Esty Update

I took a break from posting new items in my Etsy shop after making so many Christmas pillows in November and December, but I'm ready to go again!

It's been a mild winter here, and I'm concerned we might be paying for it in March.  With thoughts of shopping the produce markets in May, I have some new Farmers Market totes to share.

I love this novelty chicken fabric.

Or maybe something more subdued?

Update: This tote has already sold.

I know that burlap is not everyone's thing, especially in hot, sticky August, so I'm beginning to make my totes in canvas.  I wish I would have had this canvas bag to carry when we took a pre-Christmas break to the beach last month.

How about burlap and canvas together?

Update: This pillow has already sold.

 This petite toss pillow was a lot of fun to make.

I'm not a frilly gal, but I'm really digging the ruffles right now!

Deck the Shelves

Earlier this week, I showed you how I took some basic white floating shelves and dressed them up with trim and bronze craft paint.

That was the easy part.  Now, what am I going to put on them?

I have this cute mirror that I pulled out of a heap of garage sale leftovers someone set at the curb and posted for free on Craigslist.  I wrote about it last January, but I never could decide what to do with it.

What else can I use?  I want something organic, but small and compact without seeming too cute.  Hmmm...I'll have to give that some thought.

I love architectural salvage, so I wanted something that looks old with interesting lines to complement the petite ornate mirror.  But in my town it is hard to come by without paying a hefty price.

So I'm going to fake it.

I have a spare finial and a wood disk from previous projects.  I picked up the candlestick at a thrift store.

I stained the unfinished pieces so they would look more like the candlestick when distressed.  Then I painted everything a buttery yellow, let it dry and took sandpaper to it.

My greatest concern was I would sand through the finish on the finial and the disk and not through it on the candlestick.

I was right.

So I watered down the yellow paint a little and went over all the exposed wood.

Next, I used a brown glaze on it, let it dry, and then finished with paste wax.  I love how it turned out.

So that just leaves the organic bit left.  I had the idea of a moss ball to tuck on the shelf.  I had the moss already, so I was going to pick up a styrofoam ball at the craft store.

The size I needed came in a multi-pack for almost $5.  Geez. 

I mulled it around for a minute and came up with a better idea.  And I have a lot of them!

Just take small sections of moss and hot glue them on the tennis ball.  NOTE: Since the moss has to be pressed in place before the glue sets, use a low temperature glue gun and plenty of caution since hot glue can cause burns.

Isn't it fun to using what you already have to make something pretty?

Basic Wall Shelf Makeover

When we took possession of our current home, we found that the previous owners had left two basic wall shelves hanging in one of the bedrooms that belonged to their daughter along with the pink/purple/yellow cartoonish-flower curtains.  I removed the shelves (and the curtains) and found huge drywall anchors drilled into the wall.   At the time, I really didn't want to deal with patching the drywall, so the shelves stayed.

One room on my project list this year is to dress up the office.  A couple of years ago we scored beautiful solid oak computer desk from a couple who were downsizing and refused to move it again.  After moving it into our home, I can't say I blame them.  It's huge and very, very heavy.  And those white shelves?  They looked cheap by way of comparison.  Since I used paint that was custom tinted at home by yours truly and I don't have enough to patch and repaint the wall, I needed to find a way to work with those shelves.

I picked up a stick of trim at Lowes for about $7, cut it with a mitre saw, and glued it in place.  Since it's too cold outside for spray painting, I used my favorite bronze craft paint.  This stuff will stick to just about anything!

It took several coats to cover the white, but it dries really fast.  And the results:

No more little girl white shelves.  These are big-people shelves now.

I overhauled the accessories too.  More about that later.

I'm linking up...

Between Naps on the Porch

Coastal Charm

Savvy Southern Style

Handy Man, Crafty Woman

At the Picket Fence

Chic on a Shoestring Decorating

The Problem with January

I really struggle with seasonal decorating during January.

Autumn is my favorite season.  And Christmas is so festive.

And then comes January.  Blah!

I left the Christmas vase on the sideboard in the dining room as long as possible, but there comes a time when the poinsettias have to go.

It's too soon to start putting out flowers.  Even though we've had daytime highs in the 60s, it's really not spring yet.

I found this container at a thrift store a couple of weeks ago.

I liked the lines and its heft, but not the faux terra cotta orange-ishness.  I painted it with bronze craft paint.  Then dry-brushed it white.  Then dry-brushed it black.  Then brown.  And finally touched it up with an off-white until I had this:

All the layers of dry-brushing really bring out the details.  Since craft paint dries to a flat finish, a top coat of glossy Mod Podge gives it some shine.

Of all the fake plants available, I like ferns the best.

The bottle stopper is from our decanter, a victim of the holiday festivities this year.

This should carry the dining room until it's really springtime.

 

Painting Wicker

This project has been five months in the making.

Call me Miss Motivation.

Actually, there's another reason: Photography.

Last weekend I bought a Canon Rebel T3 DSLR with my birthday/Christmas money.  I had a Canon Rebel back in the days of film and I loved it.  Then the world went digital, we starting to travel regularly oversees, and the convenience of a point-and-shoot trumped lugging around a camera bag and looking like, gasp, tourists!

So you can look forward to much better pictures in 2012.

Where were we?  Oh, yes...painting wicker. 

I've had this wicker basket since forever.

Seriously, I think it dates back to my tween years, if I'd ever been a tween. 

We didn't have such things as tweens back then.

I've kept it all this time because it's sturdy, compact and holds a lot of junk, like cookbooks and magazines.

But the white was rather juvenile.

I figured I wouldn't have anything to lose if I tried to paint it.  First I painted it with dark brown spray paint, which worked to cover the white but it looked kind of flat.

So I went over it with black craft paint using a chip brush to really work into the weave.

And then I lightly brushed over it with brown craft paint to blend the brown and black together.

To protect the paint, I finished with  a clear acrylic spray.  Here's the original after photo with the old camera.

So dull, dark, and uninspiring.  I just couldn't get a picture that did all my work much justice.  So I shelved the posting until I could get a better picture.  After snapping a million pictures of the spousal unit, the dog, and the cat, I revisited the wicker basket.

Blogging is going to be so much more fun this year with the new camera!

Built-in Cabinet - Take 2

Remember the built-in cabinet I spruced up for only a couple of dollars last summer?

The new door pulls really dressed it up.  So I decided to take it next level by adding additional trim.

The top trim was assembled from scrap I had on hand or I pulled from the freebie bin at ReStore.

It's made of five different pieces of trim.

I also added additional visual weight to the bottom by using a larger base moulding.

Finally, I lowered the door pulls about two inches.

Here's the original before, a cluttered mess:

The first makeover, de-cluttered and much improved:

And now this cabinet is all dressed up.

I'm linking up...

Between Naps on the Porch

Thrifty Decor Chick

Coastal Charm

Savvy Southern Style

Handy Man, Crafty Woman

Chic on a Shoestring Decorating

At the Picket Fence

The Shabby Nest