a genuine al teeter.

Published on by Quandie18 Comments

You just never know what you’re going to find at a garage sale.

Last week my friend opK and I went up to the Chisago city-wide sales.  That’s Chisago with an ‘s’ in the middle, not Chicago with a ‘c’.  Chicago is the 3rd largest city in the U.S. with a population of 2.7 million people.  Chisago has a population of 5,788 people and is located just under 40 miles north of us.  Definitely not large, and I’m not even sure I would call it a city, it’s more of a town.

There were only a little over a dozen garage sales participating, but we also found a few random renegade sales to stop at.  I call them ‘renegades’ because they are held by proprietors that didn’t bother to officially sign up for the city-wide sales, but are still having a sale during the event.

I didn’t come home with much, but it was still a fun day.  The weather was gorgeous, the people were nice, and I brought home a handful of goodies starting with this swan planter.

As you may have noticed, I have a little bit of a non-collection of matte white pottery.

I’m no expert at identifying this stuff unless it is clearly marked with McCoy, Haeger or some other manufacturer’s name.  The swan has a USA marking, but no manufacturer’s name.

But I did a little googling and I believe that this is a piece of Hull pottery, and is barely worth anything more than the $8 that I paid for it.  Still, I’ll add the swan into my little non-collection for now.

Next up is this pair of wooden bobbins.

These were a mere $1.50 each, and I like to use them to hold ribbon.

I also picked up a handful of copper plant i.d. tags.

I’m not at all sure what the fate of these will be, but they were only $1 for all so I grabbed them.  I like adding these to a gifted floral arrangement with a message on them (like ‘thank you’ or some such), I also like using them simply as a photo prop.  But I also like using this style of plant tag for its intended purpose, as I did in my herb garden (although those weren’t copper).

Another fun find in Chisago was this vintage first aid kit.

It’s in rough shape, but I think I can freshen it up and add a protective clear coat.  I’m not sure what to do about the contents though.

I’m leaning towards tossing them because I think they are kind of gross.  Although I’d keep the little First Aid Guide booklet.  I’m sure there are some purists out there who believe in keeping these sorts of things intact, but I’m not one of them.

I plan to sell it, and I think it will have more of a market if it’s actually functional rather than just decorative.  A future owner could fill it with fresh first aid supplies and keep it on their boat, or in their camper van, or on a shelf in the bathroom where it could be both decorative and functional.

What do you think?

I’ve been saving my find of the day for last, although if you’ve been paying attention there have been little glimpses of it in the background of my photos.

Yep!  I bought a genuine fake Matisse at a garage sale.

The woman selling this told us that her mother was an art teacher, and one of her students painted this.  Art students often practice by copying a master’s work.

It is very clearly marked on the back, so it’s not as though this was any sort of attempt at forgery or anything.

So no, I didn’t actually find a real Matisse at a garage sale.  Instead, I now own a genuine Al Teeter.

The original Matisse is called The Green Stripe … or The Green Line … I’ve seen both names online.  It is a portrait of Matisse’s wife.  Here it is …

I definitely don’t know enough about art to judge whether or not Al did a good job of copying this painting.  Although it does seem as though Al’s made his ‘green stripe’ a bit more obvious than the original Matisse.

In addition, his brush strokes aren’t quite as bold, and some of his colors are a bit off.

Nonetheless, I kind of love the Al Teeter.

Once again, I’m debating.  Do I keep the Al Teeter?  Or do I sell it?  I haven’t made up my mind just yet.  What do you think?

Leave a comment and let me know.

will it hold up outside?

Published on by Quandie6 Comments

Good morning from the garden!

Whenever I share items that are going to be outside in the garden, I’m frequently asked the same question, ‘will it hold up outside?’

And sometimes the legit answer is that I don’t really know.  Especially if I’ve only recently started using a particular product and haven’t had a chance to test it over time.  But I’ve got a few years of experience under my belt now, so I thought I’d give you some honest feedback on how some of my things have held up.

Let’s start with transfers.

I added a Classic Vintage Label from re.design with prima to a watering can back in early 2020.  I did not use any sort of topcoat over it, although a topcoat is recommended for transfers.

I used it in my front window box that summer, and it held up great for year 1.

I don’t always leave my watering cans outside in the winter, but after leaving it outside for all of summer 2021, I also used it on an outdoor Christmas tree that year.

At that time it was holding up quite nicely.

For summer 2022, I had it hanging from a cupboard door sign on our deck.

The transfer was starting to deteriorate a bit then.

I stored it in the potting shed last winter, and then brought it out again in the spring.

Here’s how it was looking as of a few days ago.

Hmmmm, not so good, right?

So there you go, a transfer without a topcoat on galvanized metal will last about three years.

But here’s the good news.  It was super simple to remove that deteriorating transfer using steel wool and a little water.

It barely even took much elbow grease, it just scrubbed right off without damaging the watering can in any way.

