To glaze or not to glaze

I am winding down to the finish line and it has taken me forever to finish her, but as of right now she is finished unless ... you disagree!  Here she is today... 

Here is her before shot:

And here is her challenge spot:

The detailed grooves.  I got this great idea that I would fill in the grooves, sand it down smooth and then just paint.  An easy three step process right?  Wrong!!!  My first product was regular ol' wood filler.  And it didn't work.  The grooves were too deep, the filler wouldn't smooth.  Next was an expensive wood filler, that too didn't work and took almost a week just to dry and then it wouldn't sand smooth.  I needed a break, I worked on several other projects and finally got the courage to work on it again.

Next I got the recommendation from a Lowes paint person to try using regular old paintable caulk.  Ahh!!  That was a disaster.... caulk is not sandable, so any bumps I missed along the way just wouldn't go away without a razor blade, and caulk remover does not work!  So finally I took some plain old sheet rock mud an smoothed it over the top of everything let it dry, sanded and my sanity finally returned. 

  Time to finish painting, and here she is again all gussied up and distressed ala razor blade. 

Now for the final question.  Does she need a glaze?  I have been debating with myself whether or not to do it.  I don't always love the dirty look of a glaze, but it might help her details a little and cover a few mistakes.  What do you think?  O blog-o-furniture-godesses, I need your wisdom! 

Thanks in advance!

Linking to:  Primitive & Proper

House of Hepworths

Miss Mustard Seed

The Shabby Creek Cottage

The Shabby Nest

My Romantic Home

Coffee Filter Christmas Wreath

Coffee Filter wreaths have been floating around the web for more than a year now.  But in my case it was the perfect medium to create the white and red wreath I wanted this year.  It really was simple a little time consuming, and so cheap!!   My total cost at just $3!

1.  Supplies:

• Craft Paint (I already had)
• Painting Sponge (Had this too)
• 1 1/2 packs of coffee filters ($2 Dollar Store)
• wreath form ($1 Dollar store)
• Glue gun and sticks (Had these too!)

2.  Paint edges of coffee filters
3.  Let begin to dry but not completely, or filters will be difficult to seperate. (you may want to wear gloves)
4.  Seperate each individual coffee filter
5.  Take two filters and fold in half
6.  Fold two more folds in opposite directions
7.  Your filter should look like this.
8.  Glue to wreath in rows moving from back to front
9.  Don't worry about imperfections, it just adds to the depth!
10.  Add any extra decorations, berries, bulbs...
11.  Takes an hour or so and patience!  and finally take a bow it was so easy!! 

The finished product:

Thanks for visiting!
Britt

Linking to :
Debbie Doos Blogging and Blabbing Newbie Party

The Couch

Okay, so I have a confession to make...  I am totally and completely an impulse buyer.  I am one of those people who sees a SALE sign and my heart starts pumping a little faster.  I have gotten smarter about how much I spend, when I am tempted to buy something, but I still have a bad habit of seeing a great deal and buying because it is a great deal..does that make sense?  Well, I started thrift shopping again last year.  I used to thrift shop all the time when I was in college, but stopped when I married my husband.  Too busy with work and school and everything else. 

And so years later,  I have started again.  Mostly after being inspired by the many creative women in the blogworld.  It is so fun!  It is so exciting!  It's like a treasure hunt, and my blood starts pumping every time I walk inside a thrift store and find something that can be transformed into something amazing!

And now after too many visits and a garage filled with potentials, my husband is tired of the mess in his garage and I can't blame him.  But of course yesterday, I couldn't resist a quick drop in to my favorite thrift store...and look what I found!

The good...Her bones!

The bad...the fabric is in shreds!

The good...the legs!

Okay, be kind, I know she needs a lot of work.  But I can imagine her looking gorgeous, and all reupholstered.  Now if you are like my husband you are shaking your head with disgust and pity for a crazy woman who just can't control herself.  But if you are like me, she has potential right?  And the sticker price, honey, was only $35.  I am hoping to move her straight to the top of the project list instead of at the bottom at 999.

I am so lucky to be married to such a patient man!  Love you honey!

  

Thrift store love

I went to my local thrift store and always browse the collectibles section.  My finds are usually hit or miss.  

Most days everything is overpriced like these old ammunition boxes.  That particular day I glanced at them and they were priced at $10 a piece.  No way!!  I was about to walk away when the employee told me that his manager had said that the first person to make an offer tomorrow could have them all at any price.

