Timing is everything.

Remember this cute little grey chest of drawers?  It’s been forever since I had any chests to put in my booth at Stars, so I was anxious to get this one painted and taken in.

Just DAYS after I had put it in my booth, I came across this adorable little SOLID OAK  hutch top /  cubby shelf, that looked like it would be a perfect fit to set atop the grey dresser.

I went to work on it as fast as I could.  Painting it in the same grey that I had used for the chest, and distressing it.  I was SO looking forward to pairing it with that grey chest!  Alas, when I went in the following week with the grey hutch top and some additional stock for my booths, the chest had SOLD!! Bitter sweet.  Happy for the sale, of course; but disappointed that I wasn’t able to display the two pieces together.  Lousy timing!

Here are a few other pieces that I’ve recently completed:

Off white oval three tiered night stand; painted pink and distressed.  This piece is available for purchase at Pink Door in Aurora, Oregon.

I had two of these child size chairs.  The seats were made of that white ‘dry erase board’ kind of wood, which as as you can see in the before photo, was slightly damaged.  While the damage did not affect the structural integrity of the chairs; my attempts to cosmetically repair them failed.  Pretty wrapping paper and Mod Podge to the rescue!  These have not yet been taken to either of my sales venues.

  The drawers to this cubby didn’t slide very well once I had re-painted it; so I set them aside for some other project.  Cubbies with the backing already on them are extremely time consuming to paint; hence, spray paint is my go to solution for such pieces.  A little hand sanding along the edges shabby it up a bit.  available to purchase in my booth at Stars.

Continuing with the grey color scheme on this small shelf and DVD rack.  available to purchase in my booth at Stars.

 This bar stool is BIG and sturdy.  It had a glossy finish on it to begin with, so I had to either prime it or sand it before re-painting it.  I opted for primer, which gave it an added dimension when I distressed it.  Some of the distressed areas show the white primer layer and others the original dark color.  I was very tempted to stencil something on the back, but I couldn’t quite decide what, and I really NEEDED furniture in my space, so I left it plain for now.   Available to purchase in my booth at Stars.

With two of the wicker drawers missing, I opted to just remove them all.  The cubby was in fairly rough shape, and since I had just painted the other cubby white, I decided to leave this one it’s original wood; just distressed it a bit.  It’s available to purchase in my booth at Stars.

The leopard print mannequin torso needed some ‘legs’.  I had a black wrought iron base and a tall curvy plant/candle stand.  Opted for the wrought iron base as the weight of it would make her stand steadier; and besides, her skirt pretty much covers the base.  I used nearly 100 yards of tulle to hand make her fluffy black skirt.  She is available for purchase at Pink Door in Aurora, Oregon.

A couple of smaller upcycled mannequins with fluffy tulle skirts; also available for purchase at Pink Door in Aurora, Oregon.

I’m ALWAYS on the lookout for vintage gumball machines to make over and fill with ‘fun stuff’ like seashells, spools of thread, jingle bells . . . . etc.  NEVER imagined that I’d come across a silver plated one!?!?!  It really wasn’t even very tarnished and required minimal polishing.  Such a fancy gumball machine needed some fancy filling.  Acrylic gemstones to the rescue.  They look prettier in person.   Available for purchase at Pink Door in Aurora, Oregon.

Somehow I missed getting a ‘before’ picture of this one.  It was dark brown wood, that I sanded painted and sanded again to distress.  LOVE the little drawer and the ceramic rose drawer pull that I put on it.  This piece can be purchased at Stars in Portland.

Could hardly believe my good luck when I found this set of three suitcases . . . ALL of them had beautifully CLEAN innards!!  The color is difficult to tell in the photos, but it’s a very, very pale pink.  Each is priced individually; and available for purchase at Pink Door in Aurora, Oregon.

Just waiting for the weather to cool down a bit and the outside air to be ‘breathable’ so I can get LOTS more painting done.

Recent finds

Went to an awesome estate sale last week and found some great stuff!

I won’t even tease you by telling you how LITTLE I paid for all of this!!  But I WILL tell you about the great folks that put on the estate sale; Kathy’s Estate and Moving Sales.  Truly the nicest estate sale people you will EVER meet, and they have VERY reasonable prices.  Sign up for their email list to receive email notification with PICTURES of each of their sales.  If you are extremely ‘bargain minded’ as I am, be sure to go on the LAST DAY of the sale when all items priced under $50.00 are 50% off!

