painted watering cans.

Published on by Quandie15 Comments

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

flower crates.

Published on by Quandie24 Comments

My picker found these wooden crates for me last summer … at least I think it was last summer.  Time tends to blend together for me these days.

Either way, last summer was when I added some stencils to the sides thinking that I would sell them that way.

But ultimately I decided that I didn’t like the dark stains on the wood, and I also didn’t think the stenciling in black worked well with the dark wood.  So I never did try to sell them, I just tucked them away and figured I’d give them a do-over sometime.

Well, that sometime is now!

I painted the first crate in Dixie Belle’s Caviar.

I just added one quick coat of paint and didn’t worry too much about completely full coverage.  I knew I wanted to sand the paint way back in the end to make the crate look super worn.

I re-stenciled the ends in the same ‘flowers’ stencil that I used on one of the crates last summer.  This is part of a larger stencil that I purchased on Etsy from The Stencil Market.

I used my normal process for adding a shadow to stenciled letters.  I stenciled the design first in Dixie Belle’s Putty, then moved the stencil slightly up and over and stenciled again in DB’s Drop Cloth.

It’s a small detail, but I think it adds so much depth.  I also filled in the bridges on this stencil using a small artist’s brush.

Once I’d sanded heavily, I added a coat of clear wax.  I happened to have this cool zinc liner that fit this crate almost perfectly so I’m going to pair them together.

Lastly I filled it up with some of my matte white pottery just for the photos.

For the 2nd crate, I went in a different direction color-wise.  I painted it in Dixie Belle’s Kudzu.  I really wanted to try that IOD paint inlay over the green.

I had a feeling those pinks would really pop over the green.

If you want a step by step on how to use the IOD paint inlays, check out my how-to post by clicking on the image below:

I’m doing a bit of experimenting with the inlays, and you’ll be seeing the results of that in the next week or two.  But in the meantime, after adding the paint inlay to the two ends, I stenciled the sides of the Kudzu crate with the same ‘flowers’ stencil.  This time I did not add a shadow.

The need to get photos of these crates was a really good excuse to go to my local nursery and pick up some flowering plants.  They didn’t have much to choose from, but I got a few pretty cyclamens.

And I always get sucked in by those Baby Tears plants, and I can never keep them alive.  I think it has something to do with forgetting to water them on a regular basis.  They look great while they last though.

As per usual, my decorating split personality loves both versions of the crate.  The simple, worn black version and the colorful floral green version both really appeal to me.

As for the 3rd crate, I had something different in mind.  I wanted to provide a container for that mid-mod china that I found while thrifting last week.  I’m going to try to sell it at the shop, so I thought it would be fun to package it somehow.

First, I asked my handyman Ken to re-size that crate to fit the dishes.  He cut it down and reattached everything to create a perfectly sized container.

I painted it in Dixie Belle’s Silk paint in Tide Pool, taking that color cue straight from the dishes.  Then I added the ‘Bon Appetit’ from re.design with prima’s Delicious Menu transfer.

Mr. Q was not a fan of the way I wrapped the wording around the two sides of the crate, but I rather like it.  What do you think?

I brought both flower crates (not including contents) and the crate of mid-mod china in to Reclaiming Beautiful in Stillwater on Wednesday evening, so if any of you locals need a fabulous flower crate be sure to stop by the shop this weekend (note: closed on Sunday).

Which crate is your favorite?  Or do you have a split personality when it comes to decorating like I do?  Leave me a comment and let me know.

blame it on the cabin fever.

Published on by Quandie39 Comments

First things first, congrats to Patty.  I drew her name at random to win my Shades of White giveaway.  There were a couple of Patty’s who commented, but I have been in contact with the winning Patty so I apologize to the other Patty’s who may have momentarily thought they won and now realize they didn’t.

