Chalk paint and stencil makeover

Functional, good quality, but nothing exciting.  This fine little chest really needed a makeover -- something to make it stand out.

 I started by painting it with Annie Sloan chalk paint in Napoleon Blue.  But it wanted something more...

I found some cute stencils in a bird and branch motif by Martha Stewart at the craft store.  I used the stencils as the basis for a tree branch design, painted with Annie Sloan in Coco and Olive.

I also went free-style with some of the branch design.

Chalk paint provided even more interest:  Primer Red berries dotted here and there, and a little bird in mottled Provence teal and Olive, perched jauntily on the main branch.

I also used a brown Sharpie marker to give the branches the appearance of wood grain with random squiggles and swirls.

To give the piece a rich patina, I applied dark wax.  I like to thin the wax with some mineral spirits, in about a 1:1 ratio, to the consistency of a thick soup.  Then I apply the wax with a natural bristle brush...

and buff off the excess wax with a soft rag.

Before dark wax and after.  Quite a difference, don't you think?

Finally a coat of clear wax, some new hardware, and my little chest is a stunner.