trash to treasure

My daughter moved house recently and one of the items left by the previous occupants was this dusty old picture.  It is a print of Constable's "The Haywain" that had been framed by Haigh and Sons, I stopped Hubby on his way to the skip and stashed it away for a makeover.

After a good clean down the first job was to paint the frame with some white eggshell paint I had left over from previous projects.  I used tape to mask off the picture to try and keep the edges clean.

The decorated corners required a kind of splodging technique to try and get into all the nooks and crannies.

Just painting the frame white has changed the whole look of the picture and brightened it up, however, I was not finished yet.

Once the the frame was dry I took the masking tape off the picture and taped it to protect the newly painted frame.

When I took the tape off I did lose some of the surface of  the picture but this was about to be covered in blackboard paint so I wasn't too concerned.

Quite a transformation from the gold framed print of an old master.

It has now been seasoned (chalk pulled down and across to cover the whole surface to ensure that your writing can get rubbed away) and is ready to be hung.

Before I began this project I did my research to ensure that there was no real value in the picture (approx £10-£20), I had this old news story in my mind and wanted to make sure that I was not going to be in the headlines!

So what do you think did I transform trash to treasure or do you think I have trashed a treasure?

finding something under the stairs!

In the spirit of trying to complete some of the WIP projects I have around the house I blew the dust off a tin of blackboard paint that has been lurking under the stairs for a couple of years.  My original plan was to use it on a canvas I brought from the poundshop to create a "destination" board, it was for a Christmas gift but as usual I had too many projects and not enough time.

I was inspired to dig it out after I saw a big glass jar/vase with a big swoop of blackboard paint across it saying welcome.  I did a quick experiment on a couple of small jars to see if I needed to make any kind of preparation to the glass surface but they seemed fine.  Two coats were  needed though as one was a little too transparent.  The biggest jar we had is the one I piled the decorative tapes into last week so out they came while I got busy with the paint brush, I felt that the proportions were a little bit too wide so I have edged it with some nice washi tape I picked in Wilko

The canvas has finally got it long awaited coat of paint and I am keeping an eye out on my Charity shop hunts far a suitable frame.

Before you write on a blackboard surface it needs to be "seasoned" otherwise what ever you wrtie or draw on there stays in the background and "ghosts" through.  To season it you need to take a stick of chalk and using the side rather than the point rub across the surface until it is completely covered, you then rub down still using the side of the chalk, finally you  rub off all the chalk and you are ready to use it.  The reason for doing this is that the blackboard surface is very porous and this "fills" the surface.

I will not be seasoning the canvas as it has a textured surface, I have ordered a white chalk pen from Amazon  but it won't be delivered until sometime between the end of February and the middle of March so I have plenty of time to decide what I am going to put on there.

I am very pleased with how easy this was to do and I have plenty of paint left so I am looking round for other things to paint, anyone got any suggestions?

Winter whites

I have been visiting quite a few charity shops over the last week, but with my magpie tendencies this can sometimes lead to impulse purchases and they in turn can feed my imagination.  So when these classic white bone china tea cups and saucers caught my eye for just £2.99 I couldn't get my purse out fast enough!  it is only when I got them home and examined them that I realised that the cups and saucers are not from the same set, all the cups are from one set and all the saucers are from another! well they are a jolly good match and I love them.

I was thinking of popping a budding hyacinth bulb in each one, but when I went to Lidl this week they had little pots of tete a tete daffodils on special offer for just 50p a pot. Being a bit of a tight wad I thought that I could buy just one and put a single bulb in each cup but when I got it home and stood the pot inside the tea cup I knew that I would have to return for two more.

Inspired by this post from Vibek Design I wanted to create a display on my mantle piece that is predominantly white, although a bit of green was need for balance in the end. I went on a treasure hunt around my house in search of suitable bits and bobs, piled them on the dining table then tried to make a bit of sense out of them, who knew how many shades of white, off white and cream there are!

Not a freebie this time but at a total cost of £4.49 it won't break the bank.  I am pleased with the outcome and you can expect to see the tea cups in some future posts. I will get some shots of the daffs as they progress and put them on Instagram I am classicmini66 if you want follow.


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It was another chance to use the bleached pine cones I talked about here, it is a very simple process to do but it does require a little time for the bleach to take effect.

You can probably tell from the photos that I am still moving things around in different spaces and combinations and I will continue to have a look for a few other bits to go on there, I am thinking that playing cards might fit in somehow,but that is one to ponder for later.

I think that the black and white postcard was tried in almost every place and seemed to work nicely wherever it was placed. I have had it for a couple of years, it was brought in the sale from Paperchase because I loved the skirt.

Have you used any household pots to put flowers in or have you had any inspiring bargain buy ? I would love to know all about them, please leave a comment to let us know or a link to your blog if you are a fellow blogger.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend