MILK PAINT FRAME PROJECT

Today, I'm going to be sharing a really great experience I had and a really less-than-wonderful one that turned out better than I thought.

You may recognize the name in the corner of this lovely sail boat painting. Anne. Yep, that would be the lovely Anne from DesignDreams by Anne. We go way back, at least in blogland terms. One day, I went to her blog and she posted that she had begun painting. Her first painting was beautiful! I was a little envious, because I always wanted to try painting but am still way too chicken. But I watched her as she posted several paintings and really admired her work. I knew I would buy one of her paintings someday, but trying to decide which one became more difficult as each one seemed to be better than the last. When we bought this house and began to renovate it, I began thinking about her paintings while I was doing my own kind of painting...walls...lots of walls.
The main inspiration for my bathroom makeover came from Anne, (I loved all of the blues) and one picture I found on pinterest. (You can click on her name below any of the pictures to read her posts.)

DesignDreams by Anne
Yeah....that last one right there...that sailboat picture had all of the colors I wanted in my bathroom. Not to mention that little vanity/sink...I wanted a pair of them.
I browsed Annes "My Art" page and asked if one of the sailboat pictures was still available. It was. I asked her to hold it for me and then months went by while I was painting, scraping, and doing all the unpleasant things that renovation involves. Every time I went in that bathroom, I didn't see the huge reno mess...I saw the bathroom inspired by Anne's picture. She has no idea how much that helped me keep my calm. (Thank you Anne.)
Finally, I mailed Anne a check and shortly after, this came in my mail, all the way from Canada.

I could hardly wait to open it. I ripped into it and found this...

Seriously, a pretty package, so pretty I grabbed my camera and took a picture. Then I opened it very carefully because I loved that flowery paper and wanted to save it. Glad I did...look at this huge circle of floral tissue paper with wonderful scalloped edges. The silver box the picture was in was awesome in it's own right. If you know me and you know my blog...you'll be seeing some of that later. LOL!

So I hung the picture, frame-less, right on my bathroom wall and it was perfect. I figured I'd know the right frame when I saw it and in the meantime, I'd enjoy it as is. Wrong. I could never decide on a frame. Then my friend Donna, at Distressed Donna Down Home, posted about some crates that she painted.

Caddies and Crates of Mustard
It reminded me that I had a small crate or two that some cheese/meat stuff came in a hundred Christmas's ago and I couldn't throw it out. Donna challenged me to paint one.

As I looked at it, I thought this might make a cool background for Anne's beautiful picture. Because the wall it hangs on is white, I wanted some shade of blue. Now here is where this story turns ugly. The only blue paint I had was a sample of milk paint. I have never used milk paint before and I was worried. I watched several videos about using and mixing milk paint. I became even more worried. The videos told me that milk paint will not give me a precise finish and that mixing milk paint was not a precise thing, more like a "do it until it looks right" thing. Right. It also said that milk paint can "flake off" for that special chippy look. WTH??? I didn't want a chippy look. Even with all of these alarms ringing in my head, I proceeded. I mixed the milk paint in a mason-type jar.

Right away, the swear jar began filling up. I never felt like I got it to "look just right". I couldn't get the lumps out, which the video said would be okay, but it was not okay with me. It made me crazy and more swears were said. Finally, I just decided to paint it on. The video said I did not need to prime or prep my crate. I wished I had. The paint did not go on evenly or smoothly..... but the swears did flow off of my tongue pretty smoothly. I let it dry. I did not like the way it looked. More swears. I gave it a second coat. I got out a new swear jar. I let the second coat dry. I was not thrilled with it, but I decided that the picture itself covered most of the crate, so I called it good. I threw the paint, jar, and brush right in the trash and vowed never to use milk paint again. I wanted to wax the crate when I was finished, to give it a smoother look, but I was terrified it would "flake off" and I did not want that. I'm sure milk paint is fine if you are not an anal person like me who thinks things need to look perfect and work smoothly. In fact, I know this is true because I see plenty of lovely milk-painted projects out there. However, for my personality and my DIY style, milk paint is not for me. (Also, I can't afford to keep filling my swear jar.)
The good thing is, that crate was the perfect way to display Anne's beautiful picture....

Of course just looking at this picture, I had a great idea to embellish that crate a little, but I'll save that for another day. In my next post...I'll share my finished bathroom renovation. In the meantime, head over to DesignDreams by Anne and check out some of her art and see if there isn't something in there that inspires you or might look perfect in your home. You can get there by clicking HERE. If you're not inspired by her art, I know you'll be inspired by some of the many awesome DIY projects she does.
Thank you Anne! You inspire me constantly.
Thank you Donna, you challenge me on a regular basis.
Thank you Swear Jar, you'll be paying for a nice vacation next year! (I should probably cute up my swear jar and post about it sometime.)