Its Finally Fall

Yes, Fall is here, well not actually here. Its still 101 here, but my calender says its here so out goes the summer decor and in comes the Autumn goodies.  I decided to take a break from working on stuff for the shop and actually make something for myself. Boy am I glad I did! I followed this amazing picture from Pinterest to a blog called Ella Claire, where she gives a full tutorial on how to make this beauty...

 

To see her tutorial go here.

 

So I started following her steps, only I had to tweak them a bit.

 

I measured my mantle and decided how big I wanted my sign to be, since I had to make it from scratch. I decided 24"x30" would look best. So I started digging through our scrap pile and cutting my pieces.

 

 

Then I made up some cream chalk paint and painted on one coat, then some streaks of a minty green, then one more coat of cream. (the last coat didn't make the picture)

 

 

 

Then sanded her down, and started tracing the words. Now this could have been a fairly quick process, but our printer was out of ink, so... I ended up having to trace the letters onto paper by taping them onto my computer screen. This slowed things down quite a bit, but where there is a will there's a way!

 

I didn't get picture of the last steps, but i traced my letters onto the wood, then traced those in paint then filled them in. My camera doesn't really do this project justice. In person you can see a little aqua showing through, and the nice worn antiqued look to it.

 

 

 I added some spray painted candle stick holders, and some pumpkins I got last year from the Target dollar bin, and now I have a cheap, and simple Fall mantle. Now if only it would start cooling down around here so I can start enjoying all my favorite fall foods!

Vintage Cabinet

This little vintage beauty has turned into one of my all time favorite pieces. When my lovely cousin pointed it out to me, I knew I had to have it. It was pretty the way it was, but I just couldn't resist painting it up a bit.

 

 

The tag called it a "Spice Cabinet" but I loved the thought of it being a bathroom cabinet.

 

 

So once I spray painted it Antique White, touched up the metal with some bronze spray paint, and distressed it a little it looked like this....

 

I just love the country feel it has! I wish it had a twin I could keep for myself :)

 

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Small Grey Table

I am so appreciative to those who have supported me through this new journey. It's been so much fun, and so rewarding. I have had several people offer me advice or even give me old furniture for free to help me achieve my new dream. I cant say thank you enough to everyone.

This little table was given to me by a wonderful couple (thanks again!). It was in great condition and very well built, but it was ready for a makeover.

Instead of having a color in mind I waited until a color came to me. As I browsed the mistake pile at Home Depot I found a sample size of an unknown darker grey. The little dot on top looked nice and it was only $.50 so why not?  As soon as I mixed up my chalk paint, and started to paint it on I knew I was in love!

The cement grey color and chalk paint texture gives it a really cool industrial feel. I absolutely love that the wood grain shows through the paint, and the distressing turned out very natural looking. Something you cant tell by the picture is how soft it is! That is one bonus of using chalk paint, is you can sand it down to baby bottom smooth then the furniture wax keeps it that way.

So here is the before and after.

Before:

After:

Luggage and Plant Stand

Luggage and Plant Stand... Both stands, both totally different shapes, and totally different styles, but both were smaller projects so they will both be featured together today. :)

 The luggage stand was given to me by my mom. It was the typical dated luggage stand with the ugly old fashioned upholstery ribbon and scratched up wood.

After many failures and even more lessons learned I transformed it into this...

I still swoon when I see that burlap ribbon.

The before and after:

Before:

After:

Now on to the plant stand. When I saw it in an old antique store it was a little rickety, but I bought it anyway. When I got home Ryan instantly told me, "You should just throw this thing away." Oh ye of little faith! After I cleaned it up I realized the screws were a bit loose (on the table not me) and once they were tightened the table was sturdy as ever!

A friend of mine, and one of my new favorite antique shopping buddies, told me that I should try doing something cheery and someone was bound to buy it. I was hesitant at first (I'm more of a white and grey kinda girl) but I just so happened to have some yellow paint on hand so why not give it a try?

Now I think it is so much fun! Of course I had to add a little of my own personality with the distressing but it was so neat to step out of my comfort zone and try something new.

So here is the before and after on this sunny number...

Before:

After:

When was the last time you tried something new?

Chalk Paint Coffee Table

A few weeks ago, my husbands cousin called me up saying she had an old coffee table she didn't want any more but it was sturdy, and I could have it if I wanted to paint it up. It was love at first sight. :)

I am a sucker for anything with curvy legs, not sure why. I could tell it had definitely been "loved" over the years and needed a good sanding. Later on I learned that this table has made its rounds through our area. It has been in at least three different homes including my in laws. It has survived many years of use, and lots of kids.

