Coffee Table, The Sequel

Well, my freebie kitchen table hacked down into my new coffee table sold out from under me the day after I listed it on Craigslist (a good problem to have.)  I was sorry to see it go, and just when I had hubby warming up to having a coffee table.  So I’ve been on the lookout for a replacement, and came across one on Craigslist the other day for $15.  It was a similar size and shape to the first one I loved so much, and the guy said it was solid wood.  (Uh oh…)  And it is very solid indeed.  The clever laminate had me fooled as well when I picked it up.  It was only when I came home and began working on it that it became obvious that it was a piece of nice, but still quite laminate, furniture.  Since my plan had been to strip and stain the top and paint the bottom black like I had done on the other one, I had to switch to plan B.

I am a bad, bad, naughty blogger and forgot to take a before picture, but it was a very light maple looking thing to begin with.  I thoroughly sanded the piece to give the laminate some tooth to grab the paint, then I primed, then painted the top a black satin finish and the bottom cream.  I hit the top edge of the table with my palm sander to distress the edge, then applied a few layers of wipe on poly.  What’d ya think?  (My hubby is on vacation with the GOOD camera, so I apologize for the poor pictures.)

It’s my first time painting laminate, but I think it turned out well, and it seems like a durable finish that will hold up.  I’ll keep you posted.  If it can be ruined, my kids will.  ;) 

Did you also notice my new window treatments?  The sheers are from Ikea by way of Goodwill, and I LOVE THEM!!!  They have a very subtle large medallion motif.  SO pretty (but very difficult to photograph!)  I’ve wanted to get some sheers for the living room, because my hubby is a privacy nut, and we always had the blinds shut up air tight, so the room was like a cave.  So now, I can open those blinds a tid bit, let in some nice light, but he can still have his privacy.  I’m such a compromise whiz!

The burgundy and gold damask panels on each side are a complete window mis-treatment.  I got the fabric from last week's 50% clearance fabric sale at Joanns for $3 a yard.  I was too lazy to sew the panels, so they are completely held together with hot glue.  Nope, not a stitch to be seen.  Hems and all.  :)

How I love hot glue!  Hope you had a great weekend!  Mine was very quiet without all the boys.

Flea Market Style Table

I’m not big on posting my not-quite-completed projects, but I’m so excited about this one that I wanted to share it.

My friend Valerie (whom I’ve talked about here before, and from whom I got the chairs to both the Apple Green Desk and the Studded Desk) told me that she loved and wanted to have a table like the one on the front of Flea Market Style Magazine.  You know the one:

Pale, barely-there turquoise with heavy distressing.  Oh yes.  That’s something I can sink my teeth into, for sure!

When she mentioned it, this table that I had sitting around waiting to be attended to came to mind.

So today, I whipped out some pale turquoise oops paint that I got from Ace Harware for $5 for a gallon (Ace is my FAVORITE and cheapest place to go for mistints.)  I still want to do a little more distressing on it, and then I’m going to do a dark stain on the exposed bare wood to make it looks a little more like the inspiration table, but I love the way it’s turning out!!!

Valerie has a set of metal chairs that we’re going to work on and put together with the table, I believe, so I’ll update you when the whole set is complete and together.

Have a fantastic weekend!!

 

Linking to:

Miss Mustard Seed, Funky Junk Interiors, Life in the Fun Lane

Remembering my Grandpa

Yesterday, while browsing through all the great projects over at The CSI Project, I came across this great Eye Chart Wall Art by Marianne at Junkin’ Junky.  I thought it was such a clever take on the Subway type signage that’s everywhere right now.  But more deeply than that, I had a very sentimental reaction to her little project, because my Grandpa was an optometrist before he passed away.

I commented on her blog about how much liked it and asked what font she used.  To my surprise, she emailed me back with not only the name of the font, but the whole project as a word file.  All I had to do was to change out her words for my own to replicate it!  I want to sincerely thank Marianne for her thoughtfulness!

