Upcycled Thrift Shop Mail & Key Holder

April 12, 2018

I purchased this plain wooden key/mail holder at the thrift shop.

Not sure what type of wood it was but it seemed to never have been varnished or poly-ed. It had brass cup hooks for keys.

I decided to try Varathane Weathered Wood Accelerator on the holder.

I have used it one time before with good results.

Actually I am applying the Varathane Weathered Wood Accelerator to three thrift shop finds!

The other two will be covered in another post.

My weathered wood accelerator has been applied.

It starts changing pretty fast, and dries within an hour. I put on about three coats.

The back has not been done yet so you can see the change.

It's a very dark brown with gray highlights.

I am also using a new stencil from *Old Sign Stencils - The Flourish from the Office/Open/Closed Collection.

It's a little long for my piece but it's gonna work!

This will add some fun to this dark wood holder.

I stenciled the flourish on with Ceramcoat White Craft Paint along with,

"Homestead" from the Homestead Blend Coffee Stencil!

It is so fun to mix the stencils for many more possibilities.

Upcycled Thrift Shop Key/Mail Holder #oldsignstencils #stencil #varathaneweatheredwoodaccelerator

I also painted my hooks white.

I loved the way my key/mail holder turned out, BUT I will never ever use the Watco Laquer recommended as a sealer for the Varathane Weathered Wood Accelerator.

The odor is extremely toxic and strong. You really should wear a respirator to use it. I just had a small piece that was sealed quickly, but I will never use it again.

I will use the weathered wood accelerator again most definitely. I will just experiment with different sealers until I find one that works.