(Belated) Weekly Gift Idea: Beersoap!

I need to do a little catch up with our weekly gift idea. Last week I was too busy eating turkey and forgot to post some weekly gift inspiration.
I love finding local artisans and crafters to feature in the store. This week we are giving a nod to neighbors up north in Menomonee Falls, WI. Milwaukee Beer Soap is a husband and wife team. Jim makes the beer and the soap.
 This is a perfect, unique gift, popular with men and women alike. These soaps smell amazing! Seriously, they fill a room with a great scent. We currently have three to choose from, Clean and Sober ;-), Oatmeal Stout, and Solomon's Bay Rum. I can't even choose a favorite, so you will have to come smell for yourself.

Here are a few pictures of this great product. They even come with a fact sheet to include in your gift wrapping.

At $6.50 it's a bargain as well!

So, if you're looking for something different and you like to support local crafters come in and grab one before they are gone. (It will happen. We already sold out once.)

Mixing My Own Chalk Paint

Well hopefully everyone had a great holiday weekend! We are back in town with a lot of exciting items coming in this week. Look for a post Friday filled with new projects and consignment.

But, for now, I'd like to show you how my experiment with chalk paint mixing went down. After several hours of research and trial and error, I have learned that either plaster of paris or non-sanded grout can be mixed with regular old 50 cent latex mess-ups from the hardware store. Both add-ins give you the great results of chalk paint. There were many recipes out there...but I'm not big on recipes. I just mixed a few tablespoons of plaster of paris with a little water and when it was smooth, added it to the paint in old ASCP 4oz container that I saved and stirred. I was looking for the consistency of the store bought chalk paint. It's just a little thicker than the regular stuff. What I got was great coverage and the smooth when waxed feel of ASCP without the price tag.

Here are some of the pieces I've been working on.

Here's our vintage rocker before...

And after with the plaster chalk paint mix. 

The paint covered that dark red stain beautifully. 

Here's the chair after being distressed and waxed.  

To get this look- I wiped away the paint with a damp cloth when it was not quite dry to avoid the mess that comes with sanding. Then I added a little bit of dark glaze over the distressed areas  and waxed the whole thing when it was dry. 

And here's a nice wood framed mirror with an ugly coat of green. 

I'm not sure what happened here, but it looks like someone added oil over latex paint or something. 

But the chalk paint is up to the challenge. It covered the scary paint job nicely.  I'm going to add a glaze and show you the reveal Friday. 

So for anyone who loves the look of chalk paint, but is trying to avoid the high price tag, mix your own. I tried it. It works!

Weekly Gift #3 Soy Candles Anyone?

Hi everyone. Today I would like to feature a beautiful line of candles that just hit the shelves at our store.  The Nicolet Candle Company uses recycled bottles as the holder for their perfectly blended soy candles. The great thing about the candles is that they burn clean so you can use the bottle as a drinking glass when your candle is gone. When burned these candles fill the room with a fragrance so delicious, in some cases, they smell good enough to eat.

Here are a few pictures of the sizes and colors available.

Blue Glass Available sizes: 6.5 oz for $22 or 14 oz $34
Available scents: Rosemary Mint and Pineapple Cilantro

Limited Edition Beach Glass 6oz $22 or 14oz $34
Available scents: Cinnamon Vanilla or Rosemary Mint

Amber Glass Available in 6oz $22 or 14 oz $34
Available scents: Cedar and Pine or Cinnamon Vanilla

In addition to these up-cycled bottle candles, Nicolet Candle Company makes a line of one of a kind wooden tea light holders. Crafted from pine trees, these candle holders will add rustic charm to any decor. 

The large size is $49 and small are $29

$69

I love the rings in these branches. $29 and $39

The two little twins are $30 for the pair. 

Come see these in person, they are each so unique!

My Biggest Refinishing Challenge Yet- Leather-topped Desk

Since opening in July I have learned A LOT about refinishing and repainting furniture. It's been a great experience and I feel much more confident lately. But then my neighbor brought in a large leather-topped desk in really bad shape and asked that I make it my next project. Wow, it needed a lot of love. The leather was burned in places and the wood was scratched and dented, AND it was missing a drawer. He wanted it to have a mahogany look and new black leather for his library.

I went to work researching how to replace leather and re-stain antique wood. There wasn't a lot of how-to's so I have added this one to help anyone out there with similar projects.

To the pictures!

                

As you can see I had my work cut out for me. I decided to use Poly-shades by Minwax so I wouldn't have to completely  strip the old stain. This an old piece and stripping brings the value way down on antiques.

Here's the original color. My customer wanted mahogany...

First, I sanded with 220 sandpaper and wiped off the dust.

Here's how the Minwax stain looked when dry. Amazing difference, right? And it had poly-urethane in the mix so I saved a step. 

