The House of Ill Repute

There is a house about three miles from me that is well....a crack house. Not sure how I can sugar coat that one. About a year and half ago I was driving by and saw they were selling some things in front kept going until I saw an awesome cabinet in my rear view mirror. I headed back and dealt with the "character" who was selling a bunch of random stuff. I think it is safe to assume this piece was not stolen (I mean how could you steal it?). Like most things, it sat in my garage waiting for inspiration. I realized it was an old radio cabinet someone had gutted and added a shelf to.
I finally painted it with my favorite metallic blue paint by Ralph Lauren and top coated it with dark wax. It went to my big sale and I sort of hopped it wouldn't sell because I had the perfect spot for it, not to mention I have a wall painted in the same color. It sold within the first hour and I had to part with it.

I never got any good shots of this piece when it was empty. I managed to snap a few pictures when I was at the show. It had awesome detailing and the wax really made the things pop.  I'll be honest my garage was so crazy I couldn't figure out how to stage anything for photos. It looked like an episode of Hoarders.

Speaking of Hoarders, the other night we were driving by the house I talked about above. There was a sign that said, "Free Sh&%". Except it really said the word. There was also a lady tweeking out and screaming on her phone. My husband (who was a cop in his past life) turned around and headed back to look at the free stuff. I know him well enough to know he really wanted to see the circus act. The free stuff was really as it was described. Too bad they didn't have another radio cabinet.

I Love My Volvo

I am a HORRIBLE driver. If you want to blame someone you can blame my parents. I was so bad they refused to practice driving with me and I essentially was taught by my high school boyfriend. I am pretty sure he still regrets that decision.
About three weeks after I met my husband I wrecked my car (this was only my second accident) with him in it. When we got married he bought me a Volvo. Since then I have always driven one because frankly they make me feel safe. I have always bought used ones because in a way I am afraid of driving a brand new car because then I would have to be extra careful all the time and they are cheaper to buy.
 My current Volvo is a low slung station wagon with super low miles. It runs like a champ, but every once in awhile my husband brings up the idea of getting me a new car. I look around, but don't see anything I like. My car is safe, gets good gas mileage and can haul a ton of stuff.
On this day for instance, I was dropping my daughter off at a birthday party for my niece on the other side of town. I was super disappointed the party was a few blocks away from the Goodwill Bins (insert sarcasm here). I slid into a compact parking spot (another benefit of my smaller car) and started searching. I got to the furniture section and angels began to sing. There was tons of pieces that were right up my alley. I began to pop some tags (thanks Mackelmore) and found myself walking out with four end/coffee tables and a French Provincial desk. I seriously debated picking up a huge buffet and two night stands, but I needed to be realistic about what I can finish before my big sale on August 31st.
I wanted to avoid calling my husband to come with the truck (I was 15 miles from home after all) so I spent half an hour configuring furniture into my car. In the end I got all but one piece in. Fortunately my brother was able to put this table in his car and I didn't have to call in reinforcements.

Here is one of the pieces I picked up all done:

There are two of these and they started out like the picture above. These tables are SOLID. I know people say this all of the time, but they don't make furniture like they used to. In fact, I have used this table as a place to sit throughout the summer. I wanted to paint these with one of my favorite colors, Watery and add cream accents, but alas I am still have another set of end tables in those colors I can't seem to sell. I decided to go with two shades of grey instead. I have them listed on Craigslist and they still haven't sold after two weeks. Mmmm. 

I know this is an outdated style, but I still think they are cute. 

I Wish...

I picked up a unique piece of furniture back in May. It was a crazy busy Saturday and I raced across town to pick it up. The guy who sold it to me was finishing cleaning out his aunt's house. They had an estate sale the weekend before and this piece hadn't sold....crazy.
The man told me he thought his aunt had cut the legs down, but I didn't find any evidence of that. It was shorter than a typical buffet or credenza which made it a perfect modern day media console. I knew this baby had to come home with me.
His strapping son, and I, loaded it into my trusty Volvo (#ishouldadvertiseforVolvo) and I drove straight to the baseball fields.

Then this lovely lady sat in my garage for weeks. I finally got around to fixing her up after school got out (thus the blog hiatus). I painted her with Annie Sloan Paris Grey and accented with Old White. This piece had lots of fun details. Finally. I top coated her with soft wax.
She sold quickly and I almost shed a tear when we dropped her off. Her new mistress loved her as much as I did and I know she is good hands (after all she had a cow skull hanging on the wall). I wish I could have kept her...sigh.
  I am without a computer right now and have to do all my blogging from an IPad which isn't ideal. As a result I will let the pictures speak for themselves.

Geography Lesson

I have done several map pieces lately. I picked up this night stand at an auction. I painted it with my new fav Peacock and decoupaged maps to the drawers and top. I posted it and it sold quickly.

