SunflowerHugs

Secondhand Scores Transformation | Mounted Deer Heads

2015-02-08T10:16:00.000-05:00

My favorite thing is when some of my secondhand score items that I get at completely different times come together to create an awesome project.

That is exactly what happened with these $.50 plastic deer heads.

How weird are these? I have no idea how these were used originally, but for $.50 I couldn't pass them up.

I knew I wanted to mount them so I went through my pile of garage sale wood plaques to find ones that would work with the heads. I see these things at garage sales all the time for like $.05-$.10 each. I like to think of them as a craft that never was.

I found two that fit, although they were not the exact same shape. I stained them with Minwax Dark Walnut.

To reduce the creepy factor, I spray painted the heads white. They had holes in the backs that I was able to put wood dowels in and then stick them in the ground for easy spraying.

The final step was mounting them. Since they had a hole in the back, I put a screw in the wood and put the heads over that. I did need to use glue to keep them straight on the wood. I used E6000.

I used them on my decorative shelves that I put seasonal decor on. I don't have a mantle, so this is the next best thing.

Of course the shelves and everything on them except for the fake candles are secondhand scores.

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Black Waterfall Dresser

2015-01-25T10:59:00.001-05:00

This huge waterfall dresser was so dark and dingy.

I chose black for its makeover.

I painted it with two coats in DIY chalk paint and distressed slightly. I then covered it with Martha Stewart metallic glaze in Black Coffee. It is hard to tell in the photo, but it really does give some dimension to the black.

I completely transformed the hardware by simply soaking them in ammonia and buffing them to a shine with a green scrubbing sponge.

They really pop off the black and become the star of the show.

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Mid Century Modern Mint Dresser

2015-01-11T13:42:00.001-05:00

One Monday a while back I found an ad on craigslist about free furniture. It said to get there by Sunday (the day before) or the garbage men would take it. I took the chance to drive by Monday night to see if anything was left.

It looked like everything was left! If you can believe it, I only took the two dressers the arrows are pointing to. The rest were a bunch of desks and broken pieces.

This is the dresser that was upside down and backwards at the top of the photo. A really cool mid century modern dresser.

So far, I have gotten the chance to paint two other mid century pieces and those were also free!

Free MCM Table

Free MCM Dresser

But I painted those white and I wanted to do something different. I chose a mint color oops paint that I have had forever.

I sanded down the three drawers on the right and taped off the wood elements on the drawers to the left. I used two coats of the mint color (mixed into homemade chalk paint), distressed and waxed with Minwax finishing paste. I waxed the drawers on the right with AS dark wax.

I started painting at night so the color didn't feel as bright as it did once I moved it into the sun. It may be a little edgy for my area, but I hope someone likes it.

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Eight Table Makeovers

2014-11-02T07:40:00.000-05:00

Here are eight table makeovers I have done over the past year that I thought would be fun to put together in one post.

::Tables 1 & 2::

Both tables were painted with Safe Paint (milk paint for walls) from The Old Fashioned Milk Paint Co in their Federal Blue color. The bottom table's grain sack (or racing?) stripes were done in Valspar Churchill Hotel Vanilla.

::Tables 3 & 4::

Two more tables painted with Safe Paint (milk paint for walls) from The Old Fashioned Milk Paint Co. This time in their Buttermilk color.

::Table 5::

This table was done in Valspar Churchill Hotel Vanilla.

::Table 6::

I freshened up this metal and glass table with gold Rub 'n Buff.

::Table 7::

Three coats of an oops paint color in red gave this table a nice country look.

::Table 8::

Valspar Midnight Fog is this table's modern color.

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French Provincial Bedroom Set

2014-10-19T08:31:00.003-04:00

The consignment store, where I sell my furniture, sometimes gives me pieces to paint. It's usually a dresser or table or some chairs. This time it was a whole bedroom set.

An entire French Provincial bedroom set! These pieces are big and heavy but interestingly enough, not actually solid wood.

Above is a view from the back of one of the nightstands. You can see the top is an extremely thin layer of veneer over pressboard and just the edge is wood.

Above is a photo of the underside of one of the drawers. It is molded plastic over pressboard. The head board is also a mix of wood and molded plastic.

