Good news / Bad news

Well, I have some bad news and some good news.  Bad for ME.  GOOD for you.  The bad news first.  This is what the passenger side of my car now looks like:

It actually looks a lot WORSE in person.  You can’t really see how DEEP the dent is in the photo.  It’s deep enough that I can’t open that door anymore.  I’m fine.  My car, notsomuch!   Thanks to another driver in a parking lot who ‘saw me but thought I was going to let him to go by’, even though he had a STOP sign and I had the right of way.

Currently dealing with insurance and just waiting to hear what they decide.  Here’s the ‘back story’.  The ‘Cruiser’ is 15 years old and has served me well for the past 7 years.  I definitely ‘got my money’s worth’ out if it.  Because it’s got such a low resale value at this point, it was futile for me to have full coverage on it anymore; and most likely it is going to be deemed ‘totaled’.  And while I knew the day was coming, in the not too distant future, that I was going to have to replace it, I really can’t afford to do so just yet.  I was really hoping to get at least another year out of it.  It’s still driveable, but isn’t going to be worth squat as a trade in.  sigh.

So, what’s the GOOD news?
The good news is that because I need to drum up considerably more funds to replace my vehicle, I’m having a 50% off sale in my booths at Stars.

Look for these red and white ‘50% OFF’ coupons in both of my booths.  You have to have a coupon to get the discount.  The discount is good for everything you purchase from my booths, through May 31, 2019.  After that, I’ll be extending the sale ‘as needed’, until I have enough to replace the Cruiser.

You can also print a coupon directly from the Stars website.   The coupon on the site will look a little different than the ones I printed on my PC, but the offer is the same.

I was just in Stars yesterday, rearranging and restocking, so there is a huge variety and selection of goods awaiting your shopping, and SAVING, pleasure!  And IF there is something that you have seen in my booth in the past and always coveted, but don’t see there just now; feel free to ASK ME!  It might just be something that I pulled and took home when I changed out inventory.  I’ll be happy to take it back in for you; and even have them HOLD it ‘just for you’ at the front desk.

Time for pictures!

~::~

~::~

~::~

~::~

 

~::~

~::~

~::~

~::~

~::~

~::~

~::~

~::~

~::~

~::~

~::~

~::~

~::~

~::~

~::~

~::~

~::~

~::~

~::~

~::~

~::~

~::~

~::~

~::~

~::~

~::~

~::~

~::~

~::~

~::~

~::~

~::~

~::~

~::~

~::~

~::~

~::~

~::~

~::~

~::~

~::~

~::~

~::~

 

~::~

~::~

~::~

As you can see, both booths are jam-packed with goods.  I will continue to bring in MORE stock every week.   I’ll be making more and resupplying the coupons too.  IF, for some reason you can’t locate a coupon while you are there; ask them to CALL ME, and I will give them a verbal okay for your 50% discount.

So, come and get it while the gettin’s are half off!!

Stars is open 7 days a week; 11am – 6pm.

GOLD!

Yep, Gold.  While I’ve almost always had ‘little touches’ of gold mixed in with my offerings; all of a sudden I had a LOT of gold and decided to make it a focal point display on the back wall of my booth at Stars.

This wall is usually reserved for displaying my signs, but now that I have closed my etsy shop and am letting my sign supply dwindle, I can finally do some varying displays on the back wall.

This large gold metal wall basket is filled with upcycled gold framed cork boards.  Smallest ones start at $8.00 up to the largest priced at $19.00.

I’ve been holding onto this metal basket for YEARS!!  I always wanted to use it as a ‘bed crown’ by turning it upside down.  Alas, I don’t have enough room in my booth for a bed.  I finally decided to just use it as intended.

Here are some pictures from Pinterest of bed crowns, just in case you couldn’t quite picture what they are.

Gold framed shadow box can be used to display items IN the frame and on top of it.

 

This cute little metal frame was painted black when I bought it; but I could see that it had originally been gold.  I just refreshed the gold paint.

