Country style / shabby chic Pots Tutorial

How To Paint Tin Pots

Here's a quick tutorial on how to transform modern galvanised tin pots /plant holders into something a little more shabby chic and modern country style.

You need:
paint - I used Annie Sloan "Original"
wax - dark or antique
galvanised tin pots /plant pot holders
brush for applying paint
cloth or kitchen roll for applying wax.
scraps of fabric
hessian
fabric glue or pva glue
brush for applying glue

 

What you do
- make sure pots are clean (if already used)
- apply paint sparingly with random, messy strokes and don't worry if you miss areas
- lightly sand in a few places
- dip scrunched up cloth or kitchen roll into dark wax and apply randomly and sparingly in a few places on pot
(optional - I added a bit of loose compost that was in the bottom of one pot to the paint whilst still wet - a happy mistake due to my messiness!)

 

 

- roughly cut a strip of hessian 2 to 3" wide.
- fray the edges roughly, and twist and distort the strip to make it look a bit ragged.

 

- hold strip around the pot, cut to allow few inches overlap, brush some glue where the ends meet and stick down - overlap roughly unless you prefer a neater finish. You can also glue the strip to the pot if you want it to be permanent. ( I didn't as I found the fabric strip held the hessian in place pretty well.)

 

- tear strips of fabric about 1" to 2" wide, longer than the circumference of your pot - you can tie several strips together.

- tie fabric strip on top of  the hessian

job done.

 

Probably best for indoor use due to the use of fabric.

Maybe to keep your herbs in on the kitchen window sill?

 

There are of course lots of other variations you could play around with - I shall probably do a few others now I'm on a roll!

* * *

later the same day.........updated to show another variation.......the pink basil pot

two coats Annie Sloan "Antoinette", no sanding or wax, stencilled letters on hessian, tied on with jute.......

simples!!!!

you're getting the idea now....................

have fun!

 

 

Painted Table

 

Despite the gorgeous weather we've been having these last few days ( and hooray for that!), as well as being outside as much as I can I've also been doing a bit of painting.

This coffee table has been around our house for  a few years, and started life as the usual antiqued pine.
Then after a few years it was painted white with the top left unpainted.

Then I discovered Annie Sloan Chalk Paints and painted the whole thing in "Original". That looked good for a while.

Then a few months ago I bought Annie Sloan "Paloma", a lovely soft lilac/grey colour, with a view to painting my daughter's bedroom furniture - and as I wanted to test  it out first somewhere, the poor old table got painted again (although not the top!).

This week it was the turn of Annie Sloan "Versailles", a lovely muted country green that I was desperate to slap on somewhere - and the Paloma legs had only been a temporary thing anyway!


 

What I did

First I sanded back the Paloma on the legs a to show a little white, mainly round the corners, edges and turned legs where it naturally wears.

 

After wiping away the sanded dust, I then painted the legs and bottom part of the table in Versailles.

 

Once dry,  I sanded a little again where it would naturally wear, and randomly in other areas to allow the Paloma to show through a little in places.

 

Then I waxed the whole table in clear wax, and added a few random areas of antique wax.

Then rubbed on a little more clear wax where I'd been a bit heavy-handed with the antique wax!
( I used a cloth to apply the wax during this project).

Once the wax was dry, a good rub and polish and voila!
Job done.

 

And hopefully this time that's it.
NO more colour changes.

For a while anyway.

 

At the Flea market last week I found a couple of vintage mohair blankets.

Two for £10, and both such a gorgeous mix of colours I had to be greedy and nabbed both.

 

Both are a good size, large enough to use as sofa blankets on chilly evenings.

 

The late Spring sunshine seemed to bring out the wood anemones overnight.

 

They make a lovely show at the moment out in the front garden, so I took a few photos this morning to share with you.

 

 

 

Thank you everyone for your lovely comments and messages of congratulation to Bella in my last post, for both her 18th Birthday and for passing her test. She's a happy girl!