The beauty of the homemade chalk paint is that it will stick to anything! So I knew it would be no problem to paint it.

Because of the thin veneer on the tops, I ruled out refinishing them and chose to paint them black. I painted the body of the pieces Valspar Classic Teal.

Everything got two coats of paint, distressed, glazed with Martha Stewart Metallic glaze in Black Coffee and then finished with wipe on poly.

Because of the incredible detail in this set, I had to use an artist brush to get the glaze in all the details. It was definitely a labor of love, but totally worth it!

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MCM Dresser Makeover

2014-09-15T10:58:00.001-04:00

My husband found this dresser on the side of the road for me.

What a dirty beast! I really don't understand this yellow color that was popular back in the day. It is not a good look.

Being that it is a mid century modern piece, I chose to do what everyone else does--paint it white with contrasting wood tones. I've done it before on this table. Funny enough, I also got it for free.

I sanded down all the drawers and stained them with AS dark wax. I painted the rest of the piece with three coats of white homemade chalk paint, distressed slightly and waxed with Minwax Finishing Paste.

I almost didn't get the knobs off--the screws were stripping as I tried to remove them. I used some kind of grease in a can that my husband had in the garage and banged on them with the end of my screw driver to loosen them up.

Each knob had two screws so it took a little while, but I got them off and replaced them with brand new screws. They were $.11 each at True Value. I am lucky I have a True Value that is pretty close to my house because they have a huge selection of screws there. I naturally assume Home Depot or Lowes will have everything I need, but they actually don't.

I gave the knobs and the metal strips on the bottom sides a covering of antique gold Rub 'n Buff to have them match. I didn't even notice those strips at first.

I had to take a few quick pictures before we loaded it up as it was threatening to rain and the consignment store was about to close.

I am very happy to have it out of my garage as it was a very large piece, but I was worried it was going to get marked up. My husband was staining a dresser red right next to it. Thankfully he didn't splatter on it.

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Nautical Dresser

2014-08-17T07:39:00.001-04:00

Can you believe I was the only one who bid on this dresser at an auction? I got it for one whole dollar! I guess people just can't see past the ugly.

But guess what? Underneath all that ugly, It is made of solid wood with dovetail drawers and everything. It started out as that awful yellow color from the 60's and then someone gave it this paint job--woof!

The top had a huge piece of veneer missing and I was able to pull another piece off easily so I figured I would take it all off. Easier said than done. I removed as much as I could with just a scraper and then had to use a wet towel and iron to get off the rest. It took longer to remove the veneer than paint the entire dresser.

I painted with two coats of SW Seaworthy blue in homemade chalk paint and stained the top with a vinegar/steel wool/tea mixture.

Ahoy matey! I used larger knobs on the top drawer and covered them with jute string. I used Aleene's Tacky Glue to attach the string to the knobs and once it dried, I covered it with a layer of Mod Podge to make it permanent.

The knobs I used had a white center, so I painted them with some brown in case you could see through the spaces of the string. I then just added the string in circles until I got to the center of the knob. This picture was taken while the glue was still drying. Aleene's Tacky Glue holds great, but takes forever to dry (it does dry clear).

I just knew this dresser had beauty in it!

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Chandelier Table

2014-08-03T08:13:00.002-04:00

Once again I am back with a table with a large image transfer to the top. The table started out boring and scratched.

I painted the whole thing with two coats of white in homemade chalk paint. Then painted just the legs with one coat of SW Essentials Grey. I distressed to let some of the white come through and waxed with Minwax Finishing Paste.

I follow The Graphics Fairy on Bloglovin and whenever she posts new graphics that I think one day I may use, I am sure to save them. This chandelier image was tucked away in a folder that I refer to when I want to use graphics and inspiration hit.

The Graphics Fairy

I wanted the image to fill the table top, so it needed to be 18" wide by 27" tall. To get this big image, I planned to have it printed at Staples on their engineer prints. They can only print black ink, but that is perfect since that is what the image is.

Staples offers three different size engineer prints and I needed to use the 24"x36" size, which is $3.59.