I accidentally left a strip of wood showing...I did paint it before the customer picked it up. Crazy what you don't notice!

I forgot to pull this from Craigslist and received a few calls in regards to it. I  happened to have another night stand on hand. I ended up painting it a navy blue and adding maps to it similar to this piece. I have learned that maps are hot. I need to stock up on maps as my supply is beginning to dwindle. 

Scrabble Headband

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Failed Business Venture & Luckett's Green

I agreed to give a holiday bazaar another go this year. My husband's school was hosting one again and I figured it was a good way to get out of cleaning the house on a Saturday. I had a lot of inventory from this summer and had been making some Christmas items over the past few weeks as well.

I decided I needed something to help display my wares. I remembered this shelf I picked up at the auction for $2.

It was sturdy, but did not have the actual shelves. I pulled out my handy dandy circular saw and cut my own. I knew I was going to use a peppermint pink chenille bedspread as my tablecloth and thought Ms. Mustardseed's Luckett's Green was the perfect coordinating color.

This is not my entire booth, but this is what the shelf looked like. I kept the shelves a natural color for two reasons. First, I thought it would make them stand out and second, I ran out of paint. (Okay so they really weren't painted for the second reason.)

I didn't do too well at the bazaar. I made my table fee back and a little more. The traffic was slow and I know my items aren't hot sellers in the area we live in. I have so many people tell me I really need to take my stuff to antique shops in different areas of Portland where they will sell quickly. I know this is true, but I just haven't made the time to get serious about it. Maybe this year I will (do I have my first New Year's Resolution?).

I am pretty sure I will be selling this shelf after the holidays. For now it is sitting on my porch and is looking lovely next to the red Adirondack chair.

Here is one of my favorite pieces from the bazaar that didn't sell:

It is an old bread tin. I glued mica flakes to the back and bottom for snow. I added some vintage lace, a glitter/tinsel embellished house and some bottle brush trees. It is so cute and because it didn't sell it looks great in my vintage inspired front window.

Got The World On A String

A few months back I was asked to cover for a teacher who had an emergency and had to leave during the day. As I was leaving their classroom I spotted a broken globe. I am sure this was the work of a budding engineer, and now it would be mine. I took it and later asked the teacher if I could keep it. He laughed and said, "It is payment for watching my class." Seemed like a deal to me.

I brought it home and with the help of IKEA's hanging light kit created this:

The bulb in the light is pink because everyone has pink lightbulbs lying around.

It literally took me a drill bit, my electric scissors (gosh I love those things...I need to do ads for them) and ten minutes later it was done. Wait...make that twenty because I just decided I want to paint the inside silver.

It is pictured hanging in my daughter's room because I had a hook in the ceiling. She wants to keep it, but I have other plans for it. It will be for sale on my Etsy site very soon.

I can make another one, but the world would be upside down and we can't have that. I actually think I am going to make a funky bowl out of it. Mmmm.

Might As Well Face It I'm Addicted to Lamps (and Shades)

I love lamps. No, I REALLY LOVE LAMPS. This addiction started long ago. My first brand new purchase when I moved out in college was a floor lamp. I still own in twenty years later. It has received several makeovers, but I still have it.
In my living room I have five. In my bedroom two, my family room four...you get the idea. Since I love lamps I also love lampshades. Here are a some of my recent creations:

This one is in the "seaside" bathroom:

Originally I did not have the buttons on this shade, but my friend Teesha suggested them and it looks a lot better. Thanks Teesh!

There are two of these shades (they are for sale):

I love how the light is cast with the chenille.

Another random one...

Here is one I am especially proud of:

I intended to have this as the centerpiece of my baseball window, but didn't get it done in time. I finally mastered drilling holes in baseballs. Whew talk about a fun job.
I took apart a lamp we weren't using and after drilling holes in four baseballs I placed shoved them down the metal lamp rod. I rewired the lamp and topped it with a simple red shade I had lying around (Alright the truth is this is part of my Christmas lampshade collection). Finito!
For now it sits in the baseball window, but it's next stop will be Drexler's mancave.

A Board By Any Other Name...

Call it a bulletin board, a cork board, whatever you like. I picked this frame up at the Goodwill bins awhile back. I liked the shape, I liked the details and I liked the .75 price. I added some foam core board covered in fabric and suddenly I have this:

Here is what her door looked like before:

I am hanging this lovely lady on the outside of my daughter's door so she won't have to use tape on it anymore. We shall see how long it lasts.

So I have to make a confession. This board ended up costing me A LOT more than the above stated .75. I was in a hurry (like normal) and grabbed a piece of foam core board. I traced the back and began using my handy dandy electric scissors. When I flipped it over I saw Scotty Pippins face. Oh shiznit. I accidentally grabbed my husband's valuable one-of-a-kind poster. Let's just say we had been in an argument and bringing this to him was like rubbing salt in wounds. Yikes. I showed him. I apologized, but nothing can bring Scotty back to the way he was. This board is now worth some money...in a way.

