Most of us have heard the odd, awkward notes of a child learning to play an instrument. The result of blowing too hard or hitting the wrong key isn’t exactly music to our ears. In fact the one thing the instrument is made to do, make music, couldn’t be further from what you eardrums are picking up.
During this learning period, the best way to cope with the high and low pitches coming from the other room is to remind yourself that they are learning a new skill. Eventually the daily practice sessions start paying off when the notes give way to what is almost recognizable as “Happy Birthday.”
There are times when I get discouraged with my crafty side. The side that wants to milk paint home furniture or write a mystery book. In my head, I can see the finished product in all its glory. What is in front of me is anything but glorious. I admit. I get disheartened about the creative process.
That was until I saw myself as learning the scales for my personal symphony.
As I have shared before, my attempts at using transfer gel to add lettering and designs to my milk painting furniture has . . . failed. It would be easy to shelf the gel and perfect the fine art of just painting furniture. But I decided to treat the process like I would learning to play the sax — start with the basics and keep practicing.
My second attempt resulted in a slightly better version. I created signs to accompany a dandelion wall decal in the living room of a vacation rental I am preparing. The lettering stayed on and you can actually read it. However, I felt like I had to leave a great amount of paper pulp on the finished product just so the font would stand out. (See below)
My third attempt, a sign with my last name, was created slightly different. I used the transfer gel to put the lettering on and then I sanded it off. The result was a very faint stencil of the words I wished to add to the sign. Using the milk paint, I painted my last name on the distressed piece of upcycled wood.
While its not Beethoven’s “5th”, I think I have “Happy Birthday” down in my own personal symphony.
It was a dark and stormy morning . . . perhaps that’s a bit too cliche. The falling rain put a damper on my to-do list of mowing the yard, weed whacking and an errand trip into town.
The beauty of it is that it comes in a powder. You can order it online, they ship little packets (samples) or brown bags (pints) to your door. You simply add water (1:1 ratio) and you are good to go.
Using two tablespoons of powder, two tablespoons of water and two tablespoons of bonding agent, I mixed my first batch of Milk Paint (Miss Mustard Seed’s Luckett’s Green) in an old jelly jar.
TIP: Add water to the container FIRST so that the powder doesn’t stick/clump at the bottom of the container. Also, mix with a hand mixer (
I applied the first layer to a hat rack my brother-in-law gave me for Christmas. I am thinking that the lacquered surface would give both the paint and bonding agent a test go — and add a pop of color to our bedroom wall.
One of the other benefits of Milk Paint is that the dry time is greatly reduced. You only have to wait 20 – 30 minutes per coat. With the first coat, my hat rack was looking a bit chalky and pale. But another coat layer — I thought it was coming on pretty well.