My Big News!

From the time I started my hunt for finding and painting mostly vintage treasures last year, I knew I would want to open a vintage, shabby chic style business.  The solution for me was opening a space at Old South Antique Mall.  That was just over three months ago and what a fast, furious and fun time it has been!  I also had another dream that I've been working on almost from the very beginning.  I've had to drive at least an hour and a half to get chalk paint for my projects. (Yeah, I wanted it bad!)  I also knew most people wouldn't bother to drive that far and that they would really be missing out on the fun. 

So, I started researching different paints and paint companies.  I eventually discovered CeCe Caldwell's Clay and Chalk Paint.  All products are made in the USA and the paints are "Naturally Green in the Color of your Choice".  The products can be used by anyone - those with respiratory problems, chemical sensitivities, pregnant women, even children!  The paints have no Volatile Organic Compounds, are non-toxic and have no odor. The paint contains NO acrylic co-polymers, solvents, formaldehyde, ammonia, ethylene glycol or toxic heavy metals.  The paints are made from clay, porcelain clay and chalk bended into a water based solution and the waxes are made from insect and plant sources.  And the paint and waxes are even packaged in recycled plastic containers.  With super adhesion, most surfaces require no priming or sanding before painting.  Just clean the project and start painting!  It's easy for both beginners and experienced painters!

Drum roll, please ...................... I am very happy and excited to announce that I am now a CeCe Caldwell's retailer!  My first shipment should arrive and be on my shelves at Old South in about ten days.  I'll also be holding painting workshops for teaching paint techniques as well as holding "bring your own piece" workshops in the very near future.  When everything is complete, I'll also have the paints available for ordering online.

There are some more smaller changes coming to my retail location that I'll share with you soon, but the paint and workshops are the biggies!  I'm looking forward to providing this wonderful paint and can't wait to start holding painting workshops. 

CeCe Caldwell's Paint is only about a year old and the company is growing at an unbelievable rate with new retailers being added across the country daily.  I'm excited to be a part of the CeCe family and look forward to sharing it with you.  If you'd like to learn more about this wonderful paint and finishes, please go HERE. 

Excitement Ahead!

You know how several times I've mentioned big things happening in the future for Shabby But Chic? Well, the future is NOW! For those of you who know me personally, try to picture me doing the Happy Dance. (Not a pretty thought, is it?)  In the next day or so I'll give you all the great, exciting details of what I've been working on. 

Give It A Chance!

Recently I was in one of my favorite thrift stores when I spotted this pitiful little table.

It had a cute, basic design but had been through bad times! The legs are made of  real wood but the top was made out of "fake" or manufactured wood.  Previous owners had apparently set glasses on the top without using coasters and the top had bubbled up because of the moisture. 

I walked by the table a couple of times but finally decided to give it a chance!  I hauled it home and a couple of days later pulled out my electric hand sander and worked on trying to smooth out the top.  I had never tried to sand down manufactured wood before/ but because I only paid a few dollars for the table, I knew I didn't have much to lose even if it didn't work out.

I sanded until smooth and paid special attention to the bubbled up areas to make sure they got smoothed down as much as possible.  I sanded the entire top to make sure the surface was even.

I painted the entire table with two coats of ASCP in French Linen and painted the hardware with a light coat of ASCP Old White.  After applying a coat of clear wax to both the table and the hardware it was buffed to a nice sheen.

 

 I placed the table in my space at Old South and it sold within two days!  Proof that sometimes things turn out better than you could have imagined if you just give them a chance.

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Making A Chalkboard Tray

There are lots of good things being planned for Shabby But Chic that are taking up lots of my time but I wanted to share this simple, fast project with you.  Thrift shops, yard sales and flea markets are a great source for "silver" trays.  

I found this one at a thrift store for 1/2 price for only $2.00!  It's a great size, is heavy and has built in handles.  However, you can use oval ones and round ones.  Unless you use a stand, you're going to need a way to to hang these trays.  So, instead of using ones with handles, you can find ones with little open spaces or holes made into the design around the edge of the tray.  

I usually prefer to use chalkboard paint in a spray can.  But on the day I decided to work on this project, it was cold and rainy outside so I chose to apply the chalkboard paint with a brush.  It's easy to decide what part needs to be painted and you can use painter's tape to mask off the outside border of the chalkboard paint area.  Just take care when removing to the tape to prevent the paint from being pulled off.  Or you can do what I did on this one and use a small flat paintbrush to freehand the outside edge before filling in the rest of the tray.  Coat the entire area well and let dry completely.

Apply another coat of paint (or two, if needed).  I cut a length of burlap ribbon with finished edges and tied each end to the built in handles.  Next, I took two smaller pieces of ribbon and tied simple bows onto the handles to hid the knots from the hanger burlap.

Freshly painted chalkboard paint needs to be "seasoned:" before using.  To do this, take the side of a piece of chalk and completely cover the surface as in the above picture.  Then wipe well with a cloth to remove the chalk.  Another tip for writing on chalkboards is to wet your chalk before using.  The chalk writing will be extremely light but will darken as it dries and you will have nice, crisp lettering.

These trays can be used for menus, memo boards and message boards and for writing sayings of your choice.   Check your china cabinet for forgotten trays or pick up one at a thrift store or yard sale and see how easy it is to transform and repurpose it.

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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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Slowly Getting Back Into The Swing of Things

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas with family and friends.  I know I did but it's so hard to get back into a more normal routine without the shopping, decorating, planning and cooking.  It's seems like forever since I've done any painting so I'm proud I've at least completed a few new small projects.  I've got to get busy and restock my space at Old South!

You know how I'm always encouraging you to keep your eyes open for things that might not work in their present condition but with a little paint and/or attention can be turned into something unique?  Well, that's what the object in today's post is. 

