Taking a Risk (Frozen Inspired Cabinet)

If you know me at all you know I am not a risk taker, I hate roller coaster and flying in airplanes. Pretty much anything in my mind that involves any inherited risk, just does not sound like a good time to me.
The one area I feel like I can take risks in is in my painting, I think that's why I enjoy it so much! What's the worst thing that can happen?! If it doesn't turn out like I expected or hoped I can just sand it and start over!
I took a risk with this cabinet! What do you think?!

I've always adored hand painted furniture, especially scandinavian style. This is my first attempt at it! I was inspired by the door in the disney movie Frozen, you know the one Anna knocks on when she's trying to get Elsa to come play. I couldn't help but sing the song, "Do you Wanna Build a Snowman", while I was painting this piece (I know I'm a dork)!

I really like how the cabinet turned out! I know this style isn't for everyone but I love the beautiful chippyness of the paint along with the hand painted design on the cabinet doors.

I love the sides as well so chippy and lovely!

I used Miss Mustard Seed Milk Paint on this cabinet, a custom mix of Linen, Shutter Grey, and Luckett's Green, for the main portion of the piece. For the top drawer I just used Linen. For the detailing on the door I used Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in Old White and then I outlined it using a gold colored paint pen I got at Home Depot, its made by Sharpie.

Don't forget to "like" my Facebook page a Giveaway will be happening soon! Trust me you don't want to miss out!
Linked up to:http://missmustardseed.com/, http://elizabethandco.blogspot.com/, http://www.lizmarieblog.com, http://www.stonegableblog.com, http://cityfarmhouse.com/, http://www.thegoldensycamore.com, http://www.findingsilverpennies.com/, http://www.thegirlcreative.com/

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Creating a Coastal Cottage Accent Table

If you've been following my blog for awhile you may have noticed I've been doing a lot of custom pieces for clients lately! It has been awesome! But with the start of the school year my custom jobs have slowed down. So I got to do one of my favorite things the other day...

Paint a little table however I want! It was amazing creative therapy for me and it reminded me of why I really love painting furniture. I experimented and just let the process flow and this is the outcome!

A friend asked me once why I don't just paint pieces in white, they would sell easier that way. She's probably right and I like a sweet white painted piece of furniture just as much as the next girl. But what's the fun in that?!

I chose to paint this piece with Miss Mustard Seed Milk Paint Shutter Grey, it's a light gray color with blue undertones.

Almost immediately after painting the first coat, before it even dried completely, I dry brushed a coat of white on top. In some places my dry brush strokes actually took off the first coat of Shutter grey and the wood peaked through. This is what it looked like after I added the dry brushing...

I'm loving the amazing texture and chippiness of this piece!

Next I added dark wax to my crazy color concoction! And I took a step back to look at my work. While I really liked it, it was just a bit too crazy. So I added a thin coat of shutter grey on top of the dark wax, ahhhh much better!

I'm so in love with this color! I wish I could keep this piece, but sadly I have no space for it. If you interested in purchasing it I list the pieces I'm selling on my Facebook page so stop by and "like" the Painted Willows on Facebook!

This project was exactly what I needed to get my creative juices flowing! Are you working on any creative projects?!

Linked up to:http://missmustardseed.com/, http://elizabethandco.blogspot.com/, http://www.lizmarieblog.com, http://www.stonegableblog.com, http://cityfarmhouse.com/, http://www.thegoldensycamore.com,  http://www.findingsilverpennies.com/, http://www.thegirlcreative.com/

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Milk Paint "work in progress" Dresser

I typically don't share furniture makeovers that aren't finished but this piece is different, I need your help with this one...

With almost every furniture makeover, I hit a point were there are problems, the process doesn't ever go perfectly. Which makes the end result so rewarding! You feel as though you've conquered, I know it's sounds a bit dramatic but sometimes painting furniture feels like a battle of wills. In this case it was me verses an antique dresser and my weapon of choice, Miss Mustard Seed Milk Paint!

I did it! I finally painted a piece of furniture with milk paint! I got a little practice first on a couple small projects I posted about previously...

The flag sign I posted about here. And...

My chippy chalkboard calendar I posted about here.

Here's a picture of the dresser before we went to war...

Not only was this the first piece I painted with Milk Paint it's also the first piece that I bought knowing I would be dealing with a lot of chipping veneer, usually I avoid these pieces.

After some hard work (and a little help from my hubby) I was able to remove all the veneer from the top of the dresser! And then I stained the top. I used a custom mix for the stain on the top but it came out a little to orange for my liking. So I went with a dark walnut stain. I was hoping for a lighter more natural looking top but I'm still happy with the results. I love the combo of a wood top with blue and white!

I mixed up a custom mix of Miss Mustard Seed Milk Paint with Linen, Lucketts Green, and Eulalie's Sky and I used this mixture to paint the body of the dresser. I liked the color but it wasn't exactly what I was hoping for, a bit too green, so I painted over it with a mixture of just Linen and Eulalie's Sky...

Can you see a bit of my first coat peeking through?!

