Vintage Table in Miss Mustard Seed's Milk Paint - Typewriter

What an exciting week in our household as we sent our second son, along with his dad off to San Francisco for the week. If you missed the news on my facebook page, our 15 year old won a scholarship ticket to Apple's World Wide Developer Conference which 5,000 delegates attend each year. Tickets to this year's event sold out in less than 2 minutes!! That's crazy!

So needless to say he is over the moon excited to be one of 150 students all over the world who submitted an iphone app design and won the chance to attend this amazing techno event! So proud.

Meanwhile, while Marty is away spending quality father/son time, I thought I'd tackle a few more projects for his recording studio that I posted about recently (view post HERE).

Introducing this cute vintage table I picked up who knows where. I can't remember.

Marty had grabbed it from my stash of "to do" stuff in my storage area (which is really part of his recording studio anyway, so I guess I'll give him that). He needed a little table this size for another computer he needed to set up in the room and so there it sat in the corner of his room for some time.

This week, I brought it out for sanding back to get rid of that varnish (I think it was shellac) from the top. I also roughened up the sides and legs ready for some MMS Milk Paint. I wanted it to stick well.

I used a walnut stain varnish for the top of the desk and painted the bottom with Miss Mustard Seed's Milk Paint in the colour, Typewriter. I didn't use the bonding agent on this piece, but I knew that it would adhere well as I'd sanded back where I was going to paint.

I then sanded back to reveal some of the underneath wood. Sanding this colour always looks a bit scary at first almost chalkboard-like and streaky. But the wax works wonders.

Here's a closer look at the top.

And here she is all dressed up ready to go out somewhere nice - hehehe.

Ahh, she almost looks too pretty to put back in the studio...

If you like this gorgeous antique canning labels, by the way, I am selling them on my Etsy store. They are reproductions of labels that came from my great-great-grandfather's Canning Shed/Farm.

(You can read about that HERE).

See, the MMS Furniture Wax gives it a nice protective coat and smooth polished finish.

And that little green tray is painted in MMS Luckett's Green. You can see my video tutorial on how much I painted with just two tablespoons of milk paint HERE.

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Have a great week everyone! Happy Painting!


This post was linked up to the following Link Parties:

Start at Home Paint Party
Miss Mustard Seed's Furniture Feature Friday

Annie Sloan Chalk Paint Workshop and My Boring Little Brown Table!

Yay! After experimenting with DIY Chalk Paint recipes over the last couple of years and then receiving my first can of Annie Sloan's Chalk Paint last month, I booked in to my first Annie Sloan Chalk Paint (ASCP) workshop. Mainly because I wanted to be reassured that I was using Annie's paint correctly - not that it is at all difficult to use, mind you - but especially when it comes to waxing and using the dark wax, I needed to know I was on the right track!

Introducing ... Paint Me White! Sandy is currently Queensland's only stockist of ASCP and runs workshops from her gorgeous shop in Mudgeeraba, just off the M1 on the Gold Coast. 

You can find out more details on her workshops by clicking the picture below to head over to the Paint Me White website.

ASCP comes in a vast array of colours, and Sandy has little sample boards painted for easy selection. Colours can be mixed and matched, creating even more colour options.

Workshops are a great size class of around 6-8 people, a perfect learning environment where you can ask questions as you go and receive one on one instruction as Sandy moves about the class.

At this workshop, Sandy introduced a few basic techniques of painting with ASCP...

... and we each were given our own sample board to work on.

Sandy teaches how to use the clear wax (an essential part of painting with ASCP for a smooth, sealed, professional looking finish).

And the trick to using dark wax for an authentic looking antique finish.

How to sand gently to roughen those edges or give a shabby finish to decorative artwork.

THEN came the fun part where we painted our special piece of furniture that we each brought along.

There were some lovely pieces being transformed - cute little ladder and a beautiful little boat shelf ...

... this gorgeous antique high chair ...

... and this adorable vintage suitcase and French serving tray ...

