Making the Old New...then Old Again

I don't know if you're familiar with Pinterest, but I am seriously addicted. Pinterest is a website where you can "pin" favorite items, projects, books, recipes, places, etc. that pique your interest. You can pin your own ideas, but there are so many creative people out there, I just "repin" everyone else's awesome ideas. (So far...) I'm especially fond of the DIY projects.

Finally! Ideas for all of the junk we have lying around!!!

I now know how a seagull feels when it finds an open dumpster behind McDonald's.

For a seagull, that's a good thing.

For my Mister, this may not be good as I'll be double checking each load of stuff bound for the dump. Old doors, window frames, cupboard doors, broken chairs, and miscellaneous jars are no longer deemed junk here. In fact, some of that old stuff may even find a place of honor on my living room wall or hanging from a tree as a repurposed swing!

What Pinterest does is inspire. It inspires me with new ideas, but mostly it inspires me to finish all those projects that I've kind of lost a vision for.

My first project was an old toybox/bench that my mom-in-law gave me. First, I removed the hinges and the bench seat. The original color (when I got it) was tan. I covered it with an espresso (of course!) brown.

Once that was dry, I applied a coat of antique white.

After 24 hours, a third coat of paint, this time in a robin's egg blue, was added.

Once that was dry, it was time to make the new paint look old with a little sandpaper. The edges I took all the way down to the espresso brown.

A little clear varnish, and hinges that I spray painted "Hammered Black", and the old toybox was given new life.

"A chair for me!"

I told her it was a toybox.

Maddie's not convinced.☺