Painting: large and small

So I saw on someone else's blog about spray painting patio furniture. I have a set that I picked up at a yard sale about 3 years ago. It was in decent shape then. It has since gotten worn looking and a little rust here and there. The hail storms we've gotten have really beaten it up.



After seeing it's not that hard, I went to Lowes and picked up the following:

So first, spray the rust inhibitor in the spots where it's the worst, and let dry for a couple of hours. I was doing this out in 90 degree heat, so it dried instantly, but it was too hot to go back and paint, so I left it for the rest of the day.
Day two, I got an early start after dropping my daughter at school. I laid an old sheet underneath each piece, which you can pick up at the thrift store, and is great for large projects. Also, it doesn't stick to the furniture, like paper does.
So just start spraying, doing a light, even coat, working from top to bottom. I used satin sheen, which I really like.
This is the first time I've used the Valspar brand spray paint, from Lowes, and let me tell you, I LOVE it! It is by far the best I've ever used, and I've used ALL the brands.

Here are the after pics.

My little angel day dreaming on the new glider

Literally looks like a brand new set!
Of course, then I had to go buy new cushions for the seats, which I got at Home Depot.
Paint project #2.
I took this fruit holder, and spray it black, from white. It looks so much better, I think. Would you care for a sweet clementine?

Then there's the little ceramic dish, that started out an avocado green. It screamed "Save me, please take me home and paint me!"

Doesn't it look so cute, spray painted black, and repurposed as my new sponge holder?

And last, but certainly nor least, was the painting of our house.
I told you in a previous post, that the former homeowners were PPP, or pink passionate people. Our carpet throughout the house is pink, the kitchen (which was promptly painted upon move in) was pink. And hey, they didn't stop there. The entire exterior of the house was... you guessed it. PINK.

Seven long years we've lived with the pink, and not by choice!

Our three final choices....

The hardest part of getting the house painted is picking the color. After 10+ samples of paint over the garage, we finally settled on Sherwin Williams Nomadic Desert. We also ordered Black shutters for the windows over the garage, to dress it up a bit.
I love the way it turned out!

What do you think?

No, our house doesn't say Howdy on the front, I just covered up our address with a friendly greeting, in case there are any stalkers reading today.

My friend came over early last week, and said she drove right by my house, because she always looks for the pink house when she drives up my street! Funny, huh?
Have a safe and blessed week, girls!

Have a seat!

I'm participating in Metamorphisis Monday over at Between Naps on the Porch. Go on over and check it out!

I neglected to share with you my one find from Saturday's dismal yard sale day.
I took Macie to her swim class, and although the sun actually made an appearance through the clouds, the wind was cold, and seriously at hurricane level the whole time.
On the way home we decided to stop at a few yard sales, and just weren't seeing anything. We stopped at one, and it was a lady I knew from church. She had a little old wood bench sitting out on the driveway, marked $5. I asked if she would go less, and she said "How about 3?"
Cool, I'll recover it and repaint the bottom, and it'll be cute. Who knows where I'll put it, but I'm a sucker for old furniture with potential!
So I look closer, and it's kinda wobbly, and coming apart in one area, so she says, "Oh, you can just have it!"
Score!

Here are the before pics:

Yike- ees, I know! That orange red has GOT to GO!

So I take off the tacs, and pull up the old material, to reveal yucky foam padding on top of a top that is flat, and it looks like it originally was a small old childrens table. It had been patched with a piece of tin, and large head nails. I can see why it was covered the way it was, now. Interesting.
Not originally a bench at all, but someone had repurposed it into something else. Gotta love e'm.
I of course, painted it black, but let some of the red peep through here and there.
Oh, and if you're looking for the perfect black paint, Glidden makes a perfect one. I didn't see a black on any of the swatch samples, so I asked the guy at HomeDepot, and he said, "Oh ya, Glidden had a nice true black that I'll mix for you."

Does the top material look familiar? It's the leftover fabric from my curtain project. To see it, go here. I then finished it off with moss green ribbon trim, and used the original upholstery tacs to adhere it again.
I decided to place it below my Longerberger shelf I redid, along with the baskets with all of Macie's shoes by our back door, so she had a little place to sit where she could take off and put on her shoes.
Have you ever seen so many shoes for one little girl?
Yet, she'll ONLY wear her Crocs. Go figure!
Sorry I didn't have time to post also about my lamp shade tutorial, but I'll get to that on Thursday.

Stickley, anyone??

Hey ya'll. How was your yard saling adventures this morning?
Mine were nominal. For some reason, I was not in the mood to go. Blame it on Auntie "Flo" visiting this morning, and my usual weakness due to hormonal changes. I felt extra crabby, and not in the mood to browse or haggle.
There were three community sales in my area, but there was a lot of baby stuff and not much else.
I did grab this beautiful vintage end table. It's solid wood, and in perfect condition.
I asked the lady how much, and she said, "Oh, I don't know. It was my husband's mothers." (He looked to be in his mid 70's).
"Is $10 too much?"
Umm, NO!
Seeing as it has all the original labels inside the drawer, marking it as a piece of Stickley furniture!
My sister-in-law is an interior designer who works for Stickley, and their furniture is high end, nice stuff. I won't tell her I'm going to paint it black, and change out the drawer pull!