So if you want to add a little something to a galvanized piece, but you want to have the option to remove it down the line, a transfer without a topcoat is a great choice.

And you know what, I really liked that transfer on that particular watering can.

So I did it again.

I added back the very same Classic Vintage Label.  And once again, I opted not to seal it.  I like the idea that it’s somewhat temporary.  In a few years I may decide that I prefer my watering cans without labels.  Or maybe I’ll want to try some other sort of decoration on it. Who knows?

You’re probably now wondering if adding a topcoat over the transfer will improve it’s durability on an outdoor item, and unfortunately I have to say that I don’t know.  I haven’t actually tried that.

Now, how about adhesive vinyl cut with a Cricut machine?

I added our house number to an ironstone platter way back in 2014 after getting the idea from this pin on pinterest.

source: onsuttonplace.com

I simply used my Cricut machine to cut adhesive vinyl to make mine.

I have it hanging outside next to our back door.  It’s up all year round, including winter.

And 9 years later it is still going strong.  Honestly, I’m rather amazed that it has held up over all this time.  I totally expected it to start peeling after one season.

But nope, still looks good.

I still have a few of my pieces of garden china scattered around the garden too.

These were also cut from vinyl on the Cricut.  I put them away in winter, but they stay out the rest of the year … and they get wet every time I water my pots.  But again, they still look great.

The painted ‘signs’ that I create with stencils and chalk style paint hold up just fine outside too.

Even when they are simply top-coated with some of Dixie Belle’s Big Mama’s Butta, as that one is.

I tend to change these out seasonally, so none of them are out all year long.  But I do bring them out year after year and they continue to look great.

Next up is the general category of furniture that was meant to be inside, but I’m using it outside … starting with my repurposed guest bed.

I have to report mixed results with this one.  The headboard with its I.O.D. paint inlay has held up fantastically well.  And I left it up all winter.

Unfortunately, the footboard planter is not doing as well, even though I put it away for the winter.  The headboard gets a bit of protection from rain by the overhang of the carriage house roof, but the footboard really doesn’t.  It also gets a lot of splash up from the driveway.  Then add in the fact that I have placed heavy planters on a shelf that is attached to the back of the footboard, which was probably not meant to hold that much weight, and the end result is this.

The bottom trim is pulling away, and that has created a bit crack in the paint, which is now allowing more water to get in there.

I plan to pull this apart to see if we can shore it up a bit, and then repaint it, sometime before the snow flies.  Or maybe that project will wait until next spring.  Either way, I’m not giving up on it just yet.

You may remember that I have used dining room chairs as ‘peony cages’.

and over time all but one of them have fallen apart including the one shown above.

I do have its matching chair still wrangling a peony out next to the potting shed, but I’m sure it’s on its last legs.

And if you’re noticing, yes, this is the one peony I have that has ended up with a fair amount of powdery mildew this year.

Bottom line, indoor wood furniture is not meant to used outside and chances are good that any glued joints will fail after a few years.

Iron furniture will hold up a bit better, and if you like a little rust (as I do), it can work out great outside.

I have an old iron headboard that supports the Annabelle hydrangea next to our deck.

I also have an old iron bed that I keep trying to grow clematis on, and somehow it never works out.

I once had an absolutely spectacular Nelly Moser clematis in this spot, and one spring it just didn’t come back.  I’ve planted at least three replacements of different varieties since then, and not a single one has taken off.  I can only guess that the amount of shade on that garden has increased over the years.  The Nelly Moser is a variety of clematis that is more shade tolerant as well, so maybe I need to try that particular variety again.

I do have one other indoor iron item in the garden, well, two really, a pair of andirons that I grabbed free at the curb.

I’ve placed them on either side of my metal arbor.

One last product that I’ve used on pieces for the garden that I want to include in this post is the Patina paint line from Dixie Belle.

I used the Bronze paint with the green spray on a concrete Japanese lantern …

and on a terracotta buddha.

And I’ve used the Iron paint with the green spray to make numerous garden ornaments rusty.

Some of these items have held up better than others, and that depends on the material underneath the paint rather than the Patina Paint itself.  Terracotta tends to allow moisture to wick through from the backside, which then causes pieces to deteriorate.  But plastic or metal items are holding up perfectly well, even over several years, and after being outside all winter.

It’s also super easy to spot repair your outdoor pieces with the Patina Paint when necessary, as I did with my buddha.

I hope some of you found this info helpful.  If you have any questions about how well particular items have held up outdoors that I didn’t answer above, be sure to leave a comment and ask!

a pile of painted pumpkins.

Published on by Quandie15 Comments

Is it too soon for pumpkins?

I think so.  However, sometimes I feel like I have to jump on the bandwagon simply because I plan to take some painted pumpkins to the shop, and many shops (ie. Hobby Lobby, Target, Marshall’s, Home Goods, etc) were already decked out for fall several weeks ago.  I actually feel like I’m behind on fall décor!

