Sunday, November 15, 2015

JUST ONE MORE THING

As most of you know I have some serious health issues and cannot do what I used to do, but I do try to do one thing a day.

Each night before I go to bed I try to think of a project I can do the next day that won’t tax my breathing or make me nauseated or just make me feel bad in general.

While pondering all the pretty pictures on Pinterest the other day I came across a bunch of Milk Cans.  Now, I have two in my storage shed.  They were from the 1970s.  Yes, Milk Can decorating was really big back then, but they fell out of favor, hence, they were relegated to the storage shed.

AH HA!!!  I can do this.  The first thing was to get Hubs to dig one of them out.  UGH!!! It was really rusted and just plain dirty, and the original paint job I did in 1979 was gone.




Just bare metal and rust.  This called for a good cleaning and a really thorough sanding.  Yep, it took me most of Day One.  But I got it done, and it didn’t tire me out too badly. 

Day Two:  A really good wipe down and two coats of paint.  I used Americana Decor Chalky Paint in a color called Everlasting.  It is actually white, but not a bright white.





When it was thoroughly dry I went over it with very fine sandpaper to give it an aged look.  I wanted it to look like it had been sitting in a barn for a while, but not too much of a while.

I had bought some Lazertran transfer paper to make my own decals for the lettering.  After 6 hours on the computer getting just the right fonts and sizing, printing on the transfer paper, sealing the paper with spray sealant, soaking in warm water and putting on the Milk Can, I was sorely disappointed.  The edges insisted on curling.  Nothing I did would stop it.  When it dried it was worse.  So a warning:  Do Not Buy This Stuff – It’s Not Worth It!!!!!  An entire day wasted.  And I was exhausted.     End of Day 3.                         

Day 4:  Decided to go back to the way we did things in grade school.  Printed off the wording, got a pencil and rubbed it on the back, taped it right side out to the Can, and traced the lettering with another very sharp pencil.





End of Day 4.

Day 5:  Scrounged around in my stash and found a Sharpie exactly the color blue I wanted.  Outlined the letters, then filled them in.




It looks hand lettered, not perfect, but it looks good.  I added the fleur d’lis to the bottom just because Hubs is French ancestry.  After it dried for several hours, I sanded the letters lightly and rubbed chalk over it.  Yes, just plain chalkboard chalk.  Then I sprayed it with a clear, matte Sealant.  Let it sit overnight.

Day 6:  Made the bow, put in the plant and VOILA!!   I think it looks magnificent.  Just like I pictured. 

And because Hubs is of French ancestry the saying is in French – Bienvenue a la chateau duPree.  Loosely translated it means Welcome to the home of the duPrees.             




No comments:

Post a Comment