Old UGLY green sewing box re-do

Started with this:

Tossed out the top tray, gave it a good scrubbing.

A light coating of KILZ spray primer; then several coats of cream color spray paint, inside and out.

Decided to let ‘my new’ love’ work his magic on it.

It took a fairly STIFF brush to get the glaze down into all the creases.

Just brush it on, then wipe off the excess. I was surprised how quickly this stuff ’sets up’. I had to wipe off each side AS I finished it. and not wait and do the whole thing at once.

I ended up ‘papering’ the insides with some torn up old book pages and applying some of the RL glaze. (those pics have not been downloaded yet. sorry!) Not sure I like how it turned out, and MAY have to re-do the inside. It’s a bit ’streaky’. Not sure if that’s because the glaze doesn’t work well on paper, OR if it doesn’t mix well with the adhesive I used for the paper.)

Can’t find a handle that fits???

We run into this QUITE often when we are re-doing old furniture pieces with drawers or doors.    My preference is to look for items that had SINGLE HOLE knobs or pulls if some are missing.  Easy to replace.  BUT, for older items with TWO hole knobs missing, finding a NEW knob or pull that fits those holes can be a challenge, to say the least.

IF you are totally sanding and refinishing the item, you can fill the  just  holes with putty before you paint and then drill new holes to fit your new hardware.  But, if you ‘just need a new pull’ check out THIS cute and simple idea!

Such a fun look.  I might even have to try it ‘on purpose’ and not just out of desperation!

A new love

No, no , NO . . . I’m still totally in love with Ralph! But he’s done something WONDERFUL that has made me fall even more in love with him.  I’ve been searching for this stuff for ages.  Kept seeing other bloggers writing about using it (and professing their LOVE for it!)   I just could never find it around ‘thses parts’.  And ‘asking’ about a product at Home Depot does not always produce a viable answer.

TA~ DA!!!!  Ralph Lauren GLAZE!!!  And it WAS at Home Depot, after all.  I had asked several times and been directed down a aisle, but could never FIND the stuff.  And it’s like buying paint, you pull the can of UNtinted base from the shelf and have them mix it up for you.

I’d only heard of one color ’smoke’.  So I did a little searching on the internet and found that the glaze can be made in four different shades, tobacco being the darkest; which is what I went with.

And here’s the results I get with it.  Glazed on the right.  It’s a VERY similar look to the wood wash that I used to make for myself.  But the RL glaze works ON TOP of painted stuff, and is thicker.  I just VERY LIGHTLY brushed it on.

Any tips for avoiding brush lines on bigger pieces would be appreciated.

I TOLD you I was already “Thinking Spring”!

*(Don’t forget to please CLICK HERE to vote for me in the Handmade Holidays contest. Just clicking on the link will give me a vote. No need to do anything else.)

And here are a few pictures to prove it.

Putty and cream colored pottery; jute accents.

Balls of string.

Natural elements.

Pewter and tarnished silver. I HOPE I can find more pewter!)

A bit of Paris chic.

Lots of ‘twigs and twine’.

Blended in with sand and shells and beachy blues.

Birds and bee skeps and bears.

Earth tones and fabrics with lots of texture; like burlap. I bought this homespun and the brown burlap on two different shopping trips and didn’t even realize how well they matched until I put them in my fabric stash. The homespun really looked OLIVE GREEN and turquoise in the store. But next to the yummy cocoa brown burlap, it’s most definitely brown!

Some lighter tan burlap and onnasburg for upholstering chairs and making pillows.

This lamp will probably end up with the shabby Paris stuff. I love the ’squareness’ of both the lamp AND shade.

So, what trends are ‘grabbing your eye’ for spring? Or are you still knee-deep in Christmas?

Ain’t she sweet?!

Yippee!!! I finally found a mannequin! Been hunting for one for 4+ years. I had a wire one when we first opened our store; but it had a more traditional ball shaped skirt. I LOVE the shape of this new one much better! And I like the scroll work on the base.

Mannequin from a few years ago.

Here is a wicker one I had 'WAY back when'. Got it at the thrift store; it was just the torso, no base. I mounted it onto a big heavy wood thrifted lamp base.

Back to the ‘new gal’ . . .

I intend to use her as a ‘greeter’ for my space at the antique mall. Hoping to get a bigger space after the first of the year, and thought I’d make her a pair of angel wings.

Inspector kitty, Spike doing a ‘quality check’, and then informing me that he really thought the project could wait until tomorrow because right now he was WELL behind on his quota of scheduled lap time for the day. With Michael out of town for work for four days I guess I’ll be pulling ‘double shifts’ on kitty lap time!

I wanted to use some foam core poster board for the backing for the wings. After striking out at THREE different Dollar Trees though, I had to come up with a plan B. (and paying $5.00 for it at the craft store was NOT in the budget!)

So I bought a POSTER and figured I could use the cardboard it was packaged with for my wings. First I drew the shape of my wings on newspaper; held them up to the mannequin to be sure I liked them. Then I drew them ‘to size’ (newspaper was a bit smaller than the poster board) on the back of the poster. Cut that out and will save it to use as a template in the future. I’ll be selling the wings, but probably not the mannequin. (unless/until I can find another!)