I wanted to do this project as a gift for my mom, a little belated Father’s Day gift for her.  So I decided on a scripture from the book of Malachi (4:6), “He will turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their father.”  Another scripture that came to mind (but was really too long for this application) was from Psalm 127 “Children too are a gift from the Lord, the fruit of the womb, a reward.  Like arrows in the hand of a warrior are the children born of one’s youth.  Blessed are those whose quivers are full.”  My grandpa certainly had a full quiver!

My grandpa left a legacy of love and faith that is still deeply felt by his family.  He was father to 11 children (my mom included), grandfather to 39, great-grandfather to 12 and counting!  He remains quite loved, remembered fondly, and his presence sorely missed.

This picture is from the early days of the family.  My mom is the little girl in this picture. 

(4 kids down, 7 to go!)

 

So here’s my version (for my mom) of Marianne’s wonderful Eye Chart.  I had it printed on ledger size (11 x 17) ivory colored paper at Office Max (it cost 20 cents.)

And a shot a little closer (so you can actually, maybe, read it.)

P.S. – Any of my family who reads this and would like to have this for their own, email me and I can send you the file.  :)

Apple Green Chalkboard Desk

I got this desk from the free section of my local Craigslist.  It had a cute shape, but wasn’t winning any prizes for quality.  I think it’s made of masonite.  The top is pressboard with a laminate top.

Because I didn’t have any initial monetary investment in the piece, I felt liberated to go a little bit wild with it. 

I got some fabric for $1.50 a yard at Joann’s last week when they had 50% off their red tag clearance fabrics, which gave me the color inspiration:  Apple Green!  I sprayed the original hardware cream, and decided to do a dark green chalkboard top for the desk, inspired by this little beaut by Miss Mustard Seed.

That chair looking familiar?  It should.  It’s from the same set as the chair for the studded desk I completed not long ago.  (Thanks again, Valerie!!)  It’s his funky twin!  :P

To do the wavy edge on the chalkboard top, I just cut some painter's tape with scissors down the middle and taped it up like so:

 

So… Traditional?

… or Funky?

 

What’s your pleasure?

This project is competing in the Roadkill Rescue Challenge over at The CSI Challenge!

 

Also linking to:

Reinvented, The DIY Showoff, Domestically Speaking, Bobby Pins Boardwalk, My Backyard Eden, The Shabby Chic Cottage, Brambleberry Cottage, Somewhat Simple, Miss Mustard Seed, The Shabby Nest, Funky Junk Interiors, The Stories of A to Z

Cowboy Pop Art

When my oldest son was born 8 years ago (Sheesh!  I can’t believe it’s been that long!), I decorated his room in a Noah’s Arc Theme, with a golden yellow and denim blue.  It was adorable (if I do say so) and served him well in his wee days, but as he grew, and moved into a big boy bed, the room kind of became a mish-mosh of things added over time, including his younger brother.  :)  I never had time or inclination for a redecorating.

Then, about 2 years ago, I was expecting my first little girl, and I was excitedly decorating her new room with a pale butter cream yellow and spring green and a dragonfly theme.  I REALLY got into it.  Along my new-baby decorating frenzy, the boys got a little jealous.  They told me in no uncertain terms that they wanted a newly decorated “theme” room.  Since they have a giant pine bunkbed, and we have a lot of the golden yellow and denim blue stuff left over from the Noah’s Arc nursery, a cowboy room seemed the logical choice.  The boys were thrilled, so off I went redecorating their room.

I’m sure I’ll show you more of the room at a later date, but I wanted to share with you an easy-peasy but really striking piece of art I created for the wall above their dresser.  I had the frame from a Noah’s Arc painting that I did while I was pregnant with the eldest and planning the Noah’s Arc room, and I had the idea of doing a rustic, cowboy-style pop art in colors that matched those of the new room.  The new color scheme was inspired by the great sheet sets I got at Target to go with their dark denim bead spreads.

