Monday, April 18, 2011

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!


2 comments:

Gael said...

Those are pretty amazing transformations. I can't wait to see what you do with the rest of the pieces in the photo. What are you going to do with all of your creations? Lots of gifts or do you have some other ideas?

Tara said...

Erin, I just LOVE what you come up with. You have worked your magic on all the pieces, just gorgeous. Also it feels so great when you only paid a few dollars for something in a thrift store and turn it into something you love. Keep thrifting girl!!!

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