Using Milk Paint to Paint Books and a Vase

Milk Paint is awesome! This decorating tool has fast become a favorite of mine. If you’re following my blog, you read my recent post on using milk paint to update items around the house (HERE). In this prior post, I painted a pair of candlesticks, from black to white.

This time, I took on a couple more small and easy projects using milk paint (HERE), in the color petticoat.

I purchased this great large vase with handles from Pier One (HERE) about a year ago. I fell in love with it as soon as I saw it, and it was on clearance which helped. BUT, when I got it home, I just couldn’t find a happy home for it. Has that ever happened to you? I moved it all around the house, trying different tables, mantels and the floor. Nothing looked right. The shape of the vase was great but the coloring and pattern were off.

But what every house needs, a large white vase. We have a large buffet cabinet that needs styling and a white vase would fit in perfectly.

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This is a picture of the vase before painting. It has a nice rough texture which makes it easy for the paint to adhere to, no need for bonding adhesive.

Using a brush, I started at the top and worked my way down.

After 1 coat, this is how it appears.

This is after 2 coats, looks great, it didn’t need a third.

For my buffet cabinet, I also need additional styling elements such as books. But I want the books to adhere to my white color scheme.

Let’s paint some hardback and softback cover books.

Using old books around the house, I found these in my sons room that he has outgrown.

Lay the book out flat.

These books have a shiny surface, so I used bonding paint (HERE). I applied a thin coat and let it dry completely.

After the first coat, the wording still showed through. This will require 3 coats.

The surface is still wet, but looks great after 3 coats.

For the soft back cover books, I removed the front, back and spine cover.

The paint went on very easy, no bonding paint needed.

After one coat, looks good. Let dry completely before starting another coat.

After 2 coats, looks better.

After 3 coats, perfect. You can also paint the sides of the pages, but that may render the book unusable. I chose not to paint the sides of the pages.

Tie a little rope around the books and they work perfectly in my cabinet.

The vase and candlesticks are all painted using milk paint. Check back next week for tips on styling a cabinet.

See you next time!