Upcycling Fun Fun Fun!

During the Summer school break, my granddaughter Evie and I were walking my dogs around Churchdown on bin day when we came across a dressing table and stool by the roadside.  Evie fell in love with it….broken mirror and hinge too and her comment “Granddad can fix it” meant we had to have it!

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Trev sorted the mirror and hinge and we repaired the chips, but I just couldn’t give it to her as it was…I wanted to play!!  Knowing how much I love to paint daisies…especially big ones lol…I knew I needed a strong enough colour for the daisies to stand out on.  Her room is lilac so a shade of purple it was!

dressing_after

There has been so much talk about Chalk Paints recently as they can be painted onto almost any surface without any need for sanding/preparation.  I had used Annie Sloan Chalk Paint on one of my dining room chairs and I must admit I didn’t fall in love with it…I struggled a bit with the consistency.  

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I had heard that the new paint mixed by B & Q…’Valspar’… had great coverage and was good to work with so I gave it a go…I LOVED IT! The coverage WAS good and it adhered to the melamine surface of the dressing table really well.  I did two coats before painting my daisies with acrylic paint and then sealed it all with two coats of Annie Sloan Clear Wax.  This gave the dressing table a finish without altering the matt look of the Valspar paint.
 
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I would definitely recommend having a go at upcycling something. It gives you a great feeling knowing that you have given a piece a new lease of life and you really can make it work for wherever you want it to go…no compromises on colour etc that you have with a purchased piece.
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I am thinking about running a ‘Daisy’ short course early in 2016 where I will teach my students how to paint different daisies…small and large over a few weeks.  Once learnt, these could be repeated onto almost anything…let me know if this is something you would be interested in.

Happy painting…
Dawn x


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