I was skeptical, really what price were they going to accept... Well, the next morning I was one of the first people to walk through the door at 10 AM and went straight back to that same employee.  He found his manager and they gave me all 5 boxes for the price of ......  $10!!  Hooray!  Embarassing now, but I actually clapped and hopped a couple of times in my excitement.  I think they are awesome!!

Now to decide how to use them.  I will probably just clean them up, sand the rough spots and seal them with Wipe On Poly.  My thoughts were to use them for Magazine Holders, or as a gift baskets for a couple of family members who love antiques. 

Any ideas for me!?  I would love to hear your thoughts!!

Buffet Makeover

I bought this buffet at a thrift store several months ago, and as I said before she had been badly mistreated,  I couldn't rub my hand across her top without getting a splinter.  The finish was completely gone.

I can just picture some resentful teenager gouging a pocket knife into the top of this antique buffet.  Poor girl.

 My first work on her to try to fill all the holes and gaps on the top. 

I bought some old fashioned milk paint for the first time, mixed it up and started too paint.  I chose tavern green and it was not pretty -- not the look I was going for anyway.... So I added some Light Cream and mixed, much better.

After going through 4 bags of milk paint (not cheap!) just to cover everything I started sanding to distress and the paint would chip off in the strangest ways. 

I hated it, the top especially, in some places the veneer was split and would bulge. 

Time for a change, I wanted more wood showing so I took a hammer and chisel and removed the top layer of cracked veneer.  This was not a pretty process and some place stuck more than others.

 I ended up with gouges that I had to sand with my sander in order to smooth.

 Next I applied the stain, I am digging the rough, gouged look.  Anything is better than the smiley faces or bulges, right?

 Next problem was the dirty look of the my milk paint job. It was just irritating me  I loved the chipped drawers, but the paint kept chipping off the cupboard doors and it wasn't pretty. 

My husband's friend came to our house and saw it in the garage and said, "Man they really messed up on that paint job."  Not knowing I had painted it this way on purpose.  My husband was kind enough to let him know that I had painted it.  Poor guy.   But he was right, it had been bugging me for weeks.  The green was too minty and the finish just looked dirty and the chipped paint was not in the right places.

Why am I telling you all of this?  One reason...there is absolutely no reason why you shouldn't try something new.  Whether its refinishing furniture for the first or 500th time, or even trying a new product.  99% of the time with a little elbow grease you can change it or fix it.  And yes, I will try milk paint again.

On to her new look, after she was sanded. I mixed up a white wash using some light blue oops paint and applied several coats letting each one dry in between and sanding.  Following the step by step here. Too periwinkle, I mixed up a cream color paint (semi gloss) and water and white washed again.  And here she is making her debut all dressed up and purdy.

So much better!  It makes me sick to think about the waste of time and money.   But as my mom loves to tell me, "Can you really put a price on education?"  So true, some of us have to learn the hard way.  Guess I am one of those. ;)

Linking to:

Debbie Doo's Blogging and Blabbing Newbie Party

DIY by Design

Primitive & Proper

Domestically-Speaking Power of Paint Party

Miss Mustard Seed Furniture Feature Friday

Not all plans, go as planned

I was determined when I started this blog that I would have a new project posted at least once or more a week and here it is more than a week later and nothing.  Not that I haven't been busy.  Last week I made three Halloween costumes and worked on two buffets. 

Two buffets that are still not finished!!  Ahhhhhh!

One is this baby, I bought her from a thrift store and she had been horribly mistreated...

 nuff said...

 After debating forever what to do I decided to try some milk paint on her, it was not a good experience and here is how she looked, not bad, but not my favorite.  My husband's friend came to our house and saw it in the garage and said, "Man they really messed up on that paint job."  Not knowing I had painted it this way on purpose.  My husband was kind enough to let him know that I had painted it.  Poor guy.   But he was right, it had been bugging me for weeks.  The green was two minty and the finish just looked dirty and the chipped paint was not in the right places. 

So as any DIYer will do I decided to sand her down and start over... She is all painted and tomorrow she will be waxed and have new knobs.  Tomorrow I will reveal her in all her glory! 

Next up is my curvy buffet!  Who really looks lovely painted.  Just one problem, the grooves on the doors, can you see them?

Here is a close up!  I wanted these grooves filled and flush.  After trying many products, I am just now ready to start painting!  I hope I will have this reveal soon too!!

So you see I have been busy, just no finished products...yet!  But hopefully soon!!