Patina Effect using Dixie Belle Paints

Hey everyone!  I have an exciting new product to tell you about.

Dixie Belle Paints has now came out with a way to duplicate the look of Patina!  Available in Copper, Bronze and Iron!  And I just love the way they come out!!

If you’ve ever tried to copy the look of patina on metal then you’ll be amazed at how easy this technique is.

Here’s what you need to know….

1. First is prep: on non-metal pieces, just paint any color with Dixie Belle Paint; on metal surfaces you need to use the Prime Start product first. (this protects the piece from corrosion)
2. Choose your ‘metal’ paint.  Either Copper, Bronze or Iron. Paint your piece and let it dry.
3. When the paint has dried, add a 2nd coat and while the paint is still wet you spray it with the activator spray in your choice of blue or green.
4. Now the MAGIC starts.  Over the next 6 hours the paint will patina due to a chemical reaction.  I am pretty impatient so I usually speed up the process with a heat gun.

The reason this works is because there is actual metal in the paint and the result is a True Patina not just a piece painted to look like patina.

Think of all the ways you can use this

• old figurines from the 70’s and 80’s
• glass vases and jars
• ugly metal home decor items
• wooden letters from the craft stores
• furniture
• and on and on!!!

If you are local to our shop, stop in for a lesson or a demo and the supplies.  Or if you’re farther away, visit our website (reclaymdmarket.com) and under the Shop tab you can order everything you need and it is only $9 flat rate shipping!!

HAPPY PAINTING!!

Kitchen Makeovers with Dixie Belle Paints!

This Spring and early Summer  was all about updating kitchens.

Before and After

Kitchen #1.  My son moved in to a house built in the 1960’s and it still has the original cabinets.  They’re in good shape and he’s not ready to replace them so we decided to give his kitchen an updated look with Dixie Belle Paint.

All prep work was done ahead of time, which basically consisted of a good ‘ole cleaning with TSP & door removal.

The color they chose was Hurricane Gray.  It is a True grey, rich without undertones of other colors.

So with St. Patty’s day dinner cooking, (Corned Beef and Cabbage, of course) We started painting.

The paint goes on smooth and dries Super Fast, so fast that the entire kitchen was painted in one day!! With 2 Coats!!! Boom! All Done!!

Me being me I forgot to take up my Satin Clear Coat so the finish was applied later… And they chose to go with Easy Peasy Spray Wax instead…. and who could blame them… Shake, Mist, Wipe, wait 30 minutes, Repeat! That’s It!

Now they have an updated kitchen at a fraction of the cost!  Looks beautiful!

 

Kitchen makeover # 2 was at my moms house.  She lives out of state, & I had a limited time there, so unfortunately I didn’t get to see first hand to entire finished project.  But the beauty of Dixie Belle Paint is its Ease of Use.

Together with my mom we tackled the cleaning, removing door, drawers and hardware.  Made sure to number them all so we’d remember where they all went back.

Now for the fun to start!  This was the kitchen of my childhood so I was so excited to change it up!  Mom chose Fluff as her color. It is Dixie Belle Paints whitest white.  Because we were covering a Med to Dark stain, with a shiny finish it took us 3 light coats.  My style is layering light coats as opposed to fewer thicker coats.  Just my preference, not necessarily the  “right” way but I have success this way.  After the paint has a day or so to cure we applied Clear Coat in Satin as a protective layer.

When we were all done and the doors replaced, (and I went home…) My mom finished up the last section of kitchen on her on.

Last week a got a new photo.  The next step in her makeover… Granite is in!! Looks so Beautiful! I can’t wait to see it in person!! Last up is painting the walls…

All Done!

As always, I hope you enjoyed this, and maybe even got inspired to do your own DIY project!!

Dena ~Re-Claym’d Market

Boring Vase No More

After

We all have those unused vases, you know the ones…. someone gave you flowers, now you feel guilty about throwing away the vase.  So, you put in the basement or the back of a cabinet to collect dust.

Well, here is a quick Up Cycle you can do to bring them back to life!  As you all know by now I am a rep for the Dixie Belle Mineral Paint company and recently they came out with a line of Metallic paints.  Silver, Copper, and Gold. So I decided to use them to dress up a boring vase.

First, as always clean and dry the vases, (or any surface you plan to paint) decide on the look you want, tape up the vase and get started!

I choose to go with a simple stripe look.  But other fun patterns would be polka-dots, chevron, silhouettes, etc.

This new paint line has a 2 part system.  A Base Coat and a Top Coat. First, I used the Silver color, applied 2 coats of the Base Coat with dry time in between. Before moving on to the Top Coat.  Again, use a second coat if you feel it’s necessary.  I wanted a super shiny look so I gave it a second coat.