I opened a new document in PowerPoint and sized my paper to 24"x36". I then inserted the image on the page and sized it to 18"x27" and fit it in the middle of the page.

*What I should have done was move the image down to the bottom of the page and added another image at the top to utilize the large print, but I didn't remember to do this. So I ended up with a lot of wasted paper that I could have put another large image on for a future project.

I went by Creative Carmella's tutorial to add the graphic with Mod Podge. I left it to dry overnight and the next day started to rub off the top layer of the paper.

I did it while my daughter was watching Sofia the First and it took longer than one episode. That show is a half hour long, so I think it took about 45 minutes total. It is mindless work, but obviously time consuming.

And here it is! The paper is pretty wet after you remove the top layer, so I let it dry for a day and then came back and sanded it to get off all the little bits of paper pulp and distress.

The top layer of paper never comes off perfectly, so the image will not be dark black and there will be some hazing and even spots that rub completely off. But it has a distressed look to match the paint on the rest of the piece.

On one side of the table, there was a shell applique. I was able to remove it and I was going to leave it blank, but I came across this laser cut chandelier wood applique, I just had to add it. I painted it black and glued it on with Aleene's Tacky Glue.

It's so fancy.

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Easiest Makeover Ever!

2014-07-27T11:45:00.000-04:00

When I saw this shelf, I thought, oh great--spindles. Not my favorite thing to paint.

But I realized the spindles were just screwed together and so it was a cinch to separate them from the shelves. They were also in great condition and I thought--why paint them? I could just paint the shelves and call it a day.

I won some samples of American Paint Company paint from a blog giveaway and one of the colors I had was National Forest.

americanpaintcompany.com

It is a deep green that pairs with the wood tone so well.

I just slapped two coats of paint and then waxed it with the dark wax "glaze" technique. It is Annie Sloan dark wax mixed with paint thinner to give it a glaze like consistency so it is easy to move around on the paint. It gives so much dimension to the paint as it was so flat before I added it.

I normally use it with homemade chalk paint, but with the American Paint Company paint, it also takes the paint off while I rub it in, so I basically get to distress and wax at the same time. It doesn't get any easier than that!

To finish up I just had to screw the spindles back on and I was done. It is officially the easiest makeover ever!

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Random Chair

2014-07-20T07:30:00.001-04:00

I found this chair in the garbage. I think you could tell--right?

Besides the shredded fabric, it was a little wobbly. To fix that, I jammed a popsicle stick between the leg and the base of the chair from underneath. Once I got it in far enough to stop the wobble, I broke it off--you can't even see it.

I always have some fabric scraps laying around that I pick up at garage sales for cheap and I had this awesome ticking fabric that was heavy weight. I matched the paint color to it and this is what I came up with:

I couldn't believe I knew the fabric was called ticking. The word came into my head and I Googled it to make sure I was right. I guess some of the 1,795,048,631 things my mom told me in my life actually stuck in my head!

She would be proud.

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Two In A Row

2014-07-13T09:00:00.004-04:00

This table was the coffee table version of the table I did here.

I painted it with one coat of the same blue/grey oops paint mixed into homemade chalk paint, distressed and waxed with the dark wax "glaze" technique.

I sanded down the top and stained it with Minwax Dark Walnut and finished with a coat of wipe on poly.

I just noticed the swirl detail looks like a handlebar mustache!

When I am working on smaller pieces, I like to work on multiple pieces so while one is drying, I start on the next. By the time I am done painting the second piece, the first one is dry and ready for their second coat.

I used the same paint on this table (two coats) and distressed. You could see a little bleed through on the top so I finished with the dark wax "glaze" technique so it would blend in.

I like to be able to get so much accomplished. I was able to get both these tables done in one day!

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Green Dresser with Wood Appliques

2014-07-06T10:27:00.000-04:00

I remember the word magpie from the movie Lucas (the 80's had the best movies). It just popped into my head as to how I was going to describe the makeover of this dresser.

I couldn't have created this makeover without being a magpie (the second definition--not the first). I certainly chat idly, just ask my husband, but I also do a lot of collecting as an avid garage sale-er. The things I collect are of little use or value until I am able to use them to create. And create I did...

