Miss Mustard Seed's Milk Paint Archives | Page 10 of 42

Miss Mustard Seed’s Milk Paint

Furniture Makeovers

soft landscape dresser | part 1

I came into the studio on Monday morning like a tight ball of stress. The studio is my “happy place”, but I was struggling to step away from the “businessy” things and create. I finally had to force myself. I needed it. I needed to mix some paint, dip a brush in, watch a transformation in progress, feel myself relax with each stroke. I pulled out this little pine dresser and decided to start a new landscape on it. The last one I did had vibrant, playful colors. I wanted this one to be soft. The MMS Milk Paint colors I mixed up are (from the top, clockwise) – Layla’s Mint + Boxwood, Eulalie’s Sky + Shutter Gray + Farmhouse White, Farmhouse White, and Layla’s Mint + Lucketts Green. I loved the palette just sitting on the table. I was already enjoying the benefits of a creative endeavor. Since it’s easier to show

July 18, 2016 16 Comments

Before and Afters

BYOF Workshop Makeovers

This weekend, we hosted a BYOF (bring your own furniture) MMS Milk Paint workshop at the studio. Those workshops are always such a fun time of painting and fellowship and we had a great group of ladies who brought some awesome furniture pieces. It was a good excuse for me to take a couple of days to thoroughly clean and tidy-up the studio and restock our supply of drinks, snacks, and, of course, chocolates! I also brought in some sweet cherries and homemade mini blueberry muffins. I love playing hostess and sharing my creative space with others. The class went from 10:00 until 3:30, so we had a lot of time to chat and work on the pieces. It’s fun for me to introduce people to milk paint and see their trepidation turn to excitement as their pieces transition from the before to the “ugly stage” to the finished

July 17, 2016 13 Comments

Before and Afters

Farmhouse White Dining Room Table

I have been thinking about painting my dining room table top for ages. I never actually went through with it, though. Partly because of time, but mostly because I was a little nervous about painting it. Yes, I was actually nervous about it! I have never had an all-white dining room table and I honestly wasn’t sure if I would like it. As much as I like painted pieces, I am partial to wood tops. The thing with this table is that the top is made out of an old barn door and, if you take off the runner, you can definitely see that. There was a sign posted on it back in the day when it was a door. And, while I don’t think woods used in a room have to match, the top didn’t really relate to anything else in the room. So, I had the house to myself for

July 11, 2016 62 Comments

Before and Afters

Eulalie’s Sky Dresser

If you watched the “prove yourself wrong” video, you already saw how this dresser turned out, but I wanted to give it a proper before and after post. Here’s the before… This piece really was a pretty one as is, but I needed a piece to paint and crossed paths with this one. I decided to use a color I love, but haven’t used a lot lately…Eulalie’s Sky. It’s a happy, pretty color that just seemed to suit the video we were making. Here is how it turned out… As an aside, this dresser is almost identical to one I bought back in February… Even the hardware was the same, which makes me think that might’ve been the original hardware, even though it looks more Queen Ann to me. I replaced the hardware with some simpler bail pulls and I’m planning to do the same with the Eulalie’s Sky dresser. The

July 8, 2016 25 Comments

Artistic Endeavors

prove yourself wrong

I have some things to share tonight, but I’m going to do something I don’t usually (or ever) do. I’m going to ask you to watch this video first and then read the post. The reason is that I’m going to talk about the video and I don’t want you to read all about it before you watch it. Okay? Deal? Did you watch it? Okay, now you can read… So, Saturday morning, I was showering to get ready for the day and I was thinking about the landscape dresser that I just finished. I was smiling at the fact that someone was coming to buy it that morning, despite all of my doubts and struggles as I worked on it. I was intimidated by that piece and I told myself that. You’re going to mess this up. You aren’t good enough to pull this off. But I pushed through it and,

July 6, 2016 183 Comments

Before and Afters

second landscape dresser reveal

Tha second hand-painted landscape dresser is finished! And, would you believe that it’s sold already! Someone came to pick it up Saturday morning. Sometimes I like to enjoy my pieces for a while, but I was really glad this one was scooped up right away. The buyer loved it when it was just a chalked sketch and I love that she trusted my vision enough to ask to buy it before it was even finished. Anyway, here it is… Here is how the dresser started… I honestly loved the wood and initially finished it with Hemp Oil to bring out that pretty grain and patina. It didn’t sell, though, and I needed something to paint. I kept eyeballing it and I finally gave in and painted it. That’s just what happens when things sit around in the studio for too long! If you’d like to see the dresser each step

July 4, 2016 32 Comments

Furniture Makeovers

second landscape dresser | part two

I avoided the landscape dresser for the better part of the day with great success. I busied myself with e-mail, phone meetings, writing a post… I was pretty convinced that I was going to mess it up. That’s just the truth. Even though I felt inspired to do more landscape painting, I was really intimidated by it as well. I finally put my paints on a palette and started. It’s just paint. It’s just paint. It’s easier to show the process in a video, so here it is… It’s not finished, yet, but I procrastinated so much that I ran out of time! Here’s how it looks so far… I need to do the details on the cows, work on the windmill, and fix a couple of other things. It’s coming along, though! Jeff asked what the pile was under the tree. “It’s a bush!” If it requires explanation, I

June 30, 2016 41 Comments

All Things Home

second landscape dresser | part one

Do you remember our first landscape dresser? In case you don’t (or perhaps you missed it or you’re just joining us), here is a refresher… It was a collaboration between Kriste and I. After working on it, along with the murals and other hand painted landscape elements we used in our booth for the Lucketts Spring Market, I felt inspired to do more. I even bought a couple of canvases, which is pretty far out of my comfort zone! Anyway, I was itching to do some painting and, since I didn’t have any new pieces to work on, I decided to paint the dresser that originally got a makeover just with Hemp Oil. I have to tell you, I loved that dresser wearing just Hemp Oil, but it didn’t sell at Lucketts and it was just hanging out in the studio, so… Yep. That’s what happens when things hang out

June 29, 2016 28 Comments

I’m Marian, a painter, writer, and lover of all things creative. From art and antiques to home projects and everyday life, I share my journey in hopes of inspiring you to embrace your own creativity and make beauty in the spaces you live.

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