gator Hide up the sides inside the box.

Now you can store stuff in this box without feeling like it might get contaminated.

Next up was the rather plain box.  Initially I’d thought about painting it, but instead I cleaned it up and then added some scraps from IOD’s Label Ephemera transfer to the outside.

And then I lined it with the Flower Market tissue paper (by the way, this is one of re.design with prima’s older decoupage tissue papers, not one of the new ones).

Last up is my favorite of the boxes.  This box seems like it has been cobbled together from left over bits of wood.  The top slats on the sides had a couple of coats of paint on them (there is a lovely minty green under the brown), while the lower slats must have been from an old packing crate of some kind.

I added the “Specimen Blend” wording, but the “Montreal” was already there.

I did a little more work on this one by adding some old drawer pulls to the ends.

Next I painted just the bottom inside with Dixie Belle’s Mint Julep and once dry, decoupaged some Floral Wallpaper tissue inside it as well.

What I really like about using the Gator Hide as a decoupage medium is that you know it will create a durable surface.  So you could place some potted plants inside without worrying about doing too much damage to the bottom of the box (although I would remove them from the box for watering just to be on the safe side).

I love how all of these projects turned out.  I’ve also seen others doing some really fun things with the decoupage decor tissue, like covering old books or putting it on the sides of drawers.  And of course, you can also put it on drawer fronts too.

Here’s a q-tip for you on that though, keep in mind that these papers come with just two sheets to a package and each sheet is about 9.5″ tall x 30″ wide.  So there’s a good chance you’ll need several packages if you want to cover (or line) multiple drawers.  They are fairly inexpensive at around $8 to $11 per set, but if you need three or four sets that can add up quickly.

But I only needed about half of one sheet for the insides of my boxes.  I could have lined all four using just one set if I’d kept them all the same.  But these re.design with prima papers are all so pretty I couldn’t possibly have used just one!

Now, before you go hog wild and start decoupaging everything in sight, I have to note here that I have no idea how hard it might be to remove this stuff once it is applied.  I suspect it might be quite a mess.  So be sure that you want whatever you are decoupaging to stay decoupaged!  I’m not sure there is any going back.

As always, thanks to both re.design with prima and Dixie Belle for providing the products used in today’s post.

If you’re looking for Dixie Belle products you can find them here.

If you’re looking for re.design with prima products you can find local retailers here, or online sources here.

And finally, I highly recommend looking for dogs in side cars.  They are the perfect way to bring a smile to your face when you least expect it.

some pig!

Published on by Quandie17 Comments

First up, congrats to Sue P and Jackie for winning the two Dixie Belle problem solver giveaways from last Monday (both winners have been contacted by email).

OK, I think it’s safe to reveal one of the new designs from re.design with prima today.  As you may know, as one of their brand ambassadors I get the opportunity to work with new designs before they are released to the public.  When they send these preview items to me, they come all rolled up together in a tube for a different transfer because the official packaging isn’t available yet.  In other words, I don’t really know what I’ve gotten until I take them out of the tube and unroll them.

Well, as soon as I unrolled the Farm Life transfers I fell in love with the pig.

Even Mr. Q said that was some pig.  It totally made us both think of Wilbur from Charlotte’s Web.  He does look ‘terrific’, ‘radiant’, and ‘humble’, doesn’t he?

You’d think I had a thing for pigs.  This is the 2nd time I’ve fallen in love with a pig.  The first time it was these knob transfers from prima’s Farmhouse Delight set.

But no, I don’t normally especially admire pigs.  Something about these two designs just spoke to me.

Anyway, as soon as I saw the new Farm Life set I knew I wanted to create a quartet of signs made on old cupboard doors.  There was only one problem, I didn’t have any old cupboard doors that were the right size.  So I decided to check out my local Habitat for Humanity ReStore.

I’d never been to a ReStore before, so I didn’t know quite what to expect.  I also was keeping my expectations low because really, what are the chances that I would find specifically what I was looking for at a 2nd hand store?

