What I'm Working On Wednesday - Whites

I've been enjoying the Dixie Belle paint I bought recently. It really goes a long way. I've found the Dixie Belle paint is pretty thick, and I thinned it down to paint the things I worked on this week.

I mixed 2/3's paint and 1/3 water, using just a fourth of the small jar I bought. It seems to stick well to everything I've tried painting... wood, metal, galvanized tin...you name it. 

The pub table had been painted a while back and then very heavily distressed. Too distressed. So I gave it a few coats with the diluted paint and then distressed the table lightly this time.

I read somewhere the trick for table tops is to sand the top well between thin coats of paint. OK...thin it is!

I used the watered down paint to put a thin coat on the table top and let it dry, then sanded it smooth and put another coat on, and repeated. 

When I was happy with the coverage, I used a small orbital sander to distress it lightly this time, trying not to get carried away.

 I really love how smooth the top is now. I keep running my hand across the top in appreciation!

I want to try the new tough coat for table tops that Miss Mustard Seed created recently and has been writing about. I have to buy some, so I haven't put any wax or finish on the table yet. 

My next victim this week is this little galvanized tin pot I bought for 75 cents a while back. Love this little pot, but the decoration on the sides didn't show up very well when it was just plain tin.

I love seeing how chalk paint improves little pieces like this one. I left some unpainted edges around the embossed pattern to give it definition.

Here's the only "before" picture I have. Honestly, it's not even a before picture. It's the inside of the pot before I painted inside there too.

My third victim is this little bird piece that I've had for a long time. It was dark brown and not very pretty -- actually kind of blah. I tried giving it away recently, but no one wanted it. 

 I didn't even notice the grape leaves and band on the bottom before it was painted. Now they're my favorite part of it.

I used a dry brush dipped into just a little white paint and did several coats of it until it showed the details so much better. 

I like to try a variety of brands of chalk paint, and I don't receive any compensation from the brands I use. All opinions are my own and are based completely on how the paint performed for me.

To use chalk paint,  I like to pour a small amount of paint into a glass jar and mix some water with it, if needed, to thin it down. I usually dip my brush into the jar and paint right from the jar. When I'm finished, I like to cover the jar with a plastic sandwich bag and screw a lid on tight. 

The sandwich bag helps keep paint from forming on the lid and keeps the lid from sticking, making it easier to open the jar. If the plastic bag gets paint on it, I just replace it with another bag when I'm ready to close it up again.

Usually I wash out glass jars with their lids (such as pickle jars) and keep a stock on hand to hold paint. I write the paint color and brand right on the top of the lid with a black permanent marker. If I've added water to the paint, I usually write the ratio of paint to water so I can mix up more later if needed.

Hope you've been able to pick up a paint brush and add some white or color to your world this week.

Thanks for dropping by!

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