Now simply remove the tape, clean up any bleed marks, and Enjoy!!!

No need for a top coat on this one…. Yay!!

Hope you liked this one!! Another quick and easy project for the summer!

Thanks for reading!

Patriotic Project

In honor of Independence Day, we thought we’d give you a quick little project that you can make to show pride in the USA!

You’ll need

1. Jars, I used Mason Jars but any jar would be fine
2. paint, I used Dixie Belle Mineral Paints in Bunker Hill Blue, Barn Red, and Drop Cloth
3. painters tape, brushes, sanding block and clean up supplies
4. Optional…. Best Dang Wax and Dixie Dirt (Dixie Belle Paint products) and Candles!!

Before you begin, make sure your jars are clean and dry.  Then decide how you want your colors divided up.  I kept mine fairly equal, but that was my choice, you can make yours look the way you want.

Tape off the area that will be your ‘white’.

I started painting the bottom 3rd first.  I used Bunker Hill Blue.  I was painting 3 jars at the same time so I painted all the blue areas before I moved onto painting the ‘red’ areas.

The top 3rd, of the jars is now painted Barn Red.  I chose to do it this way so that the top and the bottom portions of the jars can now be left to dry at the same time.

When the reds and blues are Completely dry… Remove the painters tape, and any paint bleeds, now you are ready to paint your ‘white’ in the center 3rd.  I chose Drop Cloth as my white color and because I did not want to risk pulling off any of my reds or blues… I painted on the Drop Cloth with a small detail brush free-hand.  It’s not as intimidating as it sounds and this is a fun little project so give it a try!!

Your project could be complete now if this is the look you like.  I like the rustic look to I grabbed a sanding block and distressed the painted areas to give it an aged look. Followed by Dixie Belle Paint company’s Best Dang Wax and Dixie Dirt.  (photo at Beginning is the finished project)

***If you’re not sure about how to use Dixie Dirt you can take a look at my You-tube video… (these were among my first videos Ever…. so bare with me, I promise they’re short- but informative)  Dixie Dirt Demo #1 and Dixie Dirt demo #2

Finished Jars came out awesome!  Add a little tealight and you are DONE!! You could do this with other colors as well.  Red and green for Christmas, pastels around Easter and Spring,  & maybe deep yellows, orange, and browns for Fall.  Have Fun with it!

….before I forget I wanted to remind you that the reason I chose Dixie Belle Paints for this project is because of the superior adhesion qualities and the coverage I get with ONE Coat, even on Glass!!  & because it’s non-toxic and 100% VOC free this is a perfect projects to do with the kiddos!! Message me for more info and how to order your own Dixie Belle Paint Products)

Thanks for Reading!!!

 

 

 

 

Adding a little Something…

Back in February I had the opportunity to travel to Florida to attend Dixie Belle Paint Company’s first ever workshop convention.   A new product was revealed to us at that time.  Swamp Mud…. so what is Swamp Mud??

Well, it’s a product that can be used in a few different ways, like to add dimension, repair veneer, to add an impression of a leaf, stamp, key, etc. and so on.  Very Cool!!

Today I’m sharing a simple how-to on adding some dimension…

Here it is

 Super Thick!!!!

I took a plain board, secured a stencil** where I wanted to add a “little something”, then I used the back of a plastic spoon to apply the Swamp Mud over the cut out areas of the stencil.  I chose the white color because I knew I would be painting it after and the color wouldn’t matter.

After you’ve applied the Swamp Mud, you’ll need to lift the stencil STRAIGHT UP to remove it from the board, (or whatever piece you are working on…) so not to smear the image.

The hard part of any project I’m working on is the dry time…. This one is no different, except the dry time is 12 HOURS!!!  Like torture to me…

When it’s Completely Dry you have choices, to sand or not to sand… I’ve done both, on this particular project I did sand.

Next, on to painting…. according to your desire.  Use any style or color you want.

Here is what I did.

I choose Hurricane Gray as a base coat, dry brushed Drop Cloth, highlighted the ‘raised’ area by dry brushing Peacock.

Thought I was all done… then… I got my latest re-stock order and ANOTHER NEW PRODUCT came for me to play with.

We now carry a more traditional wax, as a matter of fact it’s the Best Dang Wax… available in clear, brown, and black.  But the most exciting part is that we now have something called Dixie Dirt that works along with wax to add character and interest to pieces.  There will be a future post on this but for now here is the finished project, I hope you like it!

* a note on clean up.  DO NOT RINSE IN YOUR SINK! It will harden and ruin your plumbing!  Use baby wipes or wet paper towels to wipe off your stencils and tools used! Then simply toss in the trash!

