Playing with my garage sale finds!

3 September 2009 4,059 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?

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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

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# 3 September 2009 at 9:39 am

Kellie said:

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

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# 3 September 2009 at 10:36 am

edeenut said:

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

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# 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!

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# 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.

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# 3 September 2009 at 12:03 pm

Sarah said:

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

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# 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!

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# 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*

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# 4 September 2009 at 3:48 am

Amber Deets said:

This turned out just as you described. Great job!

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# 4 September 2009 at 4:17 am

gail said:

wow! they both look fabulous!

great job!

gail

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# 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!

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# 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!

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# 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!

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# 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!

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# 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