A Review...DecoArt Chalky Finish Paints...

This post was originally slated for this summer but never made it out of the draft folder.

I love these paints though and wanted to share the post with you today.

I am a DecoArt Helping Artist.

I have used DecoArt paints for about 20 years.

I have always thought they were the best quality, consistency, and pigment at a reasonable price.

This summer I ordered some of the Chalky Finish paints to try them out.

My experience prior to that with chalky finish paints were with those I mixed myself.

And while I love my homemade chalk paints, this was different.

These are so creamy.

I ended up painting everything on my workbench that could use a little paint.

These hat boxes have been in every craft room I had for the last 20 years.

This summer when I was cleaning the studio, I almost got rid of them because I was tired of the floral design.

I brushed 2 coats of Chalky Finish paints on them and now I am in love with them again.

Even the first coat has great coverage.

Now my buttons have a happy new place to hang out.

And I like that you can still see the old pattern inside.

I painted  them in different colors.

While I was waiting for each coat to dry, I looked around the workbench and saw the pretzel container of bottle brush trees.

Usually I just turn the label to the back so I can't see it, but there was still paint on the paint brush, so I gave the label a few coats.

Then I did my other one too...

Hmmmm...

How about those little peat pots...

 I showed you how they turned out, but here is where they got started...

This jewelry box was originally headed for the thrift store.

I bought several jewelry boxes full of jewelry this summer at my favorite flea market.

While my brush was still loaded with paint, I decided to give it a chalky makeover.

I love the new pale chalky pink.

I left the inside with the original colors and pattern.

With it's new chlky finish, it is cute enough to be a keeper...

I strongly recommend these paint if you have not tried them yet.

They have a great consistency, super coverage and a great array of colors.

Thanks for stopping by...

Book Page Dresses

One of my very favorite ornaments for the tree are little origami dresses.

Made with discarded book pages and a few vintage trims, they are so simple.

I love adding little crepe paper wings that I stitch by hand.

I carry these in my Etsy shop Artistic Endeavors 101.

They look sweet  on the Christmas tree.

They make a fun package gift tag.

My plan is to get some more of these made soon.

I will show them to you when I do...

Thanks for stopping by...

Linking up with these great blogs...

Mason Jar Monday #1 Christmas Snow Globes

Last week I was inspired to start Mason Jar Monday from now until Christmas.

I am a long-time collector of Mason jars.

I love all colors, sizes and styles.

For today's project, I am using wide mouth quart jars I picked up at the grocery store.

I started by gathering painting supplies for the lids.

I gave each lid a quick coat of DecoArt Chalky Finish Paints.

I love the colors in their line.

Then I gave each lid a light sanding to distress them a bit.

Now onto the insides.

First I glued the lid and ring together with a couple drops of hot glue.

Then I hot glued a Christmas tree and a little rusty tin moose to the inside of the lid.

I added the puddles of glue and let them cool a bit for the moose.

Then I pushed the moose feet into the glue and held it in place. 

 I added a little more hot glue and held it until the glue was cool and hard.

I added some opaque white glitter to the bottom of the jar.

I did another jar with just one tree that was a little larger.

Instead of the glitter for snow, I used a piece of Styrofoam that I had grated.

I really like the snowy consistency of it.

I added a little to the bottom of the jar.

I also put together and assembled two more jars.

I added a little knob or crystal to the top of each with some glue.

This crystal came from the boxes my husband got for me this summer.

  I used a metal hardware ring to hold the glue and the crystal.

The crystal had a chipped bottom so I had to hold the crystal until the glue cooled.

For photography purposes, I set the jar on a mercury glass painted candlestick.

I think I will actually glue them onto some candlesticks because I love the look.

This little guy works from any angle because there is no front or back to the tree.

That is something to consider however when assembling your snow globe.

I did not think of that while I was gluing them together.

For this jar, I got lucky.

The moose lines up in between the designs in the jar.

I like this little snowy tree.

All the glitter and Styrofoam snow cover the glue at the bottom of the snow globe.

Here are both of the snow globes with the crystal knobs.

I used two trees in this globe.

One was a little too tall so I bent the tree slightly.

When you are screwing the whole thing together, shake the snow to be sure none of it gets pinned between the top of the tree and the top of the jar.

I used a little wooden knob for the top of this one.

I may paint the knob to match the lid color.

I used a variety of tree styles.

There were some trees and shapes that I did not use because they were too tall or too wide for the jars.

Be sure to check yours before you use them.

These were great fun to make.

They would make really fun Christmas gifts...

This is a proud part of 99+ Handmade Gifts...

Thanks for stopping by....

Linking up with these great blogs...

Burlap Pillow Cover from A Coffee Sack...

Having a daughter that is a barista has multiple benefits...

She can make really great drinks at home.

Sometimes she brings me amazing leftover coffee....

And she brings me coffee bags...

I love those burlap sacks.

So this summer I used one to make a pillow cover for a bench outside the garage.

This one has that great frog graphic.

I cut my pieces from the burlap bag to maximize the bag graphics.

This is my first pillow cover and I was determined to do it without a pattern.

This can be very rewarding or very frustrating... 

This time it was good.

Here is the back of the pillow

It looks great on the bench.

I am proud of my first effort and have plans for a few more.

I like that little twine tail that I left intact from the bag...

I took this picture about 2 months after I put it outside.

You can see the frog really faded.

I like the look but learned to try something to preserve it in the future if it will be in the direct sun...

Thanks for stopping by...