Playing with my garage sale finds!

3 September 2009 4,072 views 19 Comments

I know I said I would post my weekend project yesterday, but I just couldn’t get the pictures I wanted! I took more this morning, and they are STILL bad. You’ll just have to imagine photo perfection here, m’kay?

First, the story: I was reading a blog post where a decorating genius took a Goodwill picture with a cool frame and created a gorgeous chalkboard out of a piece of junk. Anyone know which post I was reading? (If so, link us up in the comments!) I totally don’t remember, but I would imagine that there are about a bajillion of those posts going around, so whatev’. I’m not going to worry about it. Let’s just say, this is not a unique idea.

I thought it was a genius idea, because I had been wanting to have a chalkboard in my home to write Bible memory verses on. I showed the post to my husband, who also thought it was a genius idea, so it was go-time.

Three days later, God spoke to me. He said something along the lines of “Yes, Kelleigh, I know that it looks like a strange kind of garage sale. I mean, who keeps about two thousand tacky looking frames in their garage?” No joke, people. Two thousand. Maybe more. So, I pulled into the strange garage sale (because when God speaks, you listen . . . my husband is going to KILL me for using God as my excuse for pulling into a garage sale, so let’s just keep this whole “divine intervention” thing to ourselves, m’kay?). I looked at some of the frames. Tack-EE. Okay, so I did find 3 that were kinda cute, but the rest were bad.

Anywho. I looked in the back corner and saw a bunch of HUGE pictures leaning against the wall. I immediately spotted a couple of frames with pretty lines and a lot of potential for chalkboard cuteness. I bought one of them. There were two and I only bought one! Oh, what was I thinking? {kicks herself again. hard.}

It’s big. Maybe about 4.5 feet long? Nice.

Guess how much I paid. Guess. Go on. You won’t believe it.

ONE DOLLAR. I know! Crazy, eh? Obviously it was meant to be! I hauled that thing back to my little Jeep and it barely fit, but it DID fit, so it was totally meant to be!

I cleaned it up a little and sanded the picture part where it was coming up a little, then I primed it with one coat of stain blocking primer. I painted the frame with two coats of my free quart of Robin’s Egg Blue Glidden paint (they were giving it away in an online promotion a couple of months ago!). And, while I was at it, I painted the chair from my digital work station (which was also a dollar at a garage sale, by the way!). I will NEVER paint a chair with a paint brush again. Ack. It was a major pain. But, it’s done. And Robin’s Egg Blue, so . . .

It was BRIGHT, so I used a glaze that I picked up on clearance at Lowe’s a few weeks ago (about $4.00 for a huge container!) to tone it down a bit. I applied it with a paint brush, then rubbed it off. SO stinkin’ cool!

I painted over the picture using some chalkboard paint that I also picked up at Lowe’s for about $7 for a quart. I’ve painted about 3 coats and I have about 4/5ths of it left, so I have big plans for that little can!

Here is the finished chalkboard, hanging on my wall! (And this is where your perfect photo imagination skills come into play.)

Cute, eh? I have big plans for the wall behind the chalkboard, and I need to accessorize the bookcase, but it’s a work in progress! I know it totally would have had more impact if I had actually written on the chalkboard, but I couldn’t find any chalk, so . . .

And, here is what the chair looks like all tucked up into my digital workstation (which I showed you last week!).

I think I’m going to put a little “CREATE” rub-on on the top of the chair. Good idea?

I’m just SO happy to have this project done! Feels good!

What do you think?

Be Sociable, Share!

Tweet

(No Ratings Yet)

Loading ...

19 Comments »

suzanne said:

Oh, don’t you love it when something feels and looks perfect??? Those two do! adorable….and I laughed at the divine intervention comment…..haha.

Suzanne

[Reply]

# 3 September 2009 at 9:39 am

Kellie said:

I LOVE this idea! I’m totally going to steal it

[Reply]

# 3 September 2009 at 10:36 am

edeenut said:

very nice! I love how you lucked out with such a large frame.

