Anthropologie Zinc Look Letters

I love the "zinc look".  I wanted to do a big letter "C" painted like zinc to put on my mantle.  Now, whenever I'm at Michaels, NOT looking for large wooden or cardboard letters, they are everywhere.  You can find every letter of the alphabet, plus punctuation.  The day that I go to get my "C" - not a letter in sight.  Sure, there were a few little 3" letters, but where are the huge letters that, any other day, would be swinging from the ceilings?

I was so determined to turn something grey, that I bought a Peace sign.  Hey, as my Italian husband would say "whatta ya gonna do?"

I painted on a first coat with black Liquitex acrylic.  For the second coat, I used Valspar Satin Interior paint in "Almost Charcoal".  You can buy these little sample containers of Valspar paint in Lowes for $2.97.  They have really pretty colors and they come in handy.  (Tip:  They work well for gelli prints too).  I, sort of, dry-brushed the second coat, then rubbed it with a rag so that some of the first coat would show through.  Finally, for the third coat, I used Martha Stewart's Metallic Paint Specialty Finish in "Silver Polish".  I did the same "dry-brush then rub" technique.

Here's what I ended up with -

 

 I also painted a shelf.  I didn't use the black paint on the shelf first.  It was originally gold.  I just painted the Valspar paint and then the Martha Stewart silver paint.  I think that it looks very Restoration Hardware - esque.

 

 

 

The next thing that I plan to Zinc-ify is a little nightstand.   It's sitting in the middle of my bedroom right now, ready to be painted in the morning.

 

Peace, Cyndi

Re-painting Syroco

I've been "prettying" up lots of stuff lately.  Yesterday, I painted all day.  Today, the plan was to photograph everything.  So, of course, it rained all day.  This morning, I was able to squeeze a few things into a little sliver of sunlight on my deck, but then the clouds rolled in and that was it for the day. 

My photos are always better when they are taken in natural light.  I've tried to set up a photo area with lights and background, but the colors are always distorted.

So, since my picture taking plans were shot, I picked up the paintbrush again. 

When I first started re-painting things, I thought the easiest and best way to do it was to use spray paint.  Even though I was putting a coat of primer on everything, the paint seemed to chip if a breeze blew by.  Now, I'm brushing everything and I really like the way it's turning out.  Of course, it takes quite a bit longer,  but if I'm going to sell some of these things, I want them to look good and have strong, solid coats of paint on them.  I was afraid that I'd end up with brush strokes, but it turns out fine.

I just love the old Syroco home décor items.  When I was a kid, my mother saved Top Value and S&H Green stamps.  I loved to stick them in the book for her.  She bought lots of gold Syroco with the stamps.  We had the, obligatory, ornate, gold shelf, mirror, and candle sconce set.  (I don't think there was a single home in the 1960's without this set).  I also remember a set of large gold keys hanging on the wall.

Over the past few years, I've started seeing the Syroco being re-painted in all kinds of different colors and I really like it.  Here's a couple of my painted pieces.





BEFORE



                                                                           AFTER

                                                                                  

                                                                         AFTER


Here's some picture frames that I re-painted.  I still need to distress and seal the teal ones.  The big, greyish frame is going to be a chalkboard after I finish the distressing and glazing.  I can't wait to see how it turns out.  The frame is really beautiful.

Maybe tomorrow the sun will shine for a couple hours.  I have some vintage glassware and pottery that I want to photograph so that I can put it on Etsy.

Peace,
Cyndi