A Pillow, a Mat, Two Projects Needing Help

I was going to show you a couple of small projects I was working on but one didn't happen and the other hit a snag so instead I will show you some things I'm trying to figure out and the projects that did get finished.

A long time ago, my maternal grandfather owned a dairy. My mom had saved some of the milk cans, intending to spray paint them silver so they'd look like they did back then. I don't remember what exactly we talked about but somehow I ended up with one coming home with me in all it's rusty glory.

Whatever plans I had for it are long lost and now I'm trying to decide what to do with it. Do I leave it as is or paint it? I can see it with a cow/dairy graphic and maybe some white paint with some of the rusty area showing...or just a graphic on it all worn looking?

Another project I need to redo is the shadow box I put together after my mom died:

It holds a photo of her when she was about 18,

My beautiful mom!

some of her personal things - beaded purse:

her watch (which I actually took in to have fixed but it was beyond repair):

gloves:

and things she loved and collected - salt cellar spoon(with a rose on it-she loved roses!):

hummingbird pin (one of her favorite birds):

sea shell(we spent many an Easter vacation at the beach with her):

Some of the pieces have come loose so I need to fix those. But I'm not sure  I like placement of the items. I think I'll take it all apart and play with where they go. Plus I kind of want to paint the frame blue as it was her favorite color. I plan on putting this in the guest room where I'm using her bedroom furniture. You can see the furniture in this post.

I did manage to finish 2 projects. One is a pillow I made for Bruce using a t-shirt that was given to him and too small for him to wear:

He didn't know I grabbed the t-shirt out of the giveaway pile to do this. He's thrilled with it and it now resides in his office.

Lastly, I repainted my kitchen mat...This is how it looked when I first painted it:

I got the idea from Roeshel over at the DIYShowOff. You can see her tutorial here.

But after two years of getting walked on, the paint had crackled and had worn off in some areas. I came up with a new design, painted the background with ASCP Old White,

drew my design with chalk, painted the chicken, then added the words and stars on the edges:

After drying, I put a coat of poly over it. It's good to have it back under foot and I like the new look.

That's it for now. I'd love to have feedback on the milk can and shadow box if you have any ideas. And hopefully, I can share the two other projects that didn't happen soon. Until next time, have a blessed weekend.