Time for another SALE @ STARS!!

Just what you need to fend off those winter blahs!!  Shopping therapy!

STARS 5-day sale

Thursday, February 28th – Monday, March 4th

11am – 6pm ~  Both stores.

I just took in TEN BOXES of fresh product this week to ready my booths for the sales.

I brought in my beach cottage decor.

 Mermaid crowns, shell topped bottles, beachy lanterns and candles.

How fabulous is this shabby white wood trough?!?  I’ve used it to display some beach decor in, (floating starfish frames, white glittered sugar starfish and some metal bowl fillers) but you could use it for dozens of other things.  Perfect piece for the center of your farmhouse table.

I made these sweet little beach lamps.  Found the lamps at an estate sale, and filled the clear glass bases with an assortment of shells and beach glass.

These one of a kind lamps are $49.00 each.  OR $49.00 for BOTH during the sale!

The shabby beachy crates UNDER the table are for sale too!

These fishbowl beachscapes are so much fun to make.

These little ‘six section crates’ make handy little display shelves for smaller items.

Small sea glass wreaths, framed pictures and framed shells.  Beverage bottles and shell topped bottles.

Beachy wreaths and framed shells are hung on the side of my other booth.

***Helpful hint:  If you have some starfish or shells that you want to mount and frame, use a piece of sandpaper for the backing. 

Vintage ironstone creamers, sugar bowls, soup/cereal bowls and butter bells.  Vintage glass snack sets and apple shaped snack plates.

Lots more Ironstone dishes and cake stands.

I’ve added lots of newly procured vintage milk glass pieces too.

Two little pink chairs and a little pink scalloped edge shelf, perfect for a little girl’s room.  Upcycled male and female mannequins are great decor pieces.

Regular price on the male is $129.00 ($64.50 at half off during the sale)  Female mannequin is $155.00 ( $77.50 at half off during the five-day sale only)

My wall booth is stocked plentifully for the sale too!

Pretty white frames, gold glitter metal crown, big vintage jar filled with dried Hydrangea (from my very own garden!) sweet little crystal accent lamp.

Another little accent lamp, this one is an upcycled vintage Ball Mason jar, next to an upcycled vanity mirror tray.   Unique shape, narrow bird cage.  Gold cherub jewelry box and gold metal cake stand.

Little brown glass jars and itty bitty glass vials with plastic lids.  I’m really not sure what people use these little jars and vials for, but they always seem to sell well.

Vintage lamp tables.

Heavy duty set of wicker nesting tables with cast iron legs.  Priced individually at $29.00, $39.00 and $49.00; because if I priced them as a set ‘someone’ will want to buy just one of them.  Pricing them individually just makes it easier.  Of course you can buy the entire set still; you just don’t HAVE to.

50% OFF SALE PRICE FOR THE SET OF 3 IS $58.50.

There are three graduated sizes of these metal tables too, but they don’t ‘nest’.  They will ‘stack inside each other’ for transporting, but they have to be displayed individually.  (It’s kind of difficult to explain without being able to show you!)  They make nice little plant of lamp stands and are light weight enough to hang on the wall.

It’s difficult to see the second one in the picture on the left.  It’s just below the other one, and I used the third one under one of the beach lamps.

A new batch of hand crafted paper feathers, made from vintage book pages and sheet music.  I made this batch of the differently than I did the first ones.  Tutorial to follow soon.  Upcycled gold metal cloche on upcycled metal dessert stand.  Vintage cherub statues.

Get out and get yourself some BARGAIN SHOPPING THERAPY at Stars!

Adding just a little color

Pair of pretty shell prints in monochromatic color scheme.  Initially I had looked at these ‘just for the frames’; but the frames were not removable.  I really liked the pictures, and usually I’m all about monochrome colors.  These were just TOO bland for me.

I have always liked this kind of ‘text book’ drawing; so I decided to buy them and see how difficult it would be to repaint the frames with NOT being able to remove them.

The hardest part of this quick make-over was taping the paper over the glass to protect it while I painted the frames.

A couple of quick coats of paint; then some sanding (sand BEFORE you removed the paper covering the glass!).  Just a touch of color; the distressing brings out the original frame color to coordinate with the pictures.

