Spices to Succulents

What to do with an old ugly spice rack & the little jars that sit on it? Some of the jars are missing lids and lids are missing jars. Garbage? Not likely...not when it cost me close to $350.00 over 20 years ago. (yes, my tastes have changed a lot over the years!!)

Again...ignore all the date/time stamps on the pictures. For some reason my camera started doing the date, but it wasn't set right. Realized what was happening too late. It is fixed now. lol

Some of the filthy jars & lids

Ok, first step...paint! Yes, I used home-made chalk paint for this one too. This time I added a blue acrylic paint to give me a bluey-grey tint. I loved it!

 First coat

Finished! I actually didn't distress this when I was finished. It looked so pretty I left it for now. Knowing me, I'll probably change that in the future. And I love how the watermark looks like a design on the top! I will have to get my stencils going on this I think! :)

Ok, back to the spice jars...

First thing I did was clean them up! 

I have been propagating succulents...as leaves and pieces fall off I let them callous over and plant when they start roots. I thought, what a cute way to get them going more!

Some of my cuttings...

So I planted a few of the jars with some of the babies from my collection! They look adorable. I know...no drainage holes...and very small vessels. But for a little while this will look pretty neat in the window in the great room!

I decided to use the lids as holders for 'obelisks' in a few of them. Used bamboo skewers cut to size and sat the lids on top.

I think this is a pretty way to start seedlings! I might have to plant the rest of the jars I have left.

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Me? Finishing Furniture??

Ok, I did it!! I refinished my first piece of furniture! And sorry, it's kinda long for a blog...

When I joined the blog world, I did it to talk about my gardens, tropicals, succulents, pets and chickens. As I got more into it, I discovered the world of doing over furniture and accessories with paint! (I know, it's been around for years, but I'm slow to jump on any bandwagon) Holy cow, I thought, they make it look easy and it turns out amazing!! I have so many pieces of furniture that are antique or just old that could benefit from this! But, up here in Ontario, it is so hard to find the kind of paint used on these projects...Milk Paint or Chalk Paint.

I did find a company that produces Milk Paint in Toronto and supplies a hardware store in Waterdown (about 40 minutes from us). And a hardware store in Waterford, a small town south of us, told me you can find Milk Paint in another small town north of us, St. George. (I live in an area with a lot of small towns!) I have discovered the only place in Ontario that sells Chalk Paint (and it's Annie Sloan Chalk Paint at $45.00 a quart!) is in Bath...which is about 4 1/2 hours from here! BUT, I did read a blog that gave a recipe for making your own!!! Sherry, at No Minimalist Here blogged on how to 'Make Your Own Chalk Paint for $4.oo'! Mind you, that is American dollars, not sure about the difference in price here in Ontario. However, the Plaster of Paris was $6.99 for 2 kg and I used less than 1/4 cup. I used paint I already had around and the MinWax paste finishing wax was $9.99, and I used so little. So I guess you could say it would be about the same in Canadian dollars. :)

Mom & Dad bought me a new bedroom suite when I turned 13. It consisted of a dresser, night stand, desk & chair. For some reason I still carried the dresser & night stand around with us whenever we moved (they always got used for something or other).So, I figured what a perfect piece to experiment with. The Night Stand! (If you saw my post on potting up a piece of furniture, you probably are wondering about my fixation on night stands. lol) It's small, doesn't matter if I mess it up, and if it works...then I have a beautiful new piece of furniture! A piece of furniture that is over 40 years old, very basic, nothing fancy. (Does that make it antique? Does that make me antique???)

 What a mess this table is! Been through a lot of kids...

Jet inspecting the table...and informs me I made a good choice to fix this piece!

Ok, no more boring talk, time to show you what I've done tried to do. And please Please!! Help me on where I went wrong...because I think I did something wrong somewhere. I think I should have put another coat of paint on? 

 Removing the hardware

See the word 'Hi' beside the knob? Those kids...looks like nail polish! :)

 I know, you don't need to sand when using chalk paint, but I just had to, it was a mess!!

The products I used...

 Plaster of Paris mixed with a little water then added to the paint.

First coat

After the second coat, but I think it needs another coat...looks too unfinished and even though you are suppose to see brush marks, it has way too many! Or at least another coat on the inside of the table.

 Distressed areas...

 Painted the knob...I like it!

 Decor added

So, be honest, please!! What do you think? I suppose it turned out pretty good for my first time trying. Will definitely be doing this again! 
(This was the end of my post...but left it in drafts for over a week!! Just didn't like it...hopefully the edited edition following will be better. But let me know how to improve!! Please?!!)

Ok, I just wasn't happy with the end result, so went back & put another coat on. Of course, that meant I had to distress it again, but I do think it turned out a bit better. (a very little bit...better...maybe?) 

 Still see too much in the way of brush marks. Or is it suppose to look like this? My husband thinks I should use a roller and do another coat...I think it will take away from what I'm trying to do.

So, help me here. I'm a newbie and need all the help I can get! :)


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