I found a great website called Pop Art Machine that creates all different artistic renderings from your uploaded photos.  They also have lots of images in their public galleries.  This image was one from their blog, but worked perfectly for this application.  I downloaded four of the color schemes that worked best with the colors in the room, printed them out on cardstock, cut them out and stuck them down on a board with glue stick, and voila!  Free art:

Here it is with a little more of the context of the room.

There having a great giveaway for a Silhouette Craft Cutter (worth OVER $325) over at Tatertots and Jello, but stay away, ‘cause I want it!!  ;)  (Apparently I’m not the only one, since there are over 2000 entries so far!!  Wowee!!)

Thrifty Decor Chick is also giving away a Silhouette Craft Cutter.  I’ve never won a blog giveaway before, but this would be a fantastic week to start!  ;)

Also trying for a Silhouette machine over at Southern Hospitality.

 

This project is participating in the Wall Art Challenge at The CSI Project!

Tour de Thrift and some Sneak Peeks

I ventured down into the hellish heat of Phoenix on Saturday for the first (hopefully annual? semi-annual?) Arizona Bloggers Tour de Thrift.  Thanks so much to Jax from Aly & Ash and Ashley from Cute as a Fox for doing a smashing job organizing this very successful event.  We met for brunch at Mimi’s Cafe, then headed off to three area Goodwill stores.  The best part, I have to say, were the full-to-bursting-with-fab-and-useful-stuff swag bags each attendee received!  Paint from Krylon and Behr, Gorilla Glue, Mod Podge, just to name a few.  Goodwill was excited that we were making the rounds and gave each attendee a $5 gift card for our shopping trip!

Here’s Kendra (My Insanity), Jax (Aly & Ash), Me (with the Bugga Boo, of course) and Ashley (Cute as a Fox) before the shopping commenced.

I was, naturally, on the lookout for furniture pieces, but didn’t have a whole lot of success on that front.  I did, however, find a funky hutch thingy to make another puppet theater out of.  It was only $7.50, so figuring in the $5 gift card graciously provided by my bff Goodwill, it only cost me $2.50!  :)  This one even has a second tier “stage” and little cabinets to store the puppets!  Can’t you just picture it?!?!  How should I paint it?  Colors?  Themes?  I’d love your clever suggestions.

 

On Friday, I was at my local Goodwill and came across a fantastic, really (I’m not sure how) old dresser.  Normally, when I come across something Friday afternoon before a 50% Saturday, I will defer buying, come back at opening on Saturday, and get said piece for half off.  This time, since I was going to be out of town early Saturday morning, I had to act fast.  It was priced $50, and I used my 20% off coupon, so I only paid $40.  That’s high for me, but I had flashes of Whiteberry, and had to have it!  :)

Isn’t it stunning?!?!  When I brought it home, I was telling my mom that I wished that it had more of the original hardware.  But this morning, as i was starting to get it cleaned up and sanded, I noticed that behind one of the top drawers were ALL the missing knocker style pulls from the bottom portion of the dresser!  Score!!  So I only have to buy 4 knobs for the top drawers.  I’m having the strong inclination that I’m going to want to keep this baby for the Bugga Boo’s room.  The dresser I have in there now was a freebie anyhoo, and I’m sure I could sell it as-is on Craigslist for at least the $40 this one cost me, so it would be (financially) an even trade and this one is sure to graduate the refinishing process Summa Cum AWESOME!!  (…what? Pardon my rambling…)

Here’s a little sneak peek of a desk I’m just putting the finishing touches on as we speak.  Can you say “Apple Green?”

Oh!  And I had a few people ask me about how I faired in the local “Idol” competition I posted about a few weeks ago.  I did not make it through the first week (where I sang “Something To Talk About” by Bonnie Raitt), BUT I won week 2 singing “Black Horse and a Cherry Tree” by KT Tunstall.  So I’m through to the finale, which is (I believe) in the beginning of September.  :)  I’m stressing about song choice!  Any suggestions on that front?  Here’s the video from week two for those of you who may be interested.  ;)  (I just noticed that I’m wearing the same top I wore to the Tour de Thrift, ha!)

secretary who sews by night. And by day.

