Painted Books



As a CeCe Caldwell's Paints retailer, I had the idea to demonstrate how almost anything can be painted with our paints.  So, when I stumbled across these old books from the 1940s and 1950s I knew what I wanted to do.    The books were only $.50 each and while I hesitated at first to paint the books, I knew I wouldn't be destroying them but perhaps actually keeping them from being destroyed.

 

 

 

The covers of these books were a type of fabric so I was anxious to see how they would turn out.  I placed a screwdriver under each end of one of the covers to hold it up off of the pages underneath while painting.  With a sponge brush I painted one cover and the spine with a coat of CeCe Caldwell's Vermont Slate.  When it dried, I turned it over and painted the back cover.  I did this for each of the three books. 

 

 

When the books dried completely, I played around a little with how I wanted to arrange the books.  Having a smaller one to put on the top would help make a more interesting display.  I stenciled the chosen designs on the books using CeCe Caldwell's Vintage White, keeping the arrangement of the books in mind so the stencil designs would show.  When the stenciled designs dried, I very lightly sanded them to give a more vintage appearance.

 

After binding them together with a little twine and adding an old skeleton key, the books were ready to be placed in my space at Old South Antique Mall.

 

I love how they turned out and can't wait to make some more - and hopefully make  a set for me to keep as well!

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Sweet Little Graphite Nightstand

I found this adorable little nightstand at a garage sale and immediately fell in love with it.  It's at least half the size of today's nightstands (I think this one is vintage 1940s or 1950s from days when bedrooms were a lot smaller).  

Although the wood was in good condition, the original varnished finish wasn't, as over the years it had become dry and cracked in some areas.

With chalk paint, sanding and other preparation usually isn't necessary.  But in this case, I knew I was going to have to sand a little to get the smooth finish I wanted.  So, I used my electric hand sander to smooth out the rough spots before applying two coats of Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in Graphite.

 I knew I wanted to do something to make this little nightstand special so I painted the drawer with two coats of Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in Old White.  After it dried completely, I stenciled a design on the drawer by stippling on paint in Graphite.

 Annie Sloan clear soft wax was brushed on and the excess was wiped off.  Buffing brought the finish to a nice sheen.

This night stand is now at my space at Old South.

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From Ugly Duckling to Beautiful Swan

 

These are the kind of projects I just love from beginning to end!  I spotted this little spindly legged table and thought it might have great potential, but it was looking a little like an ugly duckling!  The legs were good but someone had nailed a painted wooden circle onto the top.  I took a chance and hauled it home with me.

 

 

After I pulled off the added on top, I found it was actually a piece of old panelling that had been added for who knows what reason!  I was excited to see the original top underneath was in pretty good shape except for little nail holes where the panelling had been nailed. 

 

 

 

I filled in the nail holes with wood filler and lightly sanded the top.  After two coats of Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in Paris Gray, I felt the table still looked a little plain and wasn't living up to its full potential (sorry, but in my enthusiasm I forgot to get a photo after the coats of paint).  I remembered I had picked up an inexpensive stencil on impulse awhile back and thought it would work perfectly.  I decided to just stencil across the center instead of over the entire top to keep the pattern from looking too "busy".  The stencil I used is the Jacobean Floral pattern made by DecoArt and I used Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in Old White.

 



 

After the stencil paint dried, I very lightly sanded the design to smooth out any texture created by the stencil paint.  I applied a coat of clear wax and then used fine sand paper to slightly distress around the edges.

 



 

 

 After applying more clear wax over the distressed areas and buffing to a soft sheen, the ugly duckling was turned into a beautiful swan!

 

 

 I'm going to have a hard time letting this one go!