** the stencil used is from Dixie Belle Paint Co

Thanks for reading!  Wanna give it a try????  Message me to order or stop in to the store if you are local!

What does sewing and wine have in common…

Here are 2 projects that I completed.  The top is the drawers from an old sewing machine and the other is a Martha Washington Sewing cabinet.

Here’s how the drawer makeover went.  They started out like this,  I had 2 sets that I refinished to match in case the same person bought both…

Here are the steps I used in this project.

1. Clean all the surfaces
2. Paint using Dixie Belle Paint in Dried Sage
3. distress the front details and edges using 220 grit sanding block
4. apply protective coat of Easy Peasy Spray Wax by Dixie Belle paint
5. last, lightly apply Black Glaze to details for interest.

While working on this project I discovered that the drawers are the perfect size to hold wine bottles! The drawers even lock if you want to keep the contents private.  How cool is that!  I really wanted to keep this one but I didn’t have the counter space.

Next project is the Martha Washington Sewing/Knitting cabinet.  This was a simple and basic paint project. The cabinet was in great shape.  I couldn’t find a makers mark any where on the cabinet but thanks to Google I was able to date it at between 1915-1930 as a reproduction.  The color was espresso, it was plain and very uninteresting.

All I had to do to update this timeless beauty was add a little paint.  I choose Dixie Bell Paint’s Dropcloth and only painted the drawer fronts ad top.  I left the knobs in their original color.  After I used Clear Coat Satin to protect the painted areas.   I this the look is much more finished and could be used almost anywhere.  As a night table, end table, at your entry for storage and so on.

Hope these inspire you to look at old furniture in a new way.

Thanks for reading!  Please Share!!

~Dena

“Holy Guacamole!!”

This has been a BUSY month, and I don’t see things slowing down for a couple more months.  Me and the Hubby just celebrated our 21st Wedding Anniversary, we took a mini vacation, plus planning and getting ready for my daughters wedding, all while watching my grand babies and continuing with my business and painting.

Now back at it….

I had a previous ‘paint class student’ come by the shop and asked if I wanted this piece…

“of course!!!”  

After I had the chance to take a closer look, I found that the drawer had an interesting joint, a Knapp Joint.  I did some research and learned more about this type of joining system, the approximate age, and other names for this type of joint.  (post and cove or half moon).  Any way it was developed in the late Victorian Era in post Civil War United States. Very strong and constructed using machines, so production was possible in a large scale factory setting.

This little cabinet had some Tole painting on it and I didn’t want bleed through so I coated those areas with Satin Clear Coat, after it dried, I painted those areas with the color I chose for the piece, Holy Guacamole.  One of the newly released colors.

Again I waited for the piece to dry and proceeded to paint the entire cabinet, 2 coats.  When I was happy with the look and coverage, I distressed the edges and places of ‘natural wear and tear’ with my mouse sander and went on to the next step.

I went with Burlap on the top.  Also a newer color.

Now for the NEW AND EXCITING product that the Dixie Belle Paint company released recently…

Easy Peasy Spray Wax!  Just like the name implies: EASY!!! Spray on, wipe off!  I used 2 coats on this, letting it dry completely in between coats.  I can’t emphasize enough how nice this was!  Other waxes I’ve used were SUPER LABOR INTENSIVE, not this one!!!!  And as a side note, it also ‘is low VOC, repels dust and grime, odor free, water based and eco friendly‘.  No other company has anything like it or even close to this available!!!

Lastly I painted the knobs and used the Grunge Glaze on the entire piece.  The glaze as interest and depth.

Now for the “Before and After”.  It is a always so amazing to me when I see the transformation that a little imagination and paint can do….

Thanks for reading and as always, I enjoy your feedback and comments.

Dena

Balloon Back Carved Chairs / Table / Vanity

Over the past several weeks I have acquired a hefty amount of inventory.  So last  Sunday I dedicated my day to transforming some of my treasures.

First up… I picked up these ‘Balloon back, carved Victorian chairs‘, they were in really good shape, but I wanted them to have a more modern look.

I chose to do these in Dixie Belle Paint in Fluff, the seat in Burlap, and then add dimension with Grunge Glaze.

 The fabric was painted!  Notice the subtle change in color, harvest gold to Burlap!  With Dixie Belle Mineral Paints this is easy!  Keep the fabric damp, and the brush wet; that’s it! Easy Peasy! (check out the calendar of events tab for class information if you want to learn how to do this)

Next I had this small table that I painted in the same colors.  Now they can be a set or stand alone pieces.

