I like to change up my mantle with the season. I always leave the green garland I bought at Hobby Lobby several years ago and the other neutral things I have added. Today I saw a quick heart garland to make so I made it. 😄 Here’s the tutorial. Scroll through the posts on deliacreates to see it.
https://www.instagram.com/deliacreates?igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==
I thrifted a mantle clock awhile back, thinking I would paint it and update it a bit. The clock mechanism was broken and I didn’t want to buy a new one, so I decided to turn it into a somewhat neutral winter decoration. Mine looked similar to this one.
The first thing I did was remove the plastic clock face. I cleaned it well, then decoupaged printed tissue paper onto the back instead of the front. This will help keep the tissue nice and make the front easy to keep clean.
Once the tissue paper was dry, I sealed the back with Mod Podge and let that dry. Then I painted over the tissue with white chalk paint to give a white background that would make the design stand out. I let that dry. I missed getting a picture of that and I was afraid to try to pop it back out of its frame after decoupaging. I thought it might tear the paper. But just know that one coat of paint over the dry tissue is all you need.
I then cleaned the clock with Windex and my idea was to dry brush white chalk paint over it. That looked terrible as the base was way too dark. So I let that dry, then drybrushed over the white with a green called “Cupboard Green”.
To drybrush you get a little paint on a brush (I use a chip brush you can get at Dollar Tree, Walmart, etc.)
Then using a paper towel, I dabbed most of the paint off, then I went over the piece, a little thicker than I did the white. This allowed some of the white and the original dark brown to show through for a beautiful distressed result.
I placed it on top of my china cabinet with some vintage looking snowmen and the “book vase” I made from 3 of my childhood story books. They are just tied together so they aren’t damaged at all. It is now holding a small Christmas tree. I love changing what it holds for the different seasons and to be able to see these books on display.
I’m always trying to find ways to use the Oui yogurt jars. This idea was inspired after seeing someone do something similar with a mason jar using string. Any type of jar will work with beautiful results.
So I gathered up my supplies and went to work on this quick and easy project.
I took the ball of string I bought at Walmart and cut maybe 50 12” lengths of string. I might have used more or less, so you could cut less and then cut more as you go.
I then folded the pieces of string in half and hot glued them around the bottom edge of the Oui jar, side by side.
The results look like the photo below.
I then turned the jar over and fanned the strings out. I then twisted each set of 2 strings and brought them straight up and over the top edge and glued them to the inside.
I was now ready to make a label. I cut a piece of dropcloth and frayed the edges then used a number/letter alphabet stamper I bought on Temu and inked the words I made. I then stamped them onto the label. I really like the small stamper as you can do an entire word or words and keep them straight to stamp.
I also made a little riser using an end piece of an old 2×4. I loved the original green end so just distressed it a bit with sandpaper and added legs (Woodpecker peg dolls) I stained. I stamped a couple of designs across the front.
In no time at all I had a beautiful little decorated jar I can use in so many different ways. I just added a faux flower bloom for this one.
I thrifted a vintage spice rack at an estate sale awhile ago. It was in great shape and I don’t think the jars had ever been used. I knew I could update it and make it work for today’s kitchen decor and be functional as well.
I also ordered some spice jar labels from Temu for it. They arrived, so it was time for this makeover.
Today, I cleaned the spice rack well, took off the eagle and stars and painted the spice rack with black chalk paint (3 coats), then distressed it. A friend from one of my groups collects eagles, so I am sending the little eagle to her for her collection.
I then sealed it with Wise Owl Salve.
I took the old labels off the jars. They all, except for two of them easily slid off by soaking them in hot, soapy water. Only two required a little scrubbing. I then applied the labels I thought people would use most often.
This spice rack now has an updated modern look.
These “bling sticks” dress up potted plants or flower arrangements. I used green wire I think I got from Dollar Tree (it was very bendable and soft to work with). I threaded all kinds of beads from old necklaces, etc. to the green wire and then wired the bling to a skewer from Dollar Tree with thin wire for support.
One of them looks so pretty in the ceramic watering can full of faux purple flowers on my deck.
Many people take their shoes off at the door. It seems as though Dollar Tree has noticed this and has started stocking Wall Art politely asking visitors to do the same.
If this is something you practice, I have taken their Wall Art and applied it to a piece of one of their MDF thin boards with a natural wood look.
This board had a pumpkin cut out on it. I measured how long it needed to be and removed the pumpkin area. I scored it with a box cutter and broke it off, then sanded the edges.
I removed the extra vinyl on the wall art and then used transfer paper to pick up the words and images.
I notched the edges of the board using a pair of scissors for a more decorative look and added a decorative string to hang it.
It makes a very simple and neutral reminder.
My husband has a background in working with electricity and has been loving scouring Goodwill, thrift stores, estate and garage sales looking for the perfect lamps, and lampshades, dinosaurs and My Little Ponies to create these character lamps.
He’s been having so much fun I’m starting to wonder if he will ever run out.