In addition, we have a big trip coming up!  Have I mentioned that yet?  Remember way, way back in 2019 before Covid?  We had booked a European Capitals cruise.  When the Covid thing started in early 2020, I remember thinking ‘oh, this will be over long before our fall trip‘.  Little did I know that it would be four years before we managed to get back to Europe!

But we’re finally going!  This time my sister, niece and nnK’s brother are all joining us.  We’re spending six days in Amsterdam, followed by a 7 day cruise around Norway.

Anyway, that means I need to get a jump on seasonal fall stuff because by the time we get back from that trip I’ll need to get started on Christmas décor!  LOL.  Good gracious … that’s actually true though, I definitely have to get a jump on that.

So let’s take a look at some painted pumpkins.

Last year I picked up a variety of faux pumpkins at after-holiday bargain prices.

Most of them are white, but three of them are paper mache.

My original plan was to paint the paper mache pumpkins, and the medium-sized bright white pumpkins (those bright white ones were particular plastic looking).  I left that large creamy white pumpkin alone, that one is going to go outside in the garden later in the fall.  I was also planning to leave the smallest creamy white pumpkins ‘as is’ and use them to fill a bowl or other container at my own house.

But then I was thinking about some re.design with prima Middy label transfers that I ordered a while back, and they were the perfect size for the smallest of the pumpkins, and before I knew it, I’d added them to almost all of the little pumpkins.

I know, they aren’t exactly fall colors.  Nor are they really fall-ish looking designs.

But if you’re not into the traditional orange, these might be a good alternative.  The blue transfers are from the Vintage Labels I set, and those in the next photos are from Vintage Labels II.

The prima website calls the color a soft, warm grey.  Hmmmm.  They definitely read as a lavender to me.

I painted the three larger paper mache pumpkins, and the three creamy white mid-sized pumpkins in three different Dixie Belle colors, Dried Sage, Sawmill Gravy and Sea Glass.  I didn’t do any sort of prep before painting, and you don’t really have to when using the Dixie Belle chalk style paint over a non-smooth, non-glossy surface, and the pumpkins qualified.

I love the two that I painted in Sea Glass.

Totally not a traditional fall color, I know.  I turned the stems on them gold using some of Dixie Belle’s Gold Gilding Wax.  The combination of Sea Glass and gold always feels very ‘Louis XIV’ French’ to me.

I also added DB Gilding Wax to the stems on the other two medium sized pumpkins, only in the Bronze color.  I felt like the original stems looked really plastic in their original speckled green color.

The bronze worked beautifully with the Dried Sage …

Applying the transfers to an uneven, rounded surface can be a little bit tricky.  But, I don’t think they have to be perfect either.  If you look closely, some of them may be a bit on the wonky side.  But I think that just adds to their charm.

I added another of the blue transfers to the medium pumpkin that was painted in Sawmill Gravy.

The paper mache pumpkins both ended up with French labels.

The transfer on the left is an old I.O.D. French Pots transfer (back when they were still grey rather than black), and the one one the right is from the Classic Vintage Labels from re.design with prima.  By the way, that photo does a better job of showing the paint colors with Sawmill Gravy on the left, and Dried Sage on the right.

I tied some velvet ribbon around the stems on these two rather than gilding them.

I finished off all of the painted pumpkins with some clear wax to add a little bit of protection, but still, these are only suitable for indoor use.

This was a fun little project for a rainy afternoon, and you can find these sorts of faux pumpkins at any craft store.  But if any of you locals don’t have time to create your own, I took these in to Reclaiming Beautiful in Stillwater this week.  You can always swing by and pick one up!

Thank you to Dixie Belle Paint Co for providing the paint used on these pumpkins!

the lavender cabinet.

Published on by Quandie12 Comments

Today I’m sharing the makeover of that wooden medicine cabinet that my friend opK found for me at a garage sale.

After giving it a thorough cleaning out in the yard using some Dawn dish soap and the garden hose, I scuff sanded it.  Then I painted over just the hinges with some of Dixie Belle’s B.O.S.S.  The hinges were a bit rusty, and the B.O.S.S. will help keep that rust from coming back through new paint.

Next I painted it inside and out with Dixie Belle’s Sawmill Gravy.  Once that was dry, I added part of the Maison de Paris maxi transfer from re.design with prima.  This transfer includes two 12″ x 12″ sheets with coordinating designs on them.  I used one full 12″ x 12″ design on the front of the cabinet …

Isn’t that pretty?  The entire transfer is a charcoal grey except for the pop of purple in the lavender sprigs coming out of the urns.

It’s a super subtle detail, but oh so pretty.

I used half of the other 12″ x 12″ transfer sheet on the inside of the cabinet.

The color is a bit more obvious in that one.

