TRADE SECRETS REVEALED!

Here, for you now, the wildly popular yet mystifying process of restoring and reattaching loose paper labels to cans is about to be revealed!  Drum roll, please!!!  OK, so it's really not all that, but if you WERE to run across some really antique old cans that still had the paper labeling wouldn't you feel lucky to make a great find like that?  And if the labels WERE loose wouldn't you like to be able to make them look as pristine and preserved as possible?  I thought so.

 Recently on an estate sale binge in Atlanta I ran across this stash of really cool old paint cans in a carriage house of a mansion in Druid Hills.  It was toward the end of the day after the sellers had most likely already hauled in a fortune and they were trying to get rid of the rest of what no one else had over-paid them for.  (This is the best time to go to any sale, BTW.  It has been a LONG day for the sellers, the cash box is filled, they are hungry and tired, so their defenses are weak! YES!)  Anyway, in this case no surreptitious tactics were needed (like enjoying a large slice of Pepperoni Pizza in front of them.  Who would do that?).  The cans were simply buried under boxes of other newer cans labeled FREE PAINT.  Score one for the home team!  Here is a close up of some of the smaller and cuter ones:

   Anyway, before we go any further please mail me a personal check for $50 to see this amazing process revealed, or simply keep reading and I'll collect the cash the next time I see you.

First of all I wire brushed the surface rust from the can.  It was a little rusty from years of sitting in storage counting the days until I found it, but not too badly.  There are probably many good ways to restore labels, but I chose the one that sprang to mind first and I thought would be the easiest, which, of course, is bubble gum.  Just kidding, actually,I chose shellac.

 

Zinnser Bulls Eye Shellac

 

 

I know first-hand of the raging debate and the world wars that have been fought over the absolute necessity of using flake shellac and cutting it to exact proportions with denatured alcohol, but I'm too lazy to do that, so I buy mine pre-mixed.  I hope that with the passage of enough time and with the other good things I may do through the years it will influence you to forgive me. 

 

Paint the entire can with a thin coat of shellac.  Quickly, and I mean quickly, place the label on the can. Shellac begins drying as soon as you brush it on.  If this happens to you and it becomes sticky or messy you can completely remove it with denatured alcohol.  By the way, that is THE quick restore-method for any older piece of furniture if it is finished in shellac.  Just mist it with alcohol and let it flow out.  It will look like new.  (I once burned an antique mahogany dining room table in a roaring fire just to get rid of it before I learned this.  The original finish was foggy from moisture and I thought it would be too much trouble to refinish!) 

 

After the label was pieced back in place I let it dry for a couple of minutes and then shellacked the outside of it.  In retrospect this might have been a mistake since the ink on the label began to smear slightly.  I think spraying it with lacquer from a spray can would have been neater. Also, you will see that part of the label is GONE, but it came that way.  I COULD drip some red paint down and over that missing part if I REALLY wanted to finish the restoration and give it an "as found" look..

 

Well, there you have it. another carefully guarded trade-secret exposed!  Get out there this week-end and find your next restoration project and let me hear how YOU did YOURS!

 

Just a reminder! We have the 1st annual National craft Fair and Expo coming up in March 2014 in Little Rock, Arkansas.  A Friday and Saturday event this will be the national "county fair" for crafters, artists, re-purposers and up-cyclers of all kinds!  We will be judging and awarding the best-of-the-best and will be featuring a live head-to-head competition among shabby-chic furniture painters.  Valuable prizes and a national crown will be awarded for the winner of that event!  We will also be offering booth space to vendors of everything from fine antiques to pure junk!  If you would like more information or would like to participate please contact us through our face book page at https://www.facebook.com/AmericanVintageFurnishingsSellerDirectory

 

Happy Hunting!