Welcome to my blog!

Thanks so much for stopping by! I believe that everyone can have a beautiful home without spending a fortune! One of my favorite things to do is find creative ways to re-purpose things I already have on hand, or have picked up at yard sales and thrift stores. Join me as I share with you some of my favorite ideas for crafting and decorating, as well as travel adventures, and fun things that I pick up on my treasure hunts! Much of my work is influenced by my love all things French, nature, and of course shabby chic! I have gotten so many creative ideas from you very talented bloggers out there, and I hope that I can be an inspiration to you as well!

Sunday, August 8, 2010

Singin' the Blues

The color blue, that is!!

I have been on a blue kick lately, and thought I would share with you some of the projects that I've been working on lately that I have painted various shades of blue.  Don't worry!  I still am in love with heirloom white!  It's always fun to try new things and venture out of my formerly "let's paint everything in sight white" comfort zone!
Ok, I was a bad blogger and didn't take a "before" picture of this little mirror,which I found the other day at the Good Will.  I was so excited when I found it hidden amongst some really ugly & boring picture frames!  Can you believe that it was originally white?!  It felt almost sacrilegious to paint it blue, as you know how I am in love with all things creamy white!  Anyway, I painted and distressed it & put her in my Etsy shop.  I really love how it looks like a vintage tin ceiling tile!

I also painted these cute little picture frames the other day.  I first showed them to a week or so ago.  Here is what they used to look like before their much needed makeover.  This turned into one of those learning from your mistakes projects!  First off, I wish that I had painted them with spray paint, as there are so many nooks & crannies to try & cover. But no, I like doing things the hard way (ha!), and decided to use craft paint, which took forever, seeing that I primed and followed with two coats of the blue.  I then used my Ralph Lauren glaze in "smoke", and for some reason, that shade does not work very well with this shade of light blue at all!  The frames looked dirty, and I was not at all happy with them!  Phooey!  So I ended up repainting them by hand with the craft paint.  I thought this project would never end!

I painted this cast iron trivet (spray paint, so much easier!) a pretty aqua from Rustoleum.  Then I followed with Ralph. I really like how the glaze gave the trivet so much more dimension. Here is what it looked like before:
Not bad, but definitely room for improvement!

I am constantly amazed at how paint can transform just about anything!  What have you painted lately?

15 comments:

Anita @ GoingALittleCoastal said...

They all look great in blue. But I especially love the first mirror. Really pretty details.

Christine said...

Love the blue! The trivet is my favorite. I just painted a mirror for my daughter's room (it's blue!). I'll be posting in the next couple of days about it!

Leo said...

Hi Donna - I love blue too. That is the primary color in my house. So I am going to check out your Etsy Shop again this week...I love your stuff. I may have to grab that frame.

Sandi said...

Hi Donna,
I think they look woderful blue. Gotta have a little change once in awhile. lol.

Thanks for stopping by my blog. If you would link your email to your blog, I could email you back that way too.
I LOVE Marshall too! And yes, definitely YES we went into several shops. They just happened to be having sidewalk sales at the little shops too so I will be sharing my goodies soon. Probably have a good two more posts left about that beautiful town!!! We are going back soon!!
Blessings~
PS Have not at at that restaurant yet, but did get pictures and we were told all about it AFTER we ate at a deli. :)

Karen The Graphics Fairy said...

Great color choices Donna! Everything turned out so pretty!
I wanted to let you know that I'll be bragging about you tomorrow. I'll be featuring your beautiful card on my Brag Monday post!

Linda @ Itsy Bits And Pieces said...

I love how your mirror turned out, Donna~ such a beautiful color! I saw from the comment before me, that you're going to be featured on Brag Monday! Congratulations!!

Terry said...

Thank you for visiting my blog! I love what you are doing with your treasures! Love the visiting of your blog also! Have a great week!

Jacqueline said...

What great blue treasures, I really love all the aqua these days. I also peeked at your lemon curd and my mouth was watering too. I haven't made my own, but I love it so much I need to try. I have a lot of lemons so maybe today is a good day, after I finally get to bed....

Unknown said...

LOVE the blue!
Talking about you on my blog dear!
Frenchy

Christine said...

Glad you like my "trio"...Stickles (Tim Holtz) are these little bottles of glittered glue that you use to add accents to projects. I love them so much I will post about them at some point. The distressed line of them is my favorite, though...
Christine

GranthamLynn said...

Hi Donna I just love your blog. And I love your blue mirrors. I was wondering if I could use your photo in my Blue Monday post for next week. I will link back here and give you credit. I'll post at MyHomeSanctuary do Blogspot
Come by and visit. I am having a give a way this week you might want to enter.
Have a great week,
Sherry

Anonymous said...

Hi Donna,
These are some great transformations! I love that first mirror with the vintage ceiling tin frame! Everything looks great in these oh-so-soft shades of blue. Beautiful!
~ Jo :)

Cindy Adkins said...

Hi Donna,
I've been doing everything in this blue for the past four weeks..I tell you, girl, we think alike! So fun!
I love seeing everything you do...you have such absolute flair and an eye
for style...love it all!!
AND it matches your blog perfect...I know if we lived close we'd go out for a coke and be having so much fun talking about all our art plans and how we're going to change the world (or at least our corner of it!)
Hugs,
Cindy
xoxox

Anita @ GoingALittleCoastal said...

Thanks for stopping by Donna. I always forget you are "noreply" and I try to email you back each time!

The blue bottle came from the huge estate sale I went to. You should have seen how many bottles that were there! Regretting not buying more.

mizdarlin said...

You are making me feel guilty..I recently bought a pretty curved wire gazebo thingy and have been meaning to paint it black, for displaying my earrings at craft fairs..but haven't done any this summer cuz it's so darn hot here!
So instead, I look at it sitting near the door to the balcony where painting is done, and feel guilty..and you just made it worse..okay, maybe tomorrow...