I did debate painting the inside of the cabinet in a lavender color, but ultimately decided that purple can be a bit polarizing.  People either love it, or they hate it.  So I felt like the cabinet would be more marketable with a more neutral color choice with only the merest hints of purple.

I also only gave the inside back of the cabinet one coat of Sawmill Gravy, and then sanded over the rough wood to distress it.  I wanted to retain a little bit of that rustic barnwood-like feel.

I felt like the front of the cabinet needed just a little something more at the bottom of the door to balance out the transfer up above, so I added a little bit of wording from the old Memoir transfer from re.design with prima.

One of my readers, Monica, sent me two boxes full of transfers a while ago.  She’s packing up for a move to Florida (hmmm, lucky her!) and thus cleaning out her stash.  It was so nice of her to share her cast offs with me.  This Memoir transfer was one of the many that she sent (thanks again Monica!).

It worked well here because it’s in the old dark grey color that all of those original prima transfers came in, which paired nicely with the newer Maxi transfer.

The final step in this makeover was to add a coat of clear wax over everything, inside and out.

I’m pretty sure that it goes without saying that the new look is a bit of improvement over the old.

What do you think?

This cabinet is for sale locally, check out my ‘available for local sale’ page for more details.

As always, thank you to Dixie Belle Paint Co for providing the B.O.S.S. and paint used for this project.

the turquoise haul.

Published on by Quandie4 Comments

My friend opK and I headed out to some random garage sales last week and although I didn’t find much, I did bring home a couple of goodies that I thought I’d share with you.

First up, a fabulous toolbox!

I couldn’t pass that one up, it came with a tray …

and a few random magnets.

I don’t think I’ll be hanging onto the magnets though.

I also picked up this little aluminum (?) bucket with a lid.

Both of those items are going to get a makeover.

I somehow ended up with a bit of a color scheme going with my next purchase, a stack of vintage books.

The colors on those books almost perfectly match the toolbox.

I did pick out a couple of red and blue books too though.

Looking at all of these books sent me on a little trip down memory lane.  As a teenager, I read pretty much anything I could get my hands on by Phyllis A. Whitney, Victoria Holt and Philippa Carr … although I just discovered that Victoria Holt and Philippa Carr were the same person writing under different pseudonyms, who knew?

I wonder if I would still enjoy reading them today?  I may have to crack one open to find out.

As for Booth Tarkington, I could have sworn that he was a famous football player.  LOL.  I have him mixed up with Fran Tarkenton who played for the Vikings in the 60’s and 70’s.  Apparently Booth Tarkington is actually one of only four novelists to win the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction more than once.

That’s about it for my very small turquoise haul from last week, although I’ll also share this fabulous old medicine cabinet that opK picked up for me at an earlier sale.

It’s just a simple primitive wood box with some narrow shelves inside, but it’s going to be a fun one to make over.  In fact, I’ve already gotten started on it.  I’ll be sure to share it soon, so stay tuned.

a one year report.

Published on by Quandie4 Comments

Good morning from the garden!

I thought this might be a good time to report back on the performance of some of the new perennials that I put in last year.

First, for those who don’t know, I garden in a zone 4b, and we had a very snowy winter last year, although not an abnormally cold one.  In fact, according to bringmethenews.com it was 0.4° warmer than average.  So I can’t blame any of my plant losses on worse than normal cold temps for my zone.  Also, for those of you from warmer climates who might think snow is bad, lots of snow cover can actually a good thing for gardens.  It insulates the plants from extreme cold, and as it melts it provides lots of spring moisture.

Speaking of spring, let’s start with the spring bulbs.  I ordered a bunch of bulbs from Longfield Gardens last year (now is the time to order if you want to put some bulbs in this fall).  Despite the deer trying to eat them all, the Darwin Hybrid Pink Impression tulips did amazingly well.

So well in fact that I ordered 100 more to plant this fall.  I also purchased a roll of green wire mesh at a garage sale earlier this summer that I can put around them to deter the deer.

The daffodils that I put in last year did great as well.

Daffodils are deer resistant, so I ordered some more to put in the spot where the deer did the most damage last year.

I didn’t have quite as much luck with some of the allium bulbs.  I planted three different types; Sphaerocephalon Drumstick, Atropurpureum and Nigrum.

The Nigrum and the Atropurpureum performed well enough, but I didn’t really love either one. That’s probably why I neglected to get any photos of them while they were blooming.

The Sphaerocephalon Drumstick was blooming a couple of weeks ago.  I ordered it based on this photo …

Isn’t that pretty?

But here’s what mine looked like …

LOL, seriously, is that pathetic or what?

It could be that they don’t get enough sun, but a little online research brings up a number of people who have commented on how these tend to flop.  I plan to move them to the cutting garden where they will get more sun, and where it won’t matter quite so much if they flop.  I’ll just cut them and use them in floral arrangements.

