Lovely Ladies and One Handsome Boy

These lovely ladies came from the Neighborhood Sale that Cassie from Rustic Raspberry and I went to in May.

They weren't too lovely in the beginning. They were a bit haggard and tired. The young lady I bought them from said that they were originally a part of her vanity. She went away to camp and when she returned, her Grandmother had cut them apart. Sigh~a Grandmother after my own heart!

I didn't want to spend days stripping the curved, fluted trim so I decided to sand these girls instead.  It took the better part of the morning!

After they were sanded and cleaned I painted with my Glidden Black in Eggshell finish. I love this paint! I use it on all of my black pieces.  I spray painted the knobs with a satin finish brushed nickel.

Everyone who saw these lovelies wanted to take them home and they did leave with a really sweet lady. More about her a little later!

Now on to the Handsome Boy. I bought this little box at an estate sale. It was in the garage (my favorite place to look) and was yucky dirty! I had already removed the knobs when I remembered to take a picture.

I wanted to paint this one with my Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in Olive. I brought it inside the house to paint because I have heard that the ASCP dries really, really fast. We have been having high temps of 112° lately so I didn't want to paint it in the garage!

I painted two coats and still had the original paint showing through in some places. After the third coat had dried, I used a little dark walnut stain to distress it. The next morning I waxed with Minwax clear wax and then special dark wax. I freshened the hardware with a coat of Rustoleum's dark bronze spray paint. I really wanted to keep him but had no where that he would fit!

I want to give a fair review of how this paint worked for me. If you are a die-hard, ASCP-for-life type of crafter then please read no further! (Or at least don't send hate mail! Or, send hate mail and I will just ignore it ~ I have thick skin! LOL)

Pros:
Love the colors!
Love the concept of no prep work ~just clean the surface and start painting.
Love the finish.
Ability to sand it fast

Cons:
Price
Short working time~ it dries too darn quickly sometimes.
Doesn't always coat well.

So, whilst painting three coats I pondered how many steps I would have gone through if I hadn't used my ASCP. 

First coat would have been primer. Second coat would have been an olive green paint. Third coat (if needed) would also have been the olive green paint. Hmmmm, that's 3 coats. And, it would have cost a lot less money!

I'm still going to use my ASCP on future projects. Afterall, I have a can of Olive and a can of Versailles but I probably won't be buying more. (Unless I win the lottery or a cool blog giveaway!)

I have bought some flat finish paint to test on an antique armoir for my daughter's room. I am going to see how fast it dries and how quickly I can sand and distress it. I'll post a review as soon as I get it finished.

Now, more about the Sweet Lady, D'wana, that bought the nightstands. I posted the nightstands, the small box, the metal stool, and a garden bench on Craigslist. I received a call from someone who wanted to buy it all, sight unseen! She asked if I was friends with Cassie from Rustic Raspberry and did I have a blog too? I replied "yes" and she knew who I was. I felt famous!

She came and bought everything that I had posted on CL that day. Then, she drove to Cassie's and bought some things from her. She then came back to my house and bought my Frenchy Helix Cocktail table (the first buyer backed out and the poor girl was still for sale)!  My garage is almost empty now! My Husband was so happy! I was so happy! Thank you, D'wana, for shopping at my garage!

Linking to these parties:

Nifty Thrifty Tuesday at Coastal Charm
Furniture Feature Friday at Miss Mustard Seed