Well, as it turned out, apparently pretty good.  I found 4 cupboard doors that were exactly the size I needed.

Well, in fact I found 5.  So even though I only needed 4, I bought all five.  I can always do something else with the 5th one.

The prices were right too.  I got all 5 of them for just under $20.

I would have preferred old cabinet doors with several layers of old paint on them, but three of these were unfinished and the other two had a clear poly on them.  And I knew I could recreate that look myself.  I started out with a layer of Dixie Belle’s Cocoa Bean.

I just painted around the perimeter in this dark brown color because I wanted to see just hints of it when I distressed the edges.

Next I added a layer of Miss Mustard Seed’s Milk Paint in Kitchen Scale.  I think this color has a historic feel.  As though these cupboard doors were painted back in the 50’s, and then painted over again later.  Perfect for adding a little age to them.

Finally, I added several coats of Sweet Pickins Milk Paint in Window Pane.

I did get some good chipping, which is what I was going for.  However, I was surprised to find that the paint chipped all the way down to the original finish.  In other words, even the Dixie Belle Cocoa Bean paint chipped off in spots.

But that only happened on the two doors that had started out with a clear poly, so in hindsight that does make some sense.

Once all four cupboard doors were painted and sanded to distress the edges, I vacuumed away any loose paint and then added the transfers.  There are four designs in this set and each one is approx. 11″ wide x 16″ tall.

There’s the cows …

The chickens …

The horses …

And of course, the pigs …

There are some interesting bits of info on each one …

Who knew that the chicken was the closest living relative of the t-rex?

Once the transfers were in place, I added a topcoat of The Real Milk Paint Co’s Finishing Cream.  I used the Low Sheen version this time, but I have used the Dead Flat version in the past and I really don’t see much of a difference between the two.  I like using this product over chippy milk paint because it’s thick and therefore I’m not in danger of getting any runs.

Once that dried, I added some label holders to the bottom of each cupboard door.

I purchased these in sets of 3 from Hobby Lobby for $3.99. (although I’m sure I bought them during a 40% off sale and probably only paid $2.40 for them).

They are technically for scrapbooking and came with brads to attach them to paper, but I swapped out the brads for little tacks to hold them to my cupboard doors.

I filled them with some vintage price tags that I also had in my stash of scrapbooking supplies.

And just like that, I created some unique wall art.

Wouldn’t these doors be fun hung on the wall in a farmhouse style kitchen?

Although I’ve turned old cupboard doors into wall art, you could apply these transfers right to your kitchen cabinets.  They would also be perfect for adding to the cupboard doors on an old hoosier cabinet or hutch.  Or, you could cut up the designs and use smaller sections on canisters.  There are so many possibilities.  What would you do with them?

As always, thank you to re.design with prima for providing the transfers used in today’s project.  If you’re looking for a place to purchase their products, you can find info on online or retail stores here.

I’ve also used products from Dixie Belle Paint Co, Miss Mustard Seed’s Milk Paint, Sweet Pickins Milk Paint and The Real Milk Paint Co today, all of whom have provided me with free products (although I haven’t necessarily kept track of which ones I’ve paid for and which ones were complimentary!)

Finally, these Farm Life doors are for sale locally at $30 each (you must be able to pick them up at my house in a suburb of St. Paul, MN).  I’ll soon be taking them in to Reclaiming Beautiful (the shop where I sell on consignment), but in the meantime if you’re local and need some cute signs be sure to leave a comment or reach out via email at qisforquandie@gmail.com.

use your words.

Published on by Quandie21 Comments

OMG you guys!  I almost did it again!  I almost posted the reveal of the new transfers and decor tissue papers too early.  When writing the post I shared this past Monday, I didn’t realize that the release date had been changed from yesterday to this coming Monday.  Thank goodness I noticed that before I posted my project using them today or I would have been in trouble again with the ‘release police’.

