Black Chalk Paint Vanity & Crying Over Spilled Milk

This is a post about a vanity. 

But let's back up a little. 

Let me just say, I love my mom. If you know my mom, you KNOW my mom. 

You know about the time she put Jheri Curl in her hair for some extra conditioning. My mom is not black. It didn't come out for weeks.

You know that for my first trip to see snow, she bought me boys thermal underwear, complete with extra space in the front area, just because they were on sale, and the girls' pair were full price. 

You know that she's been kicked out of the Serbian Embassy in Hungary, just to try to get two Slovenian teenagers across the border, in Jesus' name. 

You know that when I was 10 years old and we traveled via dugout canoe for 8 hours to minister to the remotely placed Mosquito Indians in Honduras, she forgot to bring my clothes. 

You know she can never have Coca-Cola without ice in it. She used to bring garage sale ice cube trays to foreign countries, introduce herself to the hotel kitchen staff, and have them freeze ice for her so she could have ice at every meal. Because they had the best rates, and were so accommodating, we stayed at one hotel in particular every summer. We later found out it was actually a brothel.

You know that while we were on a layover at LAX she took me to Compton to purchase blonde hair extensions which she braided into my hair on our 12 hour flight to Germany. Can you imagine seeing someone do that on a plane?

You know that in the late 90s, anytime she saw an older woman with bright red dyed hair she would yell, "Hey Bozo!" (as in Bozo, the clown). 

You know that she was almost deported for selling discontinued LA boutique clothing at a fruit market in a former socialist country without a permit. Before the threats, she made thousands of dollars doing these sales. Again, all in Jesus' name.

You know she's posed for pictures with men who she thought were Eastern European celebrities, when indeed they weren't. The same goes for the homeless man on the side of the road who told us he was John the Baptist. She tried to get me and my brother to take a polaroid with him, and he chased us off "his" property saying he was in talks with a movie production company and no pictures were allowed. 

And now, cause I'm telling you, you know that a few weeks ago she asked me to help her use Miss Mustard Seed Milk Paint for the first time. I was so excited! I went over and helped her pick out a color and order off the Luckett's website. She got Artissimo, and I ordered myself some Ironstone. The package arrived at her house a few days later. I know this because she called me in a panic.

"Becca. I did something really bad."

"Oh my gosh, what?! Are you okay?! Are you hurt?!"

"Yes, no, but it's really bad… I mixed the paint. ALL of it. YOUR paint."

"WHAT?! ALL OF IT?! MY IRONSTONE?! WHY?!"

"Yes! Yours! I don't know!"

You see, my mom is really eager to get things done. And boy does she get things done. She's 61 years old and as I type this, she's actually painting the house next door, while watching a 2 year old. 

Back to the milk paint.

"Mom! We were supposed to do this together! Why did you mix it? It only has a shelf life of 5-7 days! That paint would have lasted me a year! And I have no time to paint anything with it because the recital is this weekend!!!" (Every year I'm in charge of 3 different dance shows, with 500 different students, that take place within 24 hours, the first weekend of May. It's a project 9 months in the making…. The frantic phone call from my mom happened on April 29.) 

I hung up. I was mad. She felt bad. I kept telling myself it was only a $30 loss, but I felt the same way I did when I would pump, only to spill my breast milk while trying to put it in those awkward Lansinoh bags to freeze. And just like I would cry over spilled breast milk, here I was, pacing across my house, crying over milk paint. 

But, you see, like my mom, I, too, am eager to get things done. 

Which is how this vanity came about. It had been sitting there in our work tent since Spring Break, and I had no vision for it. I got it from a friend, and really wanted it to be amazing.

So I briefly sanded it, and covered that baby in Ironstone Milk Paint!

From afar, it looked OK. But up close it was terrible. My sanding was too brief. 

Paint was just chipping off all over the place. And I am not a fan of the chippy look. I really should have primed it. 

