Two-step stool with DRAWER

A little DRAWER in a step stool?!?!?  I love that!

This sweet little stool really didn’t ‘need’ to be made over at all . . . it was in perfect condition; but you know me!!!  I can never leave well enough alone!

I removed the drawer knob and gave the whole thing a good sanding.

Some aqua paint and more sanding to distress.  Another ‘perfect piece’ to use one of my little aqua ceramic rose knobs on!!

And off to my booth at Stars it goes!

Great little piece for adding height to displays in my booth (while it lasts!)

Here’s a little peek at some of the other new stuff in my booth:

Ceramic and stoneware bunny dishes.

Covered duck tureens and a tiny duck pitcher.

Vintage metal plant stand set up as a serving station.

One of my ‘yard wreaths’ (hand crafted using twigs, bark and moss collected from my yard)

A new batch of small frames; some with glass and backings, some without.

A couple more vintage crystal lamps with NEW Paris script shades.

How adorable is this box of vintage cocktail forks!?!?!  (Sorry about the glare!  I had to wrap the box in plastic wrap to be sure none of the forks ‘went missing’)

Stop on by if you haven’t been at Stars in a while.  LOTS of new stuff in my booth  . . . and throughout the entire mall!

Nesting tables

Bought this set of wood nesting tables at an estate sale a while back.

At first I didn’t think they all actually went together, because of the different shapes; but they are indeed a ‘set’.  When the smaller tables are ‘nested’ they slide on runners that actually lift the legs slightly off the floor.  A unique feature.

I sanded off all the ‘sheen’; painted them aqua and sanded again to distress.  (I was able to do most of the distressing with an orbital sander.  Then added some stenciled designs.  Since I never actually sell a set of tables ‘as a set’

A set of ANYthing that a customer MIGHT want to buy ‘just one of’; it’s always best to price individually.  For several reasons:  a) Someone WILL ask “How much for just one of them?” whether they are actually interested in buying just one of not.  b) They can STILL buy the set for the combined price; but the store doesn’t have to waste time calling you to ask.  c) If the set gets ‘separated’ by shoppers in your booth you have items that don’t have tags and they end up in another booth!  It’s just easier to price them individually and be done with it!

I didn’t want to completely cover the tables with a design, and I didn’t have any stencils that ‘worked’ with both shapes.  Settled on these simple edge designs.

Nesting tables are GREAT to work with in your displays!  You can ‘nest’ them id space is tight.  Stack and use them like a shelf, or spread them around.

I actually only had room for the large oval one when I took then in last week.  Stacked it atop a little night stand at the front of my booth.

In the meantime, I got this other oval table put together and painted, and took it in along with the two smaller nesting tables on my next trip.

This third oval table has been in my booth for a while.  I was HOPING the newer oval pedestal table was a slightly lower height than the one already in my booth; and I knew the oval from the nesting set was shorter.  I putting them at the front of my booth, cascading from taller to shortest; with the matching upholstered chair and overstuffed foot stool sitting on top of them; along with some stacks of my grubby books.

Yippee Skippee!!!  The heights are just right!

Alas, the chair legs were a tad too wide to fit on the biggest table.  (well, the just perfectly fit . . . but could have easily been knocked off with the slightest touch.  A gamble I was not willing to take.  So the three tables ended up like this.

You can still see part of them from the front of my booth; tucked behind a couple of night stands.  As soon as something sells and I have a little more room to work with; I’ll bring the three tabled forward.

Did you notice the two smaller nesting tables on top of the tallest oval?  Once I have more room, I’ll spread those out or stack them for better visibility.

I wanted to be sure it was really well stocked going into this weekend because  . . .

I am occupied taking care of this little ball of energy this weekend while her mommy  and daddy (My son and his wife) are out of town for a friend’s wedding.

Yep!  She follows my every move.  Sleeps at my feet when I am sitting down (she’s ON my feet, under the computer desk right now!) And keeps me very entertained.

