I picked up this little potato box a couple of weeks ago at a thrift shop. She was plain old pine, and not too pretty, but what I loved about her was her petite size.
These boxes can sometimes be quite bulky, which is fine if you are filling it with enough potatoes to feed a tribe, but for those of us who have just two in the house, this was the perfect size and I decided was a keeper for me.
I love this Sunflower Fields transfer from Redesign with Prima, and had squirrelled one away to my ever growing personal hoard, so I though this was the perfect project to bring a fresh field and sunshine feeling into the kitchen.
I gave it a through clean using Dixie Bells White Lightning, I used Dixie Belle Chalk Mineral Paint for this project as I love the way it works with the blending techniques. So starting with Mint Julep and Cotton, I mixed a custom colour of about two thirds cotton to one third Mint Julep, and then painted the whole box. I like to have a base of paint before beginning the blending. ( I could also have painted the top half in the cotton and the bottom half in the custom mix and this would also have worked well).
I left that to dry and then painted the Cotton on the Top Half of the Box and the bottom part of the lid. As I came down to the half way mark, I brought the Cotton colour down slightly on the sides so as not to have a straight line. Using a separate brush for the Cotton and the Custom colour and blending brush, I used a cross hatch type movement to blend the colours. You can see the whole process here in the Dixie Belle Live that I did. (Insert Link)
The transfer I cut and taped on to get a visual idea of positioning. When applying transfers to a surface like this which is uneven, in this case it is like tongue and groove, you need to make sure that you rub it on well to both sides of the indentation. When the backing paper releases, you will have a portion of the transfer that is floating above the ‘groove’ part. I like to come along now with a sharp Stanley knife and cut down the centre, making sure that the sides are now pressed firmly into the groove on each side.. You can use your fingers, but the transfer tool is great for this as it gets into small spaces.
This transfer does not come with stems, and as I was going for the fresh spring field look, I simply used a couple of Dixie Belle colours and hand painted the stems in. The drawer had a slight stain, so I used Dixie Belle Caviar on the inside to make it all fresh.
As this is going to be a practical ‘in use’ piece, I applied 3 coats of Dixie Belle Flat Top Coat over the transfer and the whole piece, using the blue Gator Hide Application Sponge and a soft brush to get into the grooves, to give it extra protection. I also applied it to the base of the drawer and top cupboard, to make cleaning easier.
I love this little piece, and it makes me happy when I see it in our kitchen. Painting should make you happy, be proud of what you create, no matter what level you are at, and remember not all makeovers have to be grand pieces, don’t forget to look for the small items and Happy Painting!