Which do you like better?  Original color or the aqua?

Big eight drawer dresser

Rarely do I find big furniture pieces at Goodwill; OR they are TOO big to fit in the back of my car and too heavy for me to unload by myself.  This eight drawer dresser was ‘just right’!

I always keep a few old sheets in my car to cover furniture with AND to protect my car bumper when loading/unloading big items.  It’s difficult for me to LIFT the items like this to put in my car; so here’s my  ‘bad back method’ for loading big stuff in the car.

Well, first of all you have to have the right kind of car; a hatch that lifts UP and a LOW back end.  (and trust me, the PT Cruiser sits LOW!  Sometimes TOO low!!  I’ve had to ‘train myself’ to not pull all the way into parking spaces that have the concrete stops, because my front bumper will catch and scrape on it!!)  

I lay a folded over sheet from the back of the car draping over the bumper.  This particular dresser needed to be turned on it’s side first.  Once on it’s side and scooted up to the bumper, I tip it over onto the sheet and then just give it a good shove (using my knees for extra push, if needed).  Gotta LOVE leverage!

This dresser was pretty heavy, so the gal at pickup helped me ‘shove it’.  So  I knew it was too heavy for me to re-load to take to Stars, after I refinished it.  Here’s how I handle that problem.  I leave the drawers out!!  Load the dresser frame, cover with a sheet, them the drawers on top of that.  For unloading at Stars, I take the drawers in first.  (I use my little wheely cart for loading EVERYTHING at Stars!)  Then the empty dresser, then put the drawers in once I have it in the spot I want it to be.

This is a good way to move heavy dressers around the house too.  Take the filled drawers out and it’s it’s easy to move the frame.

Okay, back to the dresser at hand!

Very clean drawer innards!!  Very UGLY metal knobs painted white.  Originally I was thinking of JUST distressing the existing white paint, adding new knobs and calling it done.  Alas, someone had spray painted it RED before it was painted white, so I HAD to repaint it.

I added some vintage style paper to line the drawers with, even though they didn’t really NEED to be lined; it’s a nice touch on a bigger, pricier item.  I really struggled with finding the right replacement for the ugly knobs.  The knobs it had are the kind that have a couple of BARBS on the back to better hold them in place; but whomever attached the knobs LET them spin around while being screwed on, which gouged a ‘moat’ around the hole for the knobs.  Which meant I had to find replacement knobs that covered the moats!  sigh.  I went shopping for new ones and left empty handed.  LOTS of really pretty knobs out there IT I wanted to double the selling price of the dresser to afford them!  Especially since I needed 16 of them!  sheesh!   I settled upon these cast iron ones I had ‘in stock’.

A bit more ‘simply’ styled than I had originally envisioned it with some new knobs, but knobs are easy to replace, so I’ll leave that to the new owner.

Available for purchase in my booth at Stars for $149.00

Beach cottage decor in my etsy shop

It’s been a while since I blogged about my etsy shop; so here you go!  A post about the great beach cottage decor items in my blog.

LOTS of Framed white fingerling starfish.

Great hung alone, or in a group.

OR hang a sea glass wreath with a couple of framed starfish.

 This is the very LAST of the sea glass wreaths that I will EVER be making.  I had stumbled upon a ‘once in a lifetime’ AMAZING buy on the glass to make these; and I’ve finally used it all up.

For as ‘simple’ as they appear to be; they are EXTREMELY time consuming to make also.  There is NO way I could actually charge for the amount of time I put into them. Lesson learned.   Even though they were so labor intensive that they can’t be make ‘profitably’; they really are beautiful in person.

When I first got the sea glass and was sorting through it, I had set aside a few ‘extra pretty’ pieces.  Some uniquely shaped; perfectly round or square or like gumdrops.  they were just too special to mix in with all the other pieces on the wreaths.  So, I put together some little ‘treasure’ boxes for them.

I custom blended this glitter for these mermaid crowns.

And of course, beach cottage SIGNS in my etsy shop!

Mid Century modern canister set

Gosh, this canister set has been buried in my craft room for EVER.  I was in one of my ‘use it or toss it’ (into the donation box) organize the craft room moods when I happened upon it.  Told myself to DO something with it right NOW, or donate it.  I didn’t even stop to take a before picture.  They were that fake wood grain color AND texture.  gag!

