Betty's Vase

My friend Betty wanted a new vase for an empty corner in her living room.  Betty has never read my blog so I can tell you that while I love shopping with Betty, buying a vase was no easy task.  Hours.  It took hours.  TWO FRIGGEN HOURS!!!  At the same store in the same isle.

Betty found a ceramic one she liked but it really wasn't tall enough, and the black, gray and white pattern made it look a bit too zebra-ish but it did have the colors she liked.

Other vases had too wide a mouth on top.

Then Betty found an all black metal vase.  She thought it was blah, but the right size.

That's when I opened my mouth with the words I believed would get me the helll out of that store...... "I can paint that one for you to look similar to the ceramic one you like".

I told her I could even jazz it up a bit if she wanted.

Betty sent the vase home with me and said to have at it, her only instruction being if I could complete it in 5 days so she could fill her empty corner before her book club friends arrived.

I decided since Betty's last name started with a J that she should have a monogram on her vase.  I also decided that I should cut off the sleeve of an old sweater of my daughters to put along the top of the vase.

 This is a photo of the vase before waxing.

I used Annie Sloan chalk paint in old white and French Linen then sanded it smooth as butter down to the black metal in some spots, but without scratching the metal.  I gave it a light water wipe on the black to get the dust off, then waxed the whole thing with Annie Sloan's clear wax.

Then the raccoon arrived on the mudroom door.

It was 6 below zero that day, the only reason a raccoon would be out in the cold and snow was because he wanted to come into my house, gnaw on my flesh, and give me rabies.

It didn't end well for the raccoon.

It ended much better for Betty's vase.

She loved it.

Her husband wondered why I would cut the sleeve off a sweater and then come to their house with my camera to take a photo of a vase in the corner.

So if you wonder how AS chalk paint works on metal; perfectly - and the wax gave it a nice sheen that made it look like it was purchased that way.

Betty was completely in charge of filling her vase while I recovered from my near death experience of being eaten alive by a raccoon.

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