milk paint Archives - Pretty Handy Girl

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Racing Stripe Mirror Makeover

While my sister and I were renovating the Topsail Beach condo we had a strict budget. Finding a large mirror for less than $15 was challenging until I found this mirror with potential. I know my sister was doubtful, but I had a vision. Some red milk paint, lattice and glue would make this racing stripe makeover complete!

To transform the mirror, I disassembled the top and cut off the panel portion using my Dremel MultiMax. I salvaged the top crown moulding and re-attached it to the new top of the mirror with glue and finish nails.

Then it was time to add stripes.

Materials (some links are Amazon affiliate links):

Lattice scraps
Miss Mustard Seed Milk Paint (Tricycle)
Miss Mustard Seed Milk Paint (Ironstone)
Gorilla Super Glue, Single .11oz Tube
ScotchBlue Painter’s Tape
Weight for drying
Tape Measure
Small block or Combination Square
Wet rag

Instructions:

Tape off the edge of the mirror where it meets the frame. Paint two coats of Miss Mustard Seed Tricycle red paint onto the frame. (See this post for painting with milk paint.)

After the paint dries, wax it or leave it unfinished. Mark the center of the frame at the top and bottom of the mirror.

Cut pieces of lattice to fit the mirror frame width. (I used three pieces of lattice and cut a fourth piece in half for the outer stripes.) Pre-paint the lattice pieces ironstone (white) and let dry.

Wet the frame and the back of the lattice. Apply a small amount of Gorilla Glue to the backs of the lattice.

Line up the center lattice piece with the pencil mark. Attach it and the other two pieces beside the middle lattice.

Use a ruler to create a space between the middle stripe and the outer small lattice piece. Glue the outer pieces in place.

Set a weight (or paint can) on top of a scrap board and the lattice pieces while the glue dries.

Remove the weight. Paint the top and bottom edge of the mirror frame white to create the illusion that the stripe continues around the frame edges. Distress the lattice pieces with sandpaper if you want a rustic look.

Hang your mirror on the wall and admire! Not bad for $15, two coats of paint, and some scrap lattice!

The mirror hangs happily in the twin bedroom at the Topsail Beach Condo. Click here to see the rest of the condo!

Hope you never turn down a $15 mirror again ;-).

Pin for later!

January 9, 2015/4 Comments/by Brittany Bailey

DIY Aged Chippy Paint Technique | Pretty Handy Girl

This is another one of those tutorials that I’ve been dying to share with you! Like sitting on my hands and anxiously waiting to type it out. But after taking 2 weeks off from blogging, I’m back and ready to give you this fabulous tutorial for achieving the aged chippy paint look on your next project.

Before I give you the chippy gritty, I want to give you the background story on those gorgeous corbels.

If you’ve been following along, I finally completed my 13 month kitchen renovation. The last task was installing two open shelves on the full tile wall. Finding the perfect corbels to use as shelf brackets was not an easy task. I scoured eBay, Craig’s List and salvage shops. I was really getting discouraged. That was when I met Garlan from Southern Accents Architectural Antiques at Haven. We talked for a few minutes and he showed me some of the corbels he had in his store. There were some wonderful old ones, but I felt a bit like Goldilocks. One was too tall. The other not big enough, but the biggest problem was that I needed four of them. Garlan showed me some new corbels that he had. He told me he has a guy that can duplicate any corbel design and can customize them to meet any size requirements. It was as if the heavens parted and angels sang! I was elated and couldn’t wait to find an image of a design I liked. But, again, the Goldilocks in me couldn’t find the “perfect” corbels. So, I opened up Adobe Illustrator and started to design my own unique corbels.

Chippy Paint Technique

I designed a scroll pattern based off of one corbel I saw, but also added some relief portions inside the corbel. I sent the image to Garlan and a week later he sent me a picture of one of the corbels. It was love at first sight! I quickly approved the initial one and waited anxiously for the corbels to arrive. When I opened the box, they were beautiful and exactly as I had pictured them in my head.

