Shabby Coat Hook How Too

Another quick step by step today. Our move is getting closer and closer and working on smalls is about as much as I can do at the moment. 

 I picked up these lovely coat hooks a little while ago and thought it was about time I did something with them. 

 Here is what you will need.

Decoart chalk finish paint and varnish

Coat hooks. 

Off cut of wood. 

Electric sander (not essential but makes life easier). 

Decoart chalk finish stencil. 

Brushes. 

To start with I painted the board with Decoarts chalk finish paint in Escape. 

Once dry I painted over the top with Decoarts Lehacy. 

Once dry a quick sand starting with a medium grade sand paper and working down to a fine grade paper to leave a beautifully smooth surface. 

Once you are satisfied with your level of distress. You want to find a happy medium of bar wood and both colours coming through. It's time to add the stencilling. Take some time to make sure the stencil is straght and I find it best to tape it down. This helps keep it in lace and helps stops the paint from getting under the stencil. I use a stencil brush and stipple the paint. This gives the paint some texture. When dry take a fine grade piece of sand paper and gently sand back to smooth out and distress the design. I used Decoarts Enchanted for my stencilling. 

Finish off with a couple of coats of varnish. I used the satin varnish to give a nice soft sheen. 

Measur and mark where you want the hooks and attach them to the board. 

Thanks for stopping by xx

A Candle Stick Make Over Decoart Chalk Paints And Mixed Media Fluid Acrylics Step By Step Ageing

Afternoon all, I hope you are keeping well. With today's post I have done my usual stupid thing of not taking a before pic so I have improvised and found a picture that shows roughly the colour and finish of this wooden candle stick holder that I picked up in a charity shop, It was originally from Debenhams.

Ok, not the same but mine was the same dark brown colour and this is just to give you an idea of where I started ;)

Step one.

 The candle stick was given a good clean, with the Decoart Chalk Finish Paints you just need to make sure the surface is clean, the only sanding or prep work you would need to do is if the surface is flaky and lose.

Once clean I gave it two coats of Yesteryear to get a nice solid finish, The first coat can sometimes be thin and streaky especially if the surface is a high gloss, don't worry the first coat goes on and once dry gives the surface some tooth ready for the second coat.

A coat of Decoart's clear wax was then applied to seal the surface.Decoart's wax is a cream wax and non solvent based unlike many other chalk paint manufacturers so you can use it indoors with out getting headaches.

Step 2

I wanted a more aged look to my candle stick and using the Dark Wax from Decoart is the easiest way.If you want to use the darker waxes it is important to put a layer of clear wax on first other wise the dark wax can cause staining to the paint.I work fairly quickly with the dark waxes and I don't worry to much about brush strokes and direction, just make sure it is applied in all the low and hard to reach spots as this is where dirt will naturally collect over time.

Have some kitchen towel handy, with a piece this size by the time you get to the bottom with the dark wax you can start wiping it away. Keep removing the wax till you get the look you desire, If you take to much off you can simply apply more and repeat.

Let the wax dry thoroughly and to get a nice sheen to the finish buff with a clean colour free cloth.

Step 3.

I wanted a to take my ageing a step further and using the Decoart Media Fluids Carbon Black and Quinacridone Gold I added a couple of colour washes. The Media fluids are an artist quality pure pigment paint, no filler or bulking agents of any kind, this means they hold their colour even when heavily diluted, making them perfect for colour washes amongst many other mixed media and artistic ventures. You can find more projects with the media line on my other blog Speshink.

Thanks as always  for stopping by, your support is very much appreciated. xxx

Hand Made Custom Shabby Wedding Sign Step By Step

Thanks for stopping by, I have a simple hand made sign step by step to share today.

I made this sign for one of my better halves best friends who is getting married next month.

The sign was built from wood scraps I had lying around, Decoart Chalk Finish Paints and a Custom Designed Stencil I got made by Lisa from That Craft Place.

Here is what you will need.

Decoart Chalk Paints..
I used Relic and Refreshing.

Decoart's Ultra Matte varnish.

Stencil.

Wood off cuts,  4" x 1" and 6" x 1" Tile Baton.

Electric Sander..
 I have a black and decker mouse.
Medium grade sand paper and Fine grade sand paper

Small Nails and a punch.

Cut your planks and tile baton to size to size. My sign is roughly A3 sized.

Lay the tile baton out to create the back supports and nail the planks to the batons.Use the nail punch to punch the nails below the surface of the wood, this will stop the Sander from catching the nails and leave a nicer finish.

I used Decoart's Relic for the base coat. Once dry sand back with a medium grade sand paper till you reach the level of distress you require.

 I used Refreshing for my second colour, painted over everything and once dry sanded back using a medium grade sand paper again keep going till you reach the level of distress you require. Finish of with a light sanding with fine grade sand paper, this will give you a really nice smooth finish.

I used stencil tape to keep my stencil in place and a stencil brush to apply Relic. Using the dark grey tied in with my base colour and is a little less stark than Black.

I stipple with my brush and this leaves the paint quite textured, a very light rubbing with some sand paper by hand will smooth this down and I like to scuff the words up a little to help add to the aged look.

The sign was finished of by applying 3 coats of Ultra Matte varnish.