[Reply]

# 3 September 2009 at 10:40 am

Dana Gustafson said:

Excellent! And yes, painting with a brush is major committment but at least you got what you wanted. The addition of the glaze is gorgeous!

[Reply]

# 3 September 2009 at 11:25 am

Alysun said:

I love the chalk board idea. It turned out great. I also have a quart from Glidden, a yummy sage green and I don’t know what to do with it. The glaze idea is also a good one. Thanks for sharing your inspiration!

PS I have also painted a chair with a paint brush and said, “Never again.” But the finished project is SO cool.

[Reply]

# 3 September 2009 at 12:03 pm

Sarah said:

LUV it. Now I need you to come to my house and help me out =)

[Reply]

# 3 September 2009 at 12:17 pm

Someday Crafts said:

THat lue color is heavenly. It is so calming and peaceful. I love your projects!

[Reply]

# 3 September 2009 at 1:04 pm

Jeanne said:

Fanflippintastic! I love it and reading your posts…to me, I feel like we are chatting over the back fence. *Ü*

[Reply]

# 4 September 2009 at 3:48 am

Amber Deets said:

This turned out just as you described. Great job!

[Reply]

# 4 September 2009 at 4:17 am

gail said:

wow! they both look fabulous!

great job!

gail

[Reply]

# 4 September 2009 at 6:28 pm

Cristina said:

My goodness, they’re just amazing! I love that blue and the chalkboard is pure genius!

[Reply]

# 4 September 2009 at 8:08 pm

Teresa said:

Oh, Oh, Oh. We have soooo much in common. Like you , I also like to find garage sale finds and turn them into something usable. What great finds! And your trash-into-treasure projects are beautiful!

[Reply]

# 5 September 2009 at 7:56 am

christine said:

EEK! Kelly, I love it! What a score! I love the chalkboard idea & even more love the robin’s egg paint!

[Reply]

# 15 September 2009 at 6:47 am

The Friday Haul - 9/18 | Kelleigh Ratzlaff Designs said:

[...] picked up the frame (10¢) at that weird frame garage sale where I bought the big honker. I planned to paint it white and put a picture of sweet Katie (my son’s BFF, whom I used to [...]

# 18 September 2009 at 12:24 pm

We’ve decked the halls! | Kelleigh Ratzlaff Designs said:

[...] if we move on into the “hall”/entryway, you can see what I’ve done with the “ugly picture turned chalkboard” garage sale find. I know I need more of that burlap netting stuff, but you get the picture! IT DOESN’T [...]

# 13 December 2009 at 7:20 pm

Kyle said:

http://www.thenester.com/

This is the link to the website I found your link on. Hope it was the one you were looking for.

I love the blue! The frame makes the wall look like there’s another dimension beyond the black. Wow!

[Reply]

# 5 March 2010 at 12:31 pm

A Little Boy’s Room Re-do for less than $25! | Kelleigh Ratzlaff Designs said:

[...] the frame and flip the picture over and paint chalkboard paint on the back of it like I did with my other large garage sale picture. Then, I realized that we are dealing with a 4-year-old, and there would be a big, dusty mess on [...]

# 23 January 2011 at 9:47 pm

The Friday Five: Too Many Chairs? | Kelleigh Ratzlaff Designs said:

[...] out with the two I purchased for $1 each at a garage sale. I painted one a freakishly bright “robin’s egg” blue, and it lives in my bedroom. The other is still the same wood color and lives in Cole’s [...]

# 29 August 2011 at 7:30 pm

Paper Bag Flowers! | Kelleigh Ratzlaff Designs said:

[...] There is SOMETHING on my entry wall! So much better than the nothing I had there after giving the chalkboard to my friend! It looks much better in her [...]

# 1 November 2011 at 6:07 pm