Wednesday, October 19, 2011

Whimsical Wednesday: CHAIRS

For my 1st installment of Whimsical Wednesday, our topic is chairs....check out these beauties, each uniquely whimsical in its own way.






  
Miss Lucy chair by Driade

  







And now, my favorite of all....my very own chair....
TEEHEE!! (snort) I'm on a roll today!

 I hope you enjoyed my first ever Whimsical Wednesday!  Please check back next week....




take care -
 

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Monday, October 17, 2011

The Tedious Trunk

A couple days ago I mentioned that I was in the middle of painting an old chest.  It's cedar and had a very dark stain that had seen better days.  I first painted it black, then a light khaki, and finally a cream color, which shown in the picture below.

I'm planning on selling this, but I thought about how I'd want it to look if I were going to put it in my house.  I decided on blue-gray stripes...

I measured them out and taped with Frogtape (which I TOTALLY LOVE)

So, here it is after I painted and distressed it.  I had some trouble with some of my paint peeling...I think because I didn't wait long enough to distress it.  I thought maybe if I added some stain, it might make the large patches look more natural.

My husband came out and said, "did you want it to be brown."  Uh, no. Hmmmm. Not only was it brown, but it was splotchy.  The stripes were also darker than I envisioned them.

 
Soooo, I mixed some plaster of paris with semi-gloss white, hoping to get a chalky look.

Of course, Emme was over-seeing the entire process.

Pre-distressed

And post-distressed (and waxed).
  
The stripes were more in line with what I was thinking...

The back

...and the top...


So there she is....she's starting to grow on me more and more.  My husband has instructed me to move on to the next project and stop thinking about it.

What do you think, theoretically speaking, would you buy something like this?(I promise not to hold you to it!)  If not, what would make it more appealing to you.  (My husband may light it on fire it I touch it again...in the sweetest way possible, of course.)

Apparently, I'm going through a trunk phase in my "artistic" development right now...here's another one.

take care -


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Sunday, October 16, 2011

Salvaged Sunday -Vintage Baby Scale

I've mentioned a couple times that I'm in the process of trying to start selling vintage items on Etsy and locally in my area.  Right now, I'm trying to find a place that will allow me to sell repurposed items...most places around here want strictly antiques or want to sell on consignment.  We don't have cool craft shows in central Ohio (that I know of) like I see (and envy) on other blogs. If anyone has any helpful tips on this whole process, I'd really appreciate it.
So anyway, my mom and I went hunting for some treasures this weekend, in an attempt to build up some inventory...one of the items I've been looking for is old scales, and I came across this old baby scale at a consignment shop for $12.00:

(Not my picture, I'm too worn out from the weekend to go through that whole rig-a-ma-roll tonight....traveling alone with 2 babies is a lot of work!)

It was high up on a shelf in a basket...all dusty, but in good condition.  It made me wonder why someone wouldn't at least wipe it off before displaying it....It took me 5 minutes to search on ebay for "vintage baby scale" to see one identical to mine (shown above) with 9 bids on it for $36.00.  So dust it off, and make 3 times more...maybe I'm missing something.

Last week, I mentioned that I was working on an old chest that I'd share...after a TON of work on it, you can find it here.
I'm planning to start "Salvaged Sunday" and "Whimsical Wednesday" to share some of the things I find at garage sales, in barns, etc....or online.  Wow, I'm so tired...for some reason my lovely children have been waking up at 4am for the past week....and they are ready to PARTY LIKE ROCKSTARS.  So, I apologize if this is the most boring-est post ever, but I wanted to share my fun find!!

Did you find any goodies this weekend?  Please do share...



take care -



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Thursday, October 13, 2011

What do you think?

You probably don't remember the way my blog looked a couple hours ago, but how do you like it now?  (Please be honest...nicely :) I thought the old site (black/white damask Blogger background- I haven't figured out the "print screen" deal yet) was too heavy and dramatic feeling...I had spent hours looking at different backgrounds, couldn't decide on one, so I went with it. 

Then, I saw someones blog (not sure who, I'm sorry!) with a Shabby Blog background that I really liked.  Several hours and about 15 different backgrounds later, I came up with what you see now.  If I had the time, I'd probably redesign it weekly, I love patterns and fonts and all that jazz.  This background made me happy to look at it, so hopefully, that feeling is conveyed to you.  If that weren't enough to convince me...it's called "sleeping porch" and I love to sleep, although my babies have yet to figure that out.

Shabby Blog has some really cute things you can grab for free:





(I, in NO way, represent Shabby Blogs, know anyone who does...I'm not being paid or offered anything...I just want to share this cute stuff.) 

I'm still working on creating a header, but I feel like once I decide on something, I won't be able to change it again...so I want to love it.  I may put some ideas that I'm thinking of here, to see what others think (it takes me forever to make decisions about this type of stuff!)

I'd love to hear what you think...I'm open to constructive criticism.


take care -

 

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Tuesday, October 11, 2011

I'd like to thank....

...the academy oops!  Ahem...let me start this again....



Patricia of CropaCabana and Jane of Little House of Projects have each awarded me the Versatile Blogger Award.  A humongous THANK YOU to Patricia and Jane for each discovering my blog and giving me this award...it absolutely made my day! 
,
I'll admit that I did a Google search to make sure that someone wasn't trying to play a joke on the newbie blogger (I'm still learning the tricks of the trade daily!).   So, moving on from my unfounded moment of paranoia......

