Vintage Chalkboard Revamp

Last summer, this easel chalkboard was sitting at an antique store just begging to be thrown in a dumpster taken home by me with its clearance price tag. At $15 I couldn't resist.

I imagined using it to write fun messages on it for birthdays and letting the kids use it as an art easel. So far, it's been used for all of those things, but I had been wanting to do something bright and cheerful to the top scroll part.

(I guess from my research the scroll had been used in some way for school-for the alphabet or nursery rhymes.) Well, I finally made some beautiful changes that I'm happy with: But I do have a question about the wood-should I paint it? 

Here's what I did to change the look of the chalkboard so far:

before

starting to paint the scroll a pale aqua

I had some upholstery samples I had bagged up at my local Scrap 4 Art store and thought all the bright colors would make a great pennant. So, I used my fabric scissors, hot glue gun and some twine to create the look below: 

Wouldn't this chalkboard be a cute message board at a vintage style wedding?

But,  I'm still sitting on the fence about painting the wood-what do you think I should do?

Linking up with these parties.

Anthropologie-Inspired Side Table Makeover

                                            Who's ready for another furniture revamp?

If you've been following along, you might know that I love to

 try new things with paint (check out my Patchwork Table

Revamp and my Pie Safe Makeover to see some of my 

latest creations.) 

Well, since the switch to yellow accents in my house, 

I have felt the need to change the rest of my painted

furniture so it doesn't look so rainbow-ey.

So where did I look for my inspiration? That gorgeous

Anthropologie catalog. Not quite in my budget to buy their 

furniture at $900 + a piece, but this DIY girl didn't mind 

getting her hands dirty to make a version of her own. 

Here are a few of their

furniture pieces that inspired me for my project:

"Twisted Roots Alter Ego Chair", Anthropologie

"Kasbah End Table", Anthropologie

I loved the distressing techniques the designers used and different

layers of paint peeking through. I had already done a patchwork paint technique before, 

so I felt confident to take a vintage thrift store find of mine to transform.

So, this is what I decided to work with, my Mod Podged Vintage Songbird Table. 

Cute, right? Now you might be thinking, why would I mess with a good thing?

Don't hate me for what I decided to do with it...

I decided to strip it. Little did I know how messy it would be

to work with. (my husband did warn me...but I can be stubborn.)   

For some reason, all of the paint wouldn't come off completely, 

even after two applications of spray stripper.

 And then the directions said to use steel wool to rub off the 

sludge but because there were so many layers of paint a 

lot of the goo still stayed on. 

I was about ready to kick this table to the curb. But after

a few days to think and take a break, I decided to 

try and sand off some of the flaky paint. 

By this time the paint had time to dry and it was much 

easier to remove with my electric sander. Yes! 

All I wanted at this point was for a somewhat smooth 

surface to work with. I also used my Dremel wire brush

 attachment to try to remove extra chunks of paint.

 (This was becoming my labor of love!) 

So after the paint was mostly smooth, I covered small sections 

in aqua, tangerine and yellow eggshell latex paint in the 

patchwork technique I had used before. 

(Sorry I don't have pictures of this part-I still wasn't sure if 

the table would survive my "surgery".) 

But, after letting my patchwork sections dry, I decided to

paint the entire table in pale gray paint. Yes, even the little

songbirds got covered. 

And after waiting a day for that to dry, turned on my 

electric sander to see if it would be a disaster or a masterpiece....

But, I was so pleasantly surprised by my results! 

So, after sanding through the top layer, the soft paint colors were revealed. 

(A lot like those Anthro pieces I loved!)

And, my Mod Podged song pages and birds were intact! After a spraying

of Deco Art acrylic sealer, my table was done! 

It reminded me of an old barn that had been painted,
then weathered by the elements for decades. 

(I think I love it even more than I did before!)

I hope you enjoyed this post and I look forward to showing you

a few more Anthropologie inspired projects I have up my sleeve! 

P.S. It's not too late to enter my huge giveaway of a gorgeous handcrafted European enamel 

house sign, if you haven't done so already. Scroll down the page to enter and winner will be announced on Fri. Feb. 10th! 

Linking up with these parties and this party.

What is Patina?

Definition of Patina, according to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary:

1. a: a usually green film formed naturally on copper and bronze by long exposure or artificially (as by acids) and often valued aesthetically for its color. 

    b. a surface appearance of something grown beautifully especially with age or use.

I made this photo layout using the "My Memories" digital software! You can use my discount to save $10, just click the link below and enter this code at the checkout:  STMMMS51822 

If you've been following along my posts you will know by now how much I love anything vintage! And if they aren't vintage already and might look good that way, I will find a way to create an aged look to them by distressing them to create a faux "patina". 

I am no expert, but have found ways to do this by rubbing sandpaper along the edges where natural weathering would occur--I have even used butter knives to gently scrape the sides. 

And if you have kids that play as wildly as mine, they can help over time by dinging up the sides of things with their toys. The fact that I love weathered furniture and don't pay a lot for it creates a less stressful living environment for all! 

Funny how the older some things look the prettier they are. Hey, it has worked for the jean industry for decades. The above picture shows a chair that I fell in love with at a local antique shop with a true patina-you can see where the natural weathering occurred along where feet  and back would rest. 

In my next post, I will show you how I helped a friend in need--she was a little "distressed" about the whole distressing process and wanted to make a huge framed chalkboard have a "weathered barn" feel,  but in the end, she was confident in the process and happy with the results.