Ok, so sanding, filling, and staining was the easy part. Now to my main concern- the leather top. At first I thought I might be able to save the leather, but it was too damaged. But if you do find a leather topped piece of furniture with minimal damage you can buy leather conditioner and that should save it.
Here are the pictures of the leather I was working with...

I'm not sure what was done to this desk, but there were huge circular burns and gouges. I couldn't save it, so after some research the first recommended step was to put stripper on the leather to make removal easier. An hour of struggling with the leather later, stripper was not helping. I then decided to try heat (which worked with the contact paper table). And to my relief, my trusty hair dryer did the job again.

An hour of struggling and I wasn't getting anywhere with stripper. 

Look how easily the leather came off with a little heat. I had the dryer set to medium and held it on each section for a few seconds. If the heat is too high is melts the leather making removal more difficult. 

This was the corner I struggled with before I tried using heat so I had to patch the scratches with wood filler before I added the leather.
I added a black leather piece to the desk with cement adhesive I cut a piece a little large than the space. After gluing the middle of the leather first, I trimmed the excess leather with an Exacto knife and glued the edges last. Some black leather shoe polish and the leather top was as good as new. You can order a new leather top online, but that was out of my customer's price range so I used nice furniture leather. 

Here's the black leather with a custom glass top that I ordered. 

And here's the finished product. We ended up cutting a piece of wood and staining it mahogany to cover the missing drawer. Other than that the desk was as good as new. 

Weekly Gift Idea Edition 2

Last week I featured the dainty antique sewing basket we have for sale.
This week I wanted to share a more manly gift idea. Men are so hard to shop for after all.
So without further ado- Jewelry for Men! Not quite as manly as power tools, but more so than the pearls sharing the display case.

Add a touch of old-school charm with one of the following...

Swank Brand Tie Clip 14.99

Round Gold Cufflinks 9.99

Art Deco style Cufflinks 9.99

Square Gold Cufflinks 9.99

For the classy man who has everything. Come see them at Galeria CTR.

Annie Sloan Chalk Paint Reveal!

 Here are the promised pictures of my Annie Sloan chalk paint reveal. I had two pieces of children's furniture that were cute, but needed some personality. Who better to assist with that than the famous Annie Sloan.

I had read countless blogs praising chalk paint, but this brand especially. I tested it out to find out if all the hype was valid. I have to say while expensive, Annie Sloan did live up to all of it's fame. It was great coverage, easy to distress, and looks great when waxed.

Here's the transformation of these pieces.

This message brought to you by Annie Sloan Chalk Paint. 

Remember this guy? Cute, but boring

After a coat of blue latex on the outside and white chalk paint on the inside.
I actually distressed both paint the same way. I took a damp cloth and wiped paint away before the paint was completely dry. 

Here's a close-up of the overlapping paint.  After I wiped the areas where I wanted wood to show I wiped oak stain on. Then I finished off the distressing job with Minwax Paste finishing wax and buffed.

Here's the little rocker. I used two coats of Antique White and then wiped away areas that would have wear and tear naturally. Again Minwax Paste Finishing Wax came next. I let it dry for 20 minutes and then buffed to a nice sheen. 

It can be yours for $49

I love how this little one turned out!
$75 

Not bad for my first time. Even though I did enjoy the Annie Sloan paint, the price tag is still a little rich for my taste. So my next experiment will be to blend my own chalk paint. 

More to come on that later...

Annie Sloan Chalk Paint Teaser...

So I have been doing a lot of research on the best paint for distressing and getting that beautiful worn-in look that's so popular these days. One name keeps coming up over and over- Annie Sloan. I'm sure you've heard of her. ASCP is everyone's favorite it seems. So I bit the big price sticker bullet and bought- a sample. (Hey, I'm a cheap 50 cent oops pant kind of girl.) I couldn't commit to the investment of a quart until I knew if Annie lived up to the hype.

I needed something to test the ins and outs of this chalk paint trend.
Here are the two pieces I felt comfortable practicing on.

Children's furniture seemed perfect to test on- small, and possessing the charm that chalk paint can enhance. Here goes...

To be continued. :)

Weekly Gift Idea: Antique Sewing Basket

With Halloween officially over, it seems Christmas season has begun. To get in the spirit we are starting a weekly feature on a specific piece that would make a great, unique gift.

To kick off this week we are featuring our musical antique sewing basket. It is perfect for any sewing, crocheting, or knitting enthusiast in your life. A surprise feature of this basket is the music box addition. Still in perfect working condition the basket will play you a soothing rendition of "There's No Place Lie Home". A one of a kind gift for the bargain price of 34.99! Can't beat that.

This little beauty got a fresh coat of stain and polyurethane. It looks as good as new. 

Red fabric inside and a pin cushion on top. 

Made in Japan. 

Come see it at Galeria CTR!