chalk paint – A Diamond in the Stuff

DIY Candy Corn Mason Jars

Courtney Carmean — Wed, 01 Oct 2014 11:00:41 +0000

Can you believe October is here? I know I can’t. I had a minor freak out when I realized I had done nothing to prepare for Halloween….no costumes purchased, no decorations out, nada. So after a quick trip to the online costume shop I decided to whip up some super cute DIY Candy Corn Mason Jars.

I started out with some regular pint mason jars.

Then I used some white chalk paint to paint the entire jars. It took a couple coats for good coverage.

I searched my local craft stores for a good yellow and orange chalk paint but I couldn’t find anything I liked, so I just grabbed some regular ole craft paint. I used frog tape to tape off my lines, I’m horrible at free handing straight lines.

After I had all the paint on there and dried, I distressed the mason jars. I used a sanding block and focused on the raised spots on the jars. I also added a clear coat to protect the paint.

These Candy Corn Mason Jars turned out so stinkin cute!!! I’m going to fill them up with some Halloween candy and give them as teacher gifts.

I’m a sucker for a good mason jar project! What mason jar projects have you fallen in love with???

Linking up to these great link parties!!!

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If you’re looking for another awesome painted mason jar project, check out these Flag Mason Jars {and tutorial}…..

Vintage Drop Leaf Kitchen Table

Courtney Carmean — Tue, 25 Mar 2014 12:00:39 +0000

Since making the move to Louisiana I haven’t been finding the treasures like I thought I would be. Everyone told me I would be finding lots of awesome junking treasures in the South, but it’s been slim pickins thus far. I have a feeling part of that is because I don’t know where to look. I have slowly been checking out thrift stores and looking around for those hidden gems. If I have any readers from the Shreveport area and know of places I should check out, let me know!

Well anyways, a couple weeks ago I did score this awesome old drop leaf kitchen table. It only has one leaf though. It’s pretty old and I can tell that it’s been around awhile. The other leaf is just gone, but I still think it is an amazing table.

The table was pretty wobbly which was an easy fix, just a little tightening of the legs. It also needed a major scrubbing. I think this table must of been shoved in some barn somewhere and forgotten for years.

Of course I painted the vintage table! I used some Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in Old White for a creamy white makeover. I wanted to work with the shabby look of the table so of course I distressed the table with some sandpaper.

I decided to try some Polycrylic on my drop leaf table. I haven’t used it with the Annie Sloan paint but I wanted to give it a try. It worked really well, it did yellow the paint just a bit but it almost adds to the old feel of the table! I’ll just keep that in mind in the future!

The table turned out so cute! It would be such an adorable breakfast nook table or a little entryway table.

Well that’s it for today! I hope you enjoyed the transformation of my Vintage Drop Leaf Kitchen Table!

Linking up to these great link parties!!!

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Last week I shared the Nautical Pallet Flags that I made for the Joann Fabric and Craft Stores® National Craft Month campaign. Come check them out and I’ve included my tutorial for how I made these!

Shabby White Dresser {With Chalk Paint}

Courtney Carmean — Fri, 06 Jul 2012 07:00:00 +0000

About 4 months ago I spotted this lovely little dresser for sale on an online selling page. It was obviously needing some attention. There wasn’t a knob to be found on it, the two front legs are missing their wheels, and the wood is full of blemishes. So I decided to turn this sad and drab dresser into a Shabby White Dresser.

I had such success with my first attempt at DIY Chalk Paint that I decided to give it another try.

I didn’t sand or prime a thing, just gave the whole dresser 2 coats of the chalk paint.

I did a slight distressing on all the edges and high points. That’s one thing I love about the chalk paint, it’s so easy to distress!!! Once everything had properly dried I use Minwax Finishing Paste as a topcoat and buffed it to a nice sheen.

The dresser obviously needed some new knobs, seeing as it’s super hard to open drawers without them. I got these black ceramic knobs from Hobby Lobby.

My love for old furniture only seems to be growing by the day, especially when I get done with a piece like this. It still has it’s blemishes that tell a story of a few previous lives but it now has a whole new life!!!

This lovely little dresser is now for sale and it will be headed to my booth soon. I hope you all have enjoyed my little Shabby White Dresser makeover and I hope you all have a fantastic weekend!!!

Linking up to these great link parties!!!

Shabby Secretary Desk & DIY Chalk Paint

Courtney Carmean — Wed, 23 May 2012 07:00:00 +0000

You all may remember this lovely little secretary desk that I found at a thrift store. I showed if off a couple weeks ago in a Thrifty Thursday post. I was really anxious to tackle this cute little desk and to be honest I was really anxious to tackle a new paint method (ok, not really NEW but new to me).

This is how the desk started out. Great bones, great style, just needed a little TLC. I have been wanting to try out some DIY Chalk Paint. It seemed easy enough, but I was still hesitant that it would really be as great as it seemed.

DIY Chalk Paint Recipe:

1 Cup of flat paint

1 Tbsp of non-sanded grout

*I also add just a splash of water to help with thickness and chunks in the paint.

That’s it.

I mixed up the paint and grout in a plastic bowl and got to paint’n. It took two coats for proper coverage, but not having to sand or primer the desk was totally worth it! The chalk paint dried pretty quickly so I needed to work fairly fast. I was worried about brush strokes, but once it all dried they were hardly noticeable.

Once my two coats of chalk paint were dry it was time to a top coat. I haven’t heard a lot of people talk about the top coats that they used on chalk paint, so I decided to talk about what I used. I decided on Minwax’s Paste Finishing Wax. I just lathered on a good layer of the wax and then buffed it out once it was dry.

Here she is all dolled up. I choose an off white color for my flat paint that I purchased at Home Depot.

Before I added the Minwax I did a bit of distressing. I grabbed some gritty sandpaper and started hitting all of the edges. There is little that makes me as happy as a distressed white piece of furniture.

I think secretary desks are so fun! I love that you can have a work space easily available and then it can all be hidden away. I’m not a big fan of clutter! Not to mention all those great drawers for storage.

Luckily this piece had all of it’s hardware and it was all intact. I just cleaned it all up a bit. I decided not to paint it because I liked how the brass drawer pulls looked against the white paint and next to the distressing.

I simply love how my shabby secretary desk turned out. It is such a beautiful and lovely piece, but I love it’s casual feel!

Linking up to these great link parties!!!