Hello there! Although I don't have the energy to be crankin out the projects lately, I wanted to post some pictures of a friend's project which was inspired by TL and Martha Stewart. Edie had been dreaming of a convenient place to store all her sewing stuff, and saw a great idea in a MS mag to put it all into an organized desk system that closed up. Anne Marie, the expert furniture finder (who is aware of every SINGLE available piece within a 40 mile radius) located a solid wood secretary desk for her at a cost of $50. Not bad, not bad.

Poor Edie. She painted this bad boy 3 different times. Amidst the disasters, there was no turning back--but look! Now she has a wonderful little area to go to, to remind herself that she is an adult who can have fun. WEEEEEE. And THAT reason alone makes it so worth it. It doesn't hurt that it's also a gorgeous piece of furniture. I am quite (jealous-shhhh). Edie- it looks like you put some kind of a glaze on it. And I like your walls behind it, too. Very lovely I must say.

Now, this girl even painted the inside. That's what I call persistance.

It's fabulous. But, check this out:

Edie added cork board to the inside panels and a dowel system to the underneath of a lower shelf. This makes me want to get off of my badonkadonk a little. But I don't have a sewing machine. DARN!

I need to ask for one for Christmas.

Thanks Edie-you da (wo)man!

-Cara

A Sofa Table, A Desk Chair, and Tour de Thrift

I have a lot to fit in this post!!  Sheesh!  Things have been piling up on my to do list.  Why is it that I feel more busy during the summertime than I do during the school year?

First, my friend Hannah contacted me last Friday and told me to be on the lookout for a sofa table.  Not 2 hours later, I scored this Thomasville beaut at a yardsale for $5!

Unfortunately, it’s about a half a foot too long for Hannah’s purposes, so this puppy’s now available!  I painted it satin black and decided to try out Rustoleum’s Frosted Glass Spray on the glass panels using a store-bought stencil.  I LOVE how it turned out.  I would really, really love to keep it for my house, if I had any where at all I could squeeze it in.  ;)

This week, I’ve also finished up the Studded Desk project.  I finished up the studded design on the left side of the desk, where I had run out of tacks before (oops) and I also did up a matching chair.  The chair has a little bit of a story:

I met a woman, Valarie (Hi, Valerie!!!) who had seen some of our pieces for sale on Craigslist and who had in mind a few things she wanted us to do for her home.  She also had some furniture that she wanted to get rid of, and wondered if we would want it to do our thing with.  Well, I for one will never turn down free.  :)  Valerie had a dining set that she had inherited from her husband’s mother.  It was a double pedestal table, the top of which was long gone.  The pedestals were all that remained.  She had one of the captain’s chairs (with arms) and another four with no arms.  She wants me to fix up and reupholster the captain’s chair and use one of the pedestals to make a side table to match, so she can have a piece of her mother-in-law’s old table for posterity.  Isn’t that a great idea?  She gave me the remaining pedestal and the four other chairs to do with what I do.  :)  I used one of these chairs for a makeover to match the studded desk.  They now look like they were always meant to be together.

Here’s a side-by-side with one of the chairs that hasn’t yet been made over:

 

And here’s a shot from the left to show you that I did, in fact, finish of the studding.  :)

Lastly, I just found out this morning about an event coming up this Saturday, the Arizona Bloggers Tour de Thrift, put on by Aly and Ash over at Cute as a Fox Creations.  Needless to say, I signed right-the-heck up!  I’m stoked to be attending!  Hopefully we all have a fabulous time and I come back with some loot!  :)

 

I’m sure there’s more I meant to write about that I’m forgetting right now, but this post is long enough, and I’m tired.

‘Night all!