How I saved a 150 Year old Farm House Cabinet with CeCe Caldwell Paints

I have been lusting after this gorgeous antique cabinet that was salvaged from a 150 year old farmhouse ever since I first saw it. It belonged to some good friends of ours and it was never for sale. Every time we visited I would also visit this sweet piece that sat waiting in the garage for something.

My friends always were going to do something with it..but life happens.

Sadly, my buddies have to move and just don't have room to take this 7 foot tall and 7 foot 4 inch long goodie with them....good for me.

After trying for a bit to sell this piece via craigslist but failing I was able to pick it up. I was thrilled...although it needed alot more help than I originally thought.

But we all know the feeling...when you see something...regardless of the shape it is in...you can see it finished and beautiful...that is this kind of piece for me.

So..we added some new - old glass that was missing.

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We added new hardware which we tried to make look old.

The old rotten top was replaced as well as some of the backing that was missing but we loved the original patina. So the hard part was...how are we going to make the new pieces that we added - crown molding and more look like the original finish. That is where CeCe Caldwell Green Paint came in.

We used Alaskan Tundra, Vintage White and Destin Gulf Green to replicate the finish...so we layered and crackled and sanded and layered and sanded and layered and crackled and... well you get the idea....Until I thought that we had it looking pretty original.

Can you tell which is the original and which is the new finish?

So after 30 hours give or take she is ready for her debut at the Spokane Home and Garden Show.

I may add some baskets to the shelves below but other than that I think she is perfect.

I am usually very good about not taking home my work... but if I had a place she would live with me...alas, I have no room so she is ready for adoption. Maybe in your kitchen or dining room? Or heck, she would be perfect to hold all of your crafting supplies.

I love that this piece has been saved and I love that I was able to do it with All natural, made in the US products. 

What do you think?

My love affair with Vintage White.

Is it wrong to say that "Vintage White" is my favorite color? I mean.. white is actually the absence of color... or at least I have heard that... Never the less...It is my favorite color.

 I have long been a fan of shabby chic decor. I have heard that it is out of style and that wouldn't surprise me because I am not always in style..I know a big shock for those of you that know how fashionable I am.

I love the way a coat of creamy white paint can transform an otherwise ugly piece of furniture.

I heard that back in the day, that rich folks would take their old but expensive furnishings and put them in their summer homes. They would cover the old pieces, some with gilded features, with a coat of white paint to update them and make them more suitable and less formal for their summer places. Makes sense to me. Thus, the look was born.

Regardless of where it came from - excuse me Ms. Ashwell - I love it still and so do a lot of my customers.

Last week we found this poor orphaned china hutch. 

Yes, I know that she is outdated and not so...ummm...great, but she has good bones. Becauseof that we thought we would give her another chance. We covered her in two coats of CeCe Caldwells Vintage White. If you haven't used CeCe's paint, you should. I glides on and covers to well with no vocs or smell. You can paint inside which is a great thing when it is cold and blowing outside. You don't have to sand or prime either - even on this slick surface. You can also use the buttery wax indoors as well. It has no petroleum in it so it doesn't have the awful smell of gasoline that some other popular brands do.

After just a couple of hours of work including some light distressing and waxing this is what we ended up with.

She looks like a whole new girl to me. We got rid of her criss cross braces and look how she shines. She is now looking for a new home.

This is another project that was transformed with CeCe's vintage White. My hubby didn't even want to load up this monster of a dresser when he first saw it. He thought that it was just to ugly...but I saw lots of great storage....so load it up we did. Again, I chose white and I love how it turned out.

7 feet of 9 gorgeous drawers and storage space...looking great.

So maybe I am out of style and maybe I don't know all of the technical gibber jab about color vocabulary....I do have a love affair with Vintage White.

I am now a Wedding Planner. A little tutorial as well.

Ok, so maybe, technically...I am not a wedding planner...officially. But I think every woman at some time is or has been a wedding planner....whether we want to admit it or not.

I love everything there is about weddings. I love the beautiful decor, the delectable food and I love ...the love.

I adore looking at wedding photos...even of people that I do not know...I know...I can't help it. And it is not that I am a youngster...I am 49 ish. Weddings are just gorgeous and fun.

So when I heard that the theme for the Feb. Junk Show was White and Weddings...I was in heaven.

I immediately started planning weddings...at least decor.

A few of the things that I love in the wedding trends right now is vintage weddings. The other is how each couple is making their special day their own. Stepping out of the box with decor and more.

One of the things that I love about my work is taking orphaned things and making them into something different and beautiful.

So I took some pretty but otherwise fairly forgettable things and put them together to make something new.

I love how vintage silver and rust seems to go together. I know I am not alone here. I also love the clear glass. I took a couple of candlesticks and glass plates to make a cute little cake plate. I know, not the breaking vintage crafting news of the year...but I love the look. I also like the old, chippy, rusty white fencing that I added.

The other things that I put together were candlesticks and old insulators.

The old insulators can be found almost anywhere for next to nothing.

I just got a huge box of them in different sizes at a local junk sale.

Sorry I didn't take more pictures but I think you can get an idea.

