Some Befores and a Whole Bunch of Afters

It's been quite a while since Granny posted anything about painting, but in fact, Granny has been painting like a mad fool!  That's because Granny was asked to contribute some painted objects to the Annual Church Christmas Bazaar.

Granny's church lady friends have been very busy this year assembling a motley collection of -- to be brutally honest -- some very ugly wooden things from garage sales (or maybe just their garages), from thrift stores, and who knows where else...

In other words, MY SPECIALTY!

Quite the bizarre mix, no pun intended!  (Oh, okay.  It was totally intended.)  But if there is anything that a bit of chalk paint and dark wax can't dress up, I haven't found it yet!  Allow me to illustrate:

It all began with a couple of pegged wooden shelves with heart cut-outs.   "Can you just paint these black?" they asked.  Well, no I can't.  But I can paint them Graphite.  And distress them with sandpaper.  And gloss them up with a 50/50 mixture of dark and clear wax...

Next they asked, "Could you do something with this old toy cradle?


How about this grungy sports memorabilia shelf?"

Yet another heart-cutout pegged shelf,

a shapely, little candle holder,         

and a box for what purpose no one knows.

A small wooden mirror,

and a nautical-themed clock just begging for a transformation!

And finally, a distressed, little hutch with yet more heart cutouts,  

and an old-fashioned coffee grinder.

To tie it all together, I whipped up a collection of chalk painted Christmas tree ornaments using the same colors as some of the larger pieces.

I'm proud to say my work was much appreciated, nicely displayed and...

I can't wait for next year!