The dresser itself is part of my furniture stash. I got it for free at a garage sale a few weeks ago.
The hardware replacements I had I also got at a garage sale for $.25 each.
The paint is part of a stash of oops and Sherwin Williams samples I can't stop buying.
Finally the wood appliques I used to add character, but also cover up hidden damage that was behind to original hardware.

I got the wood appliques at Michaels last year when they were having a clearance. I think I paid $.39 for a pack of three.

I painted it two coats of Green Spout color from Sherwin Williams, distressed it and waxed it with Minwax Finishing Paste.

I stripped the top and stained it along with the wood appliques Minwax Dark Walnut.

I used wood glue to hold the appliques in place (you can see a little at the bottom of the photo since it was still drying) and then added the white ceramic knobs.

It's a combination of a bunch of different things I had and I love what it added up to!

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Acetone Image Transfer

2014-06-29T08:44:00.002-04:00

I read that you can transfer a photocopy image onto wood with acetone. This intrigued me as I wanted alternative transfer method besides using Mod Podge since it shows the paper.

I chose to try the method on this table I got at an auction for $1.

I won a few samples of American Paint Company clay/chalk paint from a blog giveaway. I used the Beach Glass color and it took two coats to cover the table.

This paint is much different than homemade chalk paint. It is thicker and needs 24 hours to dry between coats. You need to wait the 24 hours otherwise the first coat comes off while you try to paint the second coat.

Once it was dry, I used this mason jar image to transfer to the table top.

I did this outside away from the house. Acetone STINKS!
I placed the image, ink side down, on the table top and then taped the corners down with painters tape to keep the image from shifting.
Used a piece of paper towel that I kept soaking with the acetone and wet the paper. You can see the image once the paper is wet to know where you have gone over.
It is best not to move the paper at all until you are done as you take the chance you shift it.
Try not to wet your paint directly with the acetone or soak the paper too much, it will melt the paint off.

And here is my result!

It doesn't completely transfer the ink, so unless you go over it with a Sharpie, it will be very rustic looking.

But I love the way it came out! I always distress my pieces, so for the image to be rustic and not perfect makes total sense.

My thoughts on this technique:

You can do this on any color paint because all that transfers is the ink, not the actual paper (like what happens with the Mod Podge transfer).
It only worked with copies from Staples, not printouts from my laser jet (definitely not from an ink jet).
Did I mention the acetone stinks? Like even worse than ammonia and the smell lingers, so do it outside--far from your house.
Always practice on something else first. I learned my lesson the hard way. It just takes a few minutes to paint a scrap piece of wood while you are painting your main piece to give the technique a try.
I bought a quart of acetone from Lowes for about $7.50, but I think you could test it out with nail polish remover if you don't want to invest in the quart.

I hope I have inspired someone to give this technique a try.

You can see where I used the same Mason Jar image, but applied it with Mod Podge over on The Pin Junkie.

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Mustard Yellow Hutch

2014-05-18T07:03:00.000-04:00

I have only painted this desk in mustard yellow in the past. It is one of my most popular posts, so I wanted to use the color again someday.

I thought it would be perfect for this hutch I got at a flea market for $4! I got it just as it started to rain and the flea market closed down.

I painted it with two coats of mustard yellow milk paint from The Old Fashioned Milk Co. It is their Safe Paint that is actually meant for walls so you do not have to add a bonding agent or worry about chipping.

I sanded the paint to smooth it and distressed it as well. I also changed the door knobs to ceramic ones, but left the drawer pulls.

The top was a little beat up, but I stripped it anyway and stained it with AS dark wax. It looks so soft with the yellow.

This milk paint is wonderful to work with. It already has so much depth in the paint, but when you distress you get even more. It also sticks to metal so I was able to paint right over the hinges.

Featured by:
Elizabeth & Co.

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Scratched Curbside Table Makeover

2014-05-11T14:29:00.001-04:00

This was one of the tables on the side of the road with a few other pieces.

The top looked as if had been spending time with some kind of animal.

I sanded off the old finish as far as I could go. Although you could still see a faint hint of the deepest scratches.

