Reloved Living at Las Vegas World Market Center

I recently went to the Las Vegas World Market center to set up a booth at the home/gift show for my business, Reloved Living.  My sister and business partner, Emily and I drove there and spent two days unloading and setting up our booth.  

I found all the display items at yard sales or on craigslist.  I already had the old, metal folding chairs. I mixed up a custom Chalk Paint® color using Emperor's Silk, Burgandy, and Pure White to make a bright pink and then painted the legs with gold Gilder's Paste Wax.  

This desk was found curbside with a free sign hanging on it.  With the twenty knobs, I thought it would make a great display piece for our decorative knobs.

I painted the desk with Pure White Chalk Paint® and used gold Gilders Paste and a stencil to add the chevron stripe on top.

Reloved Living also sells these fabulous, faux animal heads that we displayed inside vintage frames on the wall.  I painted each frame a different Chalk Paint® color and left some gold.  We had a couple mishaps with the shippers and then the movers that were helping us unload the animal heads.  We ended up with some broken antlers after the first day of set up.  I bought some super glue and spackle and glued, patched, and painted in the hotel that night.  They looked as good as new by morning!

We love the faux giraffe head!

I found another piece to display the knobs at a yard sale.  It is a vintage '90's cd holder, but the fifteen drawers makes it a perfect piece for displaying our knobs.

I painted the cd organizer with Pure White Chalk Paint®.  I found this vibrant, modern wrapping paper on Eva & Anne's Etsy Shop and used Annie Sloan's decoupage to glue and seal it onto the drawers.

I love the mixed colors and geometric patterns on the drawers - it makes our knobs really stand out!

The show organizers chose some of our items for their showcase display

I found the antique screens on Craigslist and thought they would make excellent booth dividers. The man I bought them from said his grandparents bought them a long time ago while traveling in Morocco and brought them back.  My friend and fellow blogger, Darrielle, from D.D.'s Cottage kindly helped me spray them with Pure White Chalk Paint®.  I think they would have been very difficult to paint by hand and I was grateful to have a friend with a paint sprayer willing to help me out!

All the preparation paid off! The booth came together and turned out great. All the bright colors mixed with Pure White drew people's attention and made Reloved Living's booth stand out.

Annie Sloan Craqueleur

I love using Annie Sloan's Craqueleur for achieving an aged patina.  I picked up this white, ceramic madonna wall hanging at an estate sale because I thought it was kind of cute.

It was plain, white, and boring, so I added some depth and character with a little Chalk Paint, Craqueleur, and gilding wax.

I love the Chalk Paint palate and whenever a customer asks me my favorite color, I am stumped because I really love them all. I painted the crown in Louis Blue, the hair in Coco, the skin in Country Grey, the cheeks in Scandinavian Pink, the clothing in Old White and Antionette, and the base in Paris Grey.

It looked soft and pretty after I painted it, but I wanted to achieve an authentic, aged patina.  I applied step one of the craqueleur, let it dry, and then applied step two.  I used a blow dryer on a high heat setting after applying step two.  Every time I use the Craqueleur I start to think it did not work because the crackle is very difficult to see before using the dark wax.  After thoroughly drying step two and having a little faith that the crackles, although invisible, were indeed there, I rubbed the entire surface with Annie Sloan's dark wax.  The crackles magically appeared, giving the madonna and baby a glorious, patina! For a finishing touch, I used an artist's brush to sweep a bit of gold gilding wax over the wall hanging.

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Versailles Vintage Wall Shelf

This rounded, vintage wall shelf came from an estate sale.  It is Syroco style and not made out of real wood, but it is sturdy and cute.

Before

After

I painted the shelf with the lovely, pale green hue of Versailles Chalk Paint. Then, I distressed all the edges, so the dark, faux wood underneath was visible. Next, I dry brushed Old White Chalk Paint over all the trim and applied clear wax, followed by dark wax, for an antiqued finish.  

The shelf is perfectly charming now and looks adorable hung on the wall!

