Miss Mustard Seed's Milk Paint Archives | Page 16 of 42

Miss Mustard Seed’s Milk Paint

All Things Home

trading horses again

Remember my rocking horse? The one I bought from Restoration Hardware and then painted with MMS Milk Paint to make it look chippy and old? Well, in typical Marian fashion, I sold it. I wasn’t planning to, but a client asked if I could custom paint the same horse for her. I agreed to the job and we tried to schedule a time for her to drop her horse off at the studio. As we tried to schedule and reschedule, it occurred to me that it would save her a trip if I just gave her my painted horse, since she wanted hers to look exactly the same, and I could take the unpainted one and paint it again. Are you tracking with me? So, when I was in Virginia for the Holiday Expo, we met and traded horses. An interesting thing… I really don’t mind buying and selling pieces, but

December 3, 2015 55 Comments

All Things Home

milk paint 101 | surface prep

Now, you know what milk paint is (part 1), you’ve mixed it for your project (part 2), and now it’s time to get your piece ready to paint. This is the part that many people are confused about and where many projects go off the rails. I’ll be honest in saying that I have contributed to that confusion, I’m sure. In this day and age where no sanding, priming or prep is the trend, there is an assumption that you don’t ever have to prep anything before painting it. So, can you paint a piece without prepping it? Yes. You definitely can. And I have many times, which is how I’ve contributed to the confusion. But, I’ve painted enough to know which ones need to be prepped before applying milk paint and which ones don’t. And that’s what we’re going to cover today. So, which ones need to be prepped and

November 25, 2015 28 Comments

All Things Home

the $125 farm table

I needed to pick up some supplies for the glitter workshop last week and I could hardly be out and about for the day without stealing a few minutes in an antique store! So, I meandered through one of my local haunts, hitting some of my favorite vendor’s booths, picking up a few small things. I wasn’t looking for furniture, but, of course, a piece of furniture found me. I spotted this great counter-height farm table for $125. I knew it had to come home with me. It was worth the total pain of taking out one of my van seats and unloading it by myself at the studio. Oh, the sacrifices. I also bought this great basket for only $25. I was trolling eBay just the day before for a large French laundry basket, but they were in the $200 range, which was more than I wanted to pay.

November 25, 2015 27 Comments

Artistic Endeavors

Farmhouse White Cupboard

A few months ago, Jeff and I made a cupboard around a pair of reclaimed doors I bought at an antique market for $40. They hung in my dining room for a few years, but I always thought they would be perfect in a custom-built cabinet. The full tutorial will be available on HGTV.com at some point and I will link to it when it is. I must admit, this cabinet gave me the “building bug” and now I’m ready to do a lot more designing and building. You know…with all of my free time. Anyway, I wasn’t sure if I wanted to paint the doors initially, so I didn’t. I figured I would leave them alone and live with them unpainted for a while. After just a couple of weeks, I knew I wanted to paint them. The cupboard didn’t feel cohesive to me and I felt like the finish looked

November 23, 2015 42 Comments

All Things Home

milk paint 101 | mixing milk paint

In part one of this series, we talked about what milk paint is. Now, we’re going to get into mixing, which I think is the most intimidating part for most people. First of all, we’re not use to mixing paint, right? It usually comes in a bottle or can and it’s already a liquid. Just dip in your brush and go. I must admit that the convenience of that is nice. The reason milk paint doesn’t come that way, is that it is perishable once it’s mixed, so it’s sold in powdered form. I think some people are nervous about mixing the paint because it is an unknown. And most of us are a little apprehensive when we stray from what we’re used to. There’s also an assumption that this needs to be exact or everything will be ruined. So, let me first put you at ease. If you can

November 16, 2015 25 Comments

Artistic Endeavors

look book two cover shoot

It was almost two years since I had my last portraits done and, with as often as I change my hair, an update was overdue! I also needed some pictures for MMS Milk Paint’s Look Book Two, including the cover, that will be coming out in just a few weeks. I thought about just having Kriste and I do all of the pictures, but I think there’s a lot of value in bringing in other creative minds in a collaboration. Since Kriste knows a lot of people in the creative field, I asked if she knew any photographers. She immediately thought of her friend, Brianna Wilbur. She’s a very talented wedding and family photographer and happened to also be a MMS blog reader, so Kriste knew we would get along well. A few weeks ago, she came to the studio to snap some pictures. Many of you have already commented on my

November 14, 2015 24 Comments

All Things Home

milk paint 101 | what is milk paint?

I’ve written a lot of posts about milk paint. In fact, we have an entire blog just dedicated to all things MMS Milk Paint. I could talk about it a lot more than I do, but I never want my readers to feel like this blog is a milk paint commercial. But when I asked you what you wanted from my blog, I was surprised to learn that many of you wanted to hear more about milk paint. I mention it a lot, but I realized that it’s almost in passing, so if you don’t know anything about milk paint, me simply saying that I painted something in milk paint, distressed it and applied hemp oil might not mean much. I’m glossing over the details that would be helpful for someone trying to replicate the looks I’m achieving. So, I’ve decided to write a series to those who are brand new

November 9, 2015 33 Comments

Before and Afters

bring your own furniture | makeovers

Today, Kriste and I shared the studio with some lovely ladies who came for the BYOF (bring your own furniture) workshop. It’s always so fun to introduce people to milk paint and watch them transform their own pieces with just a little guidance and instruction. Here are the transformations… Then: A magazine rack saved from the side of the road. Now: Painted in a custom-mixed green, distressed and finished with Hemp Oil. Before: A stool made by the owner’s father in shop class when he was a boy. Now: Painted in Tricycle layered over Mustard Seed Yellow with a Hemp Oil resist between the two. Distressed and finished with Hemp Oil. Before: A sweet table painted in a blue the owner didn’t really like. Now: Lucketts Green layered over Boxwood with a Hemp Oil resist between the two. Distressed and finished with Hemp Oil. I love how you can still see bits

October 31, 2015 37 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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