After washing both insulators and candlesticks, you simply use E6000 to glue the insulator to the candlestick. You can use a bit of hot glue to hold everything in place until everything dries.

After it dries, come the really fun part. I ripped up some old linen fabric and used it for ribbon. You can add some bling or flowers or old buttons...GO WILD SISTA'!!!

These look gorgeous in a grouping and they are sparkly when illuminated with a little votive candle.

I will have some for sale at the Junk Sale if you are inclined to make your own. Along with lots of other fun goodies.

Come check it out. I know my Junkin' Sisters have lots planned too.

I am getting my party on here. Please become a follower of my blog if you like. The button is right over there to the right.

Keeping it Green!

Part of the reason that we love what we do is that we can take things that have been discarded or orphaned and make them desirable and beautiful again.

A couple of months ago a friend of ours, Don, found the top of an old cedar chest. It was beautiful but was missing the chest. It was just the lid - beautfiul but orphaned. He could not leave it in the pile to have the wood recycler grind it up, so he carried it home. He is a wood guy. He salvages any wood that he thinks that he can use. His garage is full.

His wife told me that he talked about this gorgeous piece of wood and planned and fussed about it for weeks. Finally, she told him to just build a box and so.... he did.

He built a box from reclaimed wood including the cedar lining.

He then brought this gorgeous piece to us to complete the process.

We sanded that gorgeous top and stained it a rich Jacobean. We finished the box that was so lovingly built with CeCe Caldwell Green Paint in Omaha Ochre.

We love the contrast and the outcome.

This little honey is now ready for a new home. You can't get much greener than this sweet piece of furniture.

Rescued, reworked and then finished in a great green product.

She is ready for adoption at Orphaned Decor....ready for a new lifetime.

Sorry we have no before pics....we were so excited to get this piece done...well, you know the story.

If you would like to try some of our new Ce Ce Caldwell paint on your own projects - you can order online - just click the shop now tabe at the top of the page.

Our new Sedona Red is coming out this week...with 13 more colors coming in the next few weeks.

I am sharing at these parties.

CeCe Caldwell Green Paint Available On LIne!!

We were so excited when we first announced that we would be carrying CeCe Caldwell Green Chalk and Clay Paint.

But....we are even more excited since we have received it and have been able to play with all of the colors. This paint is amazing!! It covers in one coat in almost every case. It has no smell, no odor that gives you the headache. The colors are gorgeous and so appealing.

The wax is unbelievable! There is only a light citrus smell. It glides on so smoothly - like butter. There is no streaking - even on the darker colors. It provides a durable, smooth finish.

I really can't say enough good things about this paint. I am addicted!!

I can't wait to use every single color and every singe wax application and.....well, you get the idea.

So, now you can order this great product online. Just click our "Shop Now" button at the top of the page and pick out your colors. We will have it sent directly to your door in just a few days.

But beware....you will become addicted!!

Someone was asking about a twin bed frame recently. Heres one fresh painted with Cece Caldwells antique white. Comes complete with wood rails and can be distressed if you like.  Perfect for your littl princess!

How to transfer typography with a newspaper.

I hope that everyone had a wonderful Christmas and New Year holiday!! We sure did.

So, I wanted to try something new that I have been seeing all over blogland. I have never done a tutorial before...partly because I just have really never thought of it and partly because I assume that alot of folks already know how to do this stuff.

I am always surprised when someone comes into the store and asks me how to do something that is all over blogland. So at the risk of being repetitive...here goes.

So I wanted to do a cute little table with some sweet French Typography.

I read somewhere that you can use newspaper to transfer images...so being cheap and inpatient...too inpatient to go to the craft store to get something else...I decided to try it.

First I did a coat of white on this sweet table.

I did just one coat because I am going to heavily distress this piece. No reason to put it on just to take it off.

Then I printed off a great graphic from The Graphics Fairy. If you have not seen her blog, you really must do yourself the favor and check her out. 1000's of vintage graphics for your crafting pleasure.

So all you do is put the newspaper down, put your graphic over it and trace the graphic with a pen...yup... that is it.

Now, let me give you a little advice. Try to use a piece that does not have alot of the colored ads or alot of blank space. The newsprint acts as a carbon. Also, make sure your paint is completely dry before trying this...I know, this is a given...just saying.

The newsprint did not come off on the table at all except where I traced. I have tried the pencil on the back of the paper and ended up with a ton of lead - which does not come off of the paint.

This is what you are left with.

Now, all you have to do is take a Sharpie...yup a sharpie...and fill in and trace the pencil lines.

My Sharpie kind of dried out a bit so I had to wait for a few minutes for it to rehydrate...or whatever you would call it. I think that the chalk paint sucks the moisure out of the felt tip.

After you are all done with the tracing...apply a soft wax. I usually distress then wax but in this case I waxed first to seal the Sharpie so the it won't smear when I distress this piece.

So here it is finished and waxed. I have not distressed it yet because I have to wait a bit for the wax to cure. Don't worry if the lettering is not perfectly, perfect. Once you do some distressing it kind of all evens out.

So, that is it. Super, duper easy and cute.

Now go and give this a try... I will show the finished piece tomorrow.