Patricia is a self-described scrapbook enthusiast, artist, cake decorator, etc.  Her cakes are phenomenal...if you think that's impressive, check out this one.....and that's not even her day job!   Patricia is also skilled with paper...and a mom, grandma, set designer,...uh, I'll let you check out her blog or this could go on all night! 

Jane says she loves to decorate with items that have a story or personal meaning to her. as well as things she's made or remade.  You have to take a look at the chairs she recently re-did...they are gorgeous (and I am jealous!).  She also made these cute Halloween "candy cones."  Please stop Jane's blog to check it out!

So, as a recipient of The Versatile Blogger Award, there are 3 tasks to complete:
1.  Thank the person who awarded you. (Thank you again, Patricia and Jane)
2.  Tell 7 things about yourself that your readers may not know.
3.  Award 7 other bloggers with this award.  (Jane's instructions said 15 - but I'm going to stick to 7 I really like)



7 Things you probably don't know about me...
1. I'm quite skilled at typing and blogging with one hand, as the other is usually holding one of my 2 babies...11 mos and 2 years.
2.  I use to design and paint custom aisle runners for weddings
3.  I looooove water...oceans, lakes, streams, kiddie pools...you name it, I love water.  I will own a waterfront property before I leave this earth.
4.  I sucked my thumb until I was in 5th grade...aaand, I wore braces for 4 years.
5.  I donated 10"+ of my hair to Locks of Love last week
6.  I'm 6' tall...my husband is 6'2"...both of our babies are in the 97th percentile for height and weight.
7.  I never wanted kids..until I met my AMAZING husband at age 28.  Being a mom is the #1, most amazing, most emotional, hardest, most fulfilling thing I've ever done or will do.  The first moment you set eyes on your new baby is a better high than any drug in the world. (Admittedly, I've never tried any illegal substances, so this is purely based on assumption.)


 And finally, I get to pass this award along to 7 other bloggers.  Please take a moment to visit the blogs of these very talented women:
Courtney of Charming Little Nest
Rebecca and Wanda of Walnut & Vine
Bobbie of  My Creative Life Diary
April of My Friends Call Me Suzy
Amy of The Salvage Collection
Miranda and Jamie of The Pinterest Project
Maggie of Sweetwater Baby


It was fun getting to look through a bunch of blogs (probably 50+) today to find these great blogs.  I didn't just pick the first 7 I came across...these women have wonderful ideas and projects to share with you.  Please take a moment to stop by, say hi, hit their "follower" button if you feel so inclined....I'm sure your visit will make each of their day a little happier!  (Who knew it could be so easy to make another person happy...if only my temperamental toddler and teething baby were so easily amused!)

Thanks again to Patricia of CropaCabana and Jane of Little House of Projects for each choosing to give me this award...it really is wonderful to be chosen out of the thousands of other blogs they could have chosen.


take care -




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Monday, October 10, 2011

Repurposed Drawers Project

My mom found these drawers  for me at a thrift shop- I think they were $3 each?  I love the carving on the front, as well as the hardware.  Because I like the way they look when they are stacked, I decided to play off of that, and add words to the sides.



If you can trace, you can do this.  I decided I wanted my words to relate to one another...so I chose faith, hope, and love.  I also considered doing numbers with numerals on one side and the spelled out numbers on the other side of the drawers.....Numbering things is so popular right now, I decided to stay away from that option.

Once I decided on my words, I typed them out and played with fonts and sizes.  When I found something I liked, I'd print out the first page to make sure it would fit on the side of my drawer.


Then, I raided Max's crayon stash for a light color, which I used to color on the opposite side of the page.


After doing this, in order to find the middle of the word, I folded the page in half so the outer edge of the first letter and the outer edge of the last letter meet.




After finding the center point of the drawer side, I lined them up and  taped them to the side of the drawers. 


I then used an ink pen to trace the letters, making sure that the crayon was transferring onto the wood.  This is the method I used in our old house to paint the Emily Dickinson quote in the sunroom.



I then used white craft paint and a small paint brush (use smaller than you think you'll need, I also think brushes with stiffer bristles make it easier to control the paint) to color in the lines.  I bet you could use a paint pen, but I haven't tried it and actually, I prefer paint/brush method.  Silly me, I forgot to take a picture of the drawers before I distressed them.  I distressed all of the sides of the drawer using a hand sander and coarse sand paper.   I accidentally over-distressed some of the letters, so I just touched up the light areas.  Once dry, I sanded with a little piece of fine sand paper.



I was trying to wrangle toddlers and keep them from destroying anything, as well as take pictures, so needless to say, they are a little rough.



I decided to have the fronts of the drawers alternate ends, thinking it would make it more interesting looking.
  

I also thought some dried flowers sticking out might be pretty- like maybe some lavender.  And instead of jars on top, I thought of doing candles, a pile of pine cones or evens some little books.  I think it's something that could be changed with the season. 



If you can't tell from the pictures, I staggered the drawers so they could be stacked without falling over.





I also think that anything that you could stack could be substituted...boxes, books, chunks of wood.
Right now, I'm also in the middle of painting a chest, which I can hopefully share later this week.  I'm also working on this chest of drawers- I got all of the spray paint sanded off today, but it will be a couple weeks before it will be finished because it needs some love....and a new top. 

I'd love for you to check back in a couple days to see how my chest turns out (I'm pretty interested to find out myself!)

I linked to these wonderful blogs:


  HookingupwithHoH Transformation Thursday  
http://www.thethriftyhome.com  Photobucket   

homework     Photobucket  Tip Junkie handmade projects  Tutorials and Tips   The Girl Creative  Sumo's Sweet Stuff   Boogieboard Cottage Photobucket
take care -

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