Only TWENTY SHOPPING DAYS LEFT until Sophie’s Cottage closes!!

OH MY!!  How quickly the time has gone by!  It seemed like such a LONG way off when we started the sale the first of June.  And now we only have TWENTY days left!

Here are current pictures of teh shop.  As you can see, there is still PLENTY of great product to shop for.  A  great time to do some early Christmas shopping and SAVE big!

And I didn’t even take pictures of the ‘up to 80% off tables’; which are piled HIGH with the deepest discounted items.  And more is added EVERY DAY as things sale.

And I just brouhgt in three of these shaby white wood chairs.

Pictures of the store 2-7-09

 

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

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How to make your own grubby battery operated tea lights e-book

These battery operated tea lights are becoming quite popular. The ‘look’ of a candle without the worry of the flame. Not to mention you can tuck them into places like cupboards and shelves, where you could never put a ‘real’ candle.

I’ve seen the grubbied up battery operated tea lights around for YEARS. Those who have made them always described them as ‘dipped’. Now I consider myself a master grubby candle dipper. Been making them for YEARS! Could probably dip candles in my sleep even. But I could NOT for the life of me figure out how to DIP these darn little battery operated tea lights?!?!?!?

If you dip them ‘right side up’ you’re going to get wax on the bottom, which would prevent you from replacing the battery. I asked one gal who was selling them if the battery ‘door’ was accessible, and she said yes, because she dips them upside down. But then you are also covering the BULB with your wax??? I’m so confused! She said she just peels the wax off the bulb. (seems like a lot of work to me!) And besides. there is NOTHING to hold on to at the bottom to DIP them!

Well, I finally had my LIGHTBULB moment and figured out how to make them on my own!

I’ve put the instructions and pictures into an easy to follow e-book, available for purchase. I’ll be adding it to my offerings on Esty a bit later, along with my many other e-books.

These are really fast and easy to make. Not nearly as messy or time consuming as dipping candles. For the grubby dipped candles (a different e-book) I don’t recommend you make them yourself if you are only wanting to do a few of them. It would be cheaper to just buy them already done.

BUT, the battery tea lights are simple and inexpensive enough that you can easily do just a few. They make great little gifts and stocking stuffers. Really great for selling at craft shows.

Also included in the e-book is the source information for the tea light candle molds shown.

 

TO PURCHASE OUR ONE OF A KIND HANDCRAFTED PRODUCTS, E-BOOKS AND CRAFT SUPPLIES; PLEASE VISIT OUR ETSY STORE :

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Free reindeer pattern

I wasn’t able to copy and paste a picture of the reindeer, but it is a very sweet, simple primitive style one.    You’ll have to scroll down the page a bit to see it.  Be sure to download and print it NOW if you want it.  The generous designers who post their patters for free, change them frequently; so if you wait, it may be gone!  These look simple enough that even “I” might try to make one!

http://www.moonchildsprimitives.com/pages/mainpg.php

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

OUR BLUJAY STORE :  http://www.blujay.com/folk_art_originals

 TO PURCHASE OUR ONE OF A KIND HANDCRAFTED PRODUCTS, E-BOOKS AND CRAFT SUPPLIES; PLEASE VISIT 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 ~

Updated wood wall sconce

 Not bad ‘as is’, but I wanted to fix it up a bit . . . .

I spray painted it black and gave it a light sanding to let some of the brown show through for a distressed look.

How PERFECTLY do these square grubby pillars that I just made fit ?!?!?

I still feel like it ‘needs something’ . . . just not sure WHAT!  Was thinking about one of the carved wood embellishments like I used on the blue apothecary chest.  Not sure if that is ‘rustic’ enough for the look of this piece though???

For now, it’s hanging on the wall in the store ‘as is’ and I look at it every day and ask it what it wants!

Does it look a little TOO plain to you too?  What does it need?  Maybe a painted mustard color star in that ‘balnk space’ above the candles????

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

OUR BLUJAY STORE :  http://www.blujay.com/folk_art_originals

 TO PURCHASE OUR ONE OF A KIND HANDCRAFTED PRODUCTS, E-BOOKS AND CRAFT SUPPLIES; PLEASE VISIT 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 ~

September is ‘SHOP FOR A CURE’ month at Sophie’s Cottage

 For the entire month of September, Sophie’s Cottage will donate a % of the sales of EVERYTHING PINK to the Portland Race for the Cure!

