Faux Chippy Painted Metal Pail with Liner

I was strolling through our local Goodwill last week looking for goodies donated by people trying to claim a last-minute tax write-off. I came across a bucket with a $1 price on it and knew I could transform it into a beautiful aged painted pail.

DIY Aged Painted Metal Pail Tutorial

Aged Painted Pail Tutorial

Recently I found myself browsing our local thrift shop looking for a last-minute gift idea for a friend. I spotted a dated pail for only $1 and quickly grabbed it and ran to the register.

little red buffalo check painted pail

The pail had the original $9 price tag still on it, so I prayed the cashier wouldn’t scrutinize the major markdown to one dollar!

$1 markdown on pail with $9 original sticker

I knew exactly what I wanted to do with it. Miss Mustard Seed’s aged painted pails have been stored in my memory banks since I first saw them in August. (And that is saying a lot, considering I can’t remember what I ate for lunch today!) Marion used crackle medium, but I remember seeing a tutorial for crackle medium using regular Elmer’s glue mixed with a little water instead. Me being the frugal DIYer I am, I decided to give it a go. Are you curious to see if it worked? Me too.

How to Create a Faux Aged Paint Technique on Metal:

hand painted "A" monogrammed pail

Let’s gather a few supplies and get to work creating a beautiful bin for storage or a gift basket.

Materials:

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Instructions:

adding elmer's glue to empty jar

I only used enough H20 to water down the glue so it would be easier to paint on.

mixing glue with water

I brushed it all over the outside of the pail (bottom too!) And let it dry.

painting watered down glue onto pail

Next I pulled out leftover flat white paint that we use on our ceilings and painted one coat on the pail. I had to work quick, because the paint got gooey quick and you don’t want to keep brushing over the paint when it starts to dry (trust me on this one.)

closer up painted chipping pail

After the white paint dried, I took out some acrylic paints and painted some stripes, flowers, and a monogram.

hand painted "A" monogrammed pail

To protect the paint from chipping off, I added a coating of matte mod podge. I have to admit, I’m still amazed a little Elmer’s glue and water worked to create a chippy crackle finish!

Isn’t it cute? Much better than the original.

Faux Chippy Painted Metal Pail with Liner
Purple print pants hanging on a hanger.
Can you believe it? That cute liner used to be a pair of second-hand pants.
pants leng hanging out of painted pail
The liner was super easy to make, tutorial HERE.
Spa-themed gift bucket on hand-painted chippy pail
This Aged Painted Pail can be filled with anything, but I chose a spa-theme for this gift basket. What would you put in this vintage painted pail?
signature
Want more ideas for gift baskets? Here are 31 Last Minute Gift Basket Ideas!
31 last minute gift basket ideas social media images

I just finished cleaning the bathroom. The mirror is spotless, the sink is clean, and the toilet is cl… ARGH! I just cleaned the toilet and that flaking hinge just dropped another metal flake on the seat!

Do any of you have a similar problem? Or is your seat old and looks dirty no matter how much elbow grease you use?
Don’t put up with ugly toilet seats any longer! This fix is inexpensive and takes about 15 minutes.
New toilet seats start at $20. I splurged on this soft close lid for $35. I’ll tell you why later.
You will need pliers and a phillips or flat head screw driver (depending on your bolts).
I received the adjustable Irwin Groove Lock pliers from Irwin to test, and I do have to say that I like the convenience of adjusting it with the push of a button. That sure beats looking for the right size socket or crescent wrench! {I was not paid to say that, see my product review disclosure here}

Locate the bolt and nut under your toilet bowl. Use your pliers to loosen the nut (remember lefty loosey to unscrew.)

Once the nuts on both sides have been removed, you should be able to lift the old seat straight up and off the toilet.
Locate the two seat bolts for your new seat. (Be sure to familiarize yourself with the instructions for your new seat since they may vary slightly from this post. Some seats have the bolts attached to the seat already.)
Insert them into the holes in the toilet.
Thread the nut onto the bolts from underneath. Then tighten the bolts with a screwdriver and hold the nut with your pliers. Be careful not to over-tighten the bolts or your toilet bowl could crack.
The seat I bought has a quick release hinge so you can thoroughly clean the seat and around the hinges. Simply snap the seat on top of the bolts and then rotate the hinge cap clockwise to lock it in place.

And the seat is installed. I love that our toilet seat has a soft close feature.

Now the true reason I bought the soft close seat:

These two boys in training think it is pretty cool and are MORE likely to lift up the toilet seat when using it and return it to the down position when done! Any of you who have little boys in your home, you know what I’m talking about, right?! You have to start training them young! (I never want to sit down in droplets of pee ever again. Ewwww!)

 

 

BedWallView

I’m back from a wonderful weekend getaway with three of my fellow mom friends. We enjoyed laughter (with a few snorts), good conversations (with no interruptions), cake (without a care about calories) and a few glasses of wine (with no whine from children!) It was heaven. As promised, I finally have the tutorial for painting this dandelion wall graphic.

MePainting Read more

It’s Friday!!! But, it’s not just any friday. No, no, no. This friday I’m headed to the beach with some other mom friends. No kids, no husbands, NO BOYS, just us 5 mommas! I can’t wait.

