Tips and Tricks Tuesday #3 - Seal It Up!

BE SURE TO CHECK OUT ALL THREE NEW LINKY PARTIES HERE AT THE COTTAGE!

Welcome to the third Tips & Tricks Tuesday linky party. Want to see some of the totally terrific tips from other creative bloggers?

Marie @ Sally Lee by the Sea shared her tip for turning a thrifty shelf into a beach-cottage-chic beauty.

There were several helpful hints from

a little bit of everything. One I found most useful involved a slice of bread to soften brown sugar.

Want to capture the beauty of the outdoors for your inside decor? Take a look at Al's crafty pillow @ Al McLeary - Diary of a Crafty Insomniac for inspiration.

Kathy's awesome tip for a laundry tool kit is one I definitely will put to good use here at the cottage. Get the full details for the kit–and a comprehensive stain removal chart–at her blog A Delightsome Life.

Kathryn @ I Can Find The Time has the most novel tip for taking apart an old baseball and using its components to make a bracelet. How cool is that?!

Being a health educator, I am so glad that Debbie @ Debbiedoos shared her special tips on detoxifying the body. Go read it! You'll be glad you did.

Cute As a Fox Creations linked the best tips and tricks ideas for that young–or old–rock and roller in your life.

And Jude @ Dolce Cape Cod has given us all the details to create darling garden mirror streamers.

Now it's time for another Brambleberry Cottage tip & trick.

Any craftsperson will tell you that there are staple products she–or he–would never be caught without. Here at the cottage, there is always a supply of Deft brand sealants on hand.

The Yankee mentioned it in his post last night for Ask the Yankee, and I told you one of our uses for it in my Time Travel Thursday post, last week.

At the Brambleberry Cottage, most of the pieces we work with–and create new things from–are old, rusty,  and have chippy paint.  That's just the way we like 'em!

But we aren't fond of the mess rust and paint chips can create in our cottage.  So, we've discovered a few tips and tricks to keep the timeworn patina we love, while eliminating the potential for unwanted debris.

You all went crazy over the Yankee's rusty-gear lamp creation.  But you wouldn't like getting that rust all over you, right?

Here's how we prevent that from happening.

First, we wash off all surface dirt with clear water and allow the piece to air-dry.  Sometimes we actually find our rusty pieces buried in the dirt around old barns, so this initial cleaning is a must.

After it is completely dry, the piece is then given a vigorous cleaning with a steel brush–lower righthand corner–followed by a plastic bristle brush–middle–to remove fine particles.  The large brush–topside–is a natural horsehair brush which ensures the piece will be debris free.

Once all the cleaning steps are complete, we spray the piece with Deft.  Sometimes one coat gives us the results we want; other times a second or third coat is necessary.

The farm implement on the left shows the richness the patina will have after a rusty piece has been sealed with Deft. 

Not only will you have the advantage of deepening the natural patina, but you will no longer have to be concerned about rust showing up where it's not welcome–clothing, furniture, carpet, etc.

 

We also use this product to seal the chippy paint on items like the baluster lamp and the bead-board mirror.  It keeps the paint chips where we want them–on the piece.

So there you have it!