A Christmas Gift for Jillian

My DD, Jillian, is my Social Media Specialist for my furniture flipping business and is way under paid. Picture her holding up a sign that says, “I work for paint.” Not to mention the patience her DH, Taylor, has shown in regard to her time spent on the forum.

So I figured I’d grab one of the pieces she’s hinted that she’d like to have one day with a, “So…what do you plan to do with that piece?”  We find so many cool pieces, and she spends so much time on my social media accounts, how could I not paint her something for Christmas?

So here is the “before.” Nothing special, just an old outdated three tiered plant stand. BUT, “nothing special” can be so easily turned into, “This is amazing,” with a little paint and creativity.

BEFORE

I never did get any ideas out of her as to how she wanted it painted.

So I got a little creative and tried out some new products and techniques I’ve wanted to explore. I won the (afflinks) Key West Blue and Lamp Black in a General Finishes contest, so I have been looking for a project I could use them both on. On my way home from the General Finishes EXPO in September I stopped off on the way home to the Woodcraft store and bought the Pearl Effects I tried out in a workshop at that same EXPO. This was a great time to see if (afflink) STIX, a bonding primer actually worked too since the finish was glossy. Experimenting is such fun!

Materials Used in This Project

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Rags

Krud Kutter
Sanding Sponge
STIX Bonding Primer
General Finishes Lamp Black
General Finishes Key West Blue
General Finishes Bronze Pearl Effects

General Finishes Burnished Pearl Effects

Chip
Zibra
 
 

Using the Lamp Black as a base seemed the logic choice.

I painted it over the (afflink) STIX Bonding Primer, which by the way, really did stick. I cleaned and sanded the original shiny top coat and “sealed the deal” with the STIX.  I painted on a very thin coat of the STIX and it took 2 coats for the Lamp Black to cover the white primer, 3 in some spots.

 

 
 
After the (afflinks) primer and Lamp Black, I dry brushed on the Key West Blue and then the Bronze Pearl Effects. Plain old chip brushes work well to dry brush. On the top I wanted to accent half of the rim, so I used a paper towel and dabbed on the Bronze Pearl and then used the same paint dry brushed over it to blend it in a bit.
 

 

 
Randomly drybrushing the rest of the piece gave it a sort of patina-ish look. The turned supports…legs?… received the dry brushing well.
 

 

This is why I love paint that will give you some texture.

 

 

 
There is ample opportunity to play with the technique to get the look you are going for. Don’t be afraid to experiment. You can always paint over any “goof ups” with your base color and start over. At the end I used my strie brush to add a few more blue accents.
 

 

 

 
 
The final touch was to add a stenciled design on the top using (afflink) General Finishes Burnished Pearl Effects.
 
 

 

 

 
 
What special projects did you do for family and friends for Christmas? This was a fun one – and I did it in two days, experimenting, pushing dry times, turning on big heaters, staying up late…and it was totally worth it! Thanks for sharing in our family Christmas! I hope your 2018 comes in with a bang and you accomplish much in the new year!
 

Merry Christmas

Jillian & Taylor

We hope you like your plant stand!
 

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XXOO