Summer Time...

Well y'all......it's about that time.  Time for me to take a summer break.   The posts have been sporadic over the last week and I'm really feeling the need to step back and take a break.

I wish I was headed down this road to my ocean shack, but.....not this time.  Hopefully I'll find some beach time but if not, I'll be doing some fun summer things.

Have a great week and I'll see you the first week of August!

Paula

How To Finish Your Projects

Don't let the finishing part of a project stop you.  Finishing and sealing your projects is easy once you know what to use.  The easiest way to finish a piece by far.....is by using a polycrylic.  I use the one above and you can find this at any hardware store.  You can use this on chalk paint, stains, acrylics....

Use a foam brush.  Soak your brush and go from left to right - always finishing in one long smooth stroke from left to right. Don't glop it on.  Do one thin coat and don't play around with it.  This sets pretty quickly so don't keep going back and forth and back and forth.  Go back and forth, get good coverage and then do one final stroke and move on.  Do not go back and touch up after the poly has settled.  If you miss a spot - get it on the next coat.

For the tops of your pieces......once you get your first coat on, let it dry.  Come back with 400 grit sandpaper and lightly sand the top (going left to right).  At this point, it won't look good. Don't fret!  The second time you do this, poly and sand, it will look better.  Third time......a charm!   On your third time....do not sand!  Just poly.

I  do three coats on the top of a piece and one for the sides.  I don't sand after my single coat on the sides.  It doesn't need it.

Finishing is easy - once you know how.

Let me know if you have questions.

Paula

Alice in Wonderland Chest - Completed

I've been working on this sweet little Alice in Wonderland chest for awhile now and she is finally complete.  If you want to see how she started out, you can see this on a previous post here.

I started this off with checks on the front and all along the top portion of the chest.

Then, using the same colors in the checks, I brought in some stripes.  Don't worry about being too perfect, that's what brings character to the piece.

I also added small checks on the bottom so there is a coordinating pattern with the top. Gold leaf was added to the legs and small sections on the sides.  If you want to learn how to gold leaf, you can look at my post Gold Leafing.  It's a great accent that looks beautiful on furniture.  :)

Then I added a classic check pattern on top and pulled in the colors from the piece throughout.  

Here is how she looks finished.  Well, minus the knobs that will go on the drawers.  Those are coming...

This is a great little accent piece that will create a lot of charm in a room.  It shows you that you don't have to paint a chest all one color.  Create patterns as you go.  It's so much fun!

Have a great week!

Paula