Me and My Jugs

I like stuff. I seem to accumulate loads of it.  Random things….pebbles, candles, birdhouses, hair accessories! All sorts.  But I would never class myself as a collector.  I don’t have enough of anything to be a collector, more of a magpie.  I just really don’t like only having one of something. I like a reserve……or two  or three!!

I decided that was going to change, I was going to start collecting something but it had to be small. I can’t bear clutter and those display cabinets are so not my thing.  So walking through TK Maxx, I spotted a small jug, like a milk jug, and I knew this was it, the thing I was going to start loving.  TK Maxx is great because they get unusual stuff, hand painted and just a little bit unique.  I bought my first one, a cream one with the word ‘Love’ embedded in red.  Well that was it. My one jug quickly turned into 2 then 3 and now I’m on to 11.  All completely different and lovely but taking up lots of space on my sunroom window sill…..See the clutter is happening already and I’ve only been a proper collector for 6 months!

Time to welcome Mr H.  Now he is a very handy man to know.  So I passed on an idea I had about some small unobtrusive shelves I fancied making…well, asking him to make.  In he comes the next day with wood and not long later it’s done.  Told you he was good!  Now over to me.  I thought I’d try my hand at the ageing wood thing.  It’s all the rage……jumps on the bandwagon!

In brief this is what I did.  First I painted the shelves with normal emulsion but in a light colour.  Once dry I sanded the whole thing, going extra hard over the corners and edges…so they are not sharp and to remove random bits of the first coat of paint. Then you have to dust the whole thing to get rid of the debris.  I then bought some chalk paint. Now I used Rust-oleum and it worked really well but I’m pretty sure you can get others.  Next I used the chalk paint to go over, so paint on top of what you have already done. Don’t be precise when  painting this layer on…… I purposely left bits untouched and streaky.  Leave it dry and then you can sand it again if you feel it needs it.  Dust it off and get some wire wool and rub the whole lot again…….This will make it go slightly darker depending on how heavy you do it.  Once you’re happy, go over it with some furniture wax (I used Rust-oleum again).  This whole thing took me maybe 3 – 4 hours.  It’s really quick and easy and I know I started from scratch but you could use the same technique on old furniture you just want to change.

So now I have room for my jugs and a beautiful new place to show them off.