Saturday, January 30, 2010

Paint help!!!

Think this will be OK in our dining room? I originally wanted a colour close to the middle of the store swatch, but when we were in the store awhile ago there was a big can of the top pop can swatch (thanks, creative hubby!) for $10. It was originally a $35 dollar can of paint, gotta love those mis-tints...I don't think we've ever bought a regular can! (oh-except for the dining set that needed to match the leather seats) More of a blue than the teal I was hoping for, but I think it looks pretty good, right? The taupe paint behind it will still be on the other walls as we are just doing a feature with the blue, and painting the back of the china cabinet blue too. The curtains are staying, I made them a month or so ago. I think the blue will highlight them, as they blend in more right now...It'll be a lovely shabby/beachy/vintage dining room I hope...That is the plan, anyway...
Beadboard would be awesome in there too, not sure if we can add it or not since we don't own the house. I think it would look fabulous but someone else might not! This little creation on my living room floor is the 3 year old's "train tracks". Made from his little sister's cloth diapers. (Fuzzi Bunz are the bomb, Mama's...They have both worn them, they're easy, green, and soft on those little bums!)
This picture also illustrates why I do my crafting and projects at night when the little "angels" are sleeping!
Perhaps we have a future engineer on our hands...
Until next time!

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Friday, January 29, 2010

Farmhouse dresser mini-makeover, and a mini-pity partayyy...

I've been lazy with writing (and in finishing my dining chairs-they have only received their first coat of paint...If I had been on the ball they would have been done!) this week due to the reality/crash that I have gone from an intense, fulfilling nursing job in a neonatal intensive care unit to not getting a job offer after my one and only job interview since our relocation. (for my husband's work) The interview went really well it seemed, it was a position in a dollar store the next town over. Perhaps she didn't believe me when I said that I could tie a balloon? Yes, this was the first time I've been asked that in an interview...LOL! The only nursing jobs are over an hour away, and they are only hiring for short calls (be here in 20 sort of thing) so I have been looking elsewhere as financially I need to be working right now. It's been a bit of a wallowing week. I have a few leads so hopefully something will pan out soon. I'm prepared for any new challenges and career paths! Once I start working again I want to get busy planning my online store too, but one needs to come before the other for that to happen! We have our family, our health, a roof over our heads, and things will come together. This time next year we will be in a much better position, and after the past year that will be a welcome relief. The dream job came with a not-so-dreamy pay cut the first one to two years, but the lifetime of experiences it offers will be priceless.
We had great news today, though-we're in a house owned by the corporation my husband works for, and they are replacing the kitchen next week-top to bottom! We'll get to enjoy it the next four years we're posted here so it was a great call to get. I had some say in the layout of the cupboards, they added a broom closet and raised up one of the counter tops so little people fingers won't be able to pull things off-more usable counter space! Wooo hoooo! I have absolutely NO idea what type of cupboards, counters, colours, they are bringing in...Should be interesting!!!!

OK, so enough of my pity party...Seriously, I annoy myself too, sorry!

I found this dresser on Craigslist for free♥free♥free♥free♥free....It is so cute! Rustic, sturdy, and it keeps Kara's clothes from the floor. (the one year old just discovered how much FUN it is to rip all her clothes off her bedroom shelves...not so fun for me...Her big brother also liked to "help" her out once the party started...grrrr)

It came from a gorgeous acreage and had been in their family for years, so I says it's "Farmhouse Chic". Cute little caster legs, it has some rugged handsome-ness...It needed some glue, clamping, a few nails, and we're in business! All I changed in it's appearance was adding some new hardware, I had some extra oil-rubbed bronze handles kicking around, I think it made a big difference though! The brass/wood handles are what it came with. The colour is cute, so no hurry to paint it yet, still too many projects to finish first! I will probably take the mirror off and hang it on the wall instead, those mirror "harps" are just held in with screws so easy-peasy.
^I got excited about changing the knobs and had to stop to take some "before" pic's.
In it's new home!
The same day we went "in to town" I made my ritual thrift store stop-and found this beeeeeautiful silver plated vanity tray-perfect condition-for $2.49! It cleaned up like a dream! The tray bottom is engraved in a floral design, but I put a doily on the bottom to protect it from scratches. It is now holding my perfumes, my Grandmother's silver compact, the choker I wore for our wedding, the brooch that was on my bouquet, some vintage inspired hair pins from one of my besties, and some faux pearls for glamour.
This is a better view of the choker. Loved it!
The brooch I put on my bouquet. I found it in the gift shop of the hotel our reception was at! We bought the flowers at Costco and made the arrangements at home.
A little of everything this week! Must get back to business with the dining chairs, I am thisclose to finally being done...
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Sunday, January 24, 2010