I set forth to give them an appropriate aged chippy paint look to fool people into thinking they were actually antique salvage. Here’s how I did it. Read more

January 10, 2014/47 Comments/by Brittany Bailey

Boy's Red, White & Blue Themed Room | Pretty Handy Girl

Every month Lowe’s challenges me to create another unique project to share with you. This month’s challenge was creative storage ideas. Have kids? This is a unique storage solution using a galvanized tub and a furry upholstered lid. It’s the perfect place to store and corral all that kid clutter in your child’s bedroom. The storage tub doubles as a bench and a step stool. Don’t be deterred if you don’t have children, the storage bench could be used for magazine storage and much more!

Grab these materials and tools and follow along with me (and my 13 year old assistant.)

Creating the Galvanized Storage Bench and Lid

(I’ve included affiliate links for your convenience. I earn a small percentage from a purchase using these links. There is no additional cost to you. You can read more about affiliate links here.)

Materials for the Galvanized Storage Tub and Lid:

Galvanized Tub (5 gallon or larger)
1/2″ plywood
2″ x 2″ lumber (cut to 2 – 8″ and 2 – 4″ sizes)
Upholstery foam
Spray adhesive
Old t-shirt (optional)
Furry fabric (or cheap throw blanket)
Staple gun
3/8″ staples
Sharpie marker
Jig saw
Clamp
Eye protection
Sander with 80 grit & 220 grit sandpaper
Electric carving knife
Drill with drill bits
Philips head bit
2″ wood screws

Instructions:

Turn the galvanized tub upside down on the plywood. Use the sharpie to mark approximately 1/2 – 1″ out from the edge of the tub. Read more

January 6, 2014/7 Comments/by Brittany Bailey

Painted Lampshade & a Quick Guest Room Makeover | Pretty Handy Girl

My mom was coming to visit his month. Since she’s a repeat guest, I wanted to give the guest room a little mini makeover for her. With the addition of some new pillows, curtains and a painted lampshade I gave it a new look in an afternoon.

Here’s the before:

And the after: Read more

October 30, 2013/11 Comments/by Brittany Bailey

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White-Washed Patriotic Flag Sign Tutorial

Learn how to make this White-Washed Patriotic Flag Sign and hang it with pride in your home.

White-Washed Patriotic Flag Sign Tutorial

The other day I was at the fabric store but after not finding that perfect fabric for one of my projects, I went to the other section of the store to take a break from it all. While there I saw a little sign that read:

This Is A Place We Gladly Call Home…
and for that we are truly thankful

Those words totally spoke to me! I didn’t buy the little sign but I came home thinking about how to create my own version. The sign was more expensive than the materials to make my own sign ten times bigger!

My sign came out beautiful, especially with the large American flag on the background. I’m happy to show you how to create your own White-Washed Patriotic Flag Sign! Let’s make this sign.

Materials:

(I’ve included affiliate links for your convenience. I earn a small percentage from a purchase using these links. There is no additional cost to you. You can read more about affiliate links here.)

Five boards – 1x6x6 or use pallet wood (6 ways to remove pallet wood)
White, Red & Blue acrylic paint (or leftover latex paint)
Star stickers
Pencil
Ruler
Graphite paper
Sander
Sandpaper
Brown Sharpie marker
Dark brown stain
8 Cup hooks
10 Screw eyes

Optional: Gold Sharpie marker

Instructions:

Cut off the tops to get rid of the “dog ears.” Mark the area for the blue square on the flag.

Add star stickers inside the square. Paint over the star stickers with blue paint.

Paint the red stripes next. After the paint dries, remove the star stickers. Give your boards a light sanding.

You can leave your patriotic sign like this or if you want to give it the white-washed look, continue.

White acrylic paint and water is mixed at a 50-50 ratio to create a white-wash. Apply three coats of the white-wash. Wait for the paint to dry between coats.