And before you ask . . .  she is a ‘Bernedoodle’.

UPCYCLED Little Treasure Chest

Little trunk style jewelry chest I recently found.

Nice clean ‘innards’? Check.  Paper peeling off?  I was probably going to remove it before I painted it anyhow.  Sold!

It was actually a nice finish under the paper.  It was a bit harder to get all that paper off than I’d hoped.  I peeled off whatever would easily come off first; which wasn’t much!  Then I soaked a dishcloth in hot water and laid that over the remaining paper.  After letting that sit for a bit, I used a paint scraper to get ‘most’ of it off.  finally had to use some ‘Goof Off’ to get the last little bits of paper off.  Then a little sanding before repainting.

Aqua paint (of course!) and a bit of sanding to distress.

A section of a pretty paper napkin decoupaged on the top for a little added ‘oomph’.

Done and already SOLD, at Stars.

Outdated / updated Folk Art chest

Cute little ‘folk art’ style three drawer chest.  Emphasis on the LITTLE!  It’s more like jewelry box size, but with deeper drawers.

The images on the drawers are glued on PAPER; and the knobs are STAPLES on!  So, that’s a new ‘issue’ for me to deal with.  I can’t sand off all of the paper without removing the knobs, and those suckers would not BUDGE!  I finally just had to WHACK them off with a rubber mallet; then lift the staples with a screwdriver, then pull then the rest of the way out with pliers.  Whew!

And this is what the drawer fronts looked like after I sanded off the paper pictures.  I could fill the holes from the staples and drill new holes for the new knobs . . . . OR . . . .    before I did all that I noticed that the BACKS of the drawers were the SAME size as the fronts.  Could the solution to this conundrum possibly be as simple as turning the drawers around?!?!?  NOTHING is ever that easy for me.

But YES!!  It worked!  The innards of the drawers were ‘clean’ but they LOOKED dirty due to a poor staining job; so I added some pretty paper on the bottoms to spiff them up a bit.  Now to search for ‘just the right’ new knobs; which entails digging through 8 plastic show boxes of knobs.

Doesn’t it look like a face close up like this!?!  hehe  The knobs don’t exactly match; but are similar enough.   The top two have pewter colored centers and are new reproductions.  The bottom is a vintage knob and back plate with a gold finish.

I painted the whole thing aqua (including the BACK!)  and distressed with my orbital sander.  Pretty quick and easy projects once I got the old knobs off!

OUTDATED                                      UPDATED

 

 

Prettied up trinket boxes

Cute little trinket box with magnetic closure makes for a quick and easy make-over.  (found the box at dollar store!)

I cut a piece of paper big enough to cover the existing image; but left the pretty border still visible.

Then I glued a stamped piece of muslin on top of that; just a little off-center.

I added a little scrap of matching paper to the underside of the lid.

The sticky label on the bottom of this one just so happened to peel off perfectly; which is NOT usually the case.  IF it had not come off without damaging the bottom of the box, I would have glued another piece of paper to the bottom as well.

Just so happened to find another box at a different store, with the exact same design.  Went with a simpler design on this one.  Covered the whole top and front with vintage dictionary page; added a vintage post card image and a ‘paper’ key.

This one is a soap box that I saved.

This one had a very pretty design on the existing paper, so I just needed to partly cover it.  A piece of paper and a crown stamped on muslin, off-center.

A little piece of matching paper to cover the ‘non-removable’ label on the bottom of the box.

And a little piece on the underside of the lid ‘just for fun’ (this piece wasn’t really ‘necessary’ because it’s not covering anything  . . . I just thought it added a little interest!)

Outdated – Updated: Little wood stool

Little stools are one of those things I’m ALWAYS on the look out for.  They consistently sell well, AND are really handy for creating height in my booth displays.

Found this little oval one a while back.  Took a fair amount of sanding to sand down the painted on angel design; but after that it was quick to re-paint.

I left the brown base-coat, and gave the top a fresh base of brown before painting the whole thing aqua.  Some hand sanding and a stenciled design on top and DONE!