My friend Sue and I went out thrifting on a cold, but sunny, day last week and I managed to fill up the trunk of her car.  That’s saying something, because as Sue likes to say, she originally purchased her car for the size of the two-body trunk (yep, you could easily fit two bodies in there, or a ton of garage sale/thrift finds).  On the other hand, my car (the VW bug convertible) has a trunk about the size of a bread box.

Anyway, I came home with A LOT of stuff.  And not my typical haul, I have to say.  I don’t think I purchased a single item that needs to be painted.  Want to see what I found?  That’s rhetorical, I know you do.

Let’s start with the clear glassware.  Normally I totally steer clear of glassware (lol, pardon the pun), but for some weird reason I was just drawn to it this time.

Ideas came to mind for most of these items.

For example, I added transfers to a few of the canister type pieces.

These two glass vessels would be great for holding gardening tools, or kitchen utensils (or paint brushes for that matter).

I initially thought this next one would just make a great vase, but I also like it filled with vintage silverware.

You can’t quite see it in the group photos, but I purchased a clear glass hobnail jar.

I’m keeping it to use for casual bouquets of flowers from the garden next season … or maybe even just tulips purchased at the grocery store while it’s still bitter cold outside.

Sue suggested I try turning the larger vase I purchased into a cloche.  She’d seen it done on White Cottage Co’s YouTube vlog just that morning.  So I gave it a shot.

All I did was flip it upside down and use E6000 to glue a glass knob to the top (former bottom).

I’m always looking for cute little jars to put in metal baskets or wood totes that I find, so when I saw this trio I thought I’d tuck them away for the next container that comes along.

They fit pretty nicely into this one, for example …

And speaking of containers, I purchased this metal one separately from the jars that are in it.  I only bought the jars for their zinc lids.  I needed lids for some older, cooler lid-less jars that I had at home.

Instead of filling that wire basket with jars, I decided it would make a fantastic windowsill herb garden.

My local Bachmans just happened to have these potted herbs on sale for $3.99 each so I grabbed four of them and put them in clay pots and then in the basket.  This is my feeble attempt to bring a little summer to my wintery world.

Last up in the glassware category are these corn on the cob dishes.

I purchased these just for myself.  Probably the last thing in the world I need is specialized dishes just for corn on the cob.  But as I stood in the aisle at Goodwill looking at them, I could just picture a summer BBQ on the deck with steaks sizzling on the grill, a delicious cocktail in my hand, and fresh picked corn on the cob swimming in melted butter in those dishes.

What can I say, there’s a foot of snow on the ground and it was about 9 degrees outside that day.  I’m totally blaming that decision on the cabin fever!

I was lucky this time out and came across the holy grail of thrifting … ironstone.

I rarely find ironstone at our thrift stores here in the mid-west.  I am separating the pitcher from the bowl.  I think a pitcher in a bowl has that 80’s country antique vibe, but separately they are both great pieces.

You can’t tell from that photo, but the pitcher is a big one at about 8.5″ tall.  I’m probably going to end up adding it to my non-collection.  It was definitely the find of the day.

The bowl is 14″ across and would be perfect to use as a fruit bowl in the middle of your kitchen table, it’s going to go to the shop to sell along with a couple of other large ironstone bowls that came from my picker.

I wasn’t planning to keep the gravy boat, but I just happen to have the perfect spot for it on my Welsh cupboard so I may just have to.

That tall piece in the background of my ironstone haul photo is not ironstone.  It’s a sort of faux, crackly … I don’t know what material it’s made out of.  But I knew it would look great with a transfer on it.

I came across a few galvanized items that day as well.

The two pieces on the left are from the Hearth & Hand line.  And all three of these are much bigger than they look in the photo.  The tallest one is 2′ tall, and the squat one is 16″ across.

I had to dress up the two tall ones with some transfers, but I left the short one unadorned.

I also came home with some dishes.  I seem to be a sucker for these sets of decorative plates.

They are perfect for tucking into a gift basket.