They needed to be painted, inside and out, so spray paint was the best option.  Turquoise for the canisters and white for the lids.

I think they still maintain that ‘mid-Century’ vibe, don’t you?

 Available to purchase in my booth at Stars for $19.00.

NEW! Beach cottage decor ~ in my etsy shop

Some large and small starfish plaques.

The large ones are 11″ across; have a sawtooth hanger on the back and are sold individually.

These smaller ones are 5″ frames; sold in set of three, as shown.

These small one have a sawtooth hanger for hanging on the wall and a removable wood peg for sitting them on a flat surface.

And I finally used up the last of my beach glass on these wreaths.

This one is light green and white.   These wreaths take take several days each to make.  Each tiny piece of glass has to be carefully hand selected to fit together just right, and is then glues in place. Once one layer is full, I have to let the glue dry for 12 hours before building the next layer on top of it.  There are approx 12 layers of glass on each wreath.

I make my sea glass wreaths on FLAT wreath forms instead of the tubular looking styro wreath forms.  But they are NOT flat once I’ve built up all the layers of glass.   I just think this way they are a bit more ‘organic’ looking.  Although it does take a LOT more glass this way!  The one made using the styrofoam wreath forms just look to ‘perfect’ to me.

Once I’ve added all the layers of glass, these beach glass wreaths are VERY big and full.  I even partially cover the back with glass so no bare spots will be visible when they are hung.This one is a brighter green with bits of aqua.

This is the back.  Not as completely covered as the front, but enough that you don’t see any bare spots on the back when it’s hung on the wall.  (and yes, the ARE very heavy!)

Looking at the side angel you can see how deep they are, and why that little bit of extra glass on the back is important.

Darker blues and aquas.

Such pretty colors!!

All these items are available to purchase in my etsy shop.

Trio of small chests

 

It started with this box.

Thrift store find cigar box; taller and better construction than your typical cigar box.

While the outside was a bit scratched up, the ‘innards’ are nice and clean!  I can easily ‘paper over’ the inside of the lid to cover up the wording.

I removed the broken hardware from the front and spray painted it a sea-foam green.

Perfect place for me to use this scrap book paper map to cover up the writing on the inside of the lid.

Decided it needed a little ‘something’, so I glued on a repro white skeleton key to the front.  Just right!

Then I found this box at the thrift store. Not terribly fond of the wood burned design in the top.  Not even sure I’ll be able to ‘sand it off’.  But I can always ‘paper over it’; which actually might look perfect with the raised trim around the edge of the lid.

Clean and divided inside.

  Fortunately my orbital sander fit inside the trim, and the design on the lid sanded off better than I’d expected.  A wee bit of the wood burned color still shows, but the top is smooth, so I can just paint over it.

Alas, I found a piece of trim in my stash that fit perfectly, so I decided to add it.

Used my lightest aqua acrylic paint on this one and hand distressed a bit.

I had removed the hardware on the front before I painted it.

Pretty easy to remover and reattach; one screw for the latch and an eye screw.

Decided to leave the inside ‘as found’.

Sanding detail on the wood applique.

And along the edges.

So, now I had those two individual pieces done;  but before I got them priced and stocked them in my booth at Stars; I found this:

On an ‘inspiration excursion’ to Home Goods.  It’s not at ALL the blue that I normally go for.

and it’s got a GLOSSY finish, which I NEVER do. (and which is impossible to capture in photograph!)

 But it was such a cute little chest, and for some reason it ‘spoke to me’.  And I listened and bought it!

The DARK inside was a bit TOO dark and dreary for me, so I added some vintage atlas pages (on the lid and bottom) to brighten it up a bit.  (the area was too big to use the same scrap book paper as on the first cigar box.)

I really didn’t NEED to do anything to the outside.  But I like to add my own little touches everything, so I attached a skeleton key.

Ah-HA!!!  This is why the biggest chest at Home Goods was speaking to me!

It wanted to come home with me and join the other two blue chests!