Now, before you think I’m a complete idiot who can’t keep track of dates,  the only notification of the change was a note on the Facebook group page for brand ambassadors.  In case you don’t already know this about me, I am notoriously bad about paying attention to Facebook.  I pretty much only see something on Facebook if I’m specifically tagged.  Otherwise, yeah … who has time to read everything that’s posted on Facebook?

Anyway, I apologize to all of you.  I’d promised you the big reveal today and now you aren’t going to see it until Monday.

In the meantime, thank goodness I had another project waiting in the wings to be shared or I would have had to have another giveaway today 😉  And speaking of giveaways, you still have until midnight tonight to leave a comment on Monday’s post to enter that giveaway.

My picker found this adorable little … um, what would you call this?

A mirrored box maybe?  I’m not sure.  But it was obviously meant for jewelry because there was a padded velvet lining inside, so maybe a mirrored jewelry box?

Regardless, I ditched the velvet, because I think I’d be more inclined to keep makeup inside the hinged box.  Although it would work well for jewelry still too.

I gave it a paint job with Dixie Belle’s Drop Cloth on the outside and their Apricot on the inside.  Then I added some words from the IOD Label Ephemera transfer.

I added some above the mirror too.

Isn’t it amazing how much using a little paint and a few words can totally change the look of something?

And this one is pretty on the inside too.

I can’t tell you much about that though, because I used one of prima’s new decoupage tissue papers on the inside.  I can’t tell you the name of it or show you the entire sheet of tissue until next week.  But this is just a little bit of it, so I think I can get away with calling it a ‘sneak peek’.  And honestly, even if I wanted to share the name of this one I wouldn’t be able to because I don’t know what it is.

But stay tuned.  Next week not only will I share more on this one, but I’ll share a couple of other new decoupage tissues and also more about the technique I used to adhere it inside my mirrored box.

But in the meantime, how do you like this mirrored box’s new look?

As always, thank you to Dixie Belle for providing the paint used for this project. If you’re looking for Dixie Belle products you can find them here.

And if you are local and could use a sweet little mirrored box, this one is for sale for $38.

Be sure to check back on Monday when I can officially reveal the new re.design with prima designs!

timing is everything.

Published on by Quandie146 Comments

Sometimes timing is everything, and I just get it wrong.  As a brand ambassador for re.design with prima, they send me products before they are released to the general public. That way I can work with them and have some projects ready to go when they are released.  They give me a release date and I’m not supposed to share the products ahead of that date.

I totally screwed that up with the molds I used on these clay pots back in May.

Yep, I completely forgot that the release date for the new molds was later than the date I posted them.  Ooops!

Well, re.design with prima is releasing some new designs this coming Friday.  Once again, they sent me some of them in advance and I’ve been busy creating some stuff to share here on the blog.  Unfortunately, once again I also wasn’t paying enough attention to the release dates.  I’ve been busy finishing up those projects and I forgot to factor in having something to share with you guys today.

There is one loophole though.  Today is the ‘sneak peek’ day.  That means I can share some sneak peeks of my projects, just not the entire thing.

Here’s one …

And here’s another …

Honestly, I’m never really sure just exactly how much I’m allowed to show in a sneak peek, but I definitely can’t share any details.

So you’ll just have to stay tuned until Friday to see it all.

And in the meantime, as a sort of consolation for not having a ‘real’ blog post for you today, I’ve decided to have a giveaway instead.

In addition to being a brand ambassador for re.design with prima, I’m also a content creator for Dixie Belle Paint Co.  They provide me with lots of their great products, enough so that I can pay it forward and share some with others.  So today I’m going to give away a few of their ‘problem solvers’.

First up is their B.O.S.S. which stands for blocks odors, stains and stops bleed-thru.  It comes in clear and white, and I’m including the clear version in the giveaway.  I think the clear is more versatile because you can use it under any color and when you distress the edges of your piece you won’t see a layer of white as you would with the white version.  However, the white version works well under white paint and reduces the number of coats of white paint needed for full coverage.