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French Blue Wall Shelves

I loved this little, vintage, wall shelf when I spotted it at a yard sale recently.  

The scrolling detail at the top is beautiful, even if it is made from some type of plastic or resin.  Once painted, it is almost impossible to tell it is not real wood.  This piece can either be hung on a wall or set on top of a piece of furniture.

I painted the whole thing with Louis Blue Chalk Paint and went over the edges and top piece with a coat of Old White.

I lightly distressed it all over for a time-worn look and then used my favorite Chalk Paint wash color: Coco to soften the blue and white.  

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Louis Blue Mirror

I found this shapely, vintage mirror at my local thrift shop and I knew it would be beautiful once it was painted.

I love the shape of this mirror and I especially love the metal applique attached at the top. The speckled, dated finish was the only thing I did not like about this mirror.

before

after

I painted the mirror with Louis Blue Chalk paint first.  Then, I painted some of the trim and the metal applique with Old White.  I wanted the finish to look old and I also wanted to tone down the Louis Blue a bit, so I used Coco as a wash over the entire frame.  To make the wash, I mixed the Coco paint 50/50 with water, brushed it on with a paint brush and wiped it back with a clean rag.

I like the way the Coco wash muted and subtly aged the Louis Blue paint, while being less obvious than the dark wax would have been.

After the mirror dried I applied a thin layer of Annie Sloan clear wax.

Now the mirror looks perfectly aged with its new finish.

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Paris Gray and Old White Mirror

My parents rehab houses and they are always finding junk left behind in the rehab houses.  They pulled this large, gold mirror out of one of their rehabs and saved it for me.  My parents are great at fixing up old, run-down properties and they have done this since I was very young. They have always inspired me to see beyond the broken down facade.

The mirror was dusty and gold with raised grape vine designs.

I painted the mirror with Paris Gray Chalk Paint and then dry brushed the corners and edges with Old White.

I applied clear wax over the entire frame and then blended in dark wax for an antiqued look.

I have not used Paris Gray for a while, but after painting this mirror I am reminded what a pretty hue it is.  I am planning on using it again soon on an old dresser waiting for a little relove.

Bleu & Blanc Frenchy Mirror

It is difficult to find perfectly round, old mirrors, so I was excited when I found this one at a yard sale.

It had beautiful details and original beveled glass, that is so old it looks wavy at certain angles.

I wanted the mirror to look like an old, French antique with original paint.  I chose my two Chalk Paint colors to create the look: Duck Egg and Old White.  I painted the frame with Duck Egg and then dry brushed the Old White over the appliques at top and bottom, as well as the raised trim running up the sides. I dry brushed the paint, in all different directions, purposefully missing parts, so that the gold underneath would show through.

After the paint dried, I waxed the entire frame with Annie Sloan's clear wax.  Then,  I made a glaze with Annie Sloan's dark wax by blending it with unscented mineral spirits.  

I painted the glaze on the frame and then wiped back, making sure to leave the dark glaze in the crevasses.

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Vintage Sheet Music Wreaths

I found a whole book of vintage, Beethoven, sheet music at my local thrift shop for $1!  I pulled it out just in time for Christmas decorating and created a couple sheet music, paper wreaths.

I love the natural, aged patina of this old sheet music. 

Sheet music wreaths are such an inexpensive way to dress up your holiday decor and you can add your own decorative touch to each one.  I used some pretty, cream ribbon to attacha bow to the top of this one.  The tiny star in the center is from a pack of wooden stars I bought at the craft store.  I stamped it with a fancy script stamp and then put glitter on the edges. 

I started out by using white glue, but found that it was much easier and faster to just use a hot melt glue gun for the whole thing.

Here is another version of the sheet music wreath.  I attached a wide, burlap ribbon as a wreath hanger for this one.

I attached two wooden stars to the center using the hotmelt glue gun. I covered the larger star with silver glitter and stamped the smaller star with the fancy script stamp.

These sheet music wreaths were fast, simple and fun to make! They have the added bonus of lasting year after year.  I already sold both of these wreaths at Loot, so I need to find time to make a few more.

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