A case for paint

Lately, there’s been a shortage of paint-able furniture around these parts and because of that I’ve been forced to lavish my painterly attentions on other items, their only criteria being that they’re holding still and have not been painted in the past seven days.

And that’s negotiable.

I present to you, my sidekick, The Kit.

The Kit holds all the behind-the-scenes ‘stuff’ that keeps the magic alive (not to mention things from falling over, off and generally going to pieces) in my antique mall space: a hammer, pliers, nails, tape, extra price tags, a magic eight ball, scissors, candy, a Swiffer duster, safety pins, elbow grease, glue, several thousand Sharpie markers and some loose change.

It’s like a vintage tool belt. A cute yet dirty, scruffy, rough-around-the-edges tool belt…

… that needs a makeover.

And thanks to more magic via blue painters tape and my bottomless cans of paint, The Kit is now sporting a set of imperfect & imprecise racing stripes.

 The stripes were sanded a skoch (is there really a correct way to spell ‘skoch’?) in an attempt to help camouflage their imperfect-ness and provide that lived-in look.

Of course, now the inside of The Kit looks more tired than ever so a full remodel is imminent. Please stay tuned. 

Wrapping up a little vintage Christmas

The short story of a handmade, vintage wallpaper-covered box and the upcycled vintage Christmas ornament inside it.

In photos. 

With minimal words.

Just because.

Thrifted. 

Hoarded.

Upcycled.

I’d like to interrupt the silence here by mentioning that I continue to be hot-glue-gun-impaired and I get around this by using Aleene’s Glass & Bead adhesive (it comes in a tube!) which doesn’t smell all that great but works like a charm when you need something shiny & slick to stick to something else that’s shiny & slick.

Carry on.

Designed.

Prepared.

Constructed.

Packed.

Gifted.

Are you ready? It’s almost here.

Painting, wallpapering and a little graffiti

My free side-of-the-road chair, which has faithfully posed for many an etsy photo with a pillow or stack of vintage tablecloths on it, is getting ready to start over, this time in a lovely shade of aqua.  

A change in the seat cover fabric to follow as well. Something with red, I think, although I'm open to suggestions.

Brass frames have been quietly multiplying in a corner of the doily factory so they’ve been separated, decorated and will be shipping out to my antique mall space this week.

 And these chalkboard paint clipboards were an impulse project last night, inspired by this emerging young artist, Little Miss VJIMT.  (if you follow the link, scroll down to the inspiration)

In just about a week I’ll be unloading a much-larger-than-usual truck as vendor at the Plucky Maidens Junk Fest in Portland because in a moment of sheer insanity, I rented two vendor spaces.

 

If that doesn’t make some room in the Garage Where Cars Can’t Park, nothing will.



Looks like I made it.

Whoops. Notice anything a little off with this photo?

I’ve been a bit of a mad scientist recently, trying to modify inexpensive, store-bought house paint to make it easier to distress after it’s been applied to wood furniture.

Sounds like a giant step backward, doesn’t it, anxiously waiting for applied paint to dry so I can un-apply it?

I try not to think about it.

I followed recipes found here and here and liked the results.

I bought a $4 quart of paint* at my favorite painting supply store, my local Rebuilding Center, and mixed two parts of paint with one part of (sifted! Thank you, Maria) Plaster of Paris and a tiny bit of water and voila!

Genuine DIY distress-able paint.

Never one to experiment on a test piece of wood, I dove right in on this desk.

Before painting, I lightly sanded the wood where it still had some its original varnish in case the paint might not adhere to those areas.

I didn’t use primer. Yay!

The paint dried quickly and I called in my alter-ego, Sandy, to do her thing.

I love the wood top and it was in very good condition compared to the rest of this desk which was in pieces when I found it, so I simply sanded & stained it and then finished it with paste furniture wax.

I heart this 50¢ drawer pull

I love the look of waxed furniture. I do not love the task of waxing furniture.

Good thing it’s the final step in the process.

Arms so tired can’t type sentence.

*Benjamin Moore’s Beach Glass

More great painted furniture ideas here.



Shut-In

Thanks to days of do-not-drive winter weather that kept me trapped indoors much like a pajama-clad shut-in, my 2012 furniture-painting efforts are off to a robust start.

This flakey Before is now an After.

There are two of these little nightstands and while not exactly heirloom pieces, I liked their curved legs and distressed hardware.

I did not like the gold plastic (plastic!) scrolly accents so I studied up on home dentistry and extracted them with a pair of pliers.

The nightstands go onto the stack of things I’ll be selling at my first vintage event of the year, happening in a week or so.

If I can get out of my driveway by then.

Just before the snow and ice storm arrived last week, I decided I’d better hit my super-secret thrift store circuit before the weather put me on lockdown and I’m glad I did.

Please disregard the following in this photo: vintage Christmas tablecloths not put away yet, vertical blinds (ew), dangling electronic doodads, nightstand on sideboard (?!), shadeless & bulbless lamps, bath towel on floor ... I could go on...

Furniture is now lined up and awaiting makeovers.

This is why dinner is sometimes eaten at the coffee table.

***

Who am I kidding? Dinner is always eaten at the coffee table.

Unless there are guests.

It’s not total anarchy, yet.

Let’s do this.

Happy New Year!

My 2012 vintage to-do list has finally been notarized, stamped & sealed. In no particular order and subject to change without prior written consent, I present to you:

Things I Hope To Do More of In 2012 and Perhaps Some of Them I Can Also Improve Upon While I’m At It Including My Constant Use of Run-on Sentences and Sketchy Grammar

1. Sew.

I wasn’t even aware it was happening but after sewing non-stop for years, I slowed and then ground to a halt last year for no reason other than I needed a little break.

But now I have pages of sketches, a fresh perspective and lots of vintage fabric bookmarked on etsy.

( My fabric de-stash plan is so 2011. )

2. Junk-related travel.

I love a road trip and I’m that person who stops at every odd roadside attraction to view the life-size dinosaur made of cheese or the world’s largest talking knife & fork.

Add a little junking to it and it's a great day.

This is the 'before'

3. Paint more furniture.

 I like to paint things. Maybe it's the paint fumes talking.

I’m going to try making my own chalk paint as well. I’ll report back.

4. Sell at vintage events.

Luckily, I had nothing but positive experiences as a vendor last year so this year I’m ready for more. 

Not to mention The Garage Where Cars Can’t Park is still filled with everything but cars.

a vendor at Monticello Antique Mall

5. Sell in an antique mall again.

And not in the unofficial one currently going on in my garage where I’m my only customer. A real antique mall.

I have my name on the very long waiting list for a particular antique mall in Portland, OR. The wait could be a year! 

Er, Plan B…?

6. Learn some new tricks.

Upholstery, maybe.

 I already have an electric staple gun and a very sad chair.

************

Do you have big plans brewing? I hope 2012 holds new adventures for all of us and I’m looking forward to seeing what happens!



All dressered up

Things are getting pretty tight in the Garage Where Cars Can’t Park.

And yet, I still managed to squeeze in a dresser.

It wasn’t on my yard sale shopping list but I've always believed that when life gives you dressers, you make space in the garage.

This poor thing had a terminal case of the flakes.

Not the sought-after, time-worn, chippy paint kind of flakes but more along the lines of varnish dandruff.

One $4 can of steely-slate-gray 'oops' paint later and things are looking up for this old dresser.

That’s right, Sandy’s back with a vengeance. J

And there's even more transformed furniture here.