Not So Vintage Market Basket

When I visited Mary Carol Garrity's fall open house last year, I noticed she had a large market basket tucked under a sideboard, and it was filled with empty wine bottles.  Being known to tip back a glass (or two...nevermind, just give me the whole bottle), I loved the look.

(By the way, Mary Carol's spring open house is less than a month away!)

And who doesn't love a great vintage market basket?  But I'm way too cheap to buy the real thing.

But I do have one of these at the back of the closet that's doing nothing better than holding socks whose partners are l-o-n-g gone.  It's about 15 years old and it has seen lot of use hauling laundry up and down the stairs until it started to unravel at the top, which is when it was retired to become the gathering place of the Lonely Sock Club.

The size is perfect.  But that color is so 1990s.

Vintage = good
Dated = bad

Let's gather some supplies.

I evicted the singles club of socks and their tag-alongs, the dust bunnies, then sprayed the basket with oil rubbed bronze paint, which improved the look immediately.  But the color was a one-dimensional, so I gently brushed it with the Brunt Umber craft paint with one of my favorite tools, a chip brush.

After letting it dry, I hit the high points in the weave with the Pinecone Brown craft paint, blending it into the weave.  Finally I sealed it with a clear spray.

There are always plenty of wine bottles in the recycling bin, but eventually I'll fill it only with the bottles which were part of special occasions.

The best part?  It cost me NOTHING.  I love the subtle colors on the handles.

It's so fun to find ways to get "the look" for less!

I'm linking up...

Between Naps on the Porch

Coastal Charm

Handy Man, Crafty Woman

Savvy Southern Style

Domestically Speaking

Chic on a Shoestring Decorating

At the Picket Fence

Ten Years in the Making

This past winter I found pieces of two quilts I started about 10 years ago inside a long-forgotten box in the basement.

My first two quilts.  Quilt #1 is nothing but a few squares so far.

This one is the second quilt I started and the third one I actually finished.  You can see last quilt I made here.

Originally I envisioned this as queen-sized.

It ended up being lap-sized.

Basic Table Runner

I blame Spring's earlier-than-usual-arrival for my creative funk.  It was almost HOT here this week.  Some people are saying we could reach 90 this weekend.  It's not even April yet!

The yardwork is calling.  There were indoor projects planned.  I've been battling colds and seasonal allergies.  And there are never enough hours in the day.

But I did finally put away the Christmas table runner this week.  In my defense, it's not technically a Christmas pattern.  It's just green, gold and red.

Yeah, kind of Christmas-y.

Our dining room table is large (one of my pet peeves is being crowded when I'm eating), so a custom runner was necessary.  I finally found a print that could carry me through several seasons, Christmas excluded!

This is so easy to make, you hardly need a tutorial.  First, determine the width and the overall length of the runner.  I like the points to hang about 3 inches above the chairs at the head of the table.  If you are sewing the seams, add a half inch seam allowance to all sides.  You can use Stitch Witchery as well.  Just  add the necessary allowance to create a hem when you fuse it in place.

If you are using a sewing machine, fold one side under 1/4 of an inch then fold it over again 1/4 inch.  Stitch along the edge.  If you are using Stitch Witchery, just fold it over as much as you need to cover the fusing and iron according the manufacturer's instructions.  Repeat on all four sides.

Fold each end neatly to make a point and press with an iron.

Tack the flaps in place with about a 4-6 inch long seam. 

If your fabric has a print and you can match the thread closely, you'll hardly see the stitching on the front side.

That's all there is to it!

Floretine Dreams

In honor of our first trip to Italy 10 years ago this March, may I introduce the latest addition to my Etsy shop:

Actually this print reminds me more of Siena than Florence, but you get the idea.

This canvas tote is available here.

Random

I'm having issues with focus.


I pulled all the books off the bookcases in the basement several weeks ago.  I rearranged the three mismatched bookcases and gave up.

I asked the spousal unit if we can retire the old bookcases and get new ones that matched.  Nothing fancy.  He said "Not right now."

Sigh.

I'd really like to check out Ikea's uber-affordable Billy system, but we live in an Ikea dead-zone.  The shipping charges alone for three Billys is $349.  I could drive to the nearest Ikea 8 hours away, stay the night in a decent hotel, and then drive 8 hours home. 

Better still, just stay home.  I'm sure I can find three nice bookcases locally for less than $500.

Moving on...

I've been dusting off my painting skills, mostly abstract landscapes.  The husband has been dropping serious hints about his dislike of the generic Tuscan scenes I bought several years ago at a national retailer who shall remain nameless.   