I happened to have purchased another cute metal basket and a book called The Cheese Course while thrifting that day.

I added some cheese knives that I had on hand.  Now all it needs is a couple of fancy cheeses, and it’s the perfect hostess gift.

In the ‘fail’ department, I also purchased this fabulous cheese baker that I was going to include in my cheese themed basket …

But I made a rookie mistake.  The cheese baker was in a box when I picked it out, and I never pulled it out to look it over.  When I got it home and out of the box, I discovered it was chipped.

Drat!  Now what do I do with it?  I certainly can’t sell it like that.  Is there a simple way to repair that chip?  Do any of you have any ideas?  I may just have to toss it.

I also grabbed this set of china as a sort of experiment.

I thought the colors on them were lovely.

They were in perfect condition, and there were six dinner plates and six salad plates.  And hey, they say right on the back that they are ‘vintage fine china’, so who am I to argue?

I googled them and found some interesting info on them.  They were manufactured from the 1950’s through about 1964.  In addition, according to antigotrunk.com “this was an exclusive pattern for Max Schoenfeld (that’s the MS on the back stamp). Max was was a California distributor of china and pottery in the Los Angeles area and distributed for many different porcelain houses.  Some designs were given to him as “exclusives” only he could sell them, and the initials MS would be added to the back of the each piece.”

Anyway, I thought I’d give it a shot and see if a set like this will sell at the shop.  I’ll keep the price very affordable and see what happens.

So there you have it, a bunch of fabulous finds from the thrift store.  Which one is your favorite?

the latest thing.

Published on by Quandie14 Comments

I must confess, I am rarely on top of the latest, newest thing out there.  I was one of the last ones to get a DVD player, an iPod, a cell phone, a digital camera and so on and so on.

But lately I’ve been seeing all kinds of YouTube videos about the new IOD product, paint inlays.

While out visiting my mom in Las Vegas, I popped into a shop called Bloom.  There are several Bloom locations in her area, but I went to the one in The District (I’ve also been to the one in Boulder City on previous visits).

They just happen to be IOD stockists, although I will warn you now, don’t go in there expecting to see a large inventory of IOD products.  They had a handful of transfers, some of the molds (although none of the paper clay that I was hoping to find) and just a couple of the new paint inlays.  I would have loved to get the Grisaille Toile one, but they didn’t have that one.  They did however have the Rose Chintz.

As I’ve mentioned previously, I’m still a sucker for Rachel Ashwell’s shabby chic style and this Rose Chintz falls right in line with that look.  So I couldn’t resist.

Now, before I go any further I want to address the elephant in the room.  These things are Pricey, with a capital “P”.  I paid $47.95 plus tax for one package that includes eight 12″ x 16″ sheets.  Ouch!

I know I’ll be able to get quite a few smaller projects out of one package of the sheets, but if you want to use these on a piece of furniture it could get expensive.  According to what I’ve seen online, you can get at least two and sometimes three uses out of a sheet before discarding it.  However, the look you get on the 2nd pass is not the same as the look you get from a fresh sheet.  In other words, you couldn’t really re-use them on the same piece of furniture and expect it to look uniform.  I’ll be experimenting with this going forward and I’ll keep you posted on the results.

As with any new technique or product, I highly recommend creating a test board first to avoid wasting too much of your very expensive product if you have a failure while learning.  As you’re about to see, paint inlays are nothing like transfers.  It’s a totally different process.

So, taking my own advice, I pulled out a small board that I use for lots of practices and gave it a shot.

Step 1 – paint a first coat of your chosen paint color.  I should note here that this product is best used with chalk style paints only.  I used Dixie Belle’s Sea Glass.

Step 2 – while your first coat of paint is drying, take the time to get the lay of the land with your paint inlays.  They all have a repeating pattern, sort of like wallpaper.  So all 8 sheets can create one large connected pattern.  What I discovered while trying to line up the Rose Chintz is that there are 4 sheets with one pattern, and 4 sheets with a 2nd pattern.  Those with the same pattern can be lined up going horizontally all the way across all four sheets.  Those with the 2nd pattern can be lined up below the first pattern, and also can go four across.  I hope that makes sense.

