Danger! Construction Zone

It seems that no matter how hard I try, and after numerous failed attempts, I've come to the conclusion that I  will never be a carpenter. Oh yes, I muddle through, and use what tools I have to patch and re-construct things to the best of my ability get by, but I'm no Bob Villa! How I envy those women that have conquered the skill of using power tools!! Here's the latest victim in my continued determination to get the job done....

DURING:

I saw this Adirondack chair (not as it is in the picture, it was all white when I saw it) sitting on the curb with some other things one day, so, of course, I stopped to pick it up! It looked great okay from a distance, but closer inspection showed a lot of rotted wood. But, hey, that's never stopped me before!! I threw it in the truck and away I went! I thought it would look good in the garden anyway. When I got it home and started taking it apart - it literally FELL APART!

IN PIECES!

Hmmm ... well, there went my idea for using it as 'garden art'! It sat in pieces in the garage over the winter, but since I have limited space, I either had to FIX IT or TOSS IT!  Gasp! I couldn't just throw it out - I had to try to SAVE IT! I used the pieces as 'templets', bought new wood, nuts and bolts, and proceeded to put it all back together. I managed to salvage some of the original boards, too. However, I forgot how all the pieces fit together :-P.  It was like building a whole new chair without the instructions! Bob Villa would've had it done in a couple of hours! At least it finally resembles an Adirondack chair, again, so I guess I didn't do too bad! Just don't look too closely! 

I've since filled in all the screw holes and then I'll give it a good over-all sanding. I decided I'm going to paint it 'green apple'. Paint covers a multitude of mistakes flaws! It will look fantastic on the patio! It's comfortable to sit in - I tried it out!  

I may not be a carpenter, but I love to challenge myself and keep on giving it another try! I'm always pleasantly amazed when it turns out okay! One of these days I may surprise myself and actually be good at it! For now, I'll settle for Perfectly, Imperfect!

Be happy and love what you do!

XOXOX

Let's Try This Again!

Let's see if I can continue to show you the newest items I've completed without any blogger glitches! You know it's got to be in the programming -- not the programMER!! ah ha ha ha! Anyhoo, where did I leave off ...
I think it was this chair..

Okay, this is the before photo, but after I already took off the old crusty, musty fabric and stuffing that was original, I'm sure!

Here, I saved it to show you just how UGLY it was - yucky orangey-brown with gold threads woven through. You really can't even tell how bad it really is!!

TA-DA!! SHA-ZAM!



I have to say that I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this fabric! I am in lust with this chair! I want to keep it!

Look how curvey and gracious it is! Can you tell that I REALLY LIKE THIS CHAIR??

I ran out of the silver hammered upholstry tacks, as you can see, but they're all there, now! Had to make an emergency trip to the hardware store and hope they had more of the same.

One more look - I promise! It's a good thing I didn't get too attached to this beauty - I just found out today that it's already been sold to someone who fell in love with it, too! I hope they will be very happy together!
On to the next project - another one close to my heart - sigh!

BEFORE

An old worn out wooden kitchen table with engraved leaves on the sides. It looked so sad.

AFTER ........

A nice dreamy white color did the trick to brighten it up! I painted the engraved leaves black to make them really POP!

But the graphics (from my favorite Graphic Fairy site) on the table top is the crème de la crème! It's an old French pastery shop advertisement. I love the style! I used the burnishing technique on the transfer and enhanced it with black fine-tip markers.Very tedious work! But well worth the effort!  

Beautiful!

Here's a useful item ...

This is an antique window trim piece that came from a local Victorian home. I added some antique door knobs and voila! A handy place to hang your coats and hats! It's unique and sure to be a conversation starter!

I've started to work on a trio of chairs that will hopefully be done by next week. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised with this transformation!! I'll give you a little hint ..... RETRO!

Stay Happy!

XOXOX

Do You Have The Time?

Does anybody else think that time is whizzing by way too fast?? Sometimes I feel like I've blinked and another week is gone! Well, I guess I must have had time on my mind when I was figuring out what to do with this nice all wood entertainment center! When I first saw it at Goodwill, I liked that it was small and had cabinet doors. I thought it would be the perfect size for me to work with. When it was being loaded up I realized that all that nice thick wood made it weight a lot a TON! At that point it was too late to change my mind! I'd have to find a way to wrestle it around by myself.

