Sunday, July 21, 2013

Bread Box

I worked on a smaller painting project last week, a little bread box.
Bread Box after
This is a very special piece to me, it is my Mom and Dad’s.  It sat on our kitchen counter most of my life and was always filled with bread and snacks.  As a child I loved the little sliding door. 
I asked my Mom about it when she was renovating her kitchen but she thought she had sold at a yard sale.  A few weeks ago I was walking through my old playhouse at home and there it was…crying to me for paint it.
bread box before
I asked my Mom if I could have it and paint it and she was good with it, however my Dad made me promise not to ever get rid of it.  Apparently it was a wedding gift to them by a lady that my Dad rented farm land from.  So now it has even more meaning and I am happy to own it.

bread box location
I had fun painting this one.  I concocted my own chalk paint color with a combination of CC Caldwell Emerald Isle, Anne Sloan Pure White, and Maison Blanche Sugar Cane.  I love the color, so bright and cheerful.  I also finally tried the Vaseline technique of distressing.  I rubbed a little Vaseline on the piece before painting.  I then painted the whole piece.  Once it was really dry I took a damp cloth and wiped it down and all the little Vaseline spots wiped clean.  Pretty cool!  I also traced the “Bread” letters before painting and then used carbon paper to draw again and painted freehanded with chalk paint. 
Here is a close up of the distressing.
bread box closeup
I could not be happier with this piece.  Happy it’s back in my kitchen Smile

April

Monday, July 8, 2013

Pottery Barn Knockoff Shelves

I can’t believe I haven’t shared these with you guys yet! I have been busy with Summer fun for the past few weeks and I have not even had the time to tell you about these easy to make shelves.
My great friend Paige has these awesome shelves from Pottery Barn over her sofa that I ooooh and aaaah over every time I go to her house but since we have moved so often over the past year I have limited funds to work with and I figured I could have Will make them! He loved the idea…
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Maybe not loved…but he was cool with it Smile
I found this really great tutorial over at Ana White's by Shanty Chic Click HERE We pretty much followed this step by step guide and decided to drill then directly into the wall.  If you are not good with that you can follow the directions to make pocket holes in the back to hang the shelves. 
We wanted a longer one over the couch and one in the bathroom. Here they are.
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I was able to have another small one made and I have that in our home office.  As you can see we painted one white and stained one.  I love that these make changing out pictures super easy!  You will get to see the one in the office if I ever get that room finished! All in all we probably spent $10 on these.  Pretty happy about that!

April