FABULOUS Freebies, thrifty goodness, and vintage family fun...

Happy Sunday! Thank you for all the wonderful comments, and new followers...It makes my day! I've been trying to keep up, but sometimes diaper duty/peacekeeping calls!

So, on my never ending Craigslist snooping I discovered..
An ad for a motel under renovation, promising FREE goodies...

Packed the kids in the truck and headed down there, about an hour and a half away. Our little town is an hour to the next nearest town, so heading out is always fun, it means we get to stop at Tim Hortons for coffee and tea, and I do some power thrifting!

The motel wasn't super exciting, it had been picked over pretty well, unfortunately...It was supposed to be a 2 day event, we got there 1/2 an hour before the start of the first day and the early birds has swooped in! Being my nosy self, I struck up a conversation with an employee, and learned they had more goodies hiding...I told them how far away we were, and they literally took me on a tour of freebies-LOL! Never hurts to say HI rather than just giving up and going on your way!

We left with 2 upholstered arm chairs that will go in the guest room, I decided to take the 9 drawer dresser for upstairs. It seems like such a waste to have all those empty drawers when we could use them! The chairs will go in the corner of the room where the dresser would have been, with a little table between them. It'll be a nice little nook for our kid-less guests to have some quiet time. The wood will need to be painted, and they definitely need to be re-upholstered. The furniture in there is shabby black french provincial, so I'm thinking black arms and legs, with a burlap/canvas material, sort of old grain sack like...I just saw someone out there do one very similar, but for the life of me can't remember where it was!!! If you remember, help a girl out? As I posted earlier, the room is still a work in progress, it looks a bit unfinished still.


The original finish of the 9 drawer dresser-it's friends are now the shabby black you see. I have 3 more drawers to finish, the main body, and the mirror. It's cold in the garage so I've neglected it for awhile! 3 of the drawer pulls were broken, so I have to replace them somehow. I'm thinking of replacing the top 3 drawers (or middle 3) with 2 crystal antique knobs, and putting an embellishment between the crystal knobs to give it some romance! It's a beautiful set, it came with the big dresser and mirror, nightstand, headboard, and footboard! There weren't any rails so I have to find a way to attach the footboard. One of my Dad's friends GAVE it to us. I love it! I couldn't believe our luck, what great bones it has! With lots of moves in our future, we need something that will last.

My thrift store adventures netted me this little wooden carry thing, and the shelf thing, $2 each! The carry thing can be used for many things in our house-diaper paraphenalia, towels, gardening supplies, I just haven't quite decided yet!


This shelf will go in our bathroom for some extra storage, it has very little, so it will help! I'm guessing someone handpainted both items, but the nice thing about giving thrift items new life is making it work for you-both were primed tonight and are awaiting a new paint job. (and a new handle on the shelf) Maybe some MOD PODGE! That tray was fun! http://shabbyserenity.blogspot.com/2010/01/bedside-tray-for-230.html



I like to do project steps all at once, so tonight was reserved for priming the last 2 dining chairs, and since I had the primer out, I did the frames I've been collecting the last few months. I'm going to make a little feature wall with the oval and round frames, the square one came with some beautiful vintage petit point and I'll be pairing that with some signed, vintage Emily Sartain (1841-1927) art prints. They were my great-grandmother's. They are lovely, still the original chippy paint on the frames, gorgeous! I think I paid $7 for all these (including the gorgeous petit point) if I remember correctly.
A couple photos of my great-grandfather and his brothers (I think) I found that are so awesome, I just love them! I think these 2 will find homes in the frames above. Aren't they hilarious??? Pure BOY. I can just imagine Cole being a goof like that with his friends!