I extended the gold theme to below and beside the wall display.

I had actually been setting this gold stuff aside for next February’s Junk Salvation show.  Alas, the Washington County Fairgrounds Exhibit Hall, where the show has always been held, was recently ‘condemned’ and deemed unsafe for use, and will be torn down in the very near future.  Sooooooooooooo . . . .  I will not be doing the show ‘one last time, for old time’s sake’.

I’m quite certain that ‘the show WILL go on’; in a different facility.  The promoter was already feeling like maybe it was time to look for a bigger space.  For me, given that it was going to be my LAST booth show anyhow, (health reasons) it’s just not worth the extra work to ‘get my bearings’ in a new facility.  Having a routine ‘down pat’ for delivering and setting up; and being close to my son’s job for him to help me unload, factored hugely in my capacity to do the show.  PLUS, the old location was super close to home for me; which was a BIG “+” factor for me in deciding to do the show.

So, next year I will have to settle for just being a spectator at the Junk show.  I’ll still keep you informed of the dates and new location.

Faux concrete statues

As promised, this is the post on how I made the previously shown faux concrete statues.

Above are the finished pieces.

This is what I started with for the big oval one.  A glass light globe with metal embellishment, which I found at a thrift store; and a wooden bowl, which I had in my stash.  I glued the bowl to the globe.

It’s difficult to tell what’s different about this pair of photos.  To make the glass more durable, I added several layers of paper.  Newspaper works fine.  I just happened to have to plain newsprint paper.  I used tacky glue to adhere the paper to the glass part of the globe.

When I have made similar statues in the past I used spackle from a big tub that I bought at the hardware store.  That stuff dried up on me, and I didn’t want to buy another BIG tub, so I got the little one at Dollar Tree.  But it was pretty ‘wimpy’ stuff.  Almost like it was whipped and airy, and it just flaked off as i was applying it.  I remedied that problem by mixing in some Mod Podge; which added the perfect amount of ‘oomph’!

The bird one is made using a round light globe, a bowl base just like the other light globe, and a little ceramic bird glued to the top BEFORE the paper layers.  Adding the paper layers to the bird and the base helped make their attachment more secure.

These two were a pair of vintage ceramic urns, topped with two different curtain rod end ornaments and  . . . . .two and three salt shaker tops, glued together.  I did not apply the coats of paper to these two.  Went straight to the DT spackle + Mod Podge.

This one was made using a big plaster egg that I had bought at Dollar Tree YEARS ago!  I used to attach them to wood bases (as shown) and paint folk art style designs on them.  I found this one last one in a box of other stuff.  I was about to toss it into my ‘donate box’ and decided to see if I could do something with it along with these other projects I had in the works.  I glued a wood finial to the top.  Then a coat of my oomphed up DT spackle.  But I ran out of the spackle before I got to the second and third coats on this one.

Having run out of the DT spackle, and having very little patience when I’m ‘in the zone’ and want to get a project DONE, NOW . . . . I had to improvise the following additional layers.  I made a new concoction of Mod Podge and SAND to add the final coats to the three smaller pieces.  Liked the look so much that I added the sandy stuff to the two bigger ones, even though they had sufficient coats of the spackle.  I decided that I wanted them all to have the same ‘textured’ finish.

For painting them, I first applied a coat of grey spray primer.  Then I ‘stipple’ painted with an off white.

Close up view of texture and paint.

I was liking the grey color so much, that I decided to stick with the color theme for repainting batch of wood finials.

And here they all are on display in my booth at Stars.

There was also this grey urn that I painted with a faux galvanized look.

There was actually a whole batch of items that I faux galvanize painted.

For the faux galvanized look, again I spray painted the pieces with grey primer.

Then I dry brush stippled an off white paint.

Then the same application with some lighter grey paint.

Not quite the real thing, but it’ll do!

I seem to be really liking neutral colors lately.

Monday, March 5th is the last day of the sale at Stars . . .  and 50% off everything in my booth!