I admit that last year I was a little obsessed with alliums.  Not only did I plant the bulb type alliums, I also planted a couple of the herbaceous forms.  I planted one called Windy City and three of the Serendipity alliums from Proven Winners.  All are performing really well.   This one is the Windy City …

And here are the Serendipity with some Unplugged Pink salvia planted next to them (on the left).  By the way, the hummingbirds love that salvia.

In May 2022 I planted two types of clematis.  The Jackmanii is what I think of as the quintessential clematis, the basic dark purple clematis that so many people have had in their gardens for ages.  Mine bloomed quite nicely, but is still looking quite spindly.

The Roguchi on the other hand is amazing.  It has completely filled out, and is constantly loaded with flowers.

I also planted those Fire Alarm heuchera in May 2022.

And as I reported earlier this year, they barely came back in spring … and ultimately I dug them up and tossed them.

I also planted a Northern Exposure Black heuchera last year.  It’s the deep purple plant on the right below.

After a slow start in spring, it’s looking amazing right now!  The heucheras in the Northern Exposure line were specifically bred for hardiness, and are considered hardy down to zone 3 so maybe this is the type of heuchera I should stick to.  There is also a lime green version (along with a few more colors) in this series, so I may need to add that to my plant wish list.

I added some Alexander’s Great brunnera to my shade garden last year, and it was gorgeous when it bloomed in the spring.

The flowers are long gone now, but the plants are filling out nicely and I’m looking forward to even more blooms next year.

Proven Winners has a new brunnera out called ‘Queen of Hearts‘ that looks to be quite fab.  I’m thinking of searching that one out and underplanting my Limelight hydrangeas with it.

Now, I know I’ve mentioned this next plant more than once already this year, but I’m just so darn impressed with its performance.

That is a Raspberry Splash lungwort (or pulmonaria) from Monrovia.  Just look at the size of that thing!  OK, it might be hard to tell from the photo, but it’s 2′ across (I measured).  Comically, the tag says it grows to 18″ wide.  Um, mine has exceeded that by quite a bit in just one year.

However, I should also mention that I planted a 2nd one near my large fountain and it didn’t do nearly as well.  Apparently pulmonaria don’t like to be in damp soil, and that fountain does splash quite a bit.  I guess the ‘splash’ in the name isn’t literal.

Anyway, I moved that one away from the fountain and it is recovering nicely, but definitely is not as large yet.

Now for a quick lilac hedge update.  For those of you who might be new here, I have been attempting to create a lilac hedge on our back property line since 2011.  Good grief, that’s 12 years now!  Jeesh!  Do I wish I’d just gone with a Limelight hydrangea hedge?  You bet I do.  Hindsight is always 20/20.

Over the years I’ve eventually pulled out every single lilac I planted originally as they never flourished.  I really never figured out exactly what the problem was, they get plenty of sun.  I blamed it on various things; rabbit pressure in winter, overspray with lawn weed killer, delicate new hybrids, etc.  I replaced some of the plants with old fashioned common lilacs a few years back, and those are now about 10′ tall.

My plan was to do that all the way along the line, but last year I couldn’t find any common lilacs, so I planted three newer varieties on the west end of the hedge, a Yankee Doodle and two Ludwig Spaeths.

So far, so good.  They are about 4′ tall and have remained nice and full, however, they did not bloom this year.  Fingers crossed that they continue to do well because this year I planted an Albert E. Holden and a Charles Joly at the other end of the line.  I’m dreaming of the day when we have a solid 10′ hedge of lilacs back there!

Another plant that was new to me last year was Stachys moneiri ‘Hummelo‘, or you may know it as betony.

The flowers were already a little bit spent when I took that photo unfortunately.  I’d seen this plant on The Impatient Gardener’s Instagram and had to have it.  Fortuitously, my neighbor nnK had it growing in her garden and gave me a couple of chunks of it last year.  I liked it so much that I bought two more and added them this year.

Here’s a photo that I grabbed online that gives you a better idea of what the flowers look like.

I planted a few Proven Winners plants last August with mixed results.  The Pugster Amethyst butterfly bush did not come back at all.  The Magic Show Purple Illusion veronica is looking OK, but didn’t put on much of a show so far.  It may not get enough sun in my garden.

I am totally babying the Fire Light Tidbit hydrangea that I put in last year.  It struggled to get established last summer, and I’ve had to water the heck out of it this summer to keep it from wilting.  It’s starting to put on a little bit of growth, but is still really small.  Like, I’m lucky if it’s 8″ tall, small.

I seriously considered just pulling it out and getting a new one for that spot, but in the end I didn’t have the heart to do that.  So I planted some annuals around it to fill in and am hoping it will continue to perk up.

Lastly, I planted a Golden Shadows Pagoda Dogwood, also from Proven Winners, in the fern garden.