I love the thick wood turned legs on this!

How awesome is this going to be once I paint it black?

(Ignore the pink carpet in the picture. The former owners of our house were obviously very pink passionate people (ppp). The exterior of our house is also pink, Ukkk! ) Carpet shopping put us into sticker shock, so for now, we continue to live with it!
We've got swimming lessons tomorrow (if it ever stops raining), and maybe a few yard sales if I start feeling better. Have a super weekend, my friend!

Alphabet blocks bookmark

Hey everyone out there in bloggy land! I've had a very creative week, so I thought I'd share another project with you.
You know I love 'em easy peasy, so here goes! We're making bookmarks out of old wooden alphabet blocks.
You'll need some old wood alphabet children's blocks, copped from a thrift store or yard sale. (or maybe your baby!)
Look for old books that have small illustrations you can cut out, to fit on the sides of the blocks. I used an old Little Golden book I found at the thrift store.

I layed the block on the pictures I thought would fit, then cut them out. You'll need 4 pictures.

I then used an antique colored decoupage glue, and glued them onto the 4 smooth sides of the block. The antique colored matches the color of the wood, making it look more original and old.

Make sure you coat them on the outside as well, once they're glued on to the block

.I trimmed as needed, and overlapped edges as I went, so there was no bare wood showing. The glue will help you seal it all up nice. My blocks were from the 80's, but looked brand new and too shiny, so I took my Mouse hand sander, and just made it look a little worn on the painted parts, and a little on the glued edges, to wear it.

Then I took a small eye and hook attachment, but first drilled into the bottom of the block with a very small drill bit, to get it started. Screw it up into the block, until tight. I got these at Home Depot, in the hardware dept.

See how the edges overlap?

I used fat ribbon, trimmed as long as I needed, and strung through the eye hook, then knotted and finished. I did one hook on the bottom, and one on the top.
How cute is that?

Hope this sparks your imagination to create one of these little beauties. I'd love to see them, let me know if you do!

Antique silverware project

Finally! Here is my silverware project I promised so long ago!

This is very simple, but first I must give credit for the idea to Rechelle at Walnuthaven Cottage for this fabulous idea. Go check out her version of framed silverware, and then hop on over to cherrysjubilee. She did domething similar, but with old child's school scissors. Love them both!

I rounded up my old antique silverware pieces, then went on the hunt at Goodwill for 2 matching frames. Here's what they looked like before:

Yikes! I know!
Pick a favorite scrapbook paper, preferrably with a smaller print, so it won't compete with the patterns in the silverware. Attach to the back of the frame, and reinsert into frame, securing with staples.
Play with the positioning of the silverware, until it looks right, then hot glue your pieces to your scrapbook backing. Hot glue will not ruin your pieces, and will come off when you want to repurpose them.
That's it! Here's my version, below.






Sorry for the yellow cast, I think that's my flash

A very simple redo, and the frames were 1.99 a piece, and I already had the silverware. If you don't have any, search at thrift stores and yard sales, or see if an antique store has odd mismatched pieces they'll sell for cheap.

Happy hunting!

It's finally Spring and vintage bottle ideas

Yes, my Grape Hyacinths are finally up, and my Alyssum is in full bloom! One of my clients gave me several starts off of what she had in her garden, and the Alyssum was one of them. If you have a spot where you want low growing flowers that will spread like crazy, then this is the plant for you! I've had to dig quite a bit of it up this year and last, because it will spread through your beds, creating a messy look.
Can you see the honey bee on the last flower on the right, at the bottom? He seems quite happy!

I'm also digging up a very stubborn Russian Sage, because I have new plans for the area it's in now. I gave up after awhile, saving the last bit of digging for my husband when he gets home. (He doesn't know it, yet!)

Here's my little helper in her Home Depot apron.

I can't wait to really get digging inn my beds when I have more time.

I also have some pictures to inspire you on ways to dress up a vintage bottle. I scored a couple of old bottles last year, at the antique market, and one at a yard sale. You also remember the large green glass bottle I bought at the thrift store last week. Well, here are the little darlings all gussied up!


I took a beaded bracelet, and threaded the antique brass butterfly pendant through it, then hung an old gold locket from it's chain, to add some length. Then I clipped on a square earring onto the bracelet, and finished off the top with a gold button.

A close up of the gold locket.

This one below is a blue bottle, rather heavy, and I dressed it with a vintage paper luggage advertisement, a snippet from a french manual, an old button, and then hung an inspirational verse on an old card, strung with an old pearl button. I topped it off with some french ribbon in a yummy purple.

Tag with button


This last one was a small bottle I got for $1 at the antique market. I decoupaged on a torn page from a french book, then stuck on an old Victorian label, then tied on a vintage metal button with red ribbon. Beautiful!

A close up of the cool button

Hope this inspires you to create! Stay tuned for more fun projects in the works, including a custom name banner you can make for your kids room!

Have a Happy Spring!