Step 3 – trim off the excess margin all around each sheet of the paint inlay.  This is mainly important if you are going to be lining up the sheets side by side (and if you don’t do it, just remember that the design does not go all the way to the edge of the paper), but I did it for my test project too.

Step 4 – dry fit the paint inlay to your project.  In my case, I was just using it on a small board, so I cut the sheet down to size.  I didn’t want to waste any of the excess, I can save that to use on another project.  If you are using multiple sheets on a larger surface, now is the time to make sure that you know what order they go in, and have them lined up and ready to go.

Step 5 – this isn’t really an official step in the process, but I recommend that at this point you have all of the items you’ll need at hand and ready to go.  You’re going to be working in wet paint, so you don’t want to dilly dally looking around for tools.  You will need your paint and brush, your paint inlay trimmed, cut to size and ready to go, a spray bottle of water (or a damp rag), and a paper towel.  You can also use a brayer, but that’s not an absolute requirement.

Step 6 – apply a generous, even coat of paint to the surface of your project.  Since my practice board is small, I could do the whole thing at once.  But if you’re working on a larger surface, it’s best to work in sections no bigger than the size of each sheet of the inlay.  While the paint is still wet, lay the paint inlay with the pattern side down onto the wet paint.  At this point you can either spritz the inlay with water and then use a brayer to press the inlay down, or you can use a damp cloth to press the inlay into your piece.  Make sure that the sheet is fully in contact with your paint.  You can blot away any excess water using the paper towel.

Step 7 – let it dry.  This is the easiest step.  Just let the paint and inlay dry.  You can tell that it’s drying because the sheet becomes more opaque when dry.  Once it is dry to the touch, you can move on to step 8.

Step 8 – once dry, it’s time to remove the paint inlay sheet from your surface.  Spritz it again with water.  The inlay becomes translucent again.  Let the water soak into the inlay paper for about 30 seconds or so, just long enough to soften up the paper backing.

Step 9 – carefully peel away the inlay paper.  If you find that you can’t get the paper unstuck, you may need to dampen it a bit more.  Let the removed paper dry, and you can then use it again on another project.  FYI, the 2nd use will likely produce a more faded looking result.  In addition, you’ll see that the paper has taken away with it some of your base paint color, and that color may transfer to the next project somewhat as well.

As you can see in the photo below, places where the paper wrinkled will show as texture in your dried paint.  You can reduce that by getting the inlay nice and flat using the brayer in step 6 above.  Conversely, you can also leave more texture in the form of wrinkles if you like that look.

Step 10 – once you’ve peeled away the paper, simply let your piece dry thoroughly.

Step 11 – seal the inlay.  This is important!  It’s best to seal the inlay with a spray sealer of some kind.  The inlay paint is easily reactivated with water, or a water based sealer.  If you brush a water based sealer over it, or rub over it with wax, it may smear.  I say ‘better safe than sorry’, use a spray sealer.  I used the Rust-oleum Chalked protective topcoat in matte clear.

Once the topcoat is dry, you can sand to distress and then topcoat again with your finish of choice.  In my case, I sanded my board to distress the edges and also to knock back a little bit of the texture overall.  Then I added a coat of clear wax.

Isn’t that pretty?

I feel like the look is reminiscent of vintage wallpaper.  Mr. Q says the end result looks much more like a hand-painted design rather than a decal.  If you’re one of those people that just can’t live with the slight halo that comes with transfers (although that problem has really been minimized in more recently released transfers), you might really love paint inlays.  So far there are only three designs available, but I’m sure there will be more coming in the future (at least I hope so).

Be sure to pin this post so you can refer back to it when you get some paint inlays!

