SunflowerHugs: March 2014

Sunday, March 30, 2014

Gingham Stools

I found these four stools at my neighbor's house on trash day.

They were covered with a layer of that white vinyl and then a layer of some awful floral fabric.

After I pried out at least a million staples I got to work painting them with two coats of Behr Outback green color mixed into homemade chalk paint.

For the tops I wanted to add a little something and I went with a gingham look. First I taped off lines one way and painted them with a light coat of Valspar Churchill Hotel Vanilla. After that was dry I lightly sanded it and then taped off lines the other way and gave another coat of the cream paint.

It gave a sweet look to the tops of the stools.

I distressed them all over and waxed them with Minwax Finishing Paste. I only painted three stools because the fourth had a broken spindle and it was a repair I did not want to do.

The green and cream colors pair so nicely together and I love the dark wood peaking out underneath.

Wednesday, March 26, 2014

Secondhand Scores #26

When I was a kid my parents went to garage sales all the time. I admit I was totally embarrassed by it. I never really bothered going regularly until after I had my son. I realized I could get clothes and toys and things for him for pennies on the dollar and that is when my love for secondhand was born.

Garage sales are my favorite but I also go to flea markets, thrift stores and auctions. I am always on the hunt for furniture to paint, stuff for myself, my house, my kids and unique items that I could put to future use. I love the thrill of finding something that was once very expensive for as little money as possible.

In this series, I will share my scores to show you how much you could get for your hard earned money. Some days I hit jackpots, some days I get nothing, but I always have fun.

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I checked the paper and there were two garage sales in my county this weekend. Yay!

The first sale was awesome--they had such good stuff. Since it was one of the first real sales in the area, there were a lot of people and I had to be quick and grab the things I liked before someone else did.

I got all this for $4.25!!

Coffee table $1 (I think it was hand made)
Large rectangular wood box $.50
Small Pyrex measuring cup $.25
Both metal lunch boxes $.50
Two cutting boards $1 each

After I got home and took everything out of the car, I was mistaken about the two cutting boards. I think they are just random pieces of wood--darn it! And $1 for a small piece of wood is so not worth it.

Like I said, there were a lot of people and I had to be quick, but I have to really make sure I take the time to look at what I am buying. Even the lunch boxes-they are so cool, but I am not sure what I am going to do with them.

Sunday, March 9, 2014

They Can't All Be Winners

I put the same amount of time and effort into every piece that I paint. No matter if it is a small table or a large dresser, whether it is solid wood or pressboard, they all get the same amount of blood, sweat and tears.

That doesn't mean they all come out the way I want them to. Some just don't make me as happy as others do. It may have been my color choice, or the piece's issues can't be hidden, or the technique I used didn't quite work out.
That being said, the pieces were still put up for sale at the consignment store. I know sometimes I am being my own worst critic and that someone may find what I did perfect for them.

This dresser was a beautiful shape, but the pink color on it threw me off and I just couldn't get past it.

I painted it a grey color hoping that after I distressed the pink color would pop through in a good way. It didn't. And the hardware replacements I had (that were in my budget) were just not what I had in mind.

This child size chair and table both already had been painted when I got them. I thought to layer on more colors so when I distressed it would look cool to see all the different colors.

I painted the chair with white and then both the chair and table a light blue. For some reason thought this intensely bright pink would look good on top. Because these are child size, I figured I could get away with the pink, but I should have skipped the blue because it clashed.

This two drawer table isn't made of wood or even pressboard--it is some kind of thin hardboard. To liven it up, I decided to add a graphic that went over the two drawers. I took a long time figuring out what graphic (from The Graphic's Fairy) to use and then sized it for the drawers.

I measured and remeasured, marked the centers on both the graphic and drawer, painstakingly applied it and smoothed out the paper, waited 24 hours for it to dry and then wet it to remove the top layer of paper to reveal the graphic. I put the drawers in place and as you can see IT DIDN'T LINE UP. Seriously?!

The dresser took months to sell, but the pink table and chair sold in one day and the French graphic table sold in a week. Go figure!