weekend finds and projects

It was a busy weekend creating more fun signs and finding some great stuff!

I finally finished this sign-

And then had some really beautiful weather yesterday to finally start working on some of my bigger pieces!

I purchased a twin bed frame set a couple weeks ago, and got it sanded and primed.  Here's the before of the foot board:

The knobs were missing on both pieces, so I added those on, and was pretty happy that they fit in so nicely.

Hannah was very interested in the power tools

(yaaay!! A girl after my own heart!)

so I let her have a go at using the palm sander.  She did a great job.

Hmmmm.....maybe a mom and daughter business down the road???

;)

I didn't quite get to my chairs yet- but I picked this one up over the weekend.  The price was a steal!

The chair cover is even kind of cute, but my plan is to redo both seats in the same fabric. 

(you can also see the coffee table in the background- the top is primed.

This was the piece I got before Christmas.  Can't wait for this guy to be ready!)

My other thrifty finds over the weekend.  I picked up this great little trophy goblet. 

The inscription reads:

Monroe

Hi 'B'

1st Place '77

love it!! 

I know all of you silver enthusiasts are cringing over the Tarn X.  But I love this stuff.  I remember watching the commercial as a little girl and just being utterly fascinated with how she cleaned the silver!

And you can just dip a coin in it and it's all shiny!!!

LOL!

This stuff smells really bad- like perm solution.  And after reading the directions, I am shocked that the lady in the commercial wasn't wearing any protective hand gear.  Yikes!

I have to say I also really liked the pitch lady.  Her little Southern lilt was hypnotizing.

Here's the commercial in all of it's 1970's glory:

classic.

Anyway, here's the polished up version of my piece:

And just a little sneak peek at some soon to be listed Etsy items:

vintage mirror- marble base, with daisy shaft

United States Senate pewter cup

night stand carafe and etched glass

And finally, my Market and French bakery sign that is nearly done.  I still have some embellishing and distressing to do, but it should be finished up later today!

I love weekends!!

I hope you'll join me this Wednesday for my first linky party and show all of your transformations and treasures!

Have a great Monday!

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Feathered Nest Fridays

spring flower eye candy

Okay, okay... I know it's the middle of winter right now, but don't you find yourself drawn to the books and pictures of spring color?  With snow storms, dreary rain, and cold, it kind of makes my heart happy to start thinking about warmth and color.

I am by no means a photographer- either from a hobbyist standpoint or pro (obviously!), but last year I took some photos at a local garden in the hopes I'd use them for some painting projects.  I haven't painted, but I did have a lot of fun taking these!

These were all taken at Shriner's Iris Gardens in Brooks, Oregon.

Brooks is a neighboring small town to Keizer, which hosts an annual Iris Festival every year in May.

The farm is right next to I-5, so so when you travel the freeway during bloom season it is just a mass carpeting of color.

Purple Bearded Iris- I wish I knew the specific name for this color, but I don't.

I was lucky enough that my camera was able to snap this before Mr. Bee flew off!

Lupine- such a gorgeous flower.

Look familiar?  Now you know where this one came from!

There are several spots around the garden with brightly painted Adirondack chairs to view the garden.

I love the old sign in the background.

A pale white and yellow Columbine.  I love these.  So easy to grow and very tall.  We were fortunate to have several of these at our last house.  I'd really like to plant some more.

Red poppies!  Or at least one, and several more waiting to bloom. I always think of the Wizard of Oz when I see these.  :)

I think these were a type of Allium. I just love seeing these planted in masses.

I have no idea what kind of tree this is, but it was really different!! The blooms (?) almost looked like little floating islands- See?...

I couldn't resist getting a close up of this pink Rhododendron flower. These are native to Oregon and always produce such pretty flowers.  I think a lot of people in the NW under appreciate these plants!

I thought this would be interesting to paint, but haven't done it yet. 

*someday*

Today's agenda includes painting several signs, so no flowers on the horizon.

I hope you enjoyed my little garden tour!  Spring is coming!

Despite whatever you may be seeing out your window right now!

Happy Weekend~

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laundry soap jars makeover

I have to admit- I'm a little sad / ashamed / sorry to say this.  I gave up on my "brilliant" idea of my liquid soap dispenser.  The idea was great- it just didn't work so well. 

I feel bad that I didn't test it out longer before I shared the idea with you.  My sincerest apologies if you went out and bought the canister to try this out as well. 

:( 

Really.  I am bummed.

So, to ease my disappointment, I went out and bought another jar, and printed out these cute graphics from the Graphics Fairy.

I really liked the option for making this into a label- she always puts up a few choices for clip art like this- the pink worked great for me!
I just downloaded this to my own clip art program and picked a font I liked to add into the middle, 
then cut the image out with some scallop edge scissors.
 A little Mod Podge, and they were good to go! 
(if you try this out- use a quick and light application with as few brush strokes as possible.  The ink starts to smear if you do too much.)