Here is a blurry picture of the underside of the table. Gotta love little surprises :)

I was so looking forward to my chance of experimenting with homemade chalk paint. I bought a beautiful cream color called "cottage white" and got to mixing.

I tried at first to follow a recipe I found online for the chalk paint, but I was not getting the results I wanted, so instead I just mixed my own. I put a little bit of Plaster of Paris in a dollar tree Tupperware and add a tiny bit of water. You don't want to put too much water because its really hard to undo without making a huge batch. Then I mix in my paint until I get the consistency I want (which is somewhere around pancake batter) then get to work!

I love how this table turned out, see...

The heavy distressing gives it that old farmhouse look I love.

So here is the before and after.

Before:

After:

I learned a lot of lessons with this piece, mostly involving Polycrylic. If you need any pointers just let me know. So what do you think?

Put your bread in a box

I just finished up one of the first pieces I bought, an antique wooden bread box. It needed some serious de-greasing, as you can see by the glass (the glass is not frosted) ewww.

I also was not thrilled with the little wooden squares holding the glass in, so I knew I needed to get creative with that. 

So after a fresh coat of paint and a new knob, we have this!

I bought some little metal "thingys" that you use on a picture frame to hold the back in. 



Ain't she purty?!

Kick up your feet

Today I thought I would share with you a before and after of one of my favorite pieces. I got an old antique foot stool from my mom and couldn't wait to fix it up.

As you can see it was definitely showing its age. Not only in the wear and tear but with the outdated fabric. But I knew this baby had true potential.

 The foot stool was originally a foot warmer with a built in heating element. Unfortunately it no longer worked :( But I was glad to see the lid lifted up for extra storage, cant have too much of that!

 I loved reading the warnings and seeing how much things have changed. They went along the lines of.. "If this foot stool catches on fire because you have used it irresponsibly, that's not our problem." Haha. 

So I took out the old heating element, tore off the fabric and old foam, took out the bottom of the storage compartment (It was cut completely wrong) and started fresh. Its amazing what a new coat of paint, and some new fabric can do!

I just cant get enough of linen! It is so versatile and gorgeous.

I almost want to keep this beauty for myself!

Without further adieu, here is a before and after shot for you...

Feeling Bold

Once word started getting around that I was going to start painting furniture my mom came to me and said, " I have a bunch of old antique furniture in my storage that you are welcome to paint up and sell." But this is what I actually heard. "Free...come and get free antique furniture." So we went to her storage and I grabbed three beauties. One of them being this end table.

I loved the retro styling, its not something you see all that often anymore.

I knew upon seeing it that just the traditional white or grey (my go to colors) wouldn't fit the personality of this table. So I knew I needed to go bold. *shudder*

As you can see it had some pretty severe damage to the top. The veneer was flaking off and parts of it were lifting off and needed to be glued down. So I went to town with a putty knife scraping all the old veneer off and glued down and clamped the parts that were lifting up. I sanded it all down, but decided I was going to try skipping the priming stage and going right into painting it. At Home Depot I instantly fell in love with the color called Plumage by Martha Stewart.

I lightly distressed the corners and edges, but didn't like the light wood showing through. So I dipped a q-tip in some dark stain and rubbed it over the exposed wood. I love the way this one turned out and am not surprised it became my first sale!

The only problem now is I am second guessing my first instinct to paint everything white! I guess that may not be a real problem :)

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New Beginnings

As most of you know, I have decided to open up my own shop on Etsy called The Rusted Cottage. I plan on selling repurposed or repainted furniture, as well as homemade home decor etc. It has been so much fun hunting out the perfect pieces and watching them transform into something beautiful again. If you would like to see my shop here is the link: http://www.etsy.com/shop/TheRustedCottage

The one downside to selling your stuff, is no one ever gets to see the 'before'! So I thought this would be the perfect place to show the before and after pictures of the pieces I paint, as well as tutorials to the crafts I make.

My first project was an end table I found at a local thrift store. I instantly fell in love with the shape and the curvy legs.

With some furniture, the first time I see them I picture them a certain color. I knew this table would become a soft grey shabby chic beauty.

The top of the table had quite a few stain splotches from a poor staining job, but that is no problem!

I started by sanding the table down and fixing a few minor things that were broken. Then sprayed on a heavy duty primer called Shellac.

Then I hand brushed on a soft grey called Driftwood Grey by Martha Stewart. (As you can seen I have quite the work space :))

I then distressed it in all the places it might normally see wear and tear, added some new knobs and I was done!

So here are the before and afters:

The transforming power of paint never ceases to amaze me.

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