Painting with Milk Paint

I found these two things at Goodwill last weekend - I took a picture of them together because the bracelet was the color inspiration for the box.

Here are two other "before" pictures.

Step 1 was to remove the handle.

I went to Hobby Lobby and I thought that I would get chalk paint, but right next to the chalk paint was milk paint - which I had never used and really knew nothing about.  I googled it right there in the aisle and decided I'd give it a try.  I learned it would paint flat and a little bit lighter and then you also buy milk paint oil and that will finish, smooth and darken the paint and give it a smooth luster finish.

Here are the paints I bought and if you want to try them, you can buy them here:

I did two coats of paint.  Here is the box painted with the milk paint. The darker patch in the bottom is the beginning of the finishing oil.

Here is how it looks when adding the oil - which you rub on with a soft cloth.

I really love the color and how it turned out - it is exactly what I envisioned!  I added plaid paper in the top and I'm crazy about how Christmas-y that makes it!!!  The cute gift tags in the picture below were handmade by my mom!

Next week - I'll blog about how I added the graphic to the top of the box!