more "finally!" furniture transformations!

It's been way too long since I started with these furniture pieces to practice my upholstery and diy skills on. Like a year and a half too long...

Anyway, they are done and they are sold!! I snapped a few pictures before they went away to make another house pretty.

The makeovers aren't perfect. There are some wrinkles in the upholstery and uneven spots in the paint, but I prevailed. I probably will never tackle a project like this again, but it was a good chance to learn. And practice. And decide that if I have to strip the chairs and purchase new foam it would be better to just. walk. away. 

I'll post the photos of my other identical chair that is gray this week. That one more chair to sell and they're outta my life! I am in love with all of this space I am accumulating. It's addicting.

last Market post: The Market

This year's Market was a success. I need to say that because it was true. I made 3/4 of my goal (which was quite lofty) and made at least a little more than breaking even. But, I have to be honest, after working all of this year for this (and having almost double the merchandise), I was a little bit let down that more of my pieces didn't sell.

But, several things to lighten that load. There seemed to be a general consensus that sales were down with most of the vendors. It was really dead Friday afternoon/evening and many, many of the people that came in were white-hairs. Now, don't get me wrong, I love the oldies, but they aren't really interested in paying money for things they used to have and not many of them are interested in "in the moment" home decor. Also, people verbalized that they loved certain pieces but weren't sure where they would put it. I have to applaud this because 1) it's how I think and 2) I'm not into getting stuff just for the sake of having something pretty (see THIS post).

That said, I did have TONS of compliments and several people asked for my card, etc. That was a boost. But, it still wasn't a sale. :-)

Without further ado, here was the Market!

Thank you, thank you to everyone who helped, supported (here and from afar!), encouraged and who came and showed your lovely faces. It's wonderful to see friendly faces during such long days!! My family put up with a few freak outs (sorry guys!) and several moments and days of stress. - my sweet girl played by herself while I worked some days, my husband helped watch the girl on days he was home and also helped me do the heavy lifting for the show (!). My mom and mother-in-law traveled here and played with the girl while I worked and worked and my dad and father-in-law got their hands dirty and helped with some of the more complicated and bigger pieces. My in-laws also allowed me to raid their country abode for more fun antiques and great wood pieces. :-)

more Market sneek peeks!

 Just another day in the life of getting ready for the Market!

project(s) update: wreath with candy-striped plaque

Upcycled, recycled and reused.

This one is fun!

little

“Children see magic because they look for it.”
― Christopher Moore

project(s) update: piano key sunburst mirror

Remember my sneak peeks of projects in the works? (CLICK HERE if you've forgotten.) That pile of 60+ year old piano keys ....


... a sunburst mirror!

 I hemmed and hawed for months about how to attach the keys and finally just tried to glue (wood glue) them. And ... it didn't work so well, so I ended up just nailing them straight through with 1-1/4" nails. I may go back and add a third nail to each key, but I was finished for the day and wanted to see how it would look.

 Kind of amazing! At least this one (if not two) will be for sale at the Market - coming up October 25 + 26th. And if they don't sell, I'm putting it right back up on the wall here. It's sorta retro, sorta artsy. I love it!

(and did you know? each piano key is numbered ... I used numbers 1-22 on this one)

projects update: entry table makeover

After being quite unhappy with a recent priming then painting job, I asked around for make-your-own chalk paint recipe and (after sanding) tried it out on this table! I got a free 7.5oz Valspar sample from Lowe's in Mountain Smoke (or a beige gray ..."greige" to be exact) and knew it was for this thrifted table.


It needed some love. So I sanded the heck out of it (probably 5-6 hours worth with all those little details!) and then painted it with THIS chalk paint recipe. And here it is!

I love the details! The weird spiral spot on top (see original pic) actually needs a little more work (a.k.a more sanding) but I'm hoping to sand and repaint that small spot and then clear wax the whole thing.

What do you think??

project(s) update: fence wood *LOVE* sign

I'll be sharing some projects with you for next couple of weeks - I'm in full gear attempting to crank out projects right and left.

Hope you see something you like!!

materials used: reclaimed fence wood, annie sloan chalk paint in old white, cream muslin and hot glue for rosettes 

Love sign tutorial HERE.

sun

"From the rising of the sun to the place where it sets,

    the name of the Lord is to be praised." Psalm 113:3 (NIV)

reading lately. {july - august}

I'm late! September is upon me and I haven't had a book update.

(from l-r)

boy's life: a (book club) book filled with imagination, adventure, and mystery telling the story of a boy's coming of age in the 60s.

bringing up bebe: an American mother's tale of French parenting. several pieces of advice from this book will come in handy! others were taken with a grain of salt. a little more crass than the other french parenting book...

french kids eat everything: an in-depth look on why French kids are so not picky compared to their American counterparts. very, very interesting. we are practicing cutting out snacks as much as possible in order to maximize meal-eating because of this book!

the walk (series): the first four books of the walk series are very easy-to-read, friendly, but also thought provoking. a man sets out on a journey to walk across America. each book tells a section of his story. now I wait for the next book to be released!

too loud, too bright, too fast, too tight: an interesting book about the sensitivities to surroundings some people have. after reading the first few chapters i realized this wasn't as relevant as i thought it might be to myself, but gave me insight on other people. skimmed the rest of the book.

bags: interested in sewing a new purse or bag? i checked this book out at the library and the patterns are complete! a bunch of fun bag ideas in this book. gifts? cute bag for yourself? :-)


more to come for September! thanks for reading on, friends!