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!

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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.

Every Husband’s Nightmare Spring Show

The show opens tonight for preview, from 5-8pm with a $3.00 donation.  The rest of the week, admission is FREE.  Parking is always free.  Now that the old exhibition hall has been demolished, the show is in the Cloverleaf Building, at the back of the fair complex.  Tuesday – Friday hours are 10am-8pm.  Saturday. 10am – 5pm.

I delivered MANY boxes and bins and old suitcases filled with inventory!  Turning that, into this:

I brought mostly farmhouse rustic decor to the show this year.  Including lots of crates and trays made from upcycled old weathered fencing:

Decorative shutters and shadow boxes too.

My items will be very easy to find.  Most of my product is displayed on the tables directly to the left after you enter the building.

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I didn’t make the weathered wood potting benches, but they are pretty fabulous!  Great for indoor decor use or outdoor garden work!  Those dried hydrangea are from my garden.

I brought quite a bit of Paris chic decor too.

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The rest of the displays were still ‘in progress’ when I left, so I didn’t get pictures of the rest of it.  Lots of great spring home decor and Mother’s Day gifts, vintage, hand-made and upcycled goods.

Carload of reclaimed fence boards.

Visiting one of my very best friends this last summer, and returned home with this!  LOTS of mossy grey weathered cedar fence boards.  I was literally GIDDY with ideas and possibilities of what I was going to make with these beauties.

My first project was some simple signs, using laser cut metal words glued to a piece of the natural weathered wood.

A few of them have gone to my wall space at Stars.  The rest of them will be going to the upcoming fall show at the Washington County Fairgrounds in Mid-November.

Next I decided to try my hand at making some BIG rustic Farmhouse style trays.  This one is the prototype.  LOVE these super long wrought iron handles.  They were an estate sale find, and unfortunately a ‘one time find’.  Well, I probably COULD find more like them if I really searched on-line, but they would probably be cost prohibitive for me to use on my trays.  I’ll have to find some other handles that will work.

Then I went on to make three more; one of which is an EXTRA long 38″.  The other two are 24″ and 25″ long; all are 11.5″ wide and just under 4″ deep.  I have taken ALL of these to my booth at Stars for the time being.  If I don’t get more of them built before the fall show, I may pull a couple from Stars to take to the show.  Priced $37.00 – 59.00.

On the extra long tray I used the ‘beefy’ black metal handles.  On the other two, slightly smaller black handles, on the sides of one tray and on the top sides of the other.

I’ve only made one of these little stools thus far.  It’s 11″ x 6″ x 5″.  I’ll probably make another batch of them a little later; graduated stacking sizes.  This stool has gone to my wall space at Stars.  $10.00.

I saw the idea for reclaimed wood shutters on Pinterest.  Adding the removable little boxwood wreaths with the metal words and red truck ornament is my own idea.  Making the embellishments removable makes it easier for the buyer to use them to decorate with year round, instead of having to pack them away after the holidays.  $29.00 with the wreaths.

Decorating with arrows is very popular right now.  I made assorted shapes and sizes of wood arrows with hangers on the back to hang on the wall.  I made a couple dozen of these.  They will be going to the fall show.  Priced $5 – 14.00.

This is my take on something ‘somewhat similar’ that I saw on Pinterest.  They measure 12″ x 13″; and will be going to my booth at Stars and to the fall show.  $29.00.

I forgot my camera last week, so I didn’t get pictures of all of these items in my booth.

 

Weathered wood two part hearts with old hinges

Had to dig out some old templates from my former ‘primitive crafting days’ for these new hearts and shutters I just made:

This is one of my all-time favorite patterns that I’ve designed; for the fact that it leaves ZERO wood scraps behind, and requires a very minimal amount of cutting.  And you get TWO finished items by making only four simple cuts!

“Back in the day” I used to make the shutter part longer at the bottom, and add a shelf and a few pegs.  And I didn’t have the grubby old hinges to use.  I used to ‘wire them’ together.

Love the old wood look too!

I also cut out some slightly larger hearts, that do not have coordinating shutters.

Perfect ‘guy Valentine gift.  And something that can be left on display year round.

I’ve only listed ONE of the hearts in  my etsy shop ; four shutters and eight of the hearts have gone to my space at Stars.    After Valentine’s Day, if I have any left; I’ll probably list more on etsy.

