From Toy Chest to Shipping Crate

Hi Everyone!
I have heard and seen of shipping crates being turned into toy chests, but not the other way around...yet that is what I did with this ordinary, run of the mill chest I got on Craigslist.

I remembered to take the "Before" after sanding and stripping off the layers of thick, enamel brown and beige paint. The sides are MDF, and the top and ends are pine.

I roughed it up with some screws, a hammer, and even took a firelighter to it in some places...lol!

Then I applied some ebony colored glaze. I did not have anything else, and I was too impatient to make the steel wool in vinegar mix, which has to soak for at least 24 hours. There are many tutorials on how to do that, but here is a link to one. I was going for the look of old cedar. The pine part turned out pretty good, but the MDF was a different story....

I ended up painting this part red...just could not get it to look right.
I then dry brushed some more red on the other parts, too, just so it would look like it fit.

I found old vintage magazine ads of Pfluegers, a fishing tackle and equipment company, on line,  printed it out, and decoupaged it to the side. The writing was done free hand, from an example I found when searching for "shipping crates" images.

I don't know if you noticed, but I tried to make the corner strips look like metal. Painted it silver, and screwed some screws in. On one side I stenciled "THIS END UP" ,

 and on the other side I decoupaged a sign that says "HANDLE WITH CARE" .

I also drilled some holes and made handles out of rope for a more authentic look. (or so I thought, anyway)

I distressed the edges and sanded the  chest all over a few times during the process.

Also applied and wiped off the same ebony colored glaze  a few times. I just played until I got the look I liked. The decoupaged parts were sanded pretty heavily to make it look really old.

This is what the back looks like. Some random stenciling, and another sign decoupaged on.

O yes, and see the little stamp in the right corner? It says "product of the USA". I just used a plate as a template en drew it on with a thin brush. The words were just done freehand.

Well, I had a lot of fun doing this, and I can just see it in a boy's room with a fishing theme, or even as a rustic kind of coffee table in a TV room. 

What do you think?

Until next time, 

happy thrifting!

Suzanne

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A Little Knick Knack's EBTKS Party

Got Sewing Machine?

I have had this little sewing cabinet a few years now. I actually used it just like this, while planning on painting it for myself later.

 In the mean time I found another, bigger sewing desk, not as cute and antique-looking, but more suited for my needs, so I decided to paint this one to sell in our booth at The Brass Armadillo Antique Mall in Goodyear .

It was actually in a good condition, with some superficial scratches and marks.

Nothing that could not be fixed with some light sanding and paint.

Since my discovery of home-made chalk paint, I almost never do any heavy sanding anymore. Not when I want to paint over the surface anyway. 

This is it after some light sanding and a off-white base coat of chalk paint.

(yes, I'm painting in my family room...too hot in Phoenix this time of the year. But it is an old carpet remnant on top of my regular carpet, so I am being careful...)

For the top coat , I mixed in a small amount of blue. I kept the original hardware, just spray painted it black. The rest of the hinges I just painted over...I liked the look.

 Isn't she gorgeous? 

 So many extra little drawers and cool storage ..

 I almost regret selling her now..

Have a lovely week, and happy thrifting!

Love,

Suzanne

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Summer Projects part 2

Here's some more items I transformed while on vacation in South Africa...

This is a beautiful drawer chest that my sis bought years ago from an old clothing store in town that closed down.

I encouraged her back then to get it, because it is so cool...even as is.

That's the way she kept it for years, until my visit recently , and "we" decided it needed a make-over.

She wanted the multi-layered green and red painted look, so , this is what I did.

It was so quick and easy...light sanding, no primer, and just patches of green and red paint applied with a brush. Some sanding afterwards, rubbing with a little bit of my secret ingredient (brown shoe polish...shhhhh) , and there she was...

exciting and new, and once again the focus of the room.

I love it!

Happy painting!

Love,

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Summer Projects:

Hi Everyone!

I know I have been MIA for a while now, but I have a good reason. I visited my home country and family in South Africa. For ten whole weeks! That's right, 10! But just in case you thought I just sat on my behind and sipped wine, you are wrong...
Some days I sat on my behind and sipped wine, and other days I transformed furniture and sipped wine.... so there!
Yep! My sisters made me earn my keep... (but you know I did not complain about saving old, neglected furniture from the dump!)

Look at this piece for instance: was once a built in kitchen cabinet, then stuck in the laundry, and eventually in the garage, where, as you can see, it had been used as a handyman table.