If something like that happens, I have learned that if I stain with Minwax Dark Walnut, the stain settles into those spots and highlights them. So instead I stain with either dark wax or for a lighter color, coconut oil (which is what I did).

You are able to give some color to the wood and it doesn't highlight the imperfections.

I painted the table with two coats of homemade chalk paint in a black color. The black is not pure black and once sanded looks like a dark grey.

I changed the hardware to that French provincial handle. It was the perfect size, but very dirty. I soaked it in ammonia to clean it.

I finished up by distressing the paint with a sanding sponge and sealing it with Minwax Finishing Paste.

Featured by:

DIY Vintage Chic

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Secondhand Scores #29

2014-05-04T11:59:00.001-04:00

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 got to six sales this weekend. That is a perfect amount that it doesn't take too long to go to them and I got a bunch of stuff I am very happy with.

Four plastic shelf organizer $2.50
Another wood cutting board $1
Pier One butterfly spatula $.75
Large gold frame artwork $3

The frame is actually plastic!

Two bags of small light bulbs $1.00 total
Two ziplock containers $.10
Wood flag $.50
Handprint craft $1

There is usually a free pile at most garage sales, but I couldn't believe the dresser in the photo above was in it! It is a mix between wood and pressboard. It's in good structural condition, just very scratched and old looking.

On the way home I found the coffee table with broken leg and large wood tray (that has a World Market price tag of $49.99 on the back) in someone's garbage.

And last up is another free dresser that my husband found on the side of the road later in the day! That makes two free dressers in one day--cannot even believe it happened!

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Twisted Leg Tables

2014-04-27T09:50:00.000-04:00

This is the what these twisted leg tables originally looked like. Got them at a garage sale last year for $6 for the pair.

I painted them with homemade chalk paint that was a mix of a bunch of colors that turned out to be a blue/grey. I sanded the veneer on the tops and stained them with coconut oil.

The above photo is the first after. I sent them to the consignment store where they sat for two months. Now once a piece is done, even if I am not 100% happy with the results, I am my own worst critic and I know eventually someone out there will like what I did, so I don't repaint anything.

But I just started doing the Mod Podge image transfer technique and wanted to keep practicing it. These two tables had a blank slate for the tops and so I decided to take them back to add a graphic.

I saw on Amy's Casablanca, that she found the site Wikimedia Commons that has tons of images to use and I picked out two old maps of Europe. (And by picking out two old maps, I mean I spent at least two hours searching for the perfect graphics, in the perfect size, that went with the look of the tables and could appeal to a broad customer base)

I reversed them and sized them for my table tops in Power Point. I then emailed the file to Staples and had them print them on 18x24 engineer prints for $1.79 each.

First I painted the tops with two coats of white paint. After it was dry, I brushed Mod Podge all over the image and then applied it to the table top. I smoothed out the air bubbles as best I could and let it sit overnight.

The next day I wet the paper and rubbed the top layer off to reveal the map. You can see it pulled the map off completely in some areas and also pulled up the paint. I was totally okay with this as it is supposed to be distressed and old looking.

Once I was satisfied with how much of the top layer of paper came off I applied Martha Stewart Metallic glaze in Black Coffee right on top of the paper. After it was dry I sanded the whole top concentrating on the edges to distress it even more. I used Minwax Finishing Paste to seal it.

I have to admit I am on the fence with how they came out. I think the paper soaked up too much of the glaze and is a bit dark. It definitely needed the glaze because it looked worse without it, but maybe I should have waxed first and then added the glaze so I could have had more control of how dark it got. I also think I should have not painted the tops white, so where ever the paper completely came off, you could have seen the wood instead of white.

Coulda, shoulda, woulda, they sold within a few weeks so I must have done something right!

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Secondhand Scores #28

2014-04-21T12:18:00.000-04:00

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There was another church sale over the weekend. Their prices were crazy cheap and I had to force myself to put some things back as I knew I was wanting them because the prices were so low--not that I would need them. This is what I got:

Two wire shelves $.50 total
Canvas beach bag $.25
Wood tray (for my kids to use in the car) $.50
Twilight Breaking Dawn Part 1 $.25
Bag of turquoise color beads $.25
Two Tupperware containers $1 total
Brand new head phones $1
Quilt coverlet and plush blanket from How To Train Your Dragon movie $1.00 total (can never have too many extra blankets)
Pink plastic case (for my daughter) $.25

At the Sunday auction I scored these two pieces. Both the table and trunk were $1 each. So far my son wants the trunk, but if he changes his mind, I plan to add casters to the bottom to make it a coffee table. Of course I will paint both pieces.