Put Me In Coach!

I will admit to being a baseball mom. I wasn't always one. No sirree. The first season my son played I was MIA taking three graduate level classes at once. The next season I tolerated it. Last year I fell in love. This year I am nuts.

My son, Drexler is playing minors this year. He is a pitcher and infielder extraordinaire. Here is is last year:

 He is a big Boston Red Sox fan. This year he was drafted to the Yankees (his most hated team). Cie la vie.

I spotted a wreath made out of baseballs on Pintrest. A ball landed on my head and I realized after I cleaned up the Easter decor I would decorate our front window in a  baseball theme. Wahoo! I have been planning it for the last two weeks.

While I loved the wreath that started it all I thought I would make it easier on myself. I am not a big fan of drills. A side note. Did you know balls are hard to come by? I bought a bucket of about 15 for $12 at a thrift store (this KILLED ME). I searched for free and cheap ones, but no such luck.
The back (U-G-L-Y you don't got no alibi you ugly). The one I saw on Pintrest was much nicer looking. The inventor of the wreath drilled holes in each ball...I don't like drills. I simply took an old Christmas wreath frame (you know those cheap green ones) and hot glued the balls to it. I used a lot of glue, but it worked.

Here is my window:

A closer look at the banner I made:

It says Play Ball. Banners are so hard to photograph (well for someone who is a second grade photography skills).

The grass in the container will grow taller eventually. I added an old mitt, a trophy (made that too), some more balls, bats, and of course some Red Sox gear. I hope to add a baseball lamp soon (I will post it when I am finished).

I am really happy with how this vignette turned out. My son is too. He usually rolls his eyes and says, "Mom why do you like this crazy stuff. No one cares about decorations". I admit if I was a ten-year-old boy I wouldn't give a fig newton about decor. This time around he digs it in a stand offish boy sort of way. Dududududa. Dududhduah. Gotta go my phone just rang and the game is about to start (Yes, my ring tone is Centerfield...what are you going to do about it?)

My Makeover

Last fall I spotted an ad on Craigslist for this china hutch.

It looked huge and the price was RIGHT. I emailed the person hosting the ad expecting to find it was already gone. A day later I received an email back. If I was interested and could pick it up within the next few days it was mine. I convinced Mr.Dickey to come with me and we headed out to the opposite end of the Portland suburbs to pick it up.
Craigslist can be a gamble. Pictures never tell the truth. Sometimes items look great and are actually in terrible shape. Other times the items don't look great, but they are fantastic. This piece was better than I imagined. The glass shelves and doors were still perfect. The doors shut, the lights worked, and it was free of any damage. Yahoo!
This lady came home and sat in my garage all through November, December, January...you get the idea. I finally started work on her this week.
I decided to paint her with March Wind from Sherwin Williams. It is a stellar shade of light grey. I happen to be in love with the guys at my local SW. I also love their quart size paint. When they have a sale I can pick up great paint for $5 in any shade I choose!
Usually I am a just-paint-it-and-get-it-over-with kind of person. I decided for this lady I was going to take it slow. I taped the glass, the metal inserts in the doors and primed. I decided to use a spray primer for a smoother surface.  Then I began the transformation. The paint went on well and my trusty Purdy brush and I had fun in the freezing cold garage with various 90's tunes playing. The name March Wind was apropos for the weather outside! We have had snow flurries several times this week.
After the paint had cured I rubbed a coat of Minwax over the entire cabinet and buffed. I sprayed the hardware to match the goldy-bronze metal inserts on the door and scraped the glass of a few dabs of paint.
Now if she was going to stick around my house I wanted her to have a vintage flair. I envisioned old music scores lining the back of the back of the cabinet. How cool would that be? I would love it, but would other people shake their heads and ask, "Why did she ruin a great piece doing that?". I compromised by cutting  pieces of foam core board to insert into the cabinet. The new owner can simply pop these pieces out for a new look OR they can leave them in to make a statement.
A Dickey tangent: Do you own a pair of electric scissors? My brother-in-law gave me mine as a Christmas gift a few years ago. I looked at them and thought, "Okay. When will I use those?" Let me tell you they are the best thing to use when cutting chipboard, foam core, and other heavy duty paper materials. I couldn't live without them. Thanks Jono!
After a polishing the glass this lady is ready to show off her new look:

I am really happy about how she turned out. I thought about distressing her. I thought about adding some metallic accents to the detailing. I thought about adding some white accents to her. In the end I decided to leave her pretty plain. Sometimes less is more. I felt this way she would appeal to a broader range of people. I am hoping to sell her either on Craigslist or perhaps at an antique store. I am in the process of procuring a stall at an antique store. I think I am ready to take this venture on. Now I am off to nurse my aching hand. Too much painting makes for me.