My GG is the one on the bike in the first photo, and in the second photo he is in the back row, far right. He passed away before I was born, but my great grandma was with us until I was 14. I wore her wedding veil on our wedding day-that is a very cool story for another day. I think the photos will look awesome framed, I'm going to get a few more old family shots in black and white to complete the feature.



Off to bed now! Thanks for stopping by!

I'm going to send my Grandma a link to this to give her a chuckle! (this is her Pop)

Hi, Grandma! xoxoxo


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Thursday, January 21, 2010

Bedside Tray for $2.30!!!!

My cute little $2 wooden tray! Courtesy of the local thrift shop! I also discovered Mod Podge with this project-who knew this wonderful stuff existed? Oh, everyone but me...Riiiight. Well, I bought a little jar and I have a couple more ideas for this lovely slime...All I did for this little tray was prime and paint, all stuff I had...A cute piece of 30 cent scrapping paper, and there we have it-my first Mod Podge creation! Who knew it was so easy??? Oh ya, not me...The tray's new home (for now, anyway! I might change my mind...) is in the guest room, which I will be ready to reveal in all it's new found glory soon...It'll be good, I promise!!!! Wait til you see the before/after.
I put some interesting books on the tray, and put it on the nightstand. I had no idea what to do with it once it was there, I played around with candles, silver, etc, but the books won! With my hubby being a Mountie we have some interesting RCMP books, and to top them off I put his fur winter hat on top...Thought it was kind of cute, a little bit of a rustic balance to the white crocheted shams...However, as he needs it on cold days at work, it might be out on the occasional field trip. LOL
The old Klee Wyck Emily Carr book is a first Edition from 1944 I believe, it was a gift to my great-grandparents. I love the uneven book pages and musty smell, is that weird? I'd like to add a few more books of that lovely vintage, so it has some company...
So, should the tray stay or go...Books? Something else? Don't mind the bed, it still needs some toss cushions on there-they'll be the same fabric as the curtains, and it needs some colour too. Definitely not quite ready for the big reveal, I still have a 9 drawer dresser and mirror to paint and put in there. Any thoughts on the mirror above the bed while you're here? Paint it? Leave it? It's covering an ugly breaker box, so something large needs to be there and the mirror was handy. :-)
I think I might take the night off tonight, although I'm sure I'll go sit on the couch with some tea and my leg will start twitching...And I'll go put that last coat of poly on the dining room table...And then I won't be able to stay away from the 2 chairs that are waiting patiently...We'll see how that works for me!!!
Sharing at:
Finding Fabulous Frugalicious Friday!
The Shabby Chic Cottage Transformation Thursday!
A Soft Place to Land DIY Day!
The DIY Show Off!
My Romantic Home Show and Tell Friday!
Funky Junk Interiors Saturday Night Specials!
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Making progress!

HI! I can't believe I have 11 followers now! Welcome! I feel so guilty for not writing-I got big can of poly for my birthday and I've been happily working away the past few days. (no, seriously...You other DIY'ers know what I mean, I'm sure!)

Yeesh, this dining set is taking forevvver...The table finally is distressed and has it's first poly layer, and I have 4 chairs completely done, 2 that just need poly, and 2 more that need the whole works. With a coat of primer, 2-3 coats of paint, and 2 coats of poly I can paint around those chair legs in my sleep...LOL
But check out the progression!!! That makes it all worth it...And really, I still don't have a job, so what else am I going to do...L-R: The original Blah, painted and ready for distressing/poly, and DONE!!!! The picture seems to exaggerate the white, and the cream, so imagine it toned down a bit?
Here's a sneak peek of the table!

Before the craziness started! Soooo dark and 70's...

There still might be hope I will get it done before the end of the month! I will be very happy to have my dining room back-I've been working up here since it's too cold in the garage. The china cabinet will be such a breeze after all the stupid chairs-all straight lines, easy peasy! I can't wait to stand back and it will all be done-and then I'll have to have a dinner party to show it off!

