Craig's List for those of you who don't know what it is, is a online site that allows you to post tings that you want to sell. It is basically a HUGE garage sale. People list things from a candle stick all the way to cars, boats and even houses. They also have a section for people looking for jobs and even more scary are the people advertising themselves....YIKES! Anyway moving on..I'm not even gonna go there.
My neighbor introduced me to Craig's List and was telling me how she sells things she finds at yard sales on Craig's list. Hmm, I thought I can do that. So, my first listing was my King Size bedspread that I had from when I re-did my master bedroom. Remember the grandma green? Oh my...anyway, I listed it on Craig's List and had a few people interested, but nothing ever came of it. I thought, "this isn't that great" But then it happened. My first "real sale" I had picked up a bench at a church yard sale for $3. It was one of those benches that goes with a kitchen table. I painted it black (of course) and I sold it for $45....CHA CHING!!! Sorry I don't have pictures of the bench to show you, it was pre-blog. Anyway...the excitement and rush I got from selling something that I had paid almost nothing for, was amazing. Of course then I was on a mission to buy, fix up and sell anything I could get my hands on.
Remember the little nightstand that I painted...yes, black? The one with the yard sale glass knobs? Yep..sold it $30. Oh Craig how I love you. I recently listed these cute little nightstands that I just finished. They didn't always look so cute. And did you notice what color they are? NOT BLACK!!! I'm so proud.
These two nightstands, I picked up at Goodwill for $7 each. This is what they originally looked like.
I decided that I wanted to try a new technique that I had heard about and seen on TV, but that I was always too scared to try. Its called glazing and it really isn't that scary. So, here is what I did.
First...buy a cheap piece of furniture...check
Second...sand it to rough up any type of smooth surface...check
Third...paint it desired color. I call this color "Vintage vanilla"...check
Fourth...time for the glaze, this is what it looks like. You can get it at Home Depot. It isn't terribly expensive, about $15 for this can, but a little goes a long ways.
The way glaze works is that you mix 1 part glaze to three parts paint. What the glaze does is allow you to have more time before your paint dries. I mixed the glaze with a dark brown, so that when I painted it on the "vintage vanilla" and then wiped it off, it would create the aged look I was going for.
So, you brush on the glaze, wait a few seconds maybe a minute and then take a cotton cloth and wipe off the glaze. Its important to get the glaze into all the little nicks and crannies if you want it to look really aged.
Once it was glazed and wiped off, I let it dry for several hours and then sanded the edges and then applied a coat of sealer. I also took the original hardware off and just spray painted them black and while they were still a little tacky, I took some steel wool and just roughed up the finish, they turned out better than I expected. This may be a new technique instead of buying new hardware.
Here it is again all finished. I love these. If I had room, I would keep them. But obviously that isn't going to happen. So, Craig gets these too. I have them listed on Craig's List right now. I have noticed however, that Craig's List goes in cycles. Sometimes its really busy and I have no problem selling things and others, well things don't move as quickly. So you just have to be patient. Have fun out there and don't overlook something just because it doesn't look cute now, think of what it could look like. Enjoy! Thanks for stopping by.
Love,
Kris
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