But here’s what he has created so far. Im starting with the last one because if you press the button on the belly of the green dinosaur, he roars. 😂
The purple chalk style paint we created to paint a vintage wooden chair is such a pretty color, we decided to name it MO Eureka Purple.
I decided after seeing a similar chair painted purple by Junk Chick, I knew I had to paint one, too. I sold it even before it was finished to a customer whose favorite color is purple!
This is your Missouri History lesson for today. George Hearst was born in Franklin County, Missouri … some say near what was to become Sullivan, Missouri. His wife, Phoebe, was born in Anaconda, near St. Clair. George named his copper mine, Anaconda. I’m not sure but would like to think he yelled “Eureka” when his mines would produce. I haven’t found out if this is true or not but since that is the city where one of our sons lived in and still is close by and our grandson still goes to elementary school there, and the school color is purple…. MO Eureka Purple is the perfect name. I wonder if that is why the city is named Eureka.
Painting this chair reminds me that the second thing I ever painted with chalk paint was in January 2014. My best friend had been painting some furniture and gave me some left over Annie Sloan gray paint in 2013. It took me a year to try it. After that, I was hooked.
You can click on this link: Annie Sloan and Me to see my first experiences with chalk paint.
We purchased Missouri Limestone Paint Company in 2019 and continue producing the brand to this day.
I liked Annie Sloan paint but after trying Missouri Limestone Paint Company’s chalk-style paint in 2015, produced in Ozark, Missouri, I was hooked and SharSum Paint company was born. I love how smoothly it goes on with no brush strokes at all as long as you apply a very thin coat for the first coat. This is the gripping coat. The second coat usually does full coverage. It dries so fast (usually 15-20 minutes), by the time you have finished the first coat, it is ready for the second.
Introducing MO Eureka Purple – a vintage chair painted purple and displaying my favorite faux purple flowers!
Everyone is always using high end stores as inspiration and creating projects that sometimes turn out better than the original. I did that this evening, and even I was blown away by the results.
It all started with this little Reed diffuser from Dollar Tree.
I was putting away some bags with Dollar Tree purchases and got distracted. Lol
First of all, I’ve had a little gold metal riser for a year or two. I never knew what I would do with it. Today, I used it to put my hot melted candle wax jars on, so it was handy (I hadn’t put it away yet, either. 🙄)
I took three little glass vases out of one of the bags. They were the only three I saw at Dollar Tree one day so I got them, not knowing what I’d use them for, either. I really liked the bit of gold around the top of them.
I also found two packages of reed decor. I have found these before and have them in my upstairs bathroom in a vase. I really like the neutral look of them.
Then I remembered I bought a Reed Diffuser at Dollar Tree awhile ago and hadn’t used it yet. It had the Eucalyptus scent.
So, of course, I had to act on an idea that came to me.
I added some RubnBuff on the rims of the vases to enhance the gold a little more and also added it to the edges and feet of the riser.
I poured the liquid from the diffuser evenly into the three jars and divided up all the reeds into the jars, making sure I saturated the ends well. Then I arranged the jars on the riser. They fit perfectly!
I’m so glad I stopped what I was doing and put all these things together. I really like how this turned out! It’s so much prettier than just the little Reed Diffuser all by itself. It looks and smells perfect in my downstairs bathroom.
I found a chicken planter and a rooster that would hold a vase at two different thrift stores in the last few weeks. I decided they both needed updating using a concrete look technique.
The first thing I did with the chicken was spray him with Mod Podge pearlized glaze. Any sealer would work or even spray paint. I sprayed it to help the paint adhere well since the pottery was a bit shiny.
Next, I mixed chalk-style paint with baking soda and began daubing it on all over. This gives it a nice texture and no brush strokes. I gave it two coats, letting it dry in between.
After two coats of the baking soda and chalk paint mixture. I don’t have a photo, but I sprayed it with a coat of Mod Podge. This will help keep the antique look I’m giving it from soaking in which would make it hard to remove if needed.
Next, I did a little dry brushing with the gray paint. I would daub it on and use a baby wipe to blend where needed.
That’s it. I now have a chicken planter with a concrete look.
Now, for the rooster – I finished him much in the same way using the baking soda and white chalk- style paint mixture with a little different type of antiquing.
I learned the rooster was made of resin. I knew it wasn’t metal or wood. I had someone tell me to scratch off a bit of the bottom and if it was white underneath, it was resin…it was white!
I daubed the white chalk paint all over him. I only used one coat and wasn’t worried about full coverage because I liked the colors underneath and didn’t mind them coming through a bit.
Once dry, I used sprayed the rooster with this clear chalky spray. This will help me when I apply the glaze and will let me remove excess.
I applied the metallic green glaze to make it look like the rooster had been outside in the weather for years and had moss growing on it at one point.
I also applied a bit of turquoise paint for some patina.
The rooster was now ready to be added to a garden display.
SharSum Paint 