Scavenger Chic

Is it Old…or is it Paint?

• By Joan
• September 19, 2016
• 4 Comments

Is it old or is it paint?  Well, if it’s coming from me then it is probably layers of paint.

I picked up this country cheese box a while ago at a local thrift store.  I think what makes it country is it’s gingham bow.  As soon as he was stripped of it’s bow, he became a plain old cheese box.

OK, now he’s naked with no character.  He needs age spots, wrinkles and a story to tell.  He needs to be vintage-i-fied.  Pretty sure that is not a word, but you know what I mean.

The first step into making this cheese box have a vintage feel was to get rid of all that brand new looking wood.

I rubbed a dark walnut stain all over the inside and outside of the box.

As for the inside of the box…it’s done.  That’s all I’m going to do with it.

The outside of the box got a treatment of white and gray chalk paint haphazardly slopped all over.  Remember, sloppy but not drippy.

The sloppy but not drippy paint was then hit with a sander, sometimes going all the way back to the bare wood and sometimes revealing just the stained wood.

It’s all about layers.

Apply a coat of vintage wax and buff off the excess.  The bottom half of the cheese box has the vintage wax applied and the top of the cheese box is just the sanded off paint.

Over top of the vintage wax I applied another layer…this time, a layer of white wax.

You can probably tell this is not my cheese box, this is an actual old cheese box with stories to tell.  I found him here, and I loved his graphic.

I loved his graphic so much that I wanted to do my own cheap knock off version. I was lucky, I had this stencil somewhere in my kids craft pile…perfect for a Castle Brook Dairy Cheese sign.

I thought I was finished here but I thought he needed one more layer.

In my bowl I have a bit of yellow paint, a little bit of water and some antique wax. This concoction was painted and dabbed on then rubbed off with a paper towel.

I also added a few drops of black chalk paint in some areas.  Always work in small areas not allowing the paint to dry.  

Now I think I’m really done, the last layer really toned down the stencil.

My new old cheese box, is sitting on my last cheese box transformation.  You can find that one here.

And now my cheese box has his own story to tell.

His story will be all about how someone kept slathering paint and wax on him. He turned from a country bumpkin to an old, age spotted, vintage-i-fied beauty.

Shared at Link Party Palooza, Silver Pennies Sundays,

Between naps on the Porch, Savvy Southern Style,

Talk of the Town,

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