If you want more instruction on using this product in a video format, I recommend checking out this video from Lynne at ellen j goods.

I’ll be sharing a few more paint inlay projects over the coming week or two, so be sure to stay tuned for that!

 

the botanical cupboard.

Published on by Quandie70 Comments

I found this piece a few weeks back on Facebook Marketplace.

When I reached out to the seller, she said that if I could come pick it up right away that would be best for her.  Now that I’m retired from the day job, dropping everything and running out to pick up a piece of furniture is well within the realm of possibility, so I said sure.

Normally I don’t like to leave the house without changing out of my flood water, paint splattered sweat pants, putting on at least a little makeup and doing something with my hair.  This might all sound a bit high maintenance, but the thing is, I tend to run into people I know.  Having worked for the city I live in for 34 years, I know a few people.  Including all of the public works employees, the police officers and most of the EMT’s (I sure hope I never have a heart attack while wearing those sweat pants!).

But the seller was only about 5 minutes away, and we weren’t making any other stops, so I decided it would be fine just this once.  As we drove through a school zone on the way to her house, I asked Mr. Q to be sure not to speed because if we got pulled over I would be mortified.  I could just imagine the officer going back to City Hall and telling everyone how much I’ve let myself go since retirement!

But we made it to our destination without incident.  We went up to the door and rang the bell.  As the seller answered, she was just saying goodbye over her shoulder to someone who had come to purchase an elliptical machine from her … and wouldn’t you know it!  It was a police officer I had worked with for 25+ years.

Seriously, what are the chances?!  How mortifying!  See?  Let this be a reminder to me, never leave the house without make up!

In the long run, it was worth it though.  It’s such a cool piece.  The seller wasn’t sure what it was, but I knew right away it was an old radio cabinet.  Especially after taking a look inside.

By the way, when I brought the cabinet home it did not have a back.  My handyman/neighbor Ken added the beadboard back before I took the photo above.  Obviously there were some sort of components originally mounted on the shelves in this cabinet.  A look at the label that was inside confirmed my suspicion.

Yep, definitely a radio cabinet.

After adding the beadboard back, Ken cut some pieces of hardboard that I had in my stash to cover up those holes and provide shelves instead.

There were some big grooves running down each interior side of the cabinet and I debated just leaving them, but ultimately decided it would look better if I filled them.  So I used some of Dixie Belle’s Mud in white (because I was all out of brown) to do that.  As it dried, I noticed that I definitely was getting some bleed through that was turning the white Mud pink.  At that point I decided to hedge my bets and add a coat of Dixie Belle’s B.O.S.S. to the entire piece.  Better safe than sorry, right?

Next up came paint.  As I was applying my first coat of Dixie Belle’s Sawmill Gravy, I was once again reminded of what a nice job the B.O.S.S. does of preparing a dark piece for a light colored paint.  I even stopped to take a photo for you guys …

I don’t know if that helps or not, but that’s just the first coat.  Look at that coverage!

I gave the piece one full coat of Sawmill Gravy, followed by a 2nd cursory watered down coat to catch any spots that I didn’t get perfect coverage on with the first go around.

Next I painted the inside in Dixie Belle’s Silk paint in Hampton Olive.

I love to use an all-in-one style paint inside cabinets like this.  It’s just so much easier to paint two coats of paint and be done, no primer or top coat required.  Now, you might be looking at this color and thinking it’s an odd choice to go with the Sawmill Gravy.

Well, here’s why I chose it …

I took that greyish olive green color straight out of the IOD Floral Anthology transfer.

This is a combination of two transfers.  The floral stuff is from the IOD transfer, and the wording is from re.design with prima’s Flower Collector transfer in black (it also comes in gold).  Don’t they make a great pair?

In both cases I have cut apart the transfers and arranged them to fit my piece.  It definitely makes a piece look more custom when you do this.  I especially love the look of the flowers flowing down from the arched detail at the top of the doors.