I've been using punch bowl cups for my scoops- it's the perfect size for a regular load of laundry, and pretty in the clear jars.  These days, there's not too many uses for punch bowls and the matching set of mugs, so I'm happy that these get regular use!
I inherited my grandma's punch bowl set, but there were only 5 mugs left.
(not even enough if I wanted to use it for a party!)
These are in abundance at thrift shops, so if you don't happen to have a set like me, you can always get them that way on the cheap!

I haven't really shown you any pictures of my laundry room yet, because there are so many other projects waiting to be tackled first, but here's a little bit!

The balloon shade is from Rachel Ashwell's Target line.
I cleaned up my vintage lunch pail that I had outside for Christmas- it might be a cute place to store our dryer sheets!  I just set it on the counter because I liked how the silver looked with everything.
I bought some wheat grass a while back and am hoping to make a big spring centerpiece with clear vases- all with the grass growing in them.  This is my tester / starter.
I think every room in the house should have a little bit of greenery- it adds life (literally!) to a room.

So there's a hint of our laundry area.  I still want to paint in here, add a little art to the walls, replace our yucky ironing board cover, add a drying rack (a vintage wood one would be nice!), and maybe take the doors off that you see in the photo above.  I think a skirted opening would be cute.
And maybe a chandelier to replace the fluorescent fixture?
:)


Sharing today's idea with:
All Thingz Related
Frugal Fridays
Feathered Nest Fridays
Show and Tell Friday
Free For All Friday
Brag Monday at the Graphics Fairy
Tuesday's Treasures

****

On a side note, I've been deliberating for a long time on doing a linky party- and I've finally decided to take the plunge.
I hope you will join me on Wednesday, February 2 for my first ever link up!
Furniture rehabs, thrift shop and garage sale finds, and room make overs-
Transformations and Treasures
at PinkPostcard.

I will feature my favorite projects from the linky party the following week.
I hope you'll join in the fun and spread the word!

office makeover: desk lamps

This will be short and sweet, but I wanted to show you my little bit of updating in the office.

I've had my eye on these nickel pharmacy lamps at Chez Target for a couple months- but with the holidays I just couldn't justify $60.  (if you like to count pennies, the lamps were $29.99 each.)

Last Friday I was shopping for our usual household paper goods and cleaning supplies and thought I'd do my drive by admiration trip on the lamp aisle.

My heart skipped a beat when I saw the red clearance tag on these beauties!!

$14.99 each!!! woo hoo!!

I snatched them up faster than you can say...

...well, I don't know what you'd say, but I grabbed them pretty fast.

: D

Aren't they great?

My husband also got one for his side since we are kinda matchy matchy with our office set up.

(there is no other time he likes to be matchy matchy.  If I so much as have my black leather jacket on and he already has his, he will grump about it and complain he has to go change!!  LOL!)

I've also added into the room a floor pharmacy lamp that we've had since two houses ago- I got this one for $15 at Bed Bath and Beyond!  Another grab and go moment. 

Unfortunately, before we moved from our last house, the milk glass lamp shade got smooshed between a swinging door and a wall, so now I'm on the hunt for a new shade.  I think I can probably find one from the GW that will fit.

But I'm glad it's going to be used again and not just collecting dust in our garage!

That's all I have for today!  I'm off to start on my mile long to do list- all before school gets out!

: /

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Nifty Thrifty Tuesdays

Tuesday's Treasures

date night and decorating

We were so overdue for a date night it's not even funny.  As in, maybe four months ago was the last time we went out together?

We were supposed to go to another event Saturday night, and it fell through, but we already had Mimi and Papa lined up to watch our girlie, so we decided to make a night of it.

I really wanted to try out a new restaurant in town, but I asked my hubby what he'd like to do. 

"Oh, I was thinkin' maybe we could go up to IKEA and Home Goods and then grab a bite to eat."

I love this man.

We got a frozen yogurt cone right off the bat when we got to the Swedish superstore, and walked around looking at all the fun stuff- talking about home projects and wish lists.  I was really only needing to get a $3.99 rug, but I also ended up snagging a pair of curtains that I've been wanting for a long time now.

Have you noticed my not so matching dining room curtains? 

Bleh. Me too.

They were great while everything was brown, but since we painted over the beige, we've been going with a lot more white, and the tan and brown curtains were just screaming at me.  I really wanted to just take them down and not even have curtains up until we could get some different ones in their place, but I didn't even do that.

I hoped that by adding in a turquoise element (the tiebacks) that it would tie in together better. 
As you know, I really love ball fringe- even though it's more of a tassel fringe, it still has the vintage feel of ball fringe.  It just wasn't working.

Here's the after with the new lighter, airier, white curtains:

Don't worry- the urns will be "sprouting" some topiary balls soon.  :)

I added these to the windowsills to draw the eye in to the room.

Because as you can see, we have a lovely view of our neighbor's garage window and vents.