Let me practice a little more and then I'll share.

Moving on...

I've started cutting out pieces for a new quilt.

I'm going with a different pattern this year.  Here's a peek.

Next...

My big accomplishment last week was replacing the ball rod assembly in of the bathroom sinks.  That's the gizmo under the sink that makes the drain stopper move up and down when you pull on the little knob next to the facet handle.  Not really a blog-worthy project.

We have six bathroom sinks in our house.  I've replaced four of these ball rod assemblies.  I'm pretty flexible and I have long fingers so I'm pretty good with under the sink work.

I did re-paint this cute little tray I found at a thrift store to corral my hair styling products.

I spent last Saturday cleaning out dead brush and remaining leaves.  Mid-way through mowing the back yard, the self-propeller on our 14 year old mower stopped working.

We'll see what it takes to fix it.  Buying a new lawn mower is going to take a serious bite from my garden budget this year.

Bummer.

So the books are still scattered on the floor.  The painting is finished but not hung on the wall.  The quilt is about 1/3 cut out.  This week I'll have to load the icky, dirty lawn mower into car to get it fixed.

Maybe this week will be more inspiring.

Tray Table

Did anyone else suffer from Downtown Abbey withdrawal last weekend?  We don't have cable and unless the tornado sirens are blowing or presidental election results are being announced, we don't watch TV.  If something is any good, we'll just wait and get it on Netflix.

I made an exception for season two of Downtown Abbey.  I had to rely on digital rabbit ears and thirty feet of cable to get it out of the basement so I could tune in every week.  It will be a long wait for season three.

So I think I was channeling a bit of Downtown Abbey when I thought of dressing up this plain old table.

It fills the narrow wall nicely, but the top is too small.  In my stash of unfinished/unstarted projects, I have several of these old cabinet doors.

I also found this old light fixture at ReStore. 

They had two of these.  I go to ReStore every Friday after work (my idea of TGIF happy hour), and every week for the past month it's mate is still there. 

What a pity.

I removed the chain, wiring and light socket and used a combination of gold craft paint and Rub 'n Buff to bring back its luster.  Let's see how our misfits cleaned up.

I removed the old door handle and filled the holes with wood putty, then repainted the entire door with my favorite bronze craft paint.  I pulled a second door pull from another cabinet door on hand and painted them with bronze craft paint too.  The stuff sticks to just about anything.

I love the details of the light-fixture-turned-into-lantern, especially the seeded glass.  I can't bring myself to buy the cheap stuff made in China you find in most chain stores.

 
I love battery operated LED candles for my lanterns, especially the ones that run on four-hour timers.  They'll run for months on a couple of AA batteries.

Originally, I had this bowl filled with decorative balls on this table top.  I moved it to the lower shelf and added my DIY moss balls.

Someday, I'll have to show you how I made the textured bronze balls.  I'll save that for another post.

I added a tiny bell for when I want to call the maid, and my vignette is complete.

Update: I've been in denial until tonight, but Google Friend Connect is going way tomorrow.  Google didn't pay one bit of attention to all my pouting.  I'm still undecided what I am going to do to replace it.  (I'm going through an anti-Facebook phase).  For now, I've added one of those nifty RSS subscriber buttons to the right.  If that's your thing, I hope you click  it to continue following me.

I think I'm going to make a pan of brownies now.

Studio Organization

I had another post planned for today, but it's too cloudy to get good indoor pictures.  So I worked in my windowless studio in the basement instead.

I really have window issues.  I wish we had daylight windows in the basement.  Alas, we only have one tiny egress window, and it's not in my craft space.

A more pressing matter is organization.  A few weeks ago, I was trying to prepare a shipment to drop off at the post office on my way to work and I couldn't find the packing tape.  I ran through three levels of the house searching for it.

Blast it!  I'm not doing that again!  What I need is a pegboard.

I picked up the largest scrap pegboard at ReStore I could fit in my car for only a dollar (never mind the tear and broken corners - I can cut it down).  One more dollar got me a small bag of various pegboard hooks.  In keeping with my February plan to deal with unfinished projects, I employed some shutters that have been gathering dust in the garage.

I gave the pegboard a coat of craft paint and sealed it with Mod Podge.

No more hunting for scissors.  A co-worker had cleaned out her own craft room and passed along her thread rack.

The pegboard had slightly ragged edges after cutting it, but the shutters concealed the sides.  I added a piece of scrap trim to cover the bottom edge. Rather than add trim to the top, I sewed an old valance into a ruffled and pinned it along the top.

A place for everything and everything in its place, Mr. Packing Tape!