Elizabeth & Co.

Tuesday, June 21, 2011

Seven Giveaway Winners!

Happy first day of summer everyone! It's time to announce the winners of our first birthday giveaway. Thanks so much to everyone who entered. We so appreciate your support and we're thrilled to have you along for the ride!

Our grand prize winner is Classic.Casual.Home! You will receive a personalized sign made just for you by the talented Andrea at Signs by Andrea. This is the gorgeous sign that Andrea made for me. The rustic wood gives it a wonderful aged feel. I just love it! And Andrea has generously offered a $5 discount on any sign ordered through the next week. Just enter code E&C5OFF in the comment section of the order form. Andrea's signs make wonderful personalized gifts for weddings and other celebrations, so head on over and check them out! Thanks so much to Andrea for her generosity!

And because we love cupcakes around here, we're also sending along some cupcake goodies so you can have your own little party!

And because we reached 700 followers just in time to celebrate our birthday, these six additional winner will receive some cupcake goodies of their own!

Terry @ Forever Decorating

Sherry @ No Minimalist Here

Lily Dily

Red Gate Farm

Andi @ Jane of All Crafts

Linda @ Coastal Charm

Congratulations to all seven winners. Please email me your mailing address and we'll send your goodies on their merry way!

Thanks so much for being here!

Sunday, June 19, 2011

Susan's Chalk Paint Projects

All the girls here at Elizabeth & Co. are experimenting with chalk paint. Today I'm sharing Susan's first projects. She started with a very nicely detailed cabinet and some Old White and Louis Blue paint. And what a beautiful result!

Susan hates prep work, so the chalk paint is a big hit with her.

She also likes the way the chalk paint distresses so easily.

After painting, Susan used her trusty Minwax clear wax for a smooth finish.

I think this little tag says it all! And no, this sweet little cabinet is not $510. That's just Susan's inventory number.

Sooooo pretty!!!

And while she had the paint out, Susan used Old White on this table.

And Louis Blue on this one.

Great job Susan! Thanks so much for sharing.

And one last reminder. You still have a few more days to enter our first birthday giveaway. You could win a personalized sign custom made just for you by the talented Andrea at Signs by Andrea and some cupcake goodies from the girls here at Elizabeth & Co. You can enter and check out all the details right here. Seven winners will be announced on Tuesday, June 21st, the first day of summer!

I'm linking to...

Show and Tell at Blue Cricket Design

Monday, June 13, 2011

Green Cottage Dresser

I just love cottage style dressers and this one is such a sweetheart!

She started out a little sad with just one pull, which of course made it very hard to get the drawers open.

She had some damage on the top and she was missing her mirror, but that turned into an opportunity for a cute detail.

A little wood filler and an old bed support board cut to size came to her rescue.

And this bright and happy green was just what she needed to shine again.

After just one coat, she's already looking so much better.

And here she is all ready for her photo shoot.

After the repair work, she got two coats of the chalk paint and a light distressing. I used the Annie Sloan clear and dark waxes again, but this time I tried a different technique. After covering the whole piece in the clear wax, I took a second small brush and just rubbed a little bit of dark wax in select areas. Then I used the brush with the clear wax to blend it in really well. Remember that it is recommended that you not put the dark wax directly on the paint as it will permanently stain the paint and then you can't work the darkness back out. This two brush technique worked much better for me, although the wax still took several days to set-up to a point that I could buff it smooth. But overall, I'm thrilled with the result!

I found a whole bunch of these knobs at Marshall's a few months back, so I stocked up. They are cute and go with everything!

Look how cute that little ledge looks on the back. Perfect touch for a cottage dresser!

I love everything about this dresser! It's my personal style and I think the color is really cool. Just imagine how this bright pop of color would brighten up a neutral room!

I had several questions after my last post about how far a can of chalk paint goes. This particular dresser really soaked up the paint. As you can see, it used a little more than half of the can. But of course with the chalk paint, you can skip the primer step. And as for the wax on the previous dresser, it took about a week to get to the point that I was really happy with the buffed out finish. If you paint a good bit of furniture, my recommendation is to enjoy the process and experiment with different products to find the ones that work best for you. Each of us here at Elizabeth & Co. is experimenting with the chalk paint and different waxes, so stay tuned.

And with that in mind, I wanted to share this sweet retro desk from Katie at Craptastic. When I first saw it, I thought this was a chalk paint project too. But in fact, Katie used Palm Leaf by Valspar. So you see that you can achieve very similar looks with different products. Now go out there and have fun painting!