The cabinet was in really good condition as it was - but I had OTHER plans in mind for this piece!

You know that I couldn't just leave it in it's natural condition. So, off I went to get some paint. After priming it and applying a couple of coats of some shade of white paint, I sanded it for a slightly distressed look - which was ideal for the cabinet's rough wood construction. I made a shelf for the inside to fill the space where a TV would've gone. At that point, I had a change of plans - another hazard bad habit of mine!  This is where the time thingy comes in!!

The cabinet didn't have any door or drawer pulls so I decided to add them. The time-themed inspiration came to me when I spotted the door pulls with clock face replicas that I had in my junk stash! Luckily there were four of them! Yay! The random number stencils came from another idea I'd seen before and thought it would be a fun thing to add! You know... time? - numbers?... well, you get the idea!

REALLY!! A clock with no hands! A perfectly-imperfect match!

Until next TIME,

Enjoy each and every moment.



STOP!! CURBSIDE ALERT!!

I get excited when I spot furniture placed along the curb! Somebody purposely put it there to be taken away! Yay for me!! Well, most of the time, anyway! Sometimes I should just keep drivin' on by! But not this time..

This biggo buffet was in reasonably good condition - I try to see beyond the missing middle drawers and doors, and the 2x4's nailed to the back holding it together - but, hey, I can overlook those minor details!! I had a plan! It does have the top drawer - I just forgot to put it in for the photo! What I didn't take into account is how heavy and awkward it was going to be to haul it home or how much space it would take up to actually work on it!

Anyhoo ... after some re-construction, re-enforcing, and re-creating, it looks pretty terrific, now! There's lots of storage in this BIG BABY!  5' long to be exact!

The photo doesn't even do it justice! It's way prettier in person. I added a fabric-covered foamboard to the sides to add a bit of flair! It's different, yet almost elegant - wouldn't you agree? The tropical floral fabric enhances the dark woven baskets. Ideal for holding wine or liquor bottles. It would make a great bar! I cut some plywood to make shelves in the middle. The original drawer pulls were perfect and only needed a little cleaning.

So, you see? You never know what you're going to find on your drive home! Don't be shy! Pull over and throw it in your vehicle - especially if you have a pickup! With a little lot of imagination, some paint, and some brute strength thrown in, someone else's junk turned into another useful treasure!!

I BRAKE FOR CURBSIDE JUNK!!

xoxox

Hot Legs!

Now that you've got that tune and visions of Rod Stewart in your head, let me show you the shapely legs I'm talkin' about ....

Pretty, Pink Curvaceous Legs!

Very gracious, elegant, and a little flirty!

A creamy rose floral accent applied to the back and covering the little drawer front. Perfect!

I'm running low on furniture pieces to work on so I've been digging through my fabric bins hoping to become inspired.  I threw some odds & ends scraps together and came up with a nice sized tote!

 

It's roomy and it's lined to make it very sturdy!The handy-dandy jean's pocket sets it off!

Coffee sacks are kinda trendy and the burlap is great for a multitude of uses. I wanted to keep the graphics on this bag intact and just happened to have a frame hangin' around that fit ...

It'll be added to my Spring inventory.

Let's see ... what else have I completed ...

Oh, yeah! This old window - I have a pile LOT of them! Stenciled a couple of birds and added some words! Kinda looks like it really is my window - it's just sitting on the frame so the graphics would show through! Ugh, you can see the SNOW we just got dumped on us through the window, too!

And, I did these ...

Printed graphics (thanks Background Fairy!) on some tea towels. It's fun! More to come!

Did I show you this little cutie pie child's wicker rocker?

       

                                                                   BEFORE ...

    
                                                                       AFTER!

I couldn't fix the gapping hole in the back - it really needed a whole (pun intended!) new backing - so I stitched together a sweet little ruffle-y slipcover to hide it! And added a soft cush-y seat! Pretty neat, huh?