... and then there was ME - with my boring little brown table - LOL!! 

It was the only thing I had in my stash of furniture bits and pieces at home that I could fit "under my arm" to bring along. But undeterred, and with some helpful hints from Sandy's assistant, Ange, I began transforming this dull little table into a lovely French piece of art!

I started with the colour "Old White" ...

... then added 2 coats of "Graphite".

Added a stencil ...

... Lovely!

Here she is before distressing ...

Graphite always looks a bit scary after sanding/distressing, almost like a chalkboard. But the edges sanded back, reveal the Old White colour underneath.

And that's when the waxing comes in, creating a lovely polished and smooth surface...

There you have it! Workshop complete - 4 hours of fun with some great ladies who also had a passion for painting furniture. Throw in a cuppa and some lovely slice (yay to Sandy's friends who she must've bribed to make those delicious slices!) and you have a morning well spent!

For more on Annie Sloan's Chalk Paint, click HERE.

You can also view my video tutorial on my very first time using Annie's Chalk paint here:

I took some lovely pictures of Sandy's Paint Me White shop, but will save them for another time ... you will drool over her gorgeous furniture!

MMS (Miss Mustard Seed) Ironstone Milk Paint Antique Dining Chair - Open Doors Project

Remember this antique chair from my stash of goodies from Open Doors Australia?

(See blog post HERE)

It was one of my favourite things to start working on, so lets take a look:

I chose for this project, one of Miss Mustard Seed's Milk Paint colours, "Ironstone".

You can purchase her Milk Paint HERE.

Mixing a sample size pack of the Milk Paint powder with water is quite easy using a mason jar or any clean jar with a screw top lid.

(See my video HERE for a super easy method)

I used 3 coats on this chair. I would normally use two, but this really old chair was quite porous in some areas and seemed to soak up the paint very quickly. I could have used a little less water to make it a thicker consistency for better coverage. I do like the way it began to crackle on the back of the chair (below) after the third coat. If you have used Milk Paint before, you'll know that it can be quite random in its ability to chip and flake for an authentic aged look. (To avoid this you can use the bonding agent from MMS Milk Paint range) 

The legs were quite rough and chipped, but the 3 photos below show you the different stages of getting the antique look:

1. Painted with 2-3 coats of milk paint.

2. (Left) sanded slightly for wearing effect.   3. (Right) added dark wax to crevices and edges.

And here is the finished look complete with her new french toile fabric (from Spotlight) on the seat.

Once again, I LOVE the way this back has crackled. I added some dark wax to the details here too for an authentic aged patina.

I hope you're enjoying my blog. Don't forget to subscribe (below or to the right) to get email updates.

Have you tried Milk Paint yet? I'd love to hear about some of your projects and how it worked for you.
Leave a comment below.

This lovely piece will be for sale on my FACEBOOK page and ebay if you'd like to purchase it (local pick up Brisbane/Logan area). Proceeds from all my "Open Doors" project pieces will go directly to Open Doors Australia.

Happy Painting!

Open Doors Australia Project - Restoring One Piece at a Time with MMS Milk Paint

Remember my post last week about the media conference I went to and came home with furniture?
If not, you can catch up with that post HERE.

Well, I have started posting a few of the items I have refurbished for the charity organisation, Open Doors Australia, on my Facebook page and on Ebay.

There was this old vintage picture frame:

I removed the glass, painted the back board with chalk board paint, and gave the frame a couple of coats of Miss Mustard Seed's Milk Paint (Tricycle Red).

Then there's this lovely old suitcase, which my husband has his eye on for his Recording Studio Makeover (if you missed that post, click here)

This little lamp also got a makeover in MMS Tricycle Red:

After:

BUT ... what I'm most excited about is this chair!!

It was so sad and beat up and some of the scratches and dings on it really looked like there was no hope for this old girl.

Stay tuned to see what happens with a lick of MMS Ironstone coloured Milk Paint and some lovely new French Fabric.

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