And of course Sophie has the store ‘all pinked out’ in honor of the event:

Lots of new (well old furniture, newly painted pink!) furnishings in shabby pink.  A bowback chair, a charming little four drawer chest, a little pink nightstand with a ceramic rose knob . .

The fluffiest-scrunchy teddy bears you’ve ever hugged, with pink bow-ties, sweet little stuffed pink piggies and pink frames and boxes . . .

This beautiful little handmade table.  I call it a ‘pink parfait’ table.  (how we made it will follow in a later post, but those little pink and white ‘scallops’ along the edge were each individually hand cut!)

Pink flowers and pink TREES and pink princess signs . . .

And of course pink princess crowns!

Lots of great gift baskets and ‘little gifts’ (it’s not to early to start picking up a few Christmas gifts or stocking stuffers!)

TOP TIER: gift boxed chocolate fudge truffles.

MIDDLE TIER: Pink pomegrganite soap with an engraved angel.

BOTTOM TIER:  Yummy strawberry taffy candles.

LOVE these hot pink feather ornaments.  Perfect to tie onto a gift bag.

Rose petal soaps in little organza bags.  (they make great drawer sachets too!)

Pink frig magnets.

Pink felt heart ornaments.

Did you notice these two white wall shelves match the ‘pink parfait’ table?!?!

AND there are lots more pink things scattered throughout the store!

Shopping therapy never felt better!  Good stuff ~ GREAT prices and knowing you are also donating to a good cause!

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

OUR BLUJAY:  http://www.blujay.com/folk_art_originals

VISIT 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 ~

JFF

JUST FOR FUN!

Some Halloween bottle brush trees.

 

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

VISIT 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 ~

Vintage Abernathy Furniture Co. chest

A lot of the vintage pieces we acquire, we end up re-working or repainting.  THIS one we pretty much left ‘as is’. 

Well, we fixed it up a little bit so it was ready to use by adding new knobs (since it didn’t have enough of them) and we added a new backing since that was missing.

But we didn’t touch the paint.  The patina was just too charming.  A few spots have a tiny bit of yellow and green paint showing through the white; and the top is fairly scratched up and has a few stains.

The drawers are in perfect shape and not even the slightest hint of that ‘old furniture smell’ that is so hard to get rid of!  And here she is all prettied up with her new knobs and ready for a new home!

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

VISIT 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 ~

Shabby Paris apartment style ~ bistro table and chairs

This is the ‘how I did it’ for the bistro table and chairs shown in the previous post for our space at the antique mall.  Michael ‘scrounged’ these two patio chairs. 

About fifteen years ago I LOVED hunter green!  ACK!!!  The chairs are very sturdy, just an outdated color and a few rusty spots.

We cleaned them up real good and gave them a coat of flat black paint.  I ‘could have’ sanded down the rust spots and used Rustoleum paint to prevent them from rusting again, but I wanted them to retain that worn texture.  I don’t have a very good picture of them after I painted them.   Wasn’t thinking that a picture taken in the booth would not show them off very well because they are so ‘see through’.  My bad!

For the table I started with this old rusty Mediteranean style bar stool base.  Very heavy!  I just cleaned it up and sprayed it iwth a clear coat to keep the rust from ‘shedding’.

Michael attached a scrounged plywood top to the base. I painted it robin’s egg blue; then stamped on a Fleur de lis pattern using a foam stamp and acrylic craft paint.

I wanted the pattern to look a little worn in spots, so I did FOUR impressions per paint loading of the stamp.  That way I’d have less sanding to do afterwards!  (I’m LAZY!!!)

I flipped the stamp upside down for every other row.

PERFECT!  I love the ‘wallpaper’ effect of this stamp!  I’ve used it a few other times as on the backing of shelves (stamped white on a pastel background).    HERE and HERE   Just enough pattern to add interest, but not be distracting.

Then I gave it a couple of coats of a water based water proof matte acrylic varnish. 

Here it is in our booth at the antique mall.

And here’s one of the chairs that you can barely see.

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

VISIT 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 cottage pedestal candle holders

This is how these came.  They’re OKAY, I suppose, but I felt they needed more OOMPH!  There were two sets of these three.

Gave them some prettier colors for starters:

Then decided the square based ones needed some more ‘weight’, so I added an additional base piece ( a beveled wood plaque)

That smaller black one (an orphan; not part of this set) needed some additional weight too.  It got TWO more pieces on the base and ended up being painted red.

I added some metal candle plates: some painted, some not.  Sanded and distressed them so some of the white showed through, and of course, added candles!

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

VISIT 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 ~