I am very happy to report that my Haiti Red Cross Jewellery Fundraiser (see post below) was a success! The winning bid of $345 will be in good hands with the Red Cross. Social networking at it's best-all the bids were through Facebook. I'm so proud of everyone who participated, you are all so amazing...

I'll update soon with some smaller scale projects in the works...I love the little thift store in town! Wait til you see what I got there...

Sharing at:

The DIY showoff!

http://thediyshowoff.blogspot.com/2010/01/fabulous-furniture-makeovers-and-diy.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+blogspot%2FpuSM+%28The+DIY+Show+Off%29

A Soft Place to Land!

http://asoftplace.net/2010/01/diy-day-with-imparting-grace/

Miss Mustard Seed Creations!

http://missmustardseed.blogspot.com/2010/01/furniture-feature-friday-winner.html

A million projects to put on the list when you go visit those ladies...

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Friday, January 15, 2010

Hi! Tonight I want to share the cutest little project-I had so much fun making these appliqued shirts for a special new member of our family, our new little niece Eva Reese. I think I will be making some more! I used an iron-on adhesive from Wal-Mart called "Therm O Web Heat n Bond", easy to use and had good results. You just lightly iron it to your applique fabric, wait for it to cool, peel off the paper backing and apply it to your shirt, and iron again. This sets it to your fabric and the longest part is doing the blanket stitch around the edges. I liked the look of the blanket stitch over a machine stitch, I think it looks really sweet! I also worked on this vintage china plate/crystal candlestick platter-both were thrift store finds, the plate is so pretty with just the right amount of crazing to give it that beautiful vintage look! I used "Amazing Goop" craft adhesive, it dries clear and can even go in the dishwasher, not that the the platter will be going in there! I've been letting it set with a heavy candle holder sitting on top of the base since this morning, and can't wait to use it! I'll put cookies, appies, etc on it. I never would have thought of this if it weren't for some other crafty bloggers out there, so thank you! I forgot to say last night, but it is such a cool way to give new life to a special plate, or one that doesn't have any friends left...I know I will use it alot, it was so cheap and easy to do but I think it really dresses up cookies, etc. I have 3 beautiful lily of the valley plates that were my great grandmothers, one of them broke, sad, sad...I might do the same thing to them, with 3 matched candlesticks or pedestals. It would be a nice matched set for when we have people over to display appies. I'm going to share these projects over at:
DIY Show & Tell Week
Show and Tell Friday

In light of the tragedy in Haiti, we have made a donation to the Red Cross within our current small means, but I would like to be able to do much more. After some brainstorming I have decided to offer up a piece from my jewellery box for an auction style fundraiser with 100% of the proceeds going to the Red Cross. I will provide a receipt to verify this. I have 100% feedback on EBay with 98 transactions, under the name "goteamcanada"http://myworld.ebay.ca/goteamcanada . The ring I chose to offer is a beautiful blue Sapphire and Diamond ring in 14 karat yellow gold. There is a larger emerald cut centre Sapphire, with smaller round Sapphire and Diamonds claw set in a raised step setting. The ring was appraised in 2005 for $645, by one of the lead gemologists in Calgary, Alberta. The centre Sapphire is a 1/2 carat, with an additional 0.18 carat in round Sapphires and 0.13 carat in round cut Diamonds, for a total weight of 0.81 carat. The appraisal will be included with the ring. I am ready to part with it in order to be able to do more for the people of Haiti. They have a long, long road ahead and every little bit helps. I will have it available for bids until January 20, 5pm Pacific time, with a starting bid of $50. If you are interested please email me at desmeray@yahoo.com, I will update the comment section if there are bids, I am also going to link over to facebook to maximize the donation opportunity. I really hope to raise at least $200-$300, and as an incentive to help reach that goal, if the winning bid is over $200 I will also send you a beautiful pair of Australian Opal Mosaic style stud earrings set in 14 karat yellow gold-with an approximate retail value of $175-$225. (I worked in a jewellery store for 7 years but it's been awhile.) Please consider it, not only will it help the people of Haiti in this tragic time but you'll get 2 new beautiful pieces for your collection!
Thanks for stopping by, until next time!
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Tuesday, January 12, 2010

Best Price of All!