I love painting candlesticks/candle holders but unique ones can be hard to find.  They are some of the things I always look for in thrift stores, yard sales, etc.  So, I was really happy when I found this large one.

It's unglazed ceramic or plaster but the gold color needed updating and it just wasn't working for me.  So I pulled out some paint that's a favorite of mine that I haven't used lately - Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in Provence.  I brushed on one light to medium coat, allowing some of the gold color to show through.

I didn't want a lot of distressing but I did want some, so I lightly rubbed a damp cloth in the areas I wanted distressed.

I finished by brushing on clear wax, wiping off the excess and then buffing to a shine.  I love the way it turned out and I will be taking it to my space at Old South real soon.

O Holy Night Mantel

The shopping, cleaning and wrapping are done.  The cooking has been started and Christmas is almost here!  So, as promised, I'll share the remainder of the decorating I did with the thrift store finds I shared with you HERE along with some other things I found along the way.

For the past several years, I've used mini lights and other glittery things for decorating my mantel.  This year I decided I wanted to go with something less glitzy and use things to represent the real reason for our Christmas celebrations. 

The beauitful porcelain nativity set was found back in the summer.  The pieces are from the 1984 Avon collectibles set.  (I found one piece alone valued at $8.00.  I paid $7.50 for the entire set!).  I've used the wooden nativity for over 25 years and it was the perfect size for my "new" porcelain figures. 

You may remember these candlesticks from my fall mantel.

Well, they look a little different now.  You see, I accidentally knocked two of them over on my ceramic tile floor and they broke!  Luckily the breaks were where sections joined together so I used my trusty E6000 glue and put them back together.  Then I applied two coats of Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in Old White and you can't tell they were ever broken.

This hand crafted wooden angel that I found during my great Christmas treasure find I shared with you earlier was really what guided me to go with the nativity theme.  I knew it needed to go with my nativity scene and my mantel was the perfect spot for her.

And here she is after being painted with Chalk Paint in Pure White.  I tried not to fill in the grooves which gave more definition to the design and I slightly distressed her with sand paper after applying clear wax.

This little silver tree topper was about to find a new purpose.

I broke off the metal spiral that was supposed to go on the top of a tree, ran a piece of clear monofilament line through the top and hung it above the mantel.

The stocking holders started off as heavy but plain brass holders with a flat area on each top.  I picked them up for $1.00 each at one of the thrift shops I frequent.  I didn't like the way the brass stood out in the color scheme so I painted them with a thin coat of Pure White Chalk Paint.  The little trees were picked up at JoAnn Fabrics at 40% off.  The stockings were my only splurge because my old ones just didn't fit in with the rest of the mantel.  But they, too, were on sale for 1/2 price at Hobby Lobby.

I'm fortunate to have two large cedar trees in my yard so I took branches and filled in the bare spots on the mantel.  I had one more idea for a finishing touch but I ran out of time.  Hopefully I can do it next year and I'll share it with you then!  I love the simple, peaceful feel of my mantel and can't wait to fill the stockings with goodies for my family.

Merry Christmas everyone!  Enjoy the time with your family and friends.  Hold them close, make new memories and remember the true meaning of Christmas.

Decorating With My Treasures

For months I had a general idea of how I wanted to revamp my Christmas decorations this year. Well, life kind of got in the way due to personal obligations and opening my space at Old South in mid-October. But I had already bought some glitzy, new mercury glass type ornaments at 40% off back when most people weren't even thinking about Halloween yet. I had planned a mostly silver and off-white color theme with a little burlap thrown in for good measure. Except for the ornaments I had already bought, my decorating scheme got thrown way off. That was due, in part, to the decorations I scored that I shared with you here. Those treasures altered my mantel ideas and the new mantel plan changed a lot of my other plans, too. I'll share my mantel with you on a later post. But, as promised, I'm showing you a few of the ways I used my other thrift store finds. I took these pretty little ornaments

and just displayed them in a simple square glass container.

I have so many of these beautiful vintage style ornaments!

 

I just filled up a variety of containers with the ornaments.

 

                         

This large metal lantern was the reason I was looking for old ornaments in the first place.  It took a lot of ornaments to fill it up!

 

 

 


I love cloches for displays and the base of this tiny glass cloche was covered with green moss before placing a few of the smaller ornaments inside.

 

 

The silver star tree topper fit into the scheme of one of my trees just perfectly!

 

 I only had a few of these beautiful glass hearts but I love how they look on my mercury glass and gold tree.

 

 

 And the beautiful glass ornament with the angel inside found a perfect home in my kitchen on my antique scale.  A few sprigs of boxwood from my yard and a few floral berries were all it took to finish the look.

 

The brass horn swag was looking pretty hopeless in this before picture

 

but a little fluffing up was all it needed before displaying it on the edge of a large picture frame.

 

This items in this vignette didn't come from the big thrift store find I shared with you earlier, but everything except the star did come from thrift stores.  The tin angel candle holder was only $.50, the faux mercury glass candle holder was $1.00 and the silverplate tray was also a dollar. 

 

 

But the big find was the hand crocheted and starched snowflakes that I found back during the summer.  There are sixty snowflakes that were on "half-price" for only $4.00! 

 

These vintage bulbs sitting on vintage books is one of my very favorite decorations.  I think it may be because the bulbs are the kind we had on my Christmas tree when I was growing up.  And all of the items were thrift store finds.  The container and bulbs came to a grand total of $2.00!

 

 

I'll show you what I did with some of the other thrift shop treasures on my next post.   After I finish shopping and wrapping gifts, planning menus, buying groceries, cooking, etc.  Well, I'm sure you know all about that!  And I can't forget restocking and fluffing my space at Old South.  See ya again soon!

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