I used part of the Flower Collector transfer on the inside of one of the doors too.

The interior color makes a lot more sense when you see it in conjunction with the floral transfer, right?

I think it was the detail at the base of the cabinet that originally caught my eye when I saw that Facebook Marketplace ad.

Isn’t that pretty?  They just don’t make pieces like this anymore.

You really could use this cabinet for anything.  Fill it with linens, clothing, toiletries or towels in a bathroom, dishes in a dining room or kitchen, or fill it up with your pottery non-collection like I did.

It would be the perfect addition to a potting shed.

What do you think, did I improve upon the original?

I wish I had a spot for this one, but I don’t.  So it is for sale locally.  If any of you locals are in need of a unique cabinet, be sure to check out my ‘available for local sale‘ page for details.

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

we’re talking trash.

Published on by Quandie11 Comments

First up, thank you so much for all of the comments on Monday’s post.  I know Mr. Q appreciated all of the well wishes on his birthday, and I enjoyed reading all of your comments as well (although I wasn’t able to respond to all of them).  Remember, you have until Sunday to leave a comment on that post to be included in the drawing for the giveaway!

Today on q is for quandie we’re talking trash.  Well, my kind of trash anyway.  Vintage trash cans to be precise.

My picker Sue found a pair of old metal schoolhouse trash cans for me last summer.

That isn’t exactly a true ‘before’ shot.  I cleaned these up a bit last summer when I could hose them down out in the yard.  They were quite grungy.  I also gave the insides of the cans a quick spray paint.  I really thought I’d taken a ‘before’ photo before doing all of that, but I’ll be darned if I could find it.  After that clean up, I put them aside out in the carriage house to await their moment in the sun.

After being inspired by a vignette in one of the library books that I was studying while visiting my mom, I had an idea for the trash cans so I pulled them out of the carriage house and took that quick ‘before’ photo above.

Since I had two trash cans, I decided to give them each a different color scheme.  I painted one of them in a couple of coats of Dixie Belle Drop Cloth, and the other got two coats of their Caviar.

Once the paint was dry, I sanded them to distress.  I’ve learned the hard way to distress my painted pieces before adding a contrasting color to avoid dust from one color getting into the other.  This is especially important with red and white!

Next I taped off some swiss crosses.

I don’t get super precise with these.  I just sort of eyeball it, and measure a little to make sure they are even, and the lines are straight.

I painted a cross in Honky Tonk Red on the Drop Cloth can, and a Drop Cloth cross on the Caviar can.

Once the crosses were dry, I did sand them to distress them a bit, but I was very careful not to drag any of the dust into the neighboring color.

I’m quite happy with the results of both combinations.

But I bet you can guess which one is my favorite!

You know I love me some black and white.

You may have noticed that I left the rusty rims of the trash cans unpainted.

I felt like just that touch of rust and old paint around the edge lent some authenticity to the cans.  I sealed the insides of the cans and those rusty rims with a couple of coats of Dixie Belle’s clear coat.  However, the painted exteriors received a topcoat of clear wax instead.  There’s just something about a waxed finish that feels more authentic to me too.

I really debated keeping this black one for myself, but couldn’t find a spot for it.  So I took them both into Reclaiming Beautiful last week.

Which one is your favorite?  Black and white, or white and red?

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

shades of white.

Published on by Quandie161 Comments

Hey guys, tomorrow is Mr. Q’s birthday!  I thought maybe we could celebrate with a giveaway so be sure to read all the way to the end to get all the details on how to qualify for the giveaway.

Actually, the idea for this post has been brewing since way back in October when I compared the different shades of black Dixie Belle paint.

I think someone suggested that I do the same with shades of white at the time, and that sounded like a pretty good idea to me.

So I went to the Dixie Belle website to review all of the different shades of white, and guess what?  There are quite a few of them!  There are 4 in their chalk style paint line and 5 in their all-in-one Silk paint line.

That’s a lotta white.