 The green inside looked ridiculous, and even though I tried to be frugal and reuse a knob I already had by painting it silver, it just screamed "cheesy" and "cheap."

The Ironstone milk paint went back in the fridge, and a few days later went off. The vanity went back in the tent and started collecting dust. The 3 shows happened that weekend.

I was in Lowe's a couple weeks later and discovered they carried pre-mixed chalk paint! This is HUGE. Maui stores are not progressive and don't carry any type of special paints. This would actually be my first go at using chalk paint. I grabbed a container of black and went home and got to work. This stuff is awesome!! Some Kilz and some sanding later, and oila!

Take a look at the Ironstone shining through. 

Evidence of spilled milk!

It got a coat of Beeswax Furniture Wax, and a new crystal knob. 

I'm eager to sell her, but know she's a reminder that even something good can come from milk paint mixed to soon. After all, the show must go on! 

 I spilled Ivy's milk, and she turned out pretty good.

She's for sale for $200. 

Mom, I love you. I was laughing so hard I was crying while writing this post. And now you know the milk paint protocol. Thanks for helping this vanity to turn out so nice. :)

Aloha, Rebecca

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Wizard of Oz Dresser

What kid doesn't love The Wizard of Oz? By the age of 10, I had the entire cassette tape (with songs and dialogue) memorized. I'd recite it on long road trips across various continents, driving the people in the car nuts! (Sorry guys). My daughter now loves the movie and her reaction to my skill of knowing the whole thing by heart is in stark contrast to my childhood experience because she readily accepts it and begs me to recite all the dialogue and sing all the songs. I LOVE IT. 

In my first few months of blogging, I came across this post over at Inspired by Charm, called "Ode to Oz." I have never forgotten it and still think it is one of the most clever ideas ever.  

source

Everything on this cupboard alludes to The Wizard of Oz. Perfection.

Ok, back to my dresser.

Down below you can see it peeking out of the corner in Ivy's room

Here's a head-on shot, totally under-exposed:

This dresser belonged to my aunt and she had it since she was 18 years old. We ended up with it after she moved back to the mainland and I promised her I would keep it in the family and in great condition. It worked in Ivy's room for a time, but the drawers were hard for her to open and she couldn't really reach the top ones. Also, what 4 year old needs 6 drawers for their clothing?

So I decided I was going to put it in my room. Some of the paint was chipping off and the gorgeous key holes had been painted right over, and it just needed some TLC and new life. So I started to peel back a little of the paint, and discovered we were dealing with 3 coats of paint!

Top layer: cream. 2nd layer: bright yellow. 3rd layer: forest green. 4th layer: solid wood.

This stuff did not want to come off. I fought it and fought it. Splinters, cuts, chemical burns, sore shoulders, you name it, I endured it to get down to the wood. I actually left a little bit of the green on it in places, and then dry brushed some off-white (shiloh) because I wanted it to show through under the black to give it depth. It was so fun to sand those key holes because they came out bright shiny gold.

For some reason I'm painting all our furniture black. Well, this is only the second piece I've done, but I'm a little obsessed. I've been using Miss Mustard Seed Milk Paint in Typewriter. Here's a link to the other dresser I painted black: click here. I covered up the key hole with painter's tape and used a razor blade to cut perfectly around it so I could paint smoothly. Look at that workmanship!!

In comparison to the body of the piece, the drawers were a piece of cake. To get the 3 coats of paint off the body, I had to call in the authorities.  

My dad had out every tool he owns. I learned a lot about power tools that day.  

I discovered a little bondo/wood filler on the bottom right of the piece, but other than that it was pretty awesome all bare like that!

I dry brushed on a little more shiloh, on top of the splotchy green, then covered it all in black. 

The inside of the drawers needed some attention as they were rough and had some stains. I used clear shellac and some cute fabric to line the inside. I also painted the outside sides of the drawers in shiloh to give it a clean look when you opened and closed them. That white thing on the inside is washi tape covering the sharp end of the knobs so it doesn't tear my clothes. 

