Sunday, March 28, 2010

My new shabby chic black chair!




I spent a whole thirty minutes painting this chair with some left over  lamp black paint.  Probably should have done more than one layer of paint, but I am too impatient to go over it again.  Besides I was goint to rough it up with a sanding block anyway.  It turned out pretty good I think.  Now all I have to do is spray it with polyurethane so it won't get scratched up and peel. 

my pretty dish

The green is lots lighter in person.  In the picture it looks like an army green though.  Got this for 2.50.

new flea market discovery

Went to a new town and found a wonderful flea market with great finds.  I didn't buy much.  What I wanted wouldn't fit in the car anyway so I will have to go back with my hubby and the truck.  I did find two big picture frames for my memo boards for a buck each and a beautiful pale green cut glass candy dish.  I realized last week when I had guests over that I don't have any pretty serving dishes that are not made out of plastic hardly so that is my new mission.  You can find beautiful glass serving dishes and small dishes to serve pickles, condiments and other little dishes in at almost every second hand market you go to.  Most finds are way more valuable than what you would find in a upscale store and are probably a lot more intricately designed.  I would rather pay five dollars than twenty five for a nice piece of glassware any day of the week.  Anyway, that's about as exciting as my week got.  The two year old and I did have an excellent outing and she was in good spirits most of the day.  The restaurant visit was a little scary.  We had a fight over her gulping down her sugary drink and a huge fork that she could poke her eye out with, but that was about it.  We did get to meet the Easter bunny too.  That was fun.  She was a little nervous about the huge furry creature, but at least sat down by him and got her pic taken.  Turned out too cute.

Wednesday, March 17, 2010

My Five Dollar Chair!

So... today I thought I would go over to the big flea market building in town.  Last time I had been there it was just a big building with very little stuff.  Well.... Now it is a Big Building with a LOT of Stuff.  Lots of crap too, but there are some nice finds if you look hard enough.  The two year old fell asleep about 10 minutes into the scavenger hunt so I got to look without worrying about her throwing a tantrum over some germ infested toy that she might see.  I did however have to haul all 25 pounds of her throughout the maze of booths for about an hour, but it was worth it for the shear fact that I got to look uninterrupted.  And...in that uniterrupted hunt for a diamond in the ruff, I found an old but quaint wooden chair for just five bucks!
Can you say 5 bucks?!!! That is an awesome find I must say.  Anyway, I think I am going to paint it black and put some kind of padded seat on it.  or....it might look nice white with some kind of pink satin sash strung through the spindles.  Who knows?  I just know I got a good deal!

Picture with newly painted frame. Doesn't tht look much better? Will really look better on the wall than on the newspaper on the floor.

Tuesday, March 16, 2010

jazzed up dresser


I added flowers to the top of the mirror with some cheap flowers I got at Michaels. Just stuck them on with the hot glue gun. Don't mind the mess on the dresser. Those are the flower bouquets that I cut the flowers off of. Just fanned the rosettes out a little and voila a fancy frame on an old antique mirror.
Bulletin board I made out of an old frame, twine and scrap fabric. Pretty nifty I think. Got idea from -- Myhomespunthreads website and just added fabric to mine to cozy it up a bit for my concrete wall at school by my desk where it will end up.

cheese grater- soon to be votive cover with a set of others i soon hope to find I hope.


detail of painting

detail--- a little like Van Gogh's brushstroke style.

Here are my exciting finds for cheap,cheap,cheap!

Going to pain the frame a matte black. Going to look really nice somewhere in my house. Great deal for under 4 bucks!!!!

Download accomplished

Figured out how to get pics off of camera onto the computer, so I am so very proud of myself. I did this with no help from my hubby. Now I can put all of my before and afters on here to keep track of my projects and to showcase what I have actually gotten done. Today's to do list includes painting the door jamb around the little one's closet and hot glueing little roses around her antique dresser's mirror two years after I decided to that. Better late than never! Now I have errands to run and house to clean and then off my bum to finish my list. Wish me luck!

Sunday, March 14, 2010

Outing results

My trip to the antique mall resulted in a original painting in a rustic Mexican frame for 3.50. I got an old metal cheese grater I am hoping to turn into a shade for a votive candle. Saw this idea in Martha's magazine a couple of years ago. She grouped about 5 cheese graters on her entry table and put candles under them. Was quite a eye-catching display. Since I finally have a entry table to be proud of, I am on the look out for cheese graters. ha ha And with the help of my two year old, I scored 2 cookie cutters for a buck. Oh yea, the cheese grater was 2 bucks. I came out good for just under 7 bucks. I plan on painting the frame black on the picture I got and hanging it in my master bath. Will have pictures tomorrow to show off my goodies.

antique mall and my two year old


We are off to the antique mall. To call it a mall is really pushing it. My two year old is in good spirits so this will hopefull be an uneventful hour. We will see. Hopefully I can find something to revamp. I am needing something to hang over our bed . The walls are just blank and we have lived here for over 3 years. I need to find something that makes it feel like there is some kind of design element going on besides bare minimalism. Well, here we go..... oh the trashy treasures I hope to find.