Hope you are able to enjoy some of this lovely Spring weather.

I have some more garden and flower photos to share soon, and I reckon it must be about time for a little giveaway soon as I notice I am lucky now to have just over 300 followers. So I think a  "thank you" is in order to both my new followers, and to my faithful older followers who've joined me along the way and now feel like old friends. Just need to think up something special!

P.S   Do pop over to The Vintage Sheet Blog and say Hi! to Heather, who has just published a guest post by yours truly!!!

Heather is mad about vintage sheets, and has a inspiring blog full of great ideas for using them, as well as regularly showcasing other blogger's vintage sheet makes. So it was pretty exciting to be asked to do a guest post - hope you enjoy it, and sorry to all my regulars who have probably already seen most of the "makes" here over the past couple of years!

What a week!

 

But in a GOOD way!

It's been a pretty exciting week here in our household.

But first.....working back from today.... a cushion that has been in my mind for a while has taken shape over the last couple of days, and finished off this afternoon after a trip to the dentist to have impressions taken for trays for teeth whitening - what a messy process that was, pink sticky gunk everywhere - yuk!


 

So this is the harlequin cushion cover, machine pieced in natural osnaburg and white cotton. Am pleased with the overall look of it, albeit the machine piecing was not perfect - practice needed I think!

 

I lined the pieced back, and the back of the cushion is made from osnaburg.

I plan to make more of these. Lots more. And in different colourways.

Still on the sewing front, earlier this week I made a cover for a footstool - no pattern, just scissors and fabric and tape measure, and it didn't take long to make.

 

I used some Laura Ashley fabric I'd had in my stash a while, in cream and green.

This footstool started life with brown stained legs and a rather dreary shiny fabric top.
So I painted the legs off white, and made a new cover, and voila!

 

Oh, yes, back to this morning. I forgot I'd put in some photos of this "find" in a junk/antique shop this morning (photos all uploaded in order so I'm weaving the "story" around them!) after the trip to the dentist.

Praying that I wasn't still speckled in the yucky bright pink stuff they use to make the impressions, I bravely stopped off in one of my fav shops and found this lovely vintage linen curtain.

In pretty soft, muted colours, it's one of those old toile type fabrics with bucolic scenes that remind me of the fabrics you used to see a few decades ago in old country pubs that still served a ploughmans lunch as the only food option.

 

It's a gorgeous linen, not a hunting scene but country vignettes featuring shepherds and shepherdesses, and little lambies (lots of cute real ones in the fields at the moment!).

 

 

Will be making lots of vintage cushion covers from this...........watch this space!!


OK, now onto the important stuff.
Here's a few clues.........

 

 

vanilla cupcakes with vanilla icing and fresh raspberries.......

 

 

The reason?

Our daughter Bella celebrated her 18th Birthday at the weekend!!!!


 

I also made a Birthday Cake which I forgot to take photos of as guests started arriving whilst I was still  finishing it off.......so well organised I am - not!!!

The cake was a moist, chocolate moussey one made from dark chocolate, ground almonds and lots of eggs, simply decorated with fresh raspberries and strawberries, and 18 pink candles.

Here's the Birthday Girl - 18!!!!!
When did that happen......


 

 

I think one of her favourite presents was this album which I filled with photos of her growing up.......


And if that wasn't enough excitement, a few days before her 18th Birthday Bella passed her Driving Test!!!!!

YAYYYY!!!!! Well Done Bella!!!

So this past week has been a week to remember, a week of celebrations, happiness and excitement!

 

We've also seen the sun a few times this past week too - most importantly, on the day of Bella's Birthday, so we could have our family party outside in the garden.

 

And today, Bella bravely drove alone to school and back for the first time, through country lanes and town traffic. I'm not sure who was more nervous...........

So. A bit of a milestone week for her. One she won't forget.
Nor will her proud parents.

 

Thanks for all your wonderful comments on my last post, so very kind and encouraging.
Very much appreciated.

 

Wishing you all a sunny weekend!