Old Built in Transformed to house a Stereo

My sister needed a place for one of her twin 16 year old sons' stereo, so we went to work on it. I liked the look of the sanded wood on top, so we just sanded it thoroughly (with NO palm sander available, I might add), and waxed it. We painted the body with homemade black chalk paint, and wiped a little brown stain over it, to give some depth to the mat black color.  After distressing the edges, and  adding wheels and funky hardware, this piece was transformed into a very cool, industrial look entertainment center any teenage boy can be proud of.

Don't you agree? And yes, I know the handles are different sizes. And no, it was not on purpose, OK? After we had drilled the holes and attached them, we stood back proudly to view our handy work, and  broke out in hysterical giggles when we realized our  mistake....
Then we decided to just pretend it was meant to be that way.

Old Bathroom Cabinet transformed

This little cabinet was brought home from the farm, and was stuck in storage for forever.

We had specific  plans for it, but it knew better....

When we started to sand it down, all these lovely layers, added through the years, were uncovered.

Then we realized that the door was not real wood, but supa wood...and, soon after, while I was sanding my heart out, the door fell open, slammed on the ground, and the mirror broke. This is when we decided to just go ahead and take the door off.

The lovely blue color on the inside, was left just as is...

..and just check out all the wonderful old layers...blue, green, yellow and white.

We did not bring a paintbrush near it..this look was achieved just by sanding!

It is going up as a shelf in her powder room.

Love it!

See ya soon with more Summer projects!

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Metamorphasis Monday

Ugly Credenza gets a Make-over

Hi There!

And so my oldest baby got married last Saturday... he looked so handsome and grown-up! This is a picture of me and him,

 and this one of him and his beautiful bride. It was a really private and sweet ceremony.
I know they will be happy and successful.

Today I am sharing with you my most favorite of projects so far... or do I say that every time? I guess that means I love what I do, right?
I bought this credenza, or buffet, on craigslist, looking very sad with a "most unfortunate" paint job...
But, I loved its lines, and only learned after that this is typical a mid-century piece.

It stayed at my front door for quite some time, waiting its turn to get an "extreme make-over".
Of course I forgot to take a before picture.....( have decided to take pics of the pieces as I purchase them, so as not to have this "particular" problem again...We'll see how that goes...)

At least I can show you what the two discarded drawers looked like...and that is a pretty good indication of the state of the rest of the piece. Bad, gloss black paint finish, with drip marks and peeling paint (not the nice kind, either) everywhere. These two drawers did not fit snugly, as a result of some swelling, or slight warping? I don't know, but they seemed too big for the space.
So, thanks to many other bloggers before me who have paved the way, I knew that I could just leave them out, and turn the empty spaces into shelves.

I had a completely different plan for this piece, but when I started sanding and saw the beautiful wood tone underneath , I changed my mind. (I think its actually just really thick veneer, but it still had a lovely warm tone.)

The doors had a sweet little black line in the wood, which I thought deserved a second chance to shine. So I sanded them down, and stained them a beautiful warm tone. Along with new hardware, they look awesome, don't you think?
I did the same with the top, but then painted a checkered black and wood pattern on it.

The drawers got a reverse stencil of 1,2,3, with numbers I printed off the computer, cut out, and sprayed with spray on glue.

The shelves on the bottom are now ideal for a DVR, or displaying of your favorite crockery.

I took this one to our booth at Armadillo Antique mall, Goodyear, and it sold within 24 hours!
I would have liked to keep it myself, too!
Now I have to get painting to get stuff in the booth before I leave for South Africa for two whole months.....    


                  Love,                           

                                                            

Union Jack Coffee Table

Happy Mother's Day to all the wonderful mothers out there! Hope you are spo

iled and appreciated, not only today, but every other day, too. I want to show you my version of the Union Jack trend...

I have been itching to paint something in Union Jack, and thought that this little table was due for another make-over.  This is how I transformed it when I first got it.
It was perfect, since it already had the red, and I just had to add the white and blue.

Although I did touch the red up, some, too, to make it brighter.

 

My husband really liked it, all perfect and flawless, like above...

 He was a little disgusted when I started sanding and distressing it! LOL.

But I like it more just a little bit distressed and imperfect...don't you agree?

I sold it to a guy in Phoenix who bought it for his girlfriend, who is from Britain..

Perfect!

Have a great Mother's Day!

Suzanne

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