I LOVE it!  And I’m gonna KEEP them all to myself!  (for that big home redecorating project I have coming up very soon!)

Just waiting for me to fill with treasures!

MORE picnic baskets!

YEP!  I keep finding them.  No one else wants them so they sit in the thrift store until their color tag goes on sale for half price and I grab them up!!

This one needed a bit of repairs where the braiding is.  A bit of tacky glue and a few carefully placed finishing nails solved that issue.

The slat part is super fast and easy to ‘dry brush paint’.  Then I use a small foam roller to paint the lid; two coats, inside and out.  Use the dry brush on the braided handles too!

Then I sand the lid, inside and out.  (oops, a little paint drip on the inside!)

The base of this one was particle board (which I LOATHE!!!!)  And it had a few water mark type stains that bugged me.  So I grabbed an old atlas and my jar of Mod Podge and covered the inside base.

I had just received some new stencils, so I used one on the top of this basket.  I just can’t seem to leave these spots ’empty’!  They feel too much like a ‘blank canvas’ to me!

Finished off with a couple of coats of matte varnish.

This small one was in VERY good shape too.  And while the bigger ones ARE more popular than this size; it always looks cute to have various sizes in a stack.  These are a good size for storing kids toys in too.  A pretty basket that you can slide under the coffee table and pull out as needed.

Always remember to check for clean ‘innards’!  I’m so happy that they aren’t adding those fabric liners as often anymore!  HATE those things!

Again with the dry brush technique.  It LITERALLY will take less than five minutes to paint the entire thing!

I continued the paint to the inside trim on the lid on this one; then sanded it a bit.

Since I couldn’t add any ‘decorative features’ to the lid of this one since it wasn’t flat, I decided to STAIN the inside and over the top of the dry brush paint on the outside.

It’s a very SUBTLE color difference.  A greyish brow
n, like cedar fence boards naturally turn with age.

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm . . . . now that I look at this again, it might be fun to hand letter some kind of saying around the trim on the top of this one???  Any ideas?

I TRIED to put these two photos ‘side by side’ so you could compare the color difference; but it just wasn’t coming out right.  I hope this is good enough!

This is BOTH baskets, side by side.  The big ‘just painted’ one at the back; and the painted and stained smaller one at the front.  VERY subtle aged wood look.

The bigger basket has already sold.  The smaller one is stashed away until after the holidays.

Shabby beach-ified wicker picnic basket

The middle basket in this stack had been in my booth at Stars for some time.  It was time to bring it home for a make over.  Since the sea grass trunk on the bottom had sold so quickly, I decided to ‘beach-ify’ this one too.

Since i had put a white fingerling starfish on this one that was still in my booth at Stars, I decided to do something different on this next one.

So I did a sugar starfish on this one, AFTER I dry brush painted it s slightly darker shade of turquoise.

The hardest part was finding a starfish FLAT enough to adhere to the wicker.  I used e600, and weighted it down with a heavy box while the adhesive cured.

Ready to go to Stars.

It stacks nicely with the other two baskets.

Priced at $35.00.

 

Child size desk chair

Found this cute child size desk chair on my recent thrifting rounds.

And while I LOVE finding ‘child size’ items; I HATE that they almost always come laden with stickers!!!  ACK!!!  Only a few to deal with on this particular piece.  Plus, it had a fairly shiny finish, so I was going to need to sand it before repainting it anyhow.  And the stickers sand right off with the finish.

About ten minutes with the orbital sander and it was prepped for painting.

If you don’t have an orbital sander, and you want to fix up and repaint old furniture; you really NEED this tool.  It would have taken a good HOUR to hand sand this little chair.  With the orbital it took about 5 minutes.  Time IS money!

Most of the chair I was able to paint using a mini sponge roller.  Just needed a brush for the corners.  Using a paint roller is a real time saver too.  Plus the paint goes on much smoother and more evenly.

After two quick coats of paint and almost NO drying time in the summer heat, I was ready to distress; again using the orbital sander.

Fast and easy!

I debated whether or not to paint some kind of design on the seat or back rest.  Went withOUT for now.  If it doesn’t sell right away I’ll bring it home for some additional detailing.

It is available to purchase for $25.00 in my booth at Stars in Portland.