 

 

 

 

 

Cute little step-back cupboard

Found this cute little ‘Barbie-doll’ size step-back cupboard a few weeks ago.

Unfinished wood, so just a good dusting and it’ll be ready to paint.

Oops!  Okay, maybe a little bit of sanding inside the doors before I paint it.

The knobs are easily removable too.  This will be a quick make-over!

A couple of quick coats of my ‘new blue’ paint, and a little bit of hand sanding.  I re-used the original knobs ‘as is’ since I didn’t have any others that were small enough, and they suited the new look just fine.

I painted the insides of the doors, but not the entire inside as it was too small to get my hand and a brush into.

It has been taken to my booth at Stars, along with LOTS more ‘new blue’ items.

LOVE this color combination!

To paint, or not to paint?

Found this cute pair of vintage wall plaques last week.

The cherubs on them are ADORABLE!  But that ‘pink’ background?!???

It’s just a very ‘off-pink . . . . kind of the ‘flesh’ crayon color from when I was a kid.

The sides are very think . . . and PINK.  They are kind of ‘bowl shaped, but with straight sides, and the cherubs are inside the bowl at the bottom.

Normally I’d just spray paint something like this with white or cream and just cover it entirely.  But I really like how the faces are painted.

I’m torn!!  I’m considering attempting to hand brush paint ‘just the pink part’; but I’m not sure white paint would look right either?!?!  And I hate ruining cool vintage stuff like this!

What do YOU think of them ‘as is’, in their original color?

More of the ‘new blue’

Well, I guess the customers at Stars prefer the ‘new blue’ too!  Everything I painted that color has already sold!  Here’s the rundown:

You’ve already seen this piece in the previous post, but here are the details of it.  It was originally a plain dark pine stain with round wood knobs and sat flat on the ground.

I added some wood feet, because . . . . . I like stuff with feet!

Just sanded off the original varnish, painted it my new blue and sanded again to distress.  The plain wood knobs HAD to go! (although if you MUST re-use the original knobs, you CAN paint them)

I found these gorgeous bubble glass knobs at Home Goods a while ago.  I NEVER go out and buy specific knobs for a specific project.  I buy them when I find them at the right price and always have a stash of them to select from.  The old original knobs get added to the stash as well.  These just happened to have one knob missing; so only five instead of a set of 6 . . . and consequently at a reduced price!

I lined the drawer with some vintage post card wrapping paper.

And decided to line the shelves too.

I must have made the ‘right choices’ because it sold from my space at Stars in just over a week!

I also painted this old wood chair my ‘new blue’ and distressed it.

Here’s what it looked like when I bought it.  Gotta LOVE it when you find pieces that don’t need a lot of prep-work’!

The chair sold right away also.

Painted this pair of end tables with the new blue as well.

The tops were pretty badly chipped and scratched, so I did have to sand them quite a bit before I could paint; but the legs were pristine!

Love this little cut out detail on the fronts of them.

And the ‘shapely’ legs.

No two pieces will ever distress exactly the same, so don’t even bother trying to get them to perfectly match.

As long as each has a comparable AMOUNT of distressing; they will still look like a ‘matched pair’.

 I almost always price everything ‘individually’, makes the clerks job much easier and saves them and ME time.  Because IF you price items as a ‘set’ you can BET that half the people who look at it will want to know if they can buy just ONE!!  Then the clerk has to take time to call me and ask IF I will break up the set and what would the individual prices be . . . . and 9 times out of 10, the customer will NOT buy even one of them!!

So, save everyone involved a lot of time and trouble and price items separately.  UNLESS you absolutely insist that they be sold as a set.  In which case, BE SURE to make a note of that on the price tag.

For example I found a pair of matching twin size chenille bed spreads.  Chenille is always hard to find and I have NEVER found two that match.  So, since this is such a rear find, I want them to be sold together, so the new owners can really enjoy their ‘rare’ vintage find.