I have used B.O.S.S. to eliminate the smell from a piece of furniture that came from a smoker.  I’ve also used it to block bleed-thru stain, as well as ink stains.

You can really see it in action on these two drawers.  The top one was painted without the B.O.S.S., the bottom one with.  Just check out the stain bleeding through the paint on that top drawer, yikes!

Next up is Dixie Belle’s Slick Stick.

This product is used to help their paint adhere to a slick surface like glass, formica or laminate.  I love using this product on laminate pieces like this Thomasville faux bamboo dresser that I painted in Dixie Belle’s Peony.

Finally, I’m also including some Dixie Belle Mud in the give away.

Mud is a filler that you can use to fill in deep scratches (or burn marks like the one above), but the most common way that I use it is to fill in holes when I’m changing out the hardware on a piece.  In the case of this next example, the previous owner had taken off the original single hole knobs and replaced them with a drawer pull that required two holes.

I wanted to go back to the single hole, so I filled the extra two holes with Mud.  I like to add a little spackle after the Mud dries (check out the full technique I use here) and then look, you can’t even see those holes.

So, to recap, today’s giveaway prize includes:

a 16 oz. clear BOSS, an 8 oz brown Mud and an 8 oz Slick Stick.  Plus a little plastic spatula thingie that works great for the Mud.

Thank you to Dixie Belle for sponsoring this giveaway by providing the products.

The rules:  to be eligible to win today’s prize leave a comment on this blog post.  Your comment must be left on the blog, not on Facebook or Instagram.  You are not required to follow my blog, although it would be awesome if you did!

I will randomly draw the name of two winners for today’s prize from all of the comments left on this post by Friday, August 21 at the stroke of midnight (U.S. Central time).

The fine print: no purchase necessary, you must be 18 years of age or older to win, void where prohibited by law, the number of eligible entries received determines the odds of winning, approximate retail value of prize is $45, if the prize is not claimed by Sunday, August 23, another name will be drawn at random to win, blah, blah, blah.

Good luck!

if only I’d thought of that sooner.

Published on by Quandie18 Comments

A while back I shared this pile of goodies that I’d brought home from garage sales …

I’ve made over everything in this pile (medicine cabinet, box, birdcage, lamp) except for the pair of chairs which will likely become an early spring 2021 project (it’s a little late in the season for planter chairs now) and today’s project, the little camp stool.

I didn’t quite remember to get a photo before I started working on it, but I did grab a quick one after removing the canvas seat …

The existing seat was pretty gross, and the wood frame was looking shabby as well.  The finish was mostly gone and the wood was quite dry looking.  I tried to capture that in this photo …

Once I had the seat off, I scrubbed the wooden frame with some Dawn and the garden hose.  Once it dried again, I re-evaluated.  At this point I could have painted it, but I really liked the warmth of the wood.  So I decided to see if I could rejuvenate the wood without totally stripping and refinishing it.

I started by sanding it to remove all loose bits of the previous finish.  Then I pulled out the Dixie Belle Howdy-Do Hemp Seed Oil.

This has become my preferred brand of hemp oil because it has almost no odor at all  (I have had issues with bad odors when using other brands).

I like to apply hemp oil with an inexpensive chip brush.  Some of the really cheap ones from the DIY/hardware store tend to shed their bristles and make a total mess of it, but the premium chip brush from Dixie Belle is little better quality and it’s only $1.50 on their website.  It’s perfect for using with hemp oil.

OK, so I brushed the hemp oil onto the wood.  Then I gave it a minute or so to soak in and wiped away any excess oil using an old rag.

In the meantime, I had asked my friend/picker Sue (who also does a bit of sewing for me) to hem up a piece of drop cloth fabric to same size as the former seat of the camp stool.  She whipped it up in no time, and once I had that back from her I stenciled it to give it a grain sack look (the stencil used can be found here).

