C is for...

C is for CHANDY.  As in a chandelier.  Like in a thrifted $20.00 chandelier.  That was ugly.  That is now bee-yoo-ti-ful.


Before in its black wrought iron blah-ness:

Makes me think of hunting lodges and sightless glass-eyed taxidermied deer staring at me.  From all angles.  Or maybe that's just me.

Here's a peek.  

Its got swag.

And swag covers...  That I made myself.  With burlap.  And straight pins.  And Fabric Fusion.  Cuz this girl don't sew.

Course I had to wait 2 hours for it to dry.  

I oughta learn to sew.

CC stands for China Cabinet.  That got torn apart.  As in extreme makeover.  Inside and out.

Wanna peek?

Go ahead...  I ain't gonna stop ya.  ;)

C is for CIGARETTE SMOKE.  As in FOUR BUCKETS of soap and water to clean off YEARS of nasty smoke residue.  That turned said bucket of water into brown muddy run-off.  I don't care about the smoking, but at least be CLEAN.  Seriously.  EW. 

C is for CARING HUSBANDS who do all that techy work for you - like taking off  backs, removing glass, and unscrewing door hinges and knobs - so all ya gotta do is PAINT.

C is also for CURVACEOUSNESS.  As in the curvaceous detailing.  Its a word.  Because the little red underline thingy didn't pop up.  Thingy however, is NOT a word.

C is also for CRAP.  As in, "Crap!  The china cabinet ate all my Annie Sloan Chalk Paint!"   Every.  Last.  Drop.  Knew I should have ordered more than one quart.  :P

C could also be for CRAZY AWESOME, which is how this baby is going to look once she's been sanded and waxed and put together again.

And finally, C is for CIAO - as in see ya later.  With the reveal.  Soon.  I promise.

ASCP Fun... And a coffee table makeover.

For the rockin' peeps that follow moi on Facebook, you know that on Friday I posted this picture:

I received my very first delivery of ASCP product.  I can't tell you how long I have hemmed and hawed over spending that kind of money, but finally I just did it.  And I am sooooo glad I did.  :)

At first, I was super scared to use it.  I stared at it for a couple of hours and googled the heck out of ASCP technique.  I should have just bought Mrs. Sloan's book.  Its one thing to waste cheap paint on a screw up.  Its a completely different thing to mess up with really expensive paint.  Know what I'm sayin'?

So, after spending lots of time on the wide world web, I decided I better get to it, so I painted a chandy.  I'm saving that reveal for later.  Gotta hang it.  ;)  (I'm such a TEASE.)

Its beautiful, beautiful paint even if it does make a GINORMOUS mess (Think: You need to wear a mask) when you sand it, but my, oh my...  It feels like silk.  Butter.  Cashmere.  Oh, so very soft.  And I also noticed my hands weren't as dried out as they are when I use latex paint.  I'm not sure I can ever go back to homemade, unless I simply can't afford the ASCP.

Next, I decided to tackle a coffee table that I've had for about 6 months.

Back in October, I found this barn wood coffee table on Craigslist. Initially, the lady had it listed for thirty dollars, but I kept watch and after a couple of weeks, she dropped it to $15.00.  SOLD!

Now granted, when I saw it online I thought the bottom was black. Nope.  Purple.  Maroon.  Whatever.  It was fugly.  Nothing that paint couldn't fix though.  The barn wood on top was fantastic and the legs, not matching, look like either old table legs or porch posts.  I love that they don't match, although I would have put the matching ones on the diagonal from each other, instead of on the same side.  Scott and I tried to take it apart.  Yeah.  I can say this for the person who made it:  Bomb proof.


I stripped and sanded away at her for a couple of days and finally gave up trying to get that hideous maroon off.  It had pretty much dyed the wood and was in all the crevices.  So, I just left her in the living room and promised she would be the first thing I tackled if I ever bought ASCP.

At Christmas.

So she was.


Anyway...  Blah, blah, blah.


Here she is after.

The top is done with Old White - which for people that have never ordered it, is a little more Cream than I would have liked.  I should have ordered the Pure White.  The bottom is actually Calypso Sky and is an acrylic, that I mixed with the Old White.  It worked beautifully.  All the hype about ASCP lasting forever is true.  I painted the entire base, plus the underneath of the base that you can't see, using about a cup.  No kidding.

No staging for pictures.
The dining room is in progress and all my dining room crap is in the living room  :(

Unfortunately, my little stinker ran his trucks over it (be sure to let the wax cure for twenty four hours MINIMUM), so it scratched up the top a little.  GAH!  I guess it being tucked in the corner of the dining room wasn't a hint.  Oh well, it does make a good road, I guess.  Even if I'm going to have to re-do it.  ARGH.

I pretty much did no distressing on the legs and waxed it (as directed by my beautiful bloggy friends on Facebook) with the light wax first, then the dark, then again with the light.  Worked like a charm.  And that dark wax is going to last me FOR-EVAH.

See, even Lucy Kitty likes it.  :)

Not too shabby for my first use of it.  And with a fifteen dolla (HOLLA!) piece of furniture, it was a great piece to try it out on.  Now, for the big boy...  The china cabinet.  Fingers y'all crossed y'all!


XOXO,