Okio B Designs

Here's the first of my makeovers from yesterday's AmVets loot.  Remember these wood candlesticks before? Not very pretty.  And here's the after.   I gave each a couple of coats of Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in Louis Blue.  Once they were dry, I broke out some sandpaper and just sanded them in random areas for an aged look.   I love how the original brown wood shows through now.  It's just enough dark to play off...

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Hope everyone is having a wonderful holiday weekend!  I whipped up these candlesticks last week and just put the finishing touches on them this morning. I spray painted each one black to start.  I don't work with glitter a lot (mainly because I seem to get more on me than my actual project), but I wanted to make the smaller two stand out.  I covered them with Mod Podge and then just sprinkled orange glitter on. ...

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Ever start a project and end up scratching your head halfway through?  That's what happened to me with these fleur de lis candlesticks.  I picked them up from a thrift store last week.  They were originally white but a little grungy.  I thought they would look good with a chocolate brown makeover but... They went back to white.  I did indeed paint them brown but it was a flat brown and they looked, well, icky.  So...

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Have you heard of Unique Thrift Stores?  They are like one giant indoor garage sale.  I know they are scattered throughout the country.  This morning we headed over to one in Levittown that I probably drove past a thousand times and never took note of. I was like a kid in a candy store there and the prices were pretty reasonable - $5 and under depending upon the item.  The glass cloche with stand was...

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When I got my new Pottery Barn catalog this morning, I spied these wonderful newspaper text candles: Photo courtesy of Pottery Barn While I wouldn't mind stocking up on a few, I wanted to take a quick try at making my own version. I used this French newspaper image from The Graphics Fairy.  I printed it onto clear Avery label paper.  I trimmed the image down to fit each candle and then simply peeled and sticked. ...

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I always try to pick up a few of these wooden candlesticks when I go to Michael's.  Sometimes they have a ton and other times, I'm lucky to find one.  I'm working on some new styles for my Etsy shop but this pair I'm keeping for moi because I just love how they came out: First, I spray painted each one in my favorite robin's egg color.  A few coats later they were ready to be...

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