Do You Want to Paint Your Furniture?

Have you picked up a new Pottery Barn Catalog lately? Painted furniture is really popular right now and some of their pieces will make your mouth water. I love all the colors they are using. In the Pottery Barn for Kids my favorite colors are gray and lilac. They have the cutest bedding to go with everything, too! The prices are steep but the good news is you can paint your own so easily. We have customers come into the store everyday and ask this question, "Do I have to strip it and sand it before I paint?" The answer is no you don't have to do any of that before you begin painting with CeCe Caldwell's Chalk + Clay paints.
Here are the easy steps to painting with this wonder paint:


1. Clean the furniture with Simple Green
2. Paint the first coat of CeCe paint and let dry (usually will be dry in 30 min)
3. Apply the second coat of CeCe paint and let it dry
4. Wet distress ( no sanding)
5. Let the piece dry for 24 hours and apply a finish


*There are exceptions to these instructions on certain types of wood. We have experienced some "bleeding" with Mahogany but there are remedies for those problems. We recommend sealing the wood with a good clear coat before painting. This seals the tannins and oils in the wood and usually prevents any bleeding.
All of CeCe Caldwell's paints are made in the USA and are earth friendly. You can throw a drop cloth down in your kitchen and start painting because there are no harmful fumes.
Let us help you start your next project and guide you through the process of changing your furniture from drab to fab. We love seeing the transformations our customers share with us everyday either through facebook or in our shop on their cellphones.
I will be working at Fresh tomorrow from 9-5 and would love to see what you are working on or about to start.
So what are you working on these days?

Miss Mustard Seed's Milk Paint

Several months ago Sharon and I traveled to Kansas for our Miss Mustard Seed's Milk Paint training. We learned so much from our fabulous teacher Abbe Doll. Milk Paint is all natural and yes it does have milk(casein) in it, along with limestone, clay, chalk, and iron oxide. Milk paint has been around for thousands of years and comes in a powder form. Mixing the paint thoroughly is very important and there are many techniques for achieving a smooth mix. You can mix it in a mason jar, use a mini whisk or an electric mixer. After you have painted and experimented with the paint I think you will decide which method of mixing you prefer. Milk Paint can be used as a solid coverage by mixing 1 part water to 1 part paint. But if you would like a wash or stain coverage you mix 3 parts water to 1 part paint. We are offering certified workshops at Fresh and if you would like to sign up stop by the store. If you love painting you will enjoy this paint that has been around for many, many years. Here a few things that I have painted with Miss Mustard Seed's Milk Paints. Milk paint classes are scheduled at Fresh and we would love to introduce you to this paint that we love!

Shades of Gray Dresser

Well it's not fifty shades of grey but it's two shades and I love them both. Trophy is the darker grey and Grain Sack is the lighter grey by Miss Mustard Seed's Milk Paint. This serpentine dresser was in excellent condition but I could see it painted in these two colors of grey. I cleaned it with Simple Green and then sanded the top and drawers with my orbital sander. The sides I scuffed up with a sanding block. This gives the surface a nice "bite" so the milk paint will stick to the wood. I mixed the Trophy first and covered the top of the dresser and the sides and front. I decided to put a second coat of Trophy on the top but opted for Grain Sack as my second coat for the sides and front.
The drawers have two coats of Grain Sack because I wanted them to look a shade lighter than the rest of the dresser. I also wanted the drawers to have a little crackle on them so when I applied the second coat of Grain Sack I used my new heat gun to get the perfect crackle. I have wanted a heat gun for quite a while and this one came from Lowe's for around twenty bucks. While the paint was wet I turned the heat gun up to high and pointed it where I wanted crackle. I am really pleased with the result of the heat gun. I used Miss Mustard Seed's Furniture Wax mixed with Antiquing Wax. This makes a gray wax that was perfect for this dresser. After the wax was dry I buffed everything with a soft t-shirt. Here are some pictures of the finished dresser.

BEFORE

CRACKLE

Grain Sack and Trophy

To Cook or Paint- that is the question?

Would you rather cook or paint? My answer to that question is easy - painting over cooking any day! But during the summer months when fresh vegetables are coming in from the garden, I have to admit I find it easier to cook. My favorite vegetable dish this time of year is okra and tomatoes. My mom and sister do a ton of cooking and both are excellent cooks. I know how to cook it's just not something that I "love" to do. My mom and dad have a small garden and they shared okra, green beans, and tomatoes with me. I cooked a nice little meal and enjoyed every bite of it! Here is my recipe for the okra -
-Two pieces of bacon cooked with chopped onion
-Add the okra and tomatoes and cook until tender
Simple and delicious. Here are a few pictures of the meal I enjoyed. Have a great week and I'll be painting the next few days. Postings coming soon on what I am working on. 