Available for purchase in my booth at Stars.

‘Fancified’ wood shelf

Recently had Michael build a few wood shelves for me.

I decided I wanted to do ‘something more’ than just paint them this time.

But of course I still had to paint it first!  This is a low and deep shelf, so I decided to ‘raise it up’ a bit.

I grabbed some boards from my sign board stash and constructed and painted this base.  Then glued and nailed the two together.

Decided it still needed a tad more ‘oomph’ so I added this braided trim.  (I have a stash of trims; purchased at craft store.)

Ta~Da!

It has gone to my booth at Stars.

And the BEST part is that it was the prefect size to top with this metal shelf; which made the perfect display for my crowns!

Trying my hand at some mixed media art

Mixed Media Angel Plaque

Still ‘sorting and purging’ the craft supplies that I didn’t get rid of before I moved.

Came across this ‘thrifted’ plaque (which originally had a simple abstract design) in a box of frames,  It was either ‘USE it or donate it’ time . . . . I decided to use it.

I had NO IDEA what I was going to make of it when I first started.  I applied a page of sheet music; then layers of old clothing patterns, extending over the edges.

I ‘tested’ some assorted papers and thought about making it a ‘vintage key collage’; but I’ve dome LOTS of those.  Forcing myself to do NEW things right now . . .  and I settled upon painting an angel.

It took two coats of acrylic craft paint to cover the paper.  It’s been a while since I’ve painted eyes . . .and does it ever show!  sigh.  Then I outlined everything with a black Sharpie.

I glued a piece of gold pipe cleaner for her halo; and some little gold metallic stars on her wings.  I thought about giving her a tiny ‘key charm’ necklace, but the chain didn’t look quite right; so I settled for painting a heart on her chest.

Painting OVER the edges was new to me, so I only attempted it with the wings.

Here you can better tell the size, fairly smallish at just 8″ x 8″; even though it’s not a very good ‘photo’.  The flash made a lot of glare and the lamp is reflecting in the glass in the lantern on the right, completely obstructing the ceramic bust.

SO, that was my new adventure for now.  I’m TYING to ‘ease my way’ into less ‘physical labor intensive’ projects.  I’m not getting in younger, after all!

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?

Ugly gold to shabby white :: Outdated / Updated mirror

Very cool, taaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaall skinny wall mirror with roses . . .but the gold???

Good candidate for a shabby make-over!

ALWAYS check the back before you buy, to be sure that the frame can be easily detached from the mirror for repainting.  I suppose you COULD ‘tape off’ a mirror to repaint it, but I’m just too lazy for that.  If the mirror can’t be EASILY removed and reattached, I pass.  (Time IS money when you are refinishing items to sell.)

This particular mirror backing was STAPLED in place??? Hmmmmmm.  But most of the staples had been previously removed and the mirror was really held in place by the tape shown in the last picture.  I decided the rest of the staples should come out easily too.

The staples did come out very easily.  I gave the frame a good cleaning to get all the dust out of all the nooks and crannies.

Roses just are not supposed to be GOLD!

~::~

A couple of coats of an off-white spray paint and  LOT of hand sanding to bring out all the pretty details.

The bow at the top.

The tassel at the bottom.

And lots and lots of roses to sand, petal by petal.  I actually had to do the sanding in three or four sessions and give my hand a rest between!

Time to reattach the mirror.  I was not brave enough to attempt to staple it back in place, and tape was not reliable enough.  I had to GLUE the mirror back into the frame.  Using my trusty Aleen’s Tacky Glue, I ran glue along the inset and replaced the mirror.  Let that dry overnight, then filled the gap between the backing the the frame with MORE glue.

 LOVE how it turned out!

It’s in ‘storage’ for the time being.  Might end up saving it for next spring or the first of the new year.  Next booth ‘do-over’ will be Halloween stuff . . .then Christmas . . . .then . . . .  ALWAYS thinking ahead!