Some Projects I have been working on

I get such satisfaction when I take a garage sale item, play around with it and then end up with a finished product that just makes me happy.  Well I have some of them here for you today (some I can't show because they will be Christmas gifts... and I have a 'stalker', hehehe)

First up is this little basket which I now love.  It was a red basket that I picked up for a quarter.  I was going to use it for something Christmasy but then decided to use some Stainless Steel spray paint on it, I now LOVE  it and am probably going to keep it for myself!  What a cheap and easy fix up!

Next up a tin that I maybe paid $1 for.  It was stainless steel (Ikea) - go figure, I decided to paint it white, LOL.  I just sprayed it then stencilled the number on it.  Another easy project.

Now these very large, heavy candle sticks were made by my brother and given to me over 10 years ago as a gift.  They were painted a dark red with a yellow flame and a gold lame bow tied around.  I kept them like that for long enough ;)  I painted them white with some leftover household paint and decided I needed to something else to them.  I started modge podging some old sheet music onto them.  Well Modge Podge and I don't get along very well, once every 10 years I try it and always get frustrated with it - not sure why - most likely the bubbles and wrinkles - I am not patient enough to get rid of them I think.  Anyhow, I decided to pull off the paper, well some of it stuck down and I actually liked that look better so I continued on doing it that way.  To tone down the whiteness a bit, I tea stained them.  I love these now.  At Christmas time I will tie some greenery on with a burlap bow.  What do you think?

Now my favorite project of them all - and more time consuming... I am a quick and easy kind of project girl and this took a few steps - I almost gave up, glad I didn't.  No before picture but it was an unpainted wooden planter that I paid $2 for.  I painted it gray, rubbed with vaseline, painted white and then scraped away some of the white (where the vaseline was).  I then stencilled the word herbs on (cut with my Cricut), which were too black so I sanded them down.  I then didn't really like the big gray patches as they were so I painted on some crackle medium and over painted lightly with white - which of course was a different white than I had done earlier because I had used up the household paint and now had to use my acrylic paint.  I got some crackle - would have been happy with more but I am a newbie at using crackle medium so I took it easy.  Anyhow, now the new white was too white - see where I am going here almost losing interest in it!  Then I decided to try to tea stain it... voila, I now love it!

Close ups of distressing 

subtle crackle

some of the hammer bashing

Now the rest of my day is going to be the 'pits'.  My neighbor gave me A LOT of cherries and I am going to make a cherry crisp and some cherry pie filling so I will have a busy kitchen day today.  Not really my favorite but sometimes it just has to be done.