Tuesday, September 30, 2008

Repeat After Me, "Busy Is Good!"

At least that is what I keep trying to tell myself, "Busy is good!" Busy means that my children are healthy and can participate in sports and activities and that they have friends to play with (I am not a good playdate mom, but I do it!). Busy means we are active in our church and have a church family to support. Busy means my business is doing well. Busy means my husband is furthering his education to get a better job (he is getting his school administration degree). Busy means I have new business opportunities in the works. Busy means I have amazing friends that I want to spend time with. So even though I love the idea of simplifying your life, in this season I am going to embrace the busy is good philosophy!

One thing I have been busy with is getting some stuff out to my antique booth. I got a call that I had a run on things on my booth and had sold 5 big pieces this weekend (the desk kitchen island was one of them, along with the sofa table wine bar made from a deck chair). Here are some things I finished and will be working on more this week.

Here is the old trunk I got for $5. Not my best paint job--it was a quickie one. I put a heavy duty wire on the back to hang it and a shelf on the inside. I polyed the inside to keep what was left of the paper intact.



Here is the two tiered table I got a while back. It got the black paint, stain treatment.


This little sewing box table also just got a quick paint job, new hardware since it was missing a pull, and some stain over the paint.
Have a great, I won't look at the DOW, kind of a day!

Sunday, September 28, 2008

Thrifting For Costumes!

Time to hit those thrift stores for fun costume ideas (get there now before the good stuff is gone!). Here are a few costume ideas put together with thrift store finds. Here is my son trying out some 70's clothes I got for a 70's party. Aren't those stretchy pants fabulous? And what about those shoes?


Here is middle son in the same 70's shirt, with some disco dude homemade glasses. His buddy is wearing grandma clothes from the thrift store (wig was from there too!). The other friend is sporting a white turtleneck from the thrift store and some groovy taped up nerd glasses.

Here is another granny one. Grandma purses make great candy bags.
In this one my son was a Montana State football player (the local team, but not the team we are for) who just finished playing the University of Montana (where my husband played football). Notice the torn jersey and the bandaged arm. The jersey was a large, Old Navy one that I found at thrift store in the right colors so we tore it up and the ace bandage came from the thrift store too (I washed it first). I spray painted the helmet (from the thrift store too!) gold like the team wears.

There are so many great possibilities-so let those imaginations work and get to those thrift stores soon.

PS--I am not getting paid by any thrift store to push them in these last two posts Ü--I just find them a great resource!

Wednesday, September 24, 2008

Scratch That Itch!

I got the itchin', I hadn't been thriftin' since school started. So, after preschool today, I scratched that itch! I only went to the one thrift store where I know the owners, and let me tell you, I am glad I did! Although I didn't get a lot, here are a few of the treasures I did pick up:

I think I will use this big tray that everything is sitting on to make some type of table--either taller for a desk or a coffee table. I loved these pink dishes and I think they are vintage, but they don't have any markings. Does anyone know? This spice rack teeters between cool vintage for me and old crud. I like the chart on the inside, which has a 1965 copyright. I think I will paint the wood a fun color like deep red and leave the rest as is. The stool was nice and sturdy and will be easy to paint up with something cute. I loved the color of the vintage melamine dishes.

I also like these old travel coffee sets and the bar ones too. My parents had one and I was allowed to play house with it, but only sometimes. I am not sure if I will leave it as is, or paint something on the case.
My best deal was this reverse painted glass advertising picture from Butte, Montana. It is in excellent condition--I paid $1 for it!
I also got a great old turquoise blue fan, but it is in the garage and didn't make the photos. So, even though your mama probably told you, "Don't scratch!" and covered you with Calamine lotion, the thriftin' itch is one scratch that is worth itchin'!

Monday, September 22, 2008

Finished Chair ( well, sorta! )

Sorry--rushing again--I have to drive 2 hours to son's JV football game. Here is the finished chair--the cording around the back needs some work still, I will probably redo it. I made a quick little faux fur pillow to keep it from being so traditional. I restained the wood, with a dark gel stain. The pleats in the back part of the chair just happened, like they were in the original. I ripped the seams apart on the seat cushion and used the pieces for the pattern. I reused the zipper.


I am back from football. I couldn't get the pictures to load before I went. We won in the last few seconds of the game 23 to 21, with a 38 yard field goal. My son blocked a punt and recovered the ball, which then set up one of our touchdowns. What a fun game! Here is a picture from tonight's game and a picture of his little sister cheering him on.


I had an amazing time at Beth Moore. She is an incredible Christian speaker (this is my third time seeing her). Her testimony is real and she is so humble. Her message really spoke to me. These are my girlfriends and I before the Beth Moore event. (No I am not pregnant--it is the jacket! But my dear friend in purple is, after three years of infertility--and baby was conceived the old-fashioned way!)

Friday, September 19, 2008

Anatomy of a Chair Redo, Part 1

Time is short, week has been long. Here are some pictures of my chair redo so far. Camera battery died, got a new one, but I ma heading out of town to see Beth Moore speak so I will post finished chair Sunday night! Have a great weekend!