So, all of these items sold within WEEKS of putting them in my booth.  Now I need to find more stuff to paint.  And that ‘might’ involve bringing some of the ‘white stuff’ currently in my booth home to RE-paint!   Haven’t been finding much furniture lately on my thrifting adventures.

Healing, House / Kitty sitting and My ‘New’ Blue

My hand is healing nicely, but I still can’t really DO much of anything with it.  Nearly impossible to write, but I can now hold my coffee cup with my right hand and eat with it.  Still can’t reach with it (like to open the frig) or turn it (like to turn a door knob or key in a door.)  Even have to use my left hand to turn the ignition key to start my car!  Stitches come out on Monday and I’m eager to find out how soon I’ll be able to really USE my right hand again.

Needless to say, I am not doing any ‘creating’ while my hand heals and I am getting VERY restless!!  It was nice to get out my house for five day and house and KITTY sit for some friends while they took a little vacation.  It was fun having kitties to play with again.  This is the first time in 25 years that I have been ‘pet-less’.  My new place is really just too small for even a kitty though.

 In the weeks before my surgery I got as many painting projects done as I could; AND I switched over to a new shade of blue.  Trying to achieve more of a Robin’s egg blue this time.  In the picture above, the credenza is painted with the new blue and the small shelf on top of it is my old blue.

Whaddya think of the new color?

Check THIS out!!

COUNTRY LIVING’S list of best colors.  Guess what the Number ONE color is?!?!?  That must have been the paint chip that was missing on the RL board a few weeks ago when I bought my paint.  Good thing I had another sample piece for them to match the color to!

Guess i was just a little ‘ahead of the times’ when I selected it as MY number one color eight years ago!

And speaking of color . . .  Here are a few newly painted items that I just took to my booth at Stars:

Wood step stool with handle hole.

Vintage oval picnic basket with painted lid.

Painted carrier with Paris chic stencil.

And two rounded corner shelves (back to back).

What is the name of the paint color you use?

If only I had a dollar for every time I was asked that question!  If you HAVE asked me that question before, you already know the answer; which is “I mix my own paint colors” so I cannot give you a color name.

If you look closely at the different items in this picture, you will see MANY  ‘shades of aqua/turquoise’.

Here you can see my four basic colors that I use/mix the most.  I don’t use any ‘formula’.  I just EYEBALL it.  Apparently I am gifted with a good ‘eye for color’.  One ‘starter gallon of paint will last me for YEARS, because I mix it to create all these color variations.  The color in the top left, is the closest to my ‘starter color’.

And I did just happen to buy a new ‘starter’ gallon of paint, which I used ‘as is’ on these two night stands that I just painted.  I always buy the Ralph Lauren brand of paint.  It’s crazy expensive.  ( I just spent close to $90.00 on 2 gallons!  ack!)   Usually Ralph and I like the same colors, but this time there was ONE color sample missing from the RL color board at the paint store, and it was probably the color I wanted.  the one above it was too dark and the one below was too light.  sigh.

So I had to ‘find my color’ on a different sample board and ask them to create that color for me in the RL brand of paint.  The color is from Behr brand and it is called ‘Embellished Blue’.

I used it ‘unaltered’ on this round table with a checkerboard design too.    But here it looks a tad ‘lighter’ than on those 2 night stands.  Reason being, that the BASE color and any added detail colors will also affect the overall color.  Distressing can sometimes ‘considerably’ change the tone of any given color.

And this is WHY I prefer RL brand paints.  I have found that other ‘cheaper paints’ don’t always distress well.  It’s almost like the components of the paint color ‘separate’ as it dries and as I sand away aqua, mostly GREEN shows through.  RL is a more highly ‘pigmented’ paint so your colors stay truer and you need much less of it for full coverage.

Here is another good example of my various colors.  The one on the right being my ‘base color’.  I added some pale green to get the aqua color in the front; and some darker blue and grey to get the color on the left.

Notice how the added black lettering makes all the paint colors seem darker?

And how they change still more when distressed over a black basecoat and lettered in black.