After I applied my second coat I broke out my hair dryer to dry the paint quickly and hopefully get some crackling and chipping since it wasn't happening on its own. That turned out to be a big mistake! Not only did it not give me the results I was hoping for it, the heat actually caused some veneer that wasn't peeling off, to start peeling!

BIG OOPS!

At this point I decided to move on to the drawers. They were painted an off white color with a funky wash on them when I bought the dresser. So I painted over it with with Miss Mustard Seed Milk Paint in Linen. I was hoping for a bit more chippyness on the drawers.

A bit of chipping did happen on the top drawers which I love...

But the middle drawer is another story, the paint peeled but not in a good way!

And and in some places the Milk Paint just wasn't covering the previously painted drawers, despite several coats!

But I do love how most of the dresser turned out!

And I loved using the Milk Paint, it gave me great coverage and such a smooth finish! And since it's not a custom piece, I'm not in any hurry to finish it, I decided to bring it in my house and put it to use (storing some school supplies) while I decide how I will fight the next battle with my opponent :)

Any suggestions?!?! I need your advice!

Linked up to:http://missmustardseed.com/, http://tatertotsandjello.com/, http://elizabethandco.blogspot.com/, http://www.lizmarieblog.com, http://www.stonegableblog.com, http://cityfarmhouse.com/, http://www.thegoldensycamore.com, http://www.joyinourhome.com, http://www.findingsilverpennies.com/, http://www.aglimpseinsideblog.com/, http://www.thegirlcreative.com/

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Chippy Chalkboard Calendar

I've been itching lately to do a project for our home! I love doing pieces for other people but there's just something so freeing about doing something for myself! I can experiment and be creative in a way that I can't when I'm doing work for clients! This little project was like therapy to me!

A calendar is something we desperately needed in our home! Can you believe we didn't have one! As my kiddos are growing life is becoming more and more busy. Most "normal" people just go buy a calendar at the store but I just couldn't find anything I liked. I knew I wanted to make one and when I found a large ornate frame recently on this shopping adventure, I started to envision using it to make my calendar.

I'm sorry I don't have any before pictures of the frame! I'm terrible about that! I just get too excited to dive in to a project and I forget to take pictures. But just picture a large ornante gold frame that was falling apart.

My hubby helped me glue and clamp it down in several spots to secure the frame and then I glued my chalkboard on. I made the chalkboard using plywood from Home Depot that I spray painted with chalkboard paint.

Next came the fun part! I painted the frame using Miss Mustard Seed Milk Paint. I used a similar mixture of colors that Miss Mustard Seed used recently to create a mint tone, she called her mixture Layla's Mint. I had Eulalie's Sky and Lucketts Green on hand but instead of using Ironstone I used Linen to lightened the color a bit. This was only my second time using Milk Paint, I used it to make this sign...

I'm getting practice with these smaller pieces before I tackle something bigger! I'm in love with the Milk Paint so far though check out this awesome chippyness...

And crackle affect...

The variation in color happened on accident. I painted my frame and left a small amount of my paint out for a few hours and when I came back I decided to add a bit more paint on a few areas of the frame that I originally didn't paint. The paint was clumpy and thick since I left it out but I just added a little bit of water and went for it. This created the variation of color that you see on the frame. And although I didn't plan on this to happen, I love it!

Now I just need to start using my calendar! If you haven't liked my Facebook page you should! I'm getting close to 150 likes and then I will be doing a giveaway! Thanks for stopping by and have a lovely day!

Linking up to: http://www.missmustardseedsmilkpaint.com/blog/,  http://tatertotsandjello.com/, http://elizabethandco.blogspot.com/, http://www.lizmarieblog.com,  http://www.stonegableblog.com, http://cityfarmhouse.com/, http://www.thegoldensycamore.com, http://www.joyinourhome.com, http://www.findingsilverpennies.com/

Blue Ombré Dresser and Patriotic Decorations

I'm so excited to share this fun dresser with you today!

The best part about this makeover was working with my friend's daughter, Abbie. My good friend approached me about teaching her daughter how to paint furniture and I was beyond excited! And can I just say, Abbie is amazing! She caught on so quickly and worked diligently on her dresser! I loved watching her learn, feel pride in her work, and satisfied with the outcome. It was such a reward for me! I think she might have caught a little bit of the painting bug too :)

Here it is before we started...

Here it is all dolled up with a patriotic sign I made on Memorial Day and some bunting flags I made for my brother and sister-in-law's baby shower. I felt like this was a fun way to stage this piece since we just had Memorial Day and the 4th of July is right around the corner! But I honestly love Americana Decor for any time of the year...

Here's a close up of my flag sign. I used this sign to experiment a bit with Miss Mustard Seed's Milk Paint, since I've never used it before. I love am in love with the chippyness and crackling that happened with I used the Milk Paint! I used the Eulalie's Sky color followed by Linen and then painted the red and blue with latex paint I had in my stash...

Linked up to:http://missmustardseed.com/, http://tatertotsandjello.com/, http://elizabethandco.blogspot.com/, http://www.lizmarieblog.com,  http://www.stonegableblog.com, http://cityfarmhouse.com/