Would you like to see how you can turn this bland vintage chest of drawers into your own little bit of Americana (below)?
After thoroughly cleaning and dealing with any dents that I didn't want showing (a little really adds to the character of a piece I think). I tested to ensure the chest did not require primer (test during cleaning) and painted all over with the base colour, here it was Scandinavian Blue by Autentico and distressed a little bit. I then addressed the top by using painters tape (not masking tape, that leave a residue) for the red stripes, as well as taping off the section for the stars section. Red used was Ruby by Autentico.
After drying the red stripes thoroughly with the hair dryer and moving the tape, I painted the white stripes. My favourite white was used, Ice Cream by Autentico.
Next I painted in a darker blue where the stars would be, using Byzantine (of course, by Autentico)
The stars were painted by hand, if you have a stencil, this would look neater but I was going for a rustic look.
For the text, I printed out the words using by computer/printer is the font I liked, ensuring it was a mirror image for the transfer. I had to have the print out copied as you need laserjet print out for this method and my home printer is inkjet.
I used a heat tool for the transfer method. This tool is actually for woodworking or leatherworking. The flat, button like attachment is perfect for heating up the ink from the print out, when then is absorbed into the chalk paint. Note that I did not wax before doing this method, it would otherwise run due to melted wax, wax last.
Remove the paper once the transfer is done, let cool before waxing (otherwise the text will smear). I've done similar for the Union Jack too, but decided to add a bit of red to the text too..
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