What I did on a blistering hot day

I thought I was building a better stool. Mr. Bad Rabbit thought I was building a death trap. I'm still not sure he's right but I changed my plans anyway.

I had this stool.

Ugly boring stool.

And I had a pouf.

Cute Union Jack pouf.

I thought I'd attach the pouf to the stool, put casters on the legs and have a fun Union Jack stool. That's where Mr. Bad weighed in with the whole 'death trap' thing. He was convinced the stool would go flying out from under whomever tried to sit on it, resulting in a broken tail bone for the poor unfortunate. Huh. Can't say I thought of that. But really? Would that happen?

sigh

I had this other stool. A stumpy version of the first one. It would have to do.

I painted it red and put black caps on the legs. I went back and forth between ivory and red and red won out.

The tips are to protect the hardwood floors I don't have.

I didn't want to attach the pouf permanently to the stool, so glue was out of the question. There were holes in the seat so I thought, hmmmmm, and decided to sew the two together.

I marked where the holes lined up with the pouf with a sharpie
and got going.

I lined everything up and using an upholstery needle and carpet thread I started wishing I had just glued the damn thing.

I went all the way around doing as many passes as I could with each
pair of holes.

I cut the thread long so it wouldn't pull through as I moved around the stool. I actually did that after I pulled my first stitches out and was done cussing.

I pulled all the threads tight after I was done and tied them off.

 I can't trust my knot tying skills so I globbed on some hot glue.

And painted it red so it wouldn't show. You can't see it, right? Because it looks kinda disgusting.

Flip it over, add a bear, and

I have my OSHA approved Union Jack stool!

Linking to:
miss mustard seed
the dedicated house
finding fabulous blog
redoux interiors
savvy southern style

One brown shoe, one green shoe

That's what I wore when I dashed out to an estate sale yesterday morning. I didn't realize it until I kicked my shoes off at home. Whoops!

But who cares? I'm in yard sale heaven!
I'm finding all the things I need for ideas that have been brewing in my brain. And I'm finding all those things that trigger the 'Ooooo, I have to have it' part of my brain, too. I'm learning better self-control. Plus the fact that the house is stuffed. Full. Seriously, something has to go if anything else comes in the door. That funny little mid-century table? It's still floating around, in the way, no place to go.

So here's what I found this past week.

Fun stuff! And more doors!

I grabbed this frame, then saw that the picture looks like where I live, complete with red barn.

I couldn't resist this little dresser. On ebay someone is selling the matching toy hi-boy. It's all I can do to say No, No, No.

Blue mini-trunks? Not for long. They will be white mini-trunks.

I was thrilled to find this old bike to put in the flower bed but my neighbor told me to rethink that idea. She said most old bikes don't have the name brand accessories anymore and my bike is completely intact. She said maybe I shouldn't have it out in the sun. Today I'll be moving yard art around so the bike gets a shady spot.

Awwwww. How sweet.

And finally, a cabinet that might become part of my Miss Mustard Seed display when I get my paint next week.

Yep, you heard it here first!

I'm the new Southern Oregon retailer for the fabulous Miss Mustard Seed Milk Paint.

Yahoo!

Linking to
miss mustard seed
shabby nest
the dedicated house

Experimenting with mixers and Milk Paint

Who doesn't like to experiment? 

My mind is forever thinking 'What would happen if I doooo ..... THIS?' And if you listen closely you could hear Mr. Bad Rabbit yelling 'Noooo! Wait!'

At a yard sale recently, I found three drug store cabinet windows that would look better painted. :-) And today, since I was home alone, I thought I'd experiment with MMS Milk Paint. 

Plus, I had an idea ......

What if I used this mini-mixer I've had for years? It is meant to mix protein drinks but powder is powder, right?

Ready to go

 

First I put down a coat of acrylic paint just to see what would happen when the Milk Paint went over it.

Then I rubbed random spots to see if it affected the crackling Milk Paint is known for. While that dried I mixed my paint.

The tools

Water and paint, ready for the push of the button.

But the mixer was silent. Batteries. Dang! So I unscrewed the bottom ..... wrong bottom, and milky water came spewing out. Milky water everywhere. Well crap. I tightened up the mixer and turned my eyes to ....

My buddy, the milk shake blender.

So, here we go again.

While the blender mixed happily away, I fought (because I had to do it over my head so I wouldn't spill the remaining paint) new batteries into the mixer. But first I had to use a fork to get those old batteries out, but, well, whatever. So I had this thing over my head with paint seeping out while I gouged at it with a fork. And finally, I got the batteries out. Good grief. Then came pounding the new batteries in. Seriously. After all that, I loosened up the paint at the bottom of the mixer and got it going. I let both appliances whirr away for a bit while I cleaned paint off counters and the floor.

The milk shake blender made a foamy paint any barista would be proud of. The little mixer made lumpy paint which wasn't its fault, because:

a) I added too much water after the boo-boo.

b) I had forgotten that water went in first, then powder.
Otherwise you get cement, like I did.
c) I'd added cold water

On the left is foam, on the right is the normal paint. I wanted to see if they would dry differently.

As it turned out there was no difference in how the two consistencies of paint dried. So now I waited for the crackling and peeling to start.

All I got was subtle cracking when what I'd hoped for was dramatic peeling.

A few weeks ago I got dramatic peeling when what I had hoped for was subtle cracking.

This is the thing about Milk Paint. It does what it is going to do and not exactly what you might want. You can use a bonding agent to control the cracking but you still never know what the final result will be. It's all part of the fun. Just let your hair down and paint, paint, paint, Baby!

My finished window is subtly aged and ready to go to my booth.

I have two more windows waiting. I wonder how they'll turn out?
Next time I mix paint I think I'll go back to using my tried and true
immersion blender.

Keep it simple, right?

Linking to:
miss mustard seed
finding fabulous
shabby nest

Thinking small ..... and gray

Small items help fill out a booth and luckily I like painting small things. I'm not too keen on repairing them but, hey, if the price is right ......

This sad kitchen office file thingy had three corners chewed off by a puppy. I totally forgot to take photos of the missing corners but you get the gist.

I had to sculpt new corners with wood filler.

 I didn't have high expectations for this file thingy but it surprised me.

Trashed veneer is probably the simplest thing to fix.

Just add trim.

New corners!

The finished office thingy.

..........

I was told by a designer friend that gray and yellow was the new hip combination. Huh. I missed that somehow but I'm game. I had the perfect little test cabinet.

Love the punched tin pineapple.

Yellow and gray. Who knew?

 The inside is not this bright! Honest!

 Yellow in the drawer.

A bit more yellow around the tin.

The new look. I could warm up to yellow and gray.

Linking to
miss mustard seed
funky junk interiors
shabby nest
french country cottage
the dedicated house
my uncommon slice of suburbia
domestically-speaking