Although I wasn't able to find any grain sacks that were in good condition-I did find a few items I could use for future projects-(a chippy red shutter, a window(the glass was broken), and a small wooden tool box. I have to say-even though I was disappointed that I hadn't found what I came for- I was smiling from ear to ear, as I made my way back to the truck with the treasures I had found.
Hubby on the other hand-was NOT impressed!!!
"What in the h... are you going to do with that....junk???" he growled, as I carefully placed them into the back of the truck.
I hate that word-(junk), and hubby darn well knows it!!!! Which is why I ignored his ranting about 'him not helping with any more projects', and something or other about, 'that crap isn't going in the garage, that's for sure', and headed for the back porch to grab another treasure I'd spotted along the way.
Unfortunately, I wasn't planning on this concrete beast being so heavy!!!! But even so, I wasn't giving up! I was determined that urn was coming home with me! So, I picked it up-(did I happen to mention this urn was REALLY, REALLY heavy?) and put it right back down. There was no way, with my back issues, that I could possibly carry that urn. And yet, I was too darn stubborn to ask hubby for help.
Thankfully, I didn't have to- Hubby came around the corner, and after a few expletives, lifted the urn up as if it were as light as feather!!!! "Let me guess," he called over his shoulder, "You've got an amazing idea for this piece of junk too! Maybe we could serve cranberry salad in it at Thanksgiving. Or better yet, how about we suspend it from the ceiling in the dining room, and you can use it as a topper for the Christmas tree?"
"Don't be silly," I called back. "It's going to be the centerpiece for our Thanksgiving dinner!"
Once we arrived home-all of my other treasures were put in the garden shed, awaiting a bit of TLC, but the urn came in the house.
The first thing I did was take some bleach and a scrub brush, and give it a good cleaning.
I let it dry over night (and warm up).
Although I loved the detail on the urn-I wanted to add more depth to it. I also wanted to make the piece look a bit more 'aged'. So, it was time for paint.
Since I had some chalky paint (American Decor-Relic) left over from the console table, I decided to use that as the base coat.
After brushing on two (light coats), I let it sit for about an hour to dry. The next step was giving this urn a bit of an 'aged' appearance. I did this by first-mixing up a small amount of the Relic paint with some leftover Everlasting(also from Americana Decor)-which created a light grey color. Using an artist's paint brush, I lightly covered some of the detail, and then wiped the excess off with a cloth.
Once that dried, I added a third dimension of color-this time by lightly brushing some Everlasting onto some of the details and into the cracks and crevices, and again, wiping the excess off with a cloth.
When I was finally satisfied with the look of the urn- it was time to decorate!!!
Although Thanksgiving isn't for a couple of weeks-I've already begun taking down my Fall decorations-and I'm in TOTAL Christmas mode right now. But, since I'm hosting this year's Thanksgiving for most of our family-I wanted a pretty fall centerpiece. I found a ton of inspiration on the web lately-but in the end-it was all about keeping things simple.
Viola! Not only did I re purpose that plain-old urn-I also created a simple Thanksgiving centerpiece for our table!!!
And hubby thought I was going to use it for cranberry salad!!!!
Well, I guess I showed him that there really is a method to my madness!!!
I'll be sharing at these wonderful parties today-so stop on over and be inspired!!!
WOW! That is absolutely gorgeous. The hydrangeas look perfect in there. Well done!
ReplyDeleteThank you so much, Libby! I'm really happy with how the urn turned out! And I adore my hydrangeas-I hope we get an abundance of them again next year!!!
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