After that it was super simple to just staple the seat back onto the frame.

It wasn’t until I was contemplating how best to stage this camp stool for a photo that I realized I’d missed a prime opportunity.  Last weekend Mr. Q, my sister, my niece and I went for a hike in William O’Brien State Park.  If only I’d thought ahead and brought the camp stool along.  I could have gotten some photos of it with an appropriately camp-ish background.  I could have placed it beside the St. Croix River with an old fishing pole leaning on it.

Or maybe just next to this babbling brook with a vintage cooler beside it.

It would have been perfect!

Drat!  If only I’d thought of that sooner!

Instead I just took some photos of it on my deck next to the patio furniture.

Not quite as camp-ish, I know.

It makes a fun alternative to a traditional side table though.  It could also double as a foot stool.

What would you use an old camp stool for?

Many thanks to Dixie Belle for providing the Howdy-Do hemp seed oil used for this project. If you’re looking for Dixie Belle products you can find them here.

And if you need a refurbished camp stool, this one is for sale locally for $25.

a french-ish bed.

Published on by Quandie15 Comments

A while back my friend/picker Sue gave me a heads up on a Saturday morning garage sale that was happening near me and I came home with a pile of goodies.

You’ve already seen the chairs made over …

This past weekend I worked on the bed.

Now, you might be thinking ‘hey, wait a minute, that bed is already painted! Q is totally cheating!’

But what isn’t entirely apparent in that ‘before’ photo is that it was spray painted.  Sometimes spray paint can leave an uneven sheen, especially on flat surfaces like this one.  Here’s a photo where you can really see what I’m talking about.

See those patchy dull areas?  Not really a good look, so this bed really needed a new paint job.

I briefly toyed with the idea of painting it in a warm white, and it would have been absolutely lovely in that color.  However in the end, I decided to save myself some effort and just go with the black.

I sanded the bed lightly all over to make sure I’d get good adhesion with chalk paint over the spray paint (by the way, just a random tip, milk paint does not adhere well over a shiny spray paint, just in case you were curious about that).  Next I cleaned the surface with a damp rag and then added a coat of Dixie Belle’s Caviar.

Since I was painting black over black, one coat of paint was totally sufficient.  Well … or, it would have been.  Except for the part where I had the headboard leaning against the Carriage House to dry and a stiff wind knocked it over face first onto my gravel driveway.  Ugh!  When will I learn not to do that?  This is not the first time this has happened.  I can only blame myself.

But after a quick sanding of the damaged areas, and another coat of paint, all was well again.

Next I pulled out the Somewhere in France transfer from re.design with prima.

I used about 2/3 of the full transfer on this bed.  I added one section to the headboard …

and another section to the foot board (have any of you also wondered why ‘headboard’ is one word, but ‘foot board’ is two?) …

You can really get a good bang for your buck with the Somewhere in France transfer by splitting it up to be used on 3 or more different projects.

Here’s just a bit of it used on a hat box …

I’ve also used it on a toolbox  …

And on this old wooden box…

It’s also a great transfer to pair with other transfers, like the pretty floral one (Lavender Bush) on this bed.

Or the gold crown from the Gilded Home & Nature transfer that I used on Lulu, my manikin.

Anyway, I digress.  After adding the transfer to the bed, I added a coat of clear wax to everything.

But before calling it good, I also decided to dig out the Vintage Gold Metallique wax from prima …

I used a q-tip to add a bit of the gold wax to the carved wood applique at the top of the headboard.

It was just enough extra gold to tie in with the transfer.

In case any of you are gardeners and are wondering about the hydrangea in the background, that is a Little Lime.  It’s similar to a Limelight, but smaller.  The Little Lime will grow to 5′, while the Limelight will get up to 8′ tall.  So if you’re looking for a hydrangea that will stay a little smaller, go with the Little Lime.