I can never resist a cute little vanity chair!  Be sure to check UNDER the seat to see if it has screws for easy removal and recovering.  That little wood stool might end up getting paired with the big cutting board to create a little side table.  I never pass up little wood step stools!

I have NO idea what I’m going to do with those two tall white floral arrangement stands, but they were too fabulous to leave behind!  That sweet little picnic basket came with a ‘pie shelf’.  It’s pretty rare to find them with their original pie shelf, which is super handy for not squashing your picnic food!  OOPS!!  I forgot to take the stuff that I had them pack inside the picnic basket out for the picture.  It was some vintage milk glass dishes.

Some other recent finds:  cute oval night stand, pair of kid’s chairs (another things I never pass up!) a basic and boring end table, a big sturdy bar stool and a solid oak cubby shelf with scalloped detail.

Set of three wood nesting tables, funky old spice rack, little (jewelry box size) chest of drawers, shelf/hutch with heart cut out (which will be done away with!) and wood crate with metal reinforced edges.

Cute little red end table I found on “Next Door’.  Vintage wig head with VERY elongated neck (because it was for long hair maybe?!?!  IDK!)  Leopard mannequin torso.  Wicker and nesting tables with wrought iron legs, and two cubby shelves with drawers, one with wicker and one with wood.  But I probably won’t keep the drawers with them when I sell them.)

Yes, I have been on a bit of a furniture buying spree.  Reason being that all of a sudden in the last two months I’ve sold a LOT of furniture from my booth at Stars, and I depleted my ‘back stock’ of replacement pieces when I restocked my booth.  NOW I just need a few ‘not so durn HOT’ weather days so I can get outside and paint, paint . . .PAINT!!

Oh my!  Just got another email from Kathy’s Estate sales and it looks like another great sale that I might HAVE to hit tomorrow!!

 

 

 

White furniture binge

Went on a bit of a white furniture painting binge recently.  Here’s the end result of said binge.

Cute little metal birdcage.  Just a quick coat of white spray paint.

Little brown step stool.  Painted white and distressed.  Still debating whether or not I should stencil something on it???

Not a very good picture of the refinished piece on this one.  (sorry!)  Just a basic white paint job and distressed.

Cute three tier wall shelf; again just painted white and distressed.

This half round table was the same dark wood color as the shelf above.

This little shelf was already white.  I just distressed it.

This coffee table with lower shelf had already been repainted white, but they didn’t do a very good job of it.  You can’t really tell how ‘streaky’ the paint was in the pictures.  I needed to sand it before repainting it anyhow; and decided that I liked how it looked without repainting!  Distressing covers a multitude of mistakes!

Little ‘jewelry box size’ chest.  Removed the knobs, sanded off the red, white and blue; painted it white, distressed it and put the repainted knobs back on.  easy peasey.

Little upcycled side table made using a tall metal candle stand and an inverted metal tray.  Glued together using e6000, and spray painted.

This ‘open back’ cubby shelf was a medium wood color.  The white paint and distressing really emphasized the dental moulding at the top.  Below it, in the second photo is another cubby shelf, but with a back.  It was already white, so I just distressed it a bit.

I guess this shelf was for some kind of sports memorabilia.  Some white paint and you have just a regular white wall shelf!

 

No before picture for this one.  It was dark brown and had a ‘tapestry-like’ cover on the seat.  I LOVE the foot stools that open up like this for storage space!  Painted it white and distressed it a little.  Added some additional padding to the seat before I recovered it with a pretty soft aqua paisley print fabric.

All of these went to my booth at Stars.  A few have already sold.

So, what’s next???  I’ve got some pretty BIG news!  A new shop is opening soon in Aurora . . . and they will be carrying some of my items!  Stay tuned for more details and official Grand Opening notice!

 

 

 

Trugs. TRUGS. . . and more trugs!

Trug production has been in full swing and just wrapped up.  I made eight of them to take to the Rebel Junk Market February 2-3.

Long narrow ones and more square shaped ones; with assorted upcycled handles.  The first batch (shown above) I just painted one color and distressed.

For the other five, I wanted a grubbier look, so I painted on several layers of color before adding the final top coat.  Sanding and distressing would reveal the all the layers for a more aged look.

You can’t really see the layers in the photos, but they look great in person. Priced $38 – $48.00, depending upon size/shape.  (Don’t forget to ASK for you 20% discount for seeing this information on my blog or Facebook page!!)

I predict that these are going to a very popular item at the show and will sell out quickly!    Come early for the best selection.

