(The honest opinions and thoughts below are all mine even though I received compensation in the form of free paint and supplies. True, I got lots of cool swag but I can’t be bought off quite that easily! I would like to think I can’t be bought at all. If you insist, you can send me a million dollars and let’s test the theory…)
I am a bit of a rebel when it comes to DIY. I like to just “wing it” and play with the process at first to find out what happens if I do x, y or z. If I allow myself overthink it at first I become paralyzed that I am somehow doing it wrong, or fear I will just screw it up. So I will give myself a few projects to experiment with new processes, and if they get messed up it is ok. This milk paint sign started off as a reused cabinet door. It is big and was shiny and newish. I had roughly painted it with my latex paint/calcium carbonate mixture. And then it sat as I debated what words to put on it, and what hooks to add to it and HOW THE HECK to hang it? Other projects came and went. Then I had some leftover Milk Paint sent to me by my friend Michelle from Junkyard Goddess. Her gorgeous colors are custom mixes of Old Fashioned Milk Paint. The talented team at OFMP recently gave me a vote of confidence by naming me to their new blogger team. So I um…need to blog AND practice painting with Milk Paint!
Now, I know from painting the blue trunk, that milk paint will crackle and chip when applied over finished surfaces. And I know that you can add ExtraBond to make it stick better. My supplies hadn’t arrived yet so I was curious what would the milk paint do over my calcium carbonate paint? So…I tried it. Not a single chip. Anywhere. And I also got the variation in color that I know milk paint does so well. Here is a mix of mostly Prana Green with a smidge of Aura Blue over a light citrus green, drying all streaky and cool.
So even before distressing this looked cool. I sanded just a tiny bit and then handpainted the white letters on. I waxed with the clear Briwax in my stash. Added the knobs, and a screw eye for the rope. I was a little worried about the sign flopping around when you hang stuff on the knobs. But I figure two nails would help that. Or some sawtooth hangers that someone else can add if they need to. It is actually pretty stable.
I do love this product. It appeals to the mad scientist in me. Next up, seeing just how chippy it can get!
I have these vintage wood fruit pieces I picked up somewhere. They might be cute as color testers…
Here is just the Junkyard Goddess Prana Green mixing up. Just add water, and stir to mix out the powder lumps. Let sit for 10 minutes or so to let the bubbles pop. This color is way more “avocado” green than the lime I thought it was. The fruit does have an old finish on it, but hasn’t recently been oiled or um, dusted. I did wipe it down before painting, but otherwise no prep.
I started with a pear. No base coat. You will see other colors as I work my way through the fruit bowl in future posts!
I guess I didn’t take a nice picture of the pear. But here is a progress picture next to some purple grapes. You can see the pear hardly chipped at all. (Stay tuned for more purple experiments)
While the pear and the sign were drying I picked up this little jewelry box. First painted it with plain prana.
Then a second coat of he blue-green mix that I used on the sign. I did not do a neat job intentionally. (Maybe everyone says that once they look at their in-progress pictures?? Uhhhhh…I meant to do that…)
This box WAS recently oiled. So I expected it to crackle and chip. It did almost immediately.
Once I got most of the chips brushed off, I waxed it and that made the colors pop out beautifully.
I love the way the colors look together! What do you think? Which project is your favorite? If you want me to play with a certain look, let me know in the comments!