These knobs are the Green Faucet Metal Knobs from Hobby Lobby. On sale now for $2.99!

I used Miss Mustard Seed's Hemp Oil on the entire piece, then went over that with her Furniture Oil. I LOVE her Furniture Oil. I'm still getting used to the smell of the Hemp Oil. It's very earthy. :)

So here it is in our master bedroom. 

That black and white photo on the wall is from Urban Outfitters.

The pink Maui print is from Ashley Johnston Design.

It's at the foot of the bed, flanked by pieces of my husband's art, which we just moved in there. I have the Grey accent chair I blogged about here to the right of it. 

So, why call it "The Wizard of Oz" dresser? Here's my reasons:

1. The name "6 drawer dresser" is boring.

2. Those green knobs are something I could see Uncle Henry using on the farm

3. It came to me in a very mono-chromatic cream color, and it's now black, alluding to the first 17 minutes of the movie which are completely sepia toned.

4. Once I dug a little deeper I came across a layer of yellow paint: the Yellow Brick Road

5. The Yellow Brick Road led to the green layer of paint, the Emerald City

6. Once I went through all of that, we're back to the safety of our black and white sepia home.

And that's the story of my Wizard of Oz dresser.

One last tip. Per my husband's advice, I've been using a bar of soap to make sure my solid wood drawers go in and out with ease. It works like a charm. Anywhere on the drawers or on the body of the dresser that's going to slide wood to wood, you slide the soap along it. Make sure it's oil free. Scented is ok. :)

Aloha,

Rebecca

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DIY American Apparel Jersey T Dress

There's this dress/shirt/shift thing I love at American Apparel. I first discovered it back in 2005, when this other company had printed some reggae logo on the front and bob marley's picture on the back thigh. Needless to say, I never really liked rocking Bob that close to my buttocks (it was a short-lived phase) so I upcycled it a year ago and now it's an awesome Jack Johnson tank. (You can see the creation of that shirt here.) 

In December I finally gave in an ordered a new one for myself directly from American Apparel. It's grey and I love it. Perfect for me to work in.  (That's me on the right... not the left).

Fine Jersey T Dress  - $27.00 - click here to go to the American Apparel website 

Last month I was on Oahu and went in to the American Apparel store, but I didn't feel like coughing up $27.00 for another one. Then I thought, "I should just make one!" Lo and behold, I came across some jersey knit at the fabric store in a fun kelly green for like $3.99/yard- so inexpensive!! 

1- I laid my American Apparel T dress on top of two layers of the jersey knit 

2- pinned it to the jersey knit

3- cut around it, leaving about 1/4" excess

4- sew a seam at each shoulder and down each side (you don't hem the neckline, arm holes or bottom edge!)

5- cut off any excess fabric or any fabric that doesn't line up

 Turn it right-side out, and that's it!

Sorry for the selfies, but I promised myself I would blog more, even if that means my photos aren't as good. I realized I wasn't blogging because my perfectionist self told itself that it could only blog with good photos! 

Anyway... there was this rectangle fabric left over and it looked like it would be the perfect head band!

So I sewed it up and cut off the excess!

I probably wouldn't wear it together, because it's too matchy-matchy. 

So of course, my mini-me, a.k.a. Ivy wanted her own green Jersey T dress :) I whipped it out in about 10 minutes-- headband and all. The photo shoot that ensued took longer than it took to make the dress.

Some reflection of this project:

-it's such a quick project!

-my jersey knit is slightly thinner than american apparel's

-jersey knit is extremely easy to work with - no fraying, so no extra hemming involved

-leave those raw edges alone and let 'em roll!

-back stitching was a little tricky - my machine wanted to eat the edge of the fabric

-i liked using a straight stitch and a zig-zag stitch

Get out there and make one! You won't be sorry!

Aloha, Rebecca

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