Some Before and Afters...

Wow! I feel like I was so productive this weekend! My good friend, Kim, and her daughter, Whitney, came to stay with us because she had a dance competition at a hotel on our side of town. My husband was away on business and it almost felt like we had a little getaway ourselves with all the crafting we got done! :) We stayed up late every night and spread out our goodies all over...wish I had gotten some pics of our MESS on the kitchen table!

I completed the two jewelry boxes I bought a few weeks ago at Goodwill and am pleased with how they turned out, given that they were my first foray into refinishing wood pieces. Here's the first one after I took the hinges and lid apart:

The box and velvet lining were in very good shape so it was easy to work with in that regard. I started out by painting two coats of Kilz primer to seal the existing glossy coating, rather than trying to sand all the way down to the bare wood. I then used about 5 coats of a dark pink acrylic paint, and mod-podged coordinating paper on the awful charming tile with the little girl. To age the box a bit, I mixed black paint with water to create a very thin glaze that I left on for about 20 seconds and wiped off with a damp cloth. Once that was dry, I used a water-based polyurethane protectant to seal everything. Finally, I spray painted the brass hinges with silver spray paint, and voila...!

And here is a before pic of the second box upon removal of drawer pulls and hinges:

I went the same route with this box, using Kilz primer, acrylic paint, a watery glaze and a sealant. I wish I had not been as heavy-handed with the glaze as the finish is quite a bit darker than I would have liked, but overall it was a good experience!

And one more thing--I completed Kendall's little chair for her bedroom. Here is the before:

It was in reasonably good shape with some scuffs and peeling paint here and there. A sturdy little chair for $4.99! No magic in this transformation--I simply used a bright green Rustoleum spray-paint called "Ultra Cover 2X". The lable says that each coat is the equivalent of two coats of traditional spray paint. And I have to say that in my experience this claim is true! It covers like a dream.

 

I think my client was pleased!

 

Happy Monday!