Now with the popularity of shabby signs popping up pretty much everywhere with absolutely crazy prices you can make your own for a fraction of the cost and have it tailor made with your colour choice and whatever phrase you require, Its also a nice solid piece, no cheap mdf or laser printed piece of rubbish.

Thanks for stopping by. x

Winter Blues

Ok, now the title may be a little more melancholy than the table deserves ;)

I have another Pie Crust table charity shop find and wanted to try something a little different so I went for shades of blue in the Decoart Chalk Paint range.

Now if you are new to these paints, they are a great,easy to use, clean chalk finish paints. There is no need to sand down the surface or any other prep work just make sure it is clean from dirt and there are no loose or flaky bits of varnish etc.

After the table had been dusted down I gave it two coats of Legacy, this is the darkest blue in the range at the moment, the table was then sanded back with my little electric sander to get back to the varnished wood.

The table was dusted down and two coats of Escape were added, this is the next shade of blue up in the range. Once dry this was also sanded back revealing both the darker blue and the varnished wood underneath.

For durability and to help bring out the colours even more the table was given two coats of Decoarts Satin Varnish.

The pictures don't quite do the table justice, the blues are almost electric and I am really pleased with how it turned out.

Thanks for stopping by. xxxx

Le Table Noir ;)

So how is everyone doing? Now I know things have been a little on the quiet side recently but I have a good reason honest, We are about to buy our first house and things have been manic on that front, I was also kept very busy last month prepping for the hand made fair at Hampton Court.

More on the event to follow latter but a big thank you to all who made it out, the Decoart Chalk paint and stencils went down an absolute storm and I was kept busy demoing for the 3 days non stop.

Now talking about the stencils I have used two of the Decoart stencils for my little pie crust coffee table.

The distressed harlequin and the Cafe Paris stencil.

It seems that plain black seems to be trending at the moment for the shabby chic'ers and I am not upset about that being a fan of all things gothic so I thought I would give my take on the colour scheme using the Carbon black as my base and my stencilled details with Relic.

The table started of like this.

A totally ordinary charity shop find, very uninspiring and ugly looking plain table.

The table has been finished with a couple of coats of Decoarts clear wax. This really brings the colours to life with an almost wet look as well as a beautifully tactile finish that is very durable.

Thanks for stopping by. Ill be sharing a few of my samples from the Hand Made Fair in the next few days. xx Hopefully you will  stop by again.

Heavy Distressed Pie Crust Table Step By Step And The Hand Made Fair

Thanks for stopping by,Mark here and  I'm sharing a quick Step by Step for this heavily distressed Pie Crust table accented with numbers from De Stempelwinkel.

You will need:

A table, this came from my local Red Cross, Decoart Chalk Finish paints, Romance,Carbon and Delicate, Decoart Soft Touch Varnish and a small electric sander and some stamps.

With the Decoart chalk paints there is no need to prime or strip the surface you are going to work on unless it is lose or flaky. In my case the old wax's or varnishes on this table were lose and very built up.

Using the electric sander I took the worst of it off to leave a nice smooth surface.

I wanted as nice strong red for my base so two coats of Romance were applied and once dry the electric sander came back out.

One thin coat of Delicate was applied and then some more sanding back.

I wanted to add a little detail to the top of the table. I used my number stamps from De Stempelwinkel and stamped with the Carbon Chalk Paint.

 

The chalk paint gives a brilliant impression, spread out a thin layer of paint onto your craft mat. When stamping with numbers or letters I like to use an acrylic block with a grid on it to help keep things straight.

I also used some stencil tape to give me a straight line to stamp up to.

A little sanding back once dry just to take the starkness away.

A couple of coats of soft touch varnish from the chalk paint line gives the table a lovely soft finish that is very durable.

One piece down lots more to paint so I can be ready for the Hand Made Fair On the 19,20,21 September.

I will be there with Andy Skinner on behalf of Decoart, We will have the Chalk Paints available to buy along with the stencils and brushes, I will be demonstrating with the paints and I will also have lots of pieces of furniture available for ideas.

If you make it to the show please come and say hi, it would be great to see you..

xxx.

A Little Pine Coffee Table and a Sporty Little Number

Thank you for stopping by, I have a little Pine Coffee table that I have given some new life.

I picked the table up at my local Red Cross charity shop and it was just a plain pine table that looked a little sad and old(but not in the good way)

This was a very simple little revamp, The legs and shelf were given a couple of coats of Decoarts chalk finish paint in Whisper, The top of the table was sanded back with my electric sander to get rid of any marks and the horrible golden varnish.I started with a coarse grade paper and finished of with a fine grade to get a nice smooth finish. To protect and seal everything I used the Decoart Ultra Matte varnish from the chalk finish line.This has left the wood looking lovely and pale and fresh.

The second table was also picked up in the Red Cross shop and I was inspired by a couple of stools I found on the Decoart site made by Tanya, you can find her blog HERE.

I went for another clean look rather than the distressed style of shabby chic, I used Decoarts Chalk Finish in Escape, I really love this colour now that I have used it, I applied a couple of coats of Escape and using Stencil tape I masked of my lines and painted using Lace for the stripes.

Using the Number stencil from the Chalk line I stencilled the number in Relic and finished of by coating with the Soft Satin varnish.

Thanks as always for stopping by. xxx