Artissimo Finale

Artissimo is the color of the milk paint by Miss Mustard Seed that I used on this little desk. I got the chippiness that I wanted on the legs and the front. My next painting project is the serpentine dresser. I'll be posting the before and afters of that very soon. What have you painted lately? 

BEFORE

AFTER

Miss Mustard Seed Artissimo Part 2

This is part 2 of the cute antique desk that I am painting with Miss Mustard Seed's Milk Paint in the beautiful color Artissimo which is navy. I mentioned in my previous post that I didn't sand the legs because I was hoping for chippiness. There was a ton of chippiness on the legs and on the drawer front. Since I mixed the paint fairly thick one coat was enough for the desk legs and drawer. I sanded the chippy paint and painted the legs and drawer with Endurance Finish which is a clear coat poly. When you have a lot of chippiness you should use a poly finish. Why? If you use hemp oil or wax it can get under the paint and cause more chipping. With the poly finish it stops the chipping. The top of the desk I didn't want chipping so I sanded the top and I added Miss Mustard Seed's Bonding Agent to the paint. I painted one coat with bonding agent. You should let this coat dry for at least 12 hours before applying the second coat of paint. Why? You need to make sure that the bonding agent has time to dry and cure before putting the second coat of paint. The second coat of paint will not have bonding agent but it will have water and milk paint so the water could cause the paint to lift if you apply the second coat too soon. After 12 hours I applied my second coat of paint to the desk top and let that dry. A quick sanding with a sanding block gave the top a smooth finish. For the top of this desk I wanted to use Hemp Oil. I love the Hemp Oil finish, it gives a deep rich color to the paint. I could let the Hemp Oil dry and add the Furniture Wax by MMSMP for a finish. Always remember that you can add wax on top of oil but not Wax under oil. Here are pictures of the desk as I was working on it. I didn't include the final pictures of the finished desk. I will post those on my next blog post, so stay tuned for the finale of this desk!

Getting ready to paint

Miss Mustard Seed's Artissimo

Let the mixture sit for 5-10 minutes

Before

This is how the chippiness looks after a few minutes of drying

More chippy paint

Sanded with a sanding block

Adding bonding agent  

Bonding agent on the table top

Miss Mustard Seed's Artissimo on a Small Desk

Miss Mustard Seed's Artissimo is what I decided to use on the small antique desk. After cleaning the desk with Simple Green I used a sanding block to scuff up the surface on the drawer front and the desk top. I didn't sand the legs because I'm hoping for good chippiness. I love the hardware on this antique desk so I won't be replacing it. The best part about Miss Mustard Seed's Milk Paint is the unpredictable outcomes of it. A good rule to remember is the shinier the finish on the furniture the more the paint will chip. So if you are not wanting any chippiness then you mix equal parts of bonding agent with the paint and sand the shiny surface with a sanding block. Most of the time you can add bonding agent to the first coat and come back with just the milk paint on the second coat. Since milk paint comes in powder form and you mix it with equal amounts of water it is very important to mix very well. There is going to be lumps and little hard particles that need to mixed for at least 10 minutes. After you have mixed the water and milk powder let it sit for about 5-10 minutes before painting. A great blog to follow and learn more about Miss Mustard Seed's Milk Paint is www.missmustardseed.com. Marian has several great videos that are very helpful.  You can also come into our store on 403 College Street and we will give you hands on instruction in our studio. One warning though it's very addictive! Here are the before pictures of the antique desk and I will post after pics later. 