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Secondhand Scores #27

2014-04-09T11:35:00.000-04:00

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There is a local church that runs a sale every year to raise money. This was perfect for this past Saturday because it was pretty cold and they have it indoors.

I do have to say the prices are all over the place. Some things are cheap, some are totally overpriced. I didn't get much, but what I got were pretty good deals.

Stack of wire drawers $2!!

The stack of wire drawers are going to be used in my craft room/office. I hope to get this room reorganized to make better use of the space.

Phillies license plate $1

To be used on a future sports theme furniture redo.

Wire wall basket and big bag of pom poms $1
10 books on CD (not pictured) $10

This is a major score for me as I do a lot of long distance driving and nothing makes the trip go faster than a book on CD!

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Gingham Stools

2014-03-30T09:57:00.000-04:00

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.

Secondhand Scores #26

2014-03-26T10:41:00.000-04:00

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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.

They Can't All Be Winners

2014-03-09T09:42:00.001-04:00

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!

Secondhand Scores #25

2014-02-26T06:58:00.000-05:00

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I spent a few hours at an auction last Sunday. I specifically went to the furniture part of it, but after that was done they did a few tables of "smalls" so I scored some extra items.

This auction is relatively small, but they organize it so the better selling items do get auctioned off first and the mismatched one-offs go at the end. This is when I find my treasures. I got both tables for $1 each.

In the smalls, I got:

Stainless steel garbage can for $8
A super awesome cuckoo clock for $6

Turns out it is missing a few parts though

The two mason jars for $1 for both

These last things were from some random garage sales at the very end of the season last year.

Deer paint by number was $.25
Bottle lamp base was $.75
Sports theme table was $1

Tall Green Dresser

2014-02-16T08:50:00.001-05:00

I finally got around to paint another piece of furniture that I bought last summer. It was an off white tall dresser that I got for $5.

No structural issues, but it was painted with a textured paint that needed to be sanded off. I thought it was going to be one of those makeovers that I could do by just distressing the paint that was already on the piece. No luck. I used 60 grit sandpaper on my orbital sander and was only able to get the texture off--the paint didn't budge.

I painted it with two coats of SW Green Sprout color mixed into homemade chalk paint, lightly distressed it with a sanding sponge and waxed it with Minwax Finishing Paste.

I thought about changing the hardware, but I would need so many and I didn't have enough in my stash. So I soaked them in ammonia to remove the ugly paint that was on them.

Here are some pictures of the hardware after it is soaked in ammonia so you can see how the paint just melts right off. You can also see how it buffs to a shine with a green scrubby sponge.

After the hardware was clean I sprayed it with oil rubbed bronze because I didn't want them to be that brass look.

I haven't painted hardware in oil rubbed bronze in a very long time...I forgot how awesome it looks. It made those ugly pulls on the bottom drawers look so much better!

Cream Cabinet

2014-02-02T07:41:00.000-05:00

When I got this cabinet home I immediately started sanding the top.

It was so scratched and I wanted to smooth the scratches out before I started to paint. It was also missing some veneer, but otherwise in good condition.

I used an oops paint that I had that was a light beige. It was too beige for me so I mixed it with white that I had on hand. I did a 50/50 ratio. It came out a light cream like color and I was thankful it was pretty easy to do as mixing colors makes me nervous.

I mixed it into homemade chalk paint, painted it with two coats and distressed. Since the top sanded so well, I decided to stain it to see how it would look. But the spot with the missing veneer stood out like a sore thumb.

I didn't want to paint over the nicely stained wood, so I decided to hide the missing veneer with some strategically placed stripes. I've done this before on this red dresser and this grey dresser.

I got what I wanted with a stained top, but also hid the problem and wound up adding more visual interest to the piece.