I had to hit FOUR Dollar Trees before I found the 300ct packages of rose petals. They had the smaller packages of 80ct; but I was gonna need a LOT of them. I know they bring in the bigger packages for Valentines day, and was HOPING I wouldn’t have to wait that long for them. Found the foam board at the same DT; a brand new one.

So, I took my cardboard cut out of the pair of wings, my trusty bottle of tacky glue and my rose petals and started gluing away. Worked on it while I watched TV last night and the entire project, from design to finish took under two hours.

AND . . . . .drumroll please . . . . .

The pair of wings cost me less that $3.00 to make!!! It took one full bag of the rose petals plus about 1/4 of another bag. How’s that for THRIFTY CRAFTING?!?!?

I just rummaged through my stash of wire edged ribbon for some white to tie the wings on with, and just tied a regular bow, so it unties easily. (since the wings will be for sale)

BEFORE I happened to find the mannequin, I had planned on making the angel wings, and was just going to hang them on the wall in a BIG frame. Maybe sling a little bow and arrow across one corner of the frame?

This was the only frame I had handy to use for the picture. This frame will be painted black; and I also have some big ‘fancy gold’ frames that I can use. I also sprayed some glittery silver spray paint on the wings. It just gives it a bit of shimmer. Very subtle; and it doesn’t show up in the pics.

I have a really nice white feather boa that I think I’ll use for the next pair of wings. They’ll have to be smaller, and I’m not sure just yet HOW I’ll attach the boa to the wing backing. I don’t think I want to use hot glue because it will flatten out the feathers too much. (and this boa is VERY fluffy) So, I may have to punch holes in the wings and TIE the boa on.

Also want to do some wings with vintage sheet music.

What else could I use for angel wings? Maybe those glittery ’snow blankets you buy to put the little villages on? Cut out feather shapes???? More work than the just gluing on the rose petals, but it would be SO cool to have a whole collection of angel wings hanging on the walls of our antique booth space!

Don’t forget to please CLICK HERE to vote for me in the Handmade Holidays contest. Just clicking on the link will give me a vote. No need to do anything else.

Rescued pair of doves

Sweet little pair of doves I found on a recent thrifting jaunt. WHY in the world would someone paint them black??

A~HA!!! Turning them over and looking at the back, I discover that the black paint is covering up a layer of country blue AND a layer of olive green. Again . . . WHY??!?!?

I gave them a good dose of KILZ primer, then some nice white paint. Once dry I sanded them a bit to bring out the details.

Wont’ they be cute with a Valentine’s display?

Don’t forget to please CLICK HERE to vote for me in the Handmade Holidays contest. Just clicking on the link will give me a vote. No need to do anything else

WordPress hiccup!!!

Well this is the THIRD time today I have tried to add pictures and do a post with NO LUCK. pfffffffffffffffttttt! The pictures upload from my browser just fine, but the ‘insert into post’ button that is supposed to appear is MIA. so, sorry, not post today. And of course I’ve got about 50 new pictures/projects to tell about right now!

Well, if you have a chance, please CLICK HERE to vote for me in the Handmade Holidays contest. Just clicking on the link will give me a vote. No need to do anything else

Vote for ME!!! (pleeeeeeease!)

Okay, seriously, I had planned on being totally IMPARTIAL and diplomatic about entering this contest.

It’s a handmade holiday contest hosted by Michael’s craft stores.   So I did my entry, something ’simple and unique and not overly traditionally Christmas’.  While I was waiting for my entry to be approved I decided to check out the competition.  And I honestly thought that I’d look at ALL of them.

Holey smokes!!!!  There are 266 PAGES of entries.  (so far!  There is still time left to enter!) I think I made it through 20 of them.  sigh.  And after those 20 pages I started seeing a LOT of the ’same old . . same old’.   A few (a VERY few!!!) unique ideas here and there.

So, take a peek at the link above and maybe some of the other entries, and then go HERE
and vote for me!  Just for the heck of it.  Just cuz you like my blog and have been inspired by some of my ideas and/or helped by some of my suggestions and because I NEVER win anything!

(Well, I guess if you REALLY think my project  sucks, then don’t vote for me.) But if none of the other ideas you see ‘grab you’ and look like something simple enough for anyone to replicate, vote for me!

Another little blog I’m working on. . . .

One GOOD thing about this recession is that we’re seeing more and more Dollar stores, and dollar sections within other stores.  If you thought all the had was ‘cheap crap’, take a look at what I’ve found for just a dollar . . .

Check out The Dollar Diva

Thrift store lamp re-do

Found this simple little lamp at the thrift store last week. Can ALWAYS use ‘little lamps’. I used them a LOT in the store to help draw attention to displays. NEED them at the shows we do for extra lighting. The big fair ground complexes seldom have very good lighting.

First step is to cover the parts you don’t want to paint. I used cling wrap.

A zip lick baggie and some cling wrap over the cord.

Time to paint. first a quick dose of KILZ primer. Let dry. Then Design Master Robin’s Egg blue.

Distressed the edges a tad using a COARSE sanding sponge.

Glued some beaded trim to a thrifted shade and it’s ready to go. It’s can be difficult to find shades at the thrift store that are really in good enough shape to re-use. I’ll frequently buy NEW shades, especially of I’m making the lamp to SELL. I can usually find them fairly inexpensively at Ross. (AND if I remember to go on Tuesday, I can get my senior discount at Ross!)