I personally PREFER ‘varying shades’ than all the exact same color.

Last weekends painting marathon

Had me a little painting marathon this last sunny weekend.

I actually did almost ALL the painting on Saturday.  Then detailed, distressed and varnished on Sunday.  Rain was predicted for Monday night, so I loaded it all up in my PT Cruiser on  Monday afternoon.  (it ALL fit too; with room to spare!)  Took it all to Stars today.

This table from the Forest Heights neighborhood garage sale . . .

Now looks like this.

The pedestal base was in perfect condition, so no need to fuss with it.  The top just needed a little TLC.

This base would have been a real PAIN to sand and repaint.  I probably would not have even bought it if the base had needed refinishing.  Good profitability comes from knowing what projects to NOT take on too!

Love the detail on the apron.

$75.00 in my booth at Stars,

JUST picked up this solid maple coffee table on Saturday morning.  VERY damaged top, and good legs.

Sanded away the damage and painted it turquoise.  I did half of this batch of stuff aqua and half turquoise.  I usually do it ALL the same color, but I really like how the various shades work together.

Left the legs as is.

$89.00 in my booth at Stars.

I could have almost left this vintage child size wicker chair ‘as is’; but decided to apply a coat of aqua paint.

Not a HUGE difference when you look at it by itself.

But definitely ‘coordinates’ better with the other stuff.  This chair sold MINUTES after I took the picture!

That partially prepped solid oak two tier stand.  Just had to sand the legs before I painted it.

Went with aqua on this one.

And after ‘sleeping on it’, decided it needed something more.

LOVE those curvy legs!

Really had to ‘cram things in’ to get it all to fit!  My booth was already plenty full; and I was entirely prepared to pull out and take home some of the old inventory to make room for all this new stuff.  But I got it ALL to fit!! $45.00.

Little black table from the Forest heights sale went from this:

To this!  Turquoise with some Paris chic fleurs in the corners.

When adding designs like this, I distress before and after painting on the design.

This one is ‘pretty well hidden’ under the round maple coffee table; only way I could get it to fit!  $45.00

But, the advantage to stacking furniture like this is that I don’t end up with a huge bare spot as soon as one or two things sell.  Which is extremely helpful for me, considering that it’s a 2+ hour round trip for me.

One of those little ‘kit’ tables.

Not so ordinary now!

Minimal distressing on this piece; just along the very edges.

More strategic stacking!  $29.00 for this little table.

HOW long had it been since this kind of white and gold paint has been in style?

It went from that, to this!

It is just me, or is that knob much too small for the space?

I traded out that small knob for this bigger pull that I had in my stash.  I’m sure I’ll need that small knob for another project someday!

Turquoise paint and minimal distressing; and a fun new drawer pull.

“You’re painting the BACK???” Michael said as he walked by.  Why not?  It literally took 30 seconds to roll paint on the back; and it looks SO much better when the backside shows in my booth display.

$65.00 in my booth at Stars.

Hot pink carrier; a nice extra looooooong one!

Initially I just painted it turquoise.

Then I decided it needed a ‘little something’, so I stenciled this PARIS design on ONE side.

*** HELPFUL HINT:  When painting decorative designs on items like this, that have TWO sides; I always only add the design to ONE side.  WHY?  The design might not suit everyone’s design preferences.  So this way, it can also be used with the PLAIN side showing.  Thereby appealing to a larger shopping audience.

I also added a little felt chandelier ornament; tied onto the handle, but easily removable.  $29.00.

Forgot to take these to Stars this trip.  Just a couple of shadow box shelves.  Had been very POORLY painted a medium brown.  I painted them aqua and distressed the edges a bit.  These are very handy to have on hand to use as ‘risers’ in your displays.  AND they usually sell well!

SO, that was MY weekend.  Glad I got a lot of painting done when I had the chance because ti’s RAINING again now!!  Ahhhhh . . . .summer in Oregon; people don’t tan, they RUST!

So, since it’s raining, you might as well go shopping!