Duck Egg Blue

TIME’S A TICKING TO CHRISTMAS – SHOPPING AT KMART…

Time’s a ticking to Christmas – shopping at Kmart.

It was such a windy day here in Havelock North yesterday it looked like snow was falling. But really it was beautiful flower petals.

It looks like snow, but it is petals

I did a quick trip to our local Kmart in Hastings, only 10 minutes away and was excited to see such an amazing remodelling of their store.

The store was buzzing and usually I don’t want to think about Christmas this early, but I found 3 things I had to buy. And of course when I got home I had to try them out as you do.

The first thing was 3 Metal planters for only $17. One of these I was definitely using for my Rosemary topiary I am growing. See my post – growing rosemary topiaries in time for Christmas…

3 Metal Planters

3 Metal Planters

Rosemary topiary in metal planter

My rosemary topiary I am growing in the metal planter

Next I purchased this adorable Ombre Rocking Reindeer for $7. I love this and it fits in perfectly with the colour scheme in my living room.

Rocky Reindeer

Rocky Reindeer

The last thing I got was a cute Reindeer bath mat for $12. I can see a Reindeer and duck egg blue theme in my home this Christmas.

Reindeer bath mat

Reindeer bath mat

Ok, so I didn’t buy much, but I was selective and I have got to say I was so impressed with wonderful array of items and very reasonable prices at Kmart.

Vintage silver trophy

One of the things I love using is the lovely silver trophy we got when I was a child. Our Siamese cat won this cup! I filled it with my lovely white bramble roses.

White bramble roses in vintage silver trophy cup

White bramble roses in vintage silver trophy cup

Old Mason jars

Another thing I love to use is old Mason Jars of my mums, here I painted the old ring with some Duck Egg Blue to add my theme colour.

Annie Sloan Duck Egg Blue Chalk Paint

Annie Sloan Duck Egg Blue Chalk Paint

Then I filled it with bay leaves from my garden and Bay blueberries grown locally in Hawke’s Bay. Filled it with water and a little tea-lite candle.

It makes the decorations special to use things from the house and garden. It also saves on the budget at Christmas!

Thanks for reading my post. More Christmas posts to come…

Andi

Little sad old cabinet – needed chalk paint makeover

Little Sad Old Cabinet – Needed Chalk Paint Makeover

I loved this little old cabinet as soon as I saw it at a Thrift Store, but it needed a chalk paint makeover. The great thing about it was it was only $20.00, but unfortunately the top half of the back was broken and there was borer in the back. It was probably why it was so cheap!

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The first thing I did was remove the broken top part of the back.

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I washed it all down with water and dish detergent. Some of the old hardware was broken, so I removed it and brought some cooper knobs at a local building recycling shop. My husband Tom replaced the back with a piece of wood he cut down to size and nailed on.

Borer

I treated the whole cabinet with a borer spray to be on the safe side. I don’t get put off by furniture with borer, because some old pieces do have borer. It is easy to treat with a spray and or a borer bomb, just follow the instructions carefully.

When I removed the hardware there were two holes and I filled in one of the holes with wood filler, as I only needed one hole for the replacement hardware.

Annie Sloan Chalk Paint

I used Annie Sloan Chalk Paint Old Ochre on the outside of the cabinet. I ended up giving it two coats of paint, then gently sanded it in some areas to show the wood underneath. It had a lovely texture and dark colour I wanted to show through.

I painted the inside of the cabinet with Duck Egg Blue.

Then I put Clear Wax on all the surfaces, inside the cabinet and outside and rubbed it in as I went along. Finally, I rubbed Dark Wax on some areas of the outside, highlighting rougher areas of the paint and wood.

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Cooper Hardware

Copper Hardware

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Winter Roses from my gardent

Winter Roses from my garden

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This is my favourite chair, picked up from a Thrift store for only $35

This is my favourite chair, picked up from a Thrift store for only $35

This Maiden Hair Fern is really old, it was my grandmothers. I have only just been given it, but quickly managed to nearly kill it!

This Maiden Hair Fern is really old, it was my grandmothers. I have only just been given it, but quickly managed to nearly kill it!

I love the colour and the crackle aged lines on the pot.

I love the colour and the crackle aged lines on the pot.

Thanks so much for reading my blog!

  Andi

 

 

Annie Sloan Chalk Paint – Art Deco Cabinet

As soon as I saw it I knew Annie Sloan Chalk Paint would look wonderful on an old Art Deco Cabinet that I found in a local Napier Second Hand Furniture Store.

One of the wonderful things about living in Hawke’s Bay, New Zealand is the Art Deco town of Napier.

Napier Earthquake

It had a devastatingly large earthquake in 1931, but after the earthquake the town was rebuilt. The buildings were all beautiful Art Deco Buildings, which remain to this day.

In February each year the whole town of Napier becomes an Art Deco Festival. People come from all over the world to dress up in deco style clothes. The city is totally transformed for a few days. It is such a fun time, our family love dressing up and being part of it. It is like going back in time.

I was really excited to find an old Art Deco Cabinet and Drawers for a good price.

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As you can see it needed a really good clean with water and dish detergent. Then some little holes and deeper scratches I filled with wood filler, to tidy the surfaces up.

Annie Sloan Chalk Paint has so many great colours to choice from but I think my favourite are Old Ochre and Duck Egg Blue.  They look beautiful together and the design on this piece of furniture lends itself to having two different colours on it. I ended up having to paint two coats of each colour and then gave it a gentle sanding after each coat had dried. Just to smooth any rough areas of paint. It is easy to get little drips here and there and sanding gets rid of them.

Then I finished it off with Annie Sloan Clear Wax. (No Dark Wax this time.)

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I kept the original hardware on as they were in such good condition.

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The end result looks amazing with these colours.img_1641-3

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If you enjoyed this post please leave a comment, would love to hear from you about your favourite Annie Sloan Chalk Paint…

 Andi

 

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