The beginning--someone liked staples!!!




The foam--this is fuzzy, but it shows what the foam lo0ked like. See those preschool scissors? I couldn't find my $50 sewing scissors--these were the next sharpest ones!
Here is how the button attached to the back:
Tune in Sunday for the final result--I love it!

Friday, September 12, 2008

Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes

I am in the process of changing my color scheme in my living room. It has been brown and red for almost 5 years now, so I am ready for something new. In my home I have a color that I carry throughout all the rooms, except my children's rooms--they get what fancies them at the time. I use different accent colors in each room to go with my main color. This helps the rooms to flow together and to be united, but different (kinda like America!). When I was first married 20 years ago, my common color was slate blue--oh how I love my slate blue Ü. I had slate blue and peach, blue and mauve, and blue and pale yellow. Then I went for a moss green stage--I had moss green and yellow, green and blue, green and tan. I then had another country blue faze where I had blue and yellow, blue and red and blue and white.

Now I am in my brown stage and don't seem to be tiring of it. It is warm and reminds me of chocolate, mmm! I have mostly had brown and red or brown and tan. I am in the process of changing the red accents to ocean blues and greens, and turquoise in the guest bath. I will have browns, reds, greens and blues in my kitchen. Most of my red stuff will go to the guest bedroom (sorry guests-you get the decorating leftovers--but they will still look fresh!) or the basement family room (which is the hang-out place for my own children plus many neighborhood friends).

Here is the rug I got to help start my transformation. I got it on clearance at Target--it was $40 off the original price. I tried to play the waiting game to see if it would go down more, but it didn't and then there were only two left, so I bought it. I really love the patterns and the colors are perfect. The table probably won't be staying--it one I made and the blue color is off so it will probably go to my booth, or I might repaint it.



My teen son say, "Mom you have to change all of this if you are going to put that rug in here. You can't just put a blue rug in here and make it look good. You have to get new pillows, paint this red chair, paint that little table, the painting above the fireplace."
"I know," I said, "won't that be fun?" He rolled his eyes.

You can see from the top picture that I have that chair in there that I bought at the garage sale (I've been throwing a red blanket over it!). I plan to work on it this weekend. Here is the fabric I bought to recover it, along with another chair I will be repainting and reupholstering also. I got it for $5/yard at JoAnn's. Doesn't it match the carpet well? I bought the fabric first. I also might go get that little blue and brown table I showed you a few weeks ago, if it hasn't sold.

Happy Friday. Texans--stay safe, we are praying for you!

Thursday, September 11, 2008

Why Did You Have To Do That?

My title is what my husband said to me when he saw the pumpkin that I had used bronze leafing on. I said , "I didn't have to do that, I wanted to."
"Hmm," he says, "pumpkins are orange."
"This one is bronze, now tell me how cool it looks."
"Ya cool, not orange, but very shiny."



Men--I tell ya--they can be a challenge sometimes! This is the first fall thing I have gotten to--I am going to try to dig out the rest today so I will post more fall decorating projects.

Here is a little table I did for a gal whose mom just started teaching preschool. Used the wax technique for the paint--in these primary colors it looks like someone scribbled crayon on the table, which I like. I decoupaged a few Dick and Jane pictures and painted the ABC, 123 on it. I used several coats of clear finish since I am sure it will get beat up!

To answer a question about the shadow box finish--if you click on the picture and see it larger, you will see the paint finish. I painted it black, sanded a little off the edges and then used walnut stain over the paint. It makes black look so much better!

My prayers are with those who lost loved ones on September 11 and for our troops who continue to fight!

Friday, September 5, 2008

Shadow Box and Football

Hey everyone--it's been a busy week with starting preschool and kids sports and back to school nights. I worked on a few things. Today really flew by--spent a little time catching up on other's blogs (me time!). I met with a designer today who bought a couple pieces and wants me to do more for her. I made this quick shadow box. I used two frames that were different sizes and glued them together. Then I painted them, sanded and stained them. You can do this with three frames too of graduating sizes. The one hint would be to make sure your top frame has glass for it. This one didn't, but I thought, no problem, I will get another piece that I have. Turns out the opening on my frame was an odd size. I finally found one that fit, but it just barely covers it. I had a hot glue mess going on that you could see, so I glued the velvet ribbon around the edge of the glass. The silverware was my grandparent's. I still have to put picture hanging wire on the back. It's definitely a quick and easy project and much cheaper than buying shadow boxes.

Tonight was the first home high school football game. We won in overtime. It was cold!! Eldest son suited up but didn't see any playing time--he's just a sophomore. Here's younger son with his buddy all ready to cheer on the team--go Panthers!
I wanted to share with you a quick dinner idea that we had tonight before the game that my family loves--BBQ chicken pizza (sorry no pictures). Use your favorite dough recipe. Here is mine: http://bec4-beyondthepicketfence.blogspot.com/2008/05/bread-baking-and-awards.html Spread dough with BBQ sauce, sprinkle with real bacon bits, add shredded rotisserie chicken (from Costco) and pineapple tidbits. Top with mozzarella and bake at 400. It is quick and yummy! Let me know if you try it.