It might be a few years before it does the job I planted it for.  I want an understory tree to fill in the area under my huge maple tree, but above the ferns.  It should grow 10′ to 12′ tall and have strong horizontal branching.  It has put on a lot of new growth this year, but hasn’t gotten more than a foot or so taller.  I’m still waiting for it to pop its head out of the ferns.  Fingers crossed for next year.

So, overall I’ve had mixed results from new plants I added last year.  Some winners, some losers.  How about you?  Did you put in anything new that is really spectacular?  Leave a comment and let me know.

in a barbie world.

Published on by Quandie32 Comments

Is that Barbie movie being marketed like crazy or what?  You’d have to be living in a cave not to have noticed.  I haven’t seen the movie, mainly because I don’t go to the theatre anymore.  I’ll wait until I can stream it (and drink wine while still wearing painting clothes when watching).

I was definitely a Barbie girl growing up though.  Malibu Barbie was a favorite, I loved her tan and her long, straight hair that was so much prettier than my frizzy curls.

But Live Action Barbie definitely had my favorite outfit.

How many of you remember that one?  That outfit was awesome.

I have actually hung onto one of my Barbie’s outfits.

My grandmother knitted that for me.  It’s far more classy than the psychedelic number on Live Action Barbie.  That’s probably why it’s still in such good shape, Malibu Barbie rarely actually wore it.

But today’s post isn’t actually about Barbie, it’s a furniture makeover post.

Hallelujah, I have completed another piece of furniture!  Four more to go before the snow flies.

I picked up that hutch at a garage sale earlier this summer.  I thought it looked a bit outdated in that wood tone, with those aged brass knobs.  I knew it would be fun to give it a new lease on life.

Well, I’m not sure ‘fun’ is the right word.  These sorts of pieces can be so much work.  Especially if you’re opting to paint both the inside and the outside.  I started with removing those knobs and the decorative metal back plates behind them.  I then used some of Dixie Belle’s Mud to fill some tiny nail holes left behind by the back plates.  Then I cleaned the piece, followed by a light sanding overall, followed by a coat of Dixie Belle’s B.O.S.S. (again, an ounce of prevention for bleed-thru).

Then I got to work painting.  I painted the outside and the upper inside with Dixie Belle’s Drop Cloth.  Once dry I sanded lightly to distress.

I know that not everyone is a fan of distressing these days, but I still love the way it brings out the detail in something like this.  I also like that you’re not quite so worried about wear showing over time, because it’s meant to look a little worn.

And here’s where this hutch joins the Barbie world, I painted the inside of the lower portion in Dixie Belle’s Prickly Pear.

Wowza, now that is a pop of Barbie pink!

And why not have a vibrant pop of color inside?  No one will know it’s there unless they open the cabinet.

Sidebar note; our new fence is earning its keep in that photo (right side of above photo), it’s blocking the neighbor’s pickup truck from view.  It was worth every bit of blood, sweat and tears that went into putting it up.

I added re.design with prima’s Flower Collector transfer in gold inside the top portion of the cabinet.

I like that it’s very subtle in the gold on white (it also comes in black), and I know most of it will get covered up if the cabinet is full of stuff, but as I’ve learned from my own glass fronted cabinet, you can artfully arrange things to allow that background to peek through.  Especially if you’re a fan of the ‘less is more’ approach.

As you may have noticed in that photo, the shelves in this piece are adjustable.

Once the transfer was in place, I added a topcoat of Dixie Belle’s flat clear coat over all of the Drop Cloth and over the transfer.  The Prickly Pear interior didn’t need a topcoat since it’s the Dixie Belle Silk paint with a built in primer and top coat.

Finally, I added replacement pulls from Hobby Lobby.

I wanted something a little more updated, and a lot more gold.  Although these pulls came in ‘gold’, they weren’t quite gold enough for me.  So I added some of Dixie Belle’s Gold Gilding Wax to them to brighten them up even a bit more.

Although you could use this hutch in the traditional way, filled with china or knick knacks, I think there are so many other ways to put one of these to use.  You could use it as a linen closet, filling it with stacks of pretty towels.  You could use it as a small library, filled with books.  You could use it in the potting shed, filled with clay pots and other gardening items.  You could use it in your craft room, filled with all of your crafting supplies.  Or in the end, you could fill it up with one of your non-collections, like my matte white pottery!  The possibilities are endless.

What do you think of the transformation?

And I have to ask, do any of you have ‘I’m a Barbie girl, in a Barbie world’ stuck in your head now?  Or it is just me?

This hutch is for sale locally, check out my ‘available for local sale‘ page for more details.

Thank you to Dixie Belle Paint Co for providing their products used in this makeover.

more sweet boxes.

Published on by Quandie28 Comments

I’m back with the remaining two metal boxes that I promised from last week.

As a reminder, here is the stack of boxes that my friend, opK, gave me.

I shared the end result of the largest box on the bottom of the stack last Friday (and it is sold, fyi).

