A new life for dated decor

Here is another really easy way to update some old decor! Why waste money on new things if you can re-vamp old?
This was my first time trying this method so I was very interested to see how this was going to work out!

I had a old set of decorative pots I got probably 12 years ago from who knows where. Maybe Home Goods since I get SO many things from there. I was over the garden theme and they were sitting on a shelf in my laundry room nested with the original design turned towards the wall. See the original below!

The Growing Bulbs pot was the only one I had not painted before I remembered to take pictures! The other two are painted over with - what else - Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in Old Ochre. You can still see some of the original design underneath if you look close. That was with one coat. After I put on a second coat it was completely covered. I could have stopped there. They looked just fine repainted in this creamy off white.

But I really wanted to try this print transfer technique I had pinned from HERE . I ran into a little bit of a problem, but overall it worked pretty well. In a nutshell, you print out your graphic (I got mine from The Graphics Fairy HERE .) as a reverse print from your printer. Then use ModgePodge to attach the graphic to your pot. Let it dry COMPLETELY. Then wet the image (I used a damp sponge) and carefully roll the wet paper away with your finger.
Now I had a little problem with my ink smudging some. I may have over worked it. Or not let it dry long enough. But it still looks great and it just kind of adds to the vintage feel, in my opinion. Or at least that's what I am telling myself!

I will have to try it again and see if I have the same problem. Such a cool idea though!
I went ahead and spread the love on the other 2 pots and did them both differently. I went back to the trusty old Sharpie technique on the No. 15 pot. I don't love it though because it is just too dark and bold. I may need to dry brush some paint over the top to tone it down some.

The France pot got a stencil. I knew the paint would run a bit and give it a messier look which I like better. But the transfer method won hands down! So I will need to perfect that! Who knew how handy the printer could be! And now I have some "new" containers to hold art supplies in!

Milk Paint Coffee Table - a lesson in trial and error!

When I last left you I was have some problems with my first attempt at using Miss Mustard Seed's Milk Paint. I had a
bit of a problem with one side of the table. Basically the paint all fell off. You can read about that here.

So I had to salvage what I had done. And again, since I am lazy, I refused to sand it all off and restart. I paid a visit to Janet at The Empty Nest in Warrenton and chatted with her about my project. We had a nice talk about the pros and cons of milk paint itself. The beauty of milk paint is that if you don't do any prep work the paint will chip and self distress in a pretty unpredictable manner. There does not seem to be any rhyme or reason to how much chipping you get on which type of finish. You would think, the glossier the finish, the more distressing you would get. But that is not so. So the pro is ALSO the con! She suggested I use some bonding agent on that side. Or start over and use the bonding agent all over. I pretty much pretended I did not hear that second part.

So now the one side of the table had progressed like this: First, a coat of Linen milk paint that produced some mild chipping. Second coat. Both coats of paint entirely fall off (what the...?!), except for 2 small patches. Another very thin coat of paint. ANOTHER coat of Milk Paint with bonding agent added. Ergh. And then I still had to do some very creative spot touch up. And sanding in between.

Anyway. Live and learn! Here is the finished piece.

Ignore the glass table top over there leaning against the couch!
I still need to get Mr. Muscle to take the other coffee table downstairs.

 And I'm not hating that Christmas poinsettia still hanging around. The white was the right way to go.

This photo shows the side that originally fell of completely. It's still a lot more distressed than the rest of the table. All in all I am happy with how it turned out. I love the vintage feel of it. I may still move it up to my master sitting room though. I keep thinking all those drawers would be perfect for housing my insane amount of jewelry!

Milk Painting for the first time... and ribs!

I decided to take my first shot with Miss Mustard Seed's Milk Paint. I bought this awesome little piece for a steal from a neighbor. Her kids were using it as a painting table so it had a few stains and paint blotches on the top. The top planks and the ones on the bottom are pulling away a little. There were just a few minor scuffs on it as well.

I knew as soon as I saw it I wanted to paint it. Now I am not going to lie. My initial plan was to paint the entire piece. But then I started looking at all those drawers. All. Those. Drawers... So.... THEN I decided it would be way less work more artistic to paint everything BUT the drawers. That will look cute!

I had grabbed some MMS Milk paint on my way back from the barn sales last weekend at Lucketts Store (insert floating hearts here! Love that store!). The paint is on sale there for 30% off so if I'm going to try it now's the time! I got a box of the Graphite and then a sample of the Lucketts Green and Linen. I decided to use the Linen (off white) and then I can use it as a coffee table in either my living room OR my sitting room. I'll figure that out after I'm done!

Milk Paint comes in powder form and then you mix it yourself with warm water. I mixed up the paint. No big deal. Not scary at ALL! Then I put on the first coat. Awesome. Looks fine. Very messy but fine.

I then proceeded to wait the suggested hour for that coat to dry. I came back and checked it out. It was looking great! Chipping just a little JUST like I wanted it to. Who said this stuff is unpredictable? Ha. So then I walked over to the OTHER side. OMG. It was completely bubbley and chippy. The WHOLE side. Just one side. I touched it and the whole side of paint literally fell off the table. Just fluttered off like a bunch of feathers to the floor. ARGH! Now what. Google... More google...

The picture above is the side that "fell" off. See. At first it was just chipping along nicely.
I did not take a picture of the after. I was so freaked out that it just fell off that I lost my composure.

So off to The Empty Nest in Warrenton to chat with paint expert Janet. I'll just let you know what happens!!!

On to nicer things!

At least I had one success today! I decided to try baby back ribs in the crockpot. Helloooo! Now THAT worked out perfectly! I got two racks of pork ribs. Cut them with my kitchen scissors into 3 bone portions. I sprayed a little no stick spray in the bottom of the crock pot (not sure why. I won't next time). I placed the ribs standing around the perimeter of the pot, meat side out. I used about a half a bottle of barbecue sauce and let it cook on high for 5 hours. Then I took out the ribs and laid them on a foil lined pan and broiled them for about 5 minutes. I slathered on more sauce after that. And served. They were SO yummy! They literally fell of the bone. So moist and a ton of flavor.
I cannot believe I have not done this before!

This is how they just fell off the bone! Yummers!!!