FREE! Yay! It's going to be the headboard for the smaller guestroom. It's meant to be a footboard, but it'll be great as a headboard! Just needs a paint job, of course! There's some veneer on the back that's peeling a bit, other than that, perfect! What colour, what colour...White, aqua, limmmme green...It's sort of too "deco" to be "shabby chic" so maybe I'll paint it a really fun colour?
I've been having fun on http://www.picnik.com/ making some collages and fun stuff to put on the blog-thanks for the tip, Johanna!
Not a long post today as it is bedtime for the monsters...And EVERY single cushion on the couch is on the floor...It looks like a bomb went off in here!
I posted my new bedding over at:
There are some inspiring projects over there, check them out! Wow. I love checking them all out!
Later!
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Monday, January 11, 2010

I love this colour!

Inspiration! I must find something to paint this colour...I love it! Maybe the wood on the couch...Or a side table? Soooo pretty.

No projects for me today, just finished up the 5 dining chairs-3 more to go, yay...Then onto the sanding and poly stage...I did make some creative peanut butter/oatmeal cookies though! It was a bit of an experiment since I am out of eggs. I just added milk and they were quite edible, all 4 of them!

On a different note, can anyone recommend a quick, easy, graphic design crash course? Preferably free? LOL! I'm giving this online store idea quite a bit of thought but definitely need a bit more knowledge in that area before I get started. I'd like to make up a little logo-I have it all planned out but can't quite peice it together.

Thanks to everyone that has stopped in-I love seeing all those little dots on the map and seeing where everyone is from!

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Sunday, January 10, 2010

Dining set progress and a lovely find!

Today I want to share the progress I've made with the Dining set! I have almost 5 chairs done, I'm over the halfway mark now...Yay! This is how my dining room looks on any given night...LOL
I'm really happy with the way they are turning out, although there is still alot to do!
This dining set is a wood veneer, I was a little disappointed to find that out since I had asked if it was solid wood or not-but it is still built very solid and now I don't feel any guilt at all for painting it! Originally I was thinking I would stain the table top to a dark finish and paint just the chairs and table legs. I've just been giving the peices a good clean, priming them, and then putting about 3 coats of paint on. The paint was matched from the ivory pleather I found at Wal-Mart. $5.88 a metre, and 2.5 metres is all I needed for all 8 chairs! The seat cushions themselves were still in really good shape so I just removed the velour covers and put the new ones on with a staple gun.

Over on the left is the un-touched china cabinet.

This pretty find was from the Salvation Army-for $1.99 I couldn't pass it up! It is a small silver plated bread tray, I have been using it as a centerpeice (before the dining table re-do) with some mother of pearl candle holders on it. The green reflection is from my sweater. Once the table is done I'll start staging things a bit better so I can take some more artistic shots. I still need to find a good silver cream to really get into the crevices but trust me, you wouldn't recognise it from when I first picked it up off the shelf! The large silver waiter tray that was $2.99 still needs alot of elbow grease before I can show that off-is it ever going to be gorgeous!

This soup tureen was also found at the same store-my favourite place to go when we head out of town! It is over an hour away so it isn't even a weekly trip, which is probably a good thing...The tureen is in perfect shape and it was only $5.99! It looks like there is some goop on it still, I didn't wipe it off before I took the pic's. Cole was helping me show it off-that is his little arm!
I'm going to add this find to Cindy's Show and Tell Friday over at: http://romantichome.blogspot.com/

Also adding to:

Gypsy Fish Journal Silver Sunday!

http://thegypsyfish.blogspot.com/2010/01/silver-sunday-no-4.html?

And to end things: If it ever crosses your mind that standing on a 4 litre bucket of primer to get the lid back on is a good idea-trust me, it isn't...I had this fun experience just a few days ago and I am still peeling off the primer that ended up to my knees! Until next time! I'm all out of staples until we head out of town again on Thursday so I'll have to figure out something else to work on tonight-tomorrow is "the Bachelor" night so I'll be busy!

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