Now let’s look at the middle sized box.  I have no idea what this box was originally intended for.  It has built in dividers inside that would have worked for holding a screwdriver and screws, or maybe some other sort of hardware and/or tools.  Who knows?

I have to say that initially I wasn’t sure I even wanted to bother with it because of those dividers.  They sort of limit what you can keep in the box.  But then again, they also provide a way to keep some bits and bobs organized, don’t they?

Rather than trying to paint a coat of Dixie Belle’s B.O.S.S. inside those little cubbies, I opted to spray paint it.  I find that spray paint also does a pretty good job of blocking stains.  I didn’t have a color of spray paint that I liked though, so after the blue spray paint was dry, I brushed over it with a custom mix of Dixie Belle’s Silk paint.

I mixed up this color a while back for another project.  I was trying to match Annie Sloan’s Scandinavian Pink, and I think I did a fairly decent job.

The outside of the box did get an initial coat of B.O.S.S. followed by two coats of Dixie Belle’s Dried Sage.  Then I added a few random scraps of transfers from my stash.

The florals are from the I.O.D. Floral Anthology transfer, and the wording is from their Label Ephemera transfer.

I especially love the little blue and white daisies that I put on the front of the box.

I also really like the way that this one distressed.

I think it has a very authentically aged feel.

As for the smaller box, I did give that a coat of B.O.S.S. inside and out.  Then I painted the inside in one of the colors from Dixie Belle’s new Cottage Core Collection called Cottage Door.

Isn’t that a gorgeous warm coral pink?  I love it.

After adding the bee transfer from re.design with prima’s French Labels set …

I protected the interior with a coat of Dixie Belle’s flat clear coat.

Next I painted the outside of the box in my favorite Drop Cloth, and then added some florals that are also from I.O.D.’s Floral Anthology transfer.

I love the way the Cottage Door color works with the those Floral Anthology blooms.

As for the top of the box, I went with a scrap of wording from an old re.design with prima transfer called Paris Valley.

The little “No. 1483” on the lid is from a Tim Holtz transfer.

This box is really a little bit wonky.  You can shut the lid, and you can maneuver the little handles up over the top, but it does take a bit of finagling.

That being said, I think I’d be tempted to just leave it ajar.

Cuz it’s awfully cute.

So … boxes before and after …

Which one is your favorite?

the August slump.

Published on by Quandie10 Comments

Good morning from the garden!

Before I get into this morning’s post, I wanted to share some disappointing garden news.

Do any of you recall the beautiful row of trees on my neighbor’s property line that I shared last fall?

I’m talking about the brilliantly colored orange/red trees (I believe they are some kind of maple) in the background of that photo (not the yellow foreground tree).  There was a line of five or six of them all the way down the property line.  And they were simply stunning in the fall.  I mentioned how much I loved seeing their fall color in a post last year.

Well, yesterday we spent the day listening to chain saws and the occasional crash as each tree came down.  And now all but one of the trees are gone.  Such a bummer.

The property they were planted on is a double-wide lot, and it was sold recently.  Apparently the empty lot itself was split off and now someone is going to build on it.

Unfortunately, this is how things can go when you don’t own 20 acres or so immediately surrounding your property.  Neighboring home owners can remove trees at will, and lots can be split up and built on if there’s room.

The loss of those trees coincides with what I like to call the August slump.  I always start to lose steam in the garden about now.  By mid-August, lots of things are starting to look a bit tired out.  The peonies are getting powdery mildew, the lawn is dried out, the trailing verbena is getting leggy and those darn Japanese beetles are going full throttle.

I’ve been attempting to grow hollyhocks successfully for years, and this was the first year that I got one to actually bloom.

It looked great last month, but little did I know that Japanese beetles LOVE hollyhocks!

I have had to go out and knock dozens of beetles off the plant into a bucket of soapy water in the last couple of weeks.  I finally gave up the other day and just pulled out the entire plant.  I’ve decided the hollyhocks just aren’t going to work for me.

That has pretty much been my strategy for dealing with Japanese beetles, pull out the plants they love.  So far I’ve pulled Virginia creeper, roses, and a wild grapevine out of my garden, and now a hollyhock.  I’m just hoping they won’t go for my crab apple next.

I’m sure some of you have also experienced a garden slump now and then, and one way to motivate yourself to get back out there is to get inspired by others.  So as requested by a couple of you, here’s a list of some of my favorite garden vloggers on YouTube.

First up, of course, is Garden Answer.  Seeing as they have 1.78 million (yes, million!) subscribers, I’m guessing that many of you have already heard of this one.

Without a doubt, this is the vlog I watch the most.  Probably because they post a new video every day!  When you have 1.78 million viewers, and your vlog is the full time job of husband and wife, and several full or part-time employees, you can pump out enough content to post every day.