So I’ve decided to break them down into separate posts (and separate giveaways).  Today I’m just focusing on the chalk style paint … and oh, not all 4 of the colors that Dixie Belle includes in their ‘white’ category.  I neglected to include Buttercream.  I think of that as more of a pale yellow or cream rather than a white, so I hope you’ll forgive me.

For today that leaves us with Fluff, Cotton, and Drop Cloth.

If you’ve been following me for any length of time, I think you know which is my favorite!

Drop Cloth!

I’ve used this color on a multitude of pieces.

Seriously.  I don’t think I could even begin to count all of the things I’ve painted in Drop Cloth.

Dixie Belle describes this color as “a stylish linen white with a touch of warmth,” and that pretty much nails it.  I really prefer working with a warm shade of white that you can bring into your home and it doesn’t instantly make all of the other white items look dull.

When standing alone, Drop Cloth reads as warm white to me.  It’s only when you put it right next to a bright white that it appears so much darker.

I am not a fan of a harsh, bright white and that brings me to the Cotton.  Dixie Belle has this to say about Cotton:  “Cotton is our purest white, perfect for a clean and classic look. This color is for anyone who wants to decorate their home with stark simplicity.”  Yep, that pretty much sums it up.

The fact that I’m not really a fan was readily apparent when I tried to find samples of my work in this color.  The best I can do is the table runner that I shared back at the end of December.

I ended up painting that swiss cross on the drop cloth in Cotton because my usual go-to white, Drop Cloth, was … well, duh!, the nearly the same color as the drop cloth itself (no wonder they named it that!).

I also used the Cotton on the Skate Rental sign that I shared last week, just to do the laces on the skates.

That brings us to Fluff.  Dixie Belle describes Fluff as “a serene, soft white with a slight gray undertone.”  Spot on again.  I have to say, if you are wondering what a color really looks like, read the description.  Many times the photos can be deceiving.  It’s so hard to get a color right on a computer screen.  But I find that Dixie Belle does a really good job of describing the colors.

Once again, examples of Fluff are few and far between on my blog.  I did use it on this bookcase.

And here is Fluff on a picture frame.

It would be fair to say that when I want a whiter white than Drop Cloth, Fluff would be my choice.

Speaking of Shades of White, have you seen Fifi O’Neill’s newest book by that name?

If you are a fan of decorating with white, vintage and pale wood tones, you will love this book.

I’d say the trick to making a mostly white color scheme work is using varying shades of white such as white with the barest hint of grey like the cupboard above.  Or warm white walls with a brighter white beadboard wainscoting like shown below.

And of course I love the tone on tone look of this next dresser …

So, in other words, one can embrace all of the shades of white and allow them to mix together.

And that brings me to my giveaway!

The lucky winner of today’s giveaway will receive a copy of Shades of White, 16 oz. of Drop Cloth, Cotton and Fluff, and the medium oval paint brush from Dixie Belle.

The rules:  Simply leave a comment (if nothing else, wish Mr. Q a happy birthday) on this blog post to be eligible to win.

Your comment must be left on this blog post, 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 a winner for today’s prize from all of the comments left on this post by Sunday, February 27, 2022 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 $135, if the prize is not claimed by Friday, March 11, 2022 another name will be drawn at random to win, blah, blah, blah.

Thanks to Mr. Q for ordering the book for today’s giveaway from amazon.com, and thank you to Dixie Belle Paint Co for continuing to provide me with products that I can give away 😉  Good luck!

winter isn’t over yet.

Published on by Quandie32 Comments

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Once dry, I removed the tape …

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

What do you think?

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

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

a visit to the library.

Published on by Quandie25 Comments

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

pretty floral china …

or subtly flowered wallpaper …

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

One of my favorites was this Swedish piece …

And I was inspired by this snowy garden photo.

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

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

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

just around the corner.

Published on by Quandie18 Comments

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Creepy, right?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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