Normally this is the part of my post where I mention that this bed is available to local buyers, etc … but this one is actually already spoken for.  One of my good customers stopped by to pick up the do-over dresser from last Monday, saw the bed and called dibs on it.

As always, thank you to Dixie Belle Paint Co and to re.design with prima for providing the products used for today’s project.

If you’re looking for Dixie Belle products you can find them here.

If you’re looking for re.design with prima products you can find local retailers here, or online sources here.

a stitch in time.

Published on by Quandie16 Comments

One of my regular customers brought me a present the other day (thanks again Suzy).  She had seen my post about the button box, and she thought this piece had a similar feel.

I photographed the ‘before’ shot with it lying on a table, but it is supposed to be hung on the wall to hold spools of thread.  It’s not in terrible shape, and the little daisy chain at the top is pretty cute, but that shade of yellow … well, it’s a little garish, isn’t it?

But, that was nothing that a little spray paint couldn’t fix.

First I sanded off the daisy chain though.  The paint used for the flowers was a bit thick, so had I just painted over it you would have still seen the outline.  So I sanded those flowers off completely, then added a few coats of Rustoleum’s Heirloom White.  Next I added a little section from the Classic Vintage Labels transfer from re.design with prima to the top.

I had remarked on how much I loved the look of the old wooden spools that came with the button box compared with modern plastic ones …

But I’d included them with the box when I sold it, so I didn’t have any of those left.  All I had were the 4 spools that came with this rack.

So it was kind of kismet when I happened to find a big box of old thread at a lunchtime garage sale for $1.

They weren’t all old, but there were enough vintage spools in there to make it worthwhile.

I put all of the plastic ones in the Goodwill pile, and added the vintage ones to the spool holder.

Wouldn’t this be sweet hung on the wall in someone’s sewing room?

I don’t actually happen to sew though, so that someone won’t be me.

But if you’re local, and a seamstress, it could be you.  It is for sale for a mere $22.  If you’re interested, leave a comment or shoot me an email at qisforquandie@gmail.com.

And if there aren’t any takers, I’ll be putting it in the pile to take to Reclaiming Beautiful, the shop where I sell some of my things on consignment.

back to the drawing board.

Published on by Quandie27 Comments

Sometimes you just gotta go back to the drawing board.

Perhaps you remember this dresser that I painted back in February …

I loved how it turned out.  But then, I happen to be a fan of toile (that is the Simplicity transfer from re.design with prima).  Especially the black and white version.

It would seem that not very many other people are.  Or, at least that’s what I’m blaming for the fact that this dresser hasn’t sold.  Of course, it could be many other things, like COVID-19 for example.  Or it could be that I haven’t stayed on top of keeping ads for it posted and updated online.

Regardless, it has been collecting dust for six months now, so I decided it was time to re-think the design.

I began by sanding the transfer off the top two drawers.  I’ve found that sanding is the easiest way to remove a transfer (to read more about removing a transfer, check out this post).  For those of you who have wondered about the permanence of a transfer, I can say that once properly adhered they will stay on until you want to take them off.  And when you do want to take them off, you can do so, but you won’t be able to salvage the finish beneath them in the process.

So once I had the transfer (and most of the paint) removed, I simply repainted the top two drawers in the same paint I used on this piece back in February, Amulent paint from The Chippy Barn.

Back then, this color was called Cottage White.  For some reason, The Chippy Barn decided to rename it and now it’s called Country Cream, just in case you are looking for it.

Anyway, with very little effort, I then had a totally blank canvas on which to start over.

Quite some time ago I ordered a few IOD transfers.  You’ve seen some of the smaller ones that I’ve used on watering cans, a step stool, and a button box.  But I also ordered the larger version of their Le Petit Rosier (it’s 24″ x 33″).  I’d been waiting for just the right piece to use it on.

Turns out, this dresser is the one!