Well, the rabbit likes it!!



So, I really have been working on stuff! Slow, but sure! That's what I do .........



Till next time ....... KEEP ON JUNKIN'!

XOXOX

Quick Projects!

You can never have enough pillows! They're fun, they're stylish, they're colorful, and the more the better! I had some leftover fabric pieces from other sewing projects and put them all together. The backs of these pillows, which don't show in the photos, is striped fabric and plain muslin. I like to use every little scrap I can!

Love the French Script fabric!

A little creative trim and voila!!

 I have a 'sack stash' of old feed/seed sacks and chose one to use as a liner for this Farmer's Market Cart. This cart is larger than previous ones that I've done. Getting the right dimentions was a challenge - but after taking ripping the liner apart twice, I decided it was as close as I was going to get!  I used twine for the ties and to cover the handle to give it more of a country-look. It's the perfect thing to take to the farmer's market! You don't have to carry all those individual bags full of produce and juggle the fresh flower bouquet while browsing at all the edible goodies! Plus it's environmentally friendly - no plastic bags!!

Farmer's Market Cart

I LOVE MIRRORS! They make a small space seem larger and brighten up any sized room. It's not a VANITY thing! Although once in a while a quick look at your reflection may make you re-think that hairdo! Here are a couple of fun mirrors I re-did recently:

I decoupaged old dictionary pages on a framed mirror and added vintage buttons and a long strand of pearls.

 

Shimmering sheer leaves accent the ribbon rose embellishment. So sweet!

 This wall mirror was one of those dark stained pine pieces that were popular in the '80's. It had a little shelf attached where you could display knick-knacky things. I updated the look with some paint, some French trim, and a couple of white fleur-de-lis knobs. It would be ideal to use as a jewelry hanger - with a handy mirror!  Use it in the entryway for hats or scarves, or show off pretty guest towels in the bath.

I'll have more things to share with you next time!

Until then ..... Merci Beaucoup!

Happy New Year - New Projects!

Dark-gooey-drippy-looking stuff!

What a way to start the New Year! I've been slacking in the project department, so I decided I better get a move on and start crankin' out some finished products!
I'm trying out my re-organized workspace in the basement, seeings as it's wa-a-ay too cold to work in the garage now! Still missing my handy-dandy workshop back in CO but this'll have to do for now. At least it's warm.
My first project is a chair I found on some curb. Should've left it there!! ah ha ha ha! After getting a closer look at it - the dark-stain varnish was all bubbly and crackeled - looked like maybe it had been torched or possibly saved from thrown into a fire! The seat middle was missing. Otherwise it was in pretty good shape -- considering ...
When am I going to LEARN that curbside finds usually require a lot of time and repair. I've had to figure out some pretty unique salvage techniques over the years!
Anyhoo .... this is how it turned out ...

Careful paint job was purposely distressed - didn't want it to look NEW!

Paint color choice came from the colorful feed sack that I picked out of my sack stash!

Pretty COOL, huh?!

The next project - actually I worked on both of these alternately while paint dried - is this cute little accent table that I found in my fav thrift store. I think it looks like it could've been a boy's shop-class project! It's kinda rough! No "before" pics - as I FORGOT! - but picture this -- dark stained cheapo scrap pine wood! Here she is all dolled up ...

Now this took some considerable time as I had NO plan in mind and just painted as I went along! (which is how I do most things!)

Isn't this little bird just the cutest drawer pull you've ever seen?!!

It's perfectly-imperfect!

I've got several other projects in the works - some old windows that I'm having to scrape and repaint and, dang it all, wouldn't you just know that one of the old wavey glass panes would BREAK - Geesch I hate when that happens! I plan to paint some Vintage French labels on the glass - if I have any left!

I'm decoupaging a couple of mirror frames with old dictionary pages - the end result will be uncommonly unique!

More fabric things are being planned. I hope to use up my ever-growing stash! Does that EVER really happen??

I've got my work cut out for me. It's a New Year with New Dreams and New Ideas! I'm already looking forward to getting my space filled up for opening day in March! I'd better get busy!!

Until next time ... Sweet Dreams!