Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Fab Recipe Box and Hawksnestapalooza: The Final Chapter

Although I am not going down in the history books as one of the great chefs of our time, I am able to follow a recipe from time to time! :) Carina Gardner has a great release this week called "The Recipe Box" which contains all the goodies needed to put your own recipe box together. My current recipes are housed in an old, cheap plastic index card file, so I took this opportunity to upcycle a thrift store box (any excuse, right?).



This past Memorial Day weekend was spent at the Hawks Nest for the last time. It feels like the end of an era. **sniff**  (Ok, that may be a bit dramatic since I don't like to camp, but I will certainly miss the Hawks Nest.) The Hawks Nest is on some land owned by the mother of one of our closest friends. This land is about 30 miles out of town, has tons of wildlife, a screened-in shelter, a pond with plenty of bass and has been a getaway for us and several other families at least twice per summer for about the last 10 years. Now, our friend's mom has decided to sell the property and is actually closing on June1st. She is getting on in years and would like to move closer to town and not have the responsibility that comes with her large house and all the land. We all talked this weekend about trying to find some acreage to purchase, but we will be hard-pressed to find anything quite as spectacular as the Hawk's Nest.








Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Updated Lap Desk

I have another little thrift store redo this morning! I found this beautifully contructed/poorly painted lapdesk at Goodwill about two weeks ago for $1.99. I thought it was really cool, but wasn't sure what exactly I was going to do with it. That afternoon, my friend and coworker, Laura, was asking for gift ideas for a friend's 2-year old daughter. I took her out to my car to show her the little desk and she fell in love with it! She told me the little girl loves pink and we went from there!

Now I KNOW I took some before pics, but I can't find them anywhere. (Kinda makes the whole reveal a little less dramatic, doesn't it?) If you can picture in your mind though--the little desk was painted white with a horrible stencil in gray on the top, then covered with a polyacrylic that turned yellow at some point in the last 10 years. Just sad.

Here are a few pics from mid-process. I used a wonderful, deep pink from Sherwin Williams:



If you really squint, you can still see some of the stenciling on the top of the desk...even after using a sander!


I used chalkboard paint on the top of the desk, and then added some fun polka dot fabric to line the inside. I also cut out some flowers with my Sizzix and added buttons for the centers. I was happy with how it turned out and apparently the sweet little gift recipient was very pleased with all the pink!





Thanks so much for stopping by! I'm hoping for a break in all this rain at some point today! UGH!

Monday, May 23, 2011

My Little Etsy Store




Well, I finally have my etsy store, "Studio 162", up and running! I am still working on getting all my goodies listed (it is a bit more tedious than I expected!), but I have had a good response so far and I'm having fun! I mostly have "found" items: some vintage, some not. Almost all of them were brown in a previous life and they have been freshened up with a coat of paint or two. You can check it out here.

I finished up a little project last night that I just ADORE! I picked up a brown, wooden clock at Goodwill on Friday for $4.99 and I am just kicking myself that I don't have a "before" pic! It was very sturdy and clearly well-built, but as most treasures it was outdated and the green mat around the clock was very faded and tired-looking. I was able to remove the mats and clock itself from the open back of this piece and created new mats from some Studio Calico scrapbook paper I had on hand. Then I painted the wood a gorgeous sky blue color and sanded some spots to give it a shabby look. Finally, I glazed it using Behr glaze and Burnt Umber paint. I am so happy with it! I was going to list it in my shop but I think she's a keeper. She matches some wooden lamps I picked up 2 weeks ago for $1.99 each...as soon as I find the perfect lampshades, I will post some pics.





Thanks so much for stopping by! Happy Monday!

PS--My sister is having her first baby as I am typing this! Can't wait to become an aunt!



Tuesday, May 17, 2011

Tutorial

Happy Tuesday! I have been seriously neglecting my blog--can't believe my last post was over a week ago!

Today I have a little tutorial over at Jessica Sprague's blog, Mouse Paper Lovely, about how to create pendants using Scrabble tiles if you're interested. :) I had never done a tutorial with pictures before and didn't really think through how I was going to take a picture of myself if I was using both hands to make the pendant! (seriously) So, my sweet son, Cale, stepped in and I am so impressed with the pictures he took! Check it out here if you have a sec.

