I Heart Grain Sack Stripes

Okay, so let's just get this right out of the way at the beginning of this post...I am terrible at remembering to take "before" photos.  I get so excited about the project at hand that I just dive right in, kinda like a little kid.  Maybe when I grow up I'll do better.  Yeah, sure thing.  Not certain when it's gonna happen, but I'll be a big girl someday, I just know it!  But enough about my childish ways...

I have pictures of a couple of neat little items to show you today, because as you might have heard, I heart grain sack stripes.  No "befores", just "afters".  First, for those of you who don't know what grain sack stripes are, they look like this:

source: Second Shout Out

Antique grain sacks are worn and faded, sometimes hard to find and can get pricey. But they're fabulous.  Tres Francais, n'est pas?  I love to paint them on things. Chairs, stools, fabric.  I'd put them on pretty much anything that's not nailed down or breathing. They come in all widths and numbers of stripes.  Some grain sacks even have hand-embroidered monograms on each side of the stripes.  Be still my heart!

I've done several grain sack projects.  I love them all and am always sad to see them go when they sell because truthfully, I want to keep them all for myself.  But sharing is caring, so I share.  Here are a few of the ones I've done:

This one is by far my favorite.  The chair was a $3 find at Goodwill.  Isn't it amazing what a little chalk paint and some dark wax can do?

I think I paid a dollar for this stool at a yard sale.  It was a hideous color of green, but a few coats of regular flat latex paint in blue and some chalk paint stripes turned this ugly duckling into a sweet little swan.

This pretty chair was another Goodwill find while I was at the beach back in the spring.  The seat was an ugly camel-colored Naugahyde vinyl and it had to go.  I knew the stripes would really make it pop.

I taped them off and painted these stripes on an old drop cloth and I love the look. The drop cloth kind of looks linen-y.  I painted this chair to sell, but it would look so cute at my dressing table....hmmm, what should I do?  Oh, right, sharing is caring. Sell it, I will.

Do you heart grain sack stripes as much as I do?  Tell me all about it in the comments.  Enjoy your day!

Toodles,