HOPE TO SEE YOU AT THE SHOW!

Spray painting binge

Went on a bit of a spray painting binge with this dark turquoise (teal?) paint:

Up-cycled cheese plate with a pillar candle holder base.

Rusty old metal file box; before.

After.

Smaller brown metal file box; before.

After.

Hanging wire plant basket.

Thrifted three tier metal stand; before.

After.

Wrought iron wall towel rack.

Gotta LOVE getting so many projects painted in a short period of time with spray paint!!  And I haven’t even gotten to the two old bedroom lamps that I bought the paint for in the first place?!?!

Not yet sure what I am going to DO with all this stuff . . . . perhaps hang on to if for a bathroom makeover???

Buttons,BUTTONS! What to do with all those buttons?!?!?

So I found this big gallon jar filled with buttons at Stars last week and HAD to buy it!

Spent my first evening with them sorting according to colors; and sorting out all the ones that still had thread or fabric on them that needed to be removed.  (as soon as I can find my seam ripper!)

NOW WHAT DO I DO WITH THEM?!?!?

I’ve been cleaning out my craft room and getting rid of (donating to GW!) a lot of old craft supplies that I have not touched for TEN years or longer.  For the most part, if I brought it with me when I moved out here with Michael and have not used it since then, IT GOES!

But then I came across THESE plaster ostrich size eggs that I bought at Dollar Tree WAY more than 10 years ago.  ‘Back when’ I did folk art and primitives I used to paint designs on them.  Was even invited to display some of my painted eggs at a special art show at a winery.  Long story short, we switched over to cottage and shabby chic and I haven’t had a use for the big ceramic eggs since.  But I really did NOT want to get rid of them because I KNOW you can’t find them anymore; and if I DID toss them I just KNOW I’d see an idea on Pinterest for them the very next day!!  But I PROMISED myself that I would NOT keep things I did not have an immediate use for.    THEREFORE:

Button covered plaster ostrich eggs!

I got that “Seriously?!?!” kind of look from Micheal when I showed them to him.  Can’t blame him, as I am not entirely ‘sold’ on the either!

But at least I kept my promise to myself and USED them!

Now we’ll see if anyone actually BUYS them from my booth at Stars.  I only made three of them; put them in little felt baskets with some pretty iridescent grass.  HOPEFULLY no one DROPS one because they will shatter!!

SO WHAT’S NEXT WITH THOSE BUTTONS?!?!?

Again, some old supplies that have been sitting around for years!  Little satin jewelry boxes with buttons glued on the tops.

These are at least a little more ‘practical’.  Can be used as a gift box for a small gift or as a pretty storage box.

Layers upon layers of buttons until all the surface was covered.  (used tacky glue on these and the eggs.)

Added a pretty sheer ribbon as a finishing touch before taking them to Stars.

NEXT BUTTON PROJECT ?!?!

Maybe this little pink jewelry box???

I had originally planned on repainting it, but decided to leave it pink since I was adding the buttons.

Just a few slightly pink buttons amongst all the white ones.

The inside top was a little scratched up.  Probably from where a mirror had originally been.  I just covered it with some pretty scrapbook paper.

That’s it on the button projects for now.  LOTS more buttons to use up still.

 Any suggestions?!?!?

Everything is all white.

We had a couple more partially dry days and I was able to finish up all the white projects that I started.

BIG wood lazy Susan went from this . . .

To this!

BORING wood night stand went from this . . .

To this.

Lots of distressing . . .

And a unique vintage knob turn this ‘basic piece’ into a one of a kind treasure!

Very water damaged little square table went from this  . . .

To this.  Simple clean lines will go with just about ANY decor style.

ANOTHER little square table with very damaged top went from this  . . .

To this.

Since I have two square tables that are about the same size, but very different styles, I decided to stencil a design on top of this one.   After painting the table and sanding it to distress; I stenciled on the design and once dry sanded some MORE to distress the stencil.  Quick coat of *varnish and done!

*I typically only varnish the TOP of tables, dressers etc to protect them from  damage from use.  The legs, drawers, sides etc are left unvarnished so that they will naturally distress more with age.

Vintage metal vanity chair.

Well I guess I forgot to take an after picture of JUST the chair, so this’ll have to do.  I’m on the hunt for an inexpensive round foam cushion to cover and add to the seat, but I’ll take it in ‘as is’ for the time being.