Michael’s coastal cottage salvaged wood coffee table ~ trash to treasure!

He made one for OUR living room a year or so ago.  Finally got around to making one to SELL in our space.

Constructed entirely of reclaimed fence boards and 4×4’s.  ALL of which were procured for FREE from local fencing companies.  (They remove the old fence when they install new, and give away the old leftover stuff.  All you have to do is ASK.  Just be aware that USUALLY those old fenceboards will be in full 8′ sections!)

The legs are ‘stabilized’ with an ‘apron’ made using the same fence boards, just cut into narrower widths.

He left the wood UNsanded, at my request.  I wanted as much of the natural texture as possible to remain.

I did do a little bit of ‘prep sanding’ as you can see above, to get the ‘exposed’ part of the boards to more closely match the lower unexposed part in color.  I was planning on ‘dry brushing’ the paint on, which means the wood color will still show through some.

Not a perfect match, but close enough!

The legs, made from 4×4’s didn’t have the same weathered raised grain texture as the top and sides; so I painted them solid, instead of dry brush style.  When parts of your piece aren’t an exact match, it’s best to enhance the CONTRAST.

 This closer look at the table top so you can see how the raw wood shows through, AND how the little bit of sanding I did at the edge was sufficient for getting the finished top to match.

This distressed white finish goes with MANY different decorating styles: shabby chic, beach cottage, farmhouse, even Victorian, by adding a pretty lace doily.

It has gone to my space at Stars in Portland; $64.00.  Right now it’s ‘kinda buried’ with a bunch of other stuff stacked on top of it.   I will move it to the front of the space for better visibility, as soon as that window pane shelf sells.

Thinking about bringing in more white items in the near future, just to change things up a little.  I LOVE the beachy blue, just need a little variation once in a while.

Quick peek at a couple of new items

 

Muslin strip lamp shade in our space at Camas Antiques.

Close up pic.

LOVE the vintage baby ric rac.

Last year we made some little tables with tops like this.  This year we made it into a clock!

BIG 24″ shabby beach wall clock in our space at Stars Antique Mall.

More pics of both spaces coming next.  Headed out of town to deliver a big custom order.

Long time, no blogging . . . catch up post; a little bit of everything!

Hallelujah! It is FINALLY cooling down. And even just started to RAIN (just as Michael and I were preparing to start on some ‘outside’ projects). But I shan’t complain. I’ll leave him in the workshop by himself, and I’ll catch up on internet stuff.

I’ll take THIS weather over THAT weather ANY DAY!!!

ESTATE SALE UPDATE:

It was a VERY busy day at the store yesterday with the estate sale. BUT, I had a LOT of stuff and there is still a ‘good amount’ (probably sold 1/4 of what we had) left. All the leftovers have been moved into the shop and will be available at 20% off.

Here are a few pictures of the sale all set up. I barely had time to snap them as it got busy right off the bat. Michael brought the truck and trailer and helped my unload and set up. He had gone to the bathroom before leaving and in the two minutes he was in there, the store FILLED with customers! He came out, and before he rounded the corner where he could see into the store, I whispered to him “Get out while you can!” WHAT??? I repeated and pointed into the store. He gave me a quick kiss and hightailed it outta there!

All the ‘big stuff’ sold. Both trunks, the wicker set, the little cabinet and table. I still have lots of dolls, pillows, stitcheries, and assorted wood smalls. Il” TRY to get by the store in the next couple of days and take a picture of the table of what’s left. We have a 6′ table PACKED full and three bins underneath that we have no more room to put out

LIVING ROOM UPDATE:

So, now my living room is pretty BARE!

As you can see from these two pictures of the entertainment center and shelf above it!

I’m going with lots of ‘neutrals’ this time. A simpler country look. But before I get going too much on the ‘decor’, we’ve got to get some FURNISHINGS in there! The two trunks we sold at the estate sale had been our coffee table and an end table. The wicker love seat and two chairs, our only additional seating, and the wicker table was our other end table!