It took quite a bit of elbow grease to get this transfer applied.  I really had to work at each individual letter to make sure it was down before continuing to lift the backing.  And there are a lot of letters …

And I messed up on quite a few of them losing half of an ‘a’ or the top of an “L”.  But overall I think those mistakes just sort of blend in.

Once the transfer was on, I waxed over it lightly with clear wax and then put the same glass knobs back on.

The polka dotted paper I used to line the top two drawers continues to work with this new look as well.

Now, all that remains is to see whether or not the dresser will sell this time around.

And if it doesn’t, then I am going to find a way to keep it because I absolutely love it.

But if any of you locals want to snatch it up, check out my ‘available for local sale‘ page for more details.

a heartless hope chest.

Published on by Quandie44 Comments

A couple of weeks ago my niece asked if I would paint a trunk for her, and when she added that I could paint it any color I chose, I was in.

Actually, I say that, but you all know the truth.  I would have happily painted it for her even if she wanted it to be orange (or purple and green) or something.  But I was glad to be given carte blanche.

Now, those of you who are wood lovers (and if so, I can’t imagine why you are still following my blog) should look away at this point.  I will fully admit that the wood on this particular trunk was still in beautiful condition.  It is a cedar chest made by Lane.

That being said however, that lacy heart really had to go.

And as Mr. Q likes to say, it’s only paint.  If sometime down the road Kris decides she no longer wants the trunk painted, she can always strip it back down to bare wood and refinish it.  That wouldn’t be too difficult because it has such clean lines and no carved details.

Back in the day, a piece like this was called a hope chest.  I’m not sure whether or not my niece calls it that.  The Wikipedia definition of a hope chest is …

‘a piece of furniture traditionally used to collect items such as clothing and household linen, by unmarried young women in anticipation of married life.’

Hmmmm.  That feels like a pretty dated idea these days.  But I suspect that my niece was originally given this trunk to serve as a hope chest.  That heart kind of gives it away.

But I gave it a whole new look starting with a paint job using Dixie Belle’s Sawmill Gravy.

You know, when I first saw this color I really didn’t think it was anything special.  But since then I’ve used it on numerous pieces and I seem to keep coming back to it.  There is something about it that I love.  Maybe that it’s not a bright white, and it’s not quite grey or beige or cream either.  It’s just the perfect pale neutral.

To start, I sanded the chest and cleaned it with a damp rag.  Then I painted it with two coats of the Sawmill Gravy.

After giving it a light sanding with 220 grit sandpaper to smooth out the finish, I added the bottom half of the Cosmic Roses transfer from re.design with prima to the front.

I’ve yet to see this particular transfer look bad over any color.  It’s amazing over pretty much any shade of blue …

It also looks great over a mid-tone grey like Dixie Belle’s French Linen …

I’ve also seen others use it over yellow, or even some really dark colors, and it still looks fantastic.

But I happen to love it over this color in particular.

I happen to know that Cosmic Roses is one of my niece’s favorite transfers, so it was the perfect choice for her trunk.

Before I forget, I’ve got a really important q-tip for you guys today; don’t try to apply a transfer in your non-climate controlled carriage house workshop when there is a heat advisory.  I had a heck of a time applying the first sheet of this transfer (it comes in a total of six sheets, I used two full sheets and two half sheets on this trunk).  So much so that I gave up and had Mr. Q help me haul the trunk into the air conditioned house to complete the job.

Once everything (me, the trunk, and the transfer) cooled down, it went on perfectly fine.  So, lesson learned, 90 degrees combined with high humidity does not work for applying transfers.  Keep that in mind.

But, I finally got it applied.  Once that was done, I added a topcoat of clear wax to protect it.

So, what to you think?  A definitely improvement?  Or did you prefer the heart?

As always, thanks to Dixie Belle Paint Co for providing the paint and to re.design with prima for providing the transfer for this project.

If you’re looking for Dixie Belle products you can find them here.

If you’re looking for re.design with prima products you can find local retailers here, or online sources here.