But, I promised to show you the graphic I painted on our bedroom wall. I know, I teased you as long as I could.

Pretty Handsome Boys #1 & #2, can you please pull back the curtains for the final reveal?

Dandelion Seeds

Floating Away

Dandelion Head

The Pair

Gentle breeze picks up…

…blowing in our bedroom suite. Peaceful restful. Ahhhh.

I painted the graphic in a few hours using a mixture of 1/3 of the wall color to 2/3 white ceiling paint. The tutorial is HERE. But, if you are hesitant to paint your own, check out Leen’s graphic dandelions HERE.


Because I tortured you with anticipation, I’ll give you a quick tour of our bedroom (a very quick tour because it is a very small bedroom).


Our pottery barn sleigh bed (gifted to us by my sister) flanked by new curtains and blinds that I showed you how to hang this week.


Thank goodness for two closets! Peeking into Pretty Handsome Boy #1’s room.
We painted a woodland mural in there.


A photo I took of the London Eye when Pretty Handsome Guy and I had a romantic getaway. I uploaded the file to CanvasPeople.com and gave it to my love for Christmas.


Sunprints made with my boys. So fun, so easy, so pretty!


And on the opposing wall, is the dandelion mural blowing seeds over the Craig’s List Dresser I refinished.
Ultimately, I want to add a wall quote over the dresser. But, Pretty Handsome Guy and I are still not agreeing on compiling quotes.

Visit thecsiproject.com

Hanging Curtains

Glad you came back to see how I hung the curtains in our bedroom. If you are just joining us, I hung some blinds the other day in a mini-makeover for our master bedroom.

Hanging Curtains

Hanging Curtains

Then I hung a curtain rod and flanked both windows with some billowy white cotton curtains. I still can’t believe what a difference this made in the room.

Here is the dark and drab before:

Hanging Curtains

So, you want to hang your own curtains? I’m here to help you along with that.

By the way, if you have a Tuesday Morning near you, check out their curtain rods! This extra wide one for spanning two windows was only $24.99!

Start out by holding up your curtain rod (preferably with a friend holding and you looking.) And mark the height of your rod on the wall.

Hanging Curtains

Take the time to check and see if there is a stud behind where your bracket will hang. If there is, check out my post HERE for hanging the bracket into a stud. All my brackets landed in locations without a stud behind them.

Hanging Curtains

So, I grabbed some Toggler anchors and used them instead of the screws that came with the curtain rod.

Hanging Curtains

Start by tracing the screw holes in your bracket.

Hanging Curtains

Next screw the two screws that come with the Toggler anchors partially into the wall. This creates starter holes for the anchors.

Hanging Curtains

Remove the screws.

Hanging Curtains

Use a philips head screwdriver and screw the anchors into the wall until they are flush with the wall. Be careful not to over-tighten.

Hanging Curtains

Line up your bracket on top of the anchors, and then insert the screws that come with the anchors into the wall.

Hanging Curtains

As you can see, the toggler screws are silver, but not for long! Grab a permanent black marker and color them black.

Hanging Curtains

Or if you are using white or brown brackets, you can simply paint them with acrylic craft paint, stain or primer. Your choice.

Next, using your level, rest it on top of the first bracket and make a mark on the wall where your next bracket will be mounted. This will insure that it is level with the first.

Hanging Curtains

Repeat the steps to install the second and third bracket (if you have a wide span of windows like I do.)

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Assemble the brackets per the instructions that came with them. And hang your curtains!

Hanging Curtains

You may have noticed how far the rod extends beyond the window. This is a design trick to make the windows appear bigger, plus it allows for the maximum amount of natural light to enter the room.
 Hanging Curtains

Okay, less you think that everything I do is perfect – remember how I said to have a friend hold the rod when you first decided how high to hang the rod. Well, I didn’t! I was too impatient. So, I ended up having to re-do the first bracket and was left with this.

Hanging Curtains

No biggie. I just patched the hole and applied some touch up paint. Good as new!

Except, I was too lazy to iron the curtains before I hung them. (Yup, I’m an instant gratification kind of gal, couldn’t you tell?!)

Hanging Curtains

So, I have for you a two-fer post. Two posts in one! Wow, your lucky day right?!

A No Iron Technique for Removing Wrinkles!

This is my favorite technique for removing wrinkles. I use it on everything! Slipcovers, curtains, sheets, and clothing I am already wearing.

You will need one of these:

Hanging Curtains

Just a squirt bottle with plain old H2O in it. Nothing fancy. Set the nozzle to mist.

Spread out your curtains.

Hanging Curtains

Then go to town spraying your wrinkled areas. When it dries the wrinkles are magically gone.

Hanging Curtains

Sometimes they might need another spray and some smoothing with your hands, but ultimately they usually come out.

Hanging Curtains

Only the stubborn wrinkles get to meet my iron.

As you can see below, most of the wrinkles came out, but we had party guests arriving in 15 minutes, so I left them as is and will iron them another day. Maybe.

Hanging Curtains

And one more look at my new curtains and blinds.

Hanging Curtains

Hey! Are you peeking at my new wall graphic I painted? You cheater, you’ll have to read my post where I will show you how to paint a wall graphic. In the meantime, I posted a picture of me working on it on my Facebook fan page.