I really enjoy Laura’s vlogging style, and her gardening style.  I learn a lot about new varieties of plants from watching this vlog.  I also get ideas for plant combinations that might work for me.  I do admit that watching the massive, and very pricey, projects they undertake may not be everyone’s cup of tea.  They recently added a gorgeous pond to their property that would cost at least $80,000 or more (although it sounds like most of the parts and labor were gifted to them).  And I can’t even imagine how much their Hartley greenhouse cost.   Even some of their ‘smaller’ projects, like adding a row of gorgeous concrete urns that probably cost around $1,000 each are out of reach for most of us.

So if you can’t look past that sort of thing, this might not be the right garden vlog for you.

Instead I’d like to recommend the next garden vlog on my list, The Impatient Gardener.

Erin’s garden is much more realistic for most of us, as is her lifestyle.  She has a day job, she does all of her gardening herself on evenings and weekends with only occasional help from her husband, or as she likes to call him “Mr. Much More Patient”, and while she does get some promotional items free, most of her garden projects would be within the realm of possibility for the average person.  I also like that she is in Wisconsin in a zone 5b, not quite my own zone 4b, but not too far off.

That brings me to my next vlog, Wyse Guide.

Kaleb has taken over his grandparent’s farmhouse where he gardens right next to cornfields in Iowa.  In addition to gardening, he also includes baking, cooking and other lifestyle content on his vlog.  As you may know, I don’t really cook, but I’m tempted to try some of his simple recipes.

I also like that he gardens on what is a much more realistic level for most of us.  His garden style leans a little bit more modern (think succulents, agave, and native plantings) than mine, but he also focuses more on foliage than flowers, which I can relate to.

I would consider those my top three garden vlogs, but there are a couple of others that I watch on occasion starting with Gardening with Creekside.

Jenny and her husband own a garden center in North Carolina.  Probably the main reason I don’t watch her as much as some of the others is because she grows quite a few things that won’t grow in my zone.  That being said, she gives lots of practical advice.  I learned what a hori hori garden knife is from her, and now it’s one of my most used garden tools.

I also occasionally check in with The Southerner’s Northern Garden, mainly because he loves hydrangeas as much as I do.

I have to chuckle a little bit over this one because he calls his a ‘northern garden’, but he gardens in southwest Ohio in zone 6 … so not quite as northern as my own garden.

He recently moved to a new house and left behind his established garden, so he is starting over from scratch.  I think it will be interesting to watch his progress and see what he does with a blank slate.

So, if you feel like you’re in a bit of an August garden slump, check out a few of these vloggers and see if they can’t motivate you to get back out there.

And if you have some favorite gardening channels on YouTube, please share them in a comment.  I could use some more inspiration to help get me out of the August slump myself!

everything’s coming up roses.

Published on by Quandie13 Comments

Recently my friend, opK (that’s oar painting Karen) offered me a stack of metal boxes.

Before I got started making them pretty, I gave them all a good cleaning with some Dawn dish soap and the garden hose.  Then I let them dry in the sun, and followed that up with a coat of Dixie Belle’s B.O.S.S. inside and out.  I like to use the B.O.S.S. to reduce the chances that any rusty spots will seep through my paint job.

I decided to paint them all in different colors, which required the use of a lot of paint stir sticks and brushes.  At one point I had six different paint brushes going, lucky I have a lot of brushes.

I started with the largest box.  I painted the inside in Dixie Belle’s Silk Paint in Fiery Sky.

Then I painted the outside in DB’s Sawmill Gravy.  I’d used this combo on a toolbox once before and really liked it, so I thought I’d do it again.

I also already knew I wanted to use I.O.D.’s Redouté II transfer on the outside, so the Fiery Sky was going to be the perfect compliment.

In case you aren’t familiar, Pierre-Joseph Redouté was very famous for botanical paintings, especially those of roses.  I bet that back in the 90’s quite a few of us shabby chic lovers had a Redouté print or two hanging on the wall, I know I did.

I picked up this transfer recently at a brick and mortar shop that’s not terribly far from me called Liza Jane Designs (in Afton, MN).  I thought I’d share her info for any of my local readers who use I.O.D. products because she had a pretty much complete inventory of everything (which I think can be rare in a brick and mortar); transfers, paint inlays, molds, stamps and ink .

This particular transfer is an older release from 2021, but I’d never used it before.  It comes with 8 full pages of roses, so I’m sure I’ll get a number of projects out of it.

I added a small Tim Holtz number transfer to the latch on the front of the toolbox.

I love adding small details like that, and like the bee under the handle (from re.design with prima’s French Labels transfer, which has plenty of bees, FYI).

As per usual, I wrapped the roses around the sides of the toolbox too.

And speaking of wrapping, I’m just wrapping up the finishing touches on the other two boxes and I’ll be sharing those next week.  So be sure to stay tuned for that.

In the meantime, how do you like this rosy makeover?

This toolbox is available for sale locally (details can be found here).

Thank you Dixie Belle Paint Co. for providing the B.O.S.S., paint and flat clear coat used on this project.