Here are the finished results.  I love them and I hope you do too.

Another project I worked on was a small vanity.  These were popular in the 50’s – 60’s, When they were sold they often had skirts around them, then to access the center drawer, they would swing open.  Unfortunately I forgot to take a before photo (so mad at myself) but any way, I removed those pieces for a couple reasons, 1- no way was there gonna be a skirt put on this piece, & 2- I like is so much better with out the additional wood.

I went WAY out of my normal color base and painted this one with Dixie Belle Peony on the base and Fluff on top.  After painting I distressed it, Clear Coat applied…. all done!!

I have some exciting new projects on the horizon.  A new technique that I’m working on and I can’t wait till have it all ready to share.  Stay tuned!!

Thanks for reading!

Old Stuff – New Again!!

A friend of mine owns a business named ‘Fabulous Finds’, she is a picker and often has Barn Sales that I enjoy frequenting….

A couple weeks ago I went to one of her sales and picked up a couple things.  One was an old chair and another was a short, iron, sewing machine base with a piece of wood already attached to the top.

Unfortunately I forgot to take a before photo of the base, but they are fairly common and I didn’t alter that part  in any way. (I’ll do better in the future) This was a fast transformation.  I added a high density foam pad, batting, and a beautiful blue and white Sunbrella fabric. I hope you like this one as much as I do.

Now for one of my FAVORITE pieces I’ve done lately.

I knew this was an old solid oak chair when I bought it.  I knew it had potential.  What I didn’t know was it’s history.  I found a label on the underside that read, “P. Derby & Co. ~ Boston”.  And off to Google I went….  I found out this was a Huge furniture company in its day.  It was in business from 1863-1935 and specialized in Windsor chairs.

  Now for the hard part…. I had to remove the seat so that I could reupholster it.  I know what you’re thinking…“how could you do that to an antique?”   Well…. the seat was beyond repair and I wanted to save it as a whole an turn it in to something someone will love.

 Now for the WOW factor. (well I think it’s a WOW)  I have a few feed sacks that I’ve been wanting to use and now I can!!!  These are two I was choosing between.

 The Flory’s Feeds is the one I chose!!  For paint I decided on Yankee Blue Dixie Belle Paint.

So after cleaning, painting, distressing, finishing and upholstering, this is the finished project!  I am in love with it!  I love the way the feed sack looks as the cushion.  A usable conversation piece!

 

Currently both pieces are available at Lavender Sky Gifts.

As always, thanks for reading!  Hope you enjoy the ‘flips’ as much as I enjoy doing them!! Stay tuned for more…

{special thanks to Nikki at Fabulous Finds in Hanover}

& Check out the Calender of Events for info on Re-Claym’d workshops, demos, and events

One BUSY Week!!

First I would like to say Happy Easter to everyone.  So busy this week,  I think I was trying to squeeze in a months worth of work into a span of 7 days.  Anyway, this is the first time I’ve had a minute to write and try to catch up.

I worked on 4 pieces that were begging to be updated.

   

All of these items were ‘re-Claym’d‘ to go into my shop.  The first item, the little end table was picked up by a friend of mine.  The color for this was a custom mix.  I was near the end of a container of Yankee Blue, so to extend the paint I added a little water. (perfectly Okay with Dixie Belle Paints by the way)  I still didn’t think it would be enough to cover so, seeing the other projects were being updated with Dried Sage, I decided to add a little of that to see what would happen… The result is awesome… It looked a little like denim!

So after I cleaned the entire piece, sanded the top, (it had been neglected in a basement for awhile, so it needed to be smoothed out) I dry brushed on one coat of my color mixture, the results…. Loved It!!! I applied a Satin Clear Coat.  Now it’s ready to move on… I could see this one on a sun porch, in a child’s room as a side table, or as intended as an end table.

Now on to the other pieces.

I did have to sand the ‘flowers’.  The texture would have shown through if I didn’t.  ‘

All 3 were in good shape and no repairs needed to after I put away the sander, I got busy painting.  I choose Dried Sage.  It’s a good neutral, sort of a gray with a hint of green.  When the Paint and the Satin Cleat Coat were dry, roughly an hour later I applied Grunge Glaze.  I love the end result.  And apparently so did the hubby, cause the Secretary won’t be heading to the sales floor…. He claimed it for our own storage/use.  And I’m okay with that!

The final results…

  

One last quick project I did recently, I wired a bushel basket into a hanging lamp… It sold in less than a week so I guess I’m not alone in my “crazy ideas that might just work” arena!

Thanks for reading!

and here is the last installment in the YouTube How To series on using Dixie Belle Paints ~ ENJOY!