Vintage metal newspaper table.  Looks like I forgot the after photo of this one too!  See the above picture for how it looks painted white.

Another very ‘standard’ piece,  I see these types of stools EVERYWHERE!

White paint and some distressing give it a bit more personality.  I ‘considered’ adding some kind of design to the top, but figured it will probably actually get USED as a step stool, and the design would wear off too quickly.

And the desk top leftover after I made 2 night stand out of the drawers.

Here are the night stands (which have already SOLD)

Michael attached the desk top to this rusty old set of legs he had.  ( I spray painted the legs with a clear coat before he attached them,  this keeps them from rusting more AND shedding rust on the carpet.

Here’s how he attached the legs.

And here’s how it turned out!!!  I love, LOve, LOVE it!!!

The top distressed just beautifully!!!

OOPS!  Looks like I forgot the BEFORE picture for this one. sigh. I just get SO excited when we have a dry day, I kind of go into a ‘painting frenzy’!  hehe.  This was originally dark brown.

I distressed the edges and the surface of all the shelves.

As much as I LOVE my signature ‘beachy blue’ paint color, every so often I feel the needs to ‘cleanse my palette’ and do something different.  Will be changing over my booth at Stars to predominately WHITE sometime next week.    In order to make ROOM for all this white stuff, I may need to pull out some of the existing product.  Depends upon how busy it was for the four day Expo sale at Stars.

REMEMBER ~ALL REGULAR PRICED ITEMS IN MY BOOTH AT STARS ARE STILL HALF OFF UNTIL CLOSING ON SUNDAY @ 6PM

AND EVERYTHING (including already reduced items) IN MY BOOTH AT CURIOSITIES IS HALF OFF UNTIL THE END OF MARCH, AT WHICH TIME I WILL BE VACATING MY SPACE.  

And if I have to pull some old stuff from Stars to make room for the new white stuff, I’ll be stocking that stuff at Curiosities.  So even though I am in ‘clearance mode’ for moving out, I will be adding MORE inventory as things sell down!

One dry afternoon

Here’s what I accomplished in a recent rare DRY spring afternoon:

Formerly gold frames spray painted white.

The smaller frame still had the glass and backing, so I put it back together. Added a pretty piece of scrap-book paper because I don’t like ‘blank’ frames (unless they are also backless!)

WHITE PAINT MARATHON! Some of the ‘brush painted’ items still need a second coat. Still not bad for a single afternoon’s work!

This is the ‘orphaned desk top’

Close up view of how Michael attached the top to the rusty leg base.

 

Nice and secure!

Attached, sanded and ready to paint!

Care to guess what COLOR it will be painted?

And NOW, I wait patiently for the NEXT dry day to finish up all of these projects!

Out with the old (Valentine stuff) and time for some NEW Spring stuff!

And I am NOT ready!!!  Well, I have my ‘starter box’ of Easter leftover items from last year; but I haven’t got much NEW ready to go.  REALLY trying to use up what I have (craft supply wise) instead of buying new.  Forcing myself to look through the boxes I have before allowing myself to go shopping.

I had started on a few things before this durned bronchitis completely disrupted my life and crafting time!  These were the plastic pull apart eggs.  Covered them with tea stained paper scraps.

Turned out a bit ‘scrappier’ looking that I had envisioned.  Thought about sanding them or adding more tea stain . . .

But I settled upon GLITTERING them!

NOW what to DO with them?!?!?

I only have 10 of them; one is a larger size.  Decided to just bag them with some grass.

We’ll see how they sell like this.  I can always hunt for some little baskets to put them in if they don’t sell like this.

Got a couple of little nest collages done too.  I tend more towards SPRING things than actual Easter.  That way I can leave them out longer.

Still getting a lot of good use out of that old dictionary!  The pages are a perfect background for so many different themes!

NEW stencils

One of my favorite stencil suppliers  (http://maisondestencils.com/)   had a 40% off sale in December, so I splurged on some new stencils to add to my sign repertoire!

These are small 4″ x 4″  stencils.  Not really big enough for signs, but maybe I’ll use them for cards.  They were a freebie with my other stencils.

For next Christmas, and the scrolls on here can be used on other signs as well.

Really like this border design!

Scrolls to use with stencils I already have.

I really liked the border more than the word on this one.  Hoping I can fit other words in this border.

Another La toilette stencil.  This one is bigger and fancier than my other one, AND a very cool scroll I can use elsewhere also.

Will make this one ‘as is’ and also add it to my cupcakes sign.