Hoping to get the coffee table built today. Michael is making it ‘similar’ to this bucket bench he made (and sold) previously:

He gathered up some old white fence boards already. He used 2×4’s for the legs on the one shown, but thinks 4×4’s will be sturdier for our coffee table. Once he gets all the pieces cut to size, I’ll ‘drybrush’ on some light ‘sand’ color paint (I don’t want it so starkly white) and them he’ll assemble it. I’ll add a pillow or two for propping feet upon (we HAVE to put our feet up on the coffee table!!!) and we’ll be done!

RECENT FINDS UPDATE:

Not much time to hot garage or estate sales the last couple of weeks, with doing the Farmers Market and readying the estate sale. I did make it into Goodwill and found a few treasures. I’m ‘on a mission’ to go to GW EVERY week and track the ‘color of the week sale tickets, so I’ll know which color is coming up next. (IF they actually have an ‘order’ they do it in!). I’ve been trying to only buy things that are half off, especially of they the original price is over $3.00.

So, here’s what I found last week:

I have always LOVED this style of wicker chair! “I thought we were getting RID of all the wicker?!?!” Michael lamented. All the OLD wicker, I replied. This is totally different! The green is a tad faded on the backing. I’ll probably dry brush paint over the wicker parts with some antique white, and leave the legs ‘as is’; and add a nice cushion seat.

How cool is this VERY old folding chair!?!?! Even the legs fold in (it’s sitting on top of a small tale in the pic) Perfect to take to Farmers Market to sit on.

A white feather wreath!!!! Never in a million years did I think I’d actually find a white feather wreath that I could actually afford to buy! It was my lucky day for sure!

A neat copperish colored wire basket. It’s in the store filled with glittered fall fruits.

An old wire Christmas card holder that I plan to use to display TAGS on.

I better go see how Michael is coming along on the coffee table and get my paintin’ arm ready to go!

Pretty little beach table

Michael cut a bigger top out of cedar fence boards to place on this old bar stool to make it into a nice little side table.

I left the wood ‘rough cut’ and dry brushed assorted ‘beachy’ colors.  I just did this ‘free-hand’ so the stripes aren’t ‘perfect’.  Once dry, I sanded it to distress and applied a coat of our weathered wood wash to make it look gray and weathered.

What a perfect little table for a cottage bedroom or even an end table or patio table!

Now I’m on the hunt for other stuff I can paint using this technique.  I’ve got an old cheese box, some unfinished wood frames . . . . What else?!?!

OUR WEBSITE : www.cscrafts.com/aj.html

PURCHASE OUR E-BOOKS FROM OUR ETSY STORE :

http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5876981

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Lots of new signs . . .

I’ve been getting lots of new signs made for the store over the last week.

I think the ‘gumdrop’ and ‘cupcake’ ones are my favorite!  I just love that youTube video of that little boy singing the ‘cupycake song’!

Beach signs are always popular.  And these old fence boards with their original paint are the perfect color!

FINALLY got some laundry signs done! 

NOW I need to finish rearranging the store and figure out WHERE to hang all of these!

 OUR WEBSITE : www.cscrafts.com/aj.html

  PURCHASE OUR E-BOOKS  FROM OUR ETSY STORE : 

http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5876981

~ primitives ~ trash to treasure ~ shabby chic ~ cottage ~ Paris apartment ~ repurposed home goods ~ repaired ~ restyled home decor ~ reused ~ recycled art ~ handcrafted gifts ~ one of a kind ~ artist originals ~ second hand style ~ junk market style ~ flea market style ~ beautiful junk ~ beach cottage décor ~ unique home décor ~ vintage home décor ~ unique gifts ~ custom made gifts ~ custom made home décor ~ personalized signs ~ Sophie’s Cottage ~ grubby candles ~ how to craft books ~ Shabby Paris apartment ~ baby gifts ~ personalized gifts ~ AJ Finsand ~ upcycled ~ rebuilt ~ flea market chic ~ gift baskets ~ custom orders ~ vintage ~ collectibles ~ trash 2 treasure blog ~ gift store Hillsboro, Oregon ~ handmade gifts from Oregon ~ carved wood embellishments ~ shabby style chic ~ flea market finds ~ second hand style ~ cottage retreat ~ craft tutorials ~

New signs from old fenceboards

And I’ve still got FOUR of those wonderful old blue boards to make more!

OUR WEBSITE:  www.cscrafts.com/aj.html