Reflecting back on my Days of Latex

I was looking through some of my pictures before I discovered CeCe Caldwell's Chalk + Clay paints. I had to prime the piece usually with kilz, sand, and sometimes I stripped the paint before painting. I loved painting furniture but I HATED the prep work that was entailed with each piece! And the paint had a strong smell so I had to paint in the garage when it was freezing cold or scorching hot. I had heard about something called chalk paint and was curious. I read a few blogs about making my own chalk paint with a few ingredients that you could purchase at the hardware store. So I decided to try my hand at making my own. I bought a latex base paint and added the ingredients from my recipe. It was very hard to keep my mixture thin enough and it usually had lumps and I had to add water often. I did my research on different brands of chalk paint and at that time I thought $35.00 - $40.00 was more than I wanted to spend. So I decided to take a class using chalk paint and I begin to see what the "big" deal was about this product. I loved how you could wet distress the paint without sanding. We did no prep work and the paint stuck to the surface easily with two coats. I learned how to wax and several techniques that were very helpful. In this class I was not using CeCe Caldwell's Paints but another popular brand. After, researching different companies we decided to find out more about CeCe Caldwell's Paints because they advertised all natural, no VOC's , no toxins, and made in the USA. Well the rest is history, we made the decision to carry this wonderful paint in our store. We were trained by wonderful teachers that generously shared their knowledge. Through our own painting experiences with the paint we have learned so much and love helping our customers.
 What makes this paint so special? For me, it's important that it's all natural and not harmful to me or the environment, it's made in America, and it requires little or no prep. I am posting a couple of my favorite pieces that I have done over the last few years. The first one is in latex and the other ones are with the CeCe paints. If you're hesitant about starting your painting project - don't be - it's fun and it's easy! Come by Fresh and we will help you get started. You can also like us on facebook to keep up with the latest news. We also have a great website www.freshjaspertexas.com. 

Latex

Young Kansas Wheat 

KO with SFT

Tables are Lined Up Waiting to be Painted!

I'm not sure which one I am going to paint first - I have so many choices and I love them all. I have a serpentine dresser, a nice mahogany 2 drawer chest, a latex yellow one drawer table, a cute one drawer small desk, an Ethan Allen console table, and my favorite a drum table. Which one would you paint and what color? Are you painting? With our paints you can paint indoors with no harmful odors or toxins. Clean with Simple Green and start painting.

Fresh is fully stocked with paints and ready to help you with your painting. Stop in and let us guide you to a fresh new look. And in the mean time I'll try to decide which table to paint first. 

All Natural, Non Toxic, Earth Friendly

The Texas heat is here and boy is it hot! I'm so glad that our paints are all natural and non toxic. That means that I can paint in the coolness of my home and not worry about harmful fumes and such. I have several things that need a fresh look. I'll be posting before and afters soon. If you want to learn more about our paint classes like us on Facebook and message us. We teach private lessons as well as group lessons. Mom and I just returned from the July Canton Market and the main question that was asked during my demos was "How do you make it look old?" When I showed them how easy you can distress with the paints they were amazed! The methods that we teach are easy and fun and you will leave wanting to paint the world!
Check out our website: www.freshjaspertexas.com
Here are a few pics from this weekend. I think these guys are trying to figure out how to get back to the North Pole - it's too hot here in Texas for them. In the second picture I think they are getting a plan together to head North!

Painted Mahogany Buffet

I love the old buffets from the early days. They are much more functional this day and age. We use them for buffets, a console for our large flat screen televisions, a changing table for our little's, and bathroom vanities. 

They come in many shapes and sizes and styles. So whether you are looking for a double sink vanity or a single sink vanity for the bathroom both styles can be located on your search. 

The one that I am posting today is from an Estate Sale and was in almost perfect condition except for a few water spots on the top. For the top I used Miss Mustard Seed's Curio. I used a sanding block on the water spots and scuffed the entire top for a good bite for the paint. I painted two coats of Curio and two coats of Tung Oil for a finish. Tung Oil is a great finish for heavily used areas and it gives a beautiful finish. The Tung Oil is quite thick (like syrup) but the wood will absorb the oil and if there is any excess after several days of curing take a soft rag and remove the excess. 

On the base, I used CeCe Caldwell's Young Kansas Wheat. I painted two coats and then distressed with a wet t-shirt. For the finish I used CeCe Caldwell's Endurance the most durable finish that is recommended for cabinetry.

Sorry, I forgot to take a before picture of this buffet. 

I hope everyone had a great July 4th holiday! Happy painting this week.

It's That Time Again....

We are loading the trailer and packing the paint for Canton. We are leaving in the morning for the July market at Canton Trade Days! As I have said many times, it's the largest and best market to find great treasures and shop until you drop. Did you know that several famous pickers come here to find their goods? Well more about that later, when I get back. 
The Texas heat has arrived so dress cool and comfortable and drink plenty of liquids when you come to shop. We will be in pavilion 4000 booth 4268 with our CeCe Caldwell's Paints and Miss Mustard Seed's Milk Paints along with our painted furniture, pillows, linens, and much more. Remember we are also located in Timeless Treasures in downtown Canton on the corner of Hwy. 19 and Hwy. 64. It's a great place to shop and cool off and they are open late several nights during market days. 
We are always eager to answer your questions and help you get started on your painting project. Thank you for your continued support and we look forward to seeing you this weekend.