Also at Jessica's website, Splendid Fiins has a "Very Krafty" new paper pack release. I love how kraft paper works with any color--takes the guess work out of trying to match the colors in your photos to your papers!


Such a sweet photo of my grandmother with Kendall when she was here in March. Kendall got these sunglasses as a gift and Grandma Lou just couldn't help being silly with them!

Lastly, here are some before and after pics of the $9 chair I got for Cale at Goodwill a few weeks ago. He wanted to paint the chair gray, which has turned out a bit institutional for my taste but he is happy with it. We painted chalkboard paint on the surface of the desk for a fun touch. Not perfect, but a great project to do together!


Before
                                      
 
After






Monday, May 9, 2011

Good Juju and Ugliest Table Evah!

As I mentioned on Friday, Betsy and I went to Good Juju the moment it opened and I found some serious treasures:

Isn't this to die for? It was a little more than I would typically spend on second-hand furniture, but I think it's amazing!

  I'm giddy--the little sides open!

I love all the distressing. She now resides in our guest room as a bedside table!


I picked up this vintage sewing caddie for my mom. We are thinking we may paint it with Sherwin Williams Dover White.

I can never remember what these are called...but I love the industrial look of it and imagine it might have come from the doorway of an old building downtown.

A fun Samsonite suitcase that I am planning to mod podge. The outside of it feels like vinyl so it should be easy to work with. (Hope I didn't just jinx myself!)

And finally, la piece de resistance...the ugliest table ever!


Seriously! This table is made out of resin and is pretty heavy, given that it only stands about 2 feet tall. It is solid!

I didn't notice the "ladies" until I was loading this little beauty in the car! Classy.




After a can of primer, a can of spray paint and about 30 minutes total time, the transformation was complete and I am in LURVE!






Still not sure where the table will end up but I am so happy with it! (And even Kent liked it!)

Friday, May 6, 2011

M!LK

So, on Monday I set up my booth at M!LK Boutique! I am excited and nervous about it--hoping people will like my goodies! I have a bunch of necklaces and Studio Girls in there, so we'll where this all goes. Worst case, I am in a 6 month contract. :)

Here's my little space:



Here are closeups of some of the newer Studio Girls I have in there:


She was tired of playing by the rules.

She had arrived.

She knew better than to accept their first offer.

She could see where this was headed.

Betsy and I went to Good Juju this morning and it was simply FABULOUS as always! Literally, within 15 seconds of entering the building, Betsy grabbed an amazing narrow black chest of drawers that was distressed to perfection! About 5 minutes later, I found an unbelievable little piece...kind of a little side table painted cream with the coolest details. It was a bit more than I would normally spend at Good Juju but it is ridiculously cute! Also picked up some great silver plates, an old suitcase I plan to cover with paper and mod podge and then -- OMG-- I found the ugliest, most wonderfully tacky resin table ever! It was sitting next to the cash register as we were leaving and it was like a train wreck. I simply could not tear myself away from it. So, $18 later it was mine as well. I think that with some TLC and black glossy spray paint, it is going to be marvelous in the living room.  I can't wait to post a picture on here...you will be amazed at the ornate carvings on this little beaut! Have a wonderful weekend!

PS: I am also working hard on getting items ready for my little etsy store--hope to have that going in the next 2 weeks!

Thursday, May 5, 2011

More Carina!

Carina Gardner had a truly fabulous release this week for those of us who like to scrap LOTS of photos of an event! Check out these great mask sets--they really take the guess work out of designing your page and are so much fun to work with! I scrapped some photos of Kendall from Easter and will definitely be using some of the other masks to scrap the rest of the egg hunt photos!



I made another Goodwill run yesterday over lunch--I love that there are new goodies every time I pop in! I picked up all of these little treasures for under $20. I can't wait to start painting!




I just love these little candlesticks!

And these frames will be so fun and colorful in their new lives!

The designs on this tin container are amazing!

Most of these fab finds will make their way into my etsy store in the next few weeks! Can't wait for you to see everything! Have a great day!


Blogger Template by Delicious Design Studio