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!

Thrift Store Score - Citrus Juicer

Sometimes I need the juice of a lemon to put over broccoli or the juice of a lime to put in guacamole - I saw this juicer in Goodwill and thought it would make those tasks easier.   This was $2.99.

Then I looked how much it would cost to buy a new one - $9.99 at Kohls or Target.  Score!

Thrift Store Score - Books

1. CS Lewis popup book - I found this at a garage sale and since The Chronicles of Narnia are

favorites of mine, I wanted to buy it to introduce the stories to my niece and nephew.  My niece has LOVED it.  She's three, so she doesn't listed to the stories yet, but she loves playing with the pop-out 3D pages.

To buy this new would be $48.95, I paid only a few dollars.  If you have kids in your life and you can find this used - you definitely should buy it!

This is Hadley's favorite page!!

2. Musical Christmas books

There were a bunch of these at my local Goodwill in the summertime and they work perfectly - I bought one for my niece and nephew for Christmas! 



3. I've been collecting the Left Behind series in paperback version and it's been really fun to hunt for them.  I've found books 1-9 so far so.... I have only 7 more to find!
 

Thrift Store Score - Lite Sprite Tree Toy

When I found this at Goodwill, I had no idea what it was, but it looked like a diamond in the rough!  It was all dirty and the battery area was all corroded.  I cleaned it up and added batteries and it didn't do anything.  But after chipping away corrosion (thank you Dad) and trying it a second time, it lighted up and played music!  Pretty fun for my niece and nephew to play with!

If you were to buy it on Amazon, you'd pay $44.95 - I think I paid $3.99!!

Thrift Store Score - The Office Clue Board Game

I am a HUGE fan of The Office - it's my favorite TV show ever.  I watch the entire series on Netflix over and over.  I also love the game Clue and board games in general.  So when I saw this at Goodwill for $1.99 it was an easy decision to buy it.  It did have an "As Is" sticker on it, which made me worried that a bunch of pieces were missing, but I took the chance and bought it.

I opened it up to assess and every single piece was there - in good shape - in fact, it looked like the game had only been played twice.  Exciting!  Also a fun surprise - I paid $21.00 less than if I had bought it used on Amazon.

Thrift Store Score - Cafe Terrace at Night Wall Art

I found this framed Van Gogh print at Goodwill for around $3.00.  I've always liked it, so I bought it and put it up in my office.  

To buy this online would be $63.00!