The Great $5.00 Find©
Posted: Tuesday, June 15, 2010
by Arlene Wright-Correll
http://www.learn-america.com
No one loves a bargain better than this bargain hunter so I clip manufacturer coupons for things we use, I shop at salvage grocery stores where I can buy about $125.00 worth of groceries for only $25.00, I go early on Monday to our local supermarket and buy their 50 to 70% discounted meat from the weekend bringing it home to put into our freezer, I never buy anything that is never on sale and whenever I go past a Goodwill or Habitat for Humanity store I stop in and browse.
In order to insure that my bargain stays a bargain I rarely indulge myself in special paints and in this case this was true because it was going to be near to impossible to do any decorative painting on these surfaces.
I wish I had taken a picture of it prior to me giving it a base coat of some blue I had left over in a can. This took about 1 hour. Once dried it then took about an hour to attach all the hinges, lock and corner pieces which were brand new and include in my initial $5.00 purchase.
At any rate I decided to do some decorative painting over a two day period and it took about 3 hours on each day.
Here is a picture of the front when it was done and the next day I did the top.
Once it was completed and dried I gave the whole thing a spray of indoor/outdoor clear varnish which took about 10 minutes. I let it dry overnight and the next day gave it a second coat which took another 10 minutes.
$5.00 initial cost, some old paint that would eventually no longer be any good, some of my decorative acrylic paints, perhaps a total of 50 cents worth and 7 hours and 20 minutes later I had a pretty addition to a room, a nice chest to put things into, a place that could be used as a luggage rack and the satisfaction of recycling besides having my initial purchase go to help Habitat for Humanity.
It can't get any better than that!
Above is the finished piece in its place in one the guest rooms at http://www.learn-america.com/avalons-creativity-center/ Avalon Stained Glass School and Creativity Center .
"Tread the Earth Lightly" and in the meantime...
May your day be filled with...
Peace, Light and Love,
Arlene Wright-Correll
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Top-level comments on this article: (1 total)Great paint job, the chest is beautiful! It's very rewarding to paint furniture.Thank you so much for reading my article and responding so kindly.
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