Sunday, June 29, 2014

Chippy Velvet Stool-fit for a Queen!







I found this cute, but grungy stool at the Flea Market.  



The stool has great lines and details but it was covered in icky cat hair and very dirty.  My first thought was to keep it wood so I sanded it down and put some hemp oil on it.  The wood looked great, but I wasn't sure what I wanted to do next so I just put in in my workshop (on the pile of other unfinished projects) and left it until I decided what I wanted for the stool.  I pulled it out yesterday and decided to use some velvet I had bought for a French Provincial Bed (french-provincial-bed.  ).  I didn't like the wood with it and wanted a chippy look so I pulled out Ironstone milk paint from Miss Mustard Seed and got to painting.  I rubbed an old candle on the wood before I painted because I wanted it to really chip and I was worried it wouldn't since I had sanded it.  After the paint dried I scraped it and the chippy goodness happened!  The last step was to seal it with AS clear wax.  


I stapled the velvet on and then glued the trim and I am happy with the results. 




I thought the footstool looked like a queen would rest her feet here so I went with a rusty metal  crown.








I have a hard time passing up rusty metal things







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Friday, June 27, 2014

Plum Topping and Garden Bounty




This year I planted my vegetable garden a little late and it is now starting to produce and I am excited to have home-grown food. 







We have an old plum tree in our front yard that produces lots of plums every year.  The tree is right along the sidewalk so all the neighbors pick the plums and there are a few people who bring a jar of jam by to say thanks.  We even pick bags for a few older people who can not climb ladders.  
     I got up on the ladder and picked many bowls full this weekend and decided to make jam.  



I wanted to make the jam low sugar and I left it very chunky so it turned out more like a spread so I am calling it plum topping.  My neighbor came over and helped me and we chatted about life and summer so far as we pitted the plums.    Pitting all the plums takes the longest and it is much easier to fill the hot jars with 2 people .  It turned out great! 
















I picked a bunch of kale ( we eat it in salad every night), green lettuce and red lettuce.

Fresh mint and zucchinis 





I knew my toolbox would be used for many things and it was perfect for picking veggies from the garden. 


Wednesday, June 25, 2014

French Provincial End Table



I found this sturdy French Provincial end table at a yard sale. I can't find the before picture, but it was scratched up, dinged and brown.  It is made by Stanley Furniutre Co. so it is well made and has dove-tailed drawers.  I mixed up home-made chalk paint in white and painted it.  After distressing the table I sealed it with clear wax and srcrewed on the hardware.  






Bougainvillea from my garden
















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rootedinthyme
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funkyjunkinteriors
natashainoz
Tuesday, June 24, 2014

Patriotic Banner



With the Fourth of July coming up soon I wanted to make a banner for my mantle.  I had ordered blank canvas flags from Decor Steals awhile back and pulled them out to make my banner.  The flags are off-white  and I wanted them white so I painted them with white chalk paint.  While the paint was drying I printed out a graphic from Graphicsfairy.com (thegraphicsfairy.com ).  To get the graphic onto the canvas I printed it on TAP paper and ironed it on to the canvas flag.  I used Frog Tape to create the red stripes and then stamped USA onto the canvas with blue chalk paint.  This banner is simple and easy to make and I now have it hanging from my mantle. 




I love the rough and stringy edges-I call it character! 

Not perfect lines and edges is what I like







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