milk paint

makers

| circadee

This week has been all about making.  And pricing but we won’t talk about the endless task of tagging holiday inventory.  Making, however, is one of my favorite things to do.  My second favorite actually.  Buying, sourcing, picking, whatever you want to call it…that is my very favorite task in this business.

When sourcing vintage inventory it is common for us to come across old wood, doors, trim and the related that can be used to paint a vintage style sign.  I can get lost for hours sketching, painting and conceptualizing these signs.  This week they were primarily holiday specific.

Ryan prepares the surfaces, cuts and secures boards and attached the hardware.  Some are simple but evoke the spirit of the season.

handpainted holiday "Believe" sign on reclaimed wood + driftwood tree

Painting smalls like these signs presents a great opportunity to use leftover milk paint mixed from a larger project.

handpainted vintage style Santa sign on reclaimed wood

The Santa is permanent chalk over rustic old boards with great texture.  I achieved the look by using a fine flat brush and grainsack milk paint applied over the initial chalk sketch.

handpainted Santa Clause sign on reclaimed wood

I think this board was part of an old cupboard door.  The green streak of paint was already there along with the texture and smudges.  I took a lead from those colors when choosing the aqua and brown acrylic paints for my design.  I painted a similar Moose Lodge sign a few years ago.  I always loved it so decided to replicate it with a different color palette.

handpainted holiday sign on reclaimed wood-Moose Lodge

I went over the moose with white wax to blend it into the old paint job on the door.

handpainted holiday sign on reclalmed wood-Moose Lodge

This Silent Night sign is a piece of scalloped trim.  Nothing fancy.  I like the muted color scheme provided by a wash of shutter gray and navy lettering.

handpainted Silent Night on salvaged trim #mmsmp

Another project on tap this week was turning a salvaged column into a clothes tree for retail display.  We’ve had a pair of salvaged white Cape May porch columns for several years.  They’ve made cameos a number of places including in our salvage style bedroom (which is currently getting a more sophisticated re-vamp).

salvaged column clothes tree painted with mmmsmp kitchen scale, retail booth display

I decided to paint one in kitchen scale and topcoat it with antiquing wax.  Ryan built a tiered support system on the bottom and secured a trio of iron hooks on top.

salvaged column clothes tree painted with mmmsmp kitchen scale-5064

The new and improved salvaged column clothes tree will be popping up in a retail display this season!  All of the vintage style signs will be available for sale.

linen stockings + salvaged column clothes tree painted with mmmsmp kitchen scale-5066

painting over the chipping

| circadee

In several of my recent milk paint demonstrations while addressing “the chippy look”, people have asked what happens if you paint over chippy milk paint?

Great question!  Let me give you a visual…

creating chippy texture with milk paint-4079

So in other words, you have a shiny or varnished piece of furniture that you paint with milk paint without bonding agent added and immediately this happens…

Lucketts Green chipping

The paint begins to flake or chip off as quickly as it dries.   Cool, right?  But maybe that is not the look you are trying to achieve.  So for better coverage with lots of texture simply paint over the first layer of chipping paint with bonding agent in the second coat.

Did you get that?  When it dries it will be bumpy and raised in certain areas from where the first layer chipped.

creating chippy texture with milk paint-4088

At this point you will want to sand it back with a fine grit sanding sponge.  Sanding will smooth the surface out while also pulling out some of the other colors.

creating chippy texture with milk paint-4085

For coverage comparison purposes, the chair on the right pictured below is painted dried lavender with bonding agent.

creating chippy texture with milk paint-4081

Finally, wax your textured piece.  This is a good opportunity to mix white wax and antiquing wax since you already have various shades of paint and loads of texture.  You can’t go wrong!

creating chippy texture with milk paint-4084

I usually have a random “experimental piece” like this sitting in the workshop.  This way I never waste leftover milk paint and I usually learn a thing or two as I play.  At some point, I deem it finished.  This particular bookshelf started with lucketts green, then got some ironstone, eulalie’s sky and linen plus all three waxes!

creating chippy texture with milk paint-4083

Lots of paint posts lately as I’ve been plowing through so many pieces in my workshop this summer.  Subsequently they turnover relatively quickly as this is our busiest season for retail. We are planning our winter list of DIY house projects and it is looking mighty fine.  I can’t wait to share all of that inspiration as it unfolds in just a few months!  Although, I certainly don’t want to rush summer…

creating chippy texture with milk paint-4091