We are close enough to pass Grey Poupon through the window!

(that's an '80's reference to a funny commercial- just in case you're too young to remember what I'm talking about!)

My husband had never been to a Home Goods before, and he really liked it! (I'm such a lucky girl.)

They had a display of these apothecary jars, all for $15.99 and under.

We got two- my plan is to make a centerpiece of varying sizes and shapes.

I have a smaller third jar that I got for Christmas.

The next few things for the dining room will be some white slipcovers for our end chairs- either in linen or cotton, some white chair pads, a long table runner, and a linen chain cover for our chandelier.
 I'm working on that right now!

It really was a fun weekend- shopping with my honey, yummy pasta for dinner, and we took our daughter to a matinee before we headed out for the evening.

We had some gorgeous weather on Saturday, and I was able to get some plants prepped for spring.

I even got a little painting started on some of my pieces that are waiting in the wings.

Remember the mirror I bought for our half bath?

 It already looks so much different than when I bought it. 
Hoping I can get it out again today to finish touching it up, but we're hovering on the temperature being warm enough.

I hope you all had a fantastic weekend. 
Happy Monday!

Sharing with:
Making the World Cuter Mondays
Show Off Your Cottage

stuff I've been makin'

Well, this has been a much better week, but I've been so busy, it's been hard for me to keep up with everything! 

I thought I'd let you see some of the projects I've been working on and a favorite chocolate recipe!!

This French shabby sign is now in my Etsy shop:

This cute little mailbox has also made it's way there....

And, I'm not quite done with this guy, but it's nearing completion.  As you can see from all the dust on it, it's getting a distressed finish.

I have had a ton of fun painting! 

A vintage repro Parisien bottle:

I also sold this vintage Samsonite suitcase last night via Craig's List.  I was pretty excited because it sold in less than 24 hours from the time I listed it.  His little brother sold last November at the Holiday Heritage Faire, and he was very lonesome.  And taking up valuable space in my craft room!

It's been a really LOOOOONG time since I've posted any recipes, but this one is a favorite!  Pretty easy, it just needs to refrigerate overnight, and it tasted like a deluxe chocolate cream pie!

♥

Chocolate Lush

1 cup flour
1 stick of butter
1/2 cup chopped walnuts

8 oz cream cheese, room temperature
1 cup powdered sugar
1 cup Cool Whip

2 packages of instant chocolate pudding
3 cups- 2% milk
1 cup Cool Whip
Topping: nuts or shaved chocolate and 1 cup Cool Whip

In a bowl, mix first 3 ingredients together and press into bottom of a 9x13 pan or baking dish.
Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes, then cool.
Mix together next 3 ingredients and spread over crust. 
Mix final three ingredients together and spread over cream layer.  Spread 1 cup Cool Whip on top and garnish with nuts or shaved chocolate.  Refrigerate overnight.

Super yummy!

Happy Thursday!



Make It Yours 

say hello to my little friend; or, the sound of music

I couldn't decide between ironic or corny so I just went with both movie references for today's post!!

Shortly before Christmas, I talked about antique pianos, and the opportunity that presented itself for us to have one- and after much coordinating of manly muscles, she's here.

Our new addition to our home is a 1910 Andrew Kohler piano.

Gorgeous!!!!!!!

This is a massively heavy piece, and it took 6 guys to move it into place. 
Add to that, the day we had to move it was pouring down rain- and I mean pouring!
Fortunately, it did let up for a small window at just the right time they were moving it. 
Whew!

We know a little bit about the history, but even in Googling it, there just isn't a ton of info on the maker.  If you know any more history on Andrew Kohler, please pass it on- I'd love to know.

My dad thought I'd paint it white, but there is no way I'm covering up the stunning wood grain!

It is solid oak.  I love the dark stain on it!

My plan is to put some white or light colored accessories on top, but for now, it's empty.

One feature that I adore on this piece, is that when the lid to the keyboard is open, the front pops open a bit for the music-

...when you shut the lid the front goes in so it's completely vertical

(you can see in these 2 photos what I mean)

Pretty cool, huh?  :)

Even the stool that came with the piano is amazing. I'm not sure the previous owners wanted to let it go, but for whatever reason, they did.

Aren't the feet spectacular?!

LOOOOVE!  : D
The sound from this old beauty is so much different than a newer piano.  I love it.
Our daughter couldn't wait to start practicing on it! I love that it's in the center of our house so we can hear every time she's playing it. 
That in itself- trying to find an interior wall where it would fit, was a miracle!
Our home has such an open floor plan, this was literally the ONLY spot it would fit, and the measurements fit to a T. 
It was meant to be.
:)

Thanks for letting me share our new addition with you. 
It makes me smile every time I walk past.  It's hard to resist not playing a couple notes, even though I have no